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Riley Dyche, a musher from Fairbanks, Alaska, takes his sled dogs through a snowstorm in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, March 5, 2022, during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. A fierce winter storm in the last stretch of this year’s Iditarod that ultimately forced six mushers to scratch the same day now has cost three other mushers for sheltering their dogs instead of leaving them outside in the harsh conditions. Dyche; Mille Porsild, of Denmark; and Michelle Phillips, of Canada, were penalized for taking dogs inside shelter cabins to ride out the storm, the Anchorage Daily News reported Friday, March 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

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Iditarod punishes 3 mushers for sheltering dogs in windstorm

Race marshal Mark Nordman, said the indoor rest for the dogs amounted to a competitive advantage

In this Sept. 16, 2015 file photo, Elvi Gray-Jackson, of Anchorage, Alaska, speaks at the White House complex in Washington as part of former first lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative. Gray-Jackson, a Democrat, announced Friday, March 25, 2022, that she is ending her run for U.S. Senate in Alaska and instead will seek reelection to the state Senate. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

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Democrat Gray-Jackson ends US Senate run in Alaska

Gray-Jackson had been the only Democrat so far to file with the state Division of Elections to run…

This March 16, 2022, drone photo provided by Alyeska Pipeline Co. shows snow covering 62-foot tall and acre-wide oil tanks at the Valdez Marine Terminal in Valdez, Alaska. Workers at the endpoint of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline are using saws to cut up large blocks of hard-packed snow on top of the oil storage tanks so they can shove the chunks off the tanks, some of which have damaged infrastructure after more than 4 feet of snow fell in Valdez in a month. (Alyeska Pipeline Service Company via AP)

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Crews remove snow from damaged Alaska pipeline oil tanks

More than 4 feet of snow fell in the community of Valdez between mid-February and mid-March

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

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Small uptick in COVID cases; hospitalizations still down

There were 559 news cases in Alaska sequenced Wednesday and Thursday

This Feb. 16, 2022, photo shows a plume of smoke being emitted into the air from a power plant in Fairbanks, Alaska, which has some of the worst polluted winter air in the United States. Over seven weeks this winter, nearly 50 scientists from the continental U.S. and Europe descended on Fairbanks to study the sources of air pollution. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

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Alaska air pollution holds clues for other Arctic climates

The Fairbanks North Star Borough routinely exceeds limits set by the EPA for particle pollution

Don Young talks during a visit to the Empire offices in June of 2021. Memorials for Alaska’s longtime at-large congressman are planned for Washington and Anchorage. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

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Public memorials set for late-US Rep Don Young next week

On Saturday, April 2, a memorial is scheduled to be held at Anchorage Baptist Temple, in Anchorage

A would-be voter considers the candidates on a sample ballot released by the state of Alaska in March 2021. The Alaska Division of Elections has announced the dates for the special elections to select a replacement for Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who died recently. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file)

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Filing opens for election to fill US House seat

Filing deadline is April 1.

Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire The deadline for the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend, which comes from the fund managed by the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, is coming up fast, landing on March 31.

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Deadline approaching to apply for PFD

This year’s payout is still being decided.

Alaska Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai speaks at an Anchorage news conference on Tuesday, March 22, 2022, about the upcoming special election to fill the seat in U.S. House of Representatives vacated following the death of Rep. Don Young last week. (Screenshot)

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State details timeline to fill vacant US House seat

The state plans to hold the special general election on Aug. 16, concurrently with the regular Alaska primary

Katherine Hayes waves a flag and a sign urging Alaska lawmakers to fund a full oil wealth fund check, known locally as the PFD or Permanent Fund Dividend, Monday, July 8, 2019, in Wasilla, Alaska. Momentum is building for a constitutional convention question that will be on the ballot this year in Alaska, and similar questions will go before voters in Missouri and New Hampshire. Critics say the times are too partisan and the country is too divided to reopen state constitutions for rewriting or amendments. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

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State constitutional convention measures stoke partisan fear

PFD question is providing a tail wind for groups seeking to change the constitution to address a range…

A sockeye salmon’s tail protrudes above the edge of a bin on a setnet site July 11, 2016, near Kenai, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file photo)

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Board of Fisheries meeting begins Saturday

Board members will not only discuss fishing issues in Cook Inlet, but also in Kodiak and Prince William…

U.S. Rep. Don Young answers a reporter’s question after filing paperwork for reelection at the Alaska Division of Elections in Anchorage, Alaska. Young, the longest-serving member of Alaska’s congressional delegation, died Friday, March 18, 2022. He was 88. (AP Photo / Mark Thiessen)

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Rep. Don Young to lie in state at US Capitol

By KEVIN FREKING

In this Nov. 3, 2020, file photo, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, gathers with supporters in Anchorage, Alaska. Young, the longest-serving Republican ever in the U.S. House, died on Friday, March 18, 2022. Republican Nick Begich and Democrat Christopher Constant are running in a special election to finish his term in office. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News via AP, File)

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Begich, Constant to run in special election

Rep. Don Young died Friday at age 88

Adam Crum (left), Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Alaska Sen. Peter Micciche (on screen) discuss the move to split the Department of Health and Social Services into two separate agencies, on Monday, March 21, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska. (Screenshot)

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Department of Health and Social Services split official; change to be implemented this summer

DHSS will be divided into two new agencies — the Department of Family and Community Services and the…

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

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COVID cases continue to decline

State data showed a 46% decrease in cases from the week of March 14 to the week prior

Attorney for the State of Alaska Matthew Singer defends the Alaska Redistricting Board to the Alaska Supreme Court on Friday, March 18, 2022. The Court will return a decision on the state’s new electoral districts by April 1. (Screenshot)

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Alaska Supreme Court takes up redistricting case

A decision is expected by April 1.

Rep. Don Young smiles during a sit-down in the Juneau Empire’s offices last June. Young died on Friday, according to the longtime U.S. representative’s office. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

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Rep. Don Young, longest-serving congressmember, dies at 88

His office announced Young’s death in a statement Friday night.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, talks with a reporter after attending at an event to celebrate the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, March 16, 2022, in Washington. Murkowski spoke the the Alaska House of Representatives Special Committee on Tribal Affairs Thursday about what the bill means for Alaska. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

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Alaskans laud Violence Against Women Act reauthorization

Reauthorization will create pilot program for Alaskan tribal courts

The House Finance Committee hears a presentation from Department of Revenue Chief Economist Dan Stickle on Wednesday, March 16, 2022. It was a busy day at the Alaska State Capitol Wednesday with both the House of Representatives and the Senate passing multiple bills. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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State House passes campaign contribution limits bill

The bill would set a $2,000 limit on what an individual could contribute to a candidate each campaign…

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

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COVID cases plateauing in Alaska

Varying vaccination rates and mitigation policies are affecting outbreaks in other parts of the world