The move adds $892 million to the proposed state budget. It’s not clear how the House would fund those dividends — there’s no revenue to offset the increase.
Economy
After 3 decades, Washington state bans Atlantic salmon farms
Atlantic salmon farming has been banned from Washington state waters after Gov. Jay Inslee signed the restrictions on nonnative fish farms into law last week in Olympia.
Department says Taku River salmon numbers are overestimated
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game says it has been overestimating how many Chinook and sockeye salmon make it up the Taku River.
In tough year for trollers, Mallott backs Alaska’s salmon treaty team
The Pacific Salmon Treaty is up for renewal this year. As a backdrop, Southeast trollers are still stinging from last summer’s decision to not open the king salmon season a second time to protect stocks.
Senate passes spending limit bill after Democrats walk out in protest
The bill says the state should limit the portion of state spending on state agencies that the Legislature directly controls each year to $4.1 billion starting next year.
Feds take key step toward approving another Conoco development in NPR-A
If it goes forward, the project would be ConocoPhillips’s third oil development inside the boundaries of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
State budget largely unchanged after 3 days of amendments
Minority caucus Republicans offered amendments that would cut $28 million, but none passed.
Researcher testing devices to measure, identify halibut bycatch
A researcher is developing a device that could help make monitoring halibut bycatch more efficient. Craig Rose from FishNext Research is in town for Kodiak’s fisheries trade show, ComFish, and will talk about the ongoing project: a chute camera and its accompanying software.
Federal spending bill does not include Tongass policy riders
A bill to fund the federal government emerged Wednesday night in Congress, and environmental groups are celebrating that it does not include policy riders to advance old-growth logging in the Tongass National Forest.
After clients discover backlog, Juneau pet cremation business owner says he’ll make good
When Tammy Hunt’s boxer Bob died, she hired a local pet cremation service to take care of the remains. Weeks later, she hadn’t heard from the business, which led to a startling discovery.