Mt. Marathon Attracts A Deep Field of Competitors This Year
This weekend marked a new era for the Mount Marathon race in Seward. Foreigners dominated Alaska's favorite mountain run Saturday. And the top Alaskans say they are happy for the new level of competition.
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Governor Walker Renames Wade Hampton Census Area
The western Alaska census district named for a confederate slave owner and Civil War general has a new name. Governor Bill Walker wrote Thursday to the Census Bureau to begin the process of changing the name from the Wade Hampton Census District to Kusilvak (KOOSH-lee-vak) Census District.
Engine Failure Forces USCG Cutter to Return to Dutch Harbor
The Coast Guard Cutter Sherman had to return to Dutch Harbor a few days early this week. The cutter and its crew were forced to turn back from a regular patrol in the Bering Sea when one of the ship’s diesel engines malfunctioned.
Computer Models Aid Firefighters
The wildfires around Nulato and Ruby on the Yukon River have been burning slowly but steadily this week.
The Nulato Fire has covered more than 26 thousand acres, while a series of fires around Ruby have burned close to 65 thousand acres.
Alaska News Nightly: Friday, July 3, 2015
Wade Hampton Census Area Gets A New Name; Coast Guard Cutter Sherman Returns To Port To Address Engine Trouble; Computers Aid Firefighting Efforts; State Fish And Game Officials Warn Of 'Rabbit Fever' Outbreak; Haines Assembly Approves Lower Cruise Ship Moorage Fees; UAF Addresses Water Quality Concerns; AK: Seward's Mount Marathon Race Hits The Century Mark
49 Voices: Diane Timberlake of Anchorage
This week we're hearing from Diane Timberlake of Fairbanks.
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AK: Mount Marathon
All eyes are on the nation's July 4 birthday, but the date also marks the anniversary of an Alaska tradition. Seward's Mt. Marathon race, which takes place July 4 turns 100 years old this year. The race is a one of a kind, grueling, uphill run, and now it is the subject of a documentary film aimed at putting a face on the men and women who take the challenge.
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Polar Bear Recovery Plan
New reports are painting a grim picture for the future of polar bears. Studies looking at climate change impacts clarify that without ice, polar bears will have difficulty surviving. Polar bears in Alaska are particularly vulnerable and at risk of disappearing. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have just released a polar bear conservation management plan that identifies arctic warming as the largest threat to the bear’s survival.
KSKA: Tuesday, July 7, at 10:00 a.m.
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Federal bill introduced to fund Erin’s Law
Three U.S. senators have introduced a bill that would fund the implementation of Erin’s Law in states where it’s been adopted.
No 4th of July Fireworks or Fires in the YK Delta
A burn ban that has been lifted for most of the state remains in affect for the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta region. Fire officials say drought conditions have fire danger at high levels throughout the region and no burning or setting off fireworks will be allowed.
Haines man charged for shooting 3 bears
A Haines man faces misdemeanor charges after shooting three brown bears on his property last month.
Haines Assembly approves cruise ship waiver incentive
Haines has some of the lowest cruise ship moorage fees in Southeast Alaska. And last week, the borough assembly approved further lowering those fees for three summers. The assembly accepted a resolution that would give 50 percent off waivers to all cruise ships for a three-year time period. It’s part of a marketing plan to draw more ships to Haines.
North Pole man sickened by ‘rabbit fever’
Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials are warning residents after a North Pole man was sickened by tularemia, a bacterial infection known as "rabbit fever."
Crooked Creek Man Charged with Attempted Murder
A man is under arrest after shooting at people in the middle Kuskokwim village of Crooked Creek, Wednesday.
Report: Polar bears’ fate tied to reversing global warming
If humans don't reverse global warming and stop the loss of sea ice, it's unlikely polar bears will continue as a species. That's the blunt assessment in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's draft recovery plan for polar bears filed Thursday.
State will discontinue filling grayling in Alaska lakes
Funding cuts have forced Alaska hatcheries to stop raising Arctic grayling. The state chose to cut grayling because the small, native fish are disproportionately expensive to raise.
Challenges and successes for Alaska’s LGBTQ community
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision and legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. But in the same week, the rainbow flag was burned outside of Identity, Anchorage’s LGBT community center. In these fast changing times, what challenges and successes are the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities facing here in Alaska?
KSKA: Friday, 7/3, at 2:00 p.m. and Saturday, 7/4, at 6:00 p.m.
KAKM: Friday, 7/3, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, 7/4, at 4:30 p.m.
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Alaska News Nightly: Thursday, July 2, 2015
Cross-Border Salmon Dispute Puts A Damper on Summer Troll Opener; Bristol Bay Sockeye: A Run on the Brink?; Berkowitz Emphasizes New Tone for a New Anchorage in Inaugural Address; Anchorage's 2014-2015 Snowfall Levels Lowest on Record; Alaska's Shoreline Erosion Rate Among Highest Worldwide; Parasite Plagues Some Yukon Kings; Hjalmar "Ofi" Olson, Bristol Bay Elder, Dies at 75; Sea Shanties, Scurvy, and a Sailboat Regatta Without Wind
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Cross-Border Salmon Dispute Puts A Damper on Summer Troll Opener
Harbors emptied throughout Southeast this week as fishermen headed out for the beginning of the summer troll season. July 1 marks the annual start of the summer’s first king salmon opener -- the most lucrative time of the year for many trollers.
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Bristol Bay Sockeye: A Run on the Brink?
Alaska’s largest sockeye fishery is predicted to have a near record return this summer, but so far the reds have only trickled into Bristol Bay’s rivers.
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