State seeks feedback on pot regs
Last November, Alaska voters legalized limited pot possession, and directed the state to start writing the regulations for a commercial industry. Now the Marijuana Control Board is looking for feedback on what it hopes is the final version of those rules.
49 Voices: Martin Lee Woods of Kotzebue
This week we're at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention talking with Martin Lee Woods, from Kotzebue. He started learning to Eskimo Dance in 1975 and by the mid-80s he realized he needed to learn how to make drums.
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AK: Tlingit carver featured in small-town, large-scale Smithsonian project
Tlingit master carver Wayne Price has a relationship with the ocean and the tides that runs deeper than most. He carves dugout canoes in Haines and his work and words are set to hit the road in the spring as part of the Smithsonian’s Water/Ways exhibit. It’s a traveling show from the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street designed for rural museums.
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The current and future authority of Alaska’s tribal governments
The state and tribes have a relationship that is at times tense but there has been progress on some fronts. This week there was an announcement that the first joint tribal/state court would be starting up in Kenai as a partnership with the Kenaitze Indian tribe and the state. A tribal and state judge will sit side by side and preside together over a wellness court, dealing with substance-related criminal cases.
KSKA: Fri., Oct. 16, at 2:00 p.m. & Sat., Oct. 17, at 6:00 p.m.
KAKM: Fri., Oct. 16, at 7:30 p.m. & Sat., Oct. 17, at 6:00 p.m.
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DOC group aims to reduce recidivism for Alaska Natives
The Department of Corrections is convening an Alaska Native Focus Group to develop solutions for reducing recidivism for Alaska Natives. Alaska’s recidivism rate is 63 percent for everyone leaving the prison system. For Alaska Natives, it’s 74 percent.
Alaska News Nightly: Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015
Hearing ends 26 years of litigation over Exxon Valdez oil spill; For Sen. Sullivan, Rep. Young - An easier AFN; FBX 4 witnesses recall aggressive police questioning; 'Fairbanks 4' suppers stage protest during Gov's AFN speech; AFN keynote, Haida master weaver talks on family, heritage; Utah housing expert who cut chronic homelessness 90% pitches Alaska solutions; Juneau campground closes for winter, displacing homeless; Hunting season opens for musk ox stranded on sea ice
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Hearing ends 26 years of litigation over Exxon Valdez oil spill
The state and federal governments have decided not to pursue a final $100-million from ExxonMobil over its 1989 oil spill in Prince William Sound.
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For Sen. Sullivan, Rep. Young an easier AFN
At its convention last year, AFN endorsed Dan Sullivan’s opponent in a tense campaign, and Congressman Don Young apologized to the audience for remarks he’d made about a teen’s suicide.
What a difference a year makes. Sullivan today addressed the audience as their U.S. senator, and Young was all smiles.
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FBX 4 witnesses recall aggressive police questioning
People who say they were with the Fairbanks Four the night of John Hartman’s 1997 murder, recount aggressive questioning by police trying to build a case against the men.
‘Fairbanks 4’ supporters stage protest during Gov’s AFN speech
Fairbanks Four supporters protested during Governor Bill Walker’s address to the crowds during opening day at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage Thursday. People held up four fingers, and held a banner reading “Justice Fairbanks Four."
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AFN keynote, Haida master weaver talks on family, heritage
Alaska Natives from all over the state are in Anchorage for the annual Alaska Federation of Natives Convention, Oct. 15-17. The keynote speaker is Haida master weaver Delores Churchill and her grandson, Haida master carver Donald Varnell. This fall, Churchill was in Petersburg to hold a weaving workshop.
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Utah housing expert who cut chronic homelessness 90% pitches Alaska solutions
Gov. Bill Walker says he’d “love for Alaska to be the first state without homelessness.” With a little inspiration from the state of Utah, some are hopeful that could become reality.
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Hunting season opens for musk ox stranded on sea ice
The Dept. of Fish and Game has issued an emergency order, allowing hunting for musk oxen stranded on sea ice.
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Juneau campground closes for winter, displacing homeless
Several of Juneau’s homeless live at the city-run Thane Campground. For $25 a week, it may be the cheapest rent in town. Today, the campground closes for the winter, leaving some occupants wondering where to go.
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Borough waits for mayor’s race outcome
Borough voters will have to wait until Monday on a decision on the mayor's race.
Fish council looks at Gulf of Alaska trawl plan
Salmon bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska trawl fishery has been under scrutiny since 2012, when the North Pacific Fishery Management Council proposed a revision in the Gulf trawl fishery's management structure. The Council is slowly making headway on the issue.
The Russians are coming! Or…. are they? Sitka waits
A huge performance ensemble from Moscow is traveling to Sitka this week for the Alaska Day Festival — or not. The offer to send 68 artists, support personnel, and camera crew to Sitka came about only three weeks ago, along with diplomatic communication to the local historical society.
Dutch Harbor rats (unwittingly) help save Pribilof seabirds from their kind
Biologists and tribal officials in the Bering Sea off the west coast of Alaska are working to protect one of the world's greatest gatherings of seabirds. With a little unwilling help from wharf rats in Alaska's Dutch Harbor, the nation's busiest fishing port, they aim to keep rats as far away as Seattle from devouring the birds of the rat-free Pribilof Islands.
Sun sets on Shell Oil’s Arctic quest
Shell Oil's Polar Pioneer rig left Alaska's Dutch Harbor for Port Angeles, Washington, on Wednesday. The energy giant's other Arctic rig, the Noble Discoverer, left Dutch Harbor for Everett, Washington, on Monday.
Village council rejects election results replacing members
An Alaska village city council has thrown out unofficial election results that would have replaced all five members.