Published Sep 6, 2023 by Josh Reed

On Nov. 18, when the University of Alaska Anchorage women’s basketball team steps on the hardwood in front of their home fans at the Alaska Airlines Center for the first time during the 2023 season, they’ll face Division I powerhouse University of Utah in the Great Alaska Shootout.

Alaska sports fans will see a familiar face leading the Utes against the Division II Seawolves. Anchorage’s Alissa Pili was the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Player of the Year for Utah last year in her first year with the program after transferring from USC.

Before she donned the red and white for the Utes and red and yellow for the Trojans, Pili had a legendary high school career in the maroon and gold at Dimond High School, where she was a four-sport star in basketball, volleyball, wrestling, and track and field.

“We are really excited about this year’s Shootout and extremely grateful for the continued commitment shown by our title sponsors, ASRC and ConocoPhillips Alaska,” UAA head coach Ryan McCarthy said in a statement. “I know local fans will be thrilled to welcome home one of the best players in state history in Alissa, and our players are even more fired up for the challenge.”

Published Sep 6, 2023 by Suzanne Downing

Businessman Steve Colligan has been named by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to the University of Alaska Board of Regents.

Colligan is a long-time business owner with decades of professional experience in the public and private sectors. He has national and international experience specializing in Information Technology Integration, geographic information systems and geomatics.

A lifelong Alaskan, he holds an Associate of Applied Sciences degree in Petroleum Engineering Technology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Engineering Studies at UAF/UAA.

Colligan has decades of professional education and certifications in technology and project management.

He has been a pioneer in professional use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems and robotics for engineering design, infrastructure inspection and geomatic purposes. He has also been actively involved in STEM education in Alaska schools as president of the Alaska Drone Racing League and the Alaska Government Relations Coordinator for Academy of Model Aeronautics.

Colligan was born and raised in Fairbanks and lives in Wasilla with his family. His appointment is subject to confirmation by the Alaska Legislature.

Published Sep 6, 2023 by Riley Rogerson

As borrowers across the country brace to resume federal student loan payments in October, 6,300 Alaskans have enrolled in a new Biden administration repayment plan, and thousands more may be eligible.

Payments have been on a pandemic-related pause for more than three years. In the meantime, the Biden administration has pushed forward efforts to cancel federal student debt or otherwise ease the financial burden on borrowers. But the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Biden’s top initiative to cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt per borrower.

The White House launched the Saving on a Valuable Education program — known as SAVE — this August, less than two months after the Supreme Court ruling.

The White House did not say exactly how many Alaskans could be eligible for the program, but nearly 69,000 Alaskans have federal student loans, according to the Federal Student Aid office of the Education Department. Borrowers can check their eligibility and apply for the SAVE program at studentaid.gov/idr. Kvaal estimated it takes about 10 minutes to fill out the application and a month until the applications are processed.

Published Sep 5, 2023 by Joshua A. Bickel

Scientists say two years of low sea ice cover and abnormally warm ocean temperatures due to climate change in 2018 and 2019 may have altered the ecosystem in a way that snow crab couldn't survive, said Mike Litzow, lab director at the Kodiak Fisheries Science Center. Their annual survey, which was skipped in 2020 due to COVID, found total crab populations in the Bering Sea plummeted from an all-time high of 11.7 billion in 2018 to 940 million in 2021, the lowest ever recorded.

Researchers this year brought samples of crab back to Kodiak for further analysis, exploring how snow crab respond to stress in their environment, including rising heat.

Snow crab are typically found in a cold pool—water in the Bering Sea that stays below 35.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) throughout the year. Researchers have found these crab can survive in water warmer than this, leading them to speculate that rising ocean temperatures alone aren't to blame for the collapse. Instead, researchers think the warmer water may have allowed more predators into the habitat, facilitated disease spread or made it harder for the crabs to catch enough prey to fuel an increased metabolism.

"They're an Arctic animal," Litzow said. "Longer term, what we expect is that the fish will be moving farther north as those Arctic characteristics recede in the Bering Sea."

Published Sep 5, 2023

Alaska is one of the most seismically active places in the world. Located on the Pacific ring of fire, earthquakes and tsunami alerts are not uncommon in our state, but information about the level of concern for coastal areas can sometimes be confusing, creating more anxiety at an already stressful time. We talk with Alaska earthquake and tsunami experts to help clarify how to keep yourself safe when minutes count on this Talk of Alaska.