Author: Carlos White

The largest rural air carrier in Alaska plans to stop flying to two of its 11 destinations later this month, citing a nationwide pilot shortage that has left a hole in its ranks. Ravn Alaska will cancel its current service to Kenai and to Aniak in Southwest Alaska starting Oct. 21, said Tina Hanley, chief commercial officer with Ravn Alaska, in an interview Friday. The airline currently provides several passenger flights daily to Kenai, population 7,500. It flies six days each week to Aniak, a Southwest Alaska town of 500 that’s a jumping-off point for several smaller villages. “I regret any negative impact this…

US diplomat Blinken was speaking as the possibility of the conflict spreading across the Middle East rises. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that Washington is prepared to retaliate if US troops are targeted in the course of the Israel-Hamas war, as the possibility of the conflict spreading across the Middle East rises. Blinken, who was speaking during an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, said he expects the war to escalate through involvement by proxies of Iran, adding that the administration of US President Joe Biden is prepared to respond if American personnel become the target…

The bears chomped on doughnut holes and other pastries, ignoring the banging on the side of the van that was aimed at shooing them away. Two bears on an Alaska military base raided a Krispy Kreme doughnut van that was stopped outside a convenience store during its delivery route. The driver usually left his doors open when he stopped at the store but this time a sow and one of her cubs that loiter nearby sauntered inside, where they stayed for probably 20 minutes Tuesday morning, said Shelly Deano, the store manager for Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson JMM Express. The bears…

Poverty rates that were 11 per cent in the 1970s are down to three to four per cent now. That’s real progress It shows the evolution of a common measure of poverty — the percentage of people with incomes less than the “low-income cut-off” (LICO) — in two provinces, Alberta and Ontario, from 1976 to 2020. Margarita Wilkins and Ron Kneebone, the article’s authors, are primarily interested in how the two provinces’ experiences differed. They started off and ended up in the same places: 11 per cent poverty rates to begin with and three to four per cent to finish up.…

The government is under political pressure to stem the flow of people, as about 11 million immigrants are in the US without legal documentation. The administration of US President Joe Biden will resume deporting Venezuelan migrants, and add sections to the southern border wall, carrying forward a signature policy of former President Donald Trump. Washington’s announcement came on Thursday, two weeks after Biden extended temporary legal status to more than 470,000 Venezuelans living in the United States, saying that “the conditions in their home country prevent their safe return”. The Venezuelan migrants were the largest single group encountered at the US-Mexico border…

The U.S. snagged the No. 5 spot overall in the 2023 Best Countries rankings, though its performance lagged in some categories. People throughout the world have mixed feelings about the U.S., but the sheer size of the economic and military superpower make it hard to ignore. The United States has the largest economy in the world and spends more on national defense than any other nation. Its media and entertainment industry is also a behemoth, capturing $660 billion of the $2 trillion global market. That kind of power and influence can be a magnet for criticism. But on the whole, people view the country positively. The U.S.…

The ACLU of Alaska on Thursday announced lawsuits on behalf of two men who died by suicide in Alaska prisons last year, calling for an independent investigation into a record number of deaths. In addition to financial settlements, the organization is asking for the court to order an independent investigation into Department of Corrections practices, said Ruth Botstein, the organization’s legal director. “There must be greater accountability and transparency on behalf of the Department of Corrections to prevent these tragedies from occurring,” Botstein said. The Alaska Department of Law and Department of Corrections haven’t been served with the lawsuits or reviewed them yet,…

White House says Pyongyang should ‘cease its arms negotiations’ with Moscow amid escalating tensions with Washington. The White House has warned North Korea against selling munitions to Russia for its war in Ukraine as tensions between Pyongyang and Washington continue to mount. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Wednesday that the United States is concerned about potential arms deals between Russia and North Korea. “We urge the DPRK to cease its arms negotiations with Russia and abide by the public commitments that Pyongyang has made to not provide or sell arms to Russia,” Kirby said, referring to North Korea…

The nonprofit law firm Alaska Legal Services Corp. was awarded federal money this week to support victims of disasters last year as they continue to navigate the recovery. The firm will be in charge of distributing $4.7 million in funding to create what’s being described as a “disaster relief hub,” which will support the victims of 12 natural disasters in American Indian and Alaska Native communities in Alaska and other Western states. Victims of extreme weather events often require legal aid as they file for insurance benefits, navigate landlord relationships and seek to replace personal documents. In Alaska the money…

Top US diplomat says moving detained Americans to house arrest in Iran is ‘positive’ sign, but major issues remain. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the United States’s policy of deterrence against Iran has not changed despite signs of a looming prisoner swap between the two countries. Blinken told reporters on Tuesday that Iran’s decision to move five detained Americans from prison to house arrest last week was a “positive step”, but he added that “they are not home yet”, suggesting that a deal has not been finalised. “We will not rest until our fellow citizens are back in the United States, reunited…