Alaska News

A Palmer man faces multiple charges for a wild incident last month on Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson. Kyle Hansen, 25, is charged with illegally entering a military base, destroying government property and assault. On Jan. 19, a federal complaint says, Hansen rammed the gate of the base and after trying to get out another gate, was chased all the way back across the base and out the same gate he came in. A law enforcement officer was assaulted and the officer’s vehicle was damaged while trying to block Hansen’s pickup.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service came out against a controversial proposed road through the Izembek National Wildlife refuge today. Residents of the Aleutian community of King Cove are disappointed, but as KUCB’s Stephanie Joyce reports, they’re not giving up on the project.

Listen to the full story

Download Audio

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to issue a final report this year on the impacts of large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay region. That’s according to regional director Dennis McLerran.

EPA last year released a draft watershed assessment, which underwent peer review. Some panelists raised concerns about things like missing data and incomplete information. EPA announced in November that it would address the concerns raised by the panel, first with a revised draft.

McLerran, in prepared remarks to the Alaska Forum on the Environment, says the agency is arranging to have the original experts review the revised assessment and evaluate whether it is responsive to their comments. EPA plans to release the draft to the public for comment concurrently.

Listen to the full story

Download Audio

A new report from an oil and gas trade association is predicting a windfall for Alaska if the government opened federally owned lands and water to drilling.

Listen to the full story

Download Audio

Two identical bills in the state house and Senate seek the creation of a state fund to supplement toll revenue shortfalls related to the Knik Arm Bridge in the initial years after the bridge is constructed.  That is, if the bridge linking Wasilla and Anchorage ever becomes reality.  There are still serious concerns about the cost of the bridge.

Listen to the full story

Download Audio

The first two teams have arrived at the half-way point along the Yukon Quest trail.  Hugh Neff came in first.  He’ll win 4 ounces of gold if he makes it all the way to Fairbanks. Allen Moore’s team came trotting into the checkpoint chute two hours later. Neff maintains that’s Moore’s is the team to beat.

Listen to the full story

Download Audio

Several earthquakes have shaken up Southeast Alaska since last fall.  KSTK’s Shady Grove Oliver spoke with an earthquake physicist about why these latest quakes are of particular interest to scientists.

Listen to the full story

Download Audio

People packed the Anchorage Education Center Monday night to testify against budget cuts. Photo By Daysha Eaton, KSKA

The Anchorage School Board passed their preliminary 2013-2014 budget Monday (2/4) night after hearing testimony from the public.

The public packed the Anchorage Education Center to testify about proposed cuts to support staff at the Anchorage School District. Many testified that school counselors should not be cut.

“Since Christmas the Anchorage School district has has three student suicides. My job is to intervene and its a critical role in student safety. The argument will be made that these crises can be handled through community resources. Unfortunately crises cannot be scheduled and this is is very unrealistic,” Tracie Ashman, a counselor at Dimond High who works with many special education students, said.

Kim Duke has worked as a counselor at ASD Elementary Schools for six years. She says counselors are needed, even for the youngest students.

“They have parents divorcing, family in jail. They have been emotionally, physically and sexually abused by those they should be able to trust. They have lost parents to illness, accidents, illness, suicide and crime. Sometimes they consider harming themselves. Interviewing elementary students for a suicide risk assessment is a sobering experience. Some as young as 5 have told others that they wish they were dead. Others have considered using kitchen knives to stab themselves. These are both situations that I have dealt with this year,” Duke said.

Students also testified. Ebony Brown, a senior at Service High School said high school counselors should not be cut because of the critical role they play.

“If you’re gonna make budget cuts, don’t cut counselors. They’re like the mom’s of high school. They have the soothing words. They can calm people down and they can take charge like a mother would. And their little Lion cubs, they want to see them succeed and progress in the educational world,” Brown said.

Emily McKenzie who is the IGNITE gifted program at Baxter Elementary said she was worried about cuts to the program which has become so important to her learning.

“At IGNITE we get to learn a bunch of things that we don’t get to learn in our normal classes like I got to go to the Body World Exhibit and do a unit on the brain, which I didn’t get to do in my normal classes. And Ignite shows kids different ways of thinking from different kids at different schools and if we stop bussing and cut things in IGNITE then kids wouldn’t have that opportunity,” McKenzie said.

Susie Whitehead is a school nurse at Dimond High School. She testified in support of nurse’s aides.

“Why we need nurse aides, number one: documentation. Without thorough and complete documentation ASD is more vulnerable to lawsuits. The Nurse Aide documents every student who walks through the nurse office door. This allows the school nurse to spend more time thoroughly documenting the students for whom he or she has to provide significant intervention. In a word it’s a liability issue. Eliminating nurse aides exposed the district to increased risks, not to mention bad outcomes for students,” Whitehead said.

