News

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is initiating a major infractions case against the University of Alaska Fairbanks. As KUAC’s Dan Bross reports, the case involves failure to meet athlete eligibility requirements.

While Akutan’s new airport has received considerable attention and scrutiny for being expensive and inaccessible, another large infrastructure project on the island that suffers some of the same problems has mostly flown under the radar.

Five crewmembers from the Polar Wind were rescued after the tug and the barge it was towing went aground. The Northland Services tug was 20 miles from Cold Bay when it became separated from the barge it was dragging behind it. The two vessels went adrift while the crew was trying to reconnect the towline. According to Coast Guard Petty Officer David Mosley, weather was a factor.

After several months of inactivity, Cleveland Volcano erupted on Saturday.

The Parnell administration has sent federal fisheries disaster officials a new estimate of that poor Chinook Salmon returns to Alaska rivers cost fishermen. Only commercial fishing is eligible for fisheries disaster aid, not subsistence or sports fishing. The new estimate is that about $16.8 million in revenue were lost by the industry because of Chinook Salmon closures. The prior estimate was about $10 million.

Two votes. That’s the latest report from Juneau where absentee ballots were counted Tuesday in the race for House District 34. Haines Republican Representative Bill Thomas now holds a two-vote lead over Sitka Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins.

Congress reconvenes today after more than a month away. With less than two months until the end of the year and the close of the session, members clearly feel the heat. Today, the Senate picked up a collection of bills known as the Sportsmen’s Package. If it passes, it could waive the duck stamp fee for subsistence hunters.

The subsistence fishermen trials that were scheduled to start today (Tuesday) in Bethel have been postponed.

Sealaska shareholders will soon get their largest end-of-year dividend in three years. But it’s mostly due to the success of another regional Native corporation.

The Tribal Law and Order Act signed into law last July created an all-volunteer Indian Law and Order Commission charged with creating recommendations on how to make life for Native Americans safer and more just. Two members of the Indian Law and Order Commission recently visited Alaska to gather information. They say all Alaskans would benefit if the state worked more cooperatively with tribes. Governor Sean Parnell says the criticism is unwarranted.

GCI is purchasing three television stations: KTVA in Anchorage, KATH in Juneau, and KSCT in Sitka. The company says it’s the first of potentially more media buys. David Morris is vice president at GCI. He says the deal has been in the works for about a year.

Talkeetna residents are wondering what is going on after two buildings caught ablaze on two separate nights. On Saturday night an aluminum-sided trailer was destroyed on I street. On Sunday night, a second blaze ignited in a house across the street from that site. That brings the number of unexplained fires in Talkeetna to three in the last two weeks. Both properties were unoccupied and no injuries were reported. The Talkeetna Volunteer, Willow and Houston Fire Departments responded.

A woman died after a vehicle accident near the Seward and Sterling Highway interchange on Sunday. No identity has been released yet. There were two people in the southbound vehicle when it left the road, according to State Troopers.

A man was found dead in a midtown Anchorage business park Saturday. Initial police reports say he and his girlfriend were drinking and passed out. The man, said to be in his 30s, did not wake up.

Construction workers uncovered human remains near McGrath last month during work on an erosion control project along the Kuskokwim River. An investigation revealed their Athabascan origins. Results from scientific analysis are still very preliminary, but the findings could shed new light on the origins and history of interior Alaska’s Native people.

Hunters on St. Lawrence Island have reported oiled wildlife – the most recent report this Monday. Responders from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Coast Guard planned on arriving at the island – to the communities of Gambell and Savoonga – this evening.

Shell’s Noble Discoverer drill rig is docked in Unalaska and the Kulluk is on its way after a series of delays. Popular Mechanics reports that detaching the Kulluk from its mooring system and getting it under tow was delayed. The drilling season ended last week, but because of deteriorating weather conditions in the Beaufort Sea, the company hadn’t been able to refuel the Aiviq - an icebreaking tug that will tow the Kulluk - and below-zero conditions were keeping helicopters grounded.

The sentencing of the former director of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission continued today in federal court in Anchorage. Ahmaogak was director of the commission for 17 years until she was fired in 2007 from the commission, which receives federal funds. She pleaded guilty in May to two counts of theft and misapplication of funds.

Two members of the all-volunteer Indian Law and Order Commission came to Alaska last week to gather information for recommendations to the President and Congress on ways to make Indian Country safer and more just. They say all Alaskans would benefit if the state worked more cooperatively with tribes.