This year’s contributions include stories from mail carriers in Appalachia and healthcare workers in the Hudson River Valley. Wisniewski’s recordings will be the first from Alaska.
Economy
Commission boosts fishing limits for halibut
This year’s total coast-wide limit increases more than 5% over last year’s, to 41.22 million pounds.
An Anchorage restaurant operator says the pandemic is still hitting the industry hard
Restaurants are going on two years of income uncertainty and staffing challenges due to COVID-19.
Tiny Whittier debates an Alaska Native corporation’s proposal for a second cruise ship dock
Huna Totem has already created a cruise-based tourism industry in Hoonah. It’s now proposing to build a 1,200-foot dock to moor ships in Whittier at the picturesque head of Passage Canal, about an hour’s drive southeast of Anchorage.
Alaska Senate passes bill to maintain website aimed at spending transparency
The Alaska Checkbook Online was launched by former Gov. Sarah Palin in 2008. It allows the public to search the amount of every payment by the state and who received it.
Barge rate hikes add to rising grocery costs in Wrangell
Barge rates have gone up in the new year across Southeast Alaska. But the rising cost of hauling goods into coastal communities isn’t the only reason a trip to the grocery store might be more expensive.
Aid from fisheries disasters can take years to come through
COVID-19 has impacted Alaska fisheries recently, but for the most part, revenue losses came from lack of fish.
USDA approves Alaska’s industrial hemp plan
The head of the state’s agriculture division says hemp holds a lot of economic promise for Alaska.
Southeast Alaska’s upcoming tanner crab fishery could be the best in decades
The fishery starts on Feb. 11, and the harvest and price could be historic.
Anchorage is clearing homeless camps in midwinter, raising concerns from advocates
The city’s parks and rec department says it’s cleared more than 50 camps since Dec. 22.