Associated Press

JUNEAU — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game says it has been overestimating how many chinook and sockeye salmon make it up the Taku River.

The Juneau Empire reported Sunday that department officials say the statistical bias is being corrected by new state-of-the-art studies. The department says it had been overestimating the salmon numbers by 30 to 40 percent. It says seal predation caused much of the problem.

The department says the discrepancy doesn’t mean either of the stocks are any worse off than they have been, but fishers are concerned the bias could impact ongoing negotiations with Canada over who has the right to harvest sockeye since both countries fish on the river.

FAIRBANKS — Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and a bipartisan group of senators are pushing legislation that would allow legal marijuana businesses to use banks to store profits.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Thursday that Murkowski and Democrat Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon have introduced a measure within the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act, a larger bill regarding federal banking restrictions that Merkley sponsored last year.

The measure would keep federal officials from being able to punish banks simply “because the depository institution provides or has provided financial services to a cannabis-related legitimate business.”

Many banks refuse to do business with marijuana growers, processors and sellers because marijuana is still a controlled substance under federal law.

JUNEAU — The man nominated by Gov. Bill Walker to fill the public safety seat on Alaska’s marijuana regulatory board has withdrawn from consideration after losing his law enforcement job.

Travis Welch’s withdrawal from consideration was announced Monday.

Bob Griffiths, executive director of the Alaska Police Standards Council, says he was notified Thursday by the North Slope Borough that Welch had been dismissed as borough police chief.

He says the cause cited was a change in direction of leadership of the agency.

Messages left with Welch and the borough weren’t immediately returned.

Welch was chosen to replace Peter Mlynarik, who quit after the U.S. Department of Justice shifted its policy on marijuana enforcement. Mlynarik said the department’s decision removed the underpinning on which Alaska’s industry is based.

JUNEAU — A City and Borough of Juneau lawsuit filed against the owners of an apartment building that had to be demolished with city funds has been scheduled to go to trial Aug. 13.

The Juneau Empire reports that the matter had been set to go to court this week but was rescheduled. Juneau filed suit against James and Kathleen Barrett and Gastineau Apartments LLC in March 2016.

The Barretts owned the Gastineau Apartments, a complex that caught fire twice and had to be demolished by the city after being declared a “public nuisance” in 2015.

The city seeks to recover $1.3 million that it spent demolishing the building.

The Barretts’ lawyer Joe Josephson declined to comment on the status of the case.

ANCHORAGE — Mushers, barking dogs and excited fans are converging on Alaska’s largest city for the ceremonial start of the famed Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

The Saturday morning trek through downtown Anchorage gives fans a chance to mingle with mushers and their teams. The competitive portion of the race to Nome begins Sunday in the community of Willow.

This year’s race comes amid a plethora of troubles for organizers, including a dog doping scandal, the loss of a major sponsor and increasing pressure from animal rights activists following the deaths of five dogs connected to last year’s race.

Sixty-seven teams are signed up to vie for a total purse of $500,000. Organizers say the winner’s share of the prize money will be determined later in the race.

ANCHORAGE — Alaska State Troopers are investigating the deaths of two people whose bodies were found at a campground north of Talkeetna.

Troopers released few details of the deaths in an online report posted Friday, saying that the cause and manner of death is under investigation. Troopers say they were notified Tuesday that the bodies of the male and female were found at the Byers Lake campground.

The pair has been tentatively identified, but troopers say they’re waiting for positive confirmation from the state medical examiner’s office before releasing their names.

Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters says troopers have not ruled out foul play, but she adds that they do not know how the two died.