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Longtime Inupiaq leader and North Slope Mayor Edward Itta dies at 71
Rachel Waldholz, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage
Former North Slope Borough Mayor Edward Itta died Sunday in Utqiagvik, formerly known as Barrow. Family members say the cause was cancer. He was 71. Itta was a powerful voice for North Slope communities. He was perhaps best known for first opposing, and then negotiating with Shell when the oil company wanted to drill in the Arctic Ocean. Above all, he insisted that Inupiaq communities have a say in development in the region.
Alaska Human Rights Commission proposes regulation changes to protect LGBTQ community
Anne Hilman, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Alaska’s Human Rights Commission is taking steps to legally protect members of the LGBTQ community from discrimination. Last week they passed a resolution that would interpret sex discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation. That’s the interpretation used by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under Title VII.
Why Alaska judges don’t raise campaign funds to continue to serve, like other states’
Matt Miller, KTOO – Juneau
There are 33 judges on this year’s election ballot. Yet probably none of them are producing radio and television ads, putting fliers in the mail, or taking out ads in the newspaper promoting their credentials as a judge and asking to remain on the bench. And, for sure, Alaska judges never accept large campaign contributions from lawyers, lobbyists, and special interest groups.
Number of registered Alaska voters at all-time high
Andrew Kitchenman, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
More Alaskans than ever are eligible to cast ballots this year, thanks to record-high voter registration.
Where to weep or cheer election returns in Anchorage
Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
If your habit on election night was to roll down to the Egan Center and watch the returns projected huge onto the wall, forget about it. The Alaska Division of Elections has discontinued Election Central, due to budget constraints.
Lower 48 ivory bans already hurting Alaska Native carvers
Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Recent measures to curb elephant poaching in Africa are having unintended consequences in Alaska. This July, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s near-total ban on the commercial ivory trade went into effect. At about the same time, state-level bans passed in California, Hawaii, New Jersey, and New York, after lobbying from conservation groups, and it’s already starting to hurt Alaska’s ivory market.
Homegrown and hydroponic: Veggies are St. Paul’s new subsistence food
Zoe Sobel, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Unalaska
St. Paul’s greenhouse isn’t what you’d imagine. There’s no big glass structure. All the windows are covered from the inside. It’s underneath the city’s grocery store on the first floor of the building.
