Sorted by date Results 1594 - 1618 of 1788
John Waghiyi remembers rushing his cousin to the clinic in the Bering Sea city of Savoonga in December, worried he was having a possible heart attack while out butchering a bowhead whale. Waghiyi arrived to see elders waiting in the lobby for a COVID-19 vaccine. Waghiyi, 66, said he joined them and got a shot before returning to the coast to help finish the whale harvest. Elders, he said, have set the tone in the Alaska Native community of 735 on the coast of isolated St. Lawrence Island....
Alaska discriminated against some same-sex spouses for years in wrongfully denying them benefits by claiming their unions were not recognized even after courts struck down same-sex marriage bans, court documents obtained by The Associated Press show. The agency that determines eligibility for the annual Alaska Permanent Fund dividend denied payments for same-sex spouses or dependents of military members stationed in other states for five years after a federal court invalidated Alaska’s ban on same-sex marriage in 2014 and the U.S. Supreme Court...
BETHEL (AP) - A coastal village about 70 miles southwest of Bethel has mandated that only fully vaccinated people will be allowed into the community’s stores and businesses. Kongiganak, with a population of less than 500, had 50% of its eligible residents vaccinated against COVID-19 with at least one dose as of April 9, KYUK-AM reported April 14, citing the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. Sheila Phillip, the Kongiganak Traditional Council secretary, said that people who are fully vaccinated can go inside the village’s two stores if they wear mas...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Some Alaska agencies that work with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault are expecting large federal funding cuts to take effect when the fiscal year starts on July 1 — so they are asking the Legislature for help. Suzi Pearson, director of Anchorage-based Abused Women’s Aid in Crisis, said she was surprised by the extent of the cuts announced by the State Council on Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault. “When we were told 30 to 33%, I think we all kind of stopped breathing,” Pearson said. The reductions are the result o...
SEATTLE (AP) - The Biden administration has reversed a decision by its predecessor to sell the federal archives building in Seattle, following months of opposition in Alaska, Washington and Oregon - and a lawsuit. The federal Office of Management and Budget has withdrawn its approval for the sale, which would have forced the transfer of millions of Pacific Northwest records to facilities in Kansas City, Missouri, and Riverside, California. A federal judge already had blocked the sale in response to a lawsuit by the states of Washington and...
Ketchikan Daily News Two crew members aboard the state ferry Matanuska have tested positive for COVID-19, the Alaska Marine Highway System reported Monday. A member of the Matanuska’s engineering crew began showing symptoms while the ferry was sailing northbound to Ketchikan from Bellingham, Washington, according to the AMHS statement. “The ship’s captain followed the AMHS COVID-19 mitigation plan and quarantined the crew member in their cabin with the ventilation system turned off,” the state said. When the ship arrived in Ketchikan on Sund...
JUNEAU (AP) - The state health department said Tuesday upcoming appointments for the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in Alaska are being canceled or delayed after federal agencies recommended a “pause”to review reports of rare but potentially dangerous blood clots. State health officials said the federal recommendation shows that safety checks are working and they hope it will bolster rather than hinder public confidence in the vaccine rollout. Dr. Joe McLaughlin, the state epidemiologist, said people with appointments for the...
MIAMI (AP) - The state of Florida has filed a lawsuit against the federal government, demanding that cruise ships be allowed to start sailing immediately. Gov. Ron DeSantis said April 8 the federal no-sail order is outdated and hurts the state as the industry generates billions for the economy and employs tens of thousands of Floridians. “We don’t believe the federal government has the right to mothball a major industry for over a year based on very little evidence and very little data,”said the Republican governor, a frequent critic of the P...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Anchorage will lift all limits on outdoor gatherings in a new coronavirus emergency order that will take effect on Friday night. Outdoor gatherings will no longer have capacity restrictions, though mask and social distancing mandates will remain. The new emergency order will remain in effect until June 11, unless it is either revoked or the city’s health department certifies that 70% of eligible Anchorage residents are fully vaccinated. The order, issued Monday, said about 36% of Anchorage residents 16 or older are fully v...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Health officials have reported a case of a coronavirus variant in Southcentral Alaska first detected in South Africa. The Alaska case was reported as first identified in March in the region that includes Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, according to a report from a consortium of state and university health officials dated April 6. The report did not provide case details such as how the person got the virus or whether others may have been exposed. Five new cases of a variant first identified in the United Kingdom...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - The island community of St. Paul, in the middle of the Bering Sea, has issued an emergency stay-at-home ordinance after its first case of the coronavirus. An essential worker tested positive on the island, the Anchorage Daily News reported April 1. It is the first reported coronavirus case in St. Paul since the pandemic began. The city’s hunker-down order will last from April 1 until April 15 and was approved by the St. Paul City Council on March 31. All of St. Paul’s residents besides those in essential government, bus...
