ANCHORAGE, Alaska, April 18 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska issued the following news release: A federal grand jury in Alaska returned an indictment charging a Sterling businessman with wire fraud involving Covid-19 relief funds. According to court documents, Kent Tompkins, 55, made false statements about his criminal history on Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications for his business, J & B Construction. In 2018, the defendant was indicted on multiple f  more

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, April 19 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska issued the following news release: A Texas man was sentenced to six and a half years in prison and three years' supervised release for trafficking more than 21 kilograms of the drug known as Spice from Texas to Alaska. "Spice" is a generic term for synthetic cannabinoids, which are mind-altering chemicals that are formed by dissolving psychotropic drugs in acetone and spraying them on dried plant material  more

FAIRBANKS, Alaska, April 20 -- The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management issued the following news release on April 19, 2024: Today the Bureau of Land Management released its proposed plan to guide management of 13.3 million acres of public lands in central and northern Alaska, including portions of the central Yukon River watershed and the Dalton Highway corridor. The Central Yukon Resource Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement reflects public input colle  more

WASHINGTON, April 17 -- The U.S. Air Force Auxiliary Civil Air Patrol issued the following news: Civil Air Patrol's Cadet Wings program is marking a major milestone after Cadet Maj. Thomas Clifton of the Alaska Wing's Southeast Composite Squadron became the 300th cadet to earn his private pilot certificate through the program. Clifton, 17, received his certificate after a check ride with a Federal Aviation Administration examiner April 9 at Eugene Airport in Oregon. "It is a great honor to be  more

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, April 20 -- The U.S. Justice Department's Drug Enforcement Administration's Seattle Division issued the following news release: A Texas man was sentenced to six and a half years in prison and three years supervised release for trafficking more than 21 kilograms of the drug known as Spice from Texas to Alaska. "Spice" is a generic term for synthetic cannabinoids, which are mind-altering chemicals that are formed by dissolving psychotropic drugs in acetone and spraying them on  more

EIELSON AFB, Alaska, April 16 -- The U.S. Air Force Eielson Air Force Base (354th Fighter Wing) issued the following news: Red Flag-Alaska 24-1, a Pacific Air Forces-sponsored exercise, is scheduled to begin April 18 with primary flight operations over the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex and is scheduled to run through May 3. Red Flag-Alaska is designed to provide realistic training in a simulated combat environment. Approximately 2,000 service members are expected to fly, maintain and supp  more

CAMP SMITH, Hawaii, April 17 -- The U.S. Department of Defense's Indo-Pacific Command issued the following news: JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska - The 673d Air Base Wing enhanced its ability to project forces in support of the 3rd Air Expeditionary Wing's exercise Agile Reaper 24-1 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, April 1 through 17. Agile Reaper is Team JBER's effort to exercise agile combat employment, certify Air Force force-generation requirements, re  more

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska, April 20 -- The U.S. Pacific Air Forces issued the following news: By Airman 1st Class Moises Vasquez, 673d Air Base Wing Public Affairs The 673d Air Base Wing enhanced its ability to project forces in support of the 3rd Air Expeditionary Wing's exercise Agile Reaper 24-1 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, April 1 through 17. Agile Reaper is Team JBER's effort to exercise agile combat employment, certify Air Force force-generation requirements  more

WASHINGTON, April 12 -- The U.S. Department of Justice issued the following news release: The Justice Department announced today that the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF) is adding four new national partners for a total of 38 agencies and offices committed to deterring, detecting, investigating and prosecuting antitrust crimes and related schemes that target government procurement, grants and program funding at all levels of government. The new partners include three U.S. Attorneys' O  more

WASHINGTON, April 19 (TNSres) -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Alaska Regional Office issued the following feature story: * * * Petition did not meet criteria necessary for emergency action * * * NOAA Fisheries denied a request for emergency action to institute a cap of zero on Chinook salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery. The request was submitted on January 17, 2024. It effectively asked Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to close the Bering Sea polloc  more

WASHINGTON, April 20 (TNSres) -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Alaska Regional Office issued the following news: * * * The response, in a remote community, took several days and involved a broad array of partner agencies, organizations, and local trained volunteers. * * * A humpback whale was entangled in fishing gear in Iliuliuk Bay, near the Port of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Due to the efforts of NOAA, partners, and local trained volunteers, it was successfully cut free  more

WASHINGTON, April 16 (TNSres) -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Alaska Fisheries Science Center issued the following feature story: * * * Researchers created a "one-stop shop" for information critical to conserving the highly vulnerable Pacific sleeper shark. * * * The Pacific sleeper shark is the largest shark in Alaska, and possibly the largest predatory fish in the ocean. It is also one of the most vulnerable of all managed fish stocks in Alaska waters. "Yet we st  more

PETERSON AFB, Colorado, April 17 -- The North American Aerospace Defense Command issued the following news release: Press Release | April 5, 2024 NORAD COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected and tracked four Russian military aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on 5 April 2024. The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace. This Russian ac  more

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, April 17 -- The North American Aerospace Defense Command issued the following news release: The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected and tracked four Russian military aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on 5 April 2024. The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace. This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a  more

WASHINGTON, April 16 (TNSres) -- The National Science Foundation issued the following news release: In mid-April, U.S. National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan joined world leaders from more than 25 countries at the annual Arctic Encounter Symposium in Anchorage, Alaska, where he delivered featured remarks during a showcasing plenary session. While in Alaska, he also met with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and announced a new $20 million Established Program to Stimulate Competit  more

BOSTON, Massachusetts, April 18 -- The U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration's New England Division issued the following news release: ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A Texas man was sentenced to six and a half years in prison and three years supervised release for trafficking more than 21 kilograms of the drug known as Spice from Texas to Alaska. "Spice" is a generic term for synthetic cannabinoids, which are mind-altering chemicals that are formed by dissolving psychotropic drugs in  more

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska, April 16 -- The U.S. Air Force's 27th Special Operations Wing issued the news release: By Senior Airman Drew Cyburt, 27th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs The frigid wind whipped passed U.K. Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Tom Keating's face, every exhale visible for a few moments before being stolen by the wind. Taking calculated strides, ice crunching beneath his boots, Keating looked toward the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Training Center, Alaska,  more