President Joe Biden imposed a “temporary moratorium” on all oil and gas leasing activities in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge shortly after taking office, citing the “alleged legal deficiencies underlying the program” and the inadequacy of a required environmental review. Biden’s move to slam the brakes on drilling in the northeast Alaska refuge is among a list of executive orders the newly-inaugurated president swiftly signed to undo actions by his predecessor. The new moratorium comes a

In the tiny Yukon River village of Beaver, First Chief Rhonda Pitka has faced dilemma after dilemma this year. COVID-19 has forced travel restrictions, and closures of the school and offices. Cultural events like potlaches, funerals and an Indigenous language institute were canceled, too. “Our people have sacrificed so much to keep each other safe,” Pitka said. Last month, though, Pitka and her village got a big lift, in the form of two vials of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by drug company

After being delayed for almost a decade, the federal government is moving forward with the process for designating critical habitat for two species of seal listed as threatened . What was supposed to be accomplished during the Obama administration has been dragged out by legal challenges. The Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas are home to a variety of marine mammals, including bearded seals and ringed seals. Though both species are in relative abundance, long-term projections forecast a threat to

Sitka’s Baranof Elementary School appears likely to have its name changed — but what that new name will be, no one is quite sure yet. The Sitka School Board recently decided to send the question of the name change to the Sitka Tribe, in hopes of identifying a “significant local cultural educator.” The hardest part about renaming the Baranof Elementary School will be who to name it for. At their last meeting on January 6, Sitka School Board members reported that their email was running near 100

The former mining town of Red Devil sits far upriver on the Kuskokwim. It’s a tiny town with a lot of big issues to tackle, and no forms of government to do so. The remote town hasn’t had its sewage drained. Ever. The community had septic systems installed and plans were laid for a sewage lagoon, but it was never built. "Because we have no sewage lagoon, we can't pump it out. And this will be the 16th year that none of the 1,000 gallon tanks have been emptied," said Theodore Gordon, one of the

The Anchorage Assembly unanimously approved Thursday, January 14, 2021, an ordinance that formally establishes a government-to-government relationship with the Native Village of Eklutna. The president of the Eklutna village Tribal council, Aaron Leggett, called the ordinance “a monumental achievement by both governments.” “This isn’t something that will happen overnight, I think it will be a continually developing relationship and I’m sure that we will find ways to simply have more dialogue on a

After months of successfully avoiding COVID-19 in its facilities, more than 40 percent of inmates in Alaska’s prisons have now been infected with the disease . That has frustrated advocates and families who point to overcrowding in prisons, inconsistent precautions, and a general lack of transparency about what is happening inside the Department of Corrections. “They have not done nearly enough to mitigate the harm and spread of COVID-19 inside Alaska’s prisons,” said ACLU of Alaska Advocacy

An investigation by the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica found law enforcement agencies in Alaska have routinely failed to comply with a state law requiring the collection of DNA from some criminal offenders . The DNA is supposed to go into a database that can help police connect offenders to unsolved crimes, including rape and murder. But according to the ADN’s reporting , that’s not what’s happening. Anchorage Daily News reporter Kyle Hopkins spoke with Alaska Public Media’s Casey Grove

Anchorage’s municipal beetle-kill spruce removal team wrapped up work for the season. “Today’s actually our last day,” Andy Ethington, 26, said as he walked through a warehouse in South Anchorage. “So, we’re just cleaning out all the trucks, cleaning out the storage room. This is where we keep all the chainsaws and stuff,” he said, pointing inside. Ethington is one of 25 tree removal employees the city hired last August to tackle the widespread issue of beetle-killed spruce trees around

Akiak Technology has been accepted into the Small Business Administration’s business development program, according to a news release. The company is an information technology consulting business owned by Akian Native Community, a federally recognized Alaska Native Tribe. The program is designed to level the playing field of federal government contracting for businesses that may be socially or economically disadvantaged. The certification makes the company exempt from competition requirements