Alaska News Nightly: Tuesday, August 4, 2015

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Happy 225th Birthday, Coast Guard!

Kayla Desroches, KMXT – Kodiak

Today is the 225th birthday of the United States Coast Guard. The new commanding officer of Air Station Kodiak, Captain Mark Morin says he started in his current position in June, but his time as a pilot in the Coast Guard first brought him to Kodiak in the mid-1990s.

Bird Death Reports Are Up In Homer, Food Sources Possibly To Blame

Quinton Chandler, KBBI – Homer

The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge is receiving multiple reports indicating a significant increase in dead and dying birds found on beaches in the Homer area over the last two weeks.

Atchak Arraigned For Murder Charge In Death of Roxanne Smart

Ben Matheson, KYUK – Bethel

Twenty-year-old Samuel Atchak was arraigned in Bethel Superior Court on Tuesday morning. He’s charged in the murder of Roxanne Smart last August.

Murkowski’s Planned Parenthood Vote Has the Left Seething, the Right Unmoved

Liz Ruskin, APRN – Washington, D.C.

Yesterday the U.S. Senate considered legislation that would have defunded Planned Parenthood. Both Alaska senators voted to advance the bill, but it failed on a procedural motion, so the Senate has gone on to other issues.  Meanwhile, though, reaction to Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s yes vote, in favor of moving the anti- Planned Parenthood bill, is still ricocheting around Alaska and social media.

Legislative Special Session Cost Nearly $1M

Associated Press

The two special sessions held as lawmakers struggled to agree on a state budget cost more than $886,000.

Artist Casts Bodies in Bethel to Highlight Mental Health

Daysha Eaton, KYUK – Bethel

An artist is creating life-sized sculptures of Alaskans to tell the story of those who struggle with mental health. Sarah Davies travelled to one of the state’s most vulnerable regions, recently for a project called, ‘100 Stone’. She’s attempting to highlight the toll that depression takes and what people can do to help those in need.

 

Suspected Capitol Flag Thieves Caught on Tape

Jeremy Hsieh, KTOO – Juneau

Three men were caught on tape who are suspected of breaking into the construction site at the state Capitol building, scaling the scaffolding and stealing flags off the roof.

Construction to start at Brucejack Mine in British Columbia

Ed Schoenfeld, CoastAlaska – Juneau

Construction of another British Columbia mine near a river that flows into Alaska could begin within a month. But it’s a small operation sparking fewer concerns on this side of the border than some other projects.

A Year After Mine Disaster, Wrangellites Protest BC Mines

Katarina Sostaric, KSTK – Wrangell

A protest in Wrangell on Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of a mining disaster in Canada and sought to bring attention to mines being developed across the border from Southeast Alaska. About 100 people marched through Wrangell behind a banner that read “Keep the Stikine Clean.”

Cantwell Hydro Projects Draw Skepticism

Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks

Small hydro-electric projects proposed for the Cantwell area are receiving a mixed response.

 

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