An Alaska lawmaker may be unfit to hold office because he’s a member of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group that has either advocated for or engaged in concrete action to overthrow the U.S. government, a lawyer said Tuesday in opening arguments for a case against state Rep. David Eastman.

A state court judge on Friday allowed to move to trial a lawsuit alleging that an Alaska lawmaker’s ties to the far-right Oath Keepers group disqualifies him from holding office.

NUIQSUT, Alaska (AP) — Though the weather outside was frightful, schoolchildren in the northern Alaska Inupiac community of Nuiqsut were so delighted for a visit by Santa that they braved wind chills of 25 degrees below zero just to see him land on a snow-covered airstrip.

A state court judge was weighing Thursday whether to allow a case to proceed to trial that alleges that an Alaska lawmaker’s ties to the far-right Oath Keepers group disqualifies him from holding office.

A recount of an Anchorage-area state Senate race reaffirmed Republican Cathy Giessel as the winner, while a recount of an Anchorage House race reaffirmed Republican Rep. Tom McKay as the winner.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Recounts in two Anchorage-area legislative races are scheduled to take place this week, a top state elections official said Tuesday.

Much of the Arctic is in a burst of freak December warming.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy was sworn in for a second term on Monday, saying his goal is to “work with everybody to create an Alaska for the next 50 years.”

Scientists along the West Coast are calling for action to help sunflower sea stars, among the largest sea stars in the world, recover from catastrophic population declines.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed restrictions that would block plans for a copper and gold mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region that is home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon run.