Articles written by Mark Thiessen
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 29
State reopens Bering Sea red king crab fishery after 2-year closure
Alaska fishermen will be able to harvest red king crab, the largest and most lucrative of all the Bering Sea crab species, for the first time in two years, offering a slight reprieve to the beleaguered fishery beset by low numbers likely exacerbated...
Cat reunited with owners 26 days after flood destroyed Juneau home
A pair of Juneau teachers needed good news after they lost nearly all their possessions when their house collapsed last month into the Mendenhall River swollen by a glacial-outburst flood and their ca...
Rush of water from glacial basin caused Juneau river flooding
The destruction came as a glacial dam burst in Alaska’s capital city on Aug. 5, swelling the Mendenhall River to an unprecedented degree. The bursting of such snow-and-ice dams is a phenomenon called a jökuhlaup, and while it’s relatively little-know...
First U.S. deep-water Arctic port will cost $600 million in Nome
The cruise ship with about 1,000 passengers anchored off Nome, too big to squeeze into the city’s tiny port. Its well-heeled tourists had to shimmy into small boats for another ride to shore. It was 2016, and at the time, the cruise ship Serenity w...
Food stamp delays hit hardest in rural Alaska villages
Thousands of Alaskans who depend on government assistance have waited months for food stamp benefits, exacerbating a long-standing hunger crisis worsened by the pandemic, inflation and the remnants...
Not all North Slope Natives support $8 billion oil project
ANCHORAGE (AP) — The Biden administration’s approval last week of the biggest oil drilling project in Alaska in decades promises to widen a rift among Alaska Natives, with some saying that oil money can’t counter the damages caused by climate chang...
Electric vehicles drain batteries faster in the cold - that's a problem in Alaska
Alaska's rugged and frigid Interior, where it can get as cold as minus 50 Fahrenheit, is not the place you'd expect to find an electric school bus. But here is Bus No. 50, quietly traversing about 40...
Anchorage schools agree to strict standards for restraining students
Alaska’s largest school district repeatedly and inappropriately secluded and restrained students with disabilities, the U.S. Department of Justice said last Thursday following an investigation into alleged violations of the Americans with D...
Federal disaster aid documents translated into Native languages were gibberish
ANCHORAGE (AP) — After tidal surges and high winds from the remnants of a rare typhoon caused extensive damage to homes along Alaska’s western coast in September, the federal government stepped in to help residents — largely Alaska Natives — repair...
EPA proposes veto of any Pebble mine plans; governor threatens lawsuit
ANCHORAGE (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Dec. 1 proposed restrictions that would block plans for a copper and gold mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region that is home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon run. A statement from the r...
Fourth-place finisher for U.S. Senate drops out of the race
ANCHORAGE (AP) — A little-known candidate for the U.S. Senate race in Alaska has suspended his campaign, hoping not to divide the GOP vote during the general election by throwing his support to a fellow Republican backed by former President Donald T...
Another bad year for Alaska wildfires, and the worst could be ahead
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Alaska is burning this year in ways rarely or ever seen, from the largest wildfire in a typically mainly fireproof southwest region to a pair of blazes that ripped through forests and produced smoke that blew hundreds of miles to t...
NOAA will study habitat protections for North Pacific right whales
The U.S. government on July 11 agreed to a request from environmental groups to study increasing critical habitat designations in Alaska waters for North Pacific right whales, one of the rarest whale species in the world. The National Oceanic and Atm...
Court decides it's 3 candidates, not 4, after Gross drops out
The Alaska Supreme Court on Saturday upheld a lower court ruling that will keep Republican Tara Sweeney off the ballot for the August special election in Alaska’s U.S. House race. In a brief written order, the high court on an appeal affirmed the d...
Former President Carter files in court against land exchange for Alaska road
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter has taken the unusual step of weighing in on a federal court case involving his landmark 1980 lands conservation act and a remote refuge in Alaska,...
New underwater equipment can measure CO2 level in the ocean
SEWARD (AP) — In the cold, choppy waters of Alaska’s Resurrection Bay, all eyes were on the gray water, looking for one thing only. It wasn’t a spout from humpback whales that power through this scenic fjord in front of Seward, or a sea otter lazin...
Landslide cuts off road access for 200 people near Seward
Efforts were underway Monday to clear a road where a 300-foot-wide slide — taking down dozens of fully grown evergreen trees as well as rocks and dirt — toppled into the bay in front of Seward, covering the narrow roadway and cutting off road acc...
Murkowski outraised Trump supporter 2-1 in past three months
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski continues to have a substantial cash advantage over her opponent backed by former President Donald Trump. Murkowski, in office since 2002, brought in...
Alaskan given 32 months in prison for threatening to kill senators
A Delta Junction man who threatened to assassinate both of Alaska’s U.S. senators in a series of profane messages left at their congressional offices was sentenced last Friday to 32 months in prison. Jay Allen Johnson was also fined $5,000, o...
Nome pays $750,000 after failing to investigate sexual assault
ANCHORAGE (AP) — A former police dispatcher in the Bering Sea coastal community of Nome has settled with the city after officers failed to investigate her report of being sexually assaulted in 2017. Under terms of the agreement, Clarice “Bun” Hardy,...
International researchers try to understand Fairbanks' dirty air
FAIRBANKS (AP) — In the pristine expanse of Alaska’s Interior lies a dirty secret: Some of the most polluted winter air in the United States can be found in and around Fairbanks. The Fairbanks North Star Borough, which includes Alaska’s secon...
Appeals court sides with land swap for road through wildlife refuge
ANCHORAGE — A federal appeals court panel on March 16 reversed a decision that had rejected a land swap aimed at allowing construction of a road through an Alaska national wildlife refuge which is an internationally recognized habitat for m...
Safety agency recommends precautions in uncontrolled airspace
ANCHORAGE (AP) — A federal agency tasked with investigating plane crashes is recommending that all pilots be required to communicate their positions on a designated radio frequency when entering and exiting areas not managed by air traffic control t...
Candidate for governor picks running mate who was at infamous Trump rally
ANCHORAGE (AP) — A Homer man whose home was mistakenly raided by FBI agents searching for a laptop stolen from the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection has been chosen as the running mate for conservative Alaska Republican gubernatorial...
Delta Junction resident pleads guilty to death threats against U.S. senators
An Alaskan who threatened to kill the state's two U.S. senators in a series of profanity-laced voice messages left at their offices in Washington, D.C., has pleaded guilty to making the threats in exchange for having other charges dropped. Jay Allen...