Sorted by date Results 3395 - 3419 of 7954
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Three-time Super Bowl champion Mark Schlereth returned home to Alaska last week to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The Service High School alumnus made a halftime appearance last Friday night during his alma mater’s game at West High School. “I just want to encourage everybody to do your part, to talk to your doctor and if it’s the right decision for you, please get vaccinated, please take care of one another,” Schlereth said Aug. 20. He has been advocating on social media for COVID-19 vaccines, and he said the NF...
The discoveries of hundreds of unmarked graves at former residential schools for Indigenous children in Canada have prompted renewed calls for a reckoning over the traumatic legacy of similar schools in the United States - and in particular by the churches that operated many of them. U.S. Catholic and Protestant denominations operated more than 150 boarding schools between the 19th and 20th centuries. Native American and Alaska Native children were regularly severed from their tribal families,...
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government has extended its ban on nonessential travel along the borders with Canada and Mexico to slow the spread of COVID-19 despite increasing pressure to lift the restriction and despite the fact that Canada opened its border to fully vaccinated Americans two weeks ago. U.S. border communities that are dependent on shoppers from Mexico and Canada and their political representatives have urged the Biden administration to lift the ban, complaining that it is crippling business. But the Department of Homeland S...
JUNEAU (AP) - Former state Rep. Les Gara on Aug. 20 announced plans to run for governor in next year’s election. The Anchorage Democrat joins Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, and former Gov. Bill Walker, an independent, who have previously announced their intentions to run. Libertarian William “Billy” Toien, who unsuccessfully ran in 2018, is the only official candidate listed so far with the state Division of Elections. In a statement, Gara cited as concerns state public works construction needs, Alaska’s education and university systems...
JUNEAU (AP) - The state’s decision to not seek further legal review of a split court ruling that struck down several campaign contribution caps in Alaska has been criticized by a state lawmaker who said the state should have pressed forward with a legal fight. The case was heard by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Gov. Mike Dunleavy has an obligation to defend the laws of the state, said Sen. Bill Wielechowski, of Anchorage. “He doesn’t get to pick and choose which laws he wants to defend and not defend,” Wielech...
BELFAST, Maine (AP) - A large, land-based salmon farming operation in Maine has obtained a key approval it needed to move forward, but opposition to the project remains. Nordic Aquafarms wants to build a $500 million, 55-acre salmon farm in Belfast, in the middle of the state’s Atlantic coastline. The plant would be capable of producing about 70 million pounds of Atlantic salmon a year. The company announced last week that is has received a U.S. Army Corp of Engineers permit, which is the final permit it needs. However, local c...
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - A universal mask mandate for indoor public spaces regardless of vaccination status went into effect in Washington state on Monday. Gov. Jay Inslee announced the expanded mask mandate last week. He also expanded the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate to all public school employees, in addition to employees at state colleges, and most child care and early learning providers. The mandates follow weeks of escalating COVID-19 case rates and increasing hospitalizations caused primarily by the Delta variant of the coronavirus. I...
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) - All Navajo Nation executive branch employees will need to be fully vaccinated against the virus that causes COVID-19 by the end of September or be required to submit to regular testing, according to an executive order announced by President Jonathan Nez on Sunday. The new rules apply to full, part-time and temporary employees, including those working for tribal enterprises like utilities, shopping centers and casinos. Any worker who does not show proof of vaccination by Sept. 29 must be tested every two weeks or face...
PORTLAND - Smoke and heat from a massive wildfire in southeastern Oregon created giant "fire clouds" over the blaze - dangerous columns of smoke and ash that can reach up to 6 miles in the sky and are visible from more than 100 miles away. Authorities put these clouds at the top of the list of the extreme fire behavior they saw on the Bootleg Fire, one of the largest wildfires in Oregon's recorded history. The inferno covered nearly 650 square miles - larger than the size of New York City - as...
The school board has decided to continue with its COVID-19 mitigation plan that requires students, staff and visitors to wear face masks in the buildings, though the policy will be reviewed again two weeks after classes begin. The plan approved at the board meeting Monday evening calls for review of the masking protocols on a monthly basis. Classes start Aug. 31. The next school board meeting is scheduled for Sept. 13. "Masks will be required for students, staff and guests while in school or at school events," the plan now reads. "During...
The U.S. Census Bureau says Wrangell lost 242 residents between 2010 and 2020 — about 10% of the community’s population. The borough doesn’t believe it. “We’re very concerned that the numbers are inaccurate,” Carol Rushmore, Wrangell’s economic development director, said last Friday, a day after the bureau released the numbers that show 2,127 Wrangell residents as of the July 2020 count versus 2,369 in 2010. “We’re trying to understand if there is any recourse, trying to understand if we can appeal,” Rushmore said. The borough will reach...
As legislators meet in special session this week, Gov. Mike Dunleavy continues to push his plan for much larger Permanent Fund dividends, saying “cash is the ultimate program” to help Alaskans. “Cash in the form of the Permanent Fund dividend … is really the answer to helping Alaskans and our private economy,” the governor said in a prepared statement Monday, the day lawmakers went back to work in Juneau. While promoting his plan to pay dividends almost double the average of the past 10 years without any new revenues to cover the state spe...
Statewide COVID-19 case counts continued climbing early this week, with Southeast communities some of the hardest hit — including Wrangell, with 11 new cases reported Monday and Tuesday. Because of the high case counts, state public health officials are unable to keep up with the contract tracing workload, and anyone who has been or may have been in close contact with an infected person should quarantine and get tested for COVID as soon as possible, Wrangell borough officials said Tuesday evening. “Whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, ple...
