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- [00:07]
Jackie Catalina Schaefer
Every single person who's not indigenous to this land is an immigrant or they come from immigrants. How do you decipher who you choose to send away?
- [00:18]
Casey Grove
Native shareholders question their corporations migrant detention contracts from Alaska Public Media. This is statewide news on Alaska News nightly for Friday, March 28th. Good evening. I'm Casey Grove. Also tonight, state lawmakers pass a bill designating March as Women's History Month in Alaska.
- [00:36]
Robin Lutz
The purpose is to lift up, recognize, and integrate women's experiences into our state's narrative.
- [00:47]
Casey Grove
An Alaska Native corporation's shareholders are questioning contracts that one of its subsidiaries has to run migrant detention facilities. That's as the Trump administration's immigration crackdown continues. NANA Regional Corporation subsidiary Acoma has faced accusations in recent national news stories about the poor treatment of migrants at detention facilities it runs. Jackie Catalina Schaefer is a NANA shareholder and former board member. She says there's been a lack of transparency from NANA leadership about the contracts.
- [01:18]
Jackie Catalina Schaefer
You know, we are in fact from Northwest Arctic that are founded on Inupiat Elichesayt, which is our foundation of who we are, and those values do not align with any of this type of work.
- [01:33]
Casey Grove
A small but Vocal Group among Nana's 15,000 Inupiaq shareholders agree with her. Schaefer helped craft a survey to gauge how other shareholders felt. More than three quarters of the roughly 100 respondents said they did not want a NANA subsidiary providing migrant detention services, even if it was profitable work. As one survey respondent put it, not all money is good money. Acoma and its subsidiaries comprise NANA's federal contracting branch, and they generate a majority of the Alaska Native Corporation's overall profits, according to information presented at a recent shareholder meeting. Charts presented at the meeting showed that Acoma's annual revenue is often higher than that of Nana's Red Dog Mine, one of the world's largest zinc mines located in northwest Alaska. NANA executives told shareholders at the meeting that Acoma brought in about $2.2 billion last year. Some of those who responded to the survey were unbothered by the recent news reports, which they called fake news. One wrote, as a NANA shareholder, I am impressed and proud of the work Acoma does and trust that Akema employees do their best. Shafer says she can't understand that viewpoint. She says there's a certain grim irony to the detentions and deportations that noting that indigenous people were the original occupants of what became the United States, every.
- [02:53]
Jackie Catalina Schaefer
Single person who's not indigenous to this land is an immigrant or they come from immigrants. How do you decipher who you choose to send away. These are inhumane behaviors coming from our contractors. Regardless, it's it's you're choosing money over humane situation. So money over people.
- [03:18]
Casey Grove
Nana's communications staff and executive leadership team did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The chair of its board of directors, in a text message declined to comment. A Decades in the making Pipeline that would transport natural gas between the North Slope and the Kenai Peninsula now has a new majority owner. That's after the state run entity in charge of the Alaska LNG megaproject announced Thursday it had signed an agreement with outside pipeline developer Glenfarn Group. They'll now take the lead on attracting investors with the goal of landing the Holy Grail, a final investment decision. KDLL's Ashlyn O' Hara reports.
- [04:10]
Governor Mike Dunleavy
Governor Mike Dunleavy celebrated Thursday's agreement as the closest the $44 billion Alaska LNG project has ever come to fruition.
- [04:20]
Frank Richards
I don't think we've been closer to a consummation of a pipeline in our history. A lot of us are feeling confident that this is going to move to a concrete pipeline being built within two and a half years that will bring gas to Alaskans.
- [04:36]
Governor Mike Dunleavy
That's Dunleavy speaking to reporters Thursday evening from Tokyo, the latest stop on an East Asian tour to rally support for and promote the project. The agreement signed Thursday gives Glen Farn, which is based out of Houston, Texas and New York, 75% ownership of the project. The state of Alaska is hanging on to the other quarter. Frank Richards is the president of the Alaska Gas Line Development Corporation. He told his board of directors during a special meeting Thursday afternoon the agreement is the product of a lot of late nights and international teamwork.
- [05:11]
Frank Richards
We have been bringing the midnight oil to move forward and work on these definitive agreements with Glenn Farm.
- [05:17]
Governor Mike Dunleavy
If it's built, the Alaska LNG project would move natural gas between the North Slope and the Kenai Peninsula. The full project includes a gas treatment plant on the slope, an 800 mile pipeline and a liquefaction and export facility in Nikiski. Thursday's agreement comes almost four months after the development corporation said it was in talks with Glenfarn to take over the project. Brendan Duvall is Glenfarn's CEO and founder. He told board members his company is excited about being part of the project.
