Associated Press

SUPERIOR, Wis. — Several people have been injured in an explosion at a refinery in Wisconsin.

Authorities in Superior say the explosion at the Husky Energy oil refinery happened at about 10 a.m. Thursday.

Superior Fire Chief Steve Panger says six people were taken to hospitals in Duluth, Minnesota.

He doesn’t know the extent of their injuries. Others were walking wounded. There are no known fatalities.

A contractor who was inside the building told WDIO television that the explosion sounded like “a sonic boom” that happened when crews were working on shutting the plant down for repairs.

Panger says the fire was out by 11:20 a.m.

Superior police are advising people to stay away from the area and roads around the refinery have been blocked off. There have been no neighborhood evacuations.

JUNEAU — A legislative ethics committee has found probable cause that Rep. Geran Tarr violated ethics law by having staff help organize and fundraise for a 2017 street fair.

No sanctions were recommended against the Anchorage Democrat.

But the committee, in a release, said it “strongly” recommends Tarr seek guidance from the ethics office before committing government resources to a project that would provide a private benefit.

The complaint alleged Tarr and staff members worked on the Mountain View Street Fair Festival on government time, using government resources for a non-legislative purpose.

The committee says one part-time aide alone spent more than 120 hours of government or staff time helping with the event.

Tarr said she disagrees with some of the findings and is pleased with the recommendation of no sanctions.

FAIRBANKS — The government will no longer post a public calendar of upcoming missile tests under a new Missile Defense Agency policy.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Wednesday that the agency cited the need to “safeguard critical defense information” as the reason for making the testing schedule classified. The schedule will be made be available to Congress.

Agency Director Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves said that pilots and boat captains will also receive a safety heads up about a week before any launches. He said test results will be made available after launches.

ANCHORAGE — The leaders of Alaska’s largest travel industry trade group are looking for ways to fill a void in their marketing budget left from cuts by lawmakers.

The Alaska Journal of Commerce reports that the tourism industry has been a bright spot in an otherwise struggling Alaska economy of late, growing consistently along with the national economy over the past decade since the 2008 financial crisis. But Alaska Travel Industry Association President Sarah Leonard said that despite a record number of roughly 1.86 million visitors last summer, the 2017 peak season for the industry was “a little bit underwhelming.”

Leonard attributed the overall slowing growth not to an image problem, but to a lack of an image brought on by steep cuts to the association’s marketing budget.

ANCHORAGE — State officials say a man was injured north of Anchorage after a moose that he had just kicked stomped his foot in return.

KTVA-TV reports that the moose injured the man Thursday morning. State Department of Fish and Game spokesman Ken Marsh said the man escaped major injuries in the encounter. Marsh said the cow and a calf were on a trail, and the “guy was trying to go through them” when he kicked the mother.

Alaska Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said the two moose involved left the area after the moose stomped on the man’s foot.

Peters advised others “not to go around kicking moose.”

Marsh emphasized the vastly superior leg strength of a moose, saying a kicking contest with an ungulate is questionable.

JUNEAU — The Alaska Supreme Court has decided that Democrats should be allowed to let independent candidates run in party primaries.

The court’s decision affirms a lower court ruling. A detailed opinion is expected later.

The Alaska Democratic Party challenged a law requiring that primary election candidates be registered members of the party whose nomination they’re seeking.

A Superior Court judge found the state was restricting Democrats’ attempt to appeal to independent voters by not letting unaffiliated candidates participate in Democratic primaries.

The state appealed, arguing that if a party nominee doesn’t have to identify with their nominating party, the system the state uses to regulate political party status and ballot access won’t make sense.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Craig Stowers raised doubts with the majority opinion but stopped short of dissenting.