JUNEAU — The group promoting a massive gold-and-copper prospect near Alaska’s Bristol Bay said Tuesday they plan to press on with their work, despite passage of a ballot initiative aimed at stopping the controversial Pebble Mine.

Unofficial results released by southwest Alaska’s Lake and Peninsula Borough late Monday showed a vote of 280-246 in favor of a ban on large-scale resource extraction activity, including mining, that would destroy or degrade salmon habitat.

JUNEAU — A former Alaska lawmaker facing retrial on federal corruption charges plans to plead guilty this week, apparently ending a yearslong probe of corruption in Alaska politics.

Attorneys for Vic Kohring filed court papers Monday indicating that he plans to change his plea on count one of the indictment against him. That count is conspiracy to commit extortion and attempted extortion under color of official right and bribery, and stems from Kohring’s dealings with officials from a now-defunct oil services company.

FAIRBANKS — An animal rights group wants the University of Alaska Fairbanks investigated and fined following the deaths of at least a dozen musk oxen at the school’s large-animal research station.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection report, released this week by the group Stop Animal Exploitation Now, states the animals died or were euthanized because of chronic malnutrition and emaciation.

JUNEAU — The recent seizure of a stateless ship in international waters 2,600 miles off Alaska’s coast has spotlighted the challenge that the U.S. and other nations face in trying to crackdown on illegal fishing, an activity that accounts for up to $23.5 billion a year in global economic losses.