Category: Alaska News

A former Alaska attorney has pleaded guilty to trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine out of his Anchorage residence and faces 10 to 40 years in federal prison.

Alaska lawmakers overrode a veto to pass HB 195, expanding pharmacist care to treat common conditions like UTIs and strep throat, with changes taking effect in 2027.

An environmental group has sued the Trump administration over its failure to grant Endangered Species Act protections to sunflower sea stars, a keystone Pacific Ocean species that lost 90% of its population since 2013 to a wasting disease.

The Center for Biological Diversity, in its lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accused the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of illegally delaying endangered and threatened listings for the giant sea stars.

NOAA’s Fisheries Service in 2023 proposed listing the species as threatened across its entire range, which stretches from Baja California to Alaska. That proposal stemmed from a petition the Center for Biological Diversity filed in 2021.

However, NOAA Fisheries has missed legally the legally mandated 12-month deadline for issuing a rule, thus violating the Endangered Species Act, the lawsuit said.

“The agency’s failure to meet the deadline delays crucial protections for the sunflower sea star, increasing its risk of extinction,” the lawsuit said.

Sunflower sea stars are among the world’s biggest sea stars, growing up 3 feet across and with as many as 24 arms. The multicolored sea stars are important to marine habitats and fisheries because they eat sea urchins that, if left unchecked, can mow down kelp forests that fish need.

The wasting disease, which turns sea stars to glutinous blobs, has been most severe in the southern part of the sunflower sea star’s range. In California, the species is considered functionally extinct, according to the California Ocean Protection Council. Remnant populations remain in farther-north waters, though the wasting disease has caused massive die-offs in the northern part of the range.In Alaska, hotspots for the wasting disease, which affects sunflower sea stars and other species, included the Kenai Peninsula’s Kachemak Bay and Katmai National Park and Preserve along the Alaska Peninsula.

“These incredible many-armed sea stars have taken a huge hit from climate change and obviously need protection, but for years federal officials haven’t acted,” Miyoko Sakashita, oceans program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “It’s been painful to watch disease spread among the species as the ocean warms. We need to jump in and do everything we can to save these gorgeous sea stars. The Trump administration has a clear legal duty to take action on these amazing animals.”

A NOAA spokesperson said the agency has been working on the listing and continues to do so.

“At this time, NOAA Fisheries has not yet completed our work on the Center for Biological Diversity’s proposal to list the sunflower sea star under the Endangered Species Act,” Micheal Milstein said by email. “NOAA Fisheries continues to optimize its available resources to prioritize mission-critical research and actions to address fisheries management and endangered species responsibilities. NOAA remains dedicated to providing information, research and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation’s economic and environmental resilience.”

New research findings

Recent research has shed light on the progression of wasting disease and possible ways to counter it.  

A large research team led by the University of British Columbia, the University of Washington and the Hakai Institute last year identified the culprit in the massive wasting disease die-off: a bacterium called Vibrio pectenicida.

Climate change is implicated as a factor in the disease-caused death, the researchers said. Wasting disease deaths are most concentrated in warmer waters, suggesting that warmer temperatures have caused Vibrio pectenicida to proliferate, the researchers said. They point to the way warmer temperatures encourage the growth of other vibrio species, including Vibrio parahaemolyticus, which can cause gastrointestinal sickness to seafood eaters — and which has become a concern for Alaska oyster growers.

Even if warmer temperatures do not directly cause Vibrio pectenicida to proliferate, the UBC researchers said, the presence of the bacteria could be an additional stressor to the sea stars on top of climate change.

In its lawsuit, the Center for Biological Diversity characterized climate change as part of a suite of compounded threats.

“Sunflower sea stars are also at risk from ocean acidification, which can make it more difficult for them to build their skeletal structures. Sunflower sea stars are also threatened by coastal development and pollution, harmful algal blooms, and other forms of habitat loss,” the lawsuit said.

There is other ongoing research that points to possible tools to help sunflower sea stars recover.

Scientists at the University of Washington and in California have been experimenting with captive breeding of sunflower sea stars, with the idea of bolstering or reestablishing wild populations.

The California project, funded by NOAA Fisheries, the Nature Conservancy and other organizations, is also studying sunflower sea star DNA to better understand the genetic diversity to keep a wild population resilient.

The University of Washington researchers have also found through lab experimentation that juvenile sunflower sea stars can withstand warm temperatures, a positive sign for possible restoration of wild populations in the future. The results of that experiment are described in a study published last year in the journal PLOS One.

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Members of the Alaska House Judiciary and State Affairs committees held an investigatory hearing on Monday about the state’s decision to remove a candidate from the U.S. Senate election with the same name as the incumbent  — Dan Sullivan.

