It’s highly unlikely that Unalaskans will get to see the likes of Xena, Warrior Princess, chained to a Shell drill ship this summer.

U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason has granted an injunction that would prevent Greenpeace protesters from coming near Shell Oil vessels while they’re within 12 nautical miles of U.S. coastline. If Greenpeace protesters try to board Shell’s assets, like Lucy Lawless recently did in New Zealand, a court could find them in contempt and levy a heavy fine and even require jail time. They also can’t go within a kilometer of their two drill ships or within 500 meters of Shell’s 20-odd support vessels.

For decades, the community of King Cove has lobbied for a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge to nearby Cold Bay. Proponents say it’s critical for the remote community to have a more reliable way to evacuate medical patients. Meanwhile conservation groups contend it would devastate critical wildlife habitat.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently issued a draft environmental impact statement for the project, but a final decision about whether it should move forward is still more than a year out. In the meantime, King Cove is already building a hovercraft terminal on the edge of the Refuge and a road out to it - but there are a few kinks in that plan.

The St. Paul Department of Public Safety has determined that arson was the cause of a February fire that destroyed a large warehouse.

According to The Dutch Harbor Fisherman, police have identified multiple suspects, but no arrests have been made in the case.

The blaze consumed a warehouse operated by Trident Seafoods and took multiple days to put out. Smoke from the fire also resulted in a half-day school closure for St. Paul's students. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is currently monitoring the clean-up, as hazardous materials such as petroleum products and asbestos may have been released during the incident.

With Arctic drilling scheduled to go ahead this summer, Shell Oil is expected to have a big presence in Port of Dutch Harbor. In light of that, the Coast Guard has now committed to stationing more forces there in an effort to keep fish processing operations and other marine activity moving along smoothly.

At a recent hearing before the state legislature, Capt. Buddy Custard laid out the Coast Guard’s plans for their summer Arctic operations. He says that because Greenpeace has already launched a protest in New Zealand over exploratory drilling, the United States is making an extra effort to make sure that port operations in Alaska are not disrupted by dissent over oil politics. “Whether you’re [for drilling] or against it, it’s very emotional. And with that, our job in the Coast Guard is to make sure that if there are any protest activities that it does not disrupt commerce, that it does not disrupt a port,” says Custard.

The State of Alaska and industry groups are challenging recent rulings upholding fisheries closures in the western Aleutians.  The appeal notice filed in district court Monday is the latest in a yearlong legal battle over the restrictions put in place to protect an endangered stock of Steller sea lions.

In January, U.S. District Court judge Timothy Burgess ruled that the Atka mackerel and Pacific cod closures would continue while the National Marine Fisheries Service evaluates their impact. In early March, Judge Burgess set a deadline of March 2014 for NFMS to deliver its final assessment. That effectively ensures the fisheries can’t reopen until at least 2015. The state and industry groups had asked for a much shorter timeline. The closures are estimated to cost the industry $80 million a year.

Effective July 1 PenAir will no longer be flying to Atka or Nikolski - or at least they hope not. For years the airline has received the federal government’s Essential Air Service subsidy in exchange for serving the two Aleutian communities, but the company announced recently that it would not be bidding on the subsidy this year.

PenAir President Scott Bloomquist says it’s been difficult to serve the communities. 

While the Republican party is preparing to unveil a slimmed-down budget plan next week, Rep. Don Young is back in Alaska assuring state legislators that he’s working to bring as many federal dollars to the state as possible.

At a closed-door meeting with legislators on Thursday, Young fielded questions on Environmental Protection Agency regulations and the shrinking of Eielson Air Force Base. But at a press conference later that day, he said state legislators are especially concerned about getting funding for local projects, since Congress and the president have adopted a policy of keeping earmarks out of bills. Young said that restriction has put federal lawmakers in a tough place when it comes to getting money for their districts.

The state legislature is making progress toward establishing an Arctic policy commission.

At a hearing of the House Finance Committee on Wednesday, Rep. Reggie Joule explained that even though Alaska is the country’s only Arctic state, it’s often left out of conversations about federal policy concerning the region. He thinks that having a body responsible for developing an Arctic strategy would give the state more credibility with regulators in Washington.

The Alaska Supreme Court has ordered the state Redistricting Board to redraw its proposed map of legislative boundaries.

A day after hearing oral arguments in the case, the Supreme Court issued its order late Wednesday afternoon.

The Justices point to an earlier case, Hickel v. Southeast Conference, in which the Court ruled that while the federal Voting Rights Act takes precedence over the Alaska Constitution, it should not be given so much weight that the constitution is “unnecessarily compromised.”