Observer fees are going up for Alaska fishermen and processors. In Kodiak, fishermen aren’t too worried about the modest increase, but some would like to see improvements made to the decades-old program. 

The group, OneAlaska, does not appear to include any oil industry leaders, though several of its members work for companies or organizations with ties to the industry.

Physicians, mining company say they want more community discussion on the project.

Begich says his company, Stuaqpak Inc., will offer lower prices and better products, and be more accountable to residents than the Canadian corporation that ran the store previously.

The first in a series of public meetings happened in Juneau Monday night at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall.

The goal now appears out of reach because of two procedural steps still necessary before a sale can take place.

One tense moment came at the end of the forum, when House Speaker Bryce Edgmon asked Alaska Chamber members to “be more informed.”

Not long after being sworn in, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy disbanded the state’s climate change response team. But Jason Brune, Dunleavy’s top environmental regulator, says the administration isn’t ignoring the issue.

Some residents say this is unprecedented — the whale-dependent village captured nearly 20 whales last fall. Also unprecedented are this year’s temperatures: It was the warmest May-through-September on record in Utqiaġvik.

The report says that Alaska has been breaking so many climate records over the last five years, it suggests the state has crossed a threshold into increasingly rapid ecosystem changes.