- FORT YUKON, Alaska (AP) - The community of Fort Yukon is able to relax after days of worry because it appears the danger from flooding is mostly over. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that late Wednesday night dozens of residents watched as slabs of river ice suspected to be from a once-menacing ice jam 12 miles up the Yukon River passed safely below the town's levee. The ice jam had accumulated a lake of water estimated to be 7 miles wide and 30 miles long, which could have created a serious flash flood if it broke all of a sudden. Early Wednesday, the ice jam developed a large hole that likely grew, sending more ice downriver. City flood coordinator Velma Carroll says she was told Wednesday night that the worst appears to be over.

- HOMER, Alaska (AP) - The bag and possession limit for razor clams on beaches between Kenai and Homer has been drastically reduced. KBBI reports this is only the second time in more than 50 years that the limits have been lowered. The new rules, in effect through at least the end of this year, set bag and possession limits of 25 clams. The previous bag limit was 60 and the possession limit was 120. While the rules affect beaches from the Kenai River to the Homer Spit, the major area of concern is Ninilchik Beach. According to the Department of Fish and Game, the abundance of razor clams has dropped from about 1.5 million in 2011 to 79,000 this year. That's the lowest abundance level for Ninilchik Beach since surveys began in 1990.

 

- ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - An Alaska law enforcement panel has voted to revoke the licenses of former police officers, state troopers and state Department of Corrections workers. The Alaska Police Standards Council voted this week to revoke certificates for 11 people, including former Anchorage police officer Rafael Mora-Lopez, a Mexican who was living in the U.S. without legal permission. Mora-Lopez pleaded guilty in 2011 to federal counts of passport fraud and false claim of U.S. citizenship. He had lived in Anchorage for more two decades posing as Rafael Alberto Espinoza, a U.S. citizen living in Mexico. Two others, besides the 11 whose licenses were revoked, surrendered their licenses rather than fight to keep the certificates. The 13-member council met Tuesday in Kenai.

- FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - The University of Alaska Fairbanks is nearing agreement on a partnership that would establish a new veterinary medicine program. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the proposal would allow the school and Colorado State University to jointly offer a veterinary degree. Under terms of the deal, details of which haven't yet been finalized, UAF would provide the first two years of graduate-level study and Colorado State would provide the final two. The arrangement would allow UAF to provide a limited number of students with access to a top-tier veterinary school without the expense of maintaining a full program. Paul Layer, a UAF dean, says Alaska is currently the only state that doesn't have a veterinary school or a partnership with a state that does.

- ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The rig manager aboard a Royal Dutch Shell PLC drilling barge says a second tug could have prevented it from running aground in December off a remote Alaska island. Todd Case was the offshore installation manager employed by Noble Drilling when the Kulluk ran aground off a small island near Kodiak Island on a tow across the Gulf of Alaska toward Seattle. Case in the third day of testimony before a Coast Guard investigation panel recounted how weather got progressively worse after the Kulluk departed Dec. 21 from Dutch Harbor. The line between the towing vessel Aiviq and the Kulluk parted Dec. 27. Multiple attempts failed to maintain replacement lines. Case says looking back, multiple tugs as part of the original towing plan could have prevented the grounding.

 

- FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - A University of Alaska Fairbanks professor is disputing the claim that this year's Nenana Ice Classic culminated with the latest river breakup in its 97-year history. The Tanana River ice moved at 3:41 p.m. Monday. The game of guessing when the ice will move officially uses standard time, not daylight time, so the winning time was listed as 2:41 p.m., breaking the record of 11:41 a.m. AST set May 20, 1964. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner says forest ecology professor Glenn Juday notes that 1964 was a leap year. That means the ice moved on the 141st day, compared with the ice moving this year on the 140th day. Ice classic manager Cherrie Forness says leap year doesn't matter because the game goes by the Gregorian, not Julian, calendar.