JUNEAU (AP) - A plan to upgrade the Gustavus airport faces criticism from residents as contractors plan to begin work on the $20 million federally funded project this month. Residents and organizations such as the Gustavus PFAS Action Coalition want more state accountability after toxic chemicals were found at the airport in 2018, Alaska public radio reported Monday. The contaminants are known as PFAS, a group of toxic chemicals found in firefighting foam that used to be required at airports and U.S. Defense Department sites. They are also...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Five people had to ski through a heavy Alaska snowstorm to a mountain chalet after abandoning their airplanes on a glacier on North America’s tallest peak, where they were stranded for the weekend, officials said Monday. The five landed Friday in three separate small airplanes — a Cessna 180 and two Piper PA18s — on Ruth Glacier on Denali, said Maureen Gualtieri, a spokesperson for Denali National Park and Preserve. A fast-moving storm prevented them from flying off the glacier, and they spent Friday night in their airpl...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - The Anchorage School District have implemented weekly coronavirus tests for high school hockey players after at least 64 students tested positive for the virus or were told to quarantine because they were a close contact to someone who had the coronavirus. The Anchorage district said all of the cases can be linked to two recent competitive hockey tournaments. “Unfortunately, we’ve gotten to the point where we have enough positive cases related to hockey that we are having to take extra precautions to keep schools open and kee...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Some Alaska Costco shoppers said they've had their groceries stolen by ravens in the store parking lot. Matt Lewallen said he was packing his groceries into his car in the parking lot of an Anchorage Costco when ravens swooped in to steal a short rib from his cart, the Anchorage Daily News reported March 26. "I literally took 10 steps away and turned around, two ravens came down and instantly grabbed one out of the package, ripped it off and flew off with it," Lewallen said....
JUNEAU (AP) - The state health department is floating the idea of providing COVID-19 vaccinations to travelers at Alaska's busiest airports with the summer tourism and fishing seasons looming. The department released a request for information March 24, seeking to determine interest among potential contractors to provide a one-dose vaccine to interested travelers in a secure section of the airports in Anchorage, Juneau, Fairbanks and Ketchikan. The document said implementing strategies to reduce...
JUNEAU (AP) - The state of Alaska and several other groups have filed to defend the Tongass National Forest’s 5-month-old exemption from a nationwide rule that limits development on federal land. The filing fights back against a group of tribal, environmental, fishing and tourism organizations that sued the Trump administration’s decision last year to dismiss the roadless rule for the Tongass. The roadless rule was adopted in 2001 and limits road construction and timber harvesting on National Forest lands. “The Tongass holds great economic oppo...
JUNEAU (AP) - Alaska had 22,300 fewer jobs last month than it did in February 2020, the state labor department reported last Friday, citing the ongoing economic toll from the COVID-19 pandemic. The biggest job losses were in the leisure and hospitality sector, which had 7,300 fewer jobs last month than in February 2020, a department jobs report showed. Oil and gas had 3,900 fewer jobs, and the transportation, warehousing and utilities sector had 1,800 fewer jobs. The report showed 2,000 fewer local government jobs last month compared to...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - A contracted helicopter carrying guides and guests from a lodge on a heli-skiing trip in Alaska's backcountry crashed on Saturday, killing the pilot and four others, including the Czech Republic's richest man. The only other person onboard Czech Republic resident David Horvath, 48, was in serious condition but stable Monday at an Anchorage hospital, Alaska State Troopers said. The five people killed in the accident were identified as Petr Kellner, 56, and Benjamin Larochaix,...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - A proposal by the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission could provide juveniles sentenced to lengthy prison sentences an opportunity for parole after serving 15 years. The commission recommended state lawmakers pass a “second look” law that would allow juvenile cases to be reexamined by a parole board or judge, the Anchorage Daily News reported March 24. The Alaska Criminal Justice Commission was created by the state Legislature in 2014 and makes recommendations to lawmakers to improve the criminal justice system. “The impos...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Eight Alaska youths have developed a serious inflammatory syndrome from previous coronavirus infections, state health officials said in a report. The report, released March 26, said some of the eight youths ended up in the pediatric intensive-care unit with severe complications. The condition they developed is called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C. The syndrome can lead to inflamed organs, including the heart, lungs, kidneys and brain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since...
JUNEAU (AP) - Sentencing has been set for June for a man who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the beating death of his wife during a 2017 family cruise to Alaska. Kenneth Manzanares, who is from Utah, signed a plea agreement in the case in January 2020. Sentencing was initially set for last May but was pushed back and this week was scheduled to be held in Juneau’s federal court on June 3 and 4. The case was handled by federal authorities because the death took place in waters outside the state’s jurisdiction before the cruise ship rea...
JUNEAU (AP) - A judge has dismissed two election-tampering charges against a former Alaska legislator as falling outside a statute of limitations, but eight charges remain against Gabrielle LeDoux. Last March, the state charged LeDoux, an Anchorage Republican, and two other people with violating state law during LeDoux’s 2018 and 2014 state House campaigns. LeDoux faced charges of voter misconduct and unlawful interference with voting. District Court Judge Michael Franciosi in January dismissed two misdemeanor counts against LeDoux related t...
Legislators started the session in January amid a shortage of revenues and debate whether the state could even afford a dividend this fall unless it exceeded its annual limited draw from the Permanent Fund. Significantly higher oil prices and more than $1 billion from this month's federal pandemic aid package may fix both problems, though only temporarily. The Alaska Department of Revenue told legislators last week that higher oil prices could produce an additional $790 million in revenues this...
GCI, the largest telecommunications provider in the state, is planning to move all of its call-center operations out of Alaska and will contract with a third-party vendor to provide the service from the Philippines. The move will start this summer, according to a report in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on Saturday. The company, which provides cable television, internet, cell and wired telephone services in Alaska, has had a hard time filling its call-center jobs, said Heather Handyside, vice...
