Briefs
New Alaska research projects focus on climate change, mercury and workforce development
Four new research projects selected for funding in a University of Alaska Anchorage program will address some of the most pressing problems facing the state: climate change, marine ecosystem health and losses in the labor force. The projects, each designed to run for two years, were winners in an annual competition that uses an endowment […]
Alaska projects win nearly $125 million in EPA’s national Solar for All grant competition
Alaska is getting an infusion of nearly $125 million to build and expand solar energy projects, part of a national Solar for All program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Pacific Northwest regional office announced on Tuesday. The funding is split between two projects, one of them a partnership between the Alaska Energy Authority and the […]
On Earth Day, Alaska Senate passes green-billing legislation, revised hunting license standards
The Alaska Senate voted unanimously on Monday to make it easier for groups of Alaskans to invest in wind and solar power projects, sending the idea to the state House for further work. Senate Bill 152, from Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, allows Alaskans to jointly invest in a renewable power project, and if the project […]
Alaska House members propose constitutional amendment to allow public money for private schools
After a court ruling that overturned a key part of Alaska’s education correspondence programs, members of the state Legislature have proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow public money to go to private and religious schools. House Joint Resolution 28 is scheduled for hearings Wednesday and Friday next week in the House Judiciary Committee. If […]
Alaska appeals Kuskokwim River fisheries lawsuit that pitted AFN against state officials
The state of Alaska is appealing its defeat in a lawsuit brought by the federal government over control of salmon fisheries on the Kuskokwim River in Southwest Alaska. In a notice published Tuesday with the U.S. District Court for Alaska, the Alaska Department of Law said it was appealing Judge Sharon Gleason’s decision to the […]
Corps of Engineers upholds denial of permit for controversial Pebble mine in Alaska
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has dismissed an appeal filed by the Pebble Limited Partnership in its effort to obtain a key permit needed to build the controversial Pebble mine. The decision, released on Monday, lets stand a permit denial issued by the Corps in 2020. Rejection of the appeal is the latest setback […]
Trip to Utqiagvik gives visiting dignitaries closeup look at life in farthest-north Alaska
A day trip to Utqiagvik on Alaska’s North Slope capped an Anchorage conference last week that drew more than 1,000 participants representing communities ranging from tiny rural Alaska villages to diplomatic corps in European nations. The annual Arctic Encounter Symposium featured panel discussions about climate science, defense and security, fisheries, national security, environmental health and […]
House committee advances bill to require overdose-reversing drug in Alaska schools
A proposal to require Alaska schools to keep opioid-overdose-reversing drugs on campus advanced out of the House Education Committee on Monday. Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, has said House Bill 202 is intended to save student lives as opioid overdoses have begun to happen on Alaska campuses. “These are drugs that are easily accessible, they’re easily […]
Proposed Ambler road project cited as threat to Kobuk River in Arctic Alaska
Alaska’s Kobuk River, which flows out of the Brooks Range above the Arctic Circle, is among the most threatened rivers in the nation because of potential development of a 211-mile road that would open the region to commercial mining, according to an annual report released on Tuesday. American Rivers, a national environmental organization, ranked the […]
Alaska public safety officials give latitude on studded tire deadline
Alaskans north of 60 degrees north latitude have additional time to remove their studded tires this spring. Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner James Cockrell cited lingering winter conditions when he made an emergency order on Monday. “Many parts of Alaska are experiencing prolonged winter weather after a near record setting snow season that has […]
Conservation groups’ purchase preserves additional land in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest
A designated wilderness area in Southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the largest U.S. national forest, is now a little bit bigger, thanks to a land purchase and transfer arranged by two conservation organizations. Five acres of land that was formerly privately owned has been added to the forest’s Kootznoowoo Wilderness area on Admiralty Island, one […]
Alaska delegation nominates longtime Native leader to be co-chair of the Denali Commission
Julie Kitka, the longtime president of the Alaska Federation of Natives, has been nominated by Alaska’s congressional delegation to be a new co-chair of the Denali Commission, which oversees a variety of federal programs in the state. AFN is the largest Alaska Native organization. Kitka was elected as its president in 1990, but she joined […]