Alaska News

Independent history John Cloud lectured Wednesday in the Living History Room of Juneau’s Walter Soboleff Building, where he touted the important contributions that Tlingit clan leader Kohklux and Inupiat Joe Kokaryuk made to mapping Alaska.

If the Legislature doesn’t act to close the budget gap, the permanent fund earnings reserve account would fall to zero in about 10 years.

Juneau’s mining subcommittee is tasked with revamping the city’s mining ordinance. Both environmentalists and mine advocates are looking for a seat at the table.

Thunder Mountain High School students, coaches and parents came together Tuesday night, but not for a game. They showed up to the Board of Education meeting to voice concern about the recent decision to merge their football team with Juneau-Douglas High School’s.

The Trump administration announced last week it has asked Congress to appropriate $2.1 billion to expand the missile-defense base on Fort Greely.

The Baby Brown Timber Sale, about 35 miles northwest of Haines, offers up 20 million board feet of old-growth spruce and hemlock. Astoria Forest Products offered $270,000 for the timber last year. They were the only bidder. But the sale hasn’t gone forward.

The mercury continues to drop well below freezing overnight but Juneau’s city-run warming shelter won’t be ready until at least Dec. 1. The Juneau Assembly has approved $75,000 for the facility to operate over a five-month period.

A study recently published in the journal Geomorphology found that over time salmon may play a significant role in sculpting landscape surrounding the rivers where they spawn.

Along with setting Alaska’s hunting regulations, the state Board of Game also makes decisions about what animals Alaskans are allowed to keep as pets or livestock. Ferrets, alpacas and one-humped camels are all OK and on what’s called the “clean” list. http://media.aprn.org/2017/ann-20171113-10.mp3 At this year’s meeting, currently underway in Anchorage, the game board is considering…

The Sitka Assembly has agreed to take a harder look at a proposed ordinance that would allow the Electric Department to offer discounted rates for new, large customers.

The impasse is a result of the two chambers having different views on the two bills on the special session agenda.

At least one resident who lives in a community near where Pebble would be developed is still deciding whether the mine is a good idea.

The wind is expected to increase through the evening. The highest wind will be late tonight, before diminishing Tuesday.

Gov. Bill Walker ordered that the flags be lowered to half-staff to honor former Alaska Rep. Joshua Wright at sunset Monday. Flags should return to full-staff at sunset on Wednesday.

Two Veterans Day observances were held Nov. 11, 2017 at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center and the Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall.

The Skagway Assembly met for the second time this week to review a document that could provide a way forward on port improvements. The group made some notable edits to a memorandum of understanding with White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad.

People in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta haven’t been talking much about Senate Bill 54, the crime bill working its way through the special session of the Alaska State Legislature, but House Rep. Zach Fansler said that it’s time to start paying attention.

Legal experts say flaw in bill could lead to provision from unpopular Senate Bill 91 remaining in place.

First Lady Melania Trump spent some time in Alaska this morning. On her way back from the president’s visit to Asia, the first lady landed to refuel at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.

It’s now possible to learn basic Inupiaq online, thanks to a graduate student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.