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The Rewind: 1A/2A state basketball championships wrap up, Alissa Pili headed to Sweet 16, and young Alaskans shine at Junior National Ski Championships

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The Rewind: 1A/2A state basketball championships wrap up, Alissa Pili headed to Sweet 16, and young Alaskans shine at Junior National Ski Championships


Welcome to The Rewind, a weekly digest that places a highlight on the most important tales and greatest performances from Alaska’s world of sports activities.

On the highschool sports activities scene, the 1A/2A state basketball event concluded over the weekend and noticed two new champions topped on the 1A stage whereas two repeated on the 2A stage. On the faculty scene, the College of Alaska Anchorage gymnastics group wrapped up its 2023 season whereas a number of native merchandise shined vivid on nationwide levels elsewhere across the nation.

Headlines and highlights

The Lumen Christi ladies group performed within the first title recreation on Saturday and was in a position to edge out Shaktoolik 32-30 to say the primary 1A basketball title in program historical past. The Archangels had been led in scoring by senior Emily Ross, who accounted for half of the group’s complete with a game-high 16 factors whereas the Wolverines had been led by Kayleigh Sagoonick’s 11 factors.

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[Lumen Christi girls hang on to top Shaktoolik 32-30 for first 1A state basketball title]

The Kake boys basketball group was in a position to finish a 36-year title drought by dominating Aniak from begin to end in a 67-49 victory to say its first 1A championship since 1987. The Thunderbirds had been led by senior Ethan Kadake, who recorded 25 of his game-high 31 factors within the first half whereas the Halfbreeds had been led by Ryan Steeves’ 19 factors.

[Kake boys cap undefeated season with 1A state basketball championship win over Aniak]

1A state basketball, tikigaq, ninilchik

The Tikigaq ladies gained a second straight 2A title and fourth since 2018 with a lopsided 55-33 victory over Metlakatla within the third recreation of the championship slate. The Harpooners had been led in scoring by sensational sopohmore Jennifer Nash, who recorded a game-high 20 factors which included pulling down 5 3-pointers. Almost half of the Chiefs’ level complete got here credit score of Bree Chavez’s 15 factors.

[Tikigaq girls repeat as 2A state basketball champs]

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The Ninilchik boys set out with the identical aim in thoughts and had been in a position to safe this system’s first back-to-back state titles for the reason that 2016-2017 seasons after rallying previous Tikigaq 66-53 within the remaining recreation of the evening. The Wolverines had been led in scoring and rebounds by star senior Colvin Moore who recorded a double-double with 21 factors and 10 rebounds whereas the Harpooners had been led by their very own star, senior Joelian Lane who scored a game-high 25 factors.

[Ninilchik boys basketball team rallies past Tikigaq to repeat as 2A state champion]

Although his group fell in need of reclaiming the 2A throne, Lane and the Harpooners got here out on high of arguably probably the most entertaining and dramatic recreation of all the event at both division on Friday evening once they overcame an 18-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat Metlakatla 67-63 and advance to the title recreation.

[Tikigaq boys erase 18-point fourth quarter deficit to advance to Alaska 2A basketball championship]

In school hoops information, College of Alaska girls’s group standout junior guard Vishe’ Rabb acquired one other honor final week following her excellent first season with this system. She was considered one of 10 NCAA girls’s basketball gamers within the Division II West Area to be named as a D2CCA Second Staff All-Area choice. The 5-foot-9 ahead was additionally named Nice Northwest Athletic Convention Newcomer of the 12 months and First Staff All-GNAC after main the group in scoring (436) and steals (52) with a free-throw share of .879 that led the GNAC and was second-best in program historical past.

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The UAA gymnastics group concluded its 2023 season on the Mountain Pacific Sports activities Federation Championships this previous Saturday and the Seawolves completed fifth among the many 5 groups in mixed rating with 190.075. In her final collegiate performances, senior Rachel Decious tied for sixth amongst 30 rivals on beam with a 9.825, which was simply shy of her personal program season excessive, and freshman Ariana DeSouza scored a team-best 9.8 on ground.

