North Slope

There are two new candidates: Kotzebue resident John Lincoln and Utqiagvik resident Abel Hopson-Suvlu.

Nominees, Sandy Shroyer-Beaver and Eugene Smith have years of experience on Kotzebue’s city council. The third, Leanna Mack of Utqiagvik, said her community involvement makes up for her relative lack of political experience.

This year, the Republican majority can only afford to lose one senator to keep a simple majority. Senate leadership and Alaska’s senators talk through some of their bipartisan goals for the year.

A majority of the 16 Democrats in the House must approve Westlake’s replacement.

Almost the entire U.S. outer continental shelf is being considered for gas and oil exploration as a result of a new draft proposal released by the Bureau of Energy Management under the Trump administration.

“Currently we don’t have any studies specifically looking at what factors are affecting those demographics,” said Jason Caikoski, a wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.