News

Prince Rupert leaders are in Juneau this week to lobby for continued connections with Southeast Alaska. Budget cuts threaten to reduce state ferry sailings to and from the British Columbia port city. And policy differences have blocked construction of a new ferry terminal there. Rupert Mayor Lee Brain says the marine highway link helps economies on both sides of the border.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks fell just short of a national title at the NCAA Rifle Champions on their home turf over the weekend. For the second year running, the Nanooks placed second to West Virginia University. The margin of victory was just 2 shots, with UAF taking Friday’s small bore match at the Patty Center, and the Mountaineers coming back Saturday, with just enough in the air rifle competition to nab the overall title in the 8 team competition. West Virginia’s Maren Prediger was the top individual shooter. UAF’s Tim Sherry was best Nanook in 8th place.

Chilly winds and whiteout conditions didn’t stop a team of emergency responders from mounting a unique exercise at the Port of Dutch Harbor on Friday.

Dallas Seavey was the first musher to arrive in White Mountain Tuesday morning. It’s the second to last stop along the Iditarod trail. Teams will take an eight-hour mandatory rest there, before the make the final push for Nome.

The Anchorage School Board is asking the state legislature to restore one-time school grant funds to the state’s budget. The house passed a budget that removed $32 million late last week.

The state on Monday asked the Alaska Supreme Court for more time in a case involving the adoption of a Yup’ik child, a case that tribes say will determine how the Indian Child Welfare Act, or ICWA, will be implemented in Alaska, and show whether Governor Bill Walker is serious about campaign pledges he made to work cooperatively with tribes.

Last week, Rep. Lora Reinbold voted against the operating budget, breaking one of the House.e Majority caucus’ rules for membership. Now, the Eagle River Republican has lost her committee chairmanship, and her seat on all but one committee.

The heads of the two federal agencies in charge of off-shore oil and gas drilling visited Alaska last week to discuss proposed safety regulations for drilling in the Arctic. They spoke with stakeholders in Anchorage and around the North Slope, including hosting a town hall meeting in Barrow.

Dallas Seavey and Aaron Burmeister were the first two into Koyuk Monday afternoon. Seavy led by only three minutes, though his 50-mile run from Shaktoolik was the fastest by far -- only seven and a half hours. Aliy Zirkle and Jessie Royer arrived later in the afternoon.

Secretary of Interior will issue a Record of Decision on Chukchi Lease Sale 193 by the end of March. It will determine if Shell can proceed with its drilling plans for the region this summer.

Since the start of the year, Anchorage has seen eight homicides and a spate of shootings. Today, officials say the incidents in Alaska's largest city is a spike, (but) not an overall rise in violent crime. The press conference at City Hall was, just hours after a stabbing victim was pronounced dead following an early morning dispute.

Governor Bill Walker has named two Alaska fishermen as his top picks to serve on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. The 11-voting member council manages most fisheries in federal waters. The terms of two Alaska members were due to expire this summer.

State Asks for More Time on Adoption Case; Reinbold Loses Chairmanship; Feds Seek Feedback on Drilling; Interior Secretary to Decide Soon on Shell Leases; Seavey, Burmeister First to Koyuk; Anchorage Officials See Spike, Not Trend, in Crime; Two Named to Fisheries Council; Scrubbers to Cut Cruise Ship Pollution; Juneau Library to Launch Alaska Native Stories Project