Alaska
‘Decent’ snow conditions on Iditarod Trail await Iron Dog competitors
![‘Decent’ snow conditions on Iditarod Trail await Iron Dog competitors ‘Decent’ snow conditions on Iditarod Trail await Iron Dog competitors](https://gray-ktuu-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/w1K4F-torePUpTDr9OSsL4CF0EY=/1200x600/smart/filters:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/NM5KWHX4XBFETE7CVGF63QI2MQ.jpg)
BIG LAKE, Alaska (KTUU) – Snowmachiners competing on this yr’s Iron Canine race could have snow on the paths moderately than icy circumstances.
The race’s Government Director Mike Vasser mentioned that circumstances are wanting good for the kickoff on Friday.
“The path has ‘first rate’ snow on it from right here to Wet Go, after which from Wet Go to Rohn could be very related,” Vasser mentioned by cellphone on Thursday.
Good circumstances are welcome information for Iron Canine contestants, as a lot of Southwest Alaska was affected by temperatures close to and above freezing, together with rounds of sleet and freezing rain through the month of January. This made for icy, slushy, and sloppy circumstances for the Kuskokwim 300 sled canine race. Fortuitously, it seems that path circumstances have returned to extra these extra typical of an Alaskan winter — snow-covered.
“I did get a report this morning that there’s a honest quantity of snow in McGrath, and I consider it’s snowing there at the moment, in order that may very well be a bit of little bit of a problem at this level,” Vassar mentioned. “Typically, Mom Nature she will get after it with us someplace alongside the coast at one level or one other, with both heavy excessive winds blowing crossways, or a floor blizzard, or fog, that’s often the place we incur essentially the most climate.”
Snowmachiners received’t have to attend till they get nearer to Alaska’s west coast to come across some hostile climate. A system will deliver areas of snow — maybe briefly heavy and inflicting low visibility — proper on the 10 a.m. official begin of the race in Large Lake on Friday, and proceed for the primary few dozen miles.
Contestants shall be properly on the way in which to McGrath when the subsequent storm system impacts the Prepare dinner Inlet area, together with Anchorage, on Saturday. A couple of snow showers and areas of sunshine snow are within the forecast from McGrath by means of Unalakleet on as much as Koyuk on Sunday. Heavier snows are at the moment forecast to remain east of the race path because the machiners make their strategy to Kotzebue on Monday.
Precipitation will keep snow, with no icing issues — a minimum of from the sky — throughout this similar interval. Excessive temperatures within the teenagers at the beginning of the race on Friday will drop into the one digits as soon as the racers flip north from McGrath and head towards Kotzebue late Sunday into Monday.
Copyright 2023 KTUU. All rights reserved.
![](https://newspub.live/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/np-logo.png)
Alaska
Ukrainian refugees in Alaska uncertain what to expect after Trump announces possible negotiations
![Ukrainian refugees in Alaska uncertain what to expect after Trump announces possible negotiations Ukrainian refugees in Alaska uncertain what to expect after Trump announces possible negotiations](https://gray-ktuu-prod.gtv-cdn.com/resizer/v2/2V4FV6ACABERLD6A5DKT32D6KY.jpg?auth=9fa07ea977bc90372d29d790e0fc78532b71599222b87c623aedd71adf7f31fc&width=1200&height=600&smart=true)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A phone call between President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin prompted local refugees to consider what comes next for their home.
According to Trump the call between the leaders Wednesday struck an agreement to begin negotiations and end the Ukraine war; beginning with a prisoner swap.
Alaska hosts a number of Ukrainian refugees, according to Catholic Social Services Refugee Assistance Services — the only refugee resettlement agency in the state — it’s seen an influx of Ukrainians entering Alaska since 2022 when the war first broke out.
Based on Trump’s statements there is potential for negotiations, but Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also said Wednesday that Ukraine should give up any NATO aspirations.
One Alaskan who came to the U.S. as a child in 1998 said many Ukrainians are simply overwhelmed.
“We don’t have the emotional capacity to have a big response,” said Zori Opanasevych, who now operates the Ukraine Relief Program.
“I think that when it happens there will be a relief,” said Opanasevych, but before there is more information about what might come out of the negotiations Opanasevych said there is both a lot of hope and a lot of uncertainty.
Opanasevych anticipates there will be many who question Ukrainian refugees in the U.S. about their immigration status, and worries there may be talks of deportation even for people who have obtained residency through all the proper channels.
If refugees who have sought safety in the U.S. were sent back to Ukraine, they would be stripped of everything they’ve built, according to Opanasevych.
“Their concern is that they don’t have a home to go to because a fifth of Ukraine is destroyed,” Opanasevych said. “The economy is nonexistent, almost, and they’ve built their lives here.”
According to Catholic Social Services, they currently serve 735 Ukrainians, but estimate there are more than 1,000 Ukrainians in the state. Not all of them are enrolled in the services CSS provides.
See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com
Copyright 2025 KTUU. All rights reserved.
Alaska
Alaska Senate leaders suggest new revenue measures to address looming budget deficit
Alaska Senate leaders signaled Tuesday that they were open to considering new revenue measures this year to help stabilize the state’s looming budget deficit.
