Alaska’s Summer Flu Activity Increased
An alert was issued Tuesday concerning the unusually high number of summer flu cases in Alaska. The Alaska Public Health Alert Network is advising health care providers to consider influenza when evaluating patients with compatible symptoms. The recent rise in summer cases is attributed to summer travelers to Alaska on land and cruise ships as well as a long-term care facility outbreak.
Alaska, TransCanada starting new partnership
The state and TransCanada Corp. have formally ended their relationship under terms of the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, clearing the way for a new partnership to pursue a major gas project.
OceansAlaska Admits Financial Problems
OceansAlaska, a Ketchikan-based shellfish seed producer, is in a financial mess. Officials with the nonprofit admitted as much during Monday’s Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly meeting. They asked the Assembly for more time to reconcile their accounts related to a borough grant, along with enough borough funding to keep the doors open through the end of July.
Alaska Communities to See More PILT
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced today the government is sending $28.5 million to local governments in Alaska to compensate them for the tax-exempt federal land within their boundaries. It’s called “Payment-in-lieu of taxes” and this year’s total is $2 million higher than last year.
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Obama Administration Shines Spotlight on Oceans
President Obama announced today he intends to vastly expand the Pacific Remote Islands marine sanctuary, putting a swath of the south-central Pacific off-limits to fishing and energy development. The announcement is part of a high-profile oceans conference taking place this week at the State Department. Australian scientist Ove Hoegh-Guldberg focused on ocean acidification, which he says undermines the entire marine food chain – from plankton and shellfish to bowhead whales.
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Kodiak Fishermen Target A Niche Consumer Market
Small boat fishermen out of Kodiak have found a premium market for their catch, based on the idea of buying local. The jig fishery uses gear as light as ten pounds, and is open to anyone who buys a permit. A number of restaurants are willing to pay more for fish caught that way.
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Steel Creek Fire Draws Speedy Response
A new Fairbanks area wildfire drew a major response last night. Alaska Division of Forestry information officer Sam Harrel reports that ground and air resources were tapped to attack the Steel Creek Fire, near mile 4 Chena Hot Springs Road.
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State, IBU Reach Tentative Agreement On New Contract
The largest labor union representing Alaska Marine Highway System workers has a tentative agreement for a new three-year contract with the state. The Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific and the Alaska Department of Administration reached the agreement last week after more than six months at the bargaining table.
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Alaska News Nightly: June 17, 2014
Alaska Communities To Be Compensated $28.5M for Tax-Exempt Lands; Obama to Expand Pacific Marine Sanctuary; Kodiak Fishermen Find a Niche Consumer Market; Steel Creek Fire Near Fairbanks Draws Air Response; Ferry Workers Reach Tentative Labor Agreement; GCI Celebrates Launch of 3G Service with 6,000 Cheeseburgers; Right-Wing Lt. Gov. Candidate Vies for Ballot Slot; Plans for a Skatepark Get Rolling in Kwethluk; Loo Dedication Draws Small Crowd in Ketchikan.
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GCI Celebrates 3G Data Service in Bethel with 6,000 Cheeseburgers
GCI celebrated the launch of 3G data service in Bethel by flying in 6,000 McDonald’s cheeseburgers. The Friday lunchtime crowd stretched out and around the parking lot of the Long House Hotel.
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Right-Wing Lt. Gov. Candidate Vies for A Ballot Slot
A Fairbanks woman is part of a team trying to get a new party on the Alaska ballot. Maria Rensel is running as an Alaska Constitution Party candidate for lieutenant governor. Resnel says the campaign is all about breaking up the lock Republicans and Democrats have on Alaska politics.
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Plans for a Skatepark Get Rolling in Kwethluk
Village youth in the Kuskokim village of Kwethluk will soon have a chance to do something few of them have done before: Skateboard. Construction of a new skatepark there will begin next month. The park is the first of it’s kind in the YK Delta.
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New Loo Offers Relief In Busy Tourist Season
A ribbon cutting ceremony for a new public facility was held Thursday morning in downtown Ketchikan. The christening of the Stedman –Thomas Neighborhood Loo attracted about 40 people on a sunny and windy morning.
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Alaska’s New Standardized Tests
Alaska will pay $25 million in the next five years for a new standardized test. The new test is being created by the Achievement and Assessment Institute at the University of Kansas and will be administered to the state’s 77,000 third through 10th graders.
Racial Outburst Disrupts End Of Celebration Parade
Juneau police are asking for help identifying a man in connection with a racist incident during Saturday morning’s Celebration parade through downtown.
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B.C. Mine Developers Defend Near-Border Projects
We’ve heard a lot about mines planned for northwest British Columbia, just across Alaska’s border. Southeast tribal, fishing and environmental groups have blasted those plans. Critics say they’ll pollute rivers that cross the border, damaging or destroying salmon and other fish runs. But we haven’t heard a lot from mine advocates. Now, we have.
Alaska Dept. Fish & Game Announces Subsistence Salmon Opening
If you live by the Norton Sound, get ready for salmon. On Monday, the Department of Fish and Game announced subsistence and commercial openings that will begin this Wednesday, June 18th, for three subdistricts in the Norton Sound.
New Radio Stations Reaching Out to Natives, ‘Under-Represented’ Audiences
A new Fairbanks radio station is broadcasting programs aimed at the Native community in the Interior. Another group hopes to launch its station early next year to provide radio programming for other groups that they say are not being served. The ventures are part of a nationwide trend of community-based radio.
Parnell Signs SB99 To Allow POW Mine Loans
Gov. Sean Parnell was in Ketchikan on Monday to sign into law Senate Bill 99, which allows the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority to issue bonds for two Southeast Alaska mining projects, plus a loan for Sitka’s Blue Lake Hydroelectric Project.
Potential PSP Case Reported From Clam Beach Clams
A man reported possible symptoms of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning after consuming clams gathered near Clam Gulch on the Kenai Peninsula Saturday - one of the few beaches the state monitors.