Record Run Leads To Glut Of Pink Salmon
The record setting pink salmon catch in Alaska last year has left seafood processing companies with several year’s worth of inventory of canned product, although not all of the pink salmon winds up in a can. In fact, industry in recent years has been freezing and reprocessing around half of Alaska’s pink catch. Analysts say that move has helped weather the boom and bust cycles of salmon returns.
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Mat-Su Sport Fishermen Applaud Board Action
Sports fishermen in the Mat-Su Borough are thrilled with a change the Alaska Board of Fisheries made this week to the Cook Inlet drift-net fisheries.
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Fabe Addresses Cost Of Delivering Justice
The State of the Judiciary address can sometimes be a lofty affair, where the head of the State Supreme Court sets out a vision for what justice in Alaska should look like. This year, Alaska Supreme Chief Justice Dana Fabe delved into more pragmatic concerns, like the effect of declining revenues on the state legal system.
5,000 Alaskans Sign Up On Healthcare.gov
More than five thousand Alaskans have signed up for health insurance on the federal marketplace. The new numbers released today include enrollments through the beginning of the month and show a 30% jump since the end of the December.
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Construction Spending Expected To Increase
Spending on construction projects in Alaska is expected to increase this year according to the University of Alaska’s Institute of Social and Economic Research. The 2014 construction spending forecast was put together by the ISER researchers for the Associated General Contractors of Alaska.
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The ‘Kiwi Musher’ is a Rookie, But He’s No Stranger to Mushing
The Yukon Quest has once again proven itself as one of the toughest races in the Far North. Of the 18 mushers who signed up for this year’s race, only eleven may finish. The race has claimed rookies, and seasoned veterans alike, but there are still a handful of teams plugging along toward the finish line outside of Whitehorse. KUAC’s Emily Schwing caught up with the “Kiwi Musher” and has this profile.
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Late Performer Leaves Seven Decades of Archive Treasures
When someone dies, it can take months to sort out legal and personal matters, but what if that life encompassed more than 70 years of international stage performances? Russ Reno is a long time family friend of the late performer Percy ‘Mike’ Madill.
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Remembering Ruby Rokeberg
Looking out the living room window of our duplex on Iliamna Drive I couldn’t have missed Ruby on her hands and knees furiously yanking from the flower bed my newly transplanted flowers.
We were new to Alaska, having lived our first year on Government Hill and new to the neighborhood, Susitna View Park, just west of Turnagain-By-the-Sea subdivision, where Mel and Ruby lived. Their son, Norman, and I had become friends. The year was 1954.
Read more. Congress Moves Ahead On Bill To Restore Veteran’s Benefits
Congress is working this week to protect military pensions from inflation. The U.S. House voted today (Tuesday) to restore a cut to the cost-of-living-allowance for retirees, and the Senate last night (Monday) voted to move forward with a bill to do the same. The Senate bill was sponsored by Alaska Sen. Mark Begich, and, on the procedural vote, it passed 94-0. Still, as APRN's Liz Ruskin reports, the bill's fate is uncertain.
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Measure To Elect Attorney General Moves Ahead
Alaska is just one of seven states in the country that does not elect its attorney general. A constitutional amendment that’s moving through the Legislature would change that.
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Kikkan Randall Finishes Out Of Medals In Olympic Skate Sprint
It was a disappointing day for Kikkan Randall and her fans. The Anchorage skier failed to medal in the Olympic skate sprint in Sochi- an event many thought she would win. Randall missed advancing to the semifinals by a tiny margin- seven-hundredths of a second.
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Fairbanks Chamber Works To Keep Flint Hills Open
The Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce isn’t giving up on the Flint Hills refinery. Flint Hills announced last week that it plans to cease crude oil processing at the North Pole Plant, and turn the facility into a distribution depot for fuel shipped in from other facilities. Fairbanks chamber board chair Steve Lundgren says the organization will work with the state to try to find a new owner-operator for the refinery.
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Tok Biomass Boiler Heats School, Funds Music Teacher
In late 2010 the Tok School fired up its new biomass boiler to heat the school. By 2013 it was providing electricity as well and saving the school district about $350,000 per year. Now, those same scrubby trees will help grow fresh vegetables for the district’s students.
Sass Still Planning for Iditarod
The Yukon Quest Race Organization held a press conference with Brent Sass this morning (Tuesday). The musher discussed the accident that led to a serious concussion and took him out of this year’s race. The musher was emotional, but he’s confident about his future mushing career.
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Raven Guitars, Icy Straits Lumber Win First Path To Prosperity Contest
An acoustic guitar maker and a small saw mill are the winners of the inaugural Path to Prosperity contest. The business plan competition for Southeast Alaska entrepreneurs was sponsored by Haa Aanì, the community development arm of Sealaska Corporation, as well as the Nature Conservancy.
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Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Parmesan & Walnuts
My love for Brussels sprouts extends far and deep, years before they became a fad at hip eateries in Chicago and San Francisco. It all goes back to a time when the idea finding a fresh Brussels sprouts at the grocery store in Fairbanks was unthinkable, and so ours came to the dinner table via frozen baggies from the super market.
It all goes back to a time when Holly and I were obsessed with Barbies.
Read more. State Senate Rejects Pay Raises For Governor, Commissioners
The compensation bill was approved unanimously and now needs a vote from the House.
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Budget Cuts Shrink AVO’s Seismic Network
The ability to monitor several volcano’s in Alaska is being diminished due to funding constraints. The Alaska Volcano Observatory confirms that all of the monitoring instruments and stations at the Fourpeaked Volcano on the Alaska Peninsula have failed.
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Empire Reporter Fired Following Disagreement With Publisher
A former Juneau Empire reporter says she was fired when she refused to set up a meeting between the publisher and a legislator on a bill that affects newspapers.
Jennifer Canfield left her job as state capital reporter last week.
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Fish Board Restricts Commercial Fleet in Cook Inlet
After spending Sunday listening to stakeholders' committee comments on Northern District proposals, the state's Board of Fisheries this (Monday) morning got down to deliberations on central Cook Inlet management changes. The Board unanimously approved a proposal to ensure escapement goals for the Northern District.
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