“We haven’t addressed revenue for decades,” Sen. Lyman Hoffman, a Bethel Democrat, told reporters. “I think it’s high time the Legislature looks at raising new revenues if we want to accomplish the many things that we want to do. If not, I don’t see a clear path forward to balancing not only this year’s budget, but next year’s budget.”
Budget analysts predict that without additional revenue, the state could face a $500 million shortfall during the coming year, even without increasing the state’s education budget — a top priority for leaders of both the House and Senate.
Hoffman, who has served in the Legislature for more than 38 years, said “the state of Alaska is probably facing its largest fiscal problem in 30 years.”
He said the fiscal crisis is driven in part by the Legislature’s efforts this year to significantly increase education funding, a task lawmakers have not undertaken in more than a decade. A bill backed by House leaders would increase the state’s education budget by around $150 million in the coming fiscal year compared to the current one, and hundreds of millions more in the following two years.
Hoffman said the Senate majority had already discussed new revenue measures during a retreat before the beginning of the session.
“I’m glad to report that new revenues are on the Senate’s list of things that need to be addressed this year,” he said.
Rep. Andy Josephson, an Anchorage Democrat who co-chairs the House Finance Committee, said the House majority had not collectively discussed new revenue measures.
“I suppose we would entertain other revenue measures, but we’re also very aware that this governor vetoed a tobacco tax bill, he vetoed a Turo tax bill,” said Josephson. “So I think the 21 of us don’t want to just chase windmills and pursue things that simply aren’t going to happen.”
Gov. Mike Dunleavy in December proposed a largely status quo budget with a projected deficit of $1.5 billion. He has not introduced new revenue measures this year.
In 2023, Dunleavy introduced legislation to allow the state to bring in revenue from carbon sequestration. The law has yet to yield income for the state. He signaled two years ago that he would introduce a sales tax in the final weeks of the legislative session. But he never introduced the measure.
Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, said the Senate majority has not discussed a sales tax or an income tax. Instead, both Hoffman and Sen. Bill Wielechowski, an Anchorage Democrat, pointed to possible measures that could increase taxation of oil and gas companies in the state by hundreds of millions annually.
“I think there are things that can be done which would have very little impact on investment, very little impact on Alaskans, and would help us solve our budget deficit,” said Wielechowski.
Those include a reduction in the per-barrel tax credits given to oil companies, and an amendment to the state’s tax code to apply corporate income tax on certain private corporations, including Hilcorp Alaska.
Sen. Robert Yundt, a freshman Republican from Wasilla who serves in the minority, on Monday introduced legislation meant to ensure the state’s corporate income tax is applied equally to companies in the state.
Stevens said his caucus was “really pleased” to see that legislation introduced by Yundt and said the Senate would be “moving forward” with that bill.
A similar measure considered by the Senate — and ultimately abandoned — last year would have increased taxation on Hilcorp, one of Alaska’s top-producing oil companies, by over $100 million.
In a written statement, Yundt said he introduced his bill because he thinks all companies should be “treated and taxed exactly the same — which, unfortunately, is not currently happening.”
“This legislation has the ability to create the even playing field that will benefit both industry and residents alike,” Yundt said.
Sean Maguire reported from Juneau and Iris Samuels from Anchorage.
Alaska
Grammy-winner Sean Paul to perform at 2025 Alaska State Fair
![Grammy-winner Sean Paul to perform at 2025 Alaska State Fair Grammy-winner Sean Paul to perform at 2025 Alaska State Fair](https://www.adn.com/resizer/v2//-rKFSCrc51j8hmIGwd6xqUEVpOo=/1200x630/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/adn/OYOI74GZ4MQNLKVERYNKGUHNJI.jpg)
Grammy-winning Jamaican singer Sean Paul will perform at the 2025 Alaska State Fair.
The platinum hitmaker with multiple chart-topping songs will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28, the fair announced Tuesday.
Paul rose to prominence in the 1990s, collaborating with other artists until his solo debut, “Stage One,” in 2000.
A master of the Jamaican dancehall genre, he won a Grammy for his 2004 album “Dutty Rock,” which featured hit singles “Gimme the Light” and “Get Busy.”
Tickets for the show go on sale 10 a.m. Friday at alaskastatefair.org.
Paul joins “Weird Al” Yankovic, Foreigner, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Chris Tomlin, Billy Currington and 3 Doors Down on the fair’s performer lineup.
The fair runs from Aug. 15 to Sep. 1 at the state fairgrounds in Palmer.
-
Politics1 week ago
Tulsi Gabbard confirmation fate to be tested with key committee vote
-
Technology1 week ago
Trump’s first 100 days: all the news affecting the tech industry
-
News1 week ago
'Beyond betrayal.' Venezuelans in Florida are angry at Trump immigration policy
-
World1 week ago
Montenegro pursues values-driven EU enlargement process
-
World1 week ago
Trump says US will ‘own’ Gaza in redevelopment plan
-
News1 week ago
Congressional Democrats to Trump: Changes can't be done in secrecy
-
Politics1 week ago
CIA offering buyouts to its entire workforce: report
-
Education1 week ago
Trump’s Orders Could Drain Millions From Universities, but Few Protest Openly