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Support for Alaska Public Media on Demand comes from Siri, an Alaska native corporation with operations and investments spanning five continents, 45 states and two US territories.
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To bring down crime, to bring down drug dealing, to help our communities, I think it's important.
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Senator Dan Sullivan supports President Trump's decision to deploy the military to American c. From Alaska Public Media, this is statewide news on Alaska News nightly for Wednesday, October 8th. Good evening. I'm Casey Grove. Also tonight, Kotzebue is under a mandatory evacuation order as the city prepares for major flooding.
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If you don't go to the shelter, you're going to have to shelter in place.
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Those stories and more tonight on Alaska News Nightly. President Trump is sending troops to Chicago over the objections of the elected leaders there. And U.S. senator Dan Sullivan thinks it's a good idea. Sullivan says Chicago's violent crime rate justifies the deployment.
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It's just horrendous that you have young, mostly African American kids who are killed every single weekend in Chicago. I think Labor Day weekend there's like maybe 10. So something needs to be done. And these are tough issues, but you know, most Americans would want whatever we can do to bring down crime rates.
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Sullivan spoke Saturday in Wrangell. A KSTK reporter asked what he thought of sending the military to Chicago and Portland to fight crime.
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I think when you get more resources to law enforcement to bring down crime, to bring down drug dealing, to help our communities, I think it's important.
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Trump's deployment of troops to police Democratic led cities raises legal questions and it challenges the principle that the military shouldn't be used for political purposes. Sullivan comes to the issue with a substantial background in both law and the military. He served as Attorney General of Alaska and was also a colonel in the Marines until last year. In a nearly three minute answer to kstk, Sullivan expressed no reservation about the Chicago deployment then just getting underway. Trump has given several reasons for sending troops to Chicago and Sullivan endorsed two of them to protect federal buildings or agents from violence and to reduce homicides. Illinois's Democratic governor, J.B. pritzker has called it an invasion and says Trump is punishing states that did not vote for him. Senator Lisa Murkowski said on talk of Alaska Tuesday that it's not appropriate to send military forces to a state over.
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The objections of its governor and really taking over law.
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The the role of law enforcement at the direction of the president.
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Aside from the legal questions it raises, Murkowski is skeptical that it lowers crime rates in the long run. Alaska Congressman Nick Begich declined an interview request but sent a statement saying the troops are filling a gap, ensuring every resident has freedom of movement. Funding for a program subsidizing rural air travel is set to continue through early November despite the ongoing government shutdown. That's according to a notice the U.S. transportation Department sent to airlines this afternoon. And it's an update from earlier this week, when U.S. transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that the Essential Air Service program could run out of money as soon as Sunday. The subsidies are meant to ensure small communities have access to air travel, even if commercial flights aren't necessarily profitable. The program subsidizes routes to 65 Alaska communities, most of which are not connected to the road system. The extension is a relief, says Alaska Air Carriers association head Will Day.
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That's hopeful from an industry perspective. It gives time for the government to, you know, to recover and appropriate those funds. So right now I would say generally speaking, we're, you know, we're cautiously hopeful that funding will be restored before November 2nd and things continue.
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Business continues as usual even if funding does run out. Some airlines serving Alaska communities say they're not expecting disruptions, at least in the short term. But Day says the impacts of a lapse would be uneven and smaller airlines would face an especially difficult path forward. Day says a small carrier serving the interior community of McGrath would be forced to nearly quadruple its fares for a one way flight to or from Anchorage. Alaska Airlines told Alaska Public Media they expected to continue flying even if funding ran out of It's a similar story in Kodiak for Island Air Service. Here's Island Air co owner Eric Howard.
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We're going to do our best to just kind of keep providing service to the Essential Air Service communities as best we can be uninterrupted and hopefully the.
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Government figures it out.
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But if it does go more than a month, then we might have to.
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Reevaluate and see from there. The state's second largest Essential Air Service carrier, Grant Aviation, says it's working with the congressional delegation to keep the program funded, but the company would not say whether it expected disruptions if funding did lapse. Democrats and Republicans each blame each other for the shutdown, and it shows little sign of resolving anytime soon. The city of Kotzebue is under mandatory evacuation orders. That's as the community prepares for flooding that, according to the National Weather Service, could be worse than last year's flood, which led to dozens of evacuations and two families losing their homes. The agency forecasts water could reach 10ft above the high tide line last night, 28 residents sheltered in place at Kotzebue Middle High School. Derek Haviland Lai is Kotzebue's mayor.
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We also have to be concerned with our first responders safety. So there may be a point sometimes within the next 24 to 48 hours that emergency services might not be able to make it to your home. If that is the case, if you don't go to the ship shelter, you're going to have to shelter in place.
