News

Alaska’s Congressional delegation is pushing defense authorization bill amendments aimed at protecting Eielson Air Force base from downsizing.

Facing sexual assault charges, Sergie Chukwak has resigned from the board of Bristol Bay Native Corporation, where he had served since 2010. BBNC Board Chair Joseph Chythlook, said in a written statement today that Chukwak’s decision to voluntarily resign will allow the Board to “focus on effectively serving” its shareholders.

Alaska is among the best run states in the U.S. A survey by 24/7 Wall Street, which is an online financial news and opinion journal, ranks Alaska as 6th place runner up after North Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Utah and Iowa.

Meanwhile, a red flag warning has been issued as of 5 a.m. this morning for the Matanuska Valley. The National Weather Service says the strong winds, with gusts up to 80 miles an hour, coupled with extremely low humidity means critical fire weather conditions are imminent for the area. The warning continues through Saturday, although the winds are expected to diminish by tonight.

Firefighters are battling a fire to save homes in Palmer on Thursday as high winds in the area pushed the blaze toward subdivisions off Palmer Fishhook Road. About 15 homes in the Cedar Hills subdivision were threatened, and Matanuska Susitna Borough officials ordered the residents to evacuate.

The fiscal cliff – that much-reported-on combination of tax increases and government spending cuts – is less than five weeks away. But, most lawmakers are talking about sweeping tax reforms, something unlikely to happen before the end of the year.

The National Park Service this week released the results of this year’s fall wolf count. The final numbers indicate that the wolf population in Denali National Park and Preserve has fallen by 61 percent since an all-time high of 147 wolves were counted in 2007.

Conservation Biologist Rick Steiner sent a request this week to Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Cora Campbell asking for an emergency order that would close state lands east of Denali National Park to hunting and trapping wolves. The season opened Nov. 1. Steiner made a similar request last May after Park Service biologists reported the dispersal of the Grant Creek Wolf Pack. The pack did not produce pups this year.

In March, council set aside $42,000 for a study of alternative energy resources in Unalaska. Mike Hubbard, a consultant with the Financial Engineering Company of Maine, presented that report to city council at their meeting Tuesday night.

Unalaska’s smallest processing plant is now a major player in the Aleutian Islands golden king crab fishery. A recent purchase by one of Bering Fisheries’ parent companies will bring an extra 1.2 million of pounds of king crab through the plant every year.

Just weeks after BP accepted blame for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; the federal government is announcing more punishment for the company. The Environmental Protection Agency is suspending BP from future government contracts.

Governor Sean Parnell visited Kenai Wednesday to meet with local officials, mingle with residents and make a $30 million announcement. That’s the amount the Governor is proposing to spend on a five-year Chinook Salmon Research Initiative.

Bartlett Regional Hospital must repay the state and federal governments close to a million dollars for six years of Medicare and Medicaid billing errors. The hospital also may have to pay penalties for the errors, which violated federal law.

The Environmental Protection Agency has fined four Alaska seafood processing vessels for alleged Clean Water Act violations. The processors agreed to pay a combined total of more than $300,000 to settle the allegations, which revolve around seafood waste discharge. All four vessels process groundfish in the federal waters off Alaska’s coast, and dump unusable fish waste back into the ocean.

A coalition of health care providers and advocates in the state is urging Governor Sean Parnell to expand Alaska’s Medicaid rolls under the Affordable Care Act. Tens of thousands of Alaskans could qualify for Medicaid if Governor Parnell chooses to open the rolls, and many medical providers could stand to make millions of dollars.

Shell’s Kulluk drill rig is back in Unalaska after spending the fall in the Beaufort Sea, but it may not be around for long. Shell previously said the Kulluk would overwinter in Unalaska at its custom dock in Captain’s Bay, but spokesperson Kelly op de Weegh now says that it may go south for maintenance.

State officials say a magazine article about shellfish incorrectly states when they can be gathered safely.

Supporters of four men imprisoned for the 1997 murder of a Fairbanks teen are looking beyond a recent favorable court ruling. Eugene Vent, George Frese, Kevin Pease and Marvin Roberts are serving multi-decade prison sentences for killing John Hartman. There was no physical evidence tying the men to the beating attack, and the case has long drawn questions about whether justice was served. The latest ruling involves an appeal by one of the convicted men.

Derek Michael Stephens, 30, was arrested Friday afternoon in King Salmon on an outstanding warrant involving four counts of sexual exploitation of a child from the state of Idaho. Bristol Bay Borough Chief of Police Rodney Enevoldsen says authorities in Idaho made his department aware of the Warrant and the interest in Stephens in August, but until last week there had been no plans to extradite.

The official search for a man missing in the Brooks Range has been called off. Thirty one year old Thomas Seibold had been staying at a cabin on the Ambler River since September. He’d planned to hike 25 miles to the village of Kobuk for a flight out on Nov. 11, but never arrived. A two-week aerial search followed, but Alaska State Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters says there’s been no sign of Seibold.