Alaska
Alaska leaders, tribal groups react to ruling to uphold Indian Child Welfare Act
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – In a 7-2 decision, the United States Supreme Court voted to uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act, which gives preference to Native American families in foster care when adopting Native children.
The two dissenters were Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
Many were concerned that the court would weaken or strike the law, which plays an important role in maintaining tribal identity for adoptees.
Enacted in 1978, the Indian Child Welfare Act provides guidelines for the placement of American Indian and Alaska Native foster children in custody, foster care, and adoption cases. It came as a response to the high number of Native American children being placed with non-Native families. The Supreme Court took up the case after three white families and several states challenged the law, claiming that it is based on race and therefore unconstitutional under the equal protection clause.
Thursday’s ruling reaffirmed the federal law and will prioritize placement of Native children with Native families in order grow up with their tradition and cultural practices. Under ICWA, a child’s own family would be the first choice for placement, followed by a family from the same tribe or nation. If no one from the child’s family or tribe are in consideration, a Native family of a different tribal affiliation would be the next preferred placement.
The decision is especially important in Alaska, home to 229 federally-recognized tribes and hundreds of Alaska Native entities. Reports show thousands of Alaska Native children involved in the child welfare system every year.
Nicole Borromeo, the executive vice president and general counsel for the Alaska Federation of Natives went as far as calling this decision “earth shattering.”
“The Brackeen decision had an enormous impact on Alaska. we’re home to over 40 percent of the nations tribes — 229 — and ICWA is a foundational cornerstone in which we’ve set many different federal policies on,” Borromeo said.
“The court really said it best — Native people have the right to raise their children in our cultures. Our tribes have the right to continue on as we have for millennium. And Congress have the right to legislate in the area of Indian affairs under its plenary power,” Borromeo said.
According to Borromeo, culture is the heartbeat of who Alaska Native people are, as most of their history is passed down orally. To Borromeo, it’s a significant decision that will ensure Alaska Native cultures and traditions survive with the next generation.
Many Alaska Natives, tribes, and organizations have been anxiously awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision — and now many are calling it a victory, including Alaska Native Justice Center chief operating officer Alex Cleghorn.
“Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court is an overwhelming victory for tribal sovereignty, for tribes and for native children. We couldn’t have expected a better decision,” Cleghorn said.
“I think it is recognition, I think it’s respect, I think is a ringing endorsement for the findings of ICWA,” Cleghorn said.
Other leaders have come out in support of the Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday. Representative Mary Peltola reiterated the importance of the decision in a statement.
“This decision provides certainty and security for children and families all across this country, and respects the basic principles of self-governance for Native American tribes,” Peltola said. “This is an important step in continuing the process of intergenerational healing from long histories of separation and loss, and a victory for tribal advocates everywhere.”
Attorney General Treg Taylor also commented on the decision.
“Our commitment to partnership, communication and collaboration with Tribes in Alaska is steadfast. We understand and appreciate the value Tribes bring to child welfare in Alaska,” Taylor said.
Copyright 2023 KTUU. All rights reserved.
Alaska
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport busy with holiday travelers
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) -Many of the people arriving to and departing from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport Sunday agreed that Anchorage’s main airport isn’t as tough to navigate as most right now.
On Dec. 22, three days out from both Hanukkah and Christmas, travelers at the airport were lined up, checking in, waiting for baggage, or going through security; all of those, demanding a wait. However, several travelers told Alaska’s News Source about their experiences and what they were expecting during their flights.
Matt Howard departed from Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina around 5 a.m. “It was the busiest I’ve ever seen it,” Howard said. He estimated he touched down in Anchorage around 6 p.m., adding Ted Stevens was much “less frantic” than the other airports he was at, but thought the evening time frame might have been a contributing factor.
Flying in from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, Kimberly Lamar said she visits her mother in Alaska at least once a year.
“It was pretty overwhelming, trying to get through from Atlanta,” she said. “Then I got to Seattle; it was hard to get through to the gates of Seattle. And finally, this is the easiest airport I’ve actually been in all day.”
Born and raised in Alaska, Gideon Mahoney was traveling to Colorado where he recently relocated. “I’m actually really surprised, right now it’s easy and we were a little late, so…” Mahoney said, glancing at the line for security.
Growing up in Alaska, Mahoney said flying into Denver International Airport can be overwhelming at times.
“We’re working on figuring out how to deal with that,” he said. “We’re getting it.”
As for travelers who haven’t left just yet, Lamar’s advice was aligned with a prepared statement from Alaska Airlines: both said arriving early is the key for holiday travels.
“If you’re flying, make sure you leave early because those lines are crucial,” Lamar said.
