Lori Townsend, Alaska Public Media

In rural Alaska, dividend checks do more than pay for new sofas. Meera Kohler is the President and CEO of the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative or AVEC. Kohler says, many people in village pre-pay their winter electric bills with their PFD. She says the day checks get deposited is the busiest day of the year for AVEC.

A new survey shows more than 50 percent of women in Anchorage have been the victim of some type of sexual violence in their lifetime.

A jury in the Western Alaska city of Bethel is hearing a high profile murder case today. Two men stand accused of torturing and killing 19-year-old Benjamin Kaiser of Hooper Bay last October. One is 47-year-old Jeffery Hout of Bethel, the other is 33-year-old Harry Williams of Bethel.

After seven months of uncertainty, the head of the Denali Commission says a long awaited answer about whether the commission would need to return $15 million has been settled.

On the Kenai Peninsula, the race for Borough Mayor is a crowded one this year, with a total of six candidates vying for the job.

Alaska’s bypass mail subsidy is being targeted by a California lawmaker looking to trim costs and generate more revenue for the financially ailing U.S. Postal Service.

A non-profit in Anchorage is the first organization in Alaska that can receive donations by text message.

The Arctic Slope Native Association is waiting to hear whether the U.S. Supreme court will review a case involving underfunded contract payments between tribally ran medical facilities and the Indian Health Service.

After the Deepwater Horizon spill last year, the Minerals Management Service became the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. Now the federal agency that oversees offshore drilling in the U.S. is undergoing another transition.

Another Air Traffic controller who says he worked with Korean flight 085 that was diverted to Whitehorse on Sept. 11, 2001 has come forward with additional details of the day’s events. APRN reported Friday that retired Air Traffic Controller Rick Wilder says the pilot was ordered to squawk that he had hijackers on board.

A panel discussion at the University of Alaska Anchorage Friday night will be the culmination of a series of talks that were organized by the ANCSA at 40 committee.

The regional manager of the Small Business Administration’s International Trade Finance Programs is in Alaska encouraging small business owners to consider growing sales by exporting their goods and services.

The federal health care reform law is beginning to affect Medicare. Under the Affordable Care Act, enrollment in the Medicare prescription drug plans, known as Part D, is earlier.

A townhall style meeting took place at Anchorage's Bean's Cafe on Tuesday to highlight the dangers of living outside through the upcoming winter. Bean's serves daily meals to those who are homeless and the working poor. Yesterday's meeting featured speakers from the Anchorage Police department, Catholic Social Services and clients of Bean's and the Brother Francis shelter located across the parking lot. A paper listing the warning signs of hypothermia was handed out.

It’s probably safe to say that most people, especially those under 50, rarely, if ever sit down, put pen to paper, lick envelope glue and put a letter in the mailbox. But an Anchorage club of self proclaimed letter nerds, all under 40, are doing exactly that.

A man in an unusual case of identity theft was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage Thursday. Rafael Mora-Lopez had lived in Anchorage for more than two decades as Rafael Alberto Espinoza.

The subsistence litigation of Mentasta elder Katie John was back in court recently when a three-judge panel of the 9th circuit held hearings in Anchorage. John’s first case went to the U.S. Supreme court and established that congress intended through title 8 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act or ANILCA to protect fish and game, including navigable waters of Alaska. After the rule making in that decision, the state of Alaska asked an en banc panel of the 9th circuit to review the case. The decision in favor of John was reaffirmed.