Dan Bross, KUAC - Fairbanks
Dan Bross is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
Federal Officials to Meet With Forty Mile Gold Miners
Bureau of Land Management officials are scheduled to meet with Forty Mile area gold miners tomorrow. BLM Alaska spokeswoman Leslie Ellis Waters says Friday’s meeting in Chicken will include the agency’s top administrators.
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Fairbanks Navigates Pot Legalization
The Fairbanks North Star Borough is holding a public meeting Wednesday on proposed rules for marijuana businesses.
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Smokejumpers Race to Divert Seventy Mile Fire From Community of Eagle
Warm, mostly dry weather continues across much of the eastern interior, and that has fire managers concerned about future growth of the Seventy Mile fire in the eastern interior. It’s so far burning in remote country, north of the Seventy Mile River and away from the community of Eagle. Alaska Fire Service spokesman Sam Harrel says a planned burn out operation would blacken an area of heavy timber along the river to protect values on the other side.
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Eielson Air Force Base Investigates Potential Ground Water Contamination
Ground water contamination at Eielson Air Force Base may have spread off the facility. The Air Force has contacted private property owners in the nearby Moose Creek area offering to test well water for presence of a chemical presumed to be from firefighting foam formerly used at the base.
Dalton Flooding: DOT Digs Trenches to Keep Airport Open
The northern stretch of the Dalton Highway is expected to remain closed into next week.
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Museum of the North Rolls Out A New Exhibit: DINOSAURS!
The University of Alaska Museum of the North opens a new exhibit Saturday. “Expedition Alaska: Dinosaurs” gives visitors the opportunity to experience paleontologists quest and what they’re finding in an underexplored region.
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Utility to Revive Long-Idled Coal Plant In Healy
Golden Valley Electric Association plans to start up a long-idled Healy area coal fired power plant next week.
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El Nino Returns
The Ocean driven climate cycle El Nino is back. That means immediate weather changes along the Equator, and some effects as far north as Alaska.
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Hot, Dry Weather Fuels an Early Start to Fire Season
Wildland fighters are busy responding to new starts as hot dry breezy weather continues in the interior. Most of the human caused fires are being knocked down quickly, but a few are requiring larger responses.
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Flooding Closes Dalton Highway
The northern end of the Dalton Highway is closed again. A month after overflow from the Sag River shut it down, spring melt water has made the only access road to the North Slope oil fields impassable again.
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Wolf Hunt Adjacent to Denali Closes Early
The state of Alaska is closing wolf hunting early in the Stampede area along the northeastern edge of Denali National Park.
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Fairbanks Robotics Team Heads to World Championship
A Fairbanks high school team took the top honor at the recently competed First Tech Challenge World Robotics Championships in St. Louis, Missouri. The kids, who have been competing together for the last four years, demonstrated the best mix of technical engineering, performance and sportsmanship.
Re-Introduced Wood Bison Faring Well
Wood bison transplanted by the state to the western interior this spring appear to be adapting to the wild. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game flew a group of Canadian stock bison cows and young animals to the village of Shageluk in March. To date, most of the animals have fared well.
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Fairbanks Schools Among Those Fielding Threatening Calls
Fairbanks schools are among several in Alaska and the western Lower 48 that have received threatening phone calls. There’s been no actual violence, but the calls have prompted lock downs and law enforcement responses.
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UAF Satellite Imagery Helps Nepal Earthquake Response, Assessment
University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists provided critical satellite observations following this past weekend’s big earthquake in Nepal. It took quick action to get out information vital to assessment and disaster response.
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UAF Chancellor Addresses Retirement, University’s Budget Woes
Outgoing University of Alaska Fairbanks Chancellor Brian Rogers is dispelling rumors that illness forced his recent decision to retire this summer. Chancellor Rogers, who was also a candidate to become the new president of the University of Alaska system, spoke during a wide ranging campus forum Tuesday.
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UAF Announces Academic Program Cuts, Changes
The University of Alaska Fairbanks has released a list of academic program cuts and changes in response to reduced state funding. The cost saving measures are the first of numerous expected as UAF tries to cover a more than $20 million budget hole.
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Rep. Young Advocating For Transfer Of Air Force Land To Galena
The Yukon River community of Galena could be relocated out of flood danger if a land transfer being pushed by Alaska Congressman Don Young goes through. The village, which is still recovering from a major flood 2 years ago, will likely approach moving with multiple steps over time.
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Snaring Death Of Denali Wolf Prompts Push For Protection
There’s renewed push for greater protection of declining Denali National Park wolves. The effort follows news that a Park wolf was discovered dead last month from a snare injury.
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Long-Term Weather Models Point Toward A Warm Summer
With the last of the snow melting off, and Alaska headed toward summer, long range forecasts indicate it could be a hot one.
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