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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its final environmental impact statement on Friday which found gold and copper mining in Alaska “would not be expected to have a measurable effect on fish numbers.” That clears the final hurdle for the Corps to issue a permit this year to Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., the Canadian company that has proposed the mining operation in the state. Environmentalists oppose the project and the Obama administration did what it could to keep the Alaskan wilderness off limits to energy production. “In a scientific review conducted under the Obama administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection...

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit about 75 miles south of Chignik in Alaska. Officials have now issued a tsunami warning for South Alaska and the Alaska Peninsula, from Kennedy Entrance to Unimak Pass The US Tsunami Warning System said tsunami activity was predicted to hit within the next hour at points along the Alaskan coast. It said Sand Point could be hit at 11.15pm local time (8.15am BST), Kodiak at 12.05am (9.05am BST) and Cold Bay at 12.15am (9.15am BST).

The guard shot the customer as he was walking away.. A California security guard was charged with murder Wednesday after prosecutors say he shot a 50-year-old man at a supermarket because he was not wearing a mask. The incident occurred at the Gardena market in South California on Sunday, when the customer, Jerry Lewis, reportedly entered the store without a mask and got into an argument with the guard, Umeir Hawkins. ... Hawkins and his wife Sabrina Carter were each charged with one count of possession of a handgun by a felon, stemming from a prior conviction in 2013 for...

Former Vice President Joe Biden released a set of policy recommendations on Wednesday that included a proposal to close the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas exploration and development. ANWR was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter in 1980. But local biologists joked that Congress had confused ANWR with another large bloc of federal land in northern Alaska, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), because ANWR had more oil and NPR-A had more wildlife.

A government meeting in Alaska opened with a prayer to Satan after a Satanic Temple member won the right to deliver the invocation, prompting about a dozen officials and attendees to walk out. The invocation was the first given by the Satanic Temple since the Kenai Peninsula Borough — 75 miles south of Anchorage — changed a policy in November after the Alaska Superior Court said that policy violated the state’s constitution’s establishment clause. The new policy allows for anyone in the borough to offer an invocation, no matter their religion. In her invocation, Iris Fontana, who is a member...

he senators skipping out include Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Mitt Romney of Utah, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. The lawmakers gave varying reasons for why they won't be at President Donald Trump's renominating convention. Some of those senators are not among Trump's favorites.

The recession is hitting state and city budgets hard in the new fiscal year that starts on July 1. They are responding by firing workers, reducing services, and even increasing taxes. Massive federal aid is the only real solution. The new fiscal year for 46 states and many cities begins on Wednesday. And a flood of red ink caused by the deep pandemic recession is forcing them to fire workers, reduce spending and services, and even raise taxes (one of the worst things you can do in a recession). Without Congress providing up to $1 trillion in federal aid, non-federal...

JUNEAU, Alaska - Petitioners have called for the removal of a statue in Alaska of the U.S. cabinet secretary who arranged the purchase of the state’s land from Russia. The Juneau Empire reports Jennifer LaRoe launched the Change.org petition to remove the William H. Seward statue that drew signatures from 1,300 people. The $250,000 statue unveiled in 2017 shows Seward holding the 1867 Treaty of Cession authorizing the Alaska Territory sale to the U.S. from the Russian Empire. LaRoe acknowledged Seward's role as an abolitionist in President Abraham Lincoln’s administration but says the statue is a symbol of white, patriarchal...

U.S. fighter jets intercepted eight Russian warplanes near Alaska in two separate incidents, according to military officials on Wednesday.“NORAD F-22 Raptors, supported by KC-135 Stratotankers and an E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System, successfully completed two intercepts of Russian bomber aircraft formations entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone last night,” the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) wrote on Wednesday morning. NORAD F-22 Raptors, supported by KC-135 Stratotankers and an E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System, successfully completed two intercepts of Russian bomber aircraft formations entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone last night. pic.twitter.com/9iSZK0Vu2F— North American Aerospace Defense...

Top Senate Republicans are urging President Trump to back off a threat to campaign against Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) if she runs for reelection in 2022. Trump tweeted late last week that he would be campaigning in Alaska in 2022 against Murkowski and would back anyone with a "pulse" after she told reporters that she was "struggling" with whether she could support him in 2020. But top Senate Republicans indicated on Monday that they don't support efforts to unseat Murkowski, who is one of the Senate GOP caucus's most moderate members. "I'd leave Lisa alone. She's a member of our...

