Steve Heimel, APRN Contributor
sheimel (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8454 | About Steve
25 Years After Exxon Valdez: What Would Effective Regulation Look Like?
Twenty-five years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill nearly all damaged wildlife populations have been declared “recovered,” but the spill’s impact left lasting marks on people. With another major spill taking place just four years ago, it’s time to talk about loss of trust, and how to restore it.
APRN: Tuesday, March 18 at 10:00am
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State House Finance Committee Passes $9.1 Billion Operating Budget
The $9.1 billion state operating budget has passed the House Finance committee. It's down about $1.6 million from the original bill, much of that due to a cut in school construction and debt service money.
Growing Food Near the Kitchen
During the Second World War, household “Victory Gardens” produced almost half the food the nation consumed. Now home gardens produce about two percent. Could the path to food security run though a garden plot in your front yard?
APRN: Tuesday, 3/11 at 10:00am
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Alaska’s Natural Gas Pipeline Plan
Nobody ever said it would be easy to attract investment for one of the biggest construction projects on earth in the difficult conditions of Arctic Alaska, but we all know it happened once for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Can it happen again for a gas-line?
APRN: Tuesday, 3/4 at 10:00am
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It’s About The Dogs
The top sled dog teams in the Iditarod have become so competitive that the slightest edge can make a critical difference. And that means that mushers want to know everything they can about what their dogs can do.
APRN: Tuesday, 2/21 at 10:00am
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Art Enters the Dialogue about Marine Conservation
An exhibition of art made from trash that washed up on beaches is about to open, offering a creative perspective on a growing environmental problem. It’s part of a thrust by the Anchorage Museum to refresh the dialogue about the Arctic. And it opens in the nation’s only Arctic state.
APRN: Tuesday, 2/4 at 10:00am
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Shell Calls Off This Year’s Exploratory Drilling Plans For Alaska
Shell announced on Thursday that it has called off its plan to do exploratory oil and gas drilling in Arctic waters off Alaska this year – and what it will do in future years is not clear.
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Officials Unsure When Richardson Highway Will Reopen
The state Transportation department now says they don't know when the flooded highway through Keystone Canyon outside of Valdez will be passable again.
Researchers Explore Polar Vortex
With unseasonably warm weather reaching all the way up into the Brooks Range in Alaska and bitterly cold weather dipping deep into the Lower 48 states, everybody wants to know more about the Polar Vortex – the jet stream that wobbles around the Arctic. Last month in San Francisco a team of scientists with the Byrd Polar Research Center came out with a study that takes one more step toward better understanding that wobble by putting a lot more detail into high-latitude weather records of the past.
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Radiation from Fukushima
They’re having trouble sealing up the leaking nuclear power plants in Japan and they’re also having trouble disclosing what is going on there. Is this a reason to distrust Alaska seafood?
APRN: Tuesday, 1/28 at 10:00am
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Warm Temperatures Causing Issues Around State
The Northern Lights 300 Sled Dog Race from Big Lake to Finger Lake has been cancelled, and the north part of Denali National Park has been put off limits for snowmachines due to wet conditions and lack of snow. Skiing has been off and on at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood.
‘Excluder’ Could Limit Salmon Bycatch
The Pollock trawl fleet now has a device that could help them avoid catching too many salmon. It’s what’s called an “excluder,” and has been in development for more than ten years. The design was presented at the Marine Science Symposium meeting in Anchorage.
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International Maritime Organization Working On ‘Polar Code’
A"polar code" for shipping vessels traveling in the Arctic could be agreed upon this week by a committee of the International Maritime Organization.
Oil Spill Dispersants
The response to the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico involved an unprecedented amount of chemical dispersants. If such a spill were to occur in Alaska, the use of dispersants is pre-authorized in certain areas. Should it be?
APRN: Tuesday, 1/21 at 10:00am
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“Irregularities” Found in State Crime Lab Drug Samples
It looks as if somebody tampered with drug samples at the state crime laboratory in Anchorage. The state Troopers put out a short press release today saying that new equipment has shown small amounts of foreign materials in the so-called "reference" samples used to compare with and estimate evidence in drug cases.
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High PSP Levels Close Southeast Alaska Geoduck Clam Fishery
Southeast Alaska's geoduck clam dive fishery did not open this week because high levels of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning were found.
Natural Capital
The living systems of the earth recycle waste, supply water, control pests, pollution, and disease, and much more, but these capacities can be depleted. The question is how to allow the economic system to take this into account?
APRN: Tuesday, 1/7 at 10:00am
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The Big Stories of 2013
The year that’s about to end had more than its share of drama. As we turn the page on another year of news, APRN’s Steve Heimel has a look back at some of the highlights, with his list of the top 10 news stories of 2013. What was big news in Alaska in some ways depended on where you were.
The Big News Stories of 2013
One year ago Shell Oil’s drilling rig had not gone aground and changing the state’s oil tax regime was just the Governor’s dream. Nobody expected Congress to be so gridlocked that budget sequestration would kick in, and the prospects for the Affordable Care act were not good. A lot has changed.
APRN: Tuesday, 12/31 at 10:00am
Tales of the Movie Business in Alaska
It’s getting so you can’t turn on a television set without seeing or hearing something about Alaska. And a lot of Alaska is getting into the movie theaters as well. Is any of it true?
APRN: Tuesday, 12/24 at 10:00am
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