The Division of Elections announced that Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from Petersburg, was not eligible to run for the U.S. Senate. It cited complaints from the incumbent and Republican groups when it decided his candidacy was not in “good faith,” and aimed at confusing voters with the incumbent U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan. The division cited a state regulation that forbids the Division of Elections from listing a candidate’s name “in a manner that is confusing or misleading to voters or compromises the fairness or neutrality of the ballot.”

But some lawmakers questioned the decision and the division’s authority to remove the challenger candidate. An attorney representing the Alaska Legislature issued a legal memo Wednesday saying the decision to disqualify the candidate was likely unlawful, since he did not violate the U.S. Constitution’s qualifications to run for office. 

The hearing took place as Dan Sullivan of Petersburg filed an appeal of the state’s decision to disqualify him from the ballot on Monday, taking the issue before a state superior court. In the complaint, Sullivan defended his eligibility and challenged the division’s decision to remove him. He argues the action is unlawful, and is asking the court to overturn the decision and restore his name on the ballot for the August primary.

Lawmakers held a hearing in Anchorage to investigate the division’s decision. Division officials declined to appear so the committee relied on testimony from attorneys.  

Judiciary committee chair Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, opened Monday’s hearing by saying the issue under scrutiny was not the particular candidate or his motives, but about the limits of the division’s authority and whether that authority is being applied fairly.

“What authority does the Division of Elections have to remove a candidate from the ballot, and has that authority been exercised consistently?” Gray said. “Those questions matter because public confidence in elections depends on more than accurate vote counting. It depends on the public’s confidence that the rules are applied equally to everyone.” 

Gray cited a previous case where the candidate’s political motives and eligibility were challenged, but the state took a different stance. When the Alaska Democratic Party sought to remove Eric Hafner, a U.S. House candidate imprisoned out of state, the division defended his right to run for office. The Alaska Supreme Court allowed him to remain on the ballot. Hafner is running for the seat again this year. Gray emphasized the difference in the state’s approach.

“When a government agency departs from positions it has taken in previous cases, the public deserves an explanation,” Gray said. “And when a government agency removes the candidate from the ballot, the public deserves a very clear explanation.”

Lawmakers called the hearing and requested the division director, Carol Beecher, appear and participate in providing further information and an explanation for removing Sullivan. Beecher declined last week, citing the division’s work preparing the ballot scheduled to be printed on June 28. 

Legislators then issued a rare legislative subpoena and served Beecher on Sunday to compel her to appear before the committee. 

On Monday, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, who oversees the state’s election system, issued a letter again declining to appear and threatening legal action. 

“If you refuse, we may have no choice but to seek to quash the subpoena in court due to the unreasonable timeframe provided and the lack of urgency while the appeal period is still pending,” Dahlstrom wrote.

Gray noted that division officials gave Sullivan of Petersburg only one day to respond to questions, and then removed him from the ballot four days later. He announced at the hearing that they had rescinded the subpoena and agreed that elections officials would participate in another investigative hearing scheduled for July 22.

On Monday, the committee heard from several attorneys with experience working on elections issues, including Andrew Dunmire, a legislative attorney who wrote a legal memo saying the division’s actions were likely unconstitutional. 

Dunmire wrote that under the U.S. Constitution, there are three qualifications for federal candidates: they must be at least 30 years old, a U.S. citizen for at least nine years and an inhabitant of the state when elected. He said, as seen in previous cases, states are not allowed to add to those qualifications. 

“The US Constitution is the supreme source of law in our country, and there’s no administrative regulation that can override a constitutional requirement,” he said. 

Dan Sullivan of Petersburg defends run for Alaska’s U.S. Senate against state investigation

Lawmakers discussed the state regulation cited by elections officials which prohibits the division from placing names on the ballot “in a manner that is confusing or misleading to voters or compromises the fairness or neutrality of the ballot.”

Several Republican members of the committee defended the division’s actions, including Rep. Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, who said the division has a responsibility to protect the ballot from confusing or misleading voters. 

“The division does have a responsibility to determine whether or not the voters are being misled, whether it has to do with how long they’ve lived here, whether it has to do with their name,” Costello said, and questioned whether Sullivan’s motives should be further investigated by the U.S Department of Justice or the Federal Elections Commission. 

“I hope that this issue is resolved, so that anybody who wants to run for office in the state of Alaska can do it, but they cannot do it in a manner that is going to confuse or undermine the importance of elections,” she said.

But Dunmire, with Legislative Legal Services, said while the state can investigate allegations of campaign misconduct, the division has no authority to investigate a candidate’s motives in running for office. 

