Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 266
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The descendants of Native American tribes on the Northern California coast are reclaiming a bit of their heritage that includes ancient redwoods which have stood since their ancestors walked the land. Save the Redwoods League announced Jan. 25 that it is transferring more than 500 acres on the Lost Coast to the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council. The group of 10 tribes that have inhabited the area for thousands of years will be responsible for protecting the land called...
JUNEAU (AP) — The state agreed to pay almost half-a-million dollars in public funds to settle with two psychiatrists who won their lawsuit against Gov. Mike Dunleavy when a federal judge ruled last fall they were wrongfully fired after “political” demands that violated their First Amendment rights. Under the agreement, announced Feb. 2, the state agreed to pay Anthony Blanford $220,000 and John Bellville $275,000, reflecting lost wages, damages and attorneys’ fees. The agreement says the payments are subject to legislative approval. Both wo...
Alaska truck drivers have rallied in support of their counterparts in Canada who oppose COVID-19 vaccine mandates. More than 100 truck drivers on Sunday drove the 10 miles from Anchorage to Eagle River to support truckers in Canada who have been loudly protesting in Ottawa against the mandates. Truck drivers and other service providers since Jan. 15 can only enter Canada if they are fully vaccinated. A week later, the U.S. started requiring vaccinations from essential non-resident travelers at highway border crossings, including truckers. “We h...
WASHINGTON (AP) — West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on Sunday endorsed Republican colleague Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, for reelection, crossing party lines to back the incumbent who faces a primary challenger supported by former President Donald Trump. The lawmaker said he has teamed well with Murkowski in the 50-50 Senate to build bipartisan support for legislation such as President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law. He said Alaska and the Senate are well-served with her in office. “It’s hypocritical to basically work with a person...
MIAMI (AP) - Negotiators from the U.S., China and 13 other governments failed to take action to protect threatened squid stocks on the high seas off South America amid a recent surge in activity by China's distant fishing fleet of more than 700 ships targeting squid in 2020. The South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization, or SPRFMO, is charged with ensuring the conservation and sustainable fishing off the west coast of South America. At the SPRFMO's annual meeting that ended Jan....
JUNEAU (AP) — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has joined Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in seeking to block the U.S. Department of Defense from mandating COVID-19 vaccines for National Guard members who are under state command. The Pentagon has required COVID-19 vaccination for all service members, including the National Guard and Reserve. Attorneys for the two governors, in an amended lawsuit dated Jan. 25, say that when National Guard members are serving the state, the federal government has no command authority. The lawsuit claims the mandate is an u...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — The state Supreme Court on Friday narrowly upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by 16 young Alaskans who claimed the long-term effects of climate change will devastate Alaska and interfere with their fundamental constitutional rights. The lawsuit against the state argued that Alaska’s legislative and executive branches had not taken steps to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The lower court dismissed the case in 2018, saying these questions were better left to the other branches of government. The plaintiffs in the case are no...
JUNEAU (AP) — The Alaska Legislature last Thursday rejected a proposal that called for higher annual salaries for lawmakers but an even larger reduction and restrictions on the daily allowance they could receive for living expenses during sessions in Juneau. The net would have been a significant reduction in pay. Action came quickly: The bill to reject the salary commission’s recommendations was introduced in the Senate on Jan. 25, passed unanimously by that chamber on Jan. 26, and passed 37-0 in the House on Jan. 27. The bill next goes to Gov...
NEW YORK (AP) — Unvaccinated former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 24, forcing postponement of the trial in her libel lawsuit against The New York Times. While waiting for the trial to start, Palin on Jan. 26 went back to a New York City restaurant where she had eaten the week before in violation of the city’s dining mandate requiring people to show proof of vaccination. Palin ate outdoors at the restaurant Jan. 26 on her second trip, contrary to the city’s health and safety measures calling for positive cases...
JUNEAU (AP) — A state legislative committee is hiring a law firm to investigate the controversial firing of the head of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. Angela Rodell was fired by the corporation board in December, after the $82 billion savings account had recorded its best year ever for investment returns. Rodell, who had been the corporation’s CEO since late 2015, has said she believes her firing was “political retribution” for advocating against exceeding draw limits set on the earnings of the Permanent Fund. The governor the past couple...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Supporters of a proposed initiative that seeks to formalize government-to-government relationships between the state and federally recognized tribes in Alaska have submitted signatures aimed at getting the measure on this year’s ballot. The campaign behind the measure needed to gather 36,140 signatures from across the state. It submitted 56,200 signatures to the state Division of Elections last month, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The division must review and verify the signatures, and the campaign will be notified wit...
JUNEAU (AP) — The Alaska House tabled action Monday on a proposal to remove from all legislative committees Wasilla Rep. David Eastman, a member of the Oath Keepers far-right organization. The House Committee on Committees voted 5-2 to remove Eastman from his committee assignments, said Joe Plesha, communications director for the House's bipartisan majority. The committee meeting was not widely publicized beforehand, and Eastman expressed concern with the lack of transparency around the decision. The matter was tabled on the House floor f...
JUNEAU (AP) — The Alaska Supreme Court has upheld a voter-approved election system that ends party primaries in the state and institutes ranked-choice voting in general elections. A brief order on Jan. 19 affirmed a lower court ruling from last year. A fuller opinion explaining the Supreme Court’s decision was expected later. The ruling comes one day after the justices heard arguments in the case. The new system, narrowly approved by voters in 2020, is unique among states and will be used for this year’s elections. It is viewed by suppo...