- [05:48]
Frank Richards
This really is a tremendous opportunity for the state, for the United States, for our allies, and we couldn't be more thrilled to see the board vote in.
- [05:58]
Governor Mike Dunleavy
Favour of this transaction, duvall told reporters Thursday evening. The project is in a, quote, pricing phase. He said they hope to have a final investment decision for the pipeline by the end of the year. It's unclear whether Glenfarn would hang on to its 75% stake if the pipeline isn't ultimately built, since the terms of the deal are confidential.
- [06:18]
Frank Richards
Here's Richards again, per the statutes granted to us by the Legislature as a very commercial deal, we have the responsibility to keep it confidential.
- [06:27]
Governor Mike Dunleavy
As the new owner, Glenfarn's first task will be to update the project's existing cost estimate. Thursday's agreement also says Glenfarn will prioritize the pipeline piece of the project before moving to later phases that would let Alaska customers access gas before it's available for export. On the same Thursday evening call with reporters, Dunleavy said Alaska is closer than ever to getting the pipeline project off the ground, but he says he understands if people still have doubts about its prospects.
- [06:57]
Frank Richards
I was very skeptical for years on this project, and I'm not going to have a final celebration. I'll get excited when these guys go to fid. I'll get excited when pipe is ordered. I'll get excited when it's welded. I'll get excited when gas is going through it. I'll really get excited when we flick on the switch and we're guaranteed. That's Alaska gas. So I would just say stay tuned.
- [07:18]
Governor Mike Dunleavy
Though Thursday's decision is a step forward, it's still unclear whether enough investors will sign on for the project to be built. Duvall, the Glenfarn CEO, said the company plans to announce a consortium soon that will focus on finding money for the project. He says the project will be funded with private money, but federal interest may help accelerate the project, such as by keeping tariffs low and protecting existing federal loan guarantees. Reporting in Kenai, I'm Ashlyn o'. Hara.
- [07:49]
Casey Grove
The Alaska Legislature passed a bill today designating March as Women's History Month in state law. Backers say it's an effort to recognize the important contributions women have made to Alaska and the nation as a whole. The main sponsor in the House, Democratic Anchorage Representative Carolyn hall, introduced the bill by reading a long list of notable.
- [08:08]
Robin Lutz
Alaska women Gail Phillips, Vera Alexander, Carol Beery, Ellen Panioch, Nellie Cashman, Elizabeth Peratrovich, Tina delap.
- [08:19]
Casey Grove
She says some of those names might sound familiar and others may not, but she says all of them paved the way for today's female leaders, and she says all of them deserve recognition.
- [08:29]
Robin Lutz
Mr. Speaker, this is why it's so important for Alaska to honor and preserve women's history month. The purpose is to lift up, recognize and integrate women's experiences into our state's narrative.
- [08:44]
Casey Grove
This year, for the first time, women outnumber men in the Alaska House of Representatives. Senator LV Gray Jackson, an Anchorage Democrat, wrote the bill and carried it through the Senate earlier this month.
- [08:55]
Tim Ellis
Alaska is a land of resilience, where survival depends on strength, adaptability and community. And for generations, women have been at the heart of it all leaders, trailblazers.
- [09:07]
Jackie Catalina Schaefer
And defenders of culture and justice.
- [09:10]
Tim Ellis
Yet too often their contributions have been overlooked.
- [09:13]
Casey Grove
The bill passed 190 in the Senate and 332 in the House. Republican Representatives Julie Colomb of Anchorage and Mike Prox of North Pole were the only lawmakers voting no. Prox and Colombe said after the vote that they thought women should be recognized for their accomplishments rather than their gender. Calom said designating a month for women's history would not make a meaningful difference in women's lives. Governor Mike Dunleavy's communications director declined to say whether the governor would sign the bill. Still to come on Alaska News Nightly, a multi village potlatch in western Alaska is a ch to honor relatives and.
- [09:51]
Jackie Catalina Schaefer
Dance all the ugly stuff inside you. You take him out and you dance your head off.
- [09:58]
Casey Grove
That's ahead. Stay with us. Starting May 7, every air traveler age 18 and older will need a real ID to board a flight within the United States. Alaska DMV manager Lauren Whiteside says her agency is ready to help any residents who still need to upgrade their id.
- [10:16]
Robin Lutz
We are ready and willing to issue to anyone and everyone who doesn't have one that wants one.
