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Former Fairbanks Borough Mayor to serve on pipeline board
Andrew Kitchenman, KTOO – Juneau
The Legislature Friday narrowly approved former Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins to serve on the board responsible for developing the Alaska gas pipeline.
Renewable Energy Fund, casualty of budget crunch, may get new life
Rachel Waldholz, APRN – Anchorage
One casualty of the state’s budget crisis this year is investment in renewable energy. Since 2008, Alaska’s Renewable Energy Fund has supported scores of projects around the state, most of them aimed at replacing expensive diesel fuel with everything from wind to hydro to biomass. So far, the state budget includes no money for the fund. But a bill passed by the Senate this week would try to replace some of that funding in years to come.
Walker says he’d veto Anchorage legislative office purchase
Associated Press
Gov. Bill Walker says he would veto the purchase of a legislative office building in Anchorage if that item remains in the state infrastructure budget.
Final vote count: Girdwood to pay for police, Marsett beats Schuster
Zachariah Hughes, KSKA – Anchorage
A week and a half after ballots were cast, outstanding votes in Anchorage’s municipal election have all been counted.
University of Alaska faces $50 million cut due to committee vote
Andrew Kitchenman, KTOO – Juneau
The University of Alaska faces a $50 million budget cut, due to a legislative committee vote on Thursday.
Low clouds a possible factor in Wrangell-Angoon plane crash
Ed Schoenfeld, CoastAlaska Juneau
Weather may have been a factor in April 8th’s plane crash on Admiralty Island. The crash killed the pilot and two passengers and badly injured another person on board.
EPA retiree, pulled back into Pebble, says he’s done
Liz Ruskin, APRN – Washington D.C.
Retired EPA scientist Phil North, the alleged mastermind behind the effort to block the Pebble mine, spent a full day answering questions from a congressional committee Thursday. Now, he says he’s done with the issue – or he hopes he is – and he’s heading to Bali.
Proposed motor fuels, mining, and fisheries’ taxes rolled into one bill
Associated Press
Three tax proposals have been rolled into one bill being considered by a state House committee.
Correctional farm saves money, redirects lives
Anne Hillman, KSKA – Anchorage
Point Mackenzie Correctional Farm in Wasilla produces food for prisons around the state and donates thousands of pounds of produce to the Food Bank. But some say the most important thing is helping the inmates find direction.
AK: Mayuri dancers bring Bollywood to Anchorage
Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage
Where ya gonna go when looking for a professional dance group to demonstrate the intricacies of traditional Indian dance? Russia, of course. Or that’s what the Asian Alaskan Cultural Center did to bring Mayuri, a group of twenty or so young dancers, to Anchorage. The the troupe performed for high schools this week and for the public Friday evening  at the Alaska Performing Arts Center.
49 Voices: John Giraldo of Anchorage
Kaysie Ellingson, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
This week we’re hearing from John Giraldo of Anchorage. On most days John is working as a supervisor, but in his free time he’s an extreme alpinist.