“The group actually introduced it again on the final three occasions after a tricky begin (on uneven bars), and that wasn’t a straightforward feat on the largest competitors of the 12 months,” UAA head coach Marie-Sophie Boggasch stated in an announcement. “It was a special occasion for our seniors, who really led the group with their performances at present.”

The College of Alaska Fairbanks riflery group captured a nation championship for the eleventh time in program historical past and for the primary time since 2008 on March 11. With a 2,380 in air rifle, a 12-point lead on second-place Texas Christian College and an combination rating of 4,729, the Nanooks had been in a position to make their long-awaited return to the highest of the collegiate riflery world.

The 2023 U.S. Cross Nation Ski Junior Nationwide Championships passed off in Fairbanks final week and skiers from the Final Frontier confirmed up and confirmed out. Wells Wappett of Lathrop and Katey Houser of Palmer highlighted the standout performances by the internet hosting Alaska group that completed fourth with (613) factors.

Wappett gained three medals within the boys U16 division that included profitable bronze in Monday’s interval begin traditional, silver in Tuesday’s dash race and gold within the mass begin 5K freestyle on Thursday. Houser gained a pair of medals within the ladies U20 division that included bronze within the 15K mass begin, gold within the dash and positioned fourth within the interval-start race. Service and Anchorage Winter Stars skier Olivia Soderstrom gained the U16 dash race. Within the U18 dash, Murphy Kimball, Elias Soule, Owen Younger and Cole Flowers completed 2-4-5-6. Derek Richardson gained the U20 race and Aaron Energy positioned fifth, adopted by Philipp Moosmayer.

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Different Alaskans with high 10 finishes within the mass begin freestyle races included Oskar Flora, Vebjorn Flagstad, Moosmayer and Aila Berrigan. Within the traditional race, Kieran Kaufman, Blake Hanley, Energy, Derek Richardson and Moosmayer earned top-10 finishes.

Alaska stars shining Exterior

Anchorage’s Alissa Pili continued her dominant first season with the College of Utah girls’s basketball group over the weekend when she set a career-high in factors with 33 within the Utes’ 103-77 win over Gardner-Webb College on Friday. Two days later, she adopted it up with 28 factors in a 63-56 win over Princeton College on Sunday the place she recorded the primary double-double within the postseason of her collegiate profession with a team-leading 10 rebounds. The All-American ahead of Dimond fame led her group to this system’s first Candy 16 berth in practically 20 years since 2006.

Seward’s Lydia Jacoby added to her already legendary legacy when the 19-year-old College of Texas freshman swimmer who already has an Olympic gold medal on her resume claimed an NCAA nationwide title by profitable the 100-meter breaststroke on Friday evening. Her profitable time of 57.03 was the seventh-fastest in NCAA historical past within the occasion, and she or he earned All-America honors after taking part within the Longhorns’ 400-medley relay group.

[Seward swimmer Lydia Jacoby takes NCAA title in 100 breaststroke]

Anchorage’s Tobin Karlberg recorded his second straight recreation of 20 or extra factors final Monday as he completed second on the Level Loma College males’s basketball group’s 89-83 loss to Cal State San Bernardino within the Division II regional championship recreation. The previous Grace Christian prep went 8-of-15 from the sphere, which included going 3-of-4 from behind the arc, and led the Sea Lions with a pair of steals.

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Anchorage’s Finnigan Donley was topped an general nationwide champion on the U18 Junior Nationwide Championships that wrapped up early final week. His phenomenal efficiency included profitable two gold medals, a bronze medal, and a sixth-place end over the 4 racing disciplines over the course of the four-day occasion. His gold medals got here within the downhill and super-G on Saturday and Sunday, he got here in sixth place in large slalom Monday and his bronze medal got here on Tuesday within the slalom.

Eagle River’s Vanessa Aniteye acquired one other well-deserved accolade every week after she capped off her sensational graduate pupil marketing campaign at Seattle Pacific College by claiming a nationwide indoor observe title within the NCAA girls’s 800-meter when she was voted the West Area Division II Indoor Girls’s Observe Athlete of the 12 months by the U.S. Observe & Area and Cross Nation Coaches Affiliation. The previous Chugiak prep standout and former UAA switch concluded her illustrious collegiate profession with 4 Nice Northwest Athletic Convention outside championships within the 400 and completed sixth within the occasion at NCAA outside nationals final spring earlier than making the swap to the 800 for her final semester of eligibility.

