Alaska Dispatch's Best Stories: Jan. 14-20

Jan 21, 2012

It was a week of controversial stories and big dreams.

We started out by profiling Corey Rossi, the wildlife manager accused of illegal hunting. Reporter Craig Medred reviewed Rossi's career and provided the most detailed account yet of Rossi's downfall.

Reporter Jill Burke continued with her coverage of the Renda, the Russian tanker escorted by a Coast Guard icebreaker to Nome, where it delivered a fuel shipment. Burke dug deeper, looking at whether the unusual winter fuel run was more about money than safety or absolute necessity.

Reporter Doug O'Harra explored a new study showing that only a tiny proportion of the fresh water in the polar sea can be blamed on ice melt.

And the staff drilled down on issues the Alaska Legislature should consider this session -- and we're not talking about oil taxes or a natural gas pipeline.

The spectacular rise of Alaska wildlife manager Corey Rossi
Editor's Note: This is the first of a two-part story. Read Part II: How investigators busted Alaska wildlife manager Corey Rossi
20 Comments
Fuel delivery to Nome, Alaska: A mission of economics or humanitarianism?
When Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell urged the federal government to green-light an exceptional sea voyage in the depths of an unusually cold Alaskan winter, he spoke ominously of what would befall the remote community of Nome, Alaska -- isolated and off the road system -- if it didn't happen.

But as justification for the saga was compressed into sound bites, one important detail was lost: people were not in immediate, if any, jeopardy; enough fuel was on hand to keep homes heated.
22 Comments
Beyond Oil: Issues Alaska's Legislature should consider in 2012
Editor's Note: The following list of issues was compiled by Alaska Dispatch staff in response to a simple question: What might Alaska lawmakers focus on besides the seemingly perennial attendance to oil taxes? For more on the list and why we think it important, read Thinking Outside the Oil Patch, linked below.
26 Comments
Stage set for bruising battle over how Alaska taxes oil companies
In a wide-ranging State of the State address Wednesday night, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell told Alaskans that much of the future of this state will be determined by the actions of legislators in the upcoming session.

"Our future depends on the actions we take this session," he said. "How we approach these issues will determine what legacy we leave our children: a future of shrinking possibilities, or a future of greater opportunity. The decision is ours."
5 Comments
Fresh water collecting in Arctic Ocean north of Alaska
Fresh water sloshing into the polar sea from the great rivers of Russia has been collecting on the Alaskan and Canadian side of the Arctic, adding the equivalent of 10 feet of freshwater to the central Beaufort Sea between 2003 and 2008, according to a new study published this month in Nature.
1 Comments
Alaska Board of Game shows affection for any predator control program
Will Rogers' epitaph reads, "I never met a man I didn't like." The Alaska Board of Game can say the same thing about predator-control programs. In meeting after public meeting, the board hears what the public wants and does the opposite. Every proposal to kill more predators, no matter how misguided, is greeted with a firm handshake and a smile.
5 Comments
Alaska's congressional delegation weighs in on SOPA, PIPA
If you were on the Internet Wednesday (and you must have been, if you're reading this), chances are good you got caught in the crossfire of a debate over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), two bills facing the U.S. House and Senate, respectively, with the aim of protecting copyrights online. While that doesn't on its face sound like a contentious issue, the broad language of the bills has some critics worried that they amount to censorship and infringement on free speech.
2 Comments
How to prepare for Alaska travel
Be prepared.

For a traveler, these are words to live by.

Still, too many travelers hit a bump in the road and they freeze like the proverbial deer in the headlights. Ask any gate agent -- they'll tell you stories of folks who absolutely lose it at the slightest irregularity.
1 Comments
Cold, snow and wind cancel Copper Basin 300 sled dog race
Around 6 a.m. Sunday, an emergency alert was released by the Copper Basin Race Committee temporarily suspending the Copper Basin 300. According to the statement signed by Race Marshal Greg Parvin, the section of trail between Meier’s Lake and Sourdough was impassable due to unusually deep snow conditions, high winds and bitter cold. All dog teams, handlers and race officials were requested to convene at the Meier’s Lake Roadhouse by 7 a.m.
Comments
Why Alaska's winter weather has been extreme but not abnormal
Snow, wind and rain has been the rule so far this winter across much of Southcentral Alaska. Anchorage residents have been treated to generous snowfall, with plenty of strong winds along the western slopes of the Chugach. North Gulf of Alaska coast residents have been contending with copious snowfall since early December.

With so much active weather over the past several months, many people wonder what’s going on.
1 Comments

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Alaska Dispatch's Best Stories: Jan. 14-20

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