- [10:20]
Casey Grove
The Real ID deadline was delayed many times, but the Transportation Security Administration says this upcoming deadline is for real. Whiteside urges travelers who plan to fly on or after May 7th to ensure they have a real ID. Without one, people may face delays or be denied entry at TSA security checkpoints preventing them from boarding their flights. Military bases will also require Real IDs for entry starting May 7th. Whiteside says the DMV has already issued Real IDs to many Alaskans.
- [10:51]
Robin Lutz
DMV has been issuing Real IDs for over six years now. We started issuing them in January of 2019. We've issued a little over 350,000 unique Real ID credentials since January of 2019.
- [11:04]
Casey Grove
Whiteside says that the department has provided ample opportunities for Alaskans outside of Anchorage to get real IDs through mobile units and outreach programs.
- [11:12]
Robin Lutz
DMV does have a mobile DMV unit that does travel to rural Alaska, and we have traveled to several communities over the last few years issuing real IDs.
- [11:23]
Casey Grove
If you're unsure if your driver's license is a real id, check the top right hand corner. It will have a star symbol to indicate compliance. If you still need to obtain a real ID, you can visit your local DMV. For more information, visit dmv.alaska.gov the Trump administration announced Thursday it would shrink U.S. department of Health and Human Services staff by almost a quarter, and it has suggested that it will dissolve the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention division that focuses on HIV prevention. Amid the uncertainty, Alaska organizations aren't sure if the federal funding they rely on will still exist. One organization is the Alaskan AIDS Assistance association or 4. As its director, Robin Lutz says losing federal funding could make the HIV AIDS epidemic get worse in Alaska and more deadly.
- [12:11]
Robin Lutz
We have the opportunity to end the epidemic. We will not be able to do that if this administration continues to act in the way it has.
- [12:19]
Casey Grove
In her nearly 30 years working with HIV positive people, Lutz has seen major improvements to awareness, prevention and treatment of HIV and aids. But losing federal grant funding means the state would lose progress in fighting the disease. The nonprofit helps Alaskans who are HIV positive with housing and access to life saving medication. It also helps people get tested to know if they are HIV positive, which helps curb the spread. Roughly 700 people are living with HIV in the state. Threats to Medicaid could further endanger Alaska's HIV positive population. The Trump administration plans to cut the federal health department by 25%. Local organizations say there has been little to no information about the impacts these changes will have on federal grants.
- [13:04]
Robin Lutz
Over a third of people living with HIV in this state don't have the resources they need and deserve to manage their health without support. And it's basically economic support, lutz says.
- [13:15]
Casey Grove
Alaska is a uniquely difficult place to access HIV testing and prevention medications. Accessing preventative care is already a challenge for Alaskans due to misinformation and stigmatization of hiv. Mariners around Kodiak and across coastal Alaska rely on weather data coming from marine buoys to stay safe out on the water. These buoys provide information about water currents, wave height, wind speed and more. KMXT's Davis Hovey reports that amid shakeups in federal agencies, how that data reaches regular Alaskans could be changing.
- [14:03]
Davis Hovey
Keith Cochran of the Bay Islander checks the marine weather forecast daily before he heads out to fish.
- [14:09]
Frank Richards
The forecasting has got so good and detailed, precise. I mean it's a matter of like leaving the dock, you know, two hours later or four hours later or slowing the boat down so I get out there at the opportune time.
- [14:22]
Davis Hovey
Cochran, who fishes out of Kodiak and Oregon, is currently fishing for pollock. It's the ubiquitous whitefish's a season in the Gulf of Alaska and is the largest fishery in Kodiak by volume. Cochran scrolls through weather data on his smartphone or on his Time Zero navigation system on his boat. That data is mainly being collected from a network of three meter buoys all over Alaska and North America. There are 19 of these weather buoys in Alaska, plus eight coastal stations on land that record weather data and ocean observations every 10 minutes 24,7 that data is averaged together over the course of an hour and then transmitted to a satellite that federal agencies pay for. The wider Network has roughly 100 weather buoys and 39 tsunami stations across the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and international waters. The satellite relays the data to the National Data buoy Center on Mississippi's Gulf Coast. Part of the center's roughly 30 federal employees and about 100 contractors work in shifts 24 hours a day, combing through the data to help forecast marine weather and monitor for tsunamis.
- [15:27]
Frank Richards
So we've been here almost 50 years creating a large number of weather buoys, and we've expanded with time. Certainly part of that expansion is with Alaska.
