Alaska News Nightly: July 30, 2014
KSM Mine Wins Environmental Approval From British Columbia Government; SEARHC to Receive $53 Million Settlement from Federal Government; Food Bank Seeks Donations After Spike in Users; In Tok, Some Grumbling Over Electricity Rate Hikes vs. Energy Sustainability; 2015 Yukon Quest Purse Over $127,000; Meetings To Highlight Southeast Transportation Projects; As Budget Deficit Looms, Juneau Assembly Eyes Tax Breaks; Parnell Signs Bill Honoring Late Walter Soboleff; Juneau Turns Out For Downtown Cleanup; Why Does Southeast Alaska Have A Daycare Crisis?
Download Audio
Sullivan Campaign: Poll Says We’re Winning
The U. S. Senate campaign of Republican Dan Sullivan is drawing attention to a poll that finds he’s ahead of Democratic Sen. Mark Begich by 5 percentage points. That’s just outside the poll’s margin of error. It’s based on interviews of 500 Alaskans in late June by Basswood, a Republican firm. The Sullivan press release is aimed a rebutting an analysis sponsored by CBS and the New York Times that rival Republican Mead Treadwell was circulating earlier in the week.
Southwest, Southeast Alaska Face Highest Risks From Ocean Acidification
Coastal communities in Alaska that depend on fisheries were warned Tuesday to prepare for the impacts of ocean acidification. A study from federal agencies says many of the science questions remain unanswered but changes are already happening.
Download Audio
Research Team Sets Out For Islands of Four Mountains
A group of researchers set out from Unalaska this week to a remote part of the central Aleutians: the Islands of the Four Mountains. The 16 scientists are beginning a three-year mission in territory that’s unpredictable – and largely unexplored.
Download Audio
UA President Offered Bonus at Time of Budget Cuts
The president of the University of Alaska has been offered a $320,000 bonus if he stays on the job until 2016.
Download Audio
ConocoPhillips to Operate New Doyon Drill Rig
Doyon is building a new North Slope oil drilling rig, the Interior Regional Native Corporation will operate for Conoco Phillips.
Download Audio
Port MacKenzie Poised For Post-Oil Economy
Earlier this month, on July 14, the Matanuska Susitna Borough's Port MacKenzie took on a load of sixteen miles of cement-coated pipe from a foreign vessel. The pipe now rests at the Port, awaiting shipment to Nikiski to be used in construction of a new Cook Inlet oil platform. Although the pipe shipment has boosted Borough revenues, some are asking questions about whether the port will ever be profitable.
Download Audio
New UAF Vice Chancellor for Rural, Community & Native Ed
Evon Peter has been selected to run the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ rural campuses. He will serve as the new vice chancellor for rural, community and Native education.
Download Audio
Why Juneau Should Be Next For Housing First
Momentum is building in the capital city to provide housing for the homeless who suffer from substance abuse.
Housing First is based on the idea that the homeless can’t deal with problems like alcoholism and medical issues until they have a permanent place to live.
Anchorage and Fairbanks have Housing First facilities. In Juneau, some non-profit organizations, city officials, and legislators think it’s a good idea.
Download Audio
Peony Industry Blooming in Alaska
Peonies are a growing business in Alaska. Ample sunlight and moisture make for good growing conditions, and more farmers are looking at the flowers as a profit-maker.
Download Audio
Alaska News Nightly: July 29, 2014
Southwest, Southeast Alaska Face Highest Risks From Ocean Acidification; Research Team Sets Out For Islands of Four Mountains; UA President Offered Bonus at Time of Budget Cuts; ConocoPhillips to Operate New Doyon Drill Rig; Questions Arise Over Profitability of Port MacKenzie; New UAF Vice Chancellor for Rural, Community & Native Ed; Why Juneau Should Be Next For Housing First; Peony Industry Blooming in Alaska
Download Audio
Elim Gathers River Data as Safeguard Against Uranium Mining
Forty miles from Elim up the Tubuktulik River, a small gauge sits at the water’s edge, just downstream from the state-owned Boulder Creek site—the largest known uranium deposit in Alaska, and a hot spot for potential mining.
Assembly to decide on AO-37 on Tuesday, still discussing possible alternative
Assembly members and union representatives met on Monday to discuss the latest revisions of a proposed new version of Anchorage's controversial labor law, AO-37. The Assembly has to make a decision by next week, or it will be up for a public vote in November.
Campaign Profile: For Joe Miller, 2010 Looms Large
Republican Joe Miller is vying for the seat held by U.S. Sen. Mark Begich. But the specter of his 2010 run against Sen. Lisa Murkowski looms large over his current campaign. Some of the residual effects strengthen Miller’s candidacy. But the negatives are persistent.
Download Audio
An Alaskan Twist on an Elegant Dish
Today we’re making caviar Alaska style; made from salmon roe. Natasha Price writes the food and crafts blog Alaska Knit Nat, and she recently posted a how-to guide for making salmon caviar. It’s a family recipe, and one that Natasha didn’t really like growing up.
YouGov Model Shows Treadwell Within Reach of Begich
Most polls in the U.S. Senate race show Dan Sullivan ahead of rival Republican Mead Treadwell in the primary. But the Treadwell campaign is trumpeting a new analysis by the polling firm YouGov. It shows Treadwell would do better against incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Begich in November than Sullivan would.
Download Audio
Seismologists Uncertain if Southeast Quake Activity is Related
Several large earthquakes have hit Southeast Alaska recently. But State Seismologist Michael West with the Alaska Earthquake Information Center says it’s unclear whether the activity is related.
Download Audio
Coalition Forms to Address Downtown Juneau Problems
The image of Juneau’s downtown ranges from the glamour of huge cruise ships and stores catering to tourists, to street people with nowhere to go.
An informal coalition has formed representing business and property owners, residents and social service organizations to tackle some of the issues.
Download Audio
Clearwater Lodge Owners Opt to Rebuild After Devastating Fire
The owners of Clearwater Lodge near Delta Junction have decided to rebuild the historic structure that burned down in May. Fans and friends of the lodge want to help get work started with a fund-raiser next month.
Download Audio
Inaugural Beringia Arctic Games Brings Indigenous People Together in Russia
This time of year, indigenous people across the Far North gather to play games and celebrate traditions. Earlier this month, in Fairbanks they took part in the World Eskimo Indian Olympics. There was also a gathering of people from across the Circumpolar north in Inuvik, Canada. This year, native people from Arctic nations joined Russia’s Chukchi and Inuit peoples for the first ever Beringia Arctic Games. It was the largest gathering of its kind in a once forgotten corner of the world called Chukotka.
Download Audio