Anchorage’s JT Thor tied his career-high for factors in a recreation on the NBA stage when he got here off the bench and recorded 11 factors for the second time this season and reached double figures in scoring for the third time in his profession within the Charlotte Hornets’ 120-104 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 14. The second-year professional and former West Excessive Eagle went 4-of-7 from the sphere and recorded 6 rebounds as properly.

Final week’s outcomes

Prep Basketball

Ladies

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Wednesday

Cook dinner Inlet Academy 49, St. Mary’s 35

Lumen Christi 40, Akiachak 19

Newhalen 55, Kake 34

Shaktoolik 67, Akiuk 29

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No. 3 Tanalian 47, Nunamiut 33

Aqqaluk 49, Klawock 47

Shishmaref 40, Walter Northway 37

Buckland 60, Scammon Bay 27

Thursday

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Shaktoolik 65, Aqqaluk 44

Cook dinner Inlet Academy 52, Tanalian 47

Buckland 53, Newhalen 45

Lumen Christi 32, Shishmaref 24

Klawock 39, Akiuk 29

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Nunamiut 53, St. Mary’s 43

Kake 47, Scammon Bay 34

Walter Northway 35, Akiachak 26

Metlakatla 52, Unalakleet 37

Su-Valley 39, Chevak 17

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Tikigaq 58, Craig 47

Glennallen 39, Haines 23

Friday

Lumen Christi 58, Buckland 46

Shaktoolik 41, Cook dinner Inlet Academy 35

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Walter Northway 39, Kake 38

Klawock 44, Nunamiut 42

Newhalen 49, Shishmaref 42

Tanalian 40, Aqqaluk 38

Metlakatla 28, Su-Valley 24

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Tikigaq 40, Glennallen 35

Craig 41, Haines 36

Unalakleet 52, Chevak 39

Saturday

Lumen Christi 32, Shaktoolik 30

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Buckland 53, Cook dinner Inlet Academy 47

Newhalen 46, Tanalian 32

Comfort

Klawock 63, Walter Northway 52

Tikigaq 55, Metlakatla 33

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Su Valley 36, Glennallen 35

Craig 40, Unalakleet 39

Boys

Wednesday

Tri-Valley 69, Buckland 65

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Newhalen 69, Shaktoolik 32

Cook dinner Inlet Academy 64, Emmonak 45

Kake 72, Lumen Christi 28

Napaaqtugmiut 51, Shishmaref 45

Scammon Bay 88, Nunamiut 54

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King Cove 40, Klawock 39

Aniak 49, Nelson Island 47

Thursday

Scammon Bay 80, King Cove 65

Aniak 64, Napaaqtugmiut 55

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Kake 67, Newhalen 45

Tri-Valley 65, Cook dinner Inlet Academy 63

Klawock 69, Nunamiut 50

Nelson Island 68, Shishmaref 61

Shaktoolik 49, Lumen Christi 40

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Buckland 69, Emmonak 55

Petersburg 58, Hooper Bay 55

Ninilchik 97, Unalakleet 55

Tikigaq 64, Wrangell 51

Metlakatla 50, Cordova 33

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Friday

Aniak 77, Scammon Bay 62

Kake 61, Tri-Valley 56

Klawock 59, Nelson Island 51

Buckland 76, Shaktoolik 74

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Napaaqtugmiut 78, King-Cove 56

Newhalen 66, Cook dinner Inlet Academy 42

Tikigaq 67, Metlakatla 63

Ninilchik 53, Petersburg 42

Unalakleet 72, Hooper Bay 56

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Wrangell 61, Cordova 47

Saturday

Kake 67, Aniak 49

Tri-Valley 73, Scammon Bay 62

Napaaqtugmiut 69, Newhalen 50

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Klawock 50, Buckland 40

Ninilchik 66, Tikigaq 53

Metlakatla 58, Petersburg 44

Wrangell 60, Unalakleet 31

School

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Gymnastics

Saturday

UC Davis 196.200; San Jose State 195.600; Air Power 195.475; Sacramento State 194.550; UAA 190.075

Quick Ahead

Prep

Basketball

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2023 3A/4A ASAA State Championship Match

March Insanity within the Final Frontier is coming to a detailed this week because the prep hoops postseason wraps up this week with the conclusion of the 2022-2023 season for the upper stage faculties across the state. The highest 3A and 4A girls and boys groups shall be in Anchorage and enjoying on the Alaska Airways Middle the place they’ll battle it out for supremacy with the hopes of claiming a state title for his or her respective packages.

The motion begins on Wednesday and runs by means of Saturday with the championship bouts for 3A happening at 1 p.m. and three p.m. whereas the 4A title tilts tip off at 5:30 p.m. and seven:30 p.m.

1A/2A Alaska State Basketball Match

(All video games at Alaska Airways Middle except famous)

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Alaska state 3A/4A basketball event

(All video games on Alaska Airways Middle Primary Court docket except famous)

3A Ladies

Wednesday

First spherical

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No. 1 Grace Christian vs. No. 8 Bethel, 8 a.m.

No. 4 Barrow vs. No. 5 Sitka, 9:30 a.m.

No. 2 Monroe Catholic vs. No. 7 Kenai Central, 11 a.m.

No. 3 Mt. Edgecumbe vs. No. 6 Valdez, 3:15 p.m. at Auxiliary Gymnasium

Thursday

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Comfort

Loser Grace Christian/Bethel vs. Loser Barrow/Sitka, midday at Auxiliary Gymnasium

Loser Monroe Catholic/Kenai Central vs. Loser Mt. Edgecumbe/Valdez, midday

Semifinals

Winner Monroe Catholic/Kenai Central vs. Winner Mt. Edgecumbe/Valdez, 3:15 p.m.

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Winner Grace Christian/Bethel vs. Winner Barrow/Sitka, 4:45 p.m.

Friday

4th/sixth place, 11 a.m. at Auxiliary Gymnasium

Saturday

third/fifth place, 10:30 a.m.

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Championship, 1 p.m.

3A Boys

Wednesday

First spherical

No. 4 Mt. Edgecumbe vs. No. 5 Kenai Central, 8 a.m. at Auxiliary Gymnasium

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No. 1 Grace Christian vs. No. 8 Delta, 9:30 a.m. at Auxiliary Gymnasium

No. 2 Nome-Beltz vs. No. 7 Barrow, 3:15 p.m.

No. 3 Houston vs. No. 6 Valdez, 7:45 p.m. at Auxiliary Gymnasium

Thursday

Comfort

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Loser Mt. Edgecumbe/Kenai Central vs. Loser Grace Christian/Delta, 10:30 a.m.

Loser Nome-Beltz/Barrow vs. Loser Houston/Valdez, 10:30 a.m. at Auxiliary Gymnasium

Semifinals

Winner Mt. Edgecumbe/Kenai Central vs. Winner Grace Christian/Delta, 6:15 p.m.

Winner Nome-Beltz/Barrow vs. Winner Houston/Valdez, 7:45 p.m.

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Friday

4th/sixth place, 9:30 a.m.

Saturday

third/fifth place, 9 a.m.

Championship, 3 p.m.

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4A Ladies

Wednesday

First spherical

No. 2 Wasilla vs. No. 7 Lathrop, 12:30 p.m.

No. 4 Thunder Mountain vs. No. 5 West Anchorage, 12:30 p.m. at Auxiliary Gymnasium

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No. 3 Colony vs. No. 6 Juneau-Douglas, 4:45 p.m.

No. 1 Anchorage Christian vs. No. 8 Dimond, 6:15 p.m.

Friday

Comfort

Loser Anchorage Christian/Dimond vs. Loser Thunder Mountain/West, 12:30 p.m.

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Loser Colony/Juneau-Douglas vs. Loser Wasilla/Lathrop, 12:30 p.m. at Auxiliary Gymnasium

Semifinals

Winner Anchorage Christian/Dimond vs. Winner Thunder Mountain/West, 3:15 p.m.

