News

A report commissioned by the State Department of Environmental Conservation shows water quality on the lower Kenai River violates state standards. The report has not been released by DEC.

With the election come and gone, the consensus in Washington is that the healthcare overhaul will remain law. The Supreme Court decision over the summer granted states the choice to expand their Medicaid roles or not. Alaska still needs to decide whether it will.

The Task Force organized in October to address issues related to the Department of Fish and Game’s king salmon management plan met for the first of four meetings Friday at Kenai Peninsula College.

The state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is developing a Highway Safety Improvement Program project that will construct Slow Vehicle Turnouts on the Sterling Highway. The project would add 22 of the turnouts to reduce injuries and fatalities between Soldotna and Bay Crest Hill in Homer.

A board member for the Bristol Bay Native Corporation has been charged with sexually assaulting a female. 45 year old Sergie Chukwak, of Naknek, is accused of assaulting the woman on Nov. 5. This morning, he appeared before the magistrate in Dillingham telephonically from the courthouse in Naknek.

The Ernie Turner Center is back in operation. A new interpretation of state regulations forced the closure of the Anchorage de-toxification center because of the cost of staffing it. The Cook Inlet Tribal Council says the change is going to cost it another hundred thousand dollars a year, and they don't know where that money is going to come from. They say there is a wait list.

Two grounded vessels have been leaking fuel in the Aleutians. The tug "Polar Wind" and a barge went aground last week on Ukolnoi Island in the Aleutians - between Cold Bay and Sand Point.

Alaskans and coin collectors from as far away as the Lower 48, were in Healy yesterday for the U.S. Mint’s official launch of a new Denali National Park quarter.

An explosion aboard Shell’s Noble Discoverer drill rig sent fire crews in Unalaska scrambling this morning. Ports Director Peggy McLaughlin says she felt the blast from the harbor office, which is about 200 yards away.

A former fishing associate of disgraced congressional aide Arne Fuglvog will have to pay $100,000 for his own illegal fishing activities. Freddie Joe Hankins was sentenced last week to three-years of probation and will have all of his future fishing activities recorded by an electronic monitoring device. Twenty-five-thousand dollars will be in the form of a fine and $75,000 will be a community service payment. He'll also be required to have a statement acknowledging his wrongdoing published in National Fisherman magazine.

The oil and gas industry, government agencies and scientists are meeting this week in Anchorage to talk about Arctic oil and gas development. A wide range of issues are being discussed – everything from spill response to ice tracking to wildlife changes. It is well known that over the past decade the sea ice has been melting back to record levels. But what is less well known is how to track some of the large – and dangerous – pieces of ice that have been breaking loose.

Senate Republicans are vowing to continue a moratorium on earmarks this coming Congress. It could have repercussions in Alaska; a state that relies heavily on federal funding.

The Unusal Mortality Event that saw seals and other marine mammals showing up with hair loss over a swath of Alaska's northern coast may be over. Experts told a science meeting Wednesday that no cases of the hair loss syndrome have been reported so far this year.

So far there have been no signs of a spill after a tug and barge went aground on Ukolnoi Island in the Aleutians - between Cold Bay and Sand Point. Five crew members from the tug "Polar Wind" were rescued. The owner, Northland Services, has joined a Unified Command team to respond to the grounding. The tug was 20 miles from Cold Bay when it became separated from the barge in 6-8 foot seas and 40 mile per hour winds.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is initiating a major infractions case against the University of Alaska Fairbanks. As KUAC’s Dan Bross reports, the case involves failure to meet athlete eligibility requirements.

While Akutan’s new airport has received considerable attention and scrutiny for being expensive and inaccessible, another large infrastructure project on the island that suffers some of the same problems has mostly flown under the radar.

Five crewmembers from the Polar Wind were rescued after the tug and the barge it was towing went aground. The Northland Services tug was 20 miles from Cold Bay when it became separated from the barge it was dragging behind it. The two vessels went adrift while the crew was trying to reconnect the towline. According to Coast Guard Petty Officer David Mosley, weather was a factor.

After several months of inactivity, Cleveland Volcano erupted on Saturday.

The Parnell administration has sent federal fisheries disaster officials a new estimate of that poor Chinook Salmon returns to Alaska rivers cost fishermen. Only commercial fishing is eligible for fisheries disaster aid, not subsistence or sports fishing. The new estimate is that about $16.8 million in revenue were lost by the industry because of Chinook Salmon closures. The prior estimate was about $10 million.