Out With The Old, In With The New: Up-And-Comers Outpace Longtime Career Mushers
For decades, a few big name mushers have dominated the standings in the Iditarod, but after decades of racing, many of them are reconsidering their priorities. Professional mushing may be in the midst of a “changing of the guard” as a small group of young mushers start to post top finishing times.
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Alaska News Nightly: March 19, 2015
Daylight Saving Stalls in House; Pentagon to Study Native Contract Reforms; Native Corp to Open Bethel Liquor Store; Stryker Brigade Investigated; DOJ Following Fairbanks Four Case; AHFC Wants Updated Housing Supply; Mat-Su Paying for Ferry Storage; UAS Expanding to Wrangell; Food Bank Needs More Space
Support For Daylight Saving Bill Falls Back
After sailing through the Senate, a bill to exempt Alaska from daylight saving time has lost momentum in the House.
Native Corp Plans Liquor Store for Bethel
Bethel could see its first liquor store in four decades if the Bethel Native Corporation goes ahead with plans to open a package store and it clears regulatory hurdles.
Army Investigating Stryker Brigade For Allegations of Racist Behavior
Army investigators are looking into a Stryker Brigade soldier’s allegations of racist behavior by some members of his unit. A U.S. The allegations were outlined in a story posted today to the Army Times’ website. The story cites an NCO with the 25th Infantry Division’s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Wainwright. According to the Times’ story, the staff sergeant says soldiers with the platoon created a weekly opportunity to racially slur fellow soldiers during a weekly event the sergeant says was known as "Racial Thursdays."
Tanana Chiefs Says DOJ Tracking Fairbanks Four Case
A member of the Tanana Chiefs Conference Native Justice Task Force says the federal Department of Justice is tracking the case of the Fairbanks Four. That’s the four Alaska Native men who the task force and others say were wrongfully convicted of killing a teenager in Fairbanks in 1997.
That ’70s Home: How AHFC is Trying to Update Alaska’s Aging Housing Supply
More than half of all homes in Alaska were built in the 1970s and ‘80s. That’s according to an Alaska Housing Finance Corp. report released last year that highlighted the need for improvements to the state’s aging housing stock. AHFC offers a variety of loan and rebate programs aimed at home renovations and energy efficiency upgrades. Corporation officials were in Juneau over the weekend to talk about some of those programs at the Southeast Alaska Building Industry Association’s Home and Outdoor Living Expo.
Mat-Su Continues Funding for Ferry Storage
This week, the Mat-Su Borough Assembly went through the quarterly process of approving the next three months of funding for storage and maintenance of the MV Susitna, which currently amounts to about $18,000 per month.
UAS Expanding to Wrangell
The University of Alaska Southeast will have a full-time presence in Wrangell starting this spring. UAS will base a tech prep regional coordinator in the Wrangell Public School District, and officials hope the new arrangement will expand opportunities for students and adults.
Food Bank Needs More Space to Meet Higher Demand
The Southeast Alaska Food Bank has doubled its inventory in recent years and is lacking the freezer space to preserve it all. The nonprofit hopes to expand its facilities on city-owned land to build additional storage.
Pentagon prodded to Study Native Contracting Reform
Alaska’s Congressional delegation and a dozen other lawmakers are asking the Defense secretary to study how contracting reform has hurt Alaska Native corporations and tribally owned businesses. The lawmakers sent letters this week to Secretary Ash Carter about the 2010 rule change, known as “Section 811.”
Campbell To Serve as Interim Director of DOT Southcoast Region
A Department of Transportation insider is the new manager of the agency’s division overseeing Southeast Alaska. Commissioner Marc Luiken on Tuesday announced Rob Campbell will fill in as interim director of DOT’s Southcoast Region. That includes Southeast, plus coastal Southcentral and Southwest Alaska. Campbell already directs the department’s Central Region, which includes Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
I Am An Ice Fisherman
Elmer Brown knows that it takes patience, and a willingness to weather the cold, to catch sheefish on Kotzebue Sound.
Iditarod Front-Runners Looking Forward To Time Away From Competition
The top-10 Iditarod mushers have arrived safely in Nome and their sled dogs are tucked in for a long rest in the dog yard. For most of the front-runners, a top-10 finish is nothing new.
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Dallas Seavey Predicts His Winning Team Will Be Back
Dallas Seavey is the winner of the 2015 Iditarod. This is his third win in four years. The 27-year old musher says he’s not the only young member of his team. Many of his dogs are only three years old. Some sled dogs can race beyond the age of eight. Seavey says his team has a long future of competitive mushing ahead.
Alaska News Nightly: March 18, 2015
Dallas Seavey Repeats as Iditarod Champ; Missile Defense Head Says Greeley Central to Operations; Murkowski Sees No Good News for Timber Families; House Pushes Back Disclosure Deadline; Walker, Mallott File Reports; State Pulls Knik Arm, Juneau Road Funds; Officials ID Port Victim; Food: Source of Comfort or Division?; Freeride Tour Comes to Haines
MDA Boss Favors Radar Over Missile Site in East
Testimony from the director of the Missile Defense Agency suggests Alaska will likely remain the cornerstone of the nation’s ground-based missile defense, at least in the near term. The Pentagon is studying the idea of a new missile site in the East, but MDA Director James Syring says new radar comes first.
Murkowski: No Confidence in USFS Plan in Tongass
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she doesn’t see any good news for the families in Southeast Alaska that still depend on the harvest of Tongass timber. She says nothing Congress does seems to increase the national timber harvest, and Murkowski she’s not confident the transition to second-growth in the Tongass will work.
Walker, Mallott File Income Reports
Gov. Bill Walker and his wife each reported income of between $100,000 and $200,000 for the sale of their law firm. The information is included on the financial disclosure Walker filed Sunday. Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott reported at least $1 million in income upon resigning from the Alaska Air Group board.
Wishbone Hill Coal Project Draws Lawsuit
The Trustees for Alaska are going back to court to fight a federal okay for coal mining at Wishbone Hill in Palmer. Trustee attorneys filed a lawsuit in federal court in Anchorage today (on Wednesday) on behalf of the Castle Mountain Coalition and other groups opposed to coal mining in the area.