See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com
Copyright 2024 KTUU. All rights reserved.
Alaska
Hydroponics provide year-round growing for Alaska farmers
On a recent December afternoon, Soldotna farmer Taylor Lewis preps for a day of harvesting crops. She walks to a tray filled with ripe lettuce and snips a head of it by the stem.
It’s just one of about 900 plants that Taylor and her mother-in-law Jayme Lewis will harvest and process this week – despite freezing temperatures and slushy snow outside. That’s because the duo works for Edgy Veggie, an indoor farm that grows produce year round.
“In the summer, a lot of our business drops off because folks are gardening at home. But in the winter, they’re not, because it costs money to heat your greenhouse,” Jayme said. “It costs a lot of money to heat your greenhouse.”
The company is a hydroponic farm, meaning they grow plants without soil. Hydroponic systems recycle and reuse nutrient-filled water, which minimizes waste. Specially made lighting and climate controlled conditions make it possible for Edgy Veggie to grow indoors during the winter months.
Around Thanksgiving, the company harvested 150 pounds of lettuce, enough to make about 800 salads. That took two days and was one of their biggest hauls of the year. Although not a typical harvest for the company, Jayme says she does see an uptick in business during the winter when Alaska’s produce is almost exclusively shipped up from the Lower 48.
“If you go to the grocery store and pick up a head of lettuce right now, by the time you get it home it will be wilted,” Jayme said. “That’s sad. Literally, that’s sad.”
Jayme says some local restaurants have sourced their vegetables from Edgy Veggie because they last longer and are fresher than grocery store produce.
Nestled between two train cars-turned-restaurants on the other side of town, Henry Krull walks inside his shipping container farm. He points to a wall that’s growing hundreds of bunches of butter lettuce.
Krull is the owner of fresh365, another Kenai Peninsula based hydroponic farm. Just like Edgy Veggie, the farm operates entirely indoors.
“The advantage of growing indoors, in a container like we have, is that we can control the environment,” Krull said. “We can grow no matter what’s going on outside. It can be 30 below outside, but it’s always 70 degrees or so inside.”
fresh365 also sees an uptick in direct-to-consumer sales in the winter. Otherwise, most of their sales go to other businesses, like local restaurants.
And while indoor farming means fresh, local produce year-round for Alaskans, it faces a number of challenges. Krull says growing in a hydroponic setting is much more expensive than traditional farming methods. So, to offset his farm’s energy costs, he installed solar panels, which were partially funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP.
But, Krull says the property doesn’t get much sunlight in the winter.
“The sun is a very valuable commodity, it’s valuable for not only producing electricity, but it helps to lower the energy costs,” he said. “And the energy costs of the farm containers we have is actually very, very high, because we can’t take advantage of the sun.”
Edgy Veggie, on the other hand, doesn’t even have solar panels. Jayme says their energy costs are high year round.
“Electricity, especially, is outrageous,” she said. “I wish that the state had some sort of option with the electric companies to help support farming. We’re providing a service to the community, honestly. We’re trying to, but it might run us out of business.”
Other challenges to hydroponics include faulty pumps and timers, ventilation issues and water leaks. Like traditional farming, hydroponic farmers say it’s backbreaking work.
But, for farmers like Taylor Lewis, offering fresh and local produce year round is a labor of love.
“Being able to supply our community with anything fresh is great,” Taylor said. “What we have as options in the grocery store – it’s not cutting it.”
“These belong in every community,” Krull said. “We’ve been able to prove that as a business model, it works. You can make a profit doing it, you can provide a good service to your community, and I think we can really do good for our community by providing something that is not readily available on a year-round basis.”
According to the U.S Department of Agriculture, only 5% of food Alaskans consume is grown locally. The state also has very short growing seasons.
Alaska
Nature: Northern Lights above Alaska
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
-
Politics1 week ago
Canadian premier threatens to cut off energy imports to US if Trump imposes tariff on country
-
Technology1 week ago
OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever says the way AI is built is about to change
-
Politics1 week ago
U.S. Supreme Court will decide if oil industry may sue to block California's zero-emissions goal
-
Technology1 week ago
Meta asks the US government to block OpenAI’s switch to a for-profit
-
Business1 week ago
Freddie Freeman's World Series walk-off grand slam baseball sells at auction for $1.56 million
-
Technology1 week ago
Meta’s Instagram boss: who posted something matters more in the AI age
-
News1 week ago
East’s wintry mix could make travel dicey. And yes, that was a tornado in Calif.
-
Technology2 days ago
Google’s counteroffer to the government trying to break it up is unbundling Android apps