Alaska News Nightly: October 3, 2013

Individual news stories are posted on the APRN news page. You can subscribe to APRN’s newsfeeds via emailpodcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @aprn.

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Salvagers Make Progress On Sunken Tender Lone Star

Mike Mason, KDLG – Dillingham

Salvagers have made progress recovering the sunken fishing tender Lone Star from the bottom of the Igushik River. The 78-foot vessel sank in a channel of the river on June 30.

Paid Petitioners Vital Resource For Initiative Sponsors

Alexandra Gutierrez, APRN – Anchorage

If you want to get a proposition on the ballot, you’re given a pretty gargantuan task. Not only do you have to collect at least 30,000 signatures from registered voters, you need to make sure those names come from districts across the state. So instead of relying on volunteers, most initiative sponsors bring in professionals. APRN’s Alexandra Gutierrez caught up with a paid petitioner who’s working on the campaign to regulate marijuana to find out what goes into the job.

Alaska Schools Lose More Than 600 Teachers, Staff Over Past 3 Years

Daysha Eaton, KSKA – Anchorage

Alaska’s largest school districts lost over 600 teachers and staff over the past three years. That’s the conclusion of a report produced by the Legislature’s research department.

Chugiak Residents Fight Landfill Plan

Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage

Residents of Chugiak are fighting a plan to fill a natural gully with debris from building demolition sites in the area. The landfill plan must pass muster before Anchorage’s planning commission before it is reviewed by the Anchorage Municipal Assembly. A muni planning commission hearing slated for Oct. 7 could either stall the project, or move it one step closer to reality.

Y-K Delta’s First Nursing Home Opens In Bethel

Angela Denning-Barnes, KYUK – Bethel

The Yukon-Kukoskwim Delta is the size of Ohio and includes over 50 villages. The region’s hub, Bethel, has over 6,000 residents. Until now, families who had an elder they couldn’t care for at home went to Anchorage, 400 miles away by airplane. That is until the first elder’s home opened up after a decade of planning.

Unions Criticize Lack Of Pre-Hire Labor Agreement For Juneau Dock Project

Casey Kelly, KTOO – Juneau

Juneau labor unions are criticizing a recent CBJ Docks and Harbors Department decision to bid a contract for two new floating cruise ship berths without a Project Labor Agreement.

Forest Service To Tweak Tongass Management Plan

Ed Schoenfeld, CoastAlaska – Juneau

The U.S. Forest Service has decided to make changes in its Tongass land management plan. That means users and interest groups will get to submit suggestions on road-building, logging, stream restoration and habitat protection.

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