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Alaska corrections officer faces federal drug charges
Ellen Lockyer, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
A Goose Creek prison guard has been arrested in connection with an alleged conspiracy to distribute drugs in the correctional facility. The corrections officer faces federal charges.
U.S. Senate passes bill to use $1 billion from Navy budget for polar icebreaker
Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
A U.S. Senate subcommittee has passed a bill that includes $1 billion to build a new polar icebreaker. Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Tuesday thanked the other members of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee for including the ship in its spending bill for next year.
Walker ally on gas line board resigns to run for state Senate
Rachel Waldholz, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
One of Gov. Bill Walker’s allies overseeing the effort to build a natural gas pipeline has resigned, and plans to run for state Senate.
Former ASD Superintendent to lead Minneapolis Public Schools
Anne Hillman, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Anchorage’s out-going superintendent Ed Graff was chosen to lead the Minneapolis Public Schools. That district has about 12,600 fewer students than Anchorage because the Twin Cities metropolitan area is broken into more districts. About two-thirds of the 35,717 students are people of color.
Attorneys grow impatient in Sockeye Fire trial
Ellen Lockyer, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
It is almost one year since the Sockeye fire in Willow devastated over 7,000 acres of Southcentral Alaska and torched 55 homes.
$200,000 in state funds spent on PR for beer festival
Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
3,947,554 gallons of beer were brewed in Alaska last year. Nation-wide, craft brewing is on the rise, and Alaska is no exception. The first ever tasting festival made up exclusively of small brewing and distilling companies based in Alaska occurred last Saturday, May 21. The small industry is thriving, but state support for the burgeoning alcohol sector doesn’t sit well with everyone.
Historic agreement gives Kuskokwim tribes say in fish management
Charles Enoch, KYUK – Bethel
The Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission signed a historic memorandum of understanding, or MOU, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agreement is the first formalization of co-management between the Alaska tribes along the Kuskokwim River and the federal government.
Pay boost passed for Anchorage fire and police employees
Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
The Anchorage Assembly approved a pay increase for a small group of public safety employees during its Tuesday meeting. City officials say the change is necessary to fix a major staffing problem that’s grown worse in recent years.
Downtown Anchorage park to see major safety renovations
Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
In order to make a downtown Anchorage park safer, officials will destroy a decades-old fountain. It’s one of several measures Mayor Ethan Berkowitz introduced during an outdoor press conference in Town Square Park on Wednesday.
After bike impales daughter, mother sends public thank you to good Samaritans
Anna Rose MacArthur, KYUK – Bethel
In rural Alaska access to emergency medical care relies on many factors like distance, weather, and time of day. For one 10-year-old girl in Eek, emergency care also relied on one pilot’s good will after the child’s traumatic bike accident. KYUK talked with the girl’s mother and the pilot who helped them out.
