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A group of Democratic lawmakers is pushing an amendment to enshrine the Permanent Fund dividend in the Alaska Constitution.

Governor Sean Parnell said the state is not to blame for Flint Hills decision to close its North Pole refinery. Costs related to the cleanup of sulfolane groundwater contamination, from historic spills of the industrial solvent at the refinery, are identified by Flint Hills as a factor that went into the decision to stop production. The state recently set a strict sulfolane contamination threshold for ground water cleanup, but speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Parnell downplayed the significance of state regulation in the refinery’s shutdown.

An NBC affiliate says it has reached an agreement with Alaska's largest telecommunications company that will return its programming to rural communities just in time for the Winter Olympics. Anchorage station KTUU says its rural programming was resuming on Thursday after it reached a multiyear contract with General Communication Inc.

The annual Alaska Forum on the Environment is underway at the Dena'ina Convention center in Anchorage. On Thursday, federal project managers gave updates on cleanup projects across the state within national parks, on Federal Aviation property and at defense sites. The Defense Department has 537 formerly used defense sites or FUDS. Of those 70, remain active for cleanup.

A Bethel jury has ordered that the city of Hooper Bay pay close a million dollars to the family of a man that died at the Hooper Bay jail. The jury found that the City of Hooper Bay was negligent in the death of 22-year-old Louis Bunyan. Judge Charles Ray read the next portion of the jury’s verdict, which came in after 8 pm Tuesday.

The U.S. Senate passed a four-year farm bill Tuesday that includes Payments in Lieu of Taxes. The so-called PILT program sends some $26 million a year to Alaska communities adjacent to non-taxable federal lands. The bill also renews Alaska’s Village Safe Water program, which gets some $30 million a year from the federal government. Download Audio

Who Should Pay For Public Education?; Shively Takes Aim At Recent Anti-Pebble Mine TV Spot; Senate Passes Farm Bill; Richardson Highway Reopens After Avalanche Debris Removed; Board Of Fish Contemplates Kenai River King Conservation; Cook Inlet Salmon Changes Could Benefit Mat-Su; Legislation Allows Pre-2008 Canadian Polar Bear Trophies Into U.S.; 2 Minors Charged In Illegal Musk Ox Killings; Yukon Quest Leaders Race Into Dawson City; U.S. Ski Team's Winning Formula Includes Plenty Of Fun Download Audio

The state Board of Fisheries continued deliberation over dozens of proposals for Cook Inlet fishing industries today. Some steps were made in the direction of conserving Kenai River king salmon, but many other issues are due for some attention. Download Audio

Mac Minard, is a fisheries biologist now working as a consultant for the Mat-Su Borough. He says the board’s action today focuses primarily on Kenai River king salmon, but it could be beneficial to the Mat-Su on two fronts. Download Audio

The U.S. House passed a bill Wednesday that included a provision allowing some 41 American sport hunters to bring polar bear trophies home from Canada. Download Audio

In January, two minors were charged in the Nome Court House with 11 counts of wanton waste of big game. The case comes from an incident a year-and-a-half ago near Brevig Mission in which a herd of musk ox were illegally killed and not harvested. At the time of the incident the defendants were 13 and 10-years-old. Download Audio

Every year, politicians struggle with how much money to put toward public education. Now, they’re asking another question: Who should pay for it? One legislator is making the case that local governments shouldn’t be obligated to contribute to school budgets.

Alaska State Troopers have identified the body that was found in Quinhagak Monday afternoon as that of 25-year-old Lisa Johnson. She had been a missing person since Feb. 2.