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Chelsea Berg, a nurse at Peninsula Community Health Services, administers a flu shot during a free drive-thru flu shot event at Kenai Central High School on Oct. 24, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)

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Influenza and RSV declining in Alaska; COVID trends upward

That increase is seemingly driven by the appearance and increasing prevalence of a new subvariant of omicron

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

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COVID-19: 2nd week of statewide case increase; hospitalizations drop

In the Gulf Coast region one patient was reported hospitalized with COVID-19

A person walks up the steps of the Alaska Capitol on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. The new legislative session begins on Tuesday, Jan. 17. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

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Alaska Legislature to face familiar challenges this year

The Alaska Legislature convenes for a new session Tuesday

Jesse Bjorkman, left, and Justin Ruffridge take part in forums organized by the Peninsula Clarion and KDLL ahead of the November 2022 election. Bjorkman and Ruffridge won seats in the Alaska State Senate and Alaska State House of Representatives, respectively, and are slated to begin work in Juneau on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023. (Composite photo)

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Bjorkman, Ruffridge prepare for 1st legislative session

They will officially get to work on Jan. 17 — the first day of the 33rd Alaska Legislature’s…

A home that was knocked off its foundation floats down Snake River during a severe storm in Nome, Alaska, is caught under a bridge on, Sept. 17, 2022. After the remnants of a rare typhoon caused extensive damage along Alaska’s western coast last fall, the U.S. government stepped in to help residents, largely Alaska Natives, recovery financially. (AP Photo/Peggy Fagerstrom, File)

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FEMA fires group for nonsensical Alaska Native translations

Residents expecting to find instructions on how to file for aid in Alaska Native languages instead were reading…

Lawmakers, staff and other workers inside the Alaska State Capitol are preparing this week for the upcoming session of the Alaska State Legislature that starts Jan. 17, 2023. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

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Alaska court: Anchorage Democrat qualified for House seat

A brief order from the state Supreme Court affirmed the superior court’s conclusion

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters during a news conference at the state Capitol, April 28, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska. Dunleavy outlined proposed legislation Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023, for Alaska to capitalize on carbon markets, seeking to diversify state revenues long heavily reliant on proceeds from oil. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

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Dunleavy pitches plan to capitalize on carbon markets

The Republican governor and members of his administration outlined the proposal at a news conference in Anchorage.

Exxon Mobil Billings Refinery sits in Billings, Mont. Exxon Mobil’s scientists were remarkably accurate in their predictions about global warming, even as the company made public statements that contradicted its own scientists’ conclusions, a new study says. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

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Study: Exxon Mobil accurately predicted warming since 1970s

The Exxon-funded science was “actually astonishing” in its precision and accuracy, the study found

Shawnda O’Brien, the just-departed state Director of the Division of Public Assistance, talks Dec. 27 about the problems that are resulting in months-long backlogs in processing applications for benefits commonly referred to as food stamps. Her departure as director was announced Monday following weeks of widespread media coverage about the backlog that is expected to take additional months to resolve. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

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Head of state’s troubled food stamps program replaced

Director of the Division of Public Assistance departs in wake of months-long backlog.

Anthime “Baked Alaska” Gionet, who livestreamed himself storming the U.S. Capitol in Jan. 6, arrives at federal court in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

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Capitol riot far-right internet personality gets 60 days

Gionet incriminated himself and other rioters with the video that he streamed to a live audience of roughly…

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

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COVID-19: Statewide cases and hospitalizations up

That makes the largest increase reported since Sept. 14

The Alaska State Capitol is photographed in Juneau, Alaska. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

News

Anchorage Democrat meets residency rules, judge says

The challenge was brought by Republican Liz Vazquez, who lost the Anchorage House race to Armstrong

A sign warning of crossing moose is seen on Kalifornsky Beach Road in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

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Study analyzes moose-vehicle collision risks, with results that could be used to improve road safety

Now a new study has quantified collisions and produced statistical analysis

In this Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017 photo, a black bear checks out his surroundings in Granite Basin in Juneau, Alaska. The National Park Service is proposing a rule that would prohibit bear baiting in national preserves in Alaska, the latest in a dispute over what animal rights supporters call a cruel practice. The park service said Friday, Jan. 6, 2023 it is proposing a rule barring bear baiting in national preserves in Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

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Hunter bear bait ban proposed for Alaska national preserves

The agency will be taking public comments on the proposal

This photo shows the TikTok icon on a phone screen. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

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Gov. Dunleavy bans TikTok from state devices

Alaska is the 22nd state to take action against the social media platform for perceived security risks

Chunks of ice float on Mendenhall Lake in front of the Mendenhall Glacier on Monday, May 30, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska. A study of all of the world’s 215,000 glaciers published on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, finds even if with the unlikely minimum warming of only a few tenths of a degrees more, the world will lose nearly half its glaciers by the end of the century. With the warming we’re now on track to get, the world will lose two-thirds of its glaciers and overall glacier mass will drop by one-third while sea level rises 4.5 inches just from melting glaciers. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

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Study: Two-thirds of glaciers on track to disappear by 2100

The study in Thursday’s journal Science examined all of the globe’s 215,000 land-based glaciers

A sign welcomes travelers to the Kenai Peninsula. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

State population stagnates; peninsula sees small growth

Population of Alaska remained almost unchanged from July 2021 to July 2022

Students smile as they walk to their classes for the first day of fall semester at the University of Alaska Southeast. The University of Alaska is set to receive 360,000 acres of federal land within the next four years, set in motion by a clause included in the recently passed $1.7 trillion federal spending bill. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

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University of Alaska set to receive 360,000 acres of federal land

The transfer was set in motion by a clause included in the recently passed $1.7 trillion federal spending…

Alaska state Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla, sits in the House on April 29, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo / Becky Bohrer)

News

Man who challenged lawmaker eligibility won’t appeal

His attorneys argued that the division failed to investigate Eastman’s eligibility under the so-called disloyalty clause of the…

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

News

COVID-19: Hospitalizations down, borough cases spike

Early Tuesday, the state reported that a data issue had delayed the update of hospitalization info since Dec.…