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An alder tree blooms along the Mendenhall River on Friday.

Photo: Alder catkins

An alder tree blooms along the Mendenhall River on Friday.… Continue reading

An alder tree blooms along the Mendenhall River on Friday.

Legislature to take public testimony on oil tax credits

The Alaska House will take public testimony Monday on a proposal from Gov. Bill Walker to reform the credit system that rewards oil companies for… Continue reading

Earthquakes rock south-central Alaska, western Aleutians

ANCHORAGE — A magnitude 4.5 earthquake rocked south-central Alaska on Saturday and was felt in the state’s largest city, Anchorage.The National Tsunami Warning Center says… Continue reading

In this Feb. 16 photo, from right, Willow and Cabo, belonging to Lorraine Temple, demonstrate the rigging of an Alaskan dog sled while Amity Middle School's Mindy Wallace stands on the sled modeling a musher's protective clothing during Temple's presentation in Amity, Oregon.

Mush on, read on

AMITY, Ore. — Lorraine Temple pulled her van into the parking lot at Amity Middle School in Oregon. The Homer resident was greeted by Principal… Continue reading

In this Feb. 16 photo, from right, Willow and Cabo, belonging to Lorraine Temple, demonstrate the rigging of an Alaskan dog sled while Amity Middle School's Mindy Wallace stands on the sled modeling a musher's protective clothing during Temple's presentation in Amity, Oregon.
Liam Lotter poses with a piece of debris thought to be part of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, in Wartburg, 37km (22 miles) out of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, Friday, March 11, 2016. South African teenager Liam Lotter vacationing with his family in Mozambique on Dec. 30, may have found part of a wing from the missing plane, while he was strolling on the beach. Liam struggled to lift the debris from the beach and carried it back home to South Africa before discovering it might be from the lost plane, but now aviation experts plan to examine the plane fragment. The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 jet vanished with 239 people on board while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. (Candace Lotter via AP)

S. African teen finds possible plane debris

JOHANNESBURG — A South African teenager vacationing in Mozambique may have found part of a wing from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which his family… Continue reading

Liam Lotter poses with a piece of debris thought to be part of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, in Wartburg, 37km (22 miles) out of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, Friday, March 11, 2016. South African teenager Liam Lotter vacationing with his family in Mozambique on Dec. 30, may have found part of a wing from the missing plane, while he was strolling on the beach. Liam struggled to lift the debris from the beach and carried it back home to South Africa before discovering it might be from the lost plane, but now aviation experts plan to examine the plane fragment. The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 jet vanished with 239 people on board while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. (Candace Lotter via AP)

Germanwings victim’s father: We’re still waiting for apology

MOENCHENGLADBACH, Germany — Families of the Germanwings crash victims say they are still waiting for an apology from those they believe failed to prevent the… Continue reading

26-year-old man arrested in Iditarod crashes

ANCHORAGE — A man suspected of intentionally driving a snowmobile into teams of two mushers near the front of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race… Continue reading

Former LCCC inmate Brandon Johnson, right, speaks with two inmates during a break at the ninth annual Success Inside and Out conference in the prison. During the event, Johnson spoke as a panelist, offering advice to his former peers.

Success Inside and Out

Juneau District Court Judge Keith Levy didn’t pull any punches while speaking to about 50 inmates in the Lemon Creek Correctional Center Saturday morning.“When you… Continue reading

Former LCCC inmate Brandon Johnson, right, speaks with two inmates during a break at the ninth annual Success Inside and Out conference in the prison. During the event, Johnson spoke as a panelist, offering advice to his former peers.

Policy lets legislators decide on records releases

JUNEAU — Legislative policy leaves Alaska state lawmakers the discretion to decide whether they want to release information from their own records. That stands in… Continue reading

Researchers with the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Science check a pop-up satellite tag on a chinook salmon. The University of Alaska system cuts proposed in the Legislature would largely come out of research funding, which could create a ripple effect that damages state and federal fisheries management.

University cuts could damage fisheries, Arctic research

ANCHORAGE — A state fiscal crisis looms, and some of the Legislature’s budget cuts could send ripples into Alaska’s largest private employer and international political… Continue reading

Researchers with the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Science check a pop-up satellite tag on a chinook salmon. The University of Alaska system cuts proposed in the Legislature would largely come out of research funding, which could create a ripple effect that damages state and federal fisheries management.
Four-year-old Kiana Twitchell gets to run a backhoe with an IUOE Local 302 Operators Union as her copilot.