- [15:36]
Davis Hovey
William Burnett directs the center. Some of the center's staff members have quit as part of the Trump administration's fork in the road offer, while others were fired amid sweeping cuts to the national oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to reporting from the Columbian, a newspaper in Washington state. Burnett would not say how many, but he says the remaining staff will be able to maintain the nation's weather buoys and deliver marine data from the technicians.
- [16:01]
Frank Richards
The engineers who are designing the buoys, to meteorologists and oceanographers who are analyzing the data and quality controlling. It's a 24x7 network, so they're always looking at the data.
- [16:12]
Davis Hovey
After that, it's sent to the National Weather Service's global telecommunications system and distributed in real time through smartphone apps, web pages and NOAA Weather Radio. For anyone, including Cochrane, to access the agency's data online gets 9 million hits a day, according to Burnett. Cochran says he's starting to see more and more for profit marine weather products with subscription models and fees. For example, he pays $10 a month in the summer for a service that helps him fish more efficiently.
- [16:41]
Frank Richards
When you get into sea surface temperature, chlorophyll temperature at different areas in the water column, those things we would call premium weather options where they do call them that and they charge a lot more for them because those are the things that you use to try to go figure out where your fish is going to be or where they're moving or where they're migrating.
- [17:04]
Davis Hovey
There's growing interest from private companies to sell their own marine weather products. Burnett, with the National Data Buoy center, says it's not necessarily competitive. He sees opportunities to partner with private companies.
- [17:15]
Frank Richards
National Data Buoy center and the National Weather Service operate what we consider to be that backbone foundational network that people can always rely upon to go get observations. But our collaboration with industry partners and the commercial sector will allow us to grow in areas where we may not be able to place observations and they may be able to collect additional data for us.
- [17:39]
Davis Hovey
But Rick Thoman, a former forecaster who worked for the National Weather Service in Alaska for more than 30 years, is skeptical, especially about service to rural Alaska.
- [17:48]
Frank Richards
Operating in rural Alaska is extremely difficult logistically, and private companies, venture capitalist funded companies by definition, are in business to make money. And that's going to be a tough lift in rural Alaska. Could it be done? I guess we'll find out.
- [18:07]
Davis Hovey
In the meantime, Burnett says the center will keep its network of weather buoys, each worth up to $250,000, maintained and operational. The maintenance window for the roughly 100 buoys across North America, including those in Alaska, begins in March and ends in November. Burnett says the center will repair as many buoys as possible in that time frame, and this spring they plan to repair buoys around Kodiak with help from the Coast Guard. Reporting in Kodiak, I'm Davis Hovey.
- [18:36]
Casey Grove
Three Bears Alaska will soon unveil its 31st retail outlet in the state, a 28,000 square foot grocery store and gas station in Delta Junction. KUAC's Tim Ellis reports Three Bears contractors.
- [18:48]
Tim Ellis
Worked all winter to complete construction of the building that now houses the grocery and a smaller store that'll sell outdoor gear. A company spokesperson says it'll all be open for business any day now.
- [19:01]
Frank Richards
We are actually set to be fully.
- [19:03]
Chris Carlson
Operational by Monday, but it could be sooner. It's going to depend on some moving parts here, but as of right now, yeah, we are good to go by Monday.
- [19:16]
Tim Ellis
Three Bears marketing manager Chris Carlson says those moving parts include some last minute work needed on the gas station convenience store on the site that the company bought a year ago. That required emptying the existing gas station's underground fuel storage tanks. So Three Bears cut the price of gas to $1.99 a gallon and it sold out in two days.
- [19:39]
Chris Carlson
They're done, they are dry. And so as soon as the store is open, the new gas pumps will be operational.
- [19:48]
Tim Ellis
Carlson said Thursday that even after the stores open their doors, the company will continue touch ups around the site in downtown Delta, just off the Richardson Highway.
- [19:58]
Chris Carlson
It's going to be more of a soft opening with some sort of grand opening later, probably in early summer.
- [20:04]
Tim Ellis
The new store will be Delta's second grocery. The first is an IGA that opened in 1990 in a structure built in 1958 that housed grocery and department stores over the years. And Carlson says he thinks Delta area residents will appreciate what they find on the Three Bears store's shelves.
- [20:24]
Chris Carlson
Competition's great and we definitely embrace that. But you know, as far as the store, I think, you know it's going to be great for that community.
