Nathaniel Herz, Alaska's Energy Desk - Anchorage
Judges block work at ConocoPhillips’ huge Alaska project, casting cloud over ‘North Slope Renaissance’
Conoco executives have celebrated the Willow project as part of a "North Slope Renaissance" that could revitalize Alaska's oil industry.
But a two-judge panel just put the project on ice — the latest recent setback for Alaska oil companies now contending with an uncooperative new federal administration.
Alaska’s dormant government spending database will be resurrected this week
After a nearly year-long shutdown of Alaska’s government spending database, GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration said it plans to bring the system back online later this week.
Alaska announces first case of more contagious strain of COVID-19
State health officials say they've detected the first case of the COVID-19 variant from the United Kingdom in Alaska, which appears to spread more easily and quickly.
Banned from the Capitol, Alaska lobbyists contend with pandemic predicament
If you think Alaska lawmakers’ job is tough right now, consider, for a moment, the plight of the lobbyist. They’re paid for access to and intelligence on what’s happening in the Capitol — but for now, they’re banned from the building.
As groups clamor for vaccine, here’s how Alaska will decide who’s next in line
An advisory committee made initial recommendations about who should receive Alaska's first doses of COVID-19 vaccine without much uproar. But now its work is entering a more delicate phase, as letters pour in from state agencies, trade groups and nonprofits asking to to be among the first in line.
‘Lightning’s going to strike somewhere’: Juneau health care worker hospitalized, another treated after COVID-19 vaccination
A Juneau health care worker had a "serious allergic reaction" Tuesday and was hospitalized after being injected with the COVID-19 vaccine produced by drug companies Pfizer and BioNTech, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
New cargo project is latest proposal for booming Anchorage airport
A firm led by the former top investment officer at the Alaska Permanent Fund is eyeing what could grow into a $500 million project to support the booming cargo shipping industry at Anchorage’s international airport.
Aside from tweet, U.S. Rep. Young, staff remain silent on COVID-19 diagnosis
Young’s opponent in last week’s election, Democratic Party-endorsed independent Alyse Galvin, said the Congressman’s staff could not reach him Friday when she wanted to call him to concede.
Alaska’s high COVID-19 case counts are even higher than the state’s data show
The true numbers could be 25% to 50% larger than those being reported due to a bottleneck in data entry, state officials say. “It’s significant -- we’re not missing 10 cases each day,” a state epidemiologist said.
With more than 100,000 ballots still to count, Alaska campaigns cross fingers and crunch numbers
Experts say they expect to see at least some come-from-behind victories after next week’s vote count, since Republicans were more willing to vote in-person on Election Day during the COVID-19 pandemic. The big question is how many.
Trump administration will eliminate roadless protections for Alaska’s Tongass forest
President Donald Trump’s administration announced Wednesday that it is finalizing its plans to reverse roadless protections for more than 9 million acres of the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska, or a little less than 15,000 square miles.
A torrent of Democratic absentee ballots could reverse Alaska’s Election Night vote counts
More than 75,000 Alaskans have already cast absentee ballots in this year’s election -- nearly one-fourth of the total number of votes cast in the state in the last presidential election, in 2016.
With new letter, Alaska GOP Gov. Dunleavy stands alone in Pebble’s defense
Mike Dunleavy says he has a responsibility to pursue projects like Pebble -- if they can be safely built -- to help improve the plight of rural Alaska residents.
Alaska’s pro-oil Republican governor is quietly pushing green energy projects too
Even as climate change threatens to impose steep costs in Alaska, Dunleavy is still promoting the state's oil industry.
But he says he's excited by the plummeting cost of renewable power sources, and their potential to bring down electricity prices and recruit more business to the state.
Pink salmon could prosper in warmer Arctic, new study finds
The findings bolster reports by Alaska subsistence fishermen that the species’ numbers have been increasing as the Arctic warms at more than double the rate of the rest of the globe.
As COVID-19 spikes on North Slope, mayor orders Utqiagvik to hunker down
As cases of COVID-19 spike in Alaska's North Slope Borough, Mayor Harry Brower has issued a two-week "hunker down" order and mask mandate for the region's hub town, Utqiaġvik.
As Arctic warming accelerates, permafrost thaw hits Red Dog mine with $20 million bill
The problems at Red Dog, one of the world’s largest zinc mines, show how climate change poses a challenge not just to residents of Arctic Alaska, but also to the economy of the region, which is warming at triple the rate of the global average.
U.S. investigates ‘unprofessional interactions’ after Russian military confronts Bering Sea fishermen
Vessels reported being buzzed by Russian aircraft and ordered out of the area on a specific heading. The incident has now drawn the attention of both of Alaska’s U.S. senators and an investigation by three federal agencies into what they’re calling “unprofessional behavior” by the Russian military.
‘Move out of the way’: Bering Sea fishing boats report close encounter with Russian military
Bering Sea pollock fishermen had a close encounter Wednesday with Russian military vessels conducting pre-planned exercises, according to industry officials and a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman. It happened in waters where fishing is reserved for American boats, but international vessels are not barred.
COVID-19 cases grow at North Slope oil fields, Anchorage Pioneer Home, as state confirms 86 positives
State and oil company officials have confirmed 13 cases of COVID-19 between two different North Slope oil fields, as Alaska reported 86 new cases of the virus Thursday.