Photos: Home expo

Six-year-old Occy Rubbo loads gravel with the assistance of volunteer union worker Jarrett Thomas. Tyler Rental donated the heavy equipment.… Continue reading

Four-year-old Kiana Twitchell gets to run a backhoe with an IUOE Local 302 Operators Union as her copilot.

GCI cell customers struggle with outages

BETHEL — Customers with Alaska telecommunications company General Communication, Inc. say they have experienced frequent outages all winter.Cellular service was spotty over the winter months… Continue reading

Wildlife biologists Rob Kaler of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Sarah Schoen of the U.S. Geological Survey examine body parts of a common murre during a necropsy on Friday in Anchorage.

Scientists researching seabird death mystery

ANCHORAGE — The common murre on Sarah Schoen’s examination table lived a short, hungry life.Measurements of its beak and leg indicated it hatched in June.… Continue reading

Wildlife biologists Rob Kaler of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Sarah Schoen of the U.S. Geological Survey examine body parts of a common murre during a necropsy on Friday in Anchorage.
FILE - In this July 21, 2010 file photo, a polar bear has a bucket on his head, while cub polar bear swims nearby in the cooling waters of Moscow Zoo. Climate science has progressed so much that experts can accurately detect global warming's fingerprints on certain extreme weather events, such as a heat wave, concluded a high-level scientific advisory panel. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze, File)

Panel: Finding climate fingerprints in wild weather is valid

WASHINGTON — Climate science has progressed so much that experts can accurately detect global warming’s fingerprints on certain extreme weather events, such as a heat… Continue reading

FILE - In this July 21, 2010 file photo, a polar bear has a bucket on his head, while cub polar bear swims nearby in the cooling waters of Moscow Zoo. Climate science has progressed so much that experts can accurately detect global warming's fingerprints on certain extreme weather events, such as a heat wave, concluded a high-level scientific advisory panel. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 23, 2016 file photo, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito speaks in Washington. A hallmark in the search for a new Supreme Court justice is the secretive process for making sure the choice is kept under wraps until the president is ready to reveal it. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

Secrecy a stamp of vetting process

WASHINGTON — Clandestine meetings. Soundproofed rooms. Top-secret instructions.It sounds like the elements for a spy movie, but it’s become a hallmark of the undercover process… Continue reading

FILE - In this Feb. 23, 2016 file photo, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito speaks in Washington. A hallmark in the search for a new Supreme Court justice is the secretive process for making sure the choice is kept under wraps until the president is ready to reveal it. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

Torture is illegal, but there’s the issue of Appendix M

WASHINGTON — A little-known appendix to the Army Field Manual, the government rulebook for interrogations that bans the harsh practices used after the Sept. 11… Continue reading

Hollywood learns a new storytelling language for VR

LOS ANGELES — What happens to a film’s story when blades of grass are more interesting than the plot? When you can lean in so… Continue reading

FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2016 file photo, a researcher holds a container with female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes at the Biomedical Sciences Institute in the Sao Paulo's University in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The spread of the Zika virus in Latin America is giving a boost to a British biotech firm's proposal to try reducing the threat by deploying a genetically modified version of the mosquito that transmits the disease. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)

FDA: No significant impact from test of modified mosquitoes

MIAMI — A field trial releasing genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys would not harm humans or the environment, according to documents released Friday… Continue reading

FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2016 file photo, a researcher holds a container with female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes at the Biomedical Sciences Institute in the Sao Paulo's University in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The spread of the Zika virus in Latin America is giving a boost to a British biotech firm's proposal to try reducing the threat by deploying a genetically modified version of the mosquito that transmits the disease. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)
Thunder Mountain High School senior Kyler Romme spoke out against Senate Bill 191 during public testimony Thursday.

Public weighs in almost 7:1 against Planned Parenthood ban in public schools

The public spoke out overwhelmingly against a bill that would restrict abortion providers like Planned Parenthood from teaching or providing resources in Juneau schools.By the… Continue reading

Thunder Mountain High School senior Kyler Romme spoke out against Senate Bill 191 during public testimony Thursday.

Pro-pot petition heads to Assembly

Late last month a small group of North Douglas residents started circulating a petition requesting the Juneau Assembly reverse its Nov. 9 decision to allow… Continue reading