“It is not the division’s role, they have no explicit authority in situations like this to look into a candidate’s motivations,” he said. 

Dunmire noted state regulation has rules for when two candidates with the same name appear on the ballot. Candidates’ names would appear with a middle initial, in this case the challenger as “Dan J. Sullivan,” and the incumbent as “Dan S. Sullivan.”

Hollis French, a former state senator and prosecutor, was invited to testify before the committee and did not mince words. 

“I don’t think you would need any special legal training to smell a rat here,” French said. “If a prisoner with no ties to the state of Alaska in New York state can be put on the ballot for federal office in the state of Alaska, I think the Division of Elections is sort of foreclosed from then on, from engaging in what they’ve engaged in this case.”

French said as a prosecutor, it’s nearly impossible to prove someone’s motives. He emphasized the division can take steps to distinguish the two names on the ballot, and then it’s up to candidates to campaign and appeal to voters. 

“There’s a way to designate that in a neutral manner on the ballot, and then put the burden on the candidates to remind everybody that they’re the Dan Sullivan from Fairbanks or the Dan Sullivan with an S, or the Dan Sullivan with a J,” he said. 

Rep. Ashley Carrick, D-Fairbanks and chair of the House State Affairs Committee, said she was highly concerned about a subjective standard for candidates imposed by the division that may erode the trust of voters. 

“I think there’s a clear risk in the longer term future to the Division of Elections and Alaska’s election integrity if we see mistakes or differences of opinion in how this authority to investigate can be utilized,” she said. 

“And really, truly, my biggest concern here is that if ‘good faith,’ as was stated in the memo from the Division of Elections, becomes an additional implicit standard for candidacy, Alaska will have added more than just an additional requirement. We will have functionally added a subjective standard for qualification to run for office.”

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Paralytic shellfish toxins have been found in shellfish collected in water around Haines. 

The toxins, which originate from some species of phytoplankton, can pass up the food chain when phytoplankton levels are high, accumulating in shellfish and then affecting humans and animals that eat those shellfish. Consuming affected shellfish can be fatal to humans. The toxin is not destroyed by cooking or freezing. 

As of last week, tissue samples from blue mussels around the Chilkat Valley — Viking Cove, Portage Cove and Taiyasanka Harbor — all tested above safe limits for the toxin. Toxins have also been found in shellfish collected from Nahku Beach in Skagway. 

That means all mollusks are currently unsafe to eat, said Chilkoot Indian Association environmental specialist Liam Cassidy, who collects the samples in Haines and then sends them to a Sitka lab where they’re tested. 

The mollusk category refers to shellfish with a hinged shell, like clams, mussels, and geoducks. Finfish, shrimp and crab meat is not known to contain the toxin, Cassidy said, but crab guts, sometimes known as crab butter, may contain high levels of the toxin and should be cleaned out before eating. 

Harvesters can send samples to Cassidy to be tested. He can be reached at lcassidy@chilkoot-nsn.gov or at 907-766-2323.  The collector does not have to reveal the location where they were harvested. 

Fresh or frozen samples can also be sent directly to Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research’s lab in Sitka. The research lab, also known as SEATOR, is a tribal consortium that does environmental data collection. 

Results from testing shellfish all over Southeast Alaska are published on SEATOR’s website, to help the public know where toxins are present and avoid eating unsafe shellfish. Currently, the lab has advisories for shellfish from Ketchikan and Skagway in addition to Haines.

The post High levels of paralytic shellfish toxin in Haines-area beaches appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

Government regulators and scientists are investigating the death of a fin whale that was carried on the bow of a cruise ship into Seward on Friday.

The dead female whale, measuring 61 feet and apparently pregnant, was moved by local responders to a nearby beach for the investigation into its cause of death, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

NOAA Fisheries and the Seward-based Alaska SeaLife Center are working cooperatively on the necropsy.

While NOAA did not identify the vessel involved, the only cruise ship scheduled to be in Seward on Friday was the Ovation of the Seas, operated by Royal Caribbean Cruise Line.

Royal Caribbean, in a statement, admitted that its ship struck the whale.

“We are saddened to hear that one of our ships struck a whale while on its way to Seward. We take any impact to marine ecosystems very seriously. The ship immediately reported the incident to the proper authorities. We are cooperating fully with NOAA and are awaiting the necropsy results,” a company spokesperson said by email.

Fin whales are listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. They are the world’s second-largest whales, after blue whales, according to NOAA. The agency lists ship strikes among the top threats to their populations.

