ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A planetarium at the University of Alaska Museum of the North in Fairbanks has been in the works for years. And it’s only a few months away from opening, according to University of Alaska Museum of the North Director Patrick Druckenmiller.

It has been an idea for decades, but construction began about a year ago on the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ campus in collaboration with the Geophysical Institute, Druckenmiller said.

“What this facility will essentially allow us to do, is welcome, when thousands of people per year that come to our museum an opportunity to see things like the Aurora in a planetarium setting. Because, of course, that’s not something they’re going to see when they’re visiting in the summer. But it’s also going to be the coolest, newest classroom on the UAF campus,” he said.

Druckenmiller said it will be Interior Alaska’s first planetarium.

“There are three others in the state, two in Anchorage, one in Juneau,” he said. “It’s also going to be the northernmost planetarium in North America, which is also kind of a cool claim to fame for our facility.”

The 65-seat planetarium is a roughly 5,700 square foot addition to the existing museum, he said.

“When you walk into the planetarium space, which you’re going to see is this big dome above your head. It’s about 11 meters, or about 36 feet, in diameter. And it’s actually sort of suspended from the ceiling. And it’s tilted at about a 17-degree angle towards the front of the room. That’s to help make people feel comfortable looking up and not having to crank their neck to look up at the sky,” he said.

The planetarium’s content will not be strictly space related.

“We intend to showcase a lot of other really cool aspects of things relating to Alaska and the Arctic. And of course, it’s indigenous peoples,” he said.

Druckenmiller is excited for the opportunity to use the planetarium to highlight University of Alaska research.

“For example, the Geophysical Institute is a major place for research into the atmosphere, other geophysical phenomena, including the aurora, solar physics, you name it,” he said. “This planetarium is now going to be a place to share some of that cool science, rather than us just simply bringing in science from elsewhere. We’re doing it here in Alaska. So, it’s a wonderful showcase for Alaskan-based research.”

The bulk of the building construction cost was paid for by two longtime Fairbanks residents.

Walt and Marita Babula’s $7.4 million donation funded much of the construction of the building, Druckenmiller said.

The planetarium will be named after them, the university said.

The Babulas want the planetarium to “enable space science education opportunities for K-12 and higher education students,” according to a statement from a university press release.

“We also envision the planetarium as a place that will spark the curiosity of Alaskans and visitors from around the globe about our Alaska culture and vast universe,” they continued.

“They, out of the incredible generosity of their heart, really wanted the museum to be a place where we could also have a planetarium to share all the wonderful things about space science and astronomy, particularly with the kids that live here in interior Alaska,” Druckenmiller said.

Other donors include the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, as well as Sarah and Cary Keller who have been longtime UAF supporters, according to the university. Michael and Lynn Rice Estate, Davis Constructors & Engineers and RESPEC also contributed to the project.

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“HA” — the airline code, that is — is no more, and it’s no laughing matter. The historic Hawaiian Airlines callsign, used on tickets and in chatter between pilots and air traffic controllers for generations, was retired Wednesday. Now, Alaska Airlines’ “AS” is used on Hawaiian flights’ boarding passes and airport displays, reflecting the homegrown company’s acquisition by the Alaska Air Group and their official merger under a single operating certificate.

More big changes took place Wednesday, chief among them appointment of a new Hawaiian Air CEO: Diana Birkett Rakow, the first woman to take the helm. Hawaiian Air passengers must brace themselves, though: The airline is also retiring its striking, shades-of-blue uniform, patterned with botanical images by Native Hawaiian designer Sig Zane of Hilo. Another design has been commissioned by Alaska, with Zane’s participation, to reflect the airlines’ joined identity.

Hawaiian’s distinctive tail art and free meal service on long-haul flights will continue — though they’re not guaranteed in perpetuity.

Customer feedback — and ticket sales — will play a part in what comes next. Alaska will need to demonstrate a continued dedication to the culture of aloha — as in courtesy and attention to the comfort of passengers, and attunement to the gentle grace of tropical island life — that is not swamped by impersonal corporate mandates.

Alaska is maintaining Hawaiian Air’s headquarters (technically now regional headquarters) in Honolulu. Keeping the administrative presence and CEO in the islands show that there’s an ongoing commitment to Hawaiian and recognition of its unique identity, said outgoing Hawaiian CEO Joe Sprague, who’s retiring. “When we say ‘The brand is here to stay’ … we are putting actual action behind that commitment.”

With this merger and the major changes that rival Southwest Airlines has initiated — including reserved seats and redesigned cabins with premium sections — frequent fliers have the opportunity to approach their flying options with fresh eyes. Long-haul routes leaving the islands have been eliminated, but other opportunities have emerged, and competition continues.

Many readers have reported that since the combining of Hawaiian and Alaska’s rewards programs, certain hard-won HawaiianMiles perks have been lost. Hawaiian Air fliers can no longer use those program miles to upgrade their seating, for instance, and that’s aggravating. Doling out disappointments to the most loyal Hawaiian fliers is the kind of unforced error that should be avoided — and Alaska would do well to reach out to those fliers who’ve been affected.