May 27, 2020 The Honorable Donald J. Trump President of the United States The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Trump, We write today to urge you to consider the important role non-immigrant temporary visa programs will play in aiding post-pandemic economic recovery in America. Any changes to these programs should be very narrowly tailored to prevent additional damage to the already struggling American small businesses who rely on the assistance made possible through these visas. The coronavirus pandemic has brought devastating loss of life and livelihood across our country. As we begin to reopen,...

President Trump on Thursday pledged to campaign against Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) when she's up for reelection in 2022 after the senator told reporters she was "struggling" with whether to vote for Trump in November. "Few people know where they’ll be in two years from now, but I do, in the Great State of Alaska (which I love) campaigning against Senator Lisa Murkowski," Trump tweeted. "Get any candidate ready, good or bad, I don’t care, I’m endorsing. If you have a pulse, I’m with you!" he added. The president cited Murkowski's vote against a skinny repeal of the Affordable Care...

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) asserted Thursday that former Secretary of Defense James Mattis calling President Donald Trump a threat to the U.S. Constitution was “true, honest, necessary, and overdue.” Murkowski, one of the Senate’s most left-leaning Republicans, made the comment while speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill. Asked whether she supports President Trump, the lawmaker replied,” “I am struggling with it [ and] I have struggled with it for a long time.” On Wednesday, Mattis attacked President Trump in a statement to The Atlantic by accusing the president of violating the Constitution over the clearing of Lafayette Park on Monday...

Stacey Abrams is running a less-than-subtle campaign to be Joe Biden’s vice-presidential running mate. Republicans should hope she succeeds. If selected, she would displace Sarah Palin as the least-qualified person ever to serve on a major-party ticket. Biden should understand this, because he saw firsthand how much damage Palin’s selection did to then-Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Republican presidential nominee in 2008. Preelection polls showed that 6 out of 10 Americans said Palin was not qualified for the job, and a Stanford University study found that she cost McCain more than 2 million votes.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced Tuesday evening that Alaska will be fully open for business effective at 8 a.m. Friday as the state simultaneously enters phases 3 and 4 of its reopening plan. Under the third and fourth phases of the plan, all businesses, houses of worship, libraries and museums, and all recreational and sports activities will be open and able to operate at 100 percent capacity.

The Senate failed Thursday to override President Donald Trump’s veto of a bill that would curb his ability to take military action against Iran. The Senate came up short of the two-thirds majority, and it voted 49-44, with seven GOP senators joining Democrats. Seven Republicans broke with Trump: Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Todd Young of Indiana, and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) joined Democrats in February to pass the bill, but he did not vote Thursday. Trump on Wednesday night,...

Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport was briefly closed to inbound flights Saturday morning after a bomb was reported on a flight that was then diverted to the airport. A Facebook post from the airport says the cargo plane was bound for Asia and diverted to Anchorage early Saturday. Officials at the airport confirmed it was a China Airlines flight.

Rev. Franklin Graham’s charity is making sure Alaska residents have the supplies they need to fight the coronavirus. Tuesday on Facebook, Graham wrote that workers with Samaritan’s Purse had delivered more than eight tons of medical supplies to be distributed throughout rural Alaskan communities in the next few days:.... The supplies will be headed to rural AK to support our heroic health care workers. Thank you Franklin Graham & the Samaritan’s Purse team for your continuous service and help to Alaska! #FlattenTheCurve pic.twitter.com/ay0hA53IUp— Governor Mike Dunleavy (@GovDunleavy) April 7, 2020 ....As of Tuesday morning, the total number of coronavirus...

Add Alaska to the list of states where the governor has banned abortions along with, other non-essential medical procedures, to help fight the coronavirus by conserving medical supplies. Governor Mike Dunleavy is asking that all health care facilities postpone all surgeries and procedures that are not medically necessary during the current COVID-19 pandemic. In his statement the Governor said that the order stop non-essential medical procedures includes abortions. “Healthcare providers are to postpone surgical abortion procedures unless the life or physical health of the mother is endangered by continuation of the pregnancy during the period of postponement,” the order reads....

Sen. Bernie Sanders (D.-Vt.) says on the website for his presidential campaign that “[c]limate change is a global emergency” and “the Arctic is on fire.” By contrast, the National Weather Service is reporting today that it is 45 degrees below zero in Nuiqsuit, which is in northern Alaska. The weather service is predicting that the high today in that part of Alaska will be 44 degrees below zero and the low will be 47 degrees below zero. “Climate change is a global emergency. The Amazon rainforest is burning, Greenland’s ice shelf is melting, and the Arctic is on fire,” Sanders...