Winner Colony/Juneau-Douglas vs. Winner Wasilla/Lathrop, 4:45 p.m.

Saturday

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4th/sixth place, 10:30 a.m. at Seawolf Sports activities Middle

third/fifth place, 10:30 a.m. at Auxiliary Gymnasium

Championship, 5:30 p.m.

4A Boys

Wednesday

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First spherical

No. 1 West Valley vs. No. 8 Juneau-Douglas, 11 a.m.

No. 3 Bettye Davis East vs. No. 6 Anchorage Christian, 4:45 p.m.

No. 4 Monroe Catholic vs. No. 5 Colony, 6:15 p.m. at Auxiliary Gymnasium

No. 2 Dimond vs. No. 7 West Anchorage, and seven:45 p.m.

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Friday

Comfort

Loser West Valley/Juneau-Douglas vs. Loser Monroe Catholic/Colony, 9:30 a.m. at Auxiliary Gymnasium

Loser Bettye Davis East/Anchorage Christian vs. Loser Dimond/West, 11 a.m.

Semifinals

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Winner West Valley/Juneau-Douglas vs. Winner Monroe Catholic/Colony, 6:15 p.m.

Winner Bettye Davis East/Anchorage Christian vs. Winner Dimond/West, 7:45 p.m.

Saturday

4th/sixth, 9 a.m. at Seawolf Sports activities Middle

third/fifth, 9 a.m. at Auxiliary Gymnasium

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Championship, 7:30 p.m.

NAHL

Anchorage Wolverines vs. Minnesota Wilderness at Ben Boeke Ice Enviornment on Friday and Saturday 7 p.m. and Sunday 4 p.m.

After every week off, the Wolverines shall be again in motion and on house ice for the third weekend this month. They are going to be trying to bounce again from getting swept of their final trip towards the Minnesota Wilderness as they proceed to make a push for playoff positioning. On the season, Anchorage is 1-2 towards Springfield and could have an opportunity to tie or take the head-to-head sequence lead with a three-game sequence this weekend





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Alaska

Northern highlights: Alaska's energy, security policies are the guide feds need amid transition, group says

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Northern highlights: Alaska's energy, security policies are the guide feds need amid transition, group says


EXCLUSIVE: Private citizens — right up to the governor himself — are primed to be part of a new Alaskan initiative aimed at promoting policies that have been effective in Juneau at a national level as a new administration signals a willingness to listen and adapt to new strategies.

Just as Florida’s education policy under Gov. Jeb Bush served as a blueprint for national education reform, the nonprofit Future 49 aims to position Alaska as today’s model, focusing primarily on national security and energy.

Its top funders are a group of Alaskans of all stripes as well as a few Washington, D.C.-based advocates. It is nonpartisan and simply pro-Alaskan, according to one of its proponents.

It also seeks to dispatch with what one source familiar with its founding called the “out of sight, out of mind” feeling of some in the Lower 48 when it comes to how far-flung Alaska can translate its own successes in the cold north to a federal government that could benefit from its advice.

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One of Future 49’s founders is a commercial airline pilot whose family has lived in Alaska for more than 125 years. He said he wanted to show Washington issues Alaska deals with every day.

AK GOV: BIDEN SEARCHING FOR OIL ANYWHERE BUT AT HOME

Anchorage skyline (Getty)

Bob Griffin’s family has lived in Alaska since 1899, he said, remarking he is an example of grassroots support behind showcasing Alaska’s potential to be the driving force in key sectors for the rest of the country.

Griffin said while there has not been any direct contact yet with the new administration, Gov. Mike Dunleavy is an ally of Trump’s and, in turn, primed to have a role in the group.

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“We’re focused on not only the Trump administration, but other decision makers, to just highlight and advertise that the successes we’ve had in Alaska in energy, natural resources and other policy priorities are a good fit and benefit to all Americans.”

He noted the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge region spans the size of West Virginia, but the part of it federally budgeted for exploration in a recent fiscal year was only an area half the size of Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, illustrating how Juneau must guide Washington.

