Bethel Police Investigate Suspected Homicide
State Troopers are investigating a suspected homicide in Kotlik. 28-year-old Jerald Fancyboy was found dead Saturday in a home.
With School Choice Resolution, Legislature Revisits Voucher Question
With a crowd of charter school students in the gallery, the Alaska State House used a school choice resolution as a proxy for a debate on vouchers on Monday.
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Walker Files Bill Creating Marijuana Control Board
Just one day before marijuana possession becomes legal in Alaska, Gov. Bill Walker has filed legislation to create a marijuana control board.
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Marijuana Legalization Questions Linger
Alaska’s voter approved ballot measure legalizing marijuana takes effect Tuesday. Alaskans 21 and older will be able to grow, share and consume small amounts of marijuana on private property, but a lot of questions remain about how legalization will work.
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Bethel District Attorney Fired By State
Bethel’s District Attorney has been fired by the state of Alaska. While working in the office Sunday, June Stein received a letter from a Deputy Attorney General of her quote “impending release.”
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As Budgets Shrink, State Eyes Cuts to Film Incentives
For the last seven years, Alaska’s offered financial incentives to draw filmmakers and TV crews to the state. But as lawmakers scramble to fill a widening gap in the budget, Alaska’s film tax credit program is on the chopping block.
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DEC, Coast Guard Respond To Statter Harbor Oil Spill
State environmental officials and the U.S. Coast Guard are investigating an oil spill at Statter Harbor in Juneau’s Auke Bay.
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Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska OKs Same-Sex Marriage
Southeast Alaska’s largest tribal organization has authorized its courts to perform same-sex marriages. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska announced its new policy Monday.
Ketchikan Child Allegedly Caged, Bound By Grandparents
On Tuesday, Ketchikan police officers did a welfare check at a Woodside Drive home after getting a tip that a little girl was allegedly restrained at night by her grandparents.
Arctic Drilling Regs Require Relief Rig; Shell Sees ‘Critical’ Flexibility
The Department of Interior today released proposed new Arctic-specific drilling standards for offshore oil exploration. They would require an Arctic operator to have a well cap at hand, but more controversially, a rig on standby that can drill a relief well within 45 days if there’s a blowout.
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Board of Fisheries Nominee Withdraws
Governor Bill Walker’s nominee to the Board of Fisheries has withdrawn his name from consideration. A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader John Coghill’s office confirmed the withdrawal of Dr. Roland Maw but couldn’t provide additional details.
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Anchorage Man Indicted On Sex Trafficking, Sexual Assault, Weapons Misconduct Charges
Xavier Lanell Cook Benson is facing 12 counts related to what law enforcement officials allege in a written release, was a brutal and exploitative sex trafficking and prostitution operation in Anchorage, Juneau, Kenai and Fairbanks.
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Walker Seeks To Scale Up State Gasline Project
When Gov. Bill Walker was elected, there were questions about the fate of the Alaska Stand Alone Pipeline project. The proposed $10 billion state-owned gasline was viewed as a backup plan to the large line currently being pursued alongside the North Slope producers, but Walker had criticized the project as being redundant. Now, Walker plans to keep the ASAP project alive -- and make it bigger.
New Alaska Branch of Americans For Prosperity Campaigns Against Medicaid Expansion
The conservative group Americans for Prosperity, backed by the billionaire Koch brothers, recently opened an office in Anchorage. They're working to convince elected officials to support their vision of smaller government. And one of their main priorities this legislative session is defeating Medicaid expansion.
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Alaska Tops Gallup’s Index of Well-Being
Gallup today released its annual Index of Well-Being, and for the first time, Alaska tops the list. The researchers who produce the Gallup-Healthways report say Alaska residents had the highest well-being in the nation in 2014.
The Gallup report doesn’t attempt to reconcile its findings with all those other lists that have Alaska at or near the top: Suicide rate, sexual assaults per capita and domestic abuse.
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Murkowski Concludes Obama Aims to Kill Alaska’s Pipeline
President Barack Obama has stopped in Alaska to refuel, but he plans to make his first real trip to the state in August, in the company of Secretary of State John Kerry. Or so says U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski. She let it slip during her annual address to the Alaska Legislature today, a speech aimed primarily at fighting the administration’s moves to shield parts of the Arctic from oil development.
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Port Officials Call For “Tweaks” to Shell Moorage Plan
As Shell tries to chart a course back to the Arctic this summer, the company is looking for new space to store its drill rigs in Unalaska.
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With Budget Changes, Walker Boosts Ferry, Community Jails Funding
With Wednesday’s deadline for changes, Gov. Bill Walker has sent his final amendments to the capital and operating budget to the Legislature.
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Gov. Walker’s New Adviser To Focus On Rural Economy, Local Governments
Gov. Bill Walker named his new rural affairs adviser Tuesday at the Alaska Federation of Natives winter retreat in Kotzebue. Gerad Godfrey’s full title is “Senior Advisor on Rural Business and Intergovernmental Affairs” — a title that Godfrey says is meant to communicate that much of his work will focus on economic development in villages and bringing tribes to the table when the state consults local governments.
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