Judge suspends new Alaska abortion regulations for Medicaid patients: Alaska Superior Court Judge John Suddock has stopped the state from continuing with new abortion regulations imposed by the Department of Health and Social Services on Feb. 2. Planned Parenthood of Alaska -- the state's main provider of abortion services -- had argued for the temporary restraining order suspending the new rules. The state had implemented the changes on Sunday, administratively defining the term "medically necessary" to only cover procedures that pose a serious threat to a woman's physical health under Medicaid. In 2001, the Alaska Supreme Court overruled part of the state law that allows abortions only if they were medically necessary. The attempt by DHSS to clarify that term to include only immediate physical harm to an expectant mother will continue to be litigated while the restraining order is in place. Planned Parenthood and DHSS are expected to be back in court Friday for a hearing on the court case.
Army extends training near Anchorage: The U.S. Army Alaska Command said on Tuesday that it has extended training for the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division through Friday, Feb. 5. The exercises -- which include troops firing 105mm Howitzer cannons and mortars on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson -- were originally set to conclude on Wednesday. The Army said it needed more time to train the troops to be ready for quick deployments. Residents in Anchorage, Eagle River, and Chugiak can expect to continue hearing explosions and small arms fire during the training.
Dust storms and winter wildfires mark weird winter: If midwinter floods and avalanches that bury highways weren't enough, the National Weather Service now is warning Alaskans to get ready for dust storms and winter firestorms. Yes, you read that right. The unseasonably warm weather of January, which often saw coastal Alaska above freezing and melted a lot of snow, is shifting back toward seasonally cold with a twist. "Through the Matanuska Valley and the western Kenai Peninsula, the residual snow pack is very low or non-existent,'' the federal agency said in a special weather statement Monday. "This raises fire weather concerns due to the dryness of the airmass, albeit cold air, coupled with strong winds. Through the Matanuska Valley, there is also heightened risk of a prolonged period of blowing dust and silt.'' The dust and silt come from the beds of glacial rivers that are now at their seasonal lows, exposing the largest amount of dirt, sand and silt. In a normal winter, that would all be covered with snow. But this is no normal winter.
Pitching a rail link to Canada: Could Alaska see a rail link connecting Canada's tar sands to the trans-Alaska oil pipline? Perhaps, if a group of investors making a pitch to legislators in Juneau this week gets its way. According to a report from the Juneau Empire's Jenny Canfield disseminated by the Associated Press, the G7G Railway Corp., wants to build a 1,600-mile rail link connecting the Canadian city of Fort McMurray, Alberta with Delta Junction, Alaska. Although the group pitched investors on a rail line's versatility -- unlike a pipeline, it could transport timber, minerals or tourists -- the primary driving force is to get bitumen from the tar sands in Alberta to Alaska's pipeline and from there to markets. The plan would face a lot of hurdles, including the possibility that the bitumen would need further refining before it could flow down the trans-Alaska pipeline. Plus, the transport of petroleum by rail has become the subject of intense scrutiny after recent explosions in Quebec and North Dakota of trains carrying crude oil.
ICC Canada names chairperson nominee: When the Inuit Circumpolar Council convenes in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, this July, the two-term chairperson of the international organization, Greenland writer and political activist Aqqaluk Lynge will be succeeded by Okalik Eegeesiak, a 52-year-old president of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and resident of Iqaluit, Nunavut, according to a report from Nunatsiaq Online. The organization, with chapters in Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia, represents about 150,000 Inuit people, including Alaska's Iñupiat and Yupik.