News

All news stories, regardless of topic (local, statewide + national news stories, as well as Talk of Alaska, Alaska News Nightly, Alaska Insight, Alaska Economic Report). Some news stories may also have other categories marked, which will also put them on a subpage. Not all news stories will fall into a subpage.

Police seek suspect in fatal shooting outside Fairbanks bar

Police are looking for a suspect they say shot and killed a Fairbanks man he'd been fighting with in a bar.

Contaminated soil removed from aviation fuel spill site

State authorities say all contaminated soil from a spill of 1,900 gallons of aviation fuel has been removed.

Parents Sue ASD Over Vague Suspension Notification Policies

Two families are suing the Anchorage School District for illegal suspension practices. The mothers say that the suspension notices the district sends out don't include the full reasons for the suspensions, just simplified codes like "74-Dangerous Actions" or "14-Willful Disobedience." Download Audio:

Rep. Young Riles Indian Country With Hearings on ‘Land in Trust’ Powers

The Interior Secretary’s power to take land into trust for tribes could create pockets of Indian Country across Alaska. Tribes see it as an opportunity to police their own territory and improve village safety. Others see it as the reservation model that Alaskans rejected in the land claims settlement act 44 years ago. Outside the state, land-into-trust is controversial, too. Download Audio:

Wolf Hunt Adjacent to Denali Closes Early

The state of Alaska is closing wolf hunting early in the Stampede area along the northeastern edge of Denali National Park. Download Audio:

5 Ill After Eating Fermented Seal Flipper

First three, and now five, people have fallen ill or been taken under medical observation after two separate meals of fermented seal flipper in the Seward Peninsula community of Koyuk have been linked to the toxic bacteria that causes botulism. Download Audio:

NOAA Seeks Public Comment on Beluga Whale Recovery Plan

NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comment on a draft recovery plan for Cook Inlet beluga whales. According to a release from NOAA, the plan will structure efforts to bring the whales back up to a healthy population size. Once there, the hope is to remove them from the federal endangered species list. Download Audio:

Alaska News Nightly: Friday, May 15, 2015

Parents Sue ASD Over Vague Suspension Notification Policies; Sealaska Unveils Its New Building in Downtown Juneau; Rep. Young Riles Indian Country with Hearings on 'Land In Trust' Powers; Wolf Hunt Adjacent to Denali Closes Early; 5 Ill After Eating Fermented Seal Flipper; NOAA Seeks Public Comment on Beluga Recovery Plan; Anchorage: Activists Rally for Medicaid Expansion, Oil Tax Law Revision; 49 Voices: Seth Landon of Wasilla; AK: Biking A Century Download Audio:

Anchorage: Activists Rally for Medicaid Expansion, Oil Tax Law Revision

Supporters of Medicaid expansion have continued their efforts with rallies in downtown Anchorage this week. Download Audio:

AK: Biking a Century

Have you ever thought about biking one hundred miles in one go? KSKA's Anne Hillman did, so she signed up for the Clean Air Challenge. It's a bike ride the American Lung Association hosts every year to raise money for education and research on lung disease. At first Anne was in it more for the challenge of the ride than for the cause. But then something happened along the way. Download Audio:

Sealaska Unveils Its New Building in Downtown Juneau

The Sealaska Heritage Institute unveiled its new structure in downtown Juneau on Friday. It’s called the Walter Soboleff Building after the late Tlingit scholar, elder and religious leader. Inside stands a full-sized replica of a traditional red cedar clan house. Download Audio:

Fairbanks Robotics Team Heads to World Championship

A Fairbanks high school team took the top honor at the recently competed First Tech Challenge World Robotics Championships in St. Louis, Missouri. The kids, who have been competing together for the last four years, demonstrated the best mix of technical engineering, performance and sportsmanship.

49 Voices: Seth Landon of Wasilla

This week, we're hearing from Seth Landon, who also participated in the Clean Air Challenge. Landon moved to Alaska five years ago from the flat lands of Michigan and now calls Wasilla home. Download Audio

Staying safe in bear country

Everywhere is bear country in Alaska, even the urban areas. From encounters on the trails and along fishing streams, to bears raiding trash cans and chicken coops, it’s spring and bears are awake and on the move. How do we keep ourselves and them safe? APRN: Tuesday, 5/19 at 10:00am Download Audio

Klukwan high schoolers prepare for next steps

Two of Klukwan School’s high school students are either graduating or moving after this year. The high school/junior high teacher is also leaving.
Garry White came to Sitka in 2008 and has ridden the wave of the bulk water venture. But new developments in infrastructure and capital are giving him hope that bulk water shipments to California will happen this year. (Emily Kwong/KCAW)

Thirsty California a potential market for bulk water

In Sitka, raising the hydroelectric dam at Blue Lake has created not only a source of renewable energy, but an even larger reserve of fresh water. The bulk water presents a business opportunity.

Upcoming Alaska Navy training exercises prompt protest plans

A Navy training exercise planned in the Gulf of Alaska has sparked heated opposition in a small Alaska fishing town whose residents say the drills are taking place in the critical habitat of breeding and migratory marine life.

Department seeks consultant on health care provider tax

The state health department is seeking consulting help to develop a proposal for a health care provider tax in Alaska.

Murkowski wants to change federal ‘rural’ label process

A U.S. senator for Alaska has introduced legislation that would reverse a 2007 federal decision designating Saxman a nonrural community, making residents ineligible for subsistence hunting and fishing on federal land.

This winter may be Anchorage’s least snowy on record

The National Winter Service says this past winter was unofficially the least snowy on record for Anchorage.