JUNEAU (AP) — A commission tasked with reviewing legislative pay voted Jan. 18 to raise the annual salary for Alaska lawmakers but to restrict the daily allowance lawmakers can receive. The changes will go forward unless the Legislature votes to rejects them. The Alaska State Officers Compensation Commission voted 3-1 to raise the base salary from $50,400 a year to $64,000. The recommendation would cap at $100 a day an allowance for living expenses that lawmakers could claim during regular sessions, and also require receipts for r...
JUNEAU (AP) — A federal judge on Jan. 20 sided with a former state attorney who alleged she was wrongly fired over political opinions expressed on a personal blog. U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick ruled that Elizabeth Bakalar’s December 2018 firing violated her free speech and rights under the U.S. and state constitutions. In October, Sedwick sided with two doctors at the state’s psychiatric hospital in Anchorage who had declined to submit resignation letters and also were fired, same as Bakalar, as the new administration of Gov. Mike...
SEATTLE (AP) — The British Columbia government has announced the surrender of mining rights at the headwaters of the Skagit River, just across the border from Washington state, after years of controversy over protection of one of the region’s premier salmon rivers. Under an agreement announced Jan. 19 by the office of the B.C. premier, Imperial Metals will return to the province all of its mining and related rights within an area known as the Skagit River “Donut Hole,”' The Seattle Times reported. The agreement is intended to ensure the pre...
MIAMI (AP) — Bahamian authorities say a cruise ship — owned by a failing company in Hong Kong — that was set to dock in Miami last weekend remained in the Bahamas on Monday, avoiding a U.S. judge’s order to seize the vessel over a dispute for an unpaid fuel bill. Sgt. Kareem Woods with the Royal Bahamas Police Force said the Crystal Symphony was still docked in Bimini and that authorities had no plans to seize the vessel. The arrest warrant for the 781-foot-long ship is part of a lawsuit over a delinquent $4.6 million fuel bill. The ship wa...
JUNEAU (AP) — Parts of Southeast Alaska are receiving assistance from the state after getting up to six feet of snow. Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Jan. 13 issued a disaster declaration for the Yakutat, Juneau, Haines and Skagway areas, his office said in a statement. The declaration activates emergency response options and a disaster recovery program, including possibly financial help, for those affected by the storm. For a four-day stretch ending Jan. 11, up to six feet of snow fell in parts of the disaster area. That was followed by warmer temperatu...
Alaska Airlines said last week it would trim its flight schedule by about 10% for the rest of January as it deals with “unprecedented” numbers of employees calling in sick during the COVID-19 surge. Service to Wrangell — Flight 65 northbound in the morning and Flight 64 southbound in the afternoon — are not on the list for service reductions, Tim Thompson, company spokesman in Anchorage, said Jan. 6. “Intra-Alaska service is not part of the current schedule reduction,” Thompson said. Though continued staff shortages could affect future scheduli...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — The longest-serving magistrate in Alaska is no longer on the bench after writing letters to the editor critical of the Republican party. Former Seward Magistrate George Peck wrote four letters to the editor of the Anchorage Daily News, the latest in December which claimed the Republican party “is actively trying to steer the U.S. into an authoritarian kleptocracy.” The other letters written since 2019 have been critical of former President Donald Trump and Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, both Republicans, and the GOP, the Ancho...
It was a rough week for the cruise line industry and travelers. Hundreds of passengers who embarked on an 11-day cruise from Miami were returned to port on Jan. 4 after less than two days at sea because several dozen crew members got infected with COVID-19. The pandemic also prompted a last-minute cancellation of another cruise that was scheduled to depart Jan. 4. Norwegian Cruise Line said it was canceling sailings on eight of its ships in the U.S. and abroad to protect the health and safety of guests, crew members and communities. The next...
JUNEAU (AP) — Authorities have located the mother of a baby found abandoned in a cardboard box in frigid conditions in Fairbanks last week. A unit within the state troopers that handles major cases identified and located the mother on Jan. 4, and she was taken to a hospital for evaluation and medical care, troopers said in a statement Jan. 5. Troopers spokesperson Tim DeSpain said by email that she is a teenager. “The mother is cooperative and at this time, her well-being and medical treatment is the priority,” DeSpain said. The state...
FAIRBANKS (AP) — It’s not just people who are a bit irritated by the deep snow this winter in Alaska. A wildlife official in Alaska told Fairbanks television station KTVF-TV that the deep snowfall and strong winds that have been prevalent across the state this winter have prompted moose to act more aggressively toward humans. “The December snowfall was really high,” said Tony Hollis, Fairbanks area wildlife biologist for the Department of Fish and Game. “This deep snow has caused moose to not want to be out in the snow. They want to be out on...
BETHEL (AP) — A school that is in danger of being lost to river erosion because of climate change is at the top of the state’s list for the construction of a new school building. The Alaska Department of Education put the school in the Southwest village of Napakiak, population just under 400, at the top of its priority list for replacement for the upcoming fiscal year. However, being No. 1 on the list doesn’t ensure the community will get the funding for a new school. “Of course, that’s completely up to the Legislature,” said Tim Mearig, fac...
The Canadian government on Jan. 5 announced an agreement in principle with the country's First Nations to compensate Indigenous children and their families who were harmed by discrimination and underfunding of Canada's child welfare system in the Yukon Territory. Approximately C$20 billion will be used to pay compensation to victims, while the other C$20 billion will be spent on reforming the system over five years. The settlement is worth about $31.5 billion U.S. After final details are negotiated, the settlement agreements and distribution pl...