LOCAL WOMAN COMPETES IN AK WILDERNESS SKI CLASSIC
Sarah Histand, PWSCC Health and Fitness Center Coordinator and Valdez resident, ranked among the 19 participants in this year's Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic, a race known for being the longest unsupported ski race in North America. According to a report from PWSCC, Histand competed with her brother, Ben Histand, as part of a two person team covering approximately 200 miles of terrain on skis with a route that gained a total of 15,000 feet of vertical gain through the Wrangell St. Elias Mountains. Starting in McCarthy, Sarah and Ben reached the finish line at mile 94.5 of the Tok Cut Off Road in 7.5 days. "Some days we had really good traveling conditions," Sarah told her colleagues adding, "we would ski for long days (13 hours or more) and make big miles - up to 40. Other days were through much more difficult terrain, and after putting in the same long days we'd only get 15 to 20 miles." Sarah related stories of extreme windy days that pushed the pair backwards on their skies, forcing them to put on skins or remove the skis entirely. Wilderness Classic competitors choose their own routes working through various kinds of terrain including rivers, mountain passes, glaciers, brush and valleys. Histand detailed the team's gear set up in the PWSCC report explaining that she and her brother traveled with ultralight winter camping gear, skinny metal edged cross country skis and food supplies, weighing approximately 40 pounds at the start of the race. Histand told PWSCC that she entered the Classic even though she wasn't sure she was "up for tackling all of its challenges," but with the successful 200 mile trip behind her she reported experiencing a "great sense of strength and empowerment," adding, "It was truly life changing."
BILL RAISING ALASKA MINIMUM WAGES PASSED BY HOUSE
The House approved a measure that would raise Alaska's minimum wage to $9 an hour starting July 1st, reports the Alaska Dispatch. According to their report the measure was narrowly approved in a 21-19 vote and will now proceed to the State Senate. Should the measure also clear the Senate it will remove an existing initiative from the statewide August ballot seeking to raise the minimum wage to $8.75 starting next January. According to the Dispatch, opponents of the bill are suspicious of the timing of its introduction, worrying that it will remove the issue from the ballot and then be reversed by the legislature. A report last week from the Fairbanks News-Miner explained that this would not be the first time such a thing has occurred citing an incident in 2002 when lawmakers revoked new provisions regarding the minimum wage from a similar bill a year after the law took effect. According to the Dispatch, allowing the issue to be decided by statewide vote would protect the measure from changes for two years, a restriction that does not apply to acts of the Legislature. CLICK HERE to read the full article from the Alaska Dispatch CLICK HERE to read the full article from the Fairbanks News-Miner
VPD TO CONDUCT TRAINING AT VALDEZ CITY SCHOOLS
The Valdez Police Department will conduct A.L.I.C.E. training at Valdez City Schools today. According to Bill Comer over the VPD, A.L.I.C.E. (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evaluate) is a response system for handling armed assailants or violent intruders in the schools. The VPD will also provide bullet proof whiteboards throughout the school system. The VPD will also present A.L.I.C.E. information at tonight’s School Board meeting. CLICK HERE for more information on A.L.I.C.E.
Following in his family's paw prints, Conway Seavey of Sterling claimed his second Junior Iditarod championship Sunday, outdueling Ben Harper for a two-minute victory in the 132-mile sled dog race.
As he prepares for Blues Central's last jam session, this weekend, Frank Dahl reflects on a career in restaurants and bars across Alaska, and how the nightlife scene has changed…
An advocacy group has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to force insurance companies in Louisiana to take payments from a federal program that helps HIV and AIDS patients.
House majority members on Thursday were asked about the potential tax revenues for the state should voters approve an initiative this summer legalizing the recreational use of marijuana.
Buccaneer Alaska LLC plans to plug and abandon a closely watched natural gas exploration well near Homer that came up dry despite a $9 million drilling program. Now Buccaneer wants…
Top executives in state government made very good money in 2013, and University of Alaska officials were among those at the top of the list, according to a newly released…
Tilgner's ruby red smoked sockeye, a new product from Ninilchik, took the grand prize, people's choice award and first place in the smoked seafood category at last week's Alaska Symphony…
An initiative letting voters decide whether to raise the minimum wage in Alaska has met the minimum signatory requirements to be on the Aug. 19 ballot.
The growing student loan burden carried by millions of Americans threatens to undermine the housing recovery's momentum by discouraging, or even blocking, a generation of potential buyers from purchasing their…
In 2010, the state adopted an energy policy that, among other things, set a goal of having 50 percent Alaska's electric generation come from renewable and alternative energy sources by…
Faith Spotted Eagle figures that building a crude oil pipeline from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast would bring little to Indian Country besides more crime and dirty water, but…
Eighteen House members today asked President Barack Obama to reclassify the drug, removing it from a list of banned substances deemed to have no medical value.
Oil spills, fishing nets and collapsing forage fish populations due to warming sea surface temperatures are decimating tufted puffins and could lead to the disappearance of one of the most…
The Alaska Railroad is evaluating whether to launch weekday passenger rail service between Anchorage and the Valley, where nearly a third of the working population drives to jobs in Alaska's…
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday declared a moratorium on carrying out executions for as long as he was governor, saying in the announcement that he wasn't "convinced equal justice…
Colorado's marijuana experiment is going well, but there's a lot of work to do regulating the newly legal drug, state regulators and lawmakers said Monday in a panel reviewing successes…
The predatory libertarian hybrid philosophy of the Koch Brothers, hell-bent on reshaping America, is reminiscent of cranky old-time Alaskans living up here to escape America. Thing is, the Kochs have…
Valentine's Day is supposed to be a celebration of people loving people. It's a day dedicated to all those who bring joy into each other's lives. Some will give singing…
Oil companies are pouring millions of dollars into their attempt to defeat a voter referendum to repeal the oil tax cuts approved last year by the Alaska Legislature.
