Associated Press

Alaska’s first doctoral pharmacy program is near its debut at the University of Alaska Anchorage through a partnership with Idaho State University.

KTUU-TV reports the program launching Monday allows students pursuing doctorates in pharmacy to stay in Alaska to finish their degrees.

Assistant dean Tom Wadsworth said the program will help bridge a gap in rural areas where communities have trouble finding enough pharmacists.

He said that students who want a degree in pharmacy will no longer have to leave Alaska for all or part of their studies.

The two universities have 80 students enrolled, with seven in Anchorage.

Long-distance learning will keep students connected from state to state.

Wadsworth said the tuition-funded expansion will not be impacted by university budget cuts.

Montana State University and its partners have received $20 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to address health disparities facing Native communities in Montana and Alaska.

University officials say the new American Indian-Alaska Native Clinical and Translational Research Program includes collaborators from Blackfeet Community College, the University of Montana, the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, the University of Alaska-Anchorage, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and the Southcentral Foundation.

Montana and Alaska both have large Native populations and they have disproportionately high Native health disparity rates.

According to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that American Indian and Alaska Native death rates were nearly 50 percent greater than non-Hispanic whites between 1999 and 2009.

Complaints about behavior at benches in Ketchikan have spurred a discussion about how the city can help homeless and inebriated residents.

The Ketchikan Daily News reports Councilmember Bob Sivertsen recently directed city staff to create a task force to explore solutions.

Ketchikan Gateway Borough officials discussed removing a street’s planter box benches in response to complaints from area business owners.

Councilmembers Julie Isom and Janalee Gage say taking the benches out would only shift the problem to other parts of the city.

Several residents told council members they were in favor of helping homeless individuals and those with substance abuse issues rather than removing the benches.

The City Council’s next scheduled meeting is Sept. 1.

A federal agency has approved expanded exploration for a copper, zinc and gold deposit upstream of the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve outside Haines.

The Bureau of Land Management approved additional exploration work for Vancouver, British Columbia-based Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. The company is exploring a prospect about 35 miles northwest of Haines.

The approval means Constantine will have access to as many as 40 new exploration drill sites.

The preserve is home to the world’s largest congregation of bald eagles. Up to 4,000 bald eagles fly in to feed on salmon that spawn, die and collect along the Chilkat River after other waterways have frozen.

Mine critics say it’s unreasonable to allow a mine, and the threat of contaminated wastewater spill or other consequence, so close to the river.

A former corrections officer suspected of smuggling drugs into prison is expected to take a plea deal.

KTUU-TV reports Adam Jason Spindler was arrested in May.

Court records say Spindler is expected to plead guilty Monday to drug conspiracy and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. The plea agreement states Spindler started smuggling drugs in late March.

He was put under surveillance after corrections officials contacted the FBI. Investigators say Spindler met with a suspected drug dealer before his shift at Goose Creek Correctional Center.

He spotted a Corrections Department K-9 vehicle at the prison and handed his bag to an officer who later turned it over to authorities. The bag contained heroin and marijuana.

Charging documents say Spindler acknowledged the drugs were for an inmate.

JUNEAU — State tribal groups have met with federal officials to discuss concerns that Canadian mining projects could divert potentially toxic water to southeast Alaska watersheds.

The Juneau Empire reports that the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska met with officials from the Department of State and the Environmental Protection Agency last week in Juneau. They discussed ways to protect the region’s water quality and salmon habitat.

The tribe is concerned about what have been called transboundary mines proposed on the Stikine, Taku, Alsek and Unuk River watersheds.

Central Council president Robert Peterson says the tribe asked the EPA to help find funding for water quality studies.

He says he felt the representatives from both federal agencies were “very responsive.”