Individual news stories are posted on the APRN news page. You can subscribe to APRN’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @aprn.
Download Audio
No Fukushima Radiation Found in Alaska Seafood
The Associated Press
Alaska health officials say Alaska seafood has no radiation contamination from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant, which was damaged by a tsunami in 2011.
Officials from the Alaska departments of Environmental Conservation and Health and Social Services announced results of U.S. Food and Drug Administration tests today.
The FDA monitors radiation in both domestic and imported food. Alaska officials called for specific Alaska samples, including fish that migrate from western Pacific waters off Japan.
The federal agency tested samples from the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands to southeast Alaska.
Cross-Regional Dialogue On Ambler Road As Parties Converge In Kotzebue
Zachariah Hughes, KNOM – Nome
How will small Native communities in rural Alaska balance traditional life with the pressures of modernization? That was the question community leaders focused on during the second day of discussions on the proposed road to the Ambler Mining District.
U.S. House Passes Bill To Open NPR-A
Liz Ruskin, APRN – Washington DC
For the second time in six months, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill aimed at greater oil industry access to the National
Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
The bill would force the federal government to scrap its current management plan for NPR-A and start over. It would also require additional lease sales there and off-shore.
It’s supported by Alaska Congressman Don Young and passed the House on Thursday as part of a larger GOP energy bill, largely along party lines. In November, the House passed a similar NPR-A provision in a different GOP energy bill. Senate leaders have shown no interest in moving it.
U.S. Senate Republican Candidates Debate Addresses Resource Development, Government Overreach
Josh Edge, APRN – Anchorage
All three candidates vying for the Republican nomination in August’s senatorial primary election squared off over a variety of issues in Anchorage on Thursday.
Frostbite Among Chief Dangers For Denali Climbers
Phillip Manning, KTNA – Talkeetna
It’s been a tough year for climbers attempting to summit Denali. Only 1 in 3 have made the summit. The weather also means higher risk for injuries, especially frostbite.
Y-K Delta Residents Struggle To Put Up Fish
Daysha Eaton, KYUK – Bethel
Fish camp is an annual tradition going back thousands of years for Yup’ik people living along the Kuskokwim River. But fishing restrictions this year, have hit many families hard.
Smokejumpers Deploy in Southwest Alaska
Daysha Eaton, KYUK – Bethel
Fire Danger is up in Southwest Alaska. Mike Roos, a Fire Management Officer with the Alaska Division of Forestry says fuels, especially tundra grasses, are drying out.
“They’re very susceptible to starts from either lightening strikes or escaped burns, such as dumps and we’ve had two escaped dump fires in the past two days, one in Mountain Village and one at Tooksook Bay,” Roos said.
Smokejumper crews were deployed to both fires.
Clear, sunny weather and high winds are forecast through the weekend.
AK: Dance
Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage
Although the ancient form of dance called English Morris was born so long ago its origins are murky, it remains alive and well, even in frozen Alaska. Rant and Raven, Anchorage’s Morris dance group, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, with a tour on the Alaska Marine Highway.
300 Villages: Eagle
This week we’re heading to Eagle, a small community on the Yukon River. Jason Hamilton lives in Eagle, Alaska.