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The city said this afternoon that the mandatory evacuation was issued to assist elders and to prepare residents to evacuate before dark. Floodwaters are expected to peak around 8 tonight. As of this afternoon, barricades had been set up on the road past the airport and in other vulnerable areas of town. Flights in and out of Kotzebue are also canceled. Haviland Lai says the community should be prepared for power outages to several areas around town, including the airport area, and.
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They'Re worried about the water getting into their transformers that are out in the airport area. At least the airport is going to be without power.
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Kotzebue Electric association is asking residents to report all outages and plan on responding when conditions are safe. Flooding has already been reported in multiple sections of town, including Front street and the areas near Kotzebue's airport and hospital. Kotzebue's school is canceled for tomorrow and both the city and borough closed early for non essential workers. The state also issued a notice this afternoon that it had activated its emergency operations center in preparation for a series of storms that are set to hit western Alaska through the weekend. Kotzebue and other communities, including Kivalina, Shishmaref, Golovin and Nunamiqua are expected to be among the hardest hit. Residents in other Northwest Arctic communities have also reported that they've begun evacuating in preparation for the flooding. Kivalina residents are evacuating to higher ground at the school, located seven miles from the community. And western Alaska is bracing for another strong storm system this weekend as the remnants of Typhoon Ha Long are expected to move into the Bering Sea late Sunday into Monday. Forecasters with the National Weather Service say communities across the region could see strong winds, high surf and coastal flooding. KN's Ben Townsend reports Typhoon Halong is.
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Currently off the coast of Japan, but according to National Weather Service meteorologist Carter McKay, the typhoon is expected to move east before turning north toward the Bering Sea.
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The confidence is high that it will work, you know, north into the Bering, but exactly the track of where it goes once it gets to the Aleutians is a bit more uncertain. That main track and how intense it gets, how strong the storm ends up developing are the two main things we're looking at.
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McKay says models currently predict the tides will drop several feet below normal before surging back up as the system passes through the Bering Strait.
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It actually shows water receding to like 2 to 6ft below the low tide line. So it's drawing out a lot of water from our coastal communities only then to pretty much a day later bring it all back with the winds.
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The weekend's potential storm is reminiscent of 2022's ex Typhoon Murbach, which caused millions of dollars in damage across western Alaska. But McKay says it's too early to accurately compare the two storms.
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You know, the track is certainly going to be different than the one that Murbach took. And this far out, it's pretty tough to tell the exact where the low is going to be, you know, tracking up through the barrier. But it does car similarities in terms of the potential impacts that we could see.
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Rick Thoman is a climatologist with the Alaska center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness. He says the region has been hit with several big storms this week, and he's also watching this next one.
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To have another one come along seems like it's worth starting to get folks thinking about, okay, what if we have another big storm over the weekend, given that we have a significant storm right now.
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Nome officials met Wednesday morning to discuss the ongoing and upcoming storms. Emergency shelters and supplies will be made available in case of extreme flooding. The city is encouraging the community to build emergency kits with water, warm clothes and food in case evacuation is necessary. Residents can also find the latest forecast by visiting weather.gova in Nome. I'm Ben Townsend.
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Still to come on Alaska News Nightly, leave maple trees to Canada and the East Coast. These Alaskans are cooking up birch syrup.
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Even one particular day, and the time.
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That you extract that SAP actually influences that flavor that's ahead. Stay with us. Unofficial election results suggest the city of Fairbanks is getting a new mayor. Incumbent David Preuss conceded the race to his challenger, Mindy o', Neal, last night. Early figures do not reflect all votes that have been cast, with absentee and question ballots still untallied. But Preuss said the numbers rolling in throughout the night were enough to convince him that o' Neal will win. He made the concession while at a watch party inside a downtown Fairbanks restaurant.
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Then you ran a very good race. I ran a good race. I ran a positive race. But the election results are in and it's over. So now I go back to being a full time real estate broker.
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Results from six of seven precincts within the city of Fairbanks had been reported when Proust declared defeat. About 1800 ballots had been cast for O', Neill, giving her an edge of more than 250 votes. Preuss congratulated O' Neill and wished her luck. He says looking back, he's most proud of the working relationship he built with city councils during his term.
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I'm very happy with what I did over the last three years as the mayor of the city of Fairbanks. Very, very happ. However, I don't get another three years and that's just the way it is.
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Just down the street. O' Neill celebrated the news with supporters who'd gathered at a taphouse for their watch party. She says her victory came as a pleasant surprise. I think that, you know, we anticipated having to wait for a week or so when the absentee ballots come through and we don't have to do that tonight. So that's my surprise and a pleasant one. O' Neal says she's thankful for the competitive but respectful race. She says she and Prus are two people who have different ideas about how to approach the same problems and that she's ready to bring fresh perspectives into City Hall. I'm excited to have conversations about how we collectively solve some of the issues that we're facing and I'm really looking forward to that question and absentee ballots will be tallied next Tuesday. The results remain unofficial until the Fairbanks City Council certifies the election, which is scheduled for October 27th. The state of Alaska is in the throes of studying what it would take to build a road that would, at least in theory, better connect Juneau, Haines and Skagway The Department of Transportation held open house style meetings last week to inform the public about potential route options and get community feedback. The Alaska Desk's Avery Elfeld attended the one in Haines and has this report.
