Fairbanks Natural Gas Founder Running Another LNG Company
The man who started Fairbanks Natural Gas and now runs another gas company, is poised to build a North Slope LNG processing plant that could supply trucked in gas to Fairbanks.
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Public Weighs In On Plan For Northern Access To U-Med District
The city of Anchorage is hoping to build a road through green space in the city's university area. It would be provide additional access to one of the busiest business districts in Anchorage, but neighborhood councils in the area are strongly opposed to the new road. And public feedback at a town hall meeting on Tuesday evening was overwhelmingly negative.
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Revamped GED Test Coming In January
The General Education Development test, better known as the GED, is the standard high school equivalency exam. This January, the test will be updated –made more rigorous according to the test developers. But with the update comes a deadline: those currently working toward a GED need to finish before Dec. 31 or they’ll have to start over next year.
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Sitka’s Water Main’s Fixed, But Who Pays For Repairs?
Sitka’s water system is back in business. Local officials feared the coastal community would run out of water this morning after the main line broke. A contractor rebuilding Sitka’s Sawmill Creek Road damaged the line yesterday afternoon while blasting rock. Water began flowing through the pipe again this morning after repairs were completed.
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Fishermen: Lack of Affordable Health Insurance A Barrier To Industry Growth
Options for health insurance coverage can be pretty limited in Alaska for small businesses and the self-employed. That includes commercial fishermen, who make up a major segment of the economy. Some in the industry say the cost and lack of access to comprehensive health insurance is a barrier to new fishermen and an ongoing concern for those already in the business.
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Beloved Tree Comes Down In Fairbanks
A landmark tree in Fairbanks is gone. The 75-foot-tall white spruce that stood in front of the Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge farm house was cut down Monday. The tree was dying from stress cracks and a beetle infestation and needed to come down. But, it won’t be forgotten.
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Muni Planning and Zoning Stalls Eklutna Landfill
The Anchorage planning commission has shot down a bid by Alaska Native corporation Eklutna, Inc. to develop land the corporation owns near a residential area. Despite Eklutna's last minute request for more research time, commissioners questioned the motive behind some aspects of the industrial project
Kachemak Bay Water Trail – Connecting Communities
Assembly Postpones Decision on AO-37, Traini Proposes Repeal
The Anchorage Assembly continued hearing testimony on two proposals about when to hold a vote whether a controversial labor ordinance should be overturned.
Volleys Traded Over Tennis Court Funding
A $10.5-million earmark for indoor tennis courts in Anchorage has become a lightning rod because the city didn't ask for it and many lawmakers thought the money was being used for other purposes.
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Survey Indicates High Rate of Sexual Assault in the Mat-Su Borough
Almost half of the adult women in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough have experienced some form of sexual violence at least once during their lifetime. That’s the sad news to come out of a recent survey conducted by the UAA Justice Center and the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.
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Alaska’s Supreme Court Justice Talks About Diversity On The Court
The Alaska Supreme Court was in Barrow last week to hear a climate change lawsuit on the Barrow high school stage. Chief Justice Dana Fabe says it’s important for students to learn how their legal system works. The Chief Justice feels strongly that diversity on the bench helps communities have faith in the decisions judges make. In her chambers at the Boney courthouse in downtown Anchorage she spoke highly of her predecessor Jay Rabinowitz who believed all Alaskans should have equal access to the judicial system.
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AIDEA Signs Agreement To Support Niblack Project
The owner of the Niblack mining project on Prince of Wales Island continues to explore the possibility of a minerals processing plant on Gravina Island near Ketchikan.
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Study: Southeast’s ‘Blue Economy’ Growing
Southeast Alaska’s maritime economy provides more than a quarter of the wages paid in the region. That’s according to a new study published by the Southeast Conference.
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New Downtown Fairbanks Sculpture In The Works
A pair of Canadian sculptors selected to build a piece for downtown Fairbanks visited the community last week to preview officials and the public about the project. Their work is designed to represent and reflect the local environment.
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Understanding and Conserving Alaska’s Estuaries
Sure, all natural habitats are important. But some have a special power – for both nature and people.
That’s the case for the estuary, that place where the world’s three most dominant natural realms meet.
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Anchorage Assembly: Indoor Tennis Courts On Hold, Labor Law Hearing Wednesday
A plan to build indoor tennis courts was put on hold at the regular Anchorage Assembly meeting Tuesday night.
Alaska E-Health Network Defends Privacy Protections Of Medical Records
The company contracted with the state to manage Alaska’s new on line medical records data base is defending its privacy protections. The Alaska E-health Network, like many across the country, resulted from state and federal mandates designed to improve efficiency and privacy of health information transfer. It was piloted in Fairbanks, and went live this summer statewide. Alaskans are required to opt out of the system if they don’t want their medical records in the data base. The American Civil Liberties Union is critical of that, and has also raised concerns about access by hackers and government agencies.
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Why Sea-Tac Airport Workers Can’t Join a Union for Better Pay
In November, voters in the small city of SeaTac will decide whether to set one of the highest minimum wages in the country. The controversial Proposition One would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour for some workers, including ground crew at the airport. Alaska Airlines is fighting the measure. Traditionally, when workers want better wages, they join a union. So why are airport workers taking this approach instead? They don’t have a lot of choices – they’re stuck in a legal limbo under federal labor law.
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Alaska Native Tribal Governments Keep Doors Open For Now
Alaska Native tribal governments are keeping their doors open, but worry about how long the federal government shutdown will go on.
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