Jessica Stern is a teacher at the newcomer’s center. She said she is concerned about cuts to English Language Learner Counselors, especially where she works.

“In our situation at the Newcomer’s Center, we have a counselor whose official duties are counselor and teacher in charge. We have no designated principal and our director is off site. Without having a counselor at the Newcomer’s Center basically you’re a ship without a captain. And I would not be able to teach from when the bell rings to when it stops if I don’t have a counselor their to support me,” Stern said.

Liane Minster spoke in support of Career Resource Counselors.

“The quest for information about colleges, financial aide, scholarships – it’s overwhelming. The CRC staff is as much a resource to the parent as the student. I’m going through this daunting task myself with a senior and I realize the value of these resources in the CRC. It is a full-time job and it directly impact the opportunities our graduates will have for post-secondary education. And may I remind you that when our kids lose, we all lose,” Minster said.

Dale Miller spoke out against cuts to the ASD warehouse and maintenance departments, where works.

“Cuts to preventive maintenance only increases cost down the road. If we’re looking to the taxpayer when we bond for major maintenance we ought to at least be showing them that we’re being responsible and that we’re going to maintain the investment up front,” Miller said.

In all, nearly 50 people testified. The School Board passed the preliminary budget 6-1, with Tam Agosti Geisler the only nay vote. School Board members tasked the Superintendent and his staff with answering a dozen or so questions they had about the budget within the next few days. School Board President Jeannie Mackie said, despite the impassioned testimony of so many, that she did not expect to make many amendments to the budget. The School Board will take their final vote on the the budget on February 21st.

• Anchorage School Board

Listen to the full story

Download Audio

Senator Mark Begich is introducing a bill that would grant the state a share of revenues from offshore drilling.

The concept is nothing new. The Alaska delegation has long sought the chance to reap royalty payments from oil producers drilling off Alaska’s shore.

Senator Begich’s bill would grant the state 37.5 percent of the royalty bids. Right now, the federal government collects the entire sum.

He says the state needs to be rewarded for assuming some of the liability.

“We know already after this first season, season and a half of exploratory drilling in the Arctic, there is impact,” Begich said. “Housing costs have gone up, water and sewer is reaching capacity in some of the communities along the coast because there are so many new people there.”

“There’s a lot of impact, and we get not one penny from outer continental shelf development.”

Of the money the state would collect, 40 percent would go to the state, 25 percent to local governments, another quarter to Alaska Native corporations and 10 percent directly to tribes.

The numbers vary from past revenue sharing bills, but Senator Begich says he’s willing to change numbers to assure the delegation presents one plan.

Listen to the full story

Download Audio

The Air Force is beginning a series of public meetings on its proposal to move an F-16 squadron from Eielson Air Force base in North Pole to Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson in Anchorage.  Meetings are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday in Anchorage and Palmer, and in Fairbanks and North Pole Wednesday and Thursday. Fairbanks is rallying to protect the local Air Force installation from downsizing.

Listen to the full story

Download Audio

An explosion rocked a Fairbanks neighborhood over the weekend.  Alaska State Troopers say the blast occurred on a makeshift shooting range on private property in the Chena Ridge area Saturday afternoon. Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters says no injuries were reported, but there was damage to area homes.

Troopers say at least a dozen residences were affected by the explosion, with at least half reporting structural damage, including blown out windows and soffit vents. Troopers are being assisted in the investigation by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Listen to the full story

Download Audio

Hugh Neff is leading the Yukon Quest. He left the Stepping Stone hospitality checkpoint at 9:47 this morning. Two Rivers musher Allen Moore followed at 11:25. Brent Sass, Jake Berkowitz and Scott Smith round out the top five.

Over the weekend, the trail was shortened by 50 miles to eliminate the climb over American Summit, which is too icy, according to Race Marshall Dough Grilliot.

Teams still have more than 600 miles to travel before they get there though. And as KUAC’s Emily Schwing reports, the competition will be stiff along the way.

Listen to the full story

Download Audio

Arguments will be heard this week in federal District Court in Anchorage regarding wetlands permits for the Port MacKenzie rail spur. The environmental group Cook Inletkeeper has filed suit in an attempt to block the link between the port and Houston. The Matanuska Susitna Borough is behind the rail spur project, although the Federal Surface Transportation Board must approve it.

Listen to the full story

Download Audio

The Northern fur seals that breed on the Pribilof Islands have been on the decline for decades, a smaller colony just 200 miles away is thriving. A new study of these colonies is challenging scientists’ assumptions about what marine animals need from their environment — and how they get it.

