Lori Townsend, Alaska Public Media

The sentencing of the former director of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission continued today in federal court in Anchorage. Ahmaogak was director of the commission for 17 years until she was fired in 2007 from the commission, which receives federal funds. She pleaded guilty in May to two counts of theft and misapplication of funds.

Ten years ago this week, the Denali Fault earthquake shook Interior Alaska. On November 3, 2002 the 7.9 magnitude quake caused extensive damage to infrastructure along the fault line, including bridges, roads and even an airport. Scientists and engineers have spent the last decade studying the intricacies of the earthquake, hoping to learn how to prevent damages from future earthquakes.

This evening Citizens for the Educational Advancement of Alaska’s Children or CEAAC will acknowledge the settlement of two education lawsuits against the state with the presentation of two funds. One for $18 million will help pay for new programs for struggling schools and another for $300,000.

Gathering information about the scale of the problem of sex trafficking in Alaska will be the focus of a state hearing on the issue next week. The lengthily titled State of Alaska Task Force on the Crimes of Human Trafficking, Promoting Prostitution and Sex Trafficking will hold hearings in Anchorage and Bethel. Cori Badgley is an assistant Attorney General with the state. She says domestic violence and sexual assault of children are usually in the backgrounds of victims of sex trafficking. She says it's important for Alaskans to weigh in on this crime.

In an age of instant and constant communication, how can parents and other concerned adults keep children safe from online predators? How has sex trafficking in Alaska trapped young people in lives of prostitution, drug abuse and despair. We’ll hear from a vice unit detective and an expert in catching online predators, on the next Talk of Alaska. KSKA: Tuesday, 10/30 at 10:00am

A group of engineers and technically talented volunteers from San Francisco will be at the Alaska Federation of Natives annual convention this week to help work on rural Alaska challenges. The organization ReAllocate is looking for partners in Alaska for a program called StartUP Country.

Alaskans with direct deposit woke up $878 richer Thursday morning from the Permanent Fund Dividend. Paper checks were also mailed out Thursday. This year’s dividend is the lowest since 2005, but travel columnist and Alaska Travel Gram publisher Scott McMurren says the PFD always inspires airfare deals and Alaska Airlines offers sales from all of their jet destinations in Alaska.

Southcentral starts to clean up after a series of September storms. Issues regarding the Wishbone Hill coal development resurface in the Valley. The Mat-Su Borough election takes place next week. Coleman Barney is sentenced in his Fairbanks militia trial. Gov. Parnell wants to break up the Senate Bi-Partisan Coalition. How has money affected this fall’s elections? Concerns raised about the availability of natural gas to Anchorage in the future. KSKA: Friday, 9/28 at 2:00pm & Saturday, 9/29 at 6:00pm TV: Friday, 9/28 at 7:30pm & Saturday, 9/29 at 5:00pm

Scientists can’t predict earthquakes yet. But the United States Geological Survey has been piloting a system in California for a year that gives early warning before an earthquake hits. The federal agency will update Congress on how it’s working later this week.

Federal judge John Bryan sentenced former Fairbanks Peacemaker’s militia member Coleman Barney in Anchorage today to five-year sentences for each of the two counts he was convicted of. The judge said the sentences will run concurrent and there will be credit given for time served. Barney has already been in jail for about a year and a half. Following his release from prison, he will be on probation for three additional years.

The information below is from an interview with David Streubel, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service. The Little Susitna River crested overnight. Water levels are still above flood stage but are going down today and tomorrow, although it will take time for those waters to recede.

Very few people know the ins and outs of the state legislature in Juneau as well as APRN’s Dave Donaldson. He was hired in 1991 to cover state politics for APRN and has now logged an impressive 22 legislative sessions. He arrived in Juneau from North Carolina, thinking he would only stay one year. But like many Alaskans, he fell in love with the state, and Juneau, almost instantly.

The 10th annual Seafood Summit wrapped up last week in Hong Kong, Alaskan freelance reporter and publisher of the newsletter Laws of the Sea, Bob Tkacz was there. Tkacz says he spent four days touring aquaculture facilities, both for fin fish and shrimp. He says as demand grows from India, China, Brazil and other countries, wild fish stocks will not be enough.

Citizen reports from the upper hillside area of Anchorage: Jordan Shay an upper Bear Valley resident reports wind gust Saturday evening of 120 miles per hour.

Another large wind storm is moving toward Anchorage and surrounding areas. The storm is across the southern Bering Sea but is expected to hit Southcentral Alaska and particularly Anchorage late Saturday night. National Weather Service meteorologist Bob Hopkins says the storm will mainly hit three areas of the city, starting with the Upper Hillside.

Anchorage mayor Dan Sullivan is asking for budget cuts and one of the departments being targeted is the Anchorage Police department. The mayor says the city is facing a $30 million shortfall for next year’s budget.

An Anchorage commercial property builder pleaded guilty today in U.S. District court to 12 counts of making false statements to a credit union for more than $4 million in construction loan draws. Lee E. Baker, Jr. was the owner of Discovery Construction, Inc.