FLASHBACK: ALASKAN F-35s PREPARE FOR MAJOR SUB-ZERO ARCTIC WARFARE

A source familiar with the founding of Future 49 told Fox News Digital how the group’s launch comes at a key juncture as one advice-averse administration transitions into one that has signaled its openness to undertake recommendations from states and local groups.

“The resources our nation needs to be energy-dominant are in Alaska, not in unfriendly nations like Russia and Iran who despise what we stand for and commit egregious environmental offenses on a daily basis,” the source said.

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ALASKA OUTRAGED AT BIDEN OIL LEASE SALE SETUP BEING ‘FITTING FINALE’ FOR FOSSIL FUEL AVERSE PRESIDENCY

While the group is primed to express a pro-development approach to energy, it will remain nonpartisan and offer Washington successful strategies to develop both green and traditional energy based on work done in Alaska.

Dunleavy has offered a similarly two-fold approach, saying in a recent interview that opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to responsible development may yield just as much economic growth for the nation as emerging green technology, such as a proposal to harness the second-strongest tides in the world churning in Cook Inlet outside Anchorage.

Those parallels show why Future 49’s advent is coming at the right time, a source told Fox News Digital.

Future 49’s plan to use Alaska’s long-term goal to utilize its energy resources as a roadmap was a sentiment also voiced in another confirmation hearing Thursday. Interior nominee Doug Burgum highlighted the need for domestic “energy dominance” for both economic and security reasons.

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doug burgum

Doug Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota and nominee for U.S. secretary of the interior, during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., Jan. 16, 2025.  (Al Drago)

With Russia having invaded Ukraine, Dunleavy said most sensitive national defense assets are housed in Alaska, so the state has a deep background in what is needed to deter malign actors.

“We’re very close to the bear,” he said.

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Lessons learned from managing a National Guard force so closely tied to top-level national security concerns is another avenue Future 49 will likely seek to aid Washington in.

The group plans to commission a survey of Lower 48 Americans on their view of the Last Frontier and how they perceive Alaska from thousands of miles away, said Alaska pollster Matt Larkin.

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‘Prolonged’ internet outage in North Slope & Northwest: Quintillion blames optic cable break

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‘Prolonged’ internet outage in North Slope & Northwest: Quintillion blames optic cable break


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The president of Quintilian blamed an optic cable break for a North Slope & Northwest Alaska internet outage that will take an undefined amount of time to fix.

“It appears there was a subsea fiber optic cable break near Oliktok Point, and the outage will be prolonged,” Quintillion President Michael “Mac” McHale said in a short statement provided by a company spokesperson. “We are working with our partners and customers on alternative solutions.”

The statement mirrored what the company released Saturday morning on social media.

So far, the company has not provided a specific timeline for the repair’s next steps.

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See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com



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Opinion: Alaska’s court system has had solutions for expensive, unnecessary delays since 2009. What’s lacking is accountability.

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Opinion: Alaska’s court system has had solutions for expensive, unnecessary delays since 2009. What’s lacking is accountability.


As a former prosecutor, I was shocked and saddened to read reporter Kyle Hopkins’ recent reporting in the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica on pervasive, unconstitutional, heartbreaking delays of violent felony cases. Judges granting continuances 50 to 70 times over seven to 10 years — with “typically” no opposition from the prosecution, and no mention of the victims. Victims and their families suffering years before the closure that a trial can bring, some even dying during the delays.

Hopkins’ reporting is recent. The problem isn’t. The Office of Victims’ Rights (OVR) has been covering delays for years in annual reports to the Legislature, beginning in 2014. In 2018, after monitoring nearly 200 cases, OVR said judges were mostly to blame.

Other causes have been noted: understaffed public defender and prosecutor offices; the incentive for defendants to delay because witnesses’ memories fade. But in 2019, OVR said, “It is up to the judges to control the docket, to adhere to standing court orders, to follow the law and to protect victims’ rights as well as defendants’ rights.”

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In 1994, 86% of Alaskans who voted supported a crime victims’ rights ballot. That overwhelming mandate was enshrined in our state constitution. It includes victims’ “right to timely disposition of the case.” For years, Anchorage Superior Court judges have ignored this right.

After reading the recent coverage, I began searching. Maybe other jurisdictions had found solutions to similar delays. What I discovered shocked me even more.

