News

Federal marine mammal authorities have proposed a recovery plan for a rare large whale, the North Pacific right whale. The National Marine Fisheries Service published the proposal today for the marine mammal that has been listed as endangered since the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973.

Transportation Commissioner Pat Kemp on Tuesday apologized for keeping the Marine Highway Advisory Board out of the loop on the Alaska Class Ferry. He and his staff also released a few more details on the vessel’s proposed replacements.

More than 50 high school students taking an “Intro to Mining Occupations” course through the University of Alaska Southeast had quite the guest speaker on the first day of class Tuesday. Governor Sean Parnell urged them to follow their passions, whether they end up working in the mining industry or not.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks is pushing ahead with a plan to replace its aging power and heating plant. The current facility, built in 1962, will be replaced with one that still primarily relies on coal, but can also burn other fuels, including biomass and natural gas.

A former national editor has jumped ship from covering the news to being part of it. Wen Stephenson who was an editor for the Boston Globe, The Atlantic and a producer for NPR's On Point, says he’s lost patience with the lack of progress on climate change legislation. He wrote a cover story earlier this winter for the Phoenix, taking reporters to task for not covering climate change as a crisis. He says when he does see coverage on climate, it’s very narrowly focused.

Watch Attenborough's Life Stories: Part 1 Preview on PBS. See more from Nature.

In “Life on Camera,” Sir David Attenborough revisits key places and events in his wildlife filmmaking career, reminisces through his old photos and reflects on memorable wildlife footage, including swimming with dolphins and catching a komodo dragon. Returning to his old haunts in Borneo, he recalls the challenges of filming on a seething pile of guano in a bat cave. Wednesday 1/23 @ 7pm

Just one day after President Obama’s inauguration, Congress returned to the fight over whether to raise the nation’s borrowing limit. Many Republicans are unwilling to extend the debt limit, and Congressman Don Young won’t commit either way.

Planning for the proposed Susitna Watana Hydro dam is back on track. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had delayed the project, after finding some of the studies inadequate. But the agency reversed that decision, after receiving appeals from Governor Sean Parnell, Alaska’s Congressional delegation, and state lawmakers.

The proposed Donlin Gold Mine on the Middle Kuskokwim River has started the long, multi-step permitting process. But, before any permits can be granted, the project is subject to an environmental impact statement. This includes a series of public meetings. Some have already taken place in rural Alaska and another one is scheduled for this evening in Anchorage.

Alaska will soon have a monitoring system for rising levels of acidity in the ocean. The state Legislature provided $2.7 million to set up a network of buoy sensors along the coast. Scientists got an update on ocean acidification yesterday at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage.

A new dockside safety exam requirement for many commercial fishing boats has been postponed for a couple years.

Two dozen kids in Homer were given a chance to test their team-working skills, imagination and patience on a recent Saturday as they designed and built their own exploration rovers. KBBI’s Ariel Van Cleave looked on as teams assembled robots at the Homer Public Library.

President Obama swore in for his second term today. He spoke to a crowd on the National Mall of about a million people, with millions more tuned in at home. And while most people watched from afar, some lucky Alaskans were there to witness to it firsthand.

The Army’s second-highest-ranking civilian leader visited Fort Wainwright last week to talk about Alaska and the strategic role it plays in the nation’s defense – and how that might help protect the state’s military installations from cutbacks during upcoming budget battles in Washington.

When the Matanuska Creamery closed its doors on Dec. 30, it left more than 15 people without jobs, and it left a debt to the state of about $900,000. The Creamery’s closure marked the end of a dream of establishing a viable dairy industry in the Valley.

State rules for logging steep, unstable hillsides will see some language changes under a proposal from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. The regulatory amendments were prompted by concerns from a group of Petersburg residents who worry that a potential timber sale will trigger landslides above their homes. They say the new wording fails to address the issue of public safety.

After refusing to implement an electronic monitoring program developed by fishermen, NOAA Fisheries is moving forward with a plan of its own to test cameras on boats this spring. But a top official who met with Sitka fishermen last week said too many questions remain about the system, and there’s no way a functional electronic monitoring program could be ready in the next two years.