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Alaska Holds Global Gathering on Sewer and Water Issues

Candice Bressler

Alaska Holds Global Gathering on Sewer and Water Issues

By Johanna Eurich, KYUK

Experts from around the world are gathering in Anchorage this week to talk about providing healthy water and sewer services in remote Arctic communities.

The three-day conference started Monday. It is hosted by the Arctic Council and looks at innovative approaches to solving a problem which plagues the entire Arctic region.

In the far north, conventional approaches to water and sewer supply and management either don't work, are unsustainable, or are too expensive.

The teams participating in the Alaska Water and Sewer Challenge organized by the state will also be showcasing their preliminary prototypes.

The program is part of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation's research effort to develop more affordable drinking water and sewer services for rural Alaska.

The DEC is hosting an opportunity for Alaska Tribes to respond to solutions brought forth at a conference, on Thursday.

Anchorage Author Delivers Keynote at Gambling Awareness Conference

By Daysha Eaton, KBBI

An Anchorage Author delivered the keynote address at Four Directions, a Problem Gambling and Health Awareness Conference, hosted by the Clearwater Casino Resort and the Suquamish Tribe recently.

Dr. Marianne Rolland, founder of the Anchorage-based White Raven Center, stressed the importance of taking responsibility for ourselves as we heal addictions and recover from the effects of emotional and psychological trauma, during her keynote address.

Rolland says she and Floyd Gutherie, who is Tligit, Haida and Tsimshian and a facilitator at White Raven Center, told the story of the White Raven. Rolland says she first heard the story while working in Western Alaska.

“One of the first prophecies that I heard came from the Yup’ik people in the western region that in the beginning we had this eye of awareness that was wide open. And then as Alcohol was introduced and as things became more challenging our eye of awareness slammed shut. And as that happened raven assumed the shadow of darkness,” said Rolland.

Rolland says that as people heal, the prophesy will be fulfilled.

“The prophesy says that as we as human beings awaken again to our own spirituality that raven will turn white. And of course, we all know that there have been sightings of white ravens for many years now, not only in Alaska, but white raven is well-known to the people of the Queen Charlotte’s in British Columbia.” Said Rolland

Conference participants were also invited to participate in a method of addressing trauma and reconnecting with self that Rolland helped pioneer.

In addition she released advance copies of her book, Rapid Transformation Therapy: A Guided Process for Healing Trauma and Awakening the Light Within at the conference.

Task Force Looking Into Security, Pipeline Protesters' Clash

By The Associated Press

A joint task force of North Dakota and federal officials is investigating a clash between Dakota Access pipeline protesters and private security guards earlier this month.

The Morton County Sheriff's Department is heading up the probe of the Sept. 3 incident, after which security guards and protesters reported injuries.

Tribal officials say about 30 protesters were pepper-sprayed and some were bitten by dogs at the construction site near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

The task force includes members of the Morton and Mercer County sheriff's departments, the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Morton County Sheriff says the BIA is representing Native American tribes.

A North Dakota state agency that regulates private investigation and security firms is also looking into the incident.

Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people from around the country have gathered at an encampment north of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota over the past weeks to protest the construction of the four-state, $3.8 billion pipeline.

State Plans to Release Permanent Fund Amount Friday

By The Associated Press

This year's Alaska Permanent Fund check is expected to be about $1,000, but the state plans to make the exact figure known Friday.

Since Gov. Bill Walker is in Asia, state officials will reveals the exact figure on the governor's website on Friday morning.