ANCHORAGE — An orphaned polar bear cub that arrived at the Alaska Zoo two months ago will soon depart for a new adventure: meeting another young cub at the Buffalo Zoo.

Kali (KUL’-ee) made his final Alaska zoo appearance Monday. He will be flown by UPS from Anchorage to the company hub in Louisville, Ky., and then New York, with arrival in Buffalo expected Wednesday. A play date with Luna, a nearly six-month old cub born to an adult female at the zoo, could follow in about two weeks.

ANCHORAGE — The recipe for flooding along Alaska’s river system is abundant snow and ice, cold April temperatures and a surge of May heat, but the National Weather Service says it’s too soon to say whether all four conditions will line up in 2013.

River ice remains thick, the snowpack is above average, and Alaska experienced below-normal April temperatures. But the most critical factor is the weather in the next few weeks, said hydrologist Scott Lindsey, and atmospheric models that predicted April’s cold are giving mixed signals for May.

ANCHORAGE — Three former Alaska officials were announced Thursday as sponsors of a referendum to repeal a tax cut for oil companies operating in the state.

Former state Sen. Vic Fischer, former Alaska first lady Bella Hammond and former Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Jim Whitaker were named referendum sponsors at a Vote Yes! Repeal the Giveaway press conference outside the Robert J. Atwood state office building.

ANCHORAGE — The U.S. Department of Energy and the state of Alaska will collaborate on future research of unconventional energy resources in the Arctic, including abundant reservoirs of methane hydrate.

The DOE’s acting assistant secretary for fossil energy, Christopher Smith, and Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan announced the agreement Tuesday and spoke to reporters from Houston, Texas, where they are attending LNG 17, a natural gas conference.