Matanuska River Claims A Home Plus 3 Other Structures
The Matanuska River has taken a toll on personal property in the Sutton area in recent days. One 16-by-20 foot home has fallen into the river, and three other outbuildings have also toppled into the water, so far.
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Mallott: US-Canada Commission Won’t Take Up BC Mines
Alaska critics of British Columbia mines probably won’t get any help from a cross-boundary panel they’ve asked to take on their concerns.
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Bethel Appeals ABC Rejection of Liquor License Protest, Could Bring Local Option Decision to Vote
The Bethel City Council is appealing the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board’s rejection of their protest of the Bethel Native Corporation’s package liquor store application. The council met in executive session Thursday evening for three and a half hours.
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Sikuliaq Docks in Nome, Previews Upcoming Research Missions
The research vessel Sikuliaq docked in Nome on July 21 and opened its doors to local visitors. While touring the ice-capable ship — owned by the National Science Foundation and operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks — visitors asked questions of the crew and learned about their upcoming missions.
Young Votes Yes, Meant No, on Bill Gutting GMO Labeling Laws
The U.S. House today passed a bill to gut state labeling laws for GMO foods. Alaska Congressman Don Young voted for the bill, which he says he did by mistake.
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2nd Murkowski Energy Bill Has Controversies Lacking in 1st
Yesterday Sen. Lisa Murkowski introduced an energy bill that steered clear of hot-button issues to ensure Democratic support. Today, the Alaska Republican sponsored a separate energy bill of just hot buttons.
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Five Fires Threaten Tanana On the Yukon
Recent rain slowed wildfire growth around the interior, but there are still nearly 2 hundred active blazes, and over twenty staffed fires. The largest response is to a half-million-acre complex of fires near Tanana. Managers expect suppression and demobilization to take weeks.
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Pains of Trooper Cuts Felt At Small Community Jails
Budget cuts to state troopers are taking place all over Alaska. But in small Southeast communities, like Petersburg, it’s a double whammy. That’s because community jails are also taking a hit. And the two are inextricably linked.
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Interior Dept. OKs Arctic Drilling—With Limits
The Obama administration approved Shell’s Oil’s plan for drilling in the Arctic Ocean on Wednesday. But for now, Shell is restricted on how deep it can drill.
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Murkowski Energy Bill Avoids Hot Buttons
Sen. Lisa Murkowski today released a national energy policy bill. It’s been one of her highest priorities as chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, and she produced the bill jointly with the top Democrat on the committee, Maria Cantwell of Washington. Murkowski says it required compromise; the bill doesn’t include some of the big items on Murkowski’s energy agenda.
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Saxman: Call us ‘Rural’
The Southeast village of Saxman took its fight to be designated a “rural” community to Congress today. Saxman Village President Lee Wallace told a House subcommittee he was devastated in 2007, when he watched the Federal Subsistence Board decide Saxman was “non-rural.”
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Murkowski balks at funding source in highway bill
The deadline for renewing the nation’s highway programs is nine days away. Leaders in the Senate this week negotiated a bill that would fund highways for the next six years. But it would require selling off $9 billion of crude oil that’s stashed in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
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B.C. Withholds Key Permit from Transboundary Mine
British Columbia officials are delaying permits for an open-pit mine near a river that flows into the ocean south of Ketchikan. They say Pacific Booker Minerals has not proved it can keep toxic water out of nearby waterways. The developer says it has.
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Kenai Sockeye Arrive, Tardy But Intact
The late and hopefully-still-great run of sockeye might finally be making its way to the Kenai River.
After destructive fire, YKHC alcohol treatment center under construction again
The skeleton of the new Phillips Ayagnirvik Treatment Center, PATC, is coming up quickly and aims to be closed in for a winter of work. Kris Manke is Director of Construction for the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation, which is leading up the project. He says about 15 crew members are working now, including close to 70 percent local Alaska Native hires.
Alaska Processors Reach A Truce In Seafood Ecolabel Dispute
The Alaska salmon processors at odds over who can use the the Marine Stewardship Council’s blue sustainability logo have finally reached an agreement.
General Says Decision on JBER Cuts Not Final Without Arctic Plan
The general nominated to be the Army’s Chief of Staff suggested this morning that the plan to cut 2,600 Alaska soldiers isn’t final yet. But it’s hard to say whether the Army really plans to reconsider, or whether the general merely agreed to follow a procedure to ultimately reach a pre-determined end.
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City Puts Its Chips On Providing Housing For Those Most In Need
Anchorage is struggling with how to address serious and expensive problems stemming from chronic homelessness. Today, the new mayor's administration announced a dramatic plan to more than double the city's capacity for housing the most severely affected population living on the streets. The sudden move isn't without controversy.
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Explosion Shakes Aleutians’ Cleveland Volcano
An explosion shook Cleveland Volcano in the east-central Aleutian Islands at 8:17 a.m. local time Tuesday. It's the volcano's first explosion since November.
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Fairbanks Police Launch Website to Crowdsource Tips on Cold Cases
The city of Fairbanks has launched a new web page to share and generate information about unsolved murder cases. Local police are tracking cases ranging from months to decades old.
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