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No road, no road, no road.
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That chant erupted about halfway through the open house meeting last week at the Haines Public library. More than 50 people packed into the small space maps of the region, plus representatives from the state agency and a contracting company lined the perimeter of the room. Everyone was there to discuss the so called Chilkat Connector feasibility study. The state announced the effort in March and indicated it would examine building a road along the west side of the Lynn Canal. Greg Lockwood is a DOT project manager. During last week's meeting he took question after question from residents who largely seemed concerned about the idea. He said the goal of the meeting.
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Was we're trying to show people, you know, what this project looks like, what potential benefits there are. We also want to understand everybody's concerns.
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The idea of building a road between Juneau, Haines and Skagway has been around for decades, but it's never come to fruition. Governor Mike Dunleavy's administration says a road would create more cost effective and efficient transportation for the region. Some locals have expressed support for the idea, noting that the state ferry system is unreliable. But others are opposed for a long list of reasons. Attendee Shannon Donahue is among them. She initiated the no road chant. It's unlikely that this whole thing is going to come to fruition, but pieces will, you know, pieces may come to fruition. You know, roads to logging, roads to mines, and, you know, that can do a lot of damage. We're looking at. Concerns also included the rugged terrain along the canal, which would complicate building a road and maintaining it, particularly during winter, plus implications for people traveling without a vehicle, and potential environmental impacts of the road itself. Here's Skye Skiles, another attendee.
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The marine highway is an excellent alternative. I think putting money into that to keep it in good shape is a better alternative than to cause so much damage to our environment.
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The contractor is studying two main route options. One would entail a quick ferry ride but long drive. The other would require a longer ferry ride and shorter drive. Both options seem to rely on a yet to be built ferry terminal at Cascade Point, about 30 miles north of Juneau. The state signed an initial contract for that project this summer. The move also sparked local pushback, but was welcomed by a mining company planning an ore shipping facility in the same location. In a phone interview following the open house event, DOT's Lockwood said finding ways to benefit industry in addition to communities is part of the process.
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Well, if we can find added value, you know, freight dock, if we can find, you know, you know, way for mining trucks coming from the Yukon or wherever to use that and stay out of town and, or if there's timber to be harvested, you know, that would all be value added. That would, you know, help support this roadway and add positives and potentially, you know, help finance it too.
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He emphasized that it's still early days and that the purpose of the study is to gather information to inform future decisions, not to make those decisions right away. The agency plans to have a draft report in December and a final version in January, which will be used to inform next Steps reporting in Haines, I'm Avery Elle Philt.
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Indigenous peoples in the Arctic have been using underground food storage for thousands of years, but the practice is changing as the environment warms. Researchers have been looking at how villages in Alaska and Arctic communities in other countries are reimagining the future of ice cellars. The Alaska Desk's Iliona Nydin has more.
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Several wooden boxes poke up above ground along the coast in Savunga on St Lawrence island in the Bering Sea. They are a few feet deep and are now empty, but traditionally they are filled with walrus, reindeer and whale meat to keep the harvest cool. Ice cellars, or Sikluaks and yupik, are common throughout Alaska native communities, but the Arctic has been warming almost four times faster than other parts of the world. Researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks have been studying how food preservation practices have been changing. Last month they visited St. Lawrence island to discuss their findings. Yoko Kugo is originally from Japan and is one of the researchers with the UAF center of Cross Cultural Studies who leading the project.
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We heard that some communities, not all of them, but some, are having hard time relying on storing food underground.
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For the past three years, Kugo and other UIF researchers have been visiting the communities of Samunga and gamble on St. Lawrence island, as well as Anaktuvik Pass and Point Hope on the North Slope. They learned how food preservation practices vary depending on local landscape and diets. And they heard from residents that permafrost, thaw and erosion have been causing some of their ice cellars to collapse or flood. Despite the challenges, many continue using ice cellars and hope to preserve the practice. Another UAF researcher, Michael Koski, has been working on the project as well. He says that while the climate is expected to get hotter throughout the century underground, the temperatures should fluctuate less. He says that might be a solution for residents who want to continue using ice cellars.
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If they're willing to go a little deeper and a little further inland, there's more of a chance of making a new cellar and maintaining those traditions.
