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Federal health officials are dropping the warning they have attached to cruising since the beginning of the pandemic, leaving it up to vacationers to decide whether they feel safe getting on a ship. Cruise-ship operators welcomed the announcement, which came as many people thought about summer vacation plans. An industry trade group said the move by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last Wednesday validated measures that ship owners have taken, including requiring crew members and most passengers to be vaccinated against the...
Alaska is one of 21 states with Republican attorneys general that sued March 29 to halt the federal government’s requirement that people wear masks on planes, trains, ferries and other public transportation amid the coronavirus pandemic. The lawsuit, announced by Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody and filed in federal court in Tampa, Florida, contends that the mask mandate exceeds the authority of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The mandate in its current form may be in effect only a few wee...
The winter troll king salmon fishery reopened in outside waters around Southeast Alaska last Sunday. Trollers will be able to target up to 28,000 Chinook salmon remaining in the fleet’s original winter guideline harvest level of 45,000 fish. The opening will last through the end of April, or until the remaining fish of the guideline harvest are caught. The state’s March 30 emergency order opened much of Southeast Alaska’s Outer Coast — from Craig to Yakutat — to the troll fleet. The Department of Fish and Game decided the opening would not...
JUNEAU (AP) — State election officials on March 22 announced plans for a June 11 special primary and an Aug. 16 special election to fill the U.S. House seat left vacant with the death of Alaska Rep. Don Young. The winner would serve the remainder of Young’s term, which ends in January. Another election would be held in November to fill the next full two-year term in Congress, which will start in January. Officials are planning for the special primary to be conducted by mail given the short timeline to hold the election, said Lt. Gov. Kevin Mey...
JUNEAU (AP) — Independent Al Gross announced plans Monday to run for Alaska’s U.S. House seat following the death earlier this month of Rep. Don Young. Gross’ campaign, in a statement, said he will file as a candidate to fill the remaining term that ends in January, and for the full two-year term that begins in January. Gross in 2020 ran a $20 million campaign for U.S. Senate, losing to incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. Gross, who has worked as an orthopedic surgeon and fisherman, ran unsuccessfully for the hospital board in Peter...
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday that a new map of state Senate districts for Anchorage “constituted an unconstitutional political gerrymander violating equal protection under the Alaska Constitution” and must be redrawn before its use in this year’s statewide election. In a combined summary decision, the court said it is upholding a lower court ruling that instructed the state’s five-person redistricting board to redraw the Senate map or explain why it is impossible to do so. As part of the decision that combined several lawsuits against...
As part of its plan to accommodate a large increase in cruise ship visitors this summer, Sitka is offering grants of $1,000 or more to businesses and other entities that will open their bathrooms to the public. The community is expecting ships with capacity to carry close to half-a-million passengers this summer, more than double the pre-COVID year of 2019. The city posted the grant application on its website last Thursday. The city’s tourism office, Visit Sitka, will direct visitors to the locations of the public facilities using maps, s...
Salvage teams, the U.S. Coast Guard and state Department of Environmental Conservation reported last Thursday that fuel leaks from the grounded tug in Neva Strait 17 miles northwest of Sitka have been stopped. The state agency updated its situation report Thursday afternoon, noting that the exact quantity of diesel spilled is unknown but progress is being made in the cleanup on the water around the 83-foot tugboat Western Mariner. “Additionally, fuel has been removed from the engine room,” the department said in its report. The Department of...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — A former police dispatcher in the Bering Sea coastal community of Nome has settled with the city after officers failed to investigate her report of being sexually assaulted in 2017. Under terms of the agreement, Clarice “Bun” Hardy, an Alaska Native woman now living in Shaktoolik, will drop her lawsuit in exchange for $750,000 and an apology from the city, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska said March 22. “The mayor and common council wish to apologize to Clarice ‘Bun’ Hardy for the fact that the Nome Police Departmen...
FAIRBANKS (AP) — In the pristine expanse of Alaska’s Interior lies a dirty secret: Some of the most polluted winter air in the United States can be found in and around Fairbanks. The Fairbanks North Star Borough, which includes Alaska’s second-largest city, routinely exceeds limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for particle pollution that can be inhaled and cause myriad health problems. Over seven weeks this winter, nearly 50 scientists from the U.S. and Europe descended on Fairbanks to study the sources of air pollu...
JUNEAU (AP) — Anchorage Democrat Elvi Gray-Jackson said last Friday that she is ending her run for U.S. Senate in Alaska and instead will seek reelection to the state Senate, where she has served since 2019. Gray-Jackson, in a statement released by her campaign, said that as first-quarter fundraising concludes “and after some deep reflection on our current system and the monumental expenses necessary to run a successful campaign, I have decided that my best efforts to change that system and to change Alaska will be done in the Senate in Jun...
Posted at noon Friday, April 1 Alaska Airlines canceled dozens of flights Friday — including the northbound jet through Wrangell — as pilots picketed over an impasse in contract negotiations that have lasted nearly three years. As of 8 a.m. Alaska time, the airline said it had canceled more than 120 flights for the day, about 9% of its traffic, due to a shortage of pilots. Friday’s cancelations include 66 flights in Seattle, 20 in Portland, 10 in Los Angeles and seven in San Francisco, according to the flight tracking website fligh... Full story
By Felicia Fonseca The Associated Press The Interior Department is on the verge of releasing a report on its investigation into the federal government’s past oversight of Native American boarding schools. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland told journalists during a call March 16 that the report will come out in April but didn’t specify a date. She first outlined the initiative last June, saying it would uncover the truth about the loss of life and the lasting consequences of boarding schools. Starting with the Indian Civilization Act of 1819, the U...
