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NEW YORK (AP) - Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin lost her libel lawsuit against The New York Times on Feb. 15 when a jury rejected her claim that the newspaper maliciously damaged her reputation by erroneously linking her campaign rhetoric to a mass shooting. A judge had already declared that if the jury sided with Palin, he would set aside its verdict on the grounds that she hadn't proven the paper acted maliciously, something required in libel suits involving public figures. "Of course we're...
ORONO, Maine (AP)- Salmon counters found fewer of the endangered fish in Maine’s Penobscot River last year than in any year since 2016. Atlantic salmon are listed under the Endangered Species Act in the U.S., as the country’s only remaining wild populations of the fish are found in a few Maine rivers. The Penobscot is vitally important to the future of the fish, and salmon returns there are watched closely. Only 561 salmon were counted in the Penobscot last year. That was the lowest number since 2016, when 503 fish were found, the Bangor Dai...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — A provision of a U.S. Senate bill would expand tribal court jurisdiction for up to 30 Alaska tribes as part of a pilot program aimed at addressing high rates of domestic or sexual violence. Tribes that choose to participate in the pilot program — and are selected — would be able to try and sentence anyone who commits domestic violence, rape or related crimes in their villages, even if the offender is non-Native. The provision added by Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is part of a bipartisan measure that would renew the 1994 Violence...
The Sitka Sound Science Center and several regional and national partners have received a five-year, $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop natural hazard monitoring and warning systems in tribal communities throughout Southeast. Project KUTÍ — the Tlingit word for weather — builds on the center’s community process used in Sitka to build a landslide warning system. Sitka will serve as a hub for the project, but the goal is to “develop a co-produced regional system for warning residents of events that might lead to...
A Juneau-based fishing charter and lodge owner has a hunch that a viable commercial squid fishery could exist in Southeast. Richard Yamada, who's been operating fishing charters for 40 years, has been looking for ways to reduce the damage to his business as king salmon numbers decline. He speculates that an influx of magister squid in the northern Inside Passage might be one factor affecting salmon survival. About 15 years ago. while fishing for rockfish, he and his clients caught a magister...
JUNEAU (AP) — An Anchorage Assembly member on Feb. 17 announced plans to run as a Democrat for the U.S. House seat for Alaska that has been held by Republican Don Young since 1973. Christopher Constant made the announcement on social media. Under a voter-approved elections system that will be used for the first time in Alaska this year, the top four vote-getters in the August primary, regardless of party affiliation, will advance to the November general election, where ranked-choice voting will be used to count ballots until a candidate a...
JUNEAU (AP) — A gemstone, billed as one of the largest gem-quality opals in existence, was sold for $143,750 at auction in Alaska on Sunday. The opal, dubbed the “Americus Australis,” weighs more than five pounds, according to the Anchorage auction house Alaska Premier Auctions & Appraisals. It also has a long history. Most recently, it was kept in a linen closet in a home in Big Lake, north of Anchorage, by Fred von Brandt, who mines for gold in Alaska and whose family has deep roots in the gem and rock business. The opal is larger than a bri...
JUNEAU (AP) — Democrat Les Gara announced Feb. 14 that a teacher will be his running mate in his bid for Alaska governor this year. Gara said Jessica Cook, of Palmer, will run for lieutenant governor as part of a ticket with him. Cook teaches at an Eagle River middle school. Cook, speaking alongside Gara at an event in Anchorage, said she and Gara “care about Alaska’s kids and we believe that everyone deserves a chance to be successful regardless of race, regardless of gender, regardless of wealth or poverty.” Cook, born in Anchorage, is a pare...
Closed schools and mitigation protocols have complicated recruitment for the U.S. Coast Guard over the two years of the pandemic, officers said. “We are definitely, in comparison to pre-COVID numbers, we are not doing as well,” said Cmdr. Andrea Smith, executive officer of nationwide Coast Guard Recruiting Command. “Meeting a Coastie is still the best recruiting tool for us, and that is increasingly difficult because of the pandemic,” Smith said in a phone interview. The problem is exacerbated in Alaska, said Chief Petty Officer Colin Rankin,...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — The hotel that has served for nearly three decades as the Anchorage-based headquarters for the world’s most famous sled dog race will end its association with the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race next year. The Lakefront Anchorage Hotel will still be race headquarters for this year’s race and then step away, hotel manager John Bruce and Iditarod Trail Committee Chief Operations Officer Chas St. George told the Anchorage Daily News. The hotel’s owners, Millennium Hotels and Resorts, announced the change in a statement Feb. 9, a da...
The state is accusing the owners of an Anchorage souvenir-making business of consumer fraud, saying in documents filed with Anchorage Superior Court that their “Made in Alaska” products are actually made in the Philippines. Robert Merry, Josephine Merry, Mary Uy and Mark Uy, owners of B. Merry Studio, are facing a civil lawsuit from the state, which is seeking restitution, $25,000 per violation of the state’s consumer protection law, attorney fees, punitive damages, and an order that they stop using the “Made in Alaska” label. B. Merry Stu...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District said it is investigating allegations of racist behavior during a high school basketball game, where some students dressed in Western attire, such as cowboy hats, as their boys basketball team played at home against Metlakatla. Latonya Galles, whose son plays for the Metlakatla Chiefs, told Anchorage television station KTUU the way fans of the Ketchikan High School Kings were dressed was inappropriate. “It was just really, really bad, and racism was definitely present,” said Galle...
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge said Monday he will dismiss a libel lawsuit that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin filed against The New York Times, claiming the newspaper damaged her reputation with a 2017 editorial falsely linking her campaign rhetoric to a mass shooting. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff made the ruling with the jury still deliberating in the New York City trial where the former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate testified last week. The judge said Palin had failed to show that The Times had acted out of malice, something r...
HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii Gov. David Ige said the Safe Travels Hawai’i program will remain unchanged at this time and booster shots will not be needed to satisfy the up-to-date vaccination status required for individuals traveling to the state. The Safe Travels Program will still require travelers to show proof of their vaccination status so they may avoid testing or bypass quarantine requirements when they arrive in Hawaii. “In making this decision, we considered declining COVID-19 case counts in Hawaii, the continental U.S. and Europe,“ Ige sai...
JUNEAU (AP) — Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski ended the year with almost seven times the cash on hand as her chief Republican rival, Kelly Tshibaka, filings with the Federal Election Commission show. Murkowski, who made official in November plans to seek reelection, reported bringing in nearly $1.4 million during the last quarter of the year and ending 2021 with about $4.3 million available. Tshibaka, who announced her plans to run last March, reported bringing in nearly $602,000 in the past quarter and ending the year with about $634,000 on h...
JUNEAU (AP) — A Democratic state legislator has announced her bid for Alaska’s U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Lisa Murkowski. State Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, a former Anchorage assembly member in her first term in the state Legislature, filed candidacy papers with the Alaska Division of Elections in Juneau on Feb. 10. Gray-Jackson is the first Democrat to join a field of contenders that also includes Republican Kelly Tshibaka, who is supported by former President Donald Trump. Murkowski is seeking reelection. She has held the office sin...
A bill overhauling Alaska’s alcohol laws passed out of the Senate without opposition on Feb. 8, heading to the House where amendments are expected. The bill creates new license types for businesses that sell alcohol such as breweries and wineries and extends the activities those businesses can engage in. Tasting rooms at breweries and distilleries could, if the bill passes, stay open two hours later, closing at 10 p.m., and the businesses could hold classes or fundraising events. Senate Bill 9 is the result of nine years of effort by S...
WILLIAMS LAKE, British Columbia (AP) — A First Nation in Canada says a preliminary geophysical investigation has identified 93 possible burial sites around the site of a church-run boarding school. Chief Willie Sellars of the Williams Lake First Nation said Jan. 25 that excavation would be needed to confirm the presence of human remains and much more work is needed to make final determinations. From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 Indigenous children in Canada were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools as an e...
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...
Tokyo Summer Olympics swim team gold medalist Lydia Jacoby, a 17-year-old Seward High School senior, was in Sitka last month, sharing stories, offering advice - and talking about her goggles. She also talked of criticism directed at her on social media and mental health. "During the mixed-medley (relay) my goggles fell off my face and were in my mouth," she said. "I couldn't breathe for the whole race, and that's something that you think once you get to the Olympics you'll kind of be past that,...
The first sentence was incomplete in the Feb. 2 Sentinel news report on former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s lawsuit against The York Times. The first sentence should have read: “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....
For the third year in a row, lawmakers are considering legislation that would impose a tax on e-cigarettes, such as vaping devices, intended to make it more expensive and harder on young people to buy the products. “This bill is about protecting our children from becoming addicted to nicotine,” the bill’s sponsor, Kodiak Sen. Gary Stevens, said in presenting his legislation to the Senate Finance Committee on Feb. 2. In addition to imposing a tax on vaping devices and liquids and other e-cigarette products, the bill, if approved by legislators a...
The state has contracted with an Anchorage-based search firm to help recruit and fill almost 50 job openings with the Alaska Marine Highway System, ranging from several onshore management positions to onboard crew. Alaska Executive Search was the only bidder for the contract, said Sam Dapcevich, Transportation Department spokesman. The contract is not to exceed $250,000. The state will pay the company an hourly rate for its work on the year-long recruitment and hiring effort — ranging from $65 to $105 an hour, depending on the contractor p...
The Alaska Marine Highway System has activated the dormant state ferry Tazlina for more than 30 sailings from Juneau to northern Southeast communities in February and March, filling in service gaps to Haines, Skagway, Hoonah, Angoon and Gustavus. Given the shortage of regular ferry service across Southeast, there had been strong public pressure on the state to activate the Tazlina, a $60 million ship built in 2019 but largely unused to save money. Bringing the 300-passenger Tazlina into service required putting together a crew for the...
A Sitka businessman indicted more than two years ago on charges that he stole electricity for his multiple properties has pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay restitution to the city utility of almost $150,000, plus interest. Richard A. Forst, 59, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of theft of property or services and a misdemeanor of criminal mischief. He pleaded guilty on Jan. 31. Superior Court Judge Jude Pate placed Forst on probation for two years. The judge also fined him $5,000 and ordered Forst to perform 80 hours of community work...