Steve Heimel, APRN Contributor
sheimel (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8454 | About Steve
Crews Fighting to Keep Funny River Fire Away from Homes
Firefighting crews battled to keep the Funny River fire from expanding toward homes and cabins on the Kenai Peninsula. People evacuated from about 1,000 households waited it out through Sunday night at shelters, and homes of friends and relatives. The fire has been spotted at times across the Kenai River.
Solar Energy from the Ocean
Solar energy technology has greatly improved over the last few years, but who would have thought that the ocean could be used as a solar collector? And who would have installed the technology to do so? That’s what’s now being done at the Seward Sea Life Center. And now they’re seeking to spread the energy.
APRN: Tuesday, 5/27 at 10:00am
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Seismologist Delivers Cautionary Notes
If you have lived in Southcentral Alaska for a year or more, you are almost certain to have felt an earthquake. But a damaging quake is something else again. Experts tell us a quake as powerful as the Great Alaska Earthquake of fifty years ago isn’t likely any time soon, but it doesn’t take a Magnitude Nine to do big damage.
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Earthquake Awareness: State of the Art
The earth is restless in Alaska, with more earthquakes than all the other states combined - plus volcanoes and tidal waves. The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 was critically important scientifically, and that science has made remarkable advances in recent years.
APRN: Tuesday, 5/20 at 10:00am
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Wilderness in Alaska
Whether you call it locking up land or protecting it, wilderness designation raises some profound cultural, biological and management
questions. As it turns 50 years old, is the Wilderness Act showing signs of age? Or has it barely reached maturity? Nowhere in the country is there more wilderness than Alaska.
APRN: Tuesday, 5/13 at 10:00am
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Apache Selling Gulf Of Mexico Offshore Interests
The oil and gas company exploring the west side of Cook Inlet is getting a cash infusion. Apache is selling off some of its Gulf of Mexico offshore interests to a mining company - Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold - for $1.4 billion.
National Weather Service Issues El Niño Watch
There could be more warm and cloudy weather on Alaska's coast and more wildfire danger in the Interior this summer if a temperature trend in the waters of the Pacific Ocean along the equator continues.
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National Science Foundation To Deploy Seismic Sensors In Alaska
Alaska is the place to be if you want to study earthquakes. In a year, it has as many earthquakes as all the other states combined. Scientific study of those quakes is beginning to ramp up significantly as the National Science Foundation deploys a new network of seismic sensors this summer.
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Alternative Public Education Opportunities
For many years policy leaders have been talking about ways to bring more education choices to rural Alaskans. Now those options are beginning to appear. Legislation has passed to benefit charter schools and boarding schools around the state.
APRN: Tuesday, 5/6 at 10:00am
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Report Outlines Emerging Arctic Research Issues
A report is out today from the National Academy of Sciences outlining emerging Arctic research issues. The report says among other things that a refuge of Arctic sea ice is likely to remain in the summers into the foreseeable future, raising questions about shrinking rather than vanishing wildlife habitat.
Seward’s Icebox
What was William Seward thinking when he pushed the purchase of Alaska from Russia? What would most surprise him if he could see Alaska now? Seward’s Day is a state holiday; a town and a highway are named after him; but who was he? Two historians will help us understand why we’re not part of Russia, on the next Talk of Alaska.
APRN: Tuesday, 4/29 at 10:00am
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What Needs To Be Done To Respond To An Arctic Oil Spill?
The National Research Council released a report on what needs to be done in order to be able to respond to oil spills in Arctic waters. Environmental groups were quick to respond that so much needs to be done that it would be better to not drill at all.
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Legislature Passes Gov. Parnell’s LNG Pipeline Plan
The House voted 36-4 on the measure Sunday. The Senate later voted 16-4 to agree to the House changes. Senate Bill 138 would set state participation at about 25 percent in a project also being pursued TransCanada, the Alaska Gas-line Development Corp., and the North Slope's major players. It would allow the project to move to a stage of preliminary engineering and design and cost refinement.
Congressional Issues: U.S. Representative Don Young
Taking phone calls from all over the largest congressional district in the nation can be a challenge, but it also makes for quite a radio show. Alaska Congressman Don Young is back in his district for the spring recess, and ready to talk with you on the next Talk of Alaska.
APRN: Tuesday, 4/22 at 10:00am
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Alaska Trails Conference Kicks Off Next Week
With all its public lands and scenic values, it’s no surprise that Alaska has an advocacy organization for trails – for walking, skiing, bicycling, off-road vehicle riding and trekking. Called “Alaska Trails,” the group has statewide conferences every couple of years, and the next one starts April 24th at Alaska Pacific University.
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The Potential of Trails in Alaska
With the snow melting back and the ground thawing out, Alaska’s trail builders will soon be back at work making the country more accessible. They’ll be out there with tools and crews, shaping paths for feet, paws and wheels. If you never heard of single tracks and pump tracks and especially if you have, you’ll learn what’s new in trails on the next Talk of Alaska.
APRN: Tuesday, 4/15 at 10:00am
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The Business of Clean Energy
Alaska is becoming known as a testing ground for renewable energy. As more and more clean energy technology comes on the market, Alaska’s high fuel costs can make investments in things that reduce those costs pay off quickly - in fact it’s already happening.
APRN: Tuesday, 4/8 at 10:00am
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Corporate Personhood
The issue of corporate personhood has been brought up repeatedly by callers to the show, and the chance to talk about it now arises with the creation of an organization that is asking political candidates to take a pledge to oppose it. The legal implications are of course obvious with the current Hobby Lobby case and the Citizens United and Boy Scouts of America rulings that preceded it.
APRN: Tuesday, 4/1 at 10:00am
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The Graphic Novels of J Torres
You may never have heard of “Teen Titans Go,” but that may be because you’re just too old to appreciate comic books. Young readers across the state will be connecting with comic author and blogger J Torres, on the annual “Alaska Spirit of Reading” book club edition of Talk of Alaska.
APRN: Tuesday, 3/25 at 10:00am
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Navy Subs Training In Arctic Ocean
A pair of Navy submarines are on maneuvers in the Arctic Ocean sea ice. One came up from the East Coast and the other from the West Coast.