News

Gov. Parnell Defends Against Claims That Response To National Guard Was Too Slow; Fairbanks 4 Member Granted Parole; Hilcorp Drilling Platform Catches Fire In Cook Inlet; Native Leaders Say Court Ruling Will Cut Off Native Children From Community, Culture; Quinhagak Residents Hopeful Hair Samples Will Unlock More Mysteries About Ancestors; Congressional Candidates Talk Fish in Kodiak; A Sneak Peak Of Bethel's New Fitness Center Download Audio

Alaska’s congressional candidates descended on Kodiak Wednesday night for a debate that pinned candidates running for both the House and Senate against their opponents on a number of fisheries-related issues. Download Audio

The Fitness center, which includes a swimming pool, is set to open in Bethel in November. The project has been in the works for decades and anticipation is building in the community, where no other such facility exists. Download Audio

Two political newcomers are vying for the Matanuska Susitna Borough's District 5 seat, since incumbent Darcie Salmon has decided to retire. Borough elections are set for October 7, and the heat is building up in this, the only contested race, which pits two long time community leaders, Bill Kendig and Dan Mayfield, against each other to represent the Borough's fast growing industrial area.

Even though the few polls that have been done on the measure show it clearing 60 percent of the vote, the campaign wants to guarantee as wide a margin as possible to discourage lawmakers from tampering with the minimum wage or the inflation indexing component in the future. Download Audio

Community health centers in the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands will get at least $600,000 in federal grant money for new services this year. The grants are aimed in part at helping new patients who enrolled in health plans under the Affordable Care Act. But there aren’t many of those in the Aleutian Islands. Instead, providers will use the money for the patients they already have. Download Audio

The manager of Alaska’s infectious disease program says it wouldn’t be surprising if an unusual respiratory illness that has affected children in the Lower 48 is detected soon in Alaska. Download Audio

A federal fisheries agency has raised concerns about the accuracy of some studies being conducted for a massive proposed dam in Southcentral Alaska. Download Audio

Two airlines that serve Fairbanks seasonally have made decisions that will decrease flights to the Golden Heart City. One is related to increased fuel cost. Download Audio

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is considering an option to issue “targeted hunting” permits this winter to take moose that frequent roadways in the Fairbanks area. Download Audio

A group of health policy innovators gathered at the Dena’ina center in Anchorage this morning to talk about how Alaska’s health care systems have evolved. The event is part of the Alaska Health Care Commission’s initiative to look at how Alaskans health status has improved in the last 60 years. A lot has changed in that time, including the development of an independent tribal health system. Download Audio

Minimum Wage Campaign Running Without Organized Opposition; Federal Grants Boost Services at Aleutian-Pribilof Clinics; No Confirmed Cases Of Unusual Respiratory Illness In Alaska; Federal Agency Expresses Concern With Dam Studies; Frontier Airlines Pulling Out Of Fairbanks Market; Cruise Traffic Level, But Could Grow Soon; ‘Targeted Hunting’ Permits Considered In Fairbanks Area; Health Policy Innovators Gather In Anchorage Download Audio

Maryland tax collectors had good news for Republican Senate candidate Dan Sullivan today, and perhaps bad news for his campaign. Maryland authorities say he doesn’t have to repay about $5,000 in homestead tax credits he received from 2006 to 2008, for a home he owned in Bethesda. Only owners claiming a home as their principal residence are entitled to the credits. Download Audio:

Alaska regulations give government bodies 10 working days to fulfill a records request, plus another 10 if they need an extension. It took Parnell’s office 86 full working days just to deny one concerning the executive branch's response to sexual assault in the Alaska National Guard. Download Audio:

Sullivan Allowed to Keep In-State Tax Credits in Maryland; After Long Delay, Governor Denies Record Request Into National Guard Response; Ebola Spreads to US, Risk to Alaska Deemed Low; How Should the US Lead in the Arctic?; Walrus Are Hauling Out On Alaska Shores In Record Numbers; Deciphering AO-37, Anchorage's Labor Law; None Testify In Favor of Pot at Hearing in Bethel; Tlingit Woodcarver Revives An Old-World Tool: The Adze Download Audio:

Arctic experts and policymakers gathered at a Washington, D.C. think-tank today to focus on how the U.S. might wield its leadership when it assumes the chairmanship of the Arctic Council next year. Recommendations ranged from the lofty to the concrete. Download Audio:

Pacific walrus looking for places to rest in the absence of sea ice are coming to shore in record numbers on Alaska's northwest coast. Download Audio: