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Current Topics
CCHRC Special Edition Newsletter: Workforce Development in the Trades. CCHRC
Trust land auctions fund mental health care in Alaska. Alaska Public Media
It’s one of 36 pieces of land being auctioned off by the land office in Alaska this year. This land is part of a million acres given to the trust by the state after the Mental Health Enabling Act of 1956 transferred responsibility from the federal government to the state to provide mental health care.
Most expensive cities. Axios
Looking just at relative grocery prices, San Francisco (122.4), Fairbanks (121.6) and Juneau (121.4) came in highest. The latter two make sense, given the higher cost of shipping goods to Alaska. Pierre, South Dakota (90.6); Houma, Louisiana (91.4); and Thibodaux, Louisiana (91.5) had the lowest relative grocery prices.
(Anchorage 126.4)
For 20,000 years, polar bears have been retreating due to rising sea temperatures. Eureka Alert
The fact that polar bears in Greenland are under threat is not a recent development. They have increasingly come to symbolize the challenges posed by melting polar ice and the broader climate crisis in recent years. Nevertheless, a new study highlights that this trend has deep historical roots, with polar bear numbers in Greenland diminishing over a period of 20,000 years.
What's better for Alaska drivers: studded or studless snow tires? ADN
The popular Blizzaks by Bridgestone perform better on slushy, wet or snowy roads, while studded tires perform better on slippery glare ice, the study said, citing previous research.
Non-studded tires also have other broad advantages, the study found. They don’t cause the deep highway ruts that can create year-round driving hazards, and they reduce costly road maintenance.
The first cacao fruit harvested in Iceland and turned into chocolate. Reykjavik Grapevine
The power of geothermal energy!
How my childhood fascination with bridges helped me build a career protecting people and buildings from natural disasters. NIST
In honor of National Engineers Week this week and Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day tomorrow, NIST research engineer Jazalyn Dukes to tell us what inspired her career and to give some advice to girls considering a career in structural and civil engineering.
Price of parking pass for Alaska State Parks will increase in 2024. ADN
The state Department of Natural Resources said Tuesday that passes will cost $75 starting Jan. 1. The passes, currently $60, can be purchased at that rate through Dec. 31.
Minerals
Proposed graphite mine in Alaska's Bering Strait region pursues boosted production plan. Alaska Beacon
Now the company is trying to design a plan for producing 183,000 tons of concentrate per year. Graphite One’s goal for 2023 has been to figure out a way for the project to mill about 10,000 tons of ore a day, about the same volume as is milled at the Red Dog Mine near Kotzebue, from the previously envisioned level of 2,500 tons a day. Helping achieve that goal is a recent $37.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense.
Fort Knox: 9 million oz gold and counting. Mining News North
Kinross Gold Corp. Nov. 8 reported that its Fort Knox Mine in Alaska produced 71,611 ounces of gold during the third quarter of 2023, which included the nine millionth ounce recovered from this iconic mine about 25 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska.
Fisheries
Researchers find chum salmon spawning in Arctic Ocean rivers. Wrangell Sentinel
Chum salmon are now reproducing farther north in some North Slope rivers, researchers have confirmed. A University of Alaska Fairbanks team this fall found about 100 chum salmon that were spawning or had just spawned in the Anaktuvuk and Itkillik rivers. The rivers are tributaries of the Colville River, which flows into the Arctic Ocean.
Economy
Soaring national debt. Axios
The numbers sound an alarm about America's fiscal vulnerability, at a time when there's bipartisan resistance to steps that might change that course.
Poverty soared for single mothers. Axios
Despite a strong labor market in 2022, the poverty rate for families headed by single mothers soared, according to a new analysis. That's due to the expiration of key pandemic-era benefits, including the child tax credit. Women and children face disproportionate poverty and hardship in the U.S., writes Shengwei Sun, a senior research analyst at the National Women's Law Center, who wrote the report.
Politics
Alaska's governor gets an F for putting politics ahead of good government. ADN
Alaska Department of Law 'likely violated' state law and constitution. Alaska Beacon
The Alaska Department of Law “likely violated” Alaska law and the state constitution when it spent more than $300,000 on a lawsuit awaiting review by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Alaska Legislature’s top auditor concluded in a report released last week.
Health Care
Senate panel clears PBM reforms, safety-net hospital payments. STAT News
Study: Weight loss drug slashes heart risk. Axios
We've known that weight loss is connected to healthier hearts, but this research is the first to show that an obesity drug can reduce the risk of heart-related deaths in patients with heart disease.
Life expectancy gap widens. Axios
Women in the U.S. are now expected to live nearly six years longer than men, representing the widest gap in life expectancy in 25 years.
(My comment: Women live longer. Women are paid less than men for the same work. Women are most likely to be the ones to take time away from career to care for family members. These 3 reasons strongly support my bill, SB 121, creating a hybrid defined benefit pension for public employees. Women and minorities are the most susceptible to retirement poverty, without adequate retirement savings.)
The persisting youth mental health crisis. Axios
More than 1 in 8 American teens, or about 3.4 million kids ages 12-17, had serious thoughts of suicide last year, according to new federal data.
(My comment: Our healthcare system doesn’t reimburse behavioral health adequately, or support the work of clinicians in this field)
Eating disorders skew younger. Axios
The shift comes amid a youth mental health crisis that experts say has been exacerbated by the pandemic's isolation and social media. Those receiving treatment for an eating disorder were also five times as likely to have another mental health condition, such as anxiety or depression, compared to other patients.
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