News

The Mat-Su Borough Assembly unanimously opposed Mayor Larry DeVilbiss' request for an advisory vote on banning commercial marijuana operations in unincorporated areas of the Valley.

The state has amended a transportation plan to delay two large projects. Funds for the Knik Arm Crossing and the Juneau access road have been pulled from the current Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, or STIP.

Officials have identified the victim of a fatal accident at the Port of Anchorage last Friday as Charlie Tom "WD" James, Jr.

The Alaska House has passed legislation pushing back the date by which legislators and other public officials must file annual financial disclosures. HB 65 would move the filing deadline from March 15 to May 15. A minority-led effort to keep the reporting deadline for legislators as March 15 failed.

The Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery is a quieter affair this year, as the fleet conducts its first fully cooperative fishery since the mid-90s.

Some of the best big mountain skiers and snowboarders in the world are in Haines this week for the Freeride World Tour. After taking on slopes in France, Andorra and Austria, the tour is holding its first ever Alaska stop.

Tuesday night, the Upper Valley experienced an impressive display of the Aurora Borealis. The lights are caused by particles from the sun being thrown into space and interacting with the charged particles in Earth's ionosphere, which begins about sixty miles above the surface. This is referred to by scientists as a geomagnetic storm. Donald Hampton researches those storms for the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He says the geomagnetic storm on Tuesday was very rare.

After completing the mandatory 8-hour layover in White Mountain, Dallas Seavey left the checkpoint at 6:10 p.m. Tuesday on his way to Safety - the final stop on the way to the Iditarod finish line in Nome.

The Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery will be on two-hour notice starting 10 a.m. Wednesday, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game announced this Tuesday afternoon. A test sample taken from a body of herring west of Black Rock showed about 7% mature roe, which is low for the commercial fishery. But the Department said that percentage could rise rapidly over the next few days as less mature herring separate out from those ready to spawn.

After failing to expand Medicaid through a budget item, Gov. Bill Walker is trying again. He has introduced a standalone bill that would allow the state to accept federal funding for Medicaid expansion, while also offering some reform measures.

The federal government can once again continue processing H-2b visas, the program that traditionally allows foreign roe technicians to work in Alaska seafood plants.

If you have a health insurance plan through Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska, your personal information may be vulnerable to a data breach. According to Premera, about 650,000 Alaskans are among the 11 million people potentially affected by a cyberattack of the health insurance company.

In Nome, onlookers welcomed the first racers off the Iditarod trail on Monday – but not for the iconic sled dog race, these racers had wheels.

Walker Introduces Medicaid Expansion Bill; Visas Approved for Roe Technicians; Dallas Seavey Keeps Iditarod Lead; Premera Warns of Breach; Iditabike Racers Hit Nome; Rupert Delegation Lobbies for Continued Connections; UAF Rifle Team Falls Short; Emergency Teams Train in Dutch Harbor

Despite having no quorum and no vote, tribal members at the Calista-sponsored Yukon Kuskokwim Governance Convention on Monday decided to move ahead with an interim step toward unifying the regional politically. Leaders put the future of a proposed regional tribal government first in the hands of tribal councils and set a deadline of 30 days for them to vote. If successful, the proposal would then go before individual tribal voters who would vote yes or no on it.