Petersburg schools will open Aug. 31 with face masks required for at least the first two weeks of the semester, reviewing the policy at the next school board meeting on Sept. 14. Based on the high count of active COVID-19 cases in Ketchikan, schools there would open Aug. 26 with face masks required of all students, staff and visitors under a draft back-to-school plan subject to school board approval. Ketchikan’s mask requirement would shift to optional when the active case count in the community drops to five or fewer. The count was 98 a...
The Alaska Marine Highway System has been advertising statewide since June in a concerted effort to recruit new crewmembers for the vessels, though help did not arrive in time when the LeConte had to cancel its northbound sailing out of Juneau on Aug. 11 due to a crew shortage. The cancelation “stems from a system-wide crew shortage,” Sam Dapcevich, public information officer for the ferry system, told the Chilkat Valley News in Haines. The one-day cancellation disrupted travel plans for 84 people who were traveling to Haines or Skagway, accord...
After a two-week delay due to an incomplete property appraisal, the borough assembly has approved the lease for a new cell tower. The first tenant of the new tower near the city landfill will be Verizon Wireless, though additional carriers could be added later. The lease was delayed from the assembly’s July 27 meeting to wait for the appraisal. Lease fees on borough land are based on property value. The lease will be $645 a month. The payments to the borough will increase if more cell providers are added to the tower. The assembly approved t...
The borough has awarded contracts for a new 75-foot-long net repair float at Shoemaker Bay, which will be 99% covered by federal and state funds. The float used by fishermen at the harbor has been in terrible shape for some time, Mayor Steve Prysunka said at the Aug. 11 assembly meeting, where members approved the two contracts. The estimated cost for the float project, and additional electrical work, is roughly $128,000. With a $46,000 federal grant after the 2016 pink salmon disaster declaration, and almost $81,000 from a state grant, Wrangel...
Wrangell High School graduate Jade Balansag is getting her opportunity to start classes Aug. 30 at George Washington University in the nation's capital. And she is doing it with yet another honor, named last week as one of seven Local Heroes in Alaska. Her advice to other Wrangell students is to look for their opportunities in life. "Don't be afraid to try something new, don't be afraid to fail," the 18-year-old said. "I've basically had the same philosophy awhile now, not to be afraid and to...
Acknowledging that it’s not easy to run the borough as more projects are added to the borough manager’s work list, the assembly has decided it may be time to add a deputy manager at city hall. The assembly at a workshop Aug. 11 directed Manager Lisa Von Bargen to start toward creating the new position, though final approval will be up to the assembly. “This has been in discussion for well over, I believe, three years,” Mayor Steve Prysunka said. “I’m just going to generally state that this position, at least my understanding, is not necessa...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has decided not to appeal after a judge ruled against his interpretation of state law that would have stopped assistance payments toward utility bills in almost 200 small communities across Alaska. A state court judge on Aug. 11 sided with a coalition including the Alaska Federation of Natives and electric cooperatives that had sued Dunleavy to force release of the money. The governor announced the next day he would not appeal the court decision. This year’s estimated $32 million in payments will help reduce electricity b...
The community group BRAVE (Building Respect and Valuing Everyone) is making plans for its fourth annual Family Resilience Fair, scheduled for noon to 2 p.m. Sept. 11 at the Nolan Center. The intent of the event “is to make people aware of the resources available” for dealing with stress, food insecurity, maintaining healthy relationships and more. “Learn how your community can help your family,” according to BRAVE. The event will include tables staffed by nonprofits, government agencies and service providers, said organizer Kay Larson. Admissio...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Improved weather conditions Aug. 11 allowed crews to access the site where a sightseeing plane crashed last week near Ketchikan, killing six people. Clint Johnson, head of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska division, said the wreckage would be brought to Ketchikan. A pilot and five passengers died in the crash on Aug. 5. The passengers were off a cruise ship and had taken the flight to nearby Misty Fjords National Monument. The plane crashed on the side of a mountain in a heavily forested, steep area at 1,800- t...
JUNEAU (AP) - Former governor Bill Walker announced plans Tuesday to run for the job again in 2022 and said his former labor commissioner, Heidi Drygas, would be his running mate. Walker dropped his 2018 reelection bid just weeks before the November election after the resignation of his lieutenant governor, Byron Mallott, disrupted the campaign. Republican Mike Dunleavy won the 2018 race against Democrat Mark Begich, who was trying to return to elected office after losing his reelection bid for the U.S. Senate in 2014. Dunleavy recently filed...
TORONTO (AP) — The Canadian government will soon require all air travelers and passengers on interprovincial trains to be vaccinated against COVID-19. That includes all commercial air travelers, passengers on trains between provinces and cruise ship passengers, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Aug. 13. “As soon as possible in the fall and no later than the end of October, the government of Canada will require employees in the federally regulated air, rail and marine transportation sectors to be vaccinated. This includes all commercial air...
LUDINGTON, Mich. (AP) - Louis Martinez will never have to embellish the proverbial fish story after confirmation that he set a new state record for the largest chinook salmon ever caught in Michigan. The teenager from Ortonville, Michigan, reeled in the 47.86-pound salmon on Aug. 7, while fishing on a charter boat in Lake Michigan with his mom, sister and stepdad. The previous record - a Chinook salmon of just over 46 pounds - had stood for 43 years. The 19-year-old Martinez, on his first...
