WHITTIER, Alaska (KTUU) – An important part of Alaskan history is now back in Alaska.

On Tuesday, the Prince William Sound Museum in Whittier accepted a 1939 Japanese machine gun — called a Nambu — used by Japanese military forces in the World War II Battle of Attu along the Aleutian Islands.

Museum Director Ted Spencer said having the gun displayed at the military museum was a lifelong dream, but getting it there was quite a journey.

It started with Lt. Colonel William Lucas, who led the charge to recapture Attu from the Japanese in 1943, earning a silver star in the process. The battle itself was bloody; the museum has the names of more than 500 American soldiers who died in the only World War II battle to be fought on North American soil.

The Americans prevailed and the Japanese retreated, leaving some of their weapons behind.

That, Spencer said, was how Lucas got the gun. It went with him to his home in Virginia where it stayed in a closet for nearly 80 years until it was eventually passed down to a granddaughter.

“So she contacted us and said, ‘Hey, would you like to have this gun for display?’ And of course, it was a big dream for me to have something from the battle of Attu,” Spencer said.

But there were complications; because the machine gun had never been registered with the federal government, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives wanted to melt it down.

Elaina Spraker, a staffer with Sen. Dan Sullivan’s office, worked to convince the agency the gun was a historic relic. It eventually agreed to transfer ownership to the City of Whittier.

On Tuesday, Sullivan toured the Whittier Museum, seeing the gun for the first time in person.

“To be able to have an original machine gun, [a] Japanese machine gun that was in that battle, you know we lost a lot of American service members,” Sullivan said. “To have that as a remembrance of the service and sacrifice — which is really what this museum is all about — it’s really powerful.”

Spencer said he hopes the gun will shed new light on a battle that many Americans are unfamiliar with. He called it an important piece of history in which Alaska played a vital role.

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Updated: 1 hour ago Published: 1 hour ago

Voter turnout ahead of Alaska’s Aug. 20 primary election is down from the past two elections but is running ahead of what it was in 2018 and 2016, the last two primaries without extraordinary factors in play.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic emergency spurred many Americans to vote by mail, and in 2022, Alaska’s primary election coincided with a special election for the state’s lone U.S. House seat.

Through Thursday, the Alaska Division of Elections had received 12,578 absentee ballot requests through mail, fax or email, according to figures posted on the division’s website. Additional requests are expected in coming days.

Two years ago, Alaskans requested more than 27,000 absentee ballots by mail, fax or email for the primary, and in 2020, the figure was more than 62,000 for the primary.

The Alaska Republican Party, Alaska Democratic Party and the Voter Participation Center have all sent unsolicited absentee ballot request forms to voters, according to the Division of Elections.

Though this year’s requests are lagging behind the past two primary elections, they’re running ahead of the 10,807 that were issued ahead of the 2018 primary or the 10,364 that were issued ahead of the 2016 primary.

Those figures do not include thousands more ballots that were cast at early voting sites or at places with in-person absentee voting.

According to the division, 2,100 Alaskans cast ballots at early voting sites between Aug. 5 and Aug. 7 this year.

In-person absentee voting, used at many rural Alaska voting locations, was disrupted last week by delays that prevented ballots from arriving in time for the Aug. 5 start of early voting.

All polling stations were open by Friday, the Alaska Division of Elections said.

James Boxrud, a spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service, said on Friday that the agency “is committed to the secure, timely delivery of the nation’s Election Mail.”

“Regarding election materials shipped by the Alaska Division of Elections, we are aware those materials have all been delivered or are available for pickup by local election officials. We continue working closely with state and local election authorities to resolve concerns ahead of the August 20th primary election,” he said by email.

Friday was the deadline for Alaskans to request that an absentee ballot be mailed to them, but voters can request an emailed ballot through Aug. 19.

A ballot must be postmarked on or before Election Day to be counted, and because much of Alaska’s mail is postmarked in either Anchorage or Juneau, voters are encouraged to have their ballot postmarked by hand inside a local post office.

Ballots will be counted if they are appropriately postmarked and arrive no later than 10 days after Election Day.

Originally published by the Alaska Beacon, an independent, nonpartisan news organization that covers Alaska state government.

Hawaiian Holdings (NASDAQ:HA) dropped 15% amid investor concern about a potential Dept. of Justice lawsuit to block its planned sale to Alaska Air (NYSE:ALK).

The shares fell after a Dept. of Justice trial attorney who was involved in the DOJ’s lawsuit to block JetBlue (JBLU) from buying Spirit Airlines (SAVE) filed to practice in Hawaii.

Brian Hanna, an attorney for the DOJ, notified the court, pursuant to the local rules of U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, filed an application for his attention to appear before the U.S. to attend to the interests of the U.S., according to a legal filing from Monday being circulated among traders.

To be clear, the legal filing didn’t mention Hawaiian Holdings (HA) or Alaska Air (ALK).

Alaska Air (ALK) didn’t immediately respond to Seeking Alpha email request for comment.

The filing comes ahead of Thursday deadline for the regulator to decide if it will file a lawsuit to block the airline combination. The airlines disclosed earlier this month that they agreed with the DOJ to extend the review period for their planned deal until Aug 15. The DOJ’s deadline was originally Aug. 5.

Several media outlets said last month that DOJ was preparing to sue to block the deal.