Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media - Anchorage
Casey Grove is host of Alaska News Nightly, a general assignment reporter and an editor at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cgrove@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Casey here.
LISTEN: Bering Sea ice at lowest extent in at least 5,500 years, study says
While it's notable that there's less sea ice now than thousands of years in the past, study co-author Matthew Wooller from UAF says the research provides a deeper understanding of the context and mechanisms of change over those years.
Alaska News Nightly: Friday, September 4, 2020
State health officials begin preparing to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine, when one is available. And how dramatic is sea ice loss in the Bering Sea? Very dramatic, according to a new study. Plus, a group of Yellowstone Bison arrive in arrive at their new home: a valley on Kodiak island.
LISTEN: Wild Alaska blueberries a benefit to old rat brains
But what's in those little blue bundles? Answer: More than just a delicious, sweet and tart treat. And, believe it or not, they're not even technically blueberries.
Alaska ranks last in census responses by phone, mail or computer
Census officials are sounding the alarm about a low rate of response in Alaska, despite having started the once-a-decade tally of everyone living in the United States in an Alaska village. But they say the lack of response might not be due to the usual difficulties of counting Alaska's remote communities, or the new challenge of the pandemic.
LISTEN: Southeast Alaska sees record-breaking rain, and for Fairbanks, exceptional thunder
We hate to say it, but the end of summer 2020 is here, at least that time period from June to the end of August that many Alaskans consider summer. And that means it's...
LISTEN: Alaska Federation of Natives opposes cutting census count short
The Alaska Federation of Natives is raising the alarm about the Census Bureau’s plan to end its once-a-decade count of everyone living in the United States a month earlier than expected.
Lawsuit claims Homeland Security officer sexually assaulted woman at Anchorage Museum in 2017
The allegations are detailed in a suit filed in federal court Aug. 26, nearly three years after the woman says Chris Heitstuman, who is described in the suit as a Department of Homeland Security employee, sexually assaulted her on two occasions in her office at the museum where she was head of security.
LISTEN: Mail carriers union president says pushback prevented Postal Service problems in Alaska
Pushback on comments by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy from postal workers and attention by the congressional delegation have prevented negative impacts in Alaska so far, a mail carriers union president says.
Charges: ConocoPhillips employee and cop friend stole millions in fraud scheme
A senior ConocoPhillips employee tricked the oil company into paying more than $3 million to a business owned by his friend, an Anchorage police officer, for work that was never performed and materials that were never received, according to criminal charges filed this week.
LISTEN: How months of reporting on attorney general’s unwanted texts led to his resignation
The Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica reported that Clarkson sent a junior state employee 558 text messages to her personal phone in the month of March. In the texts, Clarkson asked the woman to come to his house at least 18 times, often using a kiss emoji and commenting on the woman’s beauty.
LISTEN: Study shows Alaska salmon are shrinking
The shrinking of chinook, sockeye, coho and chum salmon has a negative impact on the number of eggs fish lay, but smaller body sizes also mean fewer meals, fewer commercial fishing dollars and fewer nutrients transported into rivers every year.
Alaska News Nightly: Monday, August 24, 2020
Pebble mine opponents say a new federal requirement effectively ends the project. And, Pacific Islanders in Alaska deal with a high rate of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations. Plus, a ton of salmon data helped answer a question that biologists have been puzzling over.
Charges: Alaska doctor stole millions through unnecessary urine tests
The doctor allegedly sent his patients' urine samples to a lab in Tennessee that he owns, charging up to $8,000 per test.
LISTEN: As school starts, here’s the latest science on kids and coronavirus
Dr. Elizabeth Ohlsen, a public health physician with the State of Alaska, explains the latest science of how the coronavirus impacts children and how to mitigate the spread of the disease in schools.
Voters in 6 villages will have no polling places
A spokesperson said despite raising the hourly rate for the temporary workers, the division was unable to overcome fears about the spread of coronavirus.
Questions remain after GCI sells television assets to competitor
The future is uncertain for many employees of Anchorage CBS affiliate KTVA, after the television station’s owner, telecommunications company GCI,announced in late July it is getting out of the broadcast television business.
Charges: Meth-fueled hallucinations led to Eagle River’s neighbor-on-neighbor shooting spree
An Eagle River man is charged with shooting his sleeping neighbor through the neighbor’s bedroom window while on meth early Thursday.
Police shoot Eagle River neighborhood gunman who injured 1
Police Chief Justin Doll told reporters later Thursday that, according to preliminary information, investigators believe the suspect had moved around the neighborhood while shooting. A resident at a home into which the man shot called 911 about 6:20 a.m., Doll said.
Two Anchorage police officers indicted, suspended in alleged assault of man who frequently recorded police
An Anchorage police officer has been indicted for assaulting a man while serving him with a bicycle citation in 2019 and, along with another officer, on charges of tampering with public records.
Stebbins teacher arrested after sexually explicit chats with girl
Lon Dean Gillas, 65, is alleged to have used his Google account with the Bering Strait School District to chat about sex and BDSM with a 16-year-old girl, and to ask her for explicit photos.