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Dunleavy, after cruising to reelection, is sworn in for historic second term
Mike Dunleavy kicked off his second term as Alaska’s governor on Monday with a swearing-in ceremony and a pledge to help Alaska take advantage of its global position in a time of rapid change. “Alaska’s in an interesting position on the globe. And what’s happening internationally is going to put Alaska even more so on […]
Villages chosen for relocation grants singled out for climate-change threats — and progress
Grants awarded to tribal governments in Alaska and the Lower 48 are only a start in what is expected to be a long process of funding relocation of Indigenous communities that are threatened by climate change, a top Interior Department official said Thursday. Interior on Wednesday announced that tribal governments in the Yup’ik villages of […]
Syphilis cases in Alaska continue to climb, compounding the state’s STD challenges
Syphilis cases in Alaska increased dramatically last year, continuing a pattern in a state that in recent years has had some of the nation’s highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases, health officials said. Alaska recorded 447 cases of syphilis last year, a 24% increase over the 2020 total, according to a bulletin released Wednesday by […]
The bottom of the Bering and Chukchi seas could become too warm for some important species
There is danger lurking on the floor of the Bering and Chukchi seas for mussels, snails, clams, worms and other cold-water invertebrates, according to a new study led by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists. If climate change continues its current trajectory, the Bering and Chukchi seafloor areas will be too warm for those creatures […]
In new bipartisan Alaska Senate majority of 17, members vow compromise and consensus
Seventeen of Alaska’s 20 state senators and senator-elects have banded together to form a bipartisan majority coalition that members promise will be moderate and consensus-focused. Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican and veteran lawmaker known as a moderate, will be president, returning to the role he held from 2009 to 2012. “It’s a pleasure for me […]
Statistics show rise in colorectal cancer among younger Alaska adults, especially younger Natives
Colorectal cancer, which hits Alaska Natives harder than any other demographic group in the world, is often thought of as a disease of older people. But newly released statistics in Alaska show increasing rates of early onset colorectal cancer affecting younger adults – and especially younger Alaska Natives adults – suggests that such thinking might […]
State, North Slope Borough file lawsuit seeking to remove ringed seals’ threatened listing
The State of Alaska and the North Slope Borough have sued the federal government to remove ringed seals’ Endangered Species Act protections. The lawsuit was filed Nov. 16 in U.S. District Court in Anchorage. It follows an unsuccessful attempt in 2020 to convince the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service to delist […]
Study tracks Arctic animals’ exposure to disease better known in Interior Alaska: tularemia
A wide variety of Arctic animals including polar bears are being exposed to a tick-borne pathogen normally associated with rabbits and hares, a newly published study said. The findings are intended to help scientists track what is expected to be a northward spread of the disease into the warming Arctic. The study, led by scientists […]
Alaska, Washington senators team up to seek disaster declaration for closed crab harvests
Alaska’s two Republican U.S. senators joined with Washington state’s two Democratic U.S. senators on Thursday to request an immediate disaster declaration to help fishers and fishing-dependent businesses and communities cope with an unprecedented shutdown of Bering Sea crab fishing. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of […]
Alaska’s economy is recovering, but it is hampered by negative demographic trends
Alaska’s economy shows signs of prosperity. But it’s also facing an emerging crisis. A veteran economist described these contradictory forces in a presentation Wednesday at an industry conference in Anchorage. “We have the strangest and weirdest economy that I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been following the economy for a long, long time,” Neal Fried of […]
Play Every Day campaign seen as effective in inspiring better beverage choices for children
A public health campaign in Alaska has shown success at convincing parents to serve their children less sugary drinks, a newly published study says. Mothers who have seen public-information spots created by Alaska Department of Health’s Play Every Day program reported that they have been inspired by it to change the beverages they serve their […]
Dead bowheads in Beaufort and Chukchi point to increased killer whale presence in Arctic
There are new signs that killer whales, which are swimming farther north and staying for longer periods of the year in Arctic waters, are increasingly preying on Alaska’s bowhead whales. A newly published study found that 2019, an especially warm year in the region, also seems to have been an especially dangerous year for bowheads […]