House Steps Towards Full Legal Marijuana Market
The bipartisan 25-to-15 vote creates a parallel marijuana body within the Alcoholic Beverages Control Board to oversee a permit structure for all parts of a full legal market.
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New Rules For National Guard To Wait Until Next Year
A bill that applies a uniform code of military justice to the Alaska National Guard will not pass the Legislature this year.
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Facing Budget Cuts, Aleutians East to Close Cold Bay School
The Aleutians East Borough is closing its second school in three years. The school board voted this week to shut down the Cold Bay School, with state budget cuts looming and enrollment on the decline. Locals are worried the closure could put the tiny community in jeopardy.
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Lawmakers Opt To Keep Anchorage LIO Lease … For Now
In a 13-to-1 vote, the Legislative Council has decided to punt on the question of what to do with the Anchorage legislative information office.
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Alaska Film Tax Credit Draws Spirited Debate As Lawmakers Tackle Subsidies
With Alaska facing a multi-billion-dollar revenue shortfall, lawmakers are reexamining certain subsidies to see if they should remain on the books. The film tax credit program, which was vulnerable even in times of plenty, has gotten special attention.
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Lawmaker Sends Questionable Email On Medicaid Expansion
A Republican lawmaker from Eagle River sent an e-mail Friday attempting to rally opposition to Medicaid expansion. In the email, obtained by KTUU, Lora Reinbold distributes the call-in number to testify at a Saturday House Finance hearing. She writes, "We are trying not to get the number out to the pro expansion for they are much more organized.”
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Dalton Highway Reopens After Flooding Closure
The overflow affected section of the Dalton Highway between mileposts 399 and 405 south of Deadhorse reopened Sunday.
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Education Tops List Of Contentious Cuts
As the Legislature enters its final days, the budget is the main concern. Alaska faces a multi-billion-dollar revenue shortfall, and even expenditures that have been considered sacrosanct are now seeing reductions. The cuts to education are among the most controversial. APRN’s Alexandra Gutierrez joins us to discuss them.
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Public Comment Period Opens Up For Shell’s Chukchi Plan
If you want to comment on Shell’s plan to drill in the Chukchi Sea this summer, now is your chance. The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced Friday that it considers Shell’s latest exploration plan and supporting documents sufficient enough to begin an official review. The determination kicks off a public comment period that lasts through the end of April.
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Funding Cut To Kivalina School Could Pose Legal Problem For Legislature
On Wednesday, the Senate Finance committee slashed more than $40 million in state dollars from the capital budget. A rural school project the state is legally obligated to complete was among the reductions.
Media Awaits Release Of National Guard Emails
The State of Alaska still has not released all documents and emails related to the Alaska National Guard scandal. Alaska Public Media and the Alaska Dispatch News sued the state for the documents last October after the Parnell administration took four months to deny public record requests.
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Lawmakers Discuss Medicaid Expansion, Meaning Of ‘Payment Reform’
The state House Finance Committee has spent several hours this week considering the Governor's Medicaid expansion bill- HB 148. A lot of that time has been focused on finding a better way to pay for health care services. It's called "payment reform" and it's a big topic of discussion in the health care world right now.
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With New Purchase, Shell May Be Less Keen on Arctic
Royal Dutch Shell announced this week a plan to purchase a major British LNG company, and statements by top executives suggest Shell may now be less committed to its future in Alaska's offshore Arctic.
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With One-Cent Spill Levy, Alaska House Passes First Tax Bill In Years
Since the Murkowski administration, the Alaska House of Representatives has not passed a taxation bill where the levy goes beyond the oil industry. That changed on Wednesday, when the House narrowly passed a surcharge on refined fuel.
Gov. Walker Issues Disaster Declaration For Dalton Highway Flooding
Governor Bill Walker has declared a disaster in response to flooding that’s making the far northern end of the Dalton Highway impassable. The road is used to supply the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. It's been closed south of Deadhorse since Sunday because an expanding area of overflow from the Sag River and recent blizzard conditions that have hampered Department of Transportation crews. The disaster declaration will amp up efforts to open the road.
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Long After Civil War’s End, Rebel Raiders Fought On in Bering Sea
One hundred and fifty years ago, on April 9, General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Va. Textbooks typically say this event signaled the end of the Civil War. But a few historians make the case that the last shots of the war were actually fired from a Confederate ship off Alaska’s coast, in the Bering Sea.
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WAANT Makes Arrests for Alleged Bootlegging
Investigators from the Western Alaska Alcohol and Narcotics team arrested two people in seperate incidents Monday. They say 23-year-old Olivia Guest was contacted as she attempted to fly to Chefornak with five bottles of alcohol in her luggage and purse. They say she became confrontational and pushed the investigator away from her luggage. Guest is being charged with alcohol importation and disorderly conduct.
Bethel Woman Faces Manslaughter Charge in Heroin Death
A Bethel woman has been indicted on a charge of manslaughter for allegedly fatally injecting her father with heroin. 35-year-old Shannon Cooke faces the charges for an incident from September 29th, 2014.
Seaton Suggests Income Tax for Diversification of Revenue Sources
Peninsula Representative Paul Seaton, a Homer Republican, filed a bill Friday to bring back an income tax to Alaska. Representative Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham Democrat, co-sponsored the bill.
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Villages Seek Yukon, Kuskokwim Salmon Management Change
The Federal Office of Subsistence Management is holding a series of public hearings on requests for expanded federal control of salmon fishing on the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers.
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