Associated Press

The only school in one of Alaska’s most eroded communities is among 28 public and private entities in the state whose water systems recently exceeded federal lead limits during the last three years.

An Associated Press analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data shows the state-owned school in the Yup’ik Eskimo village of Newtok was significantly over the federal lead limit of 15 parts per billion in 2013. Testing at the school, whose water system serves a 175-person population, showed lead levels of more than 161 parts per billion.

Cindy Christian with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation says the results were skewed by one sample taken from the kitchen sink.

Subsequent water samples show the school has since registered below the limit.

AP’s analysis found nearly 1,400 water systems across the country had samples exceeding the limit between Jan. 1, 2013, and Sept. 30, 2015.

The Alaska House has voted to limit the governor’s ability to accept additional federal funding for a budget item outside of the legislative session.

The bill, from Republican Rep. Mike Hawker, includes language stipulating how the governor can accept and spend money that the legislature did not appropriate during the session. It also extends the amount of time the governor must wait to use the funds. The measure passed the House on Thursday.

The move comes after Gov. Bill Walker expanded Medicaid by accepting additional federal funding post-session after lawmakers inserted language into the budget prohibiting expansion. A legal opinion from the Legislature’s top lawyer called the language unenforceable.

A spokeswoman from Hawker’s office says Walker’s action on Medicaid expansion spotlighted the issue for lawmakers.

A sponsor of the initiative legalizing recreational marijuana in Alaska is concerned that public smoking restrictions that passed the state Senate would hurt proposed cannabis cafes.

In a release Friday, Tim Hinterberger says the bill would undermine the current regulatory system.

The Marijuana Control Board has approved regulations that would allow for onsite consumption of marijuana at authorized retail pot shops but the specific rules surrounding that have yet to be decided. There are no retail stores currently in operation.

Cynthia Franklin, director of the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office, says the bill would have an impact on onsite consumption if retail marijuana stores are not exempted. She says a similar bill in the House provides for an exemption.

Planned Parenthood is calling a bill that would restrict late-term abortions in Alaska legally and medically questionable.

The bill, from Sen. John Coghill, would ban abortions in cases where doctors deem the fetus to be viable outside the womb. It includes exceptions if the pregnancy resulted from sexual assault or incest or is medically necessary. But in those cases, it calls on the doctor to take steps that give the fetus the best chance to survive if those actions do not endanger the woman’s life.

In written comments, Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii says the bill contains confusing terminology. It notes the bill’s references to an unborn child being removed from the womb alive. But the group says that’s a delivery, not an abortion.

State regulators in Alaska are working with a Native organization that wants to serve its nursing home residents seal oil, a traditional staple that’s banned in public settings because of its high risk for botulism.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation says it would grant an exemption to the Kotzebue-based Maniilaq Association if it can demonstrate a safe method for rendering the oil.

Alaska consistently has among the highest rates of foodborne botulism, which can lead to temporary paralysis.

Maniilaq hopes it can add seal oil to the list of traditional foods that can legally be donated to facilities such as its Kotzebue nursing home, which serves elderly Inupiat Eskimos. The organization, a regional tribal health care nonprofit, has also recently begun to incorporate other traditional foods on the menu.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bernie Sanders won Democratic presidential caucuses in Alaska on Saturday, a victory he hopes will stoke a spring comeback against the commanding front-runner, Hillary Clinton.

The Vermont senator tried to build his enduring support among liberal activists into a Saturday sweep that could help him narrow a gap of 300 delegates won in primaries behind Clinton. Sanders looked strong in Washington state in early results. Clinton and Sanders also competed in Hawaii.

While Sanders faces a steep climb to the nomination, a string of losses for Clinton would highlight persistent vulnerabilities within her own party. Sanders continues to attract tens of thousands to his rallies — drawing more than 17,000 in Seattle this week — and has collected more than $140 million from 2 million donors.

Most of his dozen primary-season wins have been in states with largely white populations and in caucus contests, which tend to attract the most active liberal Democrats. He’s heavily favored by younger voters, who were a key part of the coalition that boosted Obama to victory twice.

In Spokane, Washington, a huge line of caucus attendees snaked around a high school parking lot on Saturday morning.

“I think one of the biggest things is free tuition for students,” said Savannah Dills, 24, a college student who supports Sanders. “And getting big money out of politics. He’s not paid for by billionaires.”

Retiree Dan McLay, 64, attended the caucus in a hard-hat, which he joked he needed because he was one of the relatively few Clinton supporters in the big crowd.

“Look at this thing in Brussels,” McLay said, referring to the deadly bombings. “We need a real experienced leader.”

For Sanders, turning passionate support into the party nomination has grown increasingly difficult.

Clinton had a delegate lead of 1,223 to 920 over Sanders going into Saturday’s contests, according to an Associated Press analysis, an advantage that expanded to 1,692-949 once the superdelegates, or party officials who can back either candidate, were included.

Based on that count, Sanders still needs to win 58 percent of the remaining delegates from primaries and caucuses to have a majority of those delegates by June’s end.

His bar is even higher when the party officials are considered. He needs to win more than 67 percent of the remaining delegates overall — from primaries, caucuses and the ranks of uncommitted superdelegates — to prevail.

“I have gotten 2.6 million more votes than Bernie Sanders,” Clinton told supporters crowded into a union hall in Everett, Washington, this week. “We are on the path to the nomination, and I want Washington to be part of how we get there.”

Sanders implored thousands of supporters in Spokane to come see him speak again Saturday — at a caucus. “Get there early,” he said. “Let’s have a record-breaking turnout.”

On Tuesday, Sanders won caucuses in Utah and Idaho but lost Arizona — the largest delegate prize — to Clinton. Because Democrats allocate their delegates on a proportional basis, meaning that the popular vote loser can still pick up a share, those victories netted Sanders a gain of about 20 delegates. He’s looking to contests that follow in Wisconsin on April 5 and Wyoming on April 9 as a way to build momentum.

Sanders spent several days campaigning in Washington state and dispatched his wife, Jane, to Alaska and Hawaii. Clinton campaigned in Washington state for one-day and did not send any high-profile supporters to either of the other two states.

Clinton has been looking past the primary contests and aiming at potential Republican challengers. In interviews, rallies and speeches this week, she largely focused on Tuesday’s deadly attacks in Brussels, casting GOP front-runner Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as unqualified to deal with complicated international threats.

Her campaign sees the April 19 contest in New York as an important one, not just because of the rich delegate prize but because losing to Sanders in a state she represented in the Senate would be a psychological blow. She hopes to lock up an even larger share of delegates in five Northeastern contests a week later.