Ship strikes have killed numerous whales in Alaska in the past. A 2012 NOAA report said there were 108 reported whale-vessel collisions in Alaska from 1978 to 2011, and nearly a quarter of those killed the whales. Those events included strikes by cruise ships, such as a 2010 case involving a Princess Cruises ship.

A 2024 NOAA report on human-caused, nonhunting deaths to Alaska marine mammals tallied 41 probable deaths of humpback whales between 2018 and 2022, along with numerous deaths of other whale species. Data in the report indicated that more than two dozen whales were killed by ship strikes in that period.

For environmentalist Rick Steiner, the Seward case on Friday is further evidence supporting the need for ship speed limits in important whale habitat off Alaska.

Steiner, a retired University of Alaska marine biologist who now heads an organization called Oasis Earth, has been campaigning for speed limits for several years. If not mandatory, as they are on the East Coast to protect endangered Atlantic right whales, he said they could be voluntary, as they are in areas of California.

Those speed limits have been effective, Steiner said.

The problem of ships striking whales is widespread, he said. “The number of times you see a whale deal and pinned on the bow of a ship, either an oil tanker or a cruise ship, is only the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

Steiner and others, including the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council, have been seeking to establish speed limits for a variety of vessels in places like Unimak Pass, Icy Strait, Prince William Sound and Resurrection Bay, where whales congregate but where there is also heavy ship traffic at certain times of the year.

Those limits should be set at 10 knots in daytime and 8 knots when visibility is low, he said. That compares to the normal sailing speeds of up to 20 or 22 knots for cruise ships and 15 to 17 knots for oil tankers, he said.

However, regulators and industry groups have not agreed to any such limits, as voluntary guidelines, he said.

Steiner said he appreciated Royal Caribbean’s statement acknowledging that its ship struck the whale.

“But what are they going to do about it is the question,” he said. “If Royal Caribbean is genuinely contrite and wants to do something about it, we know what that is.”

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(The Center Square) — A majority of American voters say the U.S. should remain in NATO, according to The Center Square Voters’ Voice poll.

Businesses routinely offer discounts and coupons as enticements to get people to spend money, or to buy something they wouldn’t normally purchase if they had to pay full price.

It’s the same for the proposed Alaska North Slope natural gas pipeline project.

The dream has been around for almost 60 years, but no one has been willing to pay full price. So now, the Legislature and the governor are welded together in a political debate over just how much of a discount coupon the state should offer to get the project built.

The governor and the developer, a private company named Glenfarne, want a massive discount on property taxes. Without the tax relief, they say, the project will never get built and the state treasury and the public will be the losers.

The political fight isn’t so much whether tax relief is a valid incentive for the state to offer, but how much of a discount the state should offer and when it should expire.

There’s no question that even with the property tax relief the project would produce tax and royalty wealth for the state treasury, jobs for Alaskans and work for contractors. That’s similar to a grocery store that offers a big discount on milk or butter, knowing it will profit from everything else the shopper buys. It may take a discount on the heavy property tax burden to get the pipeline developer to make the purchase decision. 

But no business issues coupons without an expiration date. The cost of goods change, economics and business plans change. Stores need the flexibility to protect their own interests.

The state needs to think the same as a supermarket and put an expiration date on its tax coupon so that lawmakers can change the terms up or down if the discount does not result in a sale.

The House version of the tax bill contains no expiration date. The Senate version says the coupon goes away if the developer does not start moving gas through the pipeline by Dec. 31, 2032. The governor’s proposal gives Glenfarne more than a decade to put the pipeline into operation, Jan. 1, 2037.

It’s similar to the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The House no-deadline is too weak; the governor’s 2037 deadline is far too rich; the Senate option is just the right temperature.

Besides, based on past public statements by Glenfarne and the governor, getting the first gas flowing through the pipeline by 2032 should be easy.

The company in January issued a public statement that it was targeting “mechanical completion” of the line by the end of 2028 and first gas flows in 2029. The governor has talked about gas moving in 2028 or 2029. Yet now both the governor and Glenfarne say a 2032 expiration date on the tax coupon is unreasonable and would kill the project. 

They never said they might need until 2032 when they were overselling and overpromoting the project to the public over the past year.

Besides, the venture already faces expiration dates. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authorization to build and operate the project expires in 2030; Department of Energy approval to export U.S. gas overseas expires in 2032. Both expiration dates allow regulators to take a new look at the project, its environmental impacts and the market before granting an extension.

The state deserves the same. If the company does not commit to build and put the line into operation by the just-right deadline in the Senate version, the state should have the right to cancel the coupon and reconsider how much of a discount is in Alaska’s best interests.

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(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump is set to return to Pennsylvania for the first time this year when he delivers remarks at Mack Trucks in Macungie on Tuesday afternoon.