Jacob Resneck, CoastAlaska

Alaska’s first state ferry — the Chilkat — broke free of its moorings on Wednesday and sank during a windstorm in Anacortes, Washington.

Democratic lawmakers in Congress have filed a bill that would reverse the Trump administration’s decision to exempt the nation’s largest national forest from the 2001 rule that restricts road-building and other development.

A Spanish firm offered a pair of bids worth $4.6 million for the Chenega and Fairweather, which the state bought for a combined $68 million.

“A Shape in the Dark: Living and Dying with Brown Bears” is a new book by Juneau writer and wilderness guide Bjorn Dihle. It combines a sweeping historical perspective with Dihle’s own experience and interviews with others in the field.

The exit from timber by one of the region’s economic powerhouses is the latest sign of Southeast’s transition away from logging.

ACLU senior counsel Susan Orlansky says the justices’ decision outlines how the state’s regulations potentially fall afoul of the U.S. Constitution on free speech and due process grounds.

A coalition including environmental groups, tribes and fishermen filed a lawsuit on Wednesday to restore Roadless Rule protections to 9 million acres of Tongass National Forest.

The cancellation of this year’s cruise ship season has been a boon for marine mammals in one of Alaska’s most protected destinations. Federal scientists say humpback whales are enjoying the relative calm in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.

Gov. Dunleavy’s proposed budget again has less funding than what’s historically appropriated for the ferries. Kodiak Rep. Louise Stutes said the governor “apparently didn’t hear the outcry of people in support of the marine highway system.”

The National Weather Service the next weather system isn’t likely to bring the kinds of heavy rainfall and high winds that brought destructive landslides and flooding last week.