Dan Bross, KUAC - Fairbanks

A military jury has sentenced a Fort Wainwright based soldier in the death of a fellow Stryker brigade member. Sgt. Adam Holcomb of Youngstown, Ohio will forfeit about $1,200 in pay, have his rank reduced, and serve 30 days in confinement. He was convicted yesterday in Ft. Bragg North Carolina of maltreatment of a subordinate, and assault, in the death of Private Danny Chen last year in Afghanistan. Holcomb was found not guilty of negligent homicide.

Two former University of Alaska Fairbanks rifle team members are competing on the U.S. team at the London, Olympics. Matt Emmons is a two-time Olympian who won gold and silver at the games in 2004 and 2008. Jamie Beyerle Gray scored a 4th and 5th in 2008. Gray competed in the air rifle event Saturday, and finished 5th again, one spot behind Emmon’s wife Katerina, who shoots for the Czech Republic. Yi Siling of China won. Gray says the places in shooting are typically determined by shots just millimeters apart.

The state is out with an updated plan for managing a large swath of the central interior. The draft Yukon Tanana area plan encompasses over 9 million acres from the Denali borough north to the village of Rampart and from Fairbanks west to Tanana. Department of Natural Resources planner Brandon McCuthcheon says the document accounts for changes since its last update in 1991.

The court martial trial of a Ft. Wainwright based soldier is through a third day at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Sergeant Adam Holcomb is accused of physical and verbal abuse that drove a fellow soldier to suicide in Afghanistan last year. Holcomb of Youngstown, Ohio is charged with negligent homicide, assault and other offenses. He’s one of eight Fairbanks based soldiers charged in the death of Private Danny Chen.

The Army Corps of Engineers is expanding its permafrost tunnel north of Fairbanks. The Corp’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab has operated the tunnel, bored more than 350 feet into a hillside near Fox, since the 1960’s. Research civil engineer Kevin Bjella says the Corps. has begun digging a second longer tunnel.

New computer models predict climate and ecosystem changes for Alaska and western Canada. The “cliomes” models were produced by University of Alaska Fairbanks and U.S. Fish and Wildlife service scientists. One of the primary creators, forest ecologist Nancy Frescoe with UAF’s Scenarios Network for Alaska and Arctic Planning, says the models confirm climate driven change.

An interim voter district map is in place for this fall’s election, but the state’s redistricting process is far from over. Alaska Redistricting Board chairman John Torgerson says lawsuits challenging the redraw of Alaska voting districts remain in play.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks will become the nation’s first to have an on campus winter terrain park. It’s midsummer, but plans are in the works for the ski and snowboard facility.

The Alaska Fire Service is converting to a new lightning detection system. Lightning detection is used to target aerial surveillance of areas where strikes are likely to spark wildfires. The new system which has been tested against the technology it’s replacing has proven to be more accurate and have increased range. Alaska Fire service I,T. section chief John Palmer says it employs sensors around the state to identify individual lightning strikes.

Over 50 Alaska teachers are among 10,000 delegates assembled in Washington, D.C. this week for the annual National Education Association representative assembly. The NEA is the union that represents teachers across the country. NEA Alaska president Barb Angaiak says the convention, which wraps up Thursday, is used to decide on the organization’s direction for the coming year, including endorsement of a candidate for U.S. president.

About 100 village-based emergency fire fighters deployed Wednesday to work a wildfire in the Lower 48. State Division of Forestry spokeswoman Maggie Rogers says the crews from the communities of Shageluk, St. Michael, Koyuk, Selawik and Scammon Bay are the second group sent out to fight fires in western states this month.

The state’s largest caribou herd continues to decline. The latest population survey estimates the western Arctic herd at 325,000 animals. State Fish and Game biologist Jim Dau in Kotzebue says the latest number shows continuation of a decline which began in 2003, when the herd numbered 500,000. Dau says given the size and massive range of western Arctic caribou, it’s hard to know what’s driving the reduction, but he has some ideas, including winter rain.

The Air Force’s decision to delay relocation of Eielson’s F-16’s does not end Alaska’s concerns about military downsizing. The head of a consulting team hired by the state to develop a strategy for protecting Alaska installations, says financial pressure remains on the military.

There’s a new plan for managing bus and other traffic on the road into Denali National Park. The Park Service has released the plan and an environmental impact statement following 4 years of studies and meetings. The process looked at numbers and schedules for the buses that move visitors along the 92 mile Denali road. Park Service spokeswoman Kris Fister says the preferred alternative allows for some increase in traffic.

Yukon River communities are getting creative in coping with another poor king salmon return. A fish sharing arrangement between Yukon River fishermen is aimed at protecting the king stock, while still providing some of the prized fish for subsistence.

University of Alaska president Pat Gamble is proposing a two percent tuition hike for the 2013-2014 school year. The increase, if approved by regents, would be the smallest at UA in over a decade. Associate Vice President for student and enrollment Saichi Oba says the hike reflects increased fixed and labor costs, and the burden of higher tuition. Download Audio

A wildfire in the Northern Interior is drawing a major response.

A legal dispute between the Fairbanks North Star Borough and 2010 U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller has been resolved. The borough and former Mayor Jim Whitaker have submitted to a judgment against them, and agreed to pay Miller $5,000. The case revolves around Miller’s past employment as a part time borough attorney.

A past member of the Alaska Peacemaker’s Militia says this week’s conviction of leader Schaeffer Cox and two group members is a sign of eroding freedom. Cox and Lonnie Vernon were found guilty Tuesday of plotting to kill government officials and having illegal weapons. A 3rdmilitaman, Coleman Barney was solely convicted of weapons violations. Former Fairbanks militia sergeant Gary Brockman says the guilty verdicts confirm government overreach.

A state contractor demolished an historic cabin along the Dalton Highway near Wiseman. Alaska Department of Transportation northern region environmental manager Bruce Campbell says the state had record of the small trapper style cabin, but the information didn’t transfer to the road reconstruction project.