AK, B.C. promise more input into mine decisions
The Walker-Mallott administration will include transboundary mine critics’ concerns in its negotiations with British Columbia. Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott made that announcement after returning from a week of meetings with government, industry and aboriginal leaders in the nearby province.
Seafood Plants Offset Wage Hike Through Room & Board
In the next few weeks, thousands of seafood processors will return to Unalaska for pollock B season. They’ll be earning more money, thanks to the state’s minimum wage hike -- but they’ll also be paying more to live.
Anchorage Hospitals Compete For New ER Beds
Two big hospitals in Anchorage have competing visions for how to expand access to emergency care. Alaska Regional wants to build two freestanding emergency departments on opposite ends of the city while Providence is hoping to add beds to specialize in pediatric emergencies on its campus.
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Alaskan Natives Support Arctic Drilling; Seattle City Council Opposed
Royal Dutch Shell’s drilling plans for the Arctic have hit a snag in Seattle. Shell is planning to dock oil rigs at the Port of Seattle before they head north to drill in the Chukchi Sea. The city council and mayor have come out against that deal. And that got the attention of a group of Alaskans, who showed up to tell Seattle’s leaders to get out of the way.
Hospital accreditation at risk over sterilization questions
Fairbanks Memorial Hospital could lose its accreditation after being flagged for inadequately documenting some of its sterilization procedures.
Uber, Utility Sale Tossed By Anchorage Assembly
Two controversial business proposals for Anchorage were settled during last night’s Assembly meeting. Services connected to both taxi cabs and garbage trucks will stay the same
FCC Investigates Bid Discounts for Doyon-Owned Firm
The Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday morning the FCC is ready to investigate how a company partly owned by Fairbanks-based Doyon won licenses to use the wireless spectrum, while claiming it was entitled to billions of dollars in discounts. Critics say Doyon’s big corporate partner, Dish Network, is taking advantage of a program meant to help small businesses. Doyon says the program worked exactly as intended.
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Alaska News Nightly: Tuesday, May 12, 2015
With No Budget Deal In Sight, Lawmakers Hold Brief Technical Session; Walker Administration Says Medicaid System Is On The Mend; FCC Investigates Bid Discounts for Doyon-Owned Firm; Climbers Heli-Rescued After Slide in the Alaska Range; Coalition Uses A Data-Driven Approach To Hunt For Behavioral Health Solutions; Sitka Gets Creative To Pay For Its Dam; Treat Your Soil With A Little TLC, Reap The Benefits During Harvest; 'TV Doesn't Do It Justice': First Cruise Ship Visitors Arrive in Skagway
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With No Budget Deal In Sight, Lawmakers Hold Brief Technical Session
The next floor sessions are scheduled for Friday and Saturday this week, and are also expected to be technical sessions barring any deal between lawmakers.
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Walker Administration Says Medicaid System Is On The Mend
The state’s troubled Medicaid payment system has seen improvements in recent months, according to Walker administration officials.
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Climbers Heli-Rescued Off Mt. Dickey After Slide
The National Park Service reports that two Idaho climbers have been rescued after an avalanche on Mt. Dickey in the Alaska Range.
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Coalition Uses A Data-Driven Approach To Find Behavioral Health Solutions
Anchorage organizations are using the wealth of data about youth behavioral health to develop local, community-relevant solutions for things like substance use and suicide.
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Sitka Gets Creative To Pay For Its Dam
After a month of discussion, the Sitka Assembly on Monday night settled on a modest electric rate increase. Residential rates will go up by about 6 percent in the coming year, to pay for debt service on the Blue Lake dam.
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Treat Your Soil With A Little TLC, Reap The Benefits During Harvest
"If we throw mother nature out the door, she comes back in with a pitchfork." Masanobu Fukuoka. His book, "The One Straw Revolution," changed the way many look at farming practices.
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‘TV doesn’t do it justice’: first cruise ship visitors arrive in Skagway
Skagway’s modern gold rush – the cruise ship season – has begun. The town of around 1,000 people expects almost 800,000 cruise ship passengers this summer. And the first 2,000 of those passengers had a chance to explore town Tuesday. The Celebrity Solstice sailed north from Vancouver, with stops in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway.
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Anchorage: Data Show 2% Dip In Major Crime
Outgoing Mayor Dan Sullivan held a press conference Tuesday at City Hall to explain that statistics for the last year tell a more optimistic story than the one on the campaign trail.
Chinook Researchers Encounter Unlikely Predator In Bering Sea
While studying Chinook salmon in the Bering Sea, researchers have found themselves in the wake of an unlikely killer.
Court Overturns Wassillie Gregory’s Conviction
A judge has dismissed the harassment conviction of a man who was roughly arrested by a former Bethel police officer in the AC parking lot. Judge Bruce Ward approved the application Monday for post conviction relief filed by Wassillie Gregory’s attorney after video surfaced last month.
Mat Su Assembly Budget Discussions
The Matanuska Susitna Borough Assembly wrestles with providing services while keeping the mil rate low.
Alaska is first phase of Arctic Ocean fiber optic project
Marine surveying will start again this summer near Alaska's coastal communities in a wide-reaching effort to improve communications by laying a $700 million fiber-optic cable linking Europe and Asia through the Arctic Ocean.