Two cruise lines have canceled at least some of their sailings to Alaska in 2021. Princess Cruises announced it was pausing all its operations through at least May 14. Holland America will cancel all Alaska cruises through mid-May, and three additional sailings in early June, the pair of Carnival Corporation subsidiaries said in statements. It’s another blow to Southeast Alaska’s tourism economy, which accounted for around 18% of jobs in the region in 2019. Most visitors arrived on a cruise ship

One of the biggest challenges for distributing the COVID-19 vaccine from drug companies Pfizer and BioNTech is keeping it cold. But Dr. Ellen Hodges, contending with sub-zero temperatures on a remote Southwest Alaska airport tarmac last month, had the opposite problem as she prepared to vaccinate frontline health-care workers. “It became immediately apparent that the vaccine was going to freeze in the metal part of the needle,” she said. “It was just kind of wild.” Distributing the COVID-19

Washington state’s attorney general and a legal coalition of 40 Tribes, states and community organizations filed a motion (January 7, 2021) to block the sale of the National Archives building in Seattle . The facility houses an immense collection of historical documents and records, including records about Alaska and the Indigenous peoples of the area. The museum also contains documents regarding the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the Japanese internment camps of World War II. In January 2020, a

The Haines DMV is among a half-dozen rural branches on the chopping block in Governor Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budget . The administration has suggested Haines residents travel to Juneau — by ferry — so the state can save on employees and offices. Gov. Dunleavy’s proposed budget rolled out earlier this month proposes saving money but eliminating state jobs and lease expenses by shuttering six DMVs. Haines is among those. The others are Tok, Valdez, Eagle River, Homer and Delta Junction. Lynn

The board of a regional non-profit hatchery association may change its releases for king salmon from Crystal Lake hatchery south of Petersburg . That’s after the Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association lost a portion of its state funding for that facility. The SSRAA board is hoping that funding can be restored. However, in March they’ll consider reducing or relocating Crystal Lake king salmon normally caught by the sport fishing fleet if it’s not. Crystal Lake, on Mitkof Island south

The lawsuit over Nieman Marcus selling a coat that bears a striking resemblance to a copyrighted, Alaska Native Ravenstail pattern is close to a settlement. Sealaska Heritage Institute and the heirs of the late weaver Clarissa Rizal sued the luxury retailer in April . In addition to violating the copyright, they said Nieman Marcus violated the Indian Arts and Crafts Act by misrepresenting the coat as an Alaska Native craft. In a joint filing in federal court , both sides say they’ve “agreed to

Scientists are on the lookout for an invasive crab species expected to move north into Alaskan waters . This year in Southeast Alaska, they added a new tool to the monitoring effort for European green crab, a threat to the state’s shellfish and salmon. European green crab or shore crab have been expanding their range north along the Pacific coast. But this year they were discovered just south of the Alaskan border. “This Haida Gwaii occurrence last summer puts them very close to us and I really

Canadian developers behind a proposed massive metals mine 20 miles from the border seek another permit extension from B.C. regulators . If it’s built, the Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell mine would be larger than the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay. Seabridge Gold had hoped to be mining copper, gold and other metals by now. The KSM mine received approvals in 2014 on the condition that it break ground within five years. Two years ago it received an extension giving it until 2024 to start work. Now,

The Silvertip Maintenance Station may be small but it covers a well-traveled, 60-mile swath of the Seward Highway, stretching from Moose Pass up through Turnagain Pass and the 17-mile Hope Highway. Facing a dwindling budget, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities closed the station last winter and relied on neighboring stations to pick up the slack. But an outpouring of pushback from local travelers and Soldotna Republican Sen. Peter Micciche has prompted the state to

A final proposal introduced by the Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, earlier this month would make more than 13 million acres of public lands in the Western Bering Sea region open to development . Dozens of Alaska Native Tribes say their concerns haven’t been adequately addressed in the proposal. The new and final plan would replace previous land management plans that have been in place since the 1980’s. As BLM Alaska State Director Chad Padgett explained, the proposal has been in the works