EPA Administrator Visits Portage Glacier
The new head of the Environmental Protection Agency is making a field trip to Alaska this week. Gina McCarthy says this trip is not about regulation, but about learning and tribal consultation. She'll be going to Fairbanks and Bristol Bay, but she started her trip at the site of a receding glacier.
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Arctic Councils Test the Waters in Unalaska
Legislators, scientists, and industry stakeholders are flocking to Unalaska this week to work out a plan for exploring the Arctic and they want input from locals. The United States Arctic Research Commission convened at Unalaska’s Grand Aleutian Hotel today. The independent agency is made up of eight commissioners with diverse backgrounds in fisheries, science, and education.
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Tribal Summit On Suicide Problem Wraps Up In Anchorage
Suicide prevention was the focus of about 100 tribal representatives attending the 13th Alaska Tribal Leaders Summit in Anchorage Thursday and Friday. Alaska has the nation’s second highest suicide rate. In rural Alaska, suicide rates are four times the national average, and involve disproportionately high numbers of young Alaska Native men.
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Grand Jury Indicts Driver in Deaths of Two Girls
A 31-year-old Anchorage man accused of driving drunk and killing two teenage girls walking along a street has been indicted by a grand jury. The state Department of Law said today in a statement that Stacey Graham was indicted on two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of manslaughter. He also was earlier charged by the state with driving under the influence.
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Memo Cites Concerns with Proposed Abortion Regulations
A legislative attorney says a proposed new regulation that would further define what constitutes a "medically necessary" abortion for purposes of receiving Medicaid funding would likely be found unconstitutional.
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State Considers New Same Sex Partner Benefits
The Alaska State Personnel Board is considering including Same-sex partners in the definition of "immediate family." The proposed change in rules would allow state employees to take family leave due to a serious health condition of a same-sex partner.
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Alaska Education Leaders Tepid to Obama’s Education Plans
President Barack Obama wants to tie college rankings to how affordable they are and whether students are landing in the workforce after graduation.
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Millennium Passengers Call 911, Worried About ‘Riot’
The Celebrity cruise ship Millennium returned to Ketchikan Sunday night after mechanical problems. Police responded to the ship late Tuesday night following reports of unruly passengers.
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Man Suspected of Shooting at Police Arrested
A 31-year-old man suspected of shooting at an Anchorage police officer has been arrested. James John Nick was arrested on a warrant this morning.
Coast Guard Plans Arctic Spill Test
The Coast Guard icebreaker Healy is on its annual mission in the ice pack north of Barrow. Next month a group of technology specialists will come aboard with drones and submersibles to test arctic oil spill response capabilities.
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Inuit Circumpolar Council Meets In Kotzebue
The Inuit Circumpolar Council met in Kotzebue last week. It was the first meeting there since a general assembly in 1986. Members from Russia, Greenland and Canada joined their Alaskan counterparts to discuss ongoing concerns for indigenous people in the north.
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Anchorage Police Search For Man Who Shot At Officer
A man fired several shots at an Anchorage police officer today, but the officer was not hit. Police spokeswoman Jennifer Castro says the suspect fled on foot, and police have set up a perimeter in the midtown area to search for the man.
Anchorage Police Crack Down On Drunk Driving
The Anchorage Police Department says it arrested 34 people for driving under the influence during the first weekend of an expanded effort to crack down on drunken drivers. There have been five drunk driving deaths in the city in the last two months.
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Judge Suspends Controversial Union Ordinance
A state Superior Court judge has sided with Municipality of Anchorage employee's unions in a dispute over a city labor law. Judge Eric Aarseth heard arguments from union and city attorneys yesterday, and made his decision from the bench only minutes after their conclusion.
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How Are Alaska’s Schools Doing?
Last year, half of Alaska's schools were considered failing under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Next year, every single school – even the state's blue ribbon ones – would have gotten an "F" grade. So, Alaska decided to join dozens of other states across the country and apply for a waiver. Friday, the state Education Department has unveiled its new system for judging schools, with hopes of providing a better picture of how well the state's education system is working and where it needs to be improved.
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Rare ‘Red Lightning’ Garners National Attention
A graduate student from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks has garnered national media attention after he posted photos of a rare lightning-related phenomenon to his blog.
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Bethel Tundra Tram Project Is Complete
Heading west from Bethel towards the Bering Sea the lakes get bigger and there are more of them. From the air, it’s a patchwork of water and land. In the winter time they become frozen into one making cross country travel by snow machine relatively easy. But the rest of the year, traveling by tundra is not. And that’s where the tundra tram comes into play.
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Dinosaur Hunters Return For Field Season
The dinosaur hunters are back from this year's field season in Denali National Park. Composed of researchers from Fairbanks, Japan, Korea and Texas, the team was helicoptered into wilderness in the Riley Creek area to look for footprints laid down 70 million years ago.
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New Teachers Learn about Native Culture Before School Starts
Teachers headed to the Northwest Arctic Borough School District spent some time learning Inupiaq language, crafts and culture at a traditional fish camp this summer in preparation for their new jobs. The camp is one of two in the state that's are part of an effort to improve cultural understanding among incoming teachers and to help with teacher retention. And it seems to be working.
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Southeast Divers Must Travel Far For Emergency Care
Scuba diving emergencies can no longer be treated at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau. After more than 30 years, the facility discontinued its hyperbaric chamber program and recently removed the 13-foot chamber. Now, the closest chambers for public use are in Anchorage or Seattle.
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