Alaska News Nightly: Friday, July 31, 2015
Shell Begins Exploratory Drilling in the Chukchi Sea; Attorney General Says Tribal Protection Orders Deserve Equal Recognition; At Least 7 Vehicles Involved In Fatal Seward Highway Wreck; 15-Year-Old Plane Crash Survivor Honored By Coast Guard; Yukon King Run Stronger Than Expected; Strange Orange Robots Sail Into Dutch Harbor... Just What Are They Up To?; AK: At A Lonely Lighthouse, Cruise Tourists Bring A Welcome Dose of Noise, And Cash; 49 Voices: Albert Gamboa of Anchorage
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Strange Orange Robots Sail Into Dutch Harbor… Just What Are They Up To?
Aquatic robots have been spotted in the Aleutian Islands. Two ocean-going drones were seen sailing into Dutch Harbor Monday night with no one on board. Just what are these orange robots doing out there--and should we be alarmed?
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Shell Begins Exploratory Drilling in the Chukchi Sea
Arctic drilling is under way. Shell Oil confirmed Thursday night that its Polar Pioneer rig sent a drill bit spinning into the floor of the Chukchi Sea about 5 p.m. Alaska time.
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At Least 7 Vehicles Involved In Fatal Seward Highway Wreck
Alaska State Troopers say one person is dead and numerous others are injured in a highway crash involving at least seven vehicles, including a tour bus.
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15-Year-Old Plane Crash Survivor Honored By Coast Guard
The 15-year-old survivor of a plane crash near Juneau was recognized by the U.S. Coast Guard Thursday for helping to save the other three passengers despite his own injuries.
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Yukon King Run Stronger Than Expected
A stronger than expected run of Yukon River Chinook salmon is allowing fishery managers to loosen subsistence harvest restrictions on both the U.S. and Canadian sides of the river. The better-than-anticipated run is still small by historical standards, but may signal that Yukon King stocks are beginning to rebuild.
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New Transit Director As Berkowitz Administration Looks for Efficiencies
Jody Karcz has been with the transportation department for 30 years, and knows the municipality's bus, ride-share, and van programs intimately.
AK: At a Lonely Lighthouse, Tourists Bring A Welcome Dose of Noise, And Cash
For most of the summer the three people who live in Five Finger Lighthouse only have each other and the local wildlife for company. They’re there to look after the lighthouse and do research on the humpback whales who surround the island. But that costs money. So for the first time this year they invited a cruise ship, laden with yoga loving tourists, to ferry its passengers onto their rocky shores.
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Trooper search warrant finds Nome pair with 21 pot plants, $32k in marijuana
Alaska State Troopers said two Nome-area residents are facing drug charges after they say they found an illegal marijuana grow in their Dexter and Triple Creek-area home.
49 Voices: Albert Gamboa of Anchorage
This week we're talking to Albert Gamboa, who was fishing on the banks of Ship Creek in downtown Anchorage. He's originally from the Philippines and has lived in Anchorage on and off since 1989.
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The future of Alaska’s megaprojects
The six so called megaprojects that Governor Walker put on hold soon after taking office have already received millions in state and federal funds but would take billions to actually complete. Where would the money come from? If the state stops them completely will the federal money have to be repaid?
APRN: Tuesday, 8/4 at 10:00am
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Health nonprofits strained by delay in grant payments
Some of Alaska's social service agencies say they are feeling strained finances caused by delayed state grant funding caused by the Legislature's late budget and expenditures on a new state computer accounting system.
EPA announces $445K settlement with North Slope Borough
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a settlement with Alaska's North Slope Borough over alleged hazardous waste violations.
Hoonah cruise ship dock to be completed in the fall
Hoonah will soon be getting more cruise ship passengers as it nears completion of a new dock at Icy Strait Point. The town currently receives as many as 4,000 tourists a day on cruise lines like Celebrity. But arriving ships have to anchor offshore and tender passengers over with smaller boats.
Alaska senators vote in favor of highway bill
Congress has averted a crisis in U.S. Highway funding. The Senate passed a House bill on Thursday to keep the highway program afloat until at least Halloween.
Two Anchorage mayors tackle two recessions
This week, we’ll be talking with two Anchorage mayors about two recessions. With us are Tom Fink, who took over the reigns of Anchorage in 1987, not long after a collapse in the price of oil, and by Ethan Berkowitz, who’s been in office just about a month now.
KSKA: Friday, July 31, at 2:00 p.m. and Saturday, August 1, at 6:00 p.m.
KAKM: Friday, July 31, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, August 1, at 6:00 p.m.
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Alaska News Nightly: Thursday, July 30, 2015
Fed Judge Slaps Greenpeace Protesters With $2,500/Hr. Fine; 'Shell No' Protesters Turn Back the Fennica; A Tale of 2 Murkowski Bills - One Partisan, One Not; Instrument Data ‘Another Piece of the Puzzle’ in Fatal Plane Crash; Under Alaska Management, the Mosquito River is Open for Business; Bethel Advances The Possibility of A City-Run Liquor Store; Ketchikan Borough To Vote on Tobacco Tax; BC tribal protest stops mine exploration, for now; Wrangell Opens A New Cultural Center, Carving Shed
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Shell’s Fennica Sets Sail for Alaska
Police disbanded the protest late this afternoon, and the Fennica set sail for Alaska. But not before a federal judge found Greenpeace in contempt for blocking the path of an Arctic-bound drilling vessel.
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‘Shell No’ Protesters Turn Back the Fennica Thursday Morning
"Shell No" is the theme of a protest that happened this week as Shell's Fennica icebreaker tried to head north after undergoing repairs in Oregon. The protest was disbanded by the Coast Guard and local authorities late Thursday afternoon, and the Fennica is currently en route to the Arctic.
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Tale of 2 Murkowski Bills: Bipartisan and Not
Sen. Lisa Murkowski passed two major bills out of the Senate Energy Committee today, each containing priorities she’s been working on since she became the panel's chairman. One passed on a strict party-line vote while the other passed overwhelmingly, but each bill reflects elements of the senator’s legislative style.
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