Alaska News Nightly: July 17, 2014
NASA Testing Arctic Sea Ice Monitoring Technology With High-Flying Ex-Spy Plane; Report Investigates Coal Dust Hazards In Seward; Musk Ox Killed After Attacking Sled Dog; In Transition: When a Family of Five Calls One Room Home; FERC Nominee Approved Despite Murkowski’s Objection; Earthquake Rattles Yakutat; Felt in Whitehorse; No Damage Reported; Skiing on Eagle Glacier Connects Alaska to the World; People Mover Teams Up With Google To Make Bus Route Planning Easier
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Barrow Youth Study Lemmings And Endangered Species
There is an increasing effort in Alaska to engage youth in hands-on scientific activities.
One group of teens is collecting data way up in Barrow.
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Tuck Fined $14,000 For Campaign Finance Violations
House Minority Leader Chris Tuck acknowledged that he mixed up his campaign contributions with his personal savings and failed to make accurate and timely disclosures.
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Kerry Names Ex-Coast Guard Boss Special Rep to Arctic
Secretary of State John Kerry today named former Coast Guard commandant Robert J. Papp Jr. as special representative to the Arctic. Kerry created the new position to elevate Arctic issues in America's foreign policy and national security strategy as the U.S. prepares to assume the chair of the Arctic Council.
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Murkowski Joins Democrats on Vote for Birth Control Coverage
A U.S. Senate bill requiring companies to cover birth control in employee healthcare plans failed a procedural vote today . Both Alaska senators voted for the bill, aimed at undoing the Supreme Court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case. Sen. Lisa Murkowski was one of only three Republicans to vote for the measure, dubbed the “Not My Boss’s Business Act.”
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Authorities Investigate Explosion in Petersburg
Details are emerging about an explosion that injured a Petersburg person over the weekend and has brought federal explosives agents there to investigate.
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Permitting Officials Explore Alternatives For Donlin Gold Mine
Donlin Gold is in a multiyear permitting process for the proposed gold mine located north of Crooked Creek about 120 miles upriver from Bethel. Scientists and engineers are now studying not just Donlin’s proposed plan, but several variations that would significantly change the mine.
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Alaska LNG Project community meeting provides questions and hope
The Alaska LNG Project hosted a community meeting in Anchorage on Tuesday night. About 90 people listened to an explanation of the newest version of a plan to get natural gas from the North Slope to market.
Project manager Steve Butt explained this project is different from previous failed attempts to build a gas pipeline.
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Fall Chum Season Opens on the Yukon
The fall chum salmon season on the Yukon begins Wednesday.
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Arctic Climate Researchers Zoom in on Plankton
They’re not recognizable like polar bears or whales. But phytoplankton are a key part of life in the Arctic – and now, they’re at the center of a new research effort to predict how the region will respond to climate change.
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Scientists Find Climate Cooling Effect in Ancient Thermokarst Lakes
Scientists have long believed melting permafrost emits large amounts of carbon-rich greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide to the atmosphere resulting in a warming climate. But a new study published online by the journal Nature today indicates ancient lakes that formed after permafrost in the Arctic first melted roughly ten thousand years ago may in fact have a net climate cooling effect over long time scales. The study also increases the total amount of carbon estimated in the frozen soils of the Far North by more than 50 percent.
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Alaska News Nightly: July 16, 2014
Tuck Fined $14,000 For Campaign Finance Violations; Kerry Names Ex-Coast Guard Boss Special Rep to Arctic; Murkowski Joins Democrats on Vote for Birth Control Coverage; Judge Blocks Law Limiting Medicaid Payments For Abortion; Authorities Investigate Explosion in Petersburg; Permitting Officials Explore Alternatives For Donlin Gold Mine; Alaska LNG Project Community Meeting Provides Questions and Hope; Fall Chum Season Opens on the Yukon; Arctic Climate Researchers Zoom in on Plankton; Scientists Find Climate Cooling Effect in Ancient Thermokarst Lakes
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Lesser Sandhill Cranes: Feeding the Colt
Feeding a colt (that's a baby crane) is a full time job. These Lesser Sandhill Cranes are finding leeches, worms, snails, fish, and other invertebrates in the mud.
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Judge Blocks Law Limiting Medicaid Payments For Abortion
In an order issued on Tuesday, Judge John Suddock wrote that there are "serious questions of constitutional validity" of a new state law that puts limits on what qualifies as a "medically necessary" abortion.
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Questions Remain About Alaska’s Prison Deaths
A number of inmate deaths in Alaska prisons over the past few months have prompted state legislators to seek answers. But at a hearing hosted by Senator Hollis French (D – Anchorage) on Tuesday in Anchorage, few questions were resolved.
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House Considers Bill To Provide Advance Funding To IHS
The CEO of Kotzebue-based Maniilaq Association on Tuesday urged a U.S. House subcommittee to pass a bill that would provide advance funding for the Indian Health Service.
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Sullivan Reports Almost $1.2M In Donations In 2nd Quarter
In the U.S. Senate race, it appears Republican candidate Dan Sullivan is sustaining his fundraising momentum.
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World Eskimo Indian Olympics Start Wednesday
The World Eskimo-Indian Olympics start Wednesday in Fairbanks, with qualifiers for events like one-armed reach and the Race of the Torch ahead of opening ceremonies at 6 p.m. inside the Carlson Center.
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