text: Arctic Daily Update: June 5, 2013
  The Senate is in recess for the day. The House will consider the 2014 Homeland Security Appropriations bill.
  Opponents of Alaska oil tax legislation seek to get referendum on 2014 ballot. Organizers behind the Fairbanks effort to repeal Gov. Sean Parnell's oil tax reform legislation say their blue petition booklets are on track to get the signatures needed to get the referendum on the 2014 ballot. More than 3,500 signatures, 10 percent of voters who cast ballots in the last election, are needed in the Fairbanks area and will count toward the more than 30,000 signatures needed statewide to repeal the bill they call "a massive giveaway." Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  Canada's Northwest Territories plans fiber link to Mackenzie Valley. The government in Canada's Northwest Territories plans to start construction on the fiber optic link up the Mackenzie Valley next winter. Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger says it will make the community of Inuvik a hot spot for Arctic research, and also help to better connect northerners. Alaska Dispatch
  Alaska, Hawaii delegations discuss native issues. A discussion in Washington, D.C. on native issues is continuing an alliance between congressional delegations of Alaska and Hawaii, forged by a longtime friendship between two senators. The delegations say Tuesday's round-table continues the special relationship established by Hawaii's late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye and Alaska's late U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  Now funded, work begins to clean tsunami trash from remote Alaska beaches. Trash from Japan's huge 2011 earthquake and tsunami is littering coastal beaches, including Alaska, but only limited cleanup efforts are gearing up during the favorable summer weather season. "We're already behind the curve on that," said Chris Pallister, co-founder of Gulf of Alaska Keeper, which is using a $1 million state grant to clean up marine debris, much of which is from the tsunami, in an area around Prince William Sound. Alaska Dispatch
  Coast Guard monitoring leaky oil containers on ship from China.
  A foreign cargo ship with containers oozing oil from China is being held by the Coast Guard at the Port of Valdez until the leaks can be stopped and the chemical composition of the oil determined. The leaking oil, for insulating and cooling transformers, is part of a shipment destined for Venezuela that also includes transformers, Coast Guard Lt. Allie Ferko said Tuesday from Valdez. The ship, the BBC Arizona, stopped in Valdez to deliver steel I-beams. Anchorage Daily News
  Study urges more money to help Nunavut Inuit choose better food. Many adults in Nunavut like traditional foods, but junk food and sweet drinks are also a big - and unhealthy - part of the daily diet. A recent study, which surveyed what 211 Nunavut adults in three communities ate over a one-month period, found caribou, muktuk and Arctic char are the most widely-consumed traditional foods. But it also found high-energy, nutrient-poor foods and sugar-sweetened beverages are widely consumed as well, with sugary drinks providing about three times as many calories a day than recommended. Nunatsiaq Online
  New Kirkenes Declaration on cooperation in the Barents region. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, the Barents Summit in Kirkenes has adopted a new declaration, 20 years after the start of the Barents cooperation. People-to-people cooperation remains at the core of the Barents cooperation, but the new declaration also places greater emphasis on economic cooperation and the environment. The first Kirkenes Declaration was signed in 1993 and opened the way for cooperation across borders that had previously been closed. The new declaration points out that local initiatives have been essential to the success of the Barents cooperation, and that it is still the peoples of the region who play the key role in the cooperation. Barents Nova
  House Panel Starts Marathon Markup of Defense Policy Bill. The House Armed Services Committee began its marathon markup of the annual defense authorization bill Wednesday, with lawmakers expected to differ sharply on provisions of the $638.4 billion measure that significantly exceeds budget caps allowed under sequestration. Lawmakers kicked off the markup with consideration of the Seapower and Projections Forces portion of the defense policy bill (HR 1960). That section of the bill would raise the cost limit of the Gerald R. Ford carrier, designated CVN-78, modifying the cap from $11.75 billion to $12.9 billion. The aircraft carrier, upon completion, would be the most expensive piece of military equipment ever built. Congressional Quarterly
  S.1096, A bill to establish an Office of Rural Education Policy in the Department of Education. (Sen. Baucus, introduced and referred to committee) Summary