All posts tagged: Alaska

Trump admin sets date for auction of drilling rights in Alaska refuge

Trump admin sets date for auction of drilling rights in Alaska refuge

Published by Sam Flores

The Trump administration has officially scheduled an auction for the rights to drill in a controversial spot: a wildlife refuge in Alaska. The auction, in which companies will be able to bid for the right to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, is set for June 5. The Trump administration declined to immediately say how many acres of land would be made available for lease. A spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management said this information would be available on the bureau’s website early next week. Republicans, in their One Big Beautiful Bill Act, required the government to hold four oil and gas lease sales in the refuge. The issue of whether to drill there has been contested for many years. The refuge is home to grizzly bears, polar bears, gray wolves, caribou and more than 200 species of birds and contains land considered sacred by the Gwich’in people. Opponents of drilling there say that energy production could cause harm to the animals and land. Supporters say it will bolster the local economy. “President Trump has …

an American Staple That Actually Began Life on … a Ranch

an American Staple That Actually Began Life on … a Ranch

Published by Sam Flores

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — Ranch is the best-selling salad dressing in America, and it has been since it took the crown from Italian near the close of the 20th century. It’s still jazzing up iceberg and romaine. But ranch now competes with the likes of ketchup and other condiments, a creamy dip for everything from hot wings and fried pickles to — perhaps most controversially — pizza. It’s ubiquitous, a versatile staple of American foodways easily found in grocery stores, recipes and on menus. There are entire cookbooks and a restaurant dedicated to the flavor. Beloved and maligned, ranch also turns up in the country’s cultural intangibles. Writers have labeled it the “Great American Condiment,” and less flatteringly, “extravagant and trashy.” It carries a nostalgia, said Nick Higgins, an executive for Hidden Valley Ranch’s parent company, which taps into that sentimentalism and fosters the ranch fandom. The viral food fights their product inspires? They embrace those, too. “We love it,” he said. “It’s one of the things we can debate as people and it’s OK.” …

NRCC touts tax cuts in new 2026 election messaging ad

NRCC touts tax cuts in new 2026 election messaging ad

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at an event about the economy at the Circa Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., January 25, 2025.  Leah Millis | Reuters The National Republican Congressional Committee on Tuesday launched a digital ad campaign in 14 competitive congressional districts across 11 states touting GOP-led tax breaks. The campaign, reported first by CNBC, is part of a Republican effort during the week taxes are due to highlight proposals, like no tax on tips and no tax on overtime, that were enacted as part of the 2025 GOP tax and spending bill. “After years of Democrats squeezing working Americans dry, House Republicans stepped in and delivered real relief,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement. “Bigger paychecks, lower taxes, and proof that when Republicans lead, working families come first.” Marinella did not disclose the cost of the campaign, but described it as a “modest ad buy.” Read more CNBC politics coverage President Donald Trump has also often promoted the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, calling its provisions “the …

Trump faces another shipping crisis – this time on his own doorstep

Trump faces another shipping crisis – this time on his own doorstep

Published by Sam Flores

Donald Trump’s obsession with acquiring Greenland has blinded him to a security crisis brewing on his own doorstep, Arctic leaders have warned. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, the former president of Iceland, said Mr Trump had been talking “utter rubbish” about enemy ships surrounding Greenland, while neglecting a very real Russian threat on his own side of the Arctic. In an interview with The Telegraph, Mr Grímsson urged the US president to look “closer to home” and counter a significant increase in Chinese and Russian ship activity around the Bering Strait, off the coast of Alaska. Last week, the US and Denmark began secret talks on the future of Greenland, which Mr Trump had threatened to conquer by force earlier this year. After Mr Trump attacked Venezuela, concerns over a potential invasion of the autonomous Danish territory were so acute that Denmark prepared to blow up Greenland’s runways to prevent US military planes from landing. The two countries are now seeking a diplomatic solution, with Copenhagen stressing that it cannot give up sovereignty in any form. But …

2 Tugboat Crew Members Killed in ‘Confined Space Incident’ on Barge, Coast Guard Says

2 Tugboat Crew Members Killed in ‘Confined Space Incident’ on Barge, Coast Guard Says

Published by Sam Flores

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Two crew members of a tugboat were killed and two others were injured in what the Coast Guard described Wednesday as a “confined space incident” aboard a barge moored in southeast Alaska last weekend. A Coast Guard news release provided limited details about what happened to the four, but said they were in a confined space aboard the freight barge Waynehoe on Sunday when other crew members from their tug, the Chukchi Sea, lost contact with them. The barge was moored about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Ketchikan. The parents of Sidney Mohorovich, one of the victims, said they were told by Coast Guard officials there was methane gas present in the confined space. “We don’t know why the series of events that led to all the people being in the confined space, if they all like went down as a team or in separate stages,” Todd Mohorovich told The Associated Press by phone from his home in Sedro-Woolley, Washington. “I have no information on that, but what I can …

