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A federal judge on Monday blocked President Joe Biden’s administration from enforcing a coronavirus vaccine mandate on thousands of health care workers in 10 states, including Alaska, that had brought the first legal challenge against the requirement. The court order said the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid had no clear authority from Congress to enact the vaccine mandate for providers participating in the two government health care programs for the elderly, disabled and poor. The injunction does not apply to several hospitals across A...
A new state advisory board intended to provide more public input over operations and investment decisions for the Alaska Marine Highway System is starting to gather up its members, with five of the nine positions filled. None of the board members named so far are from southern Southeast Alaska. The Legislature this year approved the new panel’s composition and advisory responsibilities to replace a board structure under an 18-year-old law that had been criticized as ineffective and often ignored by state officials. House Speaker Louise S...
Tribes nationwide will receive an infusion of federal money from the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill to expand broadband coverage, fix roads and address water and sanitation needs. The measure does not allocate funds to individual tribes on a per-capita basis as did the 2020 CARES Act or 2021 American Rescue Plan. Much of the overall infrastructure funding will be distributed as competitive grants through federal agencies. Funds also will be directed to the states, with lawmakers making the decisions on which projects to undertake. The...
JUNEAU (AP) — A fast-growing area north of Anchorage known as a hotbed of conservatism gained the most population since the 2010 Census but will keep the same number of House seats in the Legislature under a new map of state political boundaries that some critics say shortchanges the area. Census data showed the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, which is about the size of West Virginia and includes Palmer and former Gov. Sarah Palin’s hometown of Wasilla, had 18,086 more people last year than in 2010, the biggest jump for any borough or Census are...
The Petersburg borough assembly last week adopted a new emergency ordinance requiring face masks in indoor public places amid a surge of COVID-19 cases in the community the past couple of weeks. The assembly, however, deleted from the draft ordinance a proposed $50 non-compliance fine for individuals and $100 fine for business and property owners. The ordinance adopted by the assembly Nov. 17 replaced an emergency ordinance adopted Nov. 5, which also did not include any specific enforcement measures for non-compliance. The public health...
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A coalition of 10 states, including Alaska, sued the federal government on Nov. 10 to block a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for health care workers, adding to resistance by Republican-led states against the pandemic policies of President Joe Biden’s administration. It’s the third such lawsuit Alaska has joined against vaccination rules. The latest lawsuit filed in a federal court in Missouri contends that the vaccine requirement threatens the jobs of millions of health care workers and could “exacerbate an alarming sho...
A divided Alaska Redistricting Board voted last week on a final map that could give one of the more conservative areas of the state, Eagle River, a second seat in the state Senate. All three board members appointed by Republican elected officials supported the map. The two who were not appointed by Republicans opposed the map. In addition to redrawing the boundaries for the state’s 40 House seats, the board had to decide the pairings of two House districts each to create 20 Senate seats. It was those Senate district boundaries that prompted l...
The Ketchikan city council has decided to use the community’s $2 million gift from Norwegian Cruise Line to help cover lost revenue in the town’s ailing port fund. The city finance director reported to the council that port revenues fell by more than 99% when cruise ships stopped calling in 2020 — from more than $10 million in 2019 to roughly $82,000 in 2020. And it wasn’t much better this year: Revenue is expected to come in at about $1.35 million, as a limited number of ships operated in the shortened visitor season. Without an immediate cash...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Alaska doctors plan to ask the State Medical Board to investigate concerns about the spread of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and treatments by other physicians. Merijeanne Moore, a private practice psychiatrist, said she drafted the letter out of concern over an event about COVID-19 treatments that featured prominent vaccine skeptics in Anchorage last month. Moore said last Saturday that nearly 100 doctors had signed the letter and more could before she plans to submit the letter this week. “We are writing out of con...
JUNEAU (AP) — Kelly Tshibaka, who is running for the Alaska U.S. Senate seat held by fellow Republican Lisa Murkowski, has announced plans for a fundraiser hosted by former President Donald Trump in February at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. “It’s a great honor to have the endorsement and enthusiastic support of President Trump and I am thrilled that he will be hosting this event,” Tshibaka said in a statement Nov. 3. Tshibaka, a former commissioner of the state Department of Administration under Gov. Mike Dunleavy, announced plans in...
WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who voted to convict President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial and had called for his resignation after the Jan. 6 insurrection, announced last Friday she will run for reelection in 2022. Trump, who has focused on punishing his political opponents, has endorsed top Murkowski opponent Kelly Tshibaka, saying "Lisa Murkowski is bad for Alaska." Murkowski pushed back in a campaign video that promotes her as "independent and tough." "In...
JUNEAU (AP) — Wildlife officials have announced a one-month trapping season for wolves on and near Prince of Wales Island, despite concerns conservationists have raised about the population. A statement from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and U.S. Forest Service announced state and federal trapping seasons will run from Nov. 15 to Dec. 15. The statement cited a fall 2020 Fish and Game estimate of 386 wolves, which it called the most current estimate and one that was higher than expected “considering it followed a reported harvest of...
When Bruce Funk left his Whitehorse home at 8:30 a.m. Yukon time on Nov. 8, he didn’t expect cookies, hot chocolate, a band playing “O Canada,” news reporters, curious residents, a police escort, Haines Mayor Douglas Olerud and a gift basket all waiting for him at the visitor information center. But that’s exactly what welcomed the first Canadian visitor to cross the highway into Haines in nearly two years. The U.S. opened its land and ferry borders to fully vaccinated foreigners on Nov. 8. Funk expected a line of cars when he got to the border...
