Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media - Anchorage
Alaska governor and Anchorage mayor remain close with city library leader, despite her history of offensive remarks
The inflammatory remarks from Anchorage's deputy library director, Judy Eledge, were most recently documented in a story by the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica that included audio secretly recorded by one of Eledge's subordinates.
Former Alaska legislator sues Alaska Airlines over mask-related ban
Former state Sen. Lora Reinbold says the airline violated her constitutional rights and caused her stress and humiliation.
Alaska governor to introduce sales tax bill amid several tax proposals to close budget gap
There are other tax bills filed, including a different sales tax proposal, an income tax proposal and two bills to change to how oil companies are taxed.
Homer’s opossum visitor, Grubby, still on the lam as town remains divided
Many, including the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, want it dead, because the opossum is an invasive species. On the other hand, it's just weird enough for some Homerites to rally around.
Elderly Alaska couple scammed out of $1.2M in alleged cryptocurrency ‘money laundering pipeline’
That’s according to a court filing related to the federal government’s seizure of cryptocurrencies from accounts the scammers allegedly used.
Alaska flights saw 3 separate arrests for unruly behavior in just 10 days
In one case, a man apparently brought his own alcohol on the plane, and, at one point, started smoking a cigarette.
As Alaska welcomes Ukrainian refugees, state resurrects program to help immigrants get jobs
The Office of Citizenship Assistance will help refugees overcome the employment challenges that come with resettling to a new country.
Alaska not expecting ash from Kamchatka eruption, for now
Shiveluch Volcano's eruption is not expected to create any ash deposits on the ground in Alaska, but that could change.
Alaska hunters with disabilities might someday harvest moose in an Anchorage park, but the plan faces criticism
Ira Edwards says his plan addresses safety concerns, and he says the hunt would provide a much-needed opportunity for hunters with disabilities, while thinning out the moose in Kincaid Park.
Alaska House minority members duck out in dispute over increased education funding
The missing lawmakers returned later, as the House tried to hash out a state budget that includes a huge gap between revenue and spending.
Iditapod: The all-Indigenous Iditarod podium
Alaska Native mushers took the podium in the 2023 Iditarod, with the Knik Kid, Ryan Redington, winning his first championship and Bethel's Pete Kaiser and Aniak's Richie Diehl mushing into second and third place. The race's top 10 were all into Nome by Wednesday morning, and we have an update on Rookie of the Year honors, as well as three Dogs of the Day, two listener questions and a story about collecting dog pee. Also: This'll do it for Season 7 of the Iditapod. Thanks for coming along with us on this thousand-mile journey!
Iditapod: An Iditarod champ from the founding family
The 40-year-old Ryan Redington has won his first Iditarod and the first championship for the Redington family, on his 16th try (and after six previous scratches). "I've just been on pins and needles," said his mom, Barb, at the finish line. We'll hear Redington's finish itself in this episode, and from Alaska Public Media's Lex Treinen about the finish and how Redington arrived there first. The dog friends that did the leading into Nome -- Sven and Ghost -- are our obvious picks for Dogs of the Day. And we have a listener question about dog-human friends, with a fun answer from a friendly musher.
Iditapod: Hanging onto a lead and an Iditarod dream
Ryan Redington has a secure hold on first place in the 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, heading into the final 100 miles of trail. Meanwhile, one rookie musher had some trouble holding onto his dog sled, after falling asleep, falling off and getting a fortuitous lift. We have a listener question, not about losing a dog team, but about losing stuff along the Iditarod Trail. And it's a twofer of Dogs of the Day: Riley Dyche's smart and mellow Elway and Mike Williams Jr.'s smart and hyper Viper.
Iditapod bonus: John Suter in Anchorage
In this extended interview, we hear more from John Suter, an Iditarod finisher who famously had a team that included poodles. Suter ran the Iditarod with poodles in 1988, '89, '90 and '91, finishing each year ahead of other teams racing more traditional sled dogs.
Iditapod: The champ has scratched. Long live the champ.
Reigning Iditarod champion Brent Sass has scratched from this year’s race, due to what race officials described as “periodontal health” issues. So 31 teams remained in the race Saturday, and in this episode we hear from the chase pack-turned lead pack about how they were feeling about heading up the Yukon River, plus more from the top rookies in this year’s race. We have a powerhouse Dog of the Day with a funny, uh, pungent name, and a listener question about sled dog breeds that led us to the famous poodle musher.
Iditapod: Rollin’ on a river (the Yukon, that is)
Iditarod teams are passing through the village checkpoint of Anvik and onto the Yukon River. We have that, as well as stories from earlier on the trail about how mushers were setting their teams up for these runs earlier in the checkpoint of Iditarod and about the tiny village of Takotna reopening as an Iditarod checkpoint this year, after closing down due to COVID. Then there’ll be an update from Jason Mackey about carrying his brother Lance Mackey’s ashes along the trail, a Mackey Dog of the Day named COVID and a listener question about what the mushers are listening to, if they’re listening to anything at all, aside from, you know, dog feet and sled runners.
Iditapod: Run, rest, eat and repeat
In this episode, we hear from Iditarod mushers in the midst of their required 24-hour layovers and from our current Red Lantern musher. We also have a chat with a former top 10 musher who’s returning to the race and running a team of mostly rookie dogs, plus a look at the Iditarod's new pilot program for tracking dropped dogs. And as always we have our Dog of the Day -- not a new dog but a dog who got a new name -- and a listener question with answers from several mushers this time. (Hint: This one might make you hungry).
Iditapod: The dog days of Iditarod
Iditarod mushers are making decisions about where to stop for their mandatory 24-hour rests, some opting to take that break earlier than planned, as the teams continue to contend with warm weather. The village of Nikolai is also fully open to visitors for the first time in three years of COVID-19 restrictions, and that's where some mushers were dealing with busted sleds and their own bruised bodies. In this episode, we also get into how the race shapes up after those 24-hour layovers and how the weather is expected to change for the cooler. Plus, we have a speedy Dog of the Day -- Matt Failor's Mach 10 -- who's learning to slow down, plus a listener question, a musher answer and a follow-up to yesterday's question about adopting retired sled dogs.
Iditapod: Hot doggin’ and leapfroggin’
Iditarod teams are contending with warm weather in the thousand-mile race, many choosing to run in the cool of night as much as possible. We'll talk about that in this episode, plus a little about what other sports some mushers have participated in outside of mushing. We have another Dog of the Day -- this time, a trusty leader named JoAnna and, as always, a listener question.
Iditapod: One paw in front of the other
Iditarod mushers took their sled dog teams on an untimed, celebratory fun run from downtown Anchorage on the city’s trails, with hundreds of fans cheering along the way. We hear from mushers and fans – maybe the pitter patter of little dog feet – as well as a joyful bride, a grumpy bear, a curious moose (or three), a former Miss Alaska and her mom, who had a fox on her head, and more!