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The project, funded through the National Science foundation, is a part of a larger effort to understand how indigenous people in the Arctic and subarctic have been adapting to climate change. Kugu and Koaski have been working with researchers who are doing similar work in Russia, Mongolia and Japan. They say that in other countries people are making use of ice cellars too. In Japan, it is more about preserving traditions, and in some communities in Russia and Mongolia, people need ice cellars to keep food and drinking water cold.
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I think in all of these places to some degree, there's a hold on to it because it's a tradition of the past. You know, it's an identity thing.
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During the most recent meeting in Sabunga, residents asked researchers about climate predictions and stressed the resilience of indigenous people in face of environmental change. Elder John Wahagi says that sawunga hunters continue to harvest marine mammals and the warming is not detrimental to their way of life. He says walrus is one example.
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They're still very fat, healthy. Polar bears are fat. They're healthy. We still very actively harvest the marine mammal resources.
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Kouga, with uif, says that overall, residents in four Alaska communities asked them about practical takeaways from their research, like techniques and materials to repair ice cellars or to build community underground storage. She says there was also interest in exchanging knowledge with people from across the Arctic and subarctic.
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This project might be a bridge between the communities they are looking for, what they can do together.
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While researchers are nearing the end of the social science part of the project, climate evaluations are continuing. Collaborations with other countries will go on as well. At the end of October, Kugo plans to present the project at the International Symposium on Arctic Research in Tokyo. She hopes to talk more with researchers from Japan, Mongolia, and Siberia there as well. In Anchorage, I am Alena Knighton.
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When most people reach for something to pour over their pancakes, they're thinking maple. But in the Alaska interior, birch trees dominated, and they provide unique SAP for a growing syrup industry. Late last month, tree tappers, chefs and scientists got together in Fairbanks to work on a flavor wheel for birch syrup. And as the Alaska Desk's Shelby Herbert reports, there's more to the sticky liquid than just its sweetness.
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If you've ever been to a wine tasting, you've probably seen people swish sips of it in their mouths to coat their palate and evaluate the flavor. And in a University of Alaska Fairbanks test kitchen, that's exactly what I watched. Food scientist Ariel Johnson dew with a small glass of birch syrup.
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So it's obviously sweet because it's a syrup, but there's a lot of tanginess. I also get like, caramel flavors, some molasses, but also this, like, really nice, kind of like cooked candied raspberry note.
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Johnson is a flavor expert. She's a frequent guest on science and cooking programs, where she talks about her research on food culture and chemistry. Her new book on those subjects, flavorama, just got nominated for a James Beard Award. Johnson flew into Fairbanks from New York to help guide the flavor profile workshop. There, descriptions of the syrup got even wilder. Attendees identified notes like buckwheat, dark chocolate, orange peels, cheese for sure.
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What kind of cheese?
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We don't know.
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One Tree Alaska is a program affiliated with the university's Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station entirely focused on birch trees, from their life cycle to their place in Alaskan culture to their commercial use. Last year, the program got a hundred thousand dollar U.S. department of Agriculture grant to try to capture the flavor or terroir if you're feeling fancy of the interior flavor. Workshop attendee Terry Gross grew up tapping birch with her family. Now she's a restaurateur in Fairbanks. She loaned her taste buds to help describe the variety of syrup flavors. We live in a really special place, right? It's something that you can't have year round.
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It's very specific to this place and the time that you can get it.
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Some of those flavors trickle out of the realm of the expected program. Chefs served up a funky, savory birch syrup over Brussels sprouts, which attendees gobbled up within the first few hours of the workshop. Other items at the buffet table were a little more conventionally sweet, like panna cotta with birch caramel. One Tree Alaska program lead Jan Daw says over the last year her team has observed how different conditions can change the flavor of the SAP.
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Sometimes the differences that we would think of as being negative, you know, not.
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As much on cooler, cooler soils.
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Actually the trees aren't at a disadvantage.
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And they're producing more complex tasting the syrups.
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The idea behind the project is also to support better ways to process and market birch syrup to stimulate the local economy. Jennifer Hoppo is UAF's chief of faculty affairs. She says some of the most important work ahead of the group is to find the right vocabulary to help bring birch syrup to more tables.
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Even one particular day and the time that you extract that SAP actually influences that flavor.
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And so if we think about it.
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That is the story for that particular day, she says.
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If you look at it that way, the group is trying to speak for those trees, bottling up the moment they were tapped and creating a taste that people will remember. Reporting in Fairbanks, I'm Shelby Herber.
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That is 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 Liz Ruskin in Washington, D.C. colette Zarnicki and Rangel Eric Stone in Juneau, Desiree Hagan in Kotzebue, Ben Townsend and Nome, Patrick Gilchrist and Shelby Herbert in Fairbanks, Avery Elphelt and Haynes and Alone Aniden in Anchorage. If you want to send us a news tip, question or comment, email us at newsalaskapublic. Org. Our audio engineer is Chris Hyde. Madeline Rose is our producer, and I'm Casey Grove. Good night.