News

Watch Market Warriors - First Look on PBS. See more from pbs.

In each episode, four pickers travel to different markets across the country to purchase items with a set amount of money, and use their knowledge and skills to see who can make the most profit at auction. Fred Willard (Best in Show, A Mighty Wind) is Market Warriors’ off-screen host, offering wry commentary throughout the show. Alaska Public Television. Monday, 8/13. 8:00 pm

Alaska firefighters are helping battle blazes in the Lower 48 again. Alaska Fire Service spokesman Mel Slater says a total of 200 firefighters headed south this week. The deployment includes village and regional crews managed by the State, Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.

The Fairbanks Catholic Diocese is marking its 50th anniversary this weekend. Events including a Sunday mass, will recognize the roles, good and bad, the church has played in communities across a large area of the state.

Two bears continue to be a problem along a popular Fairbanks area hiking trail. One of the young grizzly siblings stalked a group of 3 hikers and their dog on the Granite Tors Trail in the Chena River State Recreation Area last month.

This week, we’re heading to the community of Butte, located at the foot of Bodenberg Butte in the Matanuska Susitna Valley. It’s home to about 3000 residents. Brit Lively is a longtime resident of Butte. She lives there with her domestic partner, five horses and a mule.

The state has signed off on a proposal from the City of Akutan to annex nearby lands. The new city boundaries encompass an additional 130 square miles, including the new airport on Akun Island and the city’s geothermal project. In a press release, the Department of Commerce noted that the annexation gives the city greater authority over administration of those projects.

A large earthquake hit near Nikolski around 10:30 Friday morning. “Nikolski is located about 75 miles from the epicenter and I would expect that at this distance a 6.2 would be felt by most people," says Alaska Earthquake Information Center seismologist Natasha Ruppert. "But when we called and asked people, nobody actually felt it.”

A reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act has slowed in Congress. The House and Senate have passed their own versions of the bill, and if the two chambers want to reconcile the two bills, they’ll need to address issues of native sovereignty and tribal courts.

One of three walrus calves rescued from the Barrow shoreline and taken to the Alaska SeaLife Center didn't make it. The calf was pretty emaciated and died within a day of being brought in July 30. A second calf remains in critical condition, while a third is now stabilized in the Center's critical care unit, which has a windowpane for the public to be able to look inside.

The Native village corporation Klukwan Inc. in Southeast Alaska filed for bankruptcy this week. The corporation filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 which allows for reorganization, meaning the debtor usually proposes a plan to keep its business alive and pay creditors over time, or the court will determine how the debts will be settled.

An investigation of July shooting incident has cleared the two Anchorage police officers. The state Law Department Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals says officers Michael Jones and Bryan Heinz were justified for shooting Harry Smith on July 1 when he pointed a BB gun that looked like a regular pistol at them.

Peter Maassen will be the new state Supreme Court Justice, replacing Morgan Christen, who moved up to the federal Ninth Circuit Appeals court. Maasen is an Anchorage attorney in private practice.

Watch Tanglewood 75th Anniversary Celebration Preview on PBS. See more from Great Performances.

Located in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts, Tanglewood is one of the world’s most beloved music festivals and serves as the summer home for the famed Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO). Tanglewood 75th Anniversary Celebration will feature the BSO, the Boston Pops Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, under the direction of conductors John Williams, Keith Lockhart and Andris Nelsons. Alaska Public Television. Friday. August 10, 9:30 pm

An Alaska-based paratrooper from Idaho has been killed in Afghanistan. U.S. Army Alaska says that Spc. Ethan Jacob Martin of Lewiston, Idaho, died Tuesday when his unit was attacked by small arms fire in Koragay, Afghanistan. Three other soldiers also were injured.

Enbridge Inc. is proposing to build a pipeline that would transport oil sands crude 730 miles from Alberta, Canada to the coast of British Columbia. From there, the pipeline would fill supertankers headed primarily to China. The fastest route takes them straight through Alaskan waters. KSTK’s Anne Hillman has more about how the proposed project could impact the state.

There’s a reason the Chilkat Valley is called the Valley of Eagles. Thousands of bald eagles thrive in the valley near Haines and the Tlingit village of Klukwan. The communities gathered recently to honor the anniversary of a preserve created to protect the eagles and their habitat.