Rule change opens new path for ‘constitutional sheriff’ group to train Arizona law enforcement
PHOENIX, Arizona—The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board rejected the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association’s request to train officers in “American ideals and the principles of Liberty upon which the USA was founded,” preventing such training from reaching Arizona law enforcement officers in an official capacity. Soon, however, that safeguard will no longer exist: A rule change set to take effect in December will lower the barrier for extremist organizations to access law enforcement personnel by taking continuing-education decisions out of the board’s hands and placing them in those of individual law enforcement agency leaders across Arizona.
How One Native American Tribe is Battling for Control Over Flaring
NEW TOWN, North Dakota—Powerful flames of burning natural gas shine brightly a few miles in any direction from Mark Fox’s office on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. But when he looks out his window, Fox sees a different future.
Next door is the construction site of the Three Affiliated Tribes’ new administration building—a multimillion-dollar project funded by oil and gas revenue.
Gaslit: A Howard Center Investigation
U.S. oil and gas companies have burned off at least 3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas over much of the last decade, while unknown amounts of the methane-rich gas have flowed directly into the atmosphere.
Regulators are largely in the dark about these volumes, even as they try to slow the pace of global warming. But advances in satellite data reveal the true extent of these greenhouse gases.
Unfinished border barriers harm environment, National Park Service, Arizona rancher say
ORGAN PIPE CACTUS NATIONAL MONUMENT – Replanted saguaros stand like sentinels along a wide access road and a towering, 30-foot bollard barrier that’s part of construction ordered by then-President Donald Trump. But further along the border, the new barrier ends, the road is incomplete, construction materials lay scattered and uprooted plants have long since died.
Locals, security experts and environmentalists say the half-finished project has introduced more problems than it fixed.
50 Years of ANCSA ‘An experiment whose results are not fully realized’
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - Fifty years ago, as the Watergate scandal swirled around then-President Richard Nixon, he signed into law the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). It was the largest land claims settlement in the nation’s history and a stark departure from agreements forced on Tribes in the Lower 48.
Travel nurses, staffing industry pushed to the limits by COVID
PHOENIX - Travel nurse David Ryan said frontline workers face working conditions during the pandemic that he’d never imagined.
“I’ve held way more hands, in the last year, during their last breath, than I did for eight years before,” Ryan sayid.
Scottsdale at-large: wrangling with
representation
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — Dave Ortega stops by an aging strip mall in Scottsdale, Arizona, with campaign fliers tucked under his arm. In the closing hours of Election Day, he sets to work under the sparse shade of a tree in the Scottsdale East Plaza parking lot, intercepting residents before they get in line to vote.
His message: Scottsdale must adopt a districting council system if it wants to fairly represent all of its residents.
Contaminated Conveyances:
Determining liability and finding funds hinder cleanup of ANCSA lands
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA – Although the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was passed in 1972, the conveyance of lands to the Alaska Native corporations formed by that act faces ongoing issues, including the fact that many of the lands were contaminated while not under Alaska Native ownership. The pace at which this is being resolved is unacceptable and unreasonable according to US Senator Lisa Murkowski, who calls it a “raw deal.”
Posts with Purpose: Alaska Natives influencers choose substance over likes
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - What it means to be a social media influencer in Alaska—with its modest population of about 730,000 spread out over more than 663,000 square miles—is a bit different than the Lower 48. That’s even more the case when your target audience is Alaska Natives.
Climbing in the Far North:
The future of interior Alaska’s climbing scene
FAIRBANKS, ALASKA - “As soon as the summer comes, you’re restricted to navigable rivers, and that’s not where the rocks are,” explains Stan Justice, who wrote the first climbing guide for Interior Alaska, Fairbanks Area Rock Climbing Guide, in 1994.
In the 663,300 square miles of the Last Frontier, there are only 1,080 miles of highway, meaning the approaches are long. And, of course, the season is short—in summer when it’s warm enough to rock climb in the Interior, the frozen ground providing access to the cliffs also thaws into subarctic boreal marshes swarmed by Alaska’s state bird, the mosquito.
Dice travels:
Chasing serendipity
PHUKET, THAILAND - Like riding itself, dice can be about breaking patterns, escaping, and getting away from previously self-inflicted constraints. Too often, a trail is never taken because of fear of where it may lead. But if the die is rolled, and it points down the path, well, if it sucks it’s the die’s fault. More often than not, however, what’s hidden ahead may be worth the risk.
Newtok to Mertarvik
In October, the Yup’ik community of Newtok braced itself to lose four homes to rapid erosion as storms from the southeast removed dozens of feet of shoreline no longer protected by ice and permafrost due to climate change.
During a three-day storm at the beginning of October, twenty feet of shoreline was lost, putting the closest homes within twenty-five feet of the Ningliq River.
