Topic: Alaska

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Can immigration reform pass? Five senators to watch.

Immigration reform will pass the Senate before the Fourth of July, Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D) of Nevada has vowed. Here are five key senators (or groups of senators) that will be pivotal during the two weeks of debate.

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USA Update Heat wave: Northeast faces a few more scorchers. Then, relief!

With the highest above-normal heat in the nation, New York opens more than 400 cooling centers. Some 100,000 Maryland residents may be without water for days. But cooler air is expected Friday.
Katmai bears star in nature's 'Jersey Shore'

Katmai bears are the star of an Internet 'reality show' based in the Katmai National Park and Preserve in remote Alaska. Eight web cams have been set up at various parts of the park to livestream the daily life and drama of the park's famed Katmai bears.
Decoder Wire Sen. Sarah Palin? Already, she and incumbent Mark Begich are circling. (+video)

Sarah Palin has expressed only tepid interest in running for the US Senate – and it's by no means assured Alaskans would even have her. But incumbent Sen. Mark Begich felt compelled to weigh in, and Palin to counterpunch. Does it mainly serve to boost Sarah Palin Inc.?
200-year-old rockfish caught off Alaska coast

200-year-old rockfish: A Seattle resident caught a shortraker rockfish, which at some two centuries old might be the oldest one ever caught.
Decoder Wire Gun control: Can Gabby Giffords win over gun owners by firing off some shots?

Her campaign to bring gun owners under the gun control banner created the jarring image of Gabby Giffords firing a gun at a Las Vegas range, the first time she has done so since being shot more than two years ago.
Opinion Go North, America – to the Arctic

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski writes that until the US makes the Arctic an issue of national importance, America’s future there will be severely limited while other countries move ahead. The US can take a crucial step by ratifying the Law of the Sea treaty.
Alaska volcano spews five-mile-high ash plume

Alaska volcano: Located almost 600 miles southwest of Anchorage, Pavlof Volcano let loose its most powerful eruption since becoming active in mid-May.
Can immigration reform pass? Five senators to watch.

Immigration reform will pass the Senate before the Fourth of July, Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D) of Nevada has vowed. Here are five key senators (or groups of senators) that will be pivotal during the two weeks of debate.
The need to smell the roses

A Christian Science perspective: Scrubbing a bathroom became the beginning of a major career move that changed this writer's life.
Pavlof Volcano ash cloud shows Alaska's threat to air travel (+video)

Ash billowing from Pavlof Volcano is not high enough to affect international air travel, but Pavlof is just one of a string of active Alaska volcanoes that sits beneath the flight corridor between the US and Asia.
Can Democrats find moderate candidates in time for midterms?

Democrats may struggle to recruit moderate and conservative-leaning candidates for the 2014 midterm elections in states with the most competitive Senate races.
Change Agent Sharing good news helps break down the myth of our own powerlessness

Scary stories of kidnappings and explosions lead our news feeds, but there are plenty of empowering stories of progress – if we look for them.
Focus Education reform's next big thing: Common Core standards ramp up

Common Core standards are aimed at building students' critical thinking skills, and 46 states have adopted them. But critics say the methods are unproven and the education reform is moving too fast.
Why Obama agenda group faces pushback from some Democrats

Organizing for Action, an issue-advocacy group that spun off from President Obama's reelection campaign, is going after some Democrats and competing for fundraising dollars.
Bestselling books the week of 5/12/13, according to IndieBound*

What's selling best in independent bookstores across America.
North Dakota death rate is highest in nation. Why?

North Dakota death rate: There were 44 worker deaths in North Dakota in 2011, for a rate of 12.4 deaths per 100,000 workers. Half of North Dakota's worker deaths since 2010 have been in oil and gas occupations, according to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
US unveils Arctic strategy, but is it keeping pace with other countries?

The National Strategy for the Arctic Region focuses on security, environment, and international cooperation. But with retreating sea ice creating opportunity as well as potential conflict, the US is seen as lagging.
Google Earth Engine unveils how Earth has altered

For the first time, the public can track back the environmental changes occurring on our planet's surface over time via Google Earth Engine.
Top Picks: A Mel Brooks special on PBS, Mr. Money Mustache's blog on consuming less, and more

'The Invisible War' documents sexual assault in the military, singer Edie Brickell returns with an album featuring collaborations with Steve Martin, and more top picks.
With gun violence down, is America arming against an imagined threat? (+video)

A Pew study released Tuesday finds that Americans think gun violence has escalated when in reality it's way down from two decades ago. The violence has dropped, meanwhile, even as gun ownership has increased.
Bestselling books the week of 5/5/13, according to IndieBound*

What's selling best in independent bookstores across America.
Decoder Wire Sarah Palin's chaw: Why did she wave chewing tobacco during NRA speech? (+video)

Sarah Palin used a tin of chewing tobacco as a visual aid at last weekend's NRA convention in Houston. This follows her sipping from a Big Gulp during her CPAC speech in March.
USA Update Cleveland Volcano explosions put air travel on alert: Who could be affected?

Cleveland Volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Islands sits under the flight corridor between North America and Asia, but so far, its new ash cloud is not big enough to ground planes.
Sarah Palin: Chewing tobacco is her latest prop (+video)

Sarah Palin chewing tobacco? Speaking at the NRA annual meeting, Sarah Palin pulled out a tin of chewing tobacco to tweak NYC Mayor Bloomberg for his proposed ban on displaying tobacco products.
With Arctic sea ice vulnerable, summer melt season begins briskly (+video)

The Arctic saw a record loss of summer sea ice in 2012, and the 2013 melt is off to a faster start than a year ago. Another record is uncertain, but warming has sapped the ice's staying power.