- [20:32]
Tim Ellis
The Wasilla based company's chain now includes 14 grocery stores, 14 gas stations, nine sporting goods stores and four pharmacies all around the state. Company owner Larry Weiss opened his first store in Tok in 1980 and his first store with the Three Bears name in 1989. His son, Dave Weiss, is now president and CEO in Delta Junction. I'm Tim Ellis.
- [21:08]
Casey Grove
The upcoming Chamai Dance Festival in Bethel will honor Angela and Isadore Hunt of Kotlik as living treasures, ambassadors of cultural dance preservation in their community. The two have long been the organizers behind a multi village traditional potlatch celebration on the lower Yukon, including one that took place earlier this month. As KYUK's Samantha Watson reports, the celebration honors relatives living and passed on by celebrating the youngest dancers. In the room.
- [21:40]
Samantha Watson
In the center of the Kotlik school gym, a single girl dances. She's wearing a handmade blue cuspuck and beaded headpiece. She flicks furred hand fans in time.
- [21:52]
Robin Lutz
With the drumbeat behind her.
- [21:54]
Samantha Watson
Her great grandparents, Angela and Isadore Hunt, are part of the crowd that surrounds her. The Hunts, who are in their 80s, organized this event. They coordinated with the villages of Stebbins, a monarch, St. Mary's and Mountain Village. Many in the crowd traveled for hours by snow machine to gather here at this three day celebration. The heart of it. What's taking place right now on this first night of the potlatch called Chorhorok in Yupik is the presentation of Kotlik's first dancers. Julia Hooch is among the crowd. She grew up in a monarch and traveled from Wasilla to attend the Chakharok.
- [22:36]
Jackie Catalina Schaefer
You take out all your anger, all the ugly stuff inside you. You take him out and you dance.
- [22:43]
Robin Lutz
Your.
- [22:46]
Jackie Catalina Schaefer
That'S how you take your sins away. That's what they always say long time ago.
- [22:51]
Samantha Watson
The Chochokh celebrations are hosted this time of year in each of these lower Yukon communities, bringing together relatives in a weekend of dancing and subsistence food gifting. Branches of the Hunt family pass out gifts of sweet treats and handmade items to relatives of the girl's Yupik namesake. Traditionally, that Yupik name honors an elder who has passed away around the time of the child's birth. Angela Hunt says, so much of Tsohokak is about feeling your family in the room with you. Even those who have passed on spirits.
- [23:26]
Jackie Catalina Schaefer
Of those people that pass, they come to by spirits and be there the whole time.
- [23:36]
Samantha Watson
The weekend's festivities also honor the living. On the second day of the Chuhakok, all three villages gather in Kotlik's community hall. Hunks of moose meat, frozen fish, and jars of seal oil are piled onto tarps in the middle of the room. After a blessing, the meat is divided into bags and passed out to elders of the visiting communities. Anna Moore flew in from nomenclature but grew up in the area. She says she'd spent many years away from the celebrations, but returned when she heard a dancer named after her grandmother would be presented. I'm experiencing a spiritual awakening.
- [24:14]
Casey Grove
I mean, it's unexplainable.
- [24:16]
Samantha Watson
It's more beautiful than beautiful.
- [24:19]
Casey Grove
I'm still processing and it's part of identity, that traditional identity of who we are.
- [24:29]
Samantha Watson
Each January, Angela and Isadore begin coordinating between the village communities and organizing Kotlik's community Yurok rehearsals. For as long as anyone can remember, the hunts have kept this gathering alive. For the hunts, it's all about connectedness, and the beating heart of that is family. Here's Angela translating for Isadore again.
- [24:55]
Jackie Catalina Schaefer
He was happy for our great grandkids first dance while we were living. He was so happy seeing them.
- [25:08]
Samantha Watson
During the first night of the Chokorok, Isadore leaves the drummers behind his great granddaughter as she continues her first dance. And then comes a call in a song all at once. Once the lone dancer is surrounded as four generations of the Hunt family in matching blue cuspucks rush to the floor to join her in Kotlik. I'm Samantha Watson.
- [25:42]
Casey Grove
And that's all for this edition of Alaska News Nightly. If you missed any of tonight's stories, we're online@alaskapublic.org and wherever you get your podcasts. We had reports tonight from Ashlyn o' Hara in Kenai. Eric Stone in Juno. Cadence Seaters in Anchorage, Yvonne Crumbry in Juno, Davis Hovey in Kodiak, Tim Ellis in Delta Junction. And Samantha Watson in Kot Lick. Our audio engineer is Chris Hyde. Annie Feit helped produce tonight's show. And I'm Casey Grove. Good night. This is statewide news on Alaska Public Media.