In 2008, a working group co-chaired by an Alaska Supreme Court justice determined the average time to disposition for felony cases in Anchorage had nearly quadrupled. “This finding amounted to a ‘call to arms’ for improvements …(.)”

In November 2008, the state paid to send three judges, two court personnel, the Anchorage district attorney, the deputy attorney general and three public defenders to a workshop in Arizona about causes of delays, and solutions. David Steelman was a presenter. He worked with the Alaska group in Phoenix and Anchorage. That work resulted in a 59-page report dated March 2009.

I found Steelman’s report online (“Improving Criminal Caseflow Management in the Alaska Superior Court in Anchorage”). His findings are revealing.

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Delays resulted from informal attitudes, concerns and practices of the court, prosecutors and public defense lawyers. To change this “culture of continuances,” it was critical the court exercise leadership and the attorneys commit to change. Judges and the public-sector lawyers must recognize they were all responsible for making prudent use of the finite resources provided by taxpayers. Unnecessary delays wasted resources.

Steelman recommended the judges and lawyers agree to individual performance measurements, and the court engage in ongoing evaluation of his Caseflow Improvement Plan. The plan included a “Continuance Policy for Anchorage Felony Cases.”

I found an unsigned Anchorage court order dated May 1, 2009. It included Steelman’s Continuance Policy recommendation that the court log every requested continuance in the court file, name the party requesting it, the reasons given, whether the continuance was granted, and the delay incurred if it was granted.

More telling, it omitted Steelman’s recommendation that, “Every six months, the chief criminal judge shall report to the Presiding Judge on the number of continuances requested and granted during the previous period(.)”

That provision might have ensured accountability.

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After years of only bad news, in 2018, OVR reported a glimmer of “good news” — a pre-trial delay working group was formed by Anchorage Presiding Judge Morse and the court system. In September 2018, Judge Morse issued a Felony Pre-Trial Order. Its goals included reducing delays of felony case dispositions and minimizing the number of calendaring hearings. (Sound familiar?)

But, OVR added, “The real test will be whether judges will hold to the new plan and hold parties accountable for delays. The jury is out on whether the will to change is actually present, but the court ultimately will be responsible for improving this problem unless the legislature steps in and passes new laws to resolve this continuing violation of victims’ rights.”

The jury has been out since 2009. The court failed that test. Based on the ADN/ProPublica reporting, the court failed the test of 2018. Things are worse than ever.

And the court’s response? A spokesperson told Kyle Hopkins there was “new” training for judges on managing case flows, as well as an Anchorage presiding judge’s order limiting when postponements may be used. (Sound familiar?)

I also reached out to the court. I requested documentation of this “new” training and a copy of the latest order. I also asked about the unsigned May 2009 court order. I’ve received no response. Similarly, when Hopkins reached out to Anchorage Superior Court judges, none of the criminal docket judges responded directly.

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There are two things courts and judges will respond to: their budget and retention elections.

First, the Alaska Senate and House Judiciary and Finance Committees should hold the court system accountable for its proposed budget. Require it to cost out delays from past years. According to a 2011 report by Steelman, just two Anchorage cases (each with over 70 scheduling hearings), “(M)ay have cost the State of Alaska the full-time equivalent of an extra prosecutor or public defender attorney.”

The court system has proven, since 2008, it can’t be trusted to not waste money on unnecessary delays. It must finally be held accountable by the Legislature.

Second, retention elections. Superior Court judges are appointed by the governor, but they must stand election for retention by the voters every six years. The Alaska Judicial Council evaluates each judge before their election and makes that information public. The council incorporates surveys of attorneys, law enforcement, child services professionals, court employees and jurors.

The Judicial Council does not survey victims, or those who assist them, such as OVR or Victims for Justice. It should. Other than the defendant, victims are the only ones with a constitutional right to a speedy trial. That right is being ignored by judges. Alaska voters who issued a mandate should know which judges are ignoring it.

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Val Van Brocklin is a former state and federal prosecutor in Alaska who now trains and writes on criminal justice topics nationwide.

The views expressed here are the writer’s and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.





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