Lori Townsend, Alaska Public Media
Bush Caucus Takes Stand On Rural Issues
Bryce Edgmon with the Bush caucus of the Alaska legislature spoke to AFN delegates this morning. Edgmon, a Democrat from Dillingham, said the caucus took a forceful stance against the photo ID mandates for voter registration and against the proposal to amend the state constitution for using state dollars for non public schools.
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300 Villages: Alaska Federation Of Natives
Although it isn’t a standard village, AFN is a community that pops up for a few days each fall, bringing together people from across the state. Attendees talk about why that community is so important.
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Julie Kitka On Tribal-Federal Relations
The Alaska Federation of Natives Convention got underway this morning in Fairbanks. The keynote speaker today was Nelson Angapak, retired as Senior Vice President of AFN. He urged young people to work hard to achieve success, to listen to their elders and for Native people to come together to confront big challenges like threats to subsistence and federal cuts to programs.
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Tribal Courts May Get More Power In Alcohol, Domestic Violence Cases
Governor Sean Parnell announced at AFN today that he's preparing to launch demonstration projects to allow tribal courts to process more alcohol and domestic violence cases. He said tribes "can often provide local, culturally relevant justice services." Jerry Isaac is President of the Tanana Chiefs Conference, which has one of the most active tribal court systems in the state. APRN's Lori Townsend asked for his reaction to Governor Parnell's announcement:
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Violence Against Women
The numbers of victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking in Alaska continue to be some of the highest in the nation. Family violence impacts the emotional growth of children and affects entire communities. What can be done to reduce the harm?
APRN: Tuesday, 10/22 at 10:00am
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Great Alaska ShakeOut Promotes Earthquake Preparedness
Nearly 50,000 Alaskans registered for an earthquake preparedness event today called the Great Alaskan ShakeOut.
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Discussion Touches On Unconventional Oil, Gas Development
Unconventional oil and gas development will be part of the discussion on Friday when energy advisory consultant David Goldwyn speaks at an Alaska World Affairs counsel event. Goldwyn is co-author and editor of Energy and Security: Strategies for a World in Transition. The revised 2nd edition addresses new energy frontiers, rising safety concerns for energy complexes and energy poverty. Goldwyn says the revolution in shale development in the lower 48 has changed the future of domestic energy development.
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Diversity In News Coverage
This year’s University of Alaska Anchorage Atwood Chair of Journalism is the first Native to hold the position. Alaska residents come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds and the state is home to half of the nation’s tribes, yet most of the reporters in the state are white. Does this matter? What changes when there is more diversity in reporting?
APRN: Tuesday, 10/15 at 10:00am
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Diversity In The Newsroom
My guest for today’s program is Mark Trahant, Mark is the University of Alaska Anchorage Atwood Chair of Journalism. Mark is the first Native person to hold the Atwood chair at UAA, and diversity in journalism will be part of the discussion today.
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KSKA: Friday, 10/11 at 2:00pm & Saturday, 10/12 at 6:00pm
TV: Friday, 10/11 at 7:30pm & Saturday, 10/12 at 5:00pm
Alaska’s Supreme Court Justice Talks About Diversity On The Court
The Alaska Supreme Court was in Barrow last week to hear a climate change lawsuit on the Barrow high school stage. Chief Justice Dana Fabe says it’s important for students to learn how their legal system works. The Chief Justice feels strongly that diversity on the bench helps communities have faith in the decisions judges make. In her chambers at the Boney courthouse in downtown Anchorage she spoke highly of her predecessor Jay Rabinowitz who believed all Alaskans should have equal access to the judicial system.
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Longtime Pilot, Adventurer Shares Experiences In New Book
The list of Alaskans with notable adventures is long, but Lowell Thomas Junior’s accomplishments are impressive by any standard. A former 12-year State Senator and Lieutenant Governor, an author, filmmaker and world traveler who visited the Dalai Lama and desert nomads, Thomas has logged more than 10,000 hours flying, much of it in a single-engine airplane with his wife. Tay. as his navigator. A new book co-authored with Lew Freedman chronicles Lowell Thomas Junior’s amazing life and is out now, just a few days before his 90th birthday. Lowell and Tay tell us with so many adventures, it’s tough to pick a highlight.
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Navigating The Online Health Insurance Marketplaces
The Affordable Care Act's online health insurance marketplaces launched across the country on Tuesday. Each state is required to have a marketplace as part of the ACA. The sites are where people can shop for a health insurance plan and figure out if they qualify for a subsidy to help pay for it. Under the health care law, nearly everyone in the country is required to have health insurance starting Jan. 1. Today's guests are here to answer questions about how to sign up for coverage.
KSKA: Friday, 10/4 at 2:00pm & Saturday, 10/5 at 6:00pm
TV: Friday, 10/4 at 7:30pm & Saturday, 10/5 at 5:00pm
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Solace International Helping Syrian Refugees
An Alaska based non-profit that does international aid work is running a school for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Nate York is Executive Director of Solace International. He founded the small organization after the September 11th attacks and started building girls schools in Afghanistan. Now the non-profit works on a wide range of small projects in South and Central America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
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Alaska Tsunami Warning Center Gets New Name
This is the last day that the tsunami warning center in Palmer, Alaska will be the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center. Tomorrow, Oct. 1, the center’s new name will be the national Tsunami Warning Center.
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Denali Commission’s Inspector General Advocates For Dissolving Organization
The federal co chair of Alaska's Denali Commission was taken by surprise early this morning when a Washington Post reporter called for reaction to a letter sent to Congress that advocated for dissolving the commission. It was surprising because the letter came from an employee, Mike Marsh- the commission's Inspector General. I spoke with commission co-chair Joel Niemeyer is his office in downtown Anchorage this afternoon. He said Marsh's letter is damaging to the organization.
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Newly-Enforced FAA Policies Cause Problems For Alaska Airports
Alaska occasionally gets caught in federal rules that may work in Ohio, but not in Ozinkie. One such national policy that has been confounding airport managers and pilots may be close to at least a temporary fix for Alaska.
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Murkowski Secures $50 Million For Legacy Well Clean Up
Legislation that passed Congress today will allocate $50 million to clean up the 130 oil and gas wells that were drilled and abandoned by the federal government in the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska.
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‘Strength in Youth’ Highlights Positive High School Statistics
Athletes at East High in Anchorage highlighted some positive statistics about teens earlier today at the homecoming pep rally. Like the fact that 89 percent of Anchorage high school students don’t smoke. The campaign is called “Strength of our Youth.” The idea is to debunk the myths that “everyone” in high school is making bad choices.
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Margaret Stock Named MacArthur Genius Grant Winner
An Anchorage immigration attorney is a MacArthur Genius grant winner. Margaret Stock was named today along with 23 other recipients across the country. The honor comes with a $625,000 award over the next five years.
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Filmmakers Search For Long-Missing Russian Plane
In the summer of 1937 A Russian plane en route from Moscow to Fairbanks crashed in the Arctic. A headline that day in the Anchorage Daily Times blared- Soviet Fliers Stranded in Arctic; Distress Call Heard in Anchorage. The aircraft, and the 6 Russians on board have never been found. Efforts through the years to locate the plane have taken Alaskan pilot Ron Sheardown and Russian filmmakers and relatives of the crew to the Canadian Arctic and Alaska. Sheardown has been flying in the arctic for 60 years. He says they have reason to believe three Inupiaq hunters at Oliktok Point, northwest of Prudhoe bay, may have seen the plane go down on August 13th, 1937 in between Spy and Thesis Island.
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