Green energy calls for copper—mining in Alaska can build a renewable future
President Joe Biden’s ambitious goal to reduce America’s dependency on fossil fuels sets the stage for a dramatic increase in demand for the mineral resources necessary for green technology—especially copper. Green tech, paired with increased electrification of people’s lives and the urbanization of developing countries, is driving the long-term demand for copper, says Patrick Donnelly, vice president of corporate communications and development at Trilogy Metals.
Sea Shepherd hunts
Interpol-wanted poacher
that escaped Phuket
PHUKET, THAILAND - The hunt is back on for the internationally black-listed illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing vessel that slipped through the fingers of Phuket officials earlier this year, confirmed Captain Siddharth Chakravarty of the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin.
Vaccine Rollout in Rural Alaska—Coordination and Communication Made Getting Back to Business Possible
According to Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation (YKHC) Chief of Staff Dr. Ellen Hodges, the planning, coordination, communication, and dedication that made the vaccine rollout in rural Alaska a success story is striking.
Posts with Purpose: choosing substance over likes
What it means to be a social media influencer in Alaska—with its modest population of about 730,000 spread out over more than 663,000 square miles—is a bit different than the Lower 48. That’s even more the case when your target audience is Alaska Natives.
Many Alaska Native influencers use the social media platforms TikTok and Instagram for a variety of reasons, often mixing creative entrepreneurship with social justice and environmental causes important to them.
Cloudy COVID-19 economy
Though its largest city lagged behind, Alaska as a whole saw modest job growth in 2019, marking an emergence from a recession that started in 2014. Economists were cautiously optimistic in their predictions for what 2020 would hold for the state’s economy. What none of them saw coming—what nobody saw coming—was the COVID-19 pandemic and the crippling economic damage it would cause.
COVID-19 and fishing
in the Last Frontier:
What’s on the line?
For Alaska’s Commercial fishermen, remaining in business during a pandemic comes with a set of unprecedented problems including the need to minimize this new risk and disruption in key markets for Alaska seafood—on top of already significant pre-COVID-19 challenges.
Though Alaska seafood industry harvest numbers were not significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a year-over-year decline in harvest value, according to a McDowell Group report.
Serving Alaska’s smallest patients
The bimodal nature of our state’s healthcare system, pressure on pediatric specialists, and the rugged nature of the state are all challenges facing pediatricians who practice in Alaska.
“The way I heard it when I was a student was most healthcare providers walk into the pediatric floor and think it’s the saddest part of the hospital, right? Because there are sick kids,” says Dr. Monique Child of Polar Pediatrics. “Some of us walk in there and go: this is the best part—there are popsicles and stickers and kids get better.”
Budding industry battles black market
A robust licensing and permitting process offers protection from federal prosecution for the Alaska cannabis industry, but the time and expense of participating in that process has created a market in which licensed businesses are vulnerable to being undercut by black-market prices.
Battle the dark side of gourmet toothfish dishes
PHUKET, THAILAND - There are a number of reasons that toothfish, more commonly known at the dinner table as Chilean Sea Bass, are coveted by chefs – on and off the fine china of word-class restaurants and superyachts.
“Chilean Sea Bass has a fabulous taste and an almost sinful mouth-feel. Its high-fat content keeps it moist during cooking and gives it a rich, moist, tender flavor profile which melts in your mouth. It has white flesh with large, tender flakes,” explains Chefs-resources.com in its flavor profile of the delicacy.
The fish, which is traded in more than 100 countries, is primarily eaten by diners in the United States and Europe.
Facing the Blob
Challenging statewide salmon harvests have dominated headlines, with record-high sockeye production in Bristol Bay being the state’s primary saving grace. However, salmon are not the only fish in the sea keeping the state’s fisheries afloat, with many fishermen relying on groundfish, herring, and miscellaneous shellfish to make ends meet. Some fishermen use alternative fisheries as a way to balance their portfolios, while others focus entirely on a single target species ranging from Dungeness crab to sablefish.
“In a typical year, Alaska’s most valuable fisheries [measured by value of harvest] include salmon, pollock, Pacific cod, crab, halibut, and black cod,” says Garrett Evridge, an economist with McDowell Group, an Alaska-based research firm.
Kata Reef’s beauty under threat
PHUKET, THAILAND - Geared up without letting a tank touch the pavement, four of us waddle across the hot sand of Kata Beach to take a peek at the beautiful and “at high risk” reef-system just offshore.
Only a couple weeks ago Niphon Pongsuwan, a coral expert, warned Phuket that the amount of coastal development on the island would accelerate the sedimentation of coral reef-systems along its coast, citing the northern end of Kata has a high risk zone.