Man kills wife on Alaska cruise because she laughed at him, FBI says

A Utah man killed his wife aboard an Alaska cruise and told an acquaintance who later walked into the couple's blood-splattered room that he did it because she laughed at him, the FBI said in documents released Thursday. Kenneth Manzanares of Santa Clara, Utah, was charged with murder after he was found with blood on his hands and clothes, and with blood spread throughout the cabin on the Princess Cruises ship Tuesday night, according to a criminal complaint by FBI Special Agent Michael L. Watson.

Alaska Senate tees up income tax and votes it down

The Alaska Senate on Friday rejected the House's income-tax proposal in a 15-4 vote - an emphatic statement of opposition to a key deficit-reduction measure that also underscored how far apart the two chambers remain after nearly four months in Juneau. Senate President Pete Kelly, R-Fairbanks, talks with members during a break from the Senate debate on the House income tax proposal Friday at the Capitol.

Alaska lawmakers are following a budget path that’s ended in gridlock …

The Alaska Legislature's budget process for the past two years has ended in gridlock and partisan sniping, then long overtime sessions. Halfway through the Legislature's 90-day session, the Republican-led Senate and the largely Democratic House majority are still drifting apart, with senators pushing for a spending cap and steep budget cuts as the House advances an income tax proposal and increased oil and gas taxes.

Otters are sweet relief from witless war on EPA

Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan joins Senate colleagues and President Donald Trump at the White House for the signing of an executive order requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to revise its "waters of the U.S." regulation. Feb. 28, 2017.

Alaska governor asks Trump to throw his weight behind Alaska LNG project

Alaska's governor is asking President Donald Trump to lend his support to what he termed an "ideal" megaproject - the $45 billion Alaska gas pipeline - as the president moves ahead with his $1 trillion plan to rebuild the nation's infrastructure. In a Feb. 7 letter addressed to Trump, Gov. Bill Walker also includes the ultimate federal wish list to help expedite the Alaska LNG project that seeks to sell huge reserves of North Slope gas to Asian utilities.

Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.: The Pebble Deposit Isn’t Commercially Viable

Northern Dynasty's key asset, the low-grade Pebble deposit, is not commercially viable: mining it would require so much upfront investment that it would actually destroy value. Kerrisdale believes Northern Dynasty's former partners concluded that the Pebble project had a negative present value - an assessment that Northern Dynasty has spent years trying to conceal from public.

Tillerson might help Alaska’s gas project despite brittle relations with governor

Alaska could benefit if Congress confirms ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Tillerson as the next secretary of state despite Tillerson's tense relations with Gov. Bill Walker over Alaska's gas line project, some Alaskans believe. That's because the Alaskans hope that Tillerson, regarded as a no-nonsense deal-maker, will shift his focus away from the interests of ExxonMobil's shareholders to national needs that include energy security, presenting an opportunity for hydrocarbon-rich Alaska.

Spain’s ‘El Gordo’ lottery sparks celebrations across Madrid

The Mississippi fire marshal says investigators don't see politics as the motivation for the burning of an African-American church that was also spray-painted with the words "Vote Trump" a week before the... The Mississippi fire marshal says investigators don't see politics as the motivation for the burning of an African-American church that was also spray-painted with the words "Vote Trump" a week before the presidential... By The Associated Press The Alaska Volcano Observatory has issued its highest level of alert for aviation after what it says was a brief explosion of a volcano on the Aleutian Islands.

Obama Said to Use 1953 Law to Restrict Offshore Oil Drilling

President Barack Obama is preparing to block the sale of new offshore drilling rights in most of the U.S. Arctic and parts of the Atlantic, a move that could indefinitely restrict oil production there, according to people familiar with the decision. Obama will invoke a provision in a 1953 law that gives him wide latitude to withdraw U.S. waters from future oil and gas leasing, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.

Permafrost shrinks as warming climate accelerates pace of change

The man he selected to lead the transition for the Environmental Protection Agency and shape climate policy for the next administration is like-minded. Trump adviser Myron Ebell, trained in philosophy and politics, has spent his career trying to create political uncertainty about the scientific consensus on climate change and preserve the status quo for the fossil fuel industry.