JUNEAU (AP) — Simmering public anger in Alaska over the Legislature’s failure to settle the state’s most radioactive issue — how big a check residents should receive from the state’s oil-wealth fund — is colliding with a once-a-decade opportunity for political activists: The chance for voters to call a convention to amend the state constitution. The frustration over the long-festering Permanent Fund dividend question is providing a tailwind for groups seeking to change the constitution to address a range of hot-button topics, such as restrictin...
A bill that would ban discrimination on the basis of COVID-19 vaccination status passed the Alaska Senate on March 16 in a move to limit state service providers and private businesses from requiring the life-saving vaccine. The bill, sponsored by Eagle River Republican Sen. Lora Reinbold, would make it illegal for the state to withhold services based on COVID-19 vaccination status, such as in public education or assisted living in Pioneer Homes. The bill would also ban private businesses from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations as a condition for...
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The Canadian government’s announcement it is dropping the requirement for vaccinated travelers to show a negative COVID-19 test result to enter the country was greeted with relief by tourism and business groups on both sides of the border last Thursday. Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said tests will no longer be needed beginning April 1. Currently, fully vaccinated travelers entering Canada must present proof of a negative result from a professionally administered antigen test. The antigen test replaced the...
JUNEAU (AP) - Sitka Democratic Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins announced last Friday that he will not seek reelection to a sixth term in the Alaska House of Representatives. In addition to Sitka, his district includes Petersburg, Kake, Angoon, Hoonah, Pelican and most of Prince of Wales Island. “I love Alaska and it’s been a tremendous privilege to represent my home of Southeast Alaska these last 10 years,” the 33-year-old lawmaker said in a prepared statement. “As I’ve grown older, it’s come time to make space for other pursuits and parts of li...
For years, Robert Miller and his son RJ have hunted, fished and enjoyed the outdoors around Sitka together. And now they have a wide audience through National Geographic's "Life Below Zero: Next Generation" television show. The show follows the Millers' outdoor adventures from hunting deer in the high country to fishing for halibut in the waters around Sitka. The elder Miller hopes he provides TV viewers a realistic and positive view of his lifestyle. "It's a way of life, and it's deeper than th...
JUNEAU (AP) — The Alaska House passed legislation last Wednesday that would repeal a provision of law that allows a court to grant permission for someone as young as 14 to marry. The repeal provision was adopted as representatives weighed amendments to a bill dealing with witness requirements for marriage. The measure, which House members approved 27-13, next goes to the Senate for consideration. The bill repeals a section of law that spells out a process under which a court can grant permission for someone as young as 14-years-old to marry. I...
The Alaska House has narrowly passed legislation that would set a limit on individual contributions to candidates after previous limits were struck down by a court The bill passed 21-18 on March 16, with all the no votes coming from Republicans. It next goes to the Senate, with about eight weeks left before the Legislature’s adjournment deadline. If the bill fails to win Senate approval and the governor’s signature, there will be no restrictions on the amount of money that can be donated to candidates in Alaska elections starting this yea...
ANCHORAGE — A federal appeals court panel on March 16 reversed a decision that had rejected a land swap aimed at allowing construction of a road through an Alaska national wildlife refuge which is an internationally recognized habitat for migrating waterfowl. A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the decision back to U.S. District Judge John Sedwick in Alaska for further consideration. Nine environmental groups had sued to stop the land swap on the Alaska Peninsula. Sedwick blocked an agreement that would have allowed the I...
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Federal regulators have issued a draft environmental impact statement declaring there are significant benefits to a plan to demolish four massive dams on Northern California's Klamath River to save imperiled migratory salmon, setting the stage for the largest dam demolition project in U.S. history. The issuing of a statement by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Feb. 25 clears a major regulatory hurdle for the project and paves the way for public hearings on the...
Black, Hispanic and American Indian residents were missed at higher rates than a decade ago during the 2020 census, according to a report released last Thursday that evaluated how well the once-a-decade head count tallied every U.S. resident. Even though the 2020 census missed an unexpectedly small percentage of the total U.S. population given the unprecedented challenges it faced, the increase in undercounts among some minority groups prompted an outcry from civil rights leaders who blamed political interference by the Trump administration,...
Canada’s Minister of Transport has announced that cruise ships are again welcome at the nation’s ports, starting April 6. The COVID-19 pandemic stopped all cruise ship traffic in 2020 as Canada closed its waters, and the revenue hit was substantial for Alaska businesses and municipalities that rely on summer travelers. Even when cruise ships resumed limited operations in 2021, they had to bypass Canadian ports and traffic to Alaska was a fraction of past summers. A major barrier to the ability of ships to sail between the Lower 48 and Ala...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Alaska state senators said Friday they support legislation to temporarily suspend the state’s 8-cents-a-gallon tax on gasoline and also taxes marine and aviation fuels for one year, in an attempt to reduce the hit of rising fuel prices on Alaskans. No such legislation had been introduced, but Dunleavy, who is running for reelection this year, called for a suspension of the taxes to be added to a bill sitting in the House Finance Committee since last year. That bill would raise the state’s tax on gasoline by 8 cents a gal...