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Alaska Dispatch's Best of the Week: July 22-27

Alaska Dispatch staff
July 27, 2012

It was a big week in Alaska political news, with primary elections just around the corner and Republicans gearing up for a few nasty in-fights before the general. State Sen. Lesil McGuire made waves when she announce a special fund, overseen by Gov. Sean Parnell, to topple the Alaska Senate bipartisan majority, of which she's a card-carrying member. McGuire is one of a handful of bipartisan coalition members facing a primary challenge. Alaskans have until Sunday to register for voting in party primaries that will decide candidates for the next state Legislature. And this year's shaping up to be a state Senate battle royale.

Fishing also continued to dominate local news amid a particularly dismal king salmon return for the 49th state. In rural Alaska, fish wheels are reviving hope along the Yukon River as another salmon returns by the millions.

And special features: Check out photo essays on how to dig up a dead body in Alaska just like the CSI forensic experts, and what it's like to fly a Bush plane into the heart of the Alaska wilderness.

  1. 1 On the mighty Yukon, Alaska chum salmon fuel an economic revival

    Amid a year of dismal king salmon returns in Alaska, fish wheels are reviving hope along the Yukon River as another salmon returns by the millions.
  2. 2 Is Parnell punting on Alaska health care?

    Gov. Sean Parnell often resists federal involvement in Alaska's affairs. And yet he just invited Obama's Health department to take control of the state's health care market. What's up with that?
  3. 3 Photos: Flying into the Alaska Range

    Flying into the Range: The Alaska Range makes a backbone of sorts for the state, a crescent shaped mountain range across Southcentral.
  4. 4 Backbone Alaska: Elections revive old campaign against oil industry influence

    Thirteen years ago, a group of Alaska statesmen got together to urge Alaskans to grow a backbone and resist oil industry influence in state government. Now, Backbone is back.
  5. 5 Polar bears diverged 4 to 5 million years ago, but interbred with brown bears

    Polar bears diverged into a separate species between four and five million years ago, but interbred with their brown bear cousins and declined in population in response to climate warming over the millennia, according to a new study that included many animals from Alaska.
  6. 6 Anchorage Police pedal bike safety on signs of city cycling surge

    Nine Anchorage Police Department officers learn how to instruct others on proper biking safety, in hopes of educating cyclists and motorists alike in an often bike-unfriendly city.
  7. 7 Election fund steers cash to Alaska Senate candidates pledging oil tax cut

    Making waves: Sen. Lesil McGuire announces a special fund, overseen by Gov. Sean Parnell, to topple the Alaska Senate bipartisan majority, of which she's a card-carrying member.
  8. 8 High cost of operating in remote Alaska threaten Donlin gold mine

    Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold mining company, warned Thursday the long-envisioned Donlin Creek gold prospect east of Bethel in Western Alaska doesn't "currently meet our investment criteria.''
  9. 9 Alaska Senate primary elections primer

    Primary challenges: Alaskans have until Sunday to register for voting in party primaries that will decide candidates for the next state Legislature. And this year's shaping up to be a state Senate battle royale.
  10. 10 Photos: How to dig up a body buried in Alaska

    Alaska law dogs learn from forensic experts in King County, Washington state, how to secure and catalog a crime scene. The state of Alaska does not employ forensic anthropologist. 

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