Labor secretary talks H2-B visas, China trade policies in Fairbanks
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, left, U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, and state Sen. Click Bishop hold a news conference Sunday at the Fairbanks Pipeline Training Center.
Category Archives: Alaska
Begich, Dunleavy, Hawkins & Treadwell Offer Gubernatorial Campaign Remarks
Your Alaska Link checked in with 2018 gubernatorial candidates Mead Treadwell, Mark Begich, Mike Dunleavy and Scott Hawkins about their campaign run and what they want for the great state of Alaska. As Dunleavy states, "I think it's good for the people of Alaska to have folks in a Primary so they have somebody to choose froma some of the folks that just got in are kind of on the left side of the spectrum, and there's others like myself that are on the right side of the spectrum, so people have an opportunity to chose."
Alaska police chief: War on weed a ‘waste of time’
The police chief recently named to the board that regulates Alaska's legal marijuana industry says the fight that has long been waged against pot in this country has been a "waste of time" and law enforcement resources. Jeff Ankerfelt, who is police chief in the southeast Alaska city of Sitka, says he wants to contribute to the successful implementation of well thought-out industry regulations.
Maritime organization approves Bering Strait shipping routes
In this July 14, 2017 file photo, The Finnish icebreaker MSV Nordica sails past the American island of Little Diomede, Alaska, left, and behind it, the Russian island of Big Diomede, separated by the International Date Line on the Bering Strait. The International Maritime Organization has approved two-way shipping routes into the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait.
USCG Juneau Sector commander Thorne whistled ashore
Capt. Phillip Thorne, outgoing Commander of Coast Guard Sector Juneau, walks with his wife, Jennifer, daughter, Madeline, 8, and mother, Gloria Thorne, at the conclusion of his Change of Command and Retirement Ceremonies at the Alaska State Museum on Friday, May 4, 2018. (Michael Penn Capt.
Looking Back: April 20, 2018
April 20, 2008 - Jars of Cambodian bats, the tusk of a narwhal and the pelt of an amur tiger are just three of the multitude of mammal specimens at the University of Alaska Museum of the North.
Oil, gas drilling in pristine Alaska refuge takes step ahead
In this undated photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an airplane flies over caribou from the Porcupine Caribou Herd on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska.
Cash-strapped Alaska eyes earnings from oil wealth fund
Tillion, a former state legislator, has suppor... . In this March 13, 2018, photo, Alaska Gov. Bill Walker speaks by phone to a reporter not physically present for a media availability at the governor's mansion in Juneau, Alaska.
Smith Bay is Caelus Energy’s development just southeast of Barrow.
Caelus Energy wants to develop the Smith Bay prospect just southeast of Barrow. Company officials said last year that they've applied for between $75 million and $100 million in cash tax credits from the state for work done at Smith Bay and elsewhere, but that drilling work at the site has been delayed.
Alaska residents line up to apply for the Permanent Fund dividend on…
The Alaska House is putting its state budget plan on the back burner so it can work on a constitutional amendment to create stronger protections for the Permanent Fund dividend program, lawmakers said Thursday. The move from the largely-Democratic House majority is still in its early stages, and before the proposal can go before voters, it has to clear a high bar - passing by a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate.
We need to demand that our government protect free speech on the internet
In this day and age, it is close to impossible for anyone to get through life without using the internet. That reality is even more true here in Alaska, where larger distances separate us and we have less infrastructure to connect us.
House committee scales back draw from permanent fund earnings
Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer, center, chairs the House Finance Committee shortly before it passed its version of the state budget in March 2017. On Tuesday, the committee voted to reduce the proposed draw from permanent fund earnings.
Murkowski: Bill would create new Native corporations
A proposed bill would give 100,000 acres of federal land in total to Native groups in five Southeast Alaska towns, according to Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Murkowski discussed the proposed legislation Wednesday during a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests and Mining, saying a major component of the legislation involves the formation of Native corporations in Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Tenakee and Haines.
Delegation to Zinke: Thanks, but no thanks, for huge leasing plan
Alaska's congressional delegation has asked Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke to exclude most of the state from his draft plan for offshore oil and gas leasing. Earlier this month, Zinke had proposed opening 14 of Alaska's 15 offshore planning areas, all but the North Aleutian Basin in Bristol Bay.
Alaska lawmakers unite to establish permanent funding for Children’s Health Insurance Program
Permanent funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program, a federal program providing health insurance for children in lower income families, ran out in September.
Optimism for Alaska in 2018
As Alaskans, there's no doubt we face significant challenges, including high crime rates, domestic violence and sexual assault, thousands of Alaskans struggling with addiction, and a continuing recession that has left too many without jobs.
Tax hike for cruise industry dropped amid Alaska concerns
The cruise industry has dodged a tax increase after Alaska's U.S. senators helped strike the provision from the tax bill that passed the Senate. The bill approved early Saturday includes other provisions that Alaska Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan hailed as significant for Alaskans, including allowing oil and gas drilling on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
GOP Inches Closer To Opening ANWR To Drilling
Legislation to open part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration advanced out of a Senate committee on Wednesday, largely along party lines. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, joined with GOP lawmakers to pass ANWR legislation in a 13-10 vote.
Alaska senators tell Trump they want mountain’s name to stay
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan said the Alaska mountain came up during an hourlong meeting he and fellow Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski had with Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in March. Sullivan said during a weekend speech to the Alaska Federation of Natives that Trump asked if the senators thought the name change from Mount McKinley to Denali should be reversed, the Alaska Public Radio Network reported .
A look back at the original Alaska Purchase
Wednesday marks the 150th anniversary of the US taking possession of Alaska following the 1867 purchase of the territory from Russia. The idea of an "Alaska Purchase" saw a renaissance last month, when the phrase was borrowed to describe the possibility of sweeteners in the GOP health care bill meant to woo Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski.