News

The Federal Aviation Administration released an initiative to improve flight safety in Alaska for all aviation on Oct. 14, 2021. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

FAA releases Alaska aviation safety initiatives

The recommendations, covering five areas, range from improvements in hardware to data-gathering.

The Federal Aviation Administration released an initiative to improve flight safety in Alaska for all aviation on Oct. 14, 2021. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)
In this July 1908 photograph provided by the U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office, the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear sits at anchor while on Bering Sea Patrol off Alaska. The wreckage of the storied vessel, that served in two World Wars and patrolled frigid Arctic waters for decades, has been found, the Coast Guard said Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. (U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office via AP)

Coast Guard: Wreck found in Atlantic is storied cutter Bear

The ship performed patrols in waters off Alaska for decades.

In this July 1908 photograph provided by the U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office, the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear sits at anchor while on Bering Sea Patrol off Alaska. The wreckage of the storied vessel, that served in two World Wars and patrolled frigid Arctic waters for decades, has been found, the Coast Guard said Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. (U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office via AP)
(Image courtesy CDC)

Officials: COVID is at a plateau in Alaska

The approved COVID vaccines, Zink said, are the best tool to get cases to drop off.

(Image courtesy CDC)
Clem Tillion of Halibut Cove poses for a photo on Jan. 9, 2020, in Homer, Alaska. The veteran Alaska legislator was passing through Homer while waiting to take the M/V Tustumena ferry to Kodiak. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Clem Tillion, PFD founder and former legislator, dies at 96

Tillion died Wedneday, Oct. 13, at Halibut Cove home.

Clem Tillion of Halibut Cove poses for a photo on Jan. 9, 2020, in Homer, Alaska. The veteran Alaska legislator was passing through Homer while waiting to take the M/V Tustumena ferry to Kodiak. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Finn Petersen, left, is announced the winner of a $49,000 Alaska 529 scholarship on Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021, as part of the “Give AK a Shot” COVID-19 vaccine program. (Photo via the Alaska Chamber of Commerce)

Anchorage residents win latest vaccine lottery

“Give AK a Shot” awards $49,000 in cash scholarships to one newly vaccinated adult and one child.

Finn Petersen, left, is announced the winner of a $49,000 Alaska 529 scholarship on Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021, as part of the “Give AK a Shot” COVID-19 vaccine program. (Photo via the Alaska Chamber of Commerce)
Abby Struffert discusses the Ladies First breast and cervical cancer screening program at the joint Kenai and Soldotna Chamber meeting in Soldotna on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Local health care chapter looks to boost women’s cancer screenings

Ladies First program is a nationwide health care initiative that provides free cervical cancer and breast cancer screenings.

Abby Struffert discusses the Ladies First breast and cervical cancer screening program at the joint Kenai and Soldotna Chamber meeting in Soldotna on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
(Image courtesy CDC)

Over 1,200 new COVID cases reported Wednesday

At Central Peninsula Hospital there were 22 COVID patients on Wednesday morning — 17 unvaccinated.

(Image courtesy CDC)
Peter Segall / Juneau Empire Several members of the Alaska House of Representatives were absent form a floor session Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021, but after a quiet first week lawmakers are scheduled to hold committee meetings through the end of the week.

COVID cases delay Senate

Still slow going.

Peter Segall / Juneau Empire Several members of the Alaska House of Representatives were absent form a floor session Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021, but after a quiet first week lawmakers are scheduled to hold committee meetings through the end of the week.
(Image courtesy CDC)

‘A palpable, noticeable difference in our hospitals’

Health care workers from the Lower 48 have been deployed to help Alaska’s COVID crisis.

(Image courtesy CDC)
In this March 21, 2006, file photo, is the abandoned bus where Christopher McCandless starved to death in 1992 near Healy, Alaska. The bus that people sometimes embarked on deadly pilgrimages to Alaska’s backcountry to visit can now safely be viewed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks while it undergoes preservation work. The bus was moved to the university’s engineering facility in early Oct. 2021, while it’s being prepared for outdoor display at the Museum of the North, Fairbanks television station KTVF reported. (AP Photo/Jillian Rogers, File )

‘Into the Wild’ bus on display during preservation work

The abandoned Fairbanks city bus became a shelter for hunters and others using the backcountry near Denali National Park and Preserve.

In this March 21, 2006, file photo, is the abandoned bus where Christopher McCandless starved to death in 1992 near Healy, Alaska. The bus that people sometimes embarked on deadly pilgrimages to Alaska’s backcountry to visit can now safely be viewed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks while it undergoes preservation work. The bus was moved to the university’s engineering facility in early Oct. 2021, while it’s being prepared for outdoor display at the Museum of the North, Fairbanks television station KTVF reported. (AP Photo/Jillian Rogers, File )
A graphic published in the October 2021 edition of Trends, published by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, shows how women’s shares of the workforce and wages in Alaska varied by area in 2019. (Image via labor.alaska.gov)

Report: Alaska women’s pay lags

On average, women earned about 72% of what men earned in Alaska in 2019.