Significant details have yet to be worked out on this “integration,” as it’s being called. Joint labor contracts covering pilots, flight attendants, maintenance technicians, airport agents and dispatchers must be negotiated to reflect the new operating structure, with important issues such as job retainment guarantees and the distribution of seniority at stake. Existing contracts remain in effect until new agreements are reached.

Hawaiian’s labor force now is about 7,300 systemwide, with 6,600 based in Hawaii; the airline eliminated 325 “non-contract” (non-union) jobs and added 646 union positions over the last year. Alaska says no more jobs will be eliminated between now and New Year’s Day, though that’s only two months away; contract negotiations may reveal more.

When Hawaiian Airlines was acquired by Alaska just over a year ago, on Sept. 18, 2024, that ended nearly a century of Hawaiian’s existence as an independent operator, which started as the scrappy Inter-Island Airways in 1929. Post-acquisition, integration into one corporate entity with Alaska at the helm has been the game plan, and on the whole this serves island fliers. The alternative — with Hawaiian Air drowning in debt after COVID-19’s air travel deep freeze — might have been bankruptcy and dissolution.

Still, nostalgia arises at the thought that flyers will never again see that familiar HA on our boarding passes.

Travel news website Beat of Hawaii, its online pages tinted old-photo sepia, evoked the bittersweet feelings of memory and loss, opining, “Retiring the HA call sign isn’t just an administrative change. It’s the end of a voice and a history: every clearance, every landing, every exchange between pilot and tower.” Sad, and true.

The end of the “HA” callsign and single certificate grouping, along with changes in staffing, routes and rewards, make it clear that a defining chapter in the state’s aviation history has ended. Locals already know the feeling. It was even more painful when Aloha Airlines closed down in 2008, and many other changes have followed.

Hawaiian Airlines, as generations of locals have long known it, is dead; long live Hawaiian Airlines. While paying tribute to sepia-toned memories, islanders must insist these corporate changes don’t diminish prospects for continued aloha in flight, and investments in community. Retaining that precious spirit and level of commitment to passengers and crew alike is now the “integrated” airlines’ joint kuleana.

All evacuees recently sent to mass shelters in Anchorage after a devastating Western Alaska storm forced them from their homes have been placed in longer-term, non-congregate housing, officials said Friday.

“This transition will help families as they continue to put their lives back together,” said Bryan Fisher, director of the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, in a statement.

Earlier in October, ex-Typhoon Halong displaced scores of residents from their Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta communities after the storm’s powerful winds and flooding severely damaged or destroyed homes and infrastructure across the region.

A mass evacuation effort resulted in more than 650 people arriving in Anchorage in the storm’s wake, with many ending up in mass shelters at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center and Egan Civic and Convention Center while officials looked for more suitable long-term shelter situations.

On Friday, the State Emergency Operations Center said it had finished moving all evacuees — 379 people in total — who had been staying at Anchorage’s two mass shelters into hotels and closed the spaces.

Evacuees who had been sheltering in Bethel have also been placed in non-congregate housing, the State Emergency Operations Center said in a separate Friday statement.

Some shelters will remain in “standby status for the coming days” to accept potential evacuees before placement into non-congregate settings, according to the State Emergency Operations Center.

Officials started moving hundreds of evacuees from congregate shelter spaces in Anchorage into longer-term housing earlier this week while in Western Alaska, crews raced to clean up and winterize communities, or conduct basic repairs in villages, so displaced residents can start returning home.

It’s unclear how long evacuees will remain in the long-term shelters, said Vivian Korthuis, CEO of the Association of Village Council Presidents.

“It’s very stressful right now, but in the long run, things will work out, and we just need to keep on moving forward,” she said.

AVCP, a regional nonprofit that supports and advocates for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta’s 56 tribes, held a media briefing Friday afternoon to detail its current relief work in affected communities and long-term disaster response priorities.

The organization, alongside others like the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp., Alaska Organized Militia and Alaska Division of Forestry and Fire Protection, has been working to make homes and communities livable since officials wrapped up mass evacuations.

“These relief efforts are not a short-term thing,” said AVCP spokesperson Dendra Chavez. “This is going to be a long-term effort that we’re all working on.”

While work continues in villages for displaced residents to return, officials said they will continue to help evacuees who have moved into longer-term shelter housing in Anchorage access disaster recovery services and financial assistance.

Other resources, like a Midtown Anchorage disaster resource assistance center, will also remain open, Fisher said in a statement.

“We will continue to work with organizations providing services to storm survivors to ensure their needs are met,” he said.

As of Friday, 1,177 people affected by the storm had applied for state disaster recovery aid, while more than 320 had applied for individual federal aid unlocked by President Donald Trump’s Oct. 22 federal disaster declaration, according to a State Emergency Operations Center statement.