Alaska News Nightly: January 11, 2008

The Alaska Department of Transportation extends the comment period on state's Long Range Transportation Plan. Plus, The Alaska Gasline Port Authority asks the state for reconsideration and the Copper Basin 300 gets underway tomorrow in Glennallen. Those stories and more on tonight's Alaska News Nightly, broadcast statewide on APRN stations.Individual news stories are posted in the Alaska News category and you can subscribe to APRN's news feeds via e-mail, podcast and RSS. Comment period on Long Range Transportation Plan extendedSteve Heimel, APRN - AnchorageYesterday was supposed to be the deadline for public comments on the state's new Long-Range Transportation Plan for the state, but Jeff Ottison, the Director of Program Development in the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has now extended it until January 21.Port and harbor operatios look to the futureSteve Heimel, APRN - AnchorageOperators of the state's ports and harbors met this week in Anchorage to look for ways to pay for improvements and new projects in the context of coming changes in the world of shipping. Alaska Gasline Port Authority asks for reconsiderationLibby Casey, KUAC - FairbanksThe Alaska Gasline Port Authority is asking the state to reconsider its proposal for a natural gas pipeline. It was rejected by Governor Sarah Palin’s administration last week because it failed to meet stipulations of the Alaska Gas Line Inducement Act (AGIA).Conoco Phillips puts its back behind new Providence cancer centerLen Anderson, KSKA - AnchorageAnchorage's Providence Hospital's brand new Cancer Center has been treated to an historic infusion of money. ConocoPhillips gave the new state-of-the-art facility $5 million. A novel way to preserve Nunavak cultureAnne Hillman, KDLG - DillinghamAn organization on Nunavak Island is using a marine debris clean up program to help protect the local culture.Rural villages discuss Citgo fuel donationAngela Denning-Barnes, KUK - BethelRegional nonprofit organizations from rural Alaska met in Anchorage today to talk about this year's Citgo heating fuel donation. They are making a video saying "Thanks" to the Venezuelan-owned company for it's first donation last year which put 100 gallons of free stove oil into more than 15,000 households in rural Alaska. A museum exhibit looks at inventiveness in the Yup'ik cultureLori Townsend, APRN - AnchorageThere's no word for science in the Yup'ik language. But an exhibit opening soon at the Anchorage Museum looks at the ingenuity of 19th and early 20th century Yup'ik tools, watercraft and clothing. The exhibit opens next month and is called, The Way We Genuinely Live: Masterworks of Yupik Science and Survival. Copper Basin 300 gets underway this weekendDan Bross, KUAC - FairbanksThe Copper Basin 300 Sled Dog Race gets underway in Glennallen tomorrow. Top mushers signed up include defending champion Alan Moore of Two Rivers, 2007 Iditarod and Quest winner Lance Mackey, and 2000 Quest champion Ally Zirkle.