A graphic published in the October 2021 edition of Trends, published by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, shows how women’s shares of the workforce and wages in Alaska varied by area in 2019. (Image via labor.alaska.gov)
Courtesy image/ Wikicommons This map from the U.S. Cencsus Bureau highlights Alaska’s Indigenous populations. A ballot initiative to have the state of Alaska formally recognize the state’s already federally recognized tribes took a step forward Monday, when it was certified by the Division of Elections.

Tribal recognition initiative moves ahead

Mending divisions.

Courtesy image/ Wikicommons This map from the U.S. Cencsus Bureau highlights Alaska’s Indigenous populations. A ballot initiative to have the state of Alaska formally recognize the state’s already federally recognized tribes took a step forward Monday, when it was certified by the Division of Elections.
Central Peninsula Hospital as seen March 26, 2020, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

Half of beds at Central Peninsula Hospital occupied by COVID patients Monday

CPH has 49 regularly licensed beds.

Central Peninsula Hospital as seen March 26, 2020, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
Kelly Tshibaka addresses members of the community at Nikiski Hardware & Supply on Friday, April 9, 2021 in Nikiski, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Tshibaka cited for commercial fishing violation

Troopers opened an investigation on July 21 in response to a social media video that showed commercial fishing activity.

Kelly Tshibaka addresses members of the community at Nikiski Hardware & Supply on Friday, April 9, 2021 in Nikiski, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy holds a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday, April 9, 2019. (Juneau Empire file photo)

Judge sides with psychiatrists who alleged wrongful firing

In a decision Friday, U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick said the nature of the demand was “political.”

Gov. Mike Dunleavy holds a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday, April 9, 2019. (Juneau Empire file photo)
The doors of the Alaska Senate chambers were shut Friday, Oct. 8, 2021, a week into the Alaska State Legislature’s fourth special session of the year. Gov. Mike Dunleavy called lawmakers to session to resolve the state’s longterm fiscal issues, but the same divisions that have kept lawmakers from finding resolution before are still in place. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

A week into special session, work hasn’t begun

Quiet day at the Capitol.

The doors of the Alaska Senate chambers were shut Friday, Oct. 8, 2021, a week into the Alaska State Legislature’s fourth special session of the year. Gov. Mike Dunleavy called lawmakers to session to resolve the state’s longterm fiscal issues, but the same divisions that have kept lawmakers from finding resolution before are still in place. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
In this Oct. 7, 2021, file photo, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, stands in an elevator as she departs, on Capitol Hill, in Washington. A man described as a “normal guy” who kept a low profile in his rural Alaska community faces charges he threatened to hire an assassin to kill the U.S. senator. Jay Allen Johnson was scheduled to be arraigned later Friday, Oct. 8, 2021, on charges related to phone threats authorities say he made against Murkowski. Johnson was arrested earlier in the week and was being held in a Fairbanks jail ahead of the federal court hearing. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Man accused of threatening 2 senators to remain in jail

The caller was also upset that Murkowski voted to convict Trump in his January impeachment trial.

In this Oct. 7, 2021, file photo, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, stands in an elevator as she departs, on Capitol Hill, in Washington. A man described as a “normal guy” who kept a low profile in his rural Alaska community faces charges he threatened to hire an assassin to kill the U.S. senator. Jay Allen Johnson was scheduled to be arraigned later Friday, Oct. 8, 2021, on charges related to phone threats authorities say he made against Murkowski. Johnson was arrested earlier in the week and was being held in a Fairbanks jail ahead of the federal court hearing. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Middle school student Wyatt Otness of Fairbanks was awarded a $49,000 scholarship administered as an Alaska 529 savings plan in the fourth week of the “Give AK a shot” lottery. (Alaska Chamber)

Anchorage woman and Fairbanks middle schooler win vaccine lottery

The weekly draw awards one newly vaccinated adult resident and one newly vaccinated child resident $49,000 in cash and scholarships.

Middle school student Wyatt Otness of Fairbanks was awarded a $49,000 scholarship administered as an Alaska 529 savings plan in the fourth week of the “Give AK a shot” lottery. (Alaska Chamber)
A graph from the Department of Health and Social Services on Oct. 7, 2021 shows COVID-19 cases have dropped since the last week in September. (Photo taken from the DHSS)

Officials ‘cautiously optimistic’ about state COVID trends

Although cases appear to be dropping, officials say Alaska isn’t ‘out of the woods’ yet

A graph from the Department of Health and Social Services on Oct. 7, 2021 shows COVID-19 cases have dropped since the last week in September. (Photo taken from the DHSS)
Screenshot (labor.alaska.gov)

Alaska minimum wage stays stagnant for 2022

Currently, the minimum wage stands at $10.34 hourly.

Screenshot (labor.alaska.gov)