Listen to the full story

Download Audio

An environmental research program with a long history of working in Alaska is breaking new ground by partnering with state universities to find out why an area in the Chukchi Sea is so biologically productive.

Listen to the full story

Download Audio

There have been at least two suicides in Anchorage schools over the past three weeks and an attempted suicide by a student who had dropped out. Death from suicide is a loss that school counselors work hard to prevent. Heather Coulehan is a social and emotional learning specialist and Eric Viste is a coordinator within the special education department of ASD.

I sat down with them to ask how suicide prevention is being addressed within Anchorage schools. Viste says, when a suicide happens, everyone who will be affected needs to be identified.

• National Association of School Psychologists: Preventing Youth Suicide – Tips for Parents and Educators
  
• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: Coping with Suicide Loss
• Anchorage School District: STEP Center Lending Library

Listen to the full story

Download Audio

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski is introducing her blueprint energy bill on Monday.

Senator Murkowski is the top Republican on the Senate Energy Committee. She says she’s been working on a new energy bill for months. In fact, last summer she said a draft would be ready by the end of the year.

Monday, she’ll lay out the frame work for plan called Energy 20/20: A Vision for America’s Energy Future.

It’s unclear what the plan will say for issues like exporting liquefied natural gas, revenue-sharing for off-shore drilling in Alaska and other states, and how much money to invest in renewable and traditional energy sources.

Listen to the full story

Download Audio

For the past couple of weeks, the legislature has been moving forward on the governor’s proposal to cut taxes on oil companies. Now, it’s scheduled to take up the issue of an in-state gas line. APRN’s Alexandra Gutierrez has this legislative outlook for the week.

In his State of the State address, Gov. Sean Parnell put his support behind an in-state gas line that would move natural gas from the North Slope through the Interior and then down to Southcentral Alaska. Monday, a bill that would advance that project gets its first committee hearing.

The bill would give the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation more autonomy, sets out what pipeline information would be confidential, and establishes some financing mechanisms for the project. A similar bill passed in the House last year, but stalled in the Senate.

Also on Monday, a bill that would relax regulations on cruise ship discharge is scheduled for the House floor. On Tuesday, bills that would extend the Suicide Prevention Council for another six years and would create a fund for responding to invasive species will get their first committee hearings.

Later in the week, resolutions that express displeasure with President Barack Obama’s gun policy will be taken up by the judiciary committees in both chambers. The House Judiciary committee will also hear a version of the Stand Your Ground Law, which allows a person to react to a threat with deadly force without first trying to retreat. A number of states already have a similar policy in place, and the law received national attention after the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida.

The governor’s oil tax proposal continues to move through the Senate. A special committee on oil production plans to wrap up its hearings on the bill by the end of the week.

Listen to the full story

Download Audio

About a million people visit Alaska by cruise ship every year, creating floating cities along the state’s coastline. A bill that would change just how the waste they produce is regulated is moving rapidly through the legislature, and is scheduled to appear on the House floor Monday.

So far, Gov. Sean Parnell’s bill to allow mixing zones for cruise ship waste instead of having the vessels meet water quality standards at the point of discharge has breezed through committee hearings. House Speaker Mike Chenault, a Republican from Nikiski, commented on the pace at a press availability on Friday.

“That’s pretty quick, considering what other bills I’ve seen move over there in the past few years.”

So, why so fast? The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has its own reasons for wanting the bill passed in the next couple of weeks. Right now, the general discharge permit for the cruise fleet is set to expire in April, and Commissioner Larry Hartig says the department needs to start the renewal process by February 15 at the very latest. If the bill were to pass after that date, ships would have to get permitted under current standards now and then all over again once a new regime is put in place. Hartig says the department is hoping to avoid that process.

“We could save a lot of public’s time and a lot of the public’s money if we could know what the rules of the game are early,” says Hartig.

The cruise industry also wants the bill passed sooner rather than later. John Binkley, who directs the Alaska Cruise Association, says that some ships would have a hard time complying with discharge standards under the current legal framework. He also says they might have to travel outside of state waters to discharge and could end up spending more money on fuel or eventually changing itineraries as a result.

But critics of the bill say the pace at which the bill is moving through isn’t giving the public enough time to comment. And a member of the state’s panel to study cruise ship pollution also questions whether the urgency is warranted. Scientist Michelle Ridgway notes that cruise ships still have three years before they have to meet stricter standards, and that the Department of Environmental Conservation already has the mechanisms in place to permit vessels under the existing law.

“They can issue a permit. It is routine,” says Ridgway. “They knew that deadline was coming and provide [the permit] to the ships by April. That still allows them flexibility until 2016 to meet water quality criteria at the point of discharge.”

The bill is also scheduled to be heard by the Senate finance committee this week.

Listen to the full story

Download Audio