Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 252
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...
High winds, deep snow, below-zero temperatures, frozen pipes, canceled flights and ice-covered everything - it was not a merry Christmas or a happy new year for many Alaskans. Ketchikan endured its coldest-ever Christmas, and the next day, too, shivering to a low of zero degrees on both days, breaking a 57-year-old record for Christmas Day. It was cold enough to freeze saltwater in shoreline areas of Bar Harbor, City Float, Mud Bight and Ward Cove. The 350 residents of Hydaburg, on the...
Anchorage public schools opened the new year with face mask requirements still in place, after the school board reversed a decision by the superintendent that would have made masks optional. Schools Superintendent Deena Bishop decided in mid-December to drop the masking requirement for when students and staff returned to class on Monday, but the Anchorage School Board on Dec. 20 voted 5-1 to reverse the decision. Face masks will be required in the state’s largest school district until at least Jan. 15, when the board will review the policy. B...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has accepted Donald Trump’s endorsement for his 2022 reelection campaign, telling the former president he will not support Lisa Murkowski in her reelection bid for the U.S. Senate — a condition of winning Trump’s endorsement. The former president has vowed revenge against Murkowski and other Republican lawmakers who supported impeachment for Trump’s role in instigating last January’s insurrection at the Capitol during certification of Joe Biden’s election as president. Trump has endorsed Murkowski’s primary challenger, K...
MIAMI (AP) — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned people on Dec. 30 not to go on cruises, regardless of their vaccination status, because of onboard outbreaks fueled by the Omicron variant. The CDC said it has more than 90 cruise ships under investigation or observation as a result of COVID-19 cases. The agency did not disclose the number of infections. “The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads easily between people in close quarters on board ships, and the chance of getting COVID-19 on cruise ships is very high,” even...
JUNEAU (AP) — An Alaska Native nonprofit cultural organization has received a $2.9 million grant to start building a totem pole trail along Juneau’s downtown waterfront. The Sealaska Heritage Institute said the grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will cover 10 poles, though the longer-term goal is to have 30 poles in place. “Our traditional poles historically dominated the shorelines of our ancestral homelands and told the world who we were,” said Rosita Worl, president of the institute. “It’s fitting that our totems will be one of the...
BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has proposed investing $187 million in salmon recovery as part of his 2022 budget and policy proposals. The legislation, if approved by lawmakers, also would set new standards for salmon habitat protection and conservation efforts. Inslee said the legislation is the result of two years of discussions with tribes in the state. He announced his salmon proposals Dec. 14 at the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community reservation’s Swadabs Park. “Our fight is simple: to be able to practice our cultu...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy last week outlined what he called a responsible budget proposal that doesn’t dip into savings, bolsters law enforcement and calls for direct payments of about $3,700 to residents amid an unsettled dispute with lawmakers over the future of the state’s dividend program. But the budget relies on high oil prices to help pay the bills and is heavily dependent on one-time federal pandemic aid dollars to help cover the cost of public services usually paid out of state funds, such as the Alaska Marine Highway System. The budget pla...
