Alaska News Nightly: Monday, Dec. 21, 2015

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Plane makes emergency landing on Seward Highway

Associated Press

A light plane made a forced landing on the Seward Highway near Girdwood on Monday, closing the highway for about 15 minutes.  The pilot of  the plane was not injured, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Anchorage LIO decision on hold for now

Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage

To buy, or not to buy… that is one of the questions the Legislative Council wrestled with at a lengthy meeting on Saturday at the Anchorage Legislative Information Office.

Alaska health plans save big sending patients south for surgery

Annie Feidt, APRN – Anchorage

More Alaskans are heading Outside for major elective surgeries. Flying to the Lower 48 for things like knee and hip replacements can save patients and their health plans tens of thousands of dollars. Health care experts hope the practice will help put pressure on Alaska prices for those surgeries. There’s some evidence the strategy is working.

Amid plunging gas prices, how competitive is Alaska LNG?

Rachel Waldholz, APRN – Anchorage

Earlier in December the state committed to another year of work on the Alaska LNG project. That’s the effort to bring natural gas from the North Slope to the Kenai Peninsula for export. But natural gas prices have been plunging along with oil. Should Alaska be worried?

Anchorage fundraiser for the Fairbanks Four draws hundreds

Joaqlin Estus, KNBA – Anchorage

On Sunday in Anchorage, a crowd gathered to listen to music, dance, eat and donate money for the Fairbanks Four.

Fairbanks tussles with police union over labor contract

Robert Hannon, KUAC – Fairbanks

At the Fairbanks City Council meeting last week, council members voted to challenge a recent ruling by the Alaska Labor Relations Agency. The agency says the city inappropriately reversed its approval of labor contract.

Stranded seal in Nome released into wild

Emily Russell, KNOM – Nome

Last Friday evening a seal made its way out of Nome’s iced-in port and up into the west side of town. Although it showed some physical signs of sickness, on Saturday local experts ultimately decided to release the seal back into the wild.

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