SEATTLE (AP) — Of the 109 cargo containers that went overboard from a cargo ship that caught fire near British Columbia last month, 105 have not been seen, according to the Canadian Coast Guard. In all, 57 tons of potassium amyl xanthate, used in mines and pulp mills, and thiourea dioxide, used to manufacture textiles, were aboard the Zim Kingston in four containers: two that fell overboard and the two that caused the onboard fire, the Seattle Times reported. The two containers containing hazardous materials are among those that have not b...
A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka helicopter crew rescued four fishermen from a life raft after their 53-foot boat sank late evening Nov. 10 about 55 miles south of Sitka, 90 miles west of Wrangell. The four were in stable condition after arriving in Sitka less than three hours after the sinking, the Coast Guard said. Coast Guard watchstanders in Juneau said the crew of the longliner Julia Breeze radioed for help at 10:40 p.m. Nov. 10, reporting the boat was taking on water and they were abandoning ship near Cape Ommaney. The Coast Guard...
Majestic, increasingly hungry and at risk of disappearing, the polar bear is dependent on something melting away on our warming planet: sea ice. In the harsh and unforgiving Arctic, where frigid cold is not just a way of life but a necessity, the polar bear stands out. But where it lives, where it hunts, where it eats is disappearing underfoot in the crucial summertime. “They have just always been a revered species by people, going back hundreds and hundreds of years,” said longtime government polar bear researcher Steve Amstrup, now chief scie...
Attorneys general in 11 states, including Alaska, filed suit last Friday against President Joe Biden’s administration, challenging a new vaccine requirement for workers at companies with more than 100 employees. The lawsuit filed in the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals argues that the authority to compel vaccinations rests with the states, not the federal government. “This mandate is unconstitutional, unlawful, and unwise,” said the court filing by Missouri Attorney General and political candidate Eric Schmitt, one of sever...
The Juneau assembly will consider an ordinance that would amend the borough’s sales tax code to collect on goods and services sold aboard cruise ships, whether tied to the dock or anchored in front of town. The ordinance would amend a provision in code that currently exempts sales aboard cruise ships from the borough’s 5% tax. Services sold on board the ships but which are delivered or used on shore, such as bus or whale watching tours, cooking classes and other activities, already are subject to sales tax, but goods or services consumed abo...
JUNEAU (AP) — The state corporation that paid $12 million in public funds for federal oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the final days of the Trump administration is suing federal officials over what it calls improper actions that are preventing activities on the lands. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority alleges federal officials have overstepped the law in suspending lease-related activities. The lease sale was held in January, shortly before President Joe Biden took office. Soon after taking o...
JUNEAU (AP) — Tribal and municipal government programs are trying to help child care providers in Juneau, but challenges remain even with higher wages and bonuses covered by the financial aid. Little Eagles and Ravens Nest Child Care Center has advertised continuously for positions since opening in February 2020, before the pandemic took hold. Pay starts around $17 an hour, and entry-level jobs come with tribal government benefits. “We now offer professional development courses and classes that we pay for. As well as … university credits that...
By Anita Snow and Terry Tang The Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) - Canadians Ian and Heather Stewart are savoring the idea of leaving behind this winter's subzero temperatures when the U.S. reopens its borders to nonessential land travel this week and they launch a long-delayed drive to their seasonal home in Fort Myers, Florida. Restrictions imposed by both countries during the coronavirus pandemic and their own concerns kept the retired couple and millions of other Canadians from driving south...
After more than 18 months without Canadian visitors, Haines could see an influx of RV traffic and coho fishermen this week. The U.S.-Canada border reopened for fully vaccinated Canadians on Monday. With coho still running and Yukoners long cut off from the sea, the quiet days of the pandemic in Haines could be waning. “Be prepared to maybe see a bunch of RVs,” said Haines Borough tourism director Steven Auch. “We’re looking forward to finally getting to see our friends we’ve been separated from forcibly for so long,” said Alaska Rod’s co-ow...
JUNEAU (AP) — The braking system on a plane carrying 42 people that overran a runway at Unalaska in 2019, killing a passenger, was compromised by anti-skid sensors that were not correctly wired, the National Transportation Safety Board determined. The incorrect wiring likely occurred during an overhaul at the landing gear manufacturer’s facility in 2017, but it was not discovered until after the accident, the Nov. 2 report said. The system “does not generate a fault (warning) based on incorrect wiring,” the report said. Also, the plane was not...
By Garland Kennedy Sitka Sentinel staff writer Two years ago, a Russian-flagged inflatable catamaran sailed into Sitka, concluding a multi-year voyage from central Russia, through the Siberian river network, across the Bering Sea and along the Alaska coast. The vessel's Siberia-based crew now plans to repeat the voyage in reverse next spring and summer. Owner and captain of the Iskatel, Anatoly Kazakevich, said he had planned to begin the return trip last summer, but the pandemic sank those...
KENAI (AP) — An impromptu fundraiser to allow a Kenai library to purchase books amid accusations of censorship has twice surpassed its goal. The fund was established after the Kenai City Council delayed accepting a federal grant until the library director provides a list of the books that would be purchased with the money. The council voted Oct. 20 to postpone action that would have accepted a grant to buy library materials related to health and wellness, including mental health, suicide prevention, self-care and reference books about Medicare...