As Winters Warm, Falling Through the Ice Is Becoming More Common — and Deadly

As Winters Warm, Falling Through the Ice Is Becoming More Common — and Deadly

Published by Sam Flores

Elmer Brown was following two friends on his four-wheeler last November, hunting caribou across a frozen channel in northern Alaska when the ice gave way. All three plunged into the frigid water. One friend drowned, and Brown, 45, later died of hypothermia, leaving behind five children. “He was always helping other people and sharing his catch with the elders,” said his brother Jimmy Brown. “It’s been tough, not seeing him. I keep expecting him to walk in and tell me about his day.” The friends had ventured onto the ice to hunt caribou, under pressure to make the most of shorter and less reliable hunting seasons, Jimmy Brown said. It wasn’t the first time the family had lost someone to the ice. The Brown brothers’ father drowned in 1999 while seal hunting. They’re among thousands who have died on ice across the Northern Hemisphere in recent decades as warming winters make conditions thinner and less predictable for those who fish, hunt and recreate on frozen lakes, rivers and coastal waters. March and April are particularly …

Man Accused of Tricking Hundreds of Teens Into Sending Him Pornographic Images Is Brought to US

Man Accused of Tricking Hundreds of Teens Into Sending Him Pornographic Images Is Brought to US

Published by Sam Flores

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A Bangladeshi man accused of using social media to trick teenage girls into sending him sexually explicit images — and then threatening to share them with their friends and family if they didn’t send more — has been transported to Alaska to face federal charges of child sexual exploitation. Zobaidul Amin, 28, pleaded not guilty during an initial court appearance in Anchorage on Thursday after the FBI took custody of him in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he had been studying medicine and facing related charges, U.S. prosecutors wrote in a detention memorandum. “Amin delighted in sexually abusing hundreds of minor victims over social media,” the document said. “He bragged about causing victims to become suicidal and engage in self-harm. He shared hundreds of nude images and videos of minor victims all over the internet and encouraged other perpetrators to do the same.” A federal grand jury indicted Amin in 2022 on charges including child pornography, cyberstalking and wire fraud. He adopted false identities, often posing as a teenager, to trick victims …

Oil Companies Shun Trump Administration’s Alaska Offshore Auction

Oil Companies Shun Trump Administration’s Alaska Offshore Auction

Published by Sam Flores

March 4 (Reuters) – Oil and gas drillers ⁠failed ⁠to show up at ⁠the Trump administration’s sale of more than 1 million ​acres (404,686 hectares) in Alaska’s Cook Inlet on Wednesday, declining to submit ‌even a single bid. The sale ‌was the first of six Alaska offshore oil and gas ⁠auctions mandated ⁠through 2032 by U.S. President Donald Trump’s One Big ​Beautiful Bill Act, which he signed into law last year. Trump has sought to expand domestic oil and gas resources, including in Alaska where production ​has been in decline for decades. Drilling in the Arctic and ⁠Alaska is ⁠a high-risk endeavor, ⁠involving decades ​of work and billions of dollars of investment. Officials from the U.S. Bureau ​of Ocean Energy ⁠Management had planned to read bids via a livestream on the agency’s website beginning at 10 a.m. Alaska time (1900 GMT). Bids were due a day earlier, on March 3. Instead, BOEM’s sale website was ⁠updated to reflect the lack of bids. “At this time, no bids ⁠have been received,” BOEM wrote. “In accordance with …

New Mexico Launches Investigation of Forced Sterilization of Native American Women

New Mexico Launches Investigation of Forced Sterilization of Native American Women

Published by Sam Flores

EDGEWOOD, N.M. (AP) — In the 1970s, the U.S. agency that provides health care to Native Americans sterilized thousands of women without their full and informed consent, depriving them of the opportunity to start or grow families. Decades later, the state of New Mexico is set to investigate that troubling history and its lasting harm. New Mexico legislators approved a measure this week to have the state Indian Affairs Department and the Commission on the Status of Women examine the history, scope and continuing impact of forced and coerced sterilizations of women of color by the Indian Health Service and other providers. The findings are expected to be reported to the governor by the end of 2027. “It’s important for New Mexico to understand the atrocities that took place within the borders of our state,” said state Sen. Linda Lopez, one of the legislation’s sponsors. It’s not the first state to confront its past. In 2023, Vermont launched a truth and reconciliation commission to study forced sterilization of marginalized groups including Native Americans. In 2024, …

Collar Cams Offer a Bear’s Eye View Into the Lives of Grizzlies on Alaska’s Desolate North Slope

Collar Cams Offer a Bear’s Eye View Into the Lives of Grizzlies on Alaska’s Desolate North Slope

Published by Sam Flores

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The life of one of the most remote grizzly bear populations in the world is being documented by the animals themselves, with collar cameras that provide a rare glimpse of how they survive on Alaska’s rugged and desolate North Slope. Twelve of the 200 or so grizzlies that roam the frigid, treeless terrain near the Arctic Ocean have been outfitted with the cameras as part of a research project by Washington State University and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The videos they record — many partially obscured by the undersides of whiskery muzzles — show the bears playing or fighting with companions, gnawing on a caribou, snarfing up berries, napping on a beach, and swimming in a pond looking for fish. Packing on the pounds for winter The bears hibernate about eight months of the year. “They really have a really short window to obtain enough food resources to pack on enough fat to survive that period,” said Washington State doctoral student Ellery Vincent, who is leading the project …