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.

UAF Med Students Inject Wrong Substance

Some University of Alaska Fairbanks students received doses of a substance not approved for humans or animals. The medical course students were practicing giving injections. Download Audio

Statewide Smoking Ban Gains Traction In Senate

A proposal that would ban smoking in most public places in Alaska is making headway in the state Senate. Senate Bill 209 passed out of the Senate State Affairs Committee last week. Download Audio

Howard Weaver Speaks On Anchorage Daily News Sale

There are still a lot of unknowns about how the sale of the Anchorage Daily News to Alaska Dispatch will play out. But former Anchorage Daily News writer and managing editor Howard Weaver is thinking a lot about that question. Weaver wrote the book “Write Hard, Die Free” about the Anchorage newspaper wars in the 1970s and 80s. Weaver says he was saddened to learn about the sale of the Daily News. Download Audio

Where No Shop Class Has Gone Before

This is not your grandfather’s shop class. Late last month a group of high school and college shop teachers and a few of their students gathered for a three-day workshop in Sitka’s state-of-the-art Design and Fabrication Lab. The use of 3D printers and other computer-controlled equipment has revolutionized shop, and turned one of the most remote classrooms in the building into the coolest place in school. Download Audio

Alaska News Nightly: April 9, 2014

Troopers Name Two Pilots Killed In Crash Near Bethel; Murkowski Signs Onto ‘Regulatory Fairness Act’; Legislature Suspends Anchorage’s Tennis Court Grant; UAF Med Students Inject Wrong Substance; Statewide Smoking Ban Gains Traction In Senate; Howard Weaver Speaks On Anchorage Daily News Sale; Where No Shop Class Has Gone Before Download Audio

Sponsor Of Judicial Council Amendment Set On Getting Floor Debate

The sponsor of a constitutional amendment to reconfigure the Judicial Council says he wants a vote on the bill, even if the outcome is not guaranteed to be favorable.

Community Food Security: Angoon Garden Assistance Program

angoon 4 The only permanent settlement on Admiralty Island, 55 miles Southwest of Juneau and 41 miles North of Sitka, Angoon is a small community of about 570 residents. Because of the community’s remote location, produce available in town is very expensive and has often traveled hundreds if not thousands of miles before reaching the consumer.

Troopers Name 2 Men Killed In Alaska Plane Crash

Alaska State Troopers say the remains of two pilots have been found in the wreckage of a small commercial plane that crashed near a Southwest Alaska town.

Plane Down Near Bethel, Two Reported Onboard

A Cessna 208 with two pilots on board has crashed outside of Bethel. Ravn Alaska spokesperson Steve Smith confirms the downed plane was a Hageland Aviation training flight with two pilots on board, and no passengers.

Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame: Mary Jane (Evans) Fate

Mary Jane Fate, a Koyukon Athabascan born in Rampart, labored tirelessly to improve all aspects of Alaska Native people’s lives. As one of the original Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act lobbyists, she worked with others to convince the White House and Congress of the fairness and justice in conveying 40 million acres and $1 billion to Alaska Natives through the passage of the Native claims act in 1971. Download Audio

Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame: Beverly D. Dunham

Beverly, “Bev”, Dunham is a pioneer in Alaska journalism and a tireless community advocate. She is described as being ahead of her time and a strong role model to many women and young girls growing up in Alaska. Download Audio

Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame: Eleanor Andrews

Eleanor Andrews has been building the human infrastructure capacity of Alaska for nearly five decades. She has been a successful business woman, as the owner of the Andrews Group, and also has been a highly regarded public servant. But it is the effectiveness and sweeping nature of her advocacy on behalf of community that is most amazing. Andrews is most widely known as a “civic entrepreneur” – that is a person who inspires institutions, businesses and individuals to invest in the community at the same time that they being successful at their work. Download Audio

Alaska Dispatch To Buy Anchorage Daily News

Alaska Dispatch is making an aggressive move to position itself at the forefront of the the state's media landscape. It announced Tuesday that it's buying the Anchorage Daily News – Alaska's largest newspaper. Download Audio

Can an Aggressive Russia Remain Our Nice Arctic Neighbor?

Despite occasional fears in the West of a Russian land grab in the Arctic, Russia has behaved as a good neighbor in its dealings with other countries in the Arctic Council. But Putin's moves in Ukraine has Arctic experts wondering what this means for international relations in the Arctic and whether the era of cooperation with Russia is over. Download Audio

Why Alaska women earn less and what they can do about it

President Obama signed executive orders on Tuesday that aim to tighten the pay gap between men and women. The President’s actions take place on national Equal Pay Day, a day symbolizing how long women have to work into 2014 to catch up with what men earned in 2013. Equal Pay Day originated in 1996 to raise public awareness of the wage gap. While discrimination may contribute to Alaska’s pay gap, a state economist says other factors are just as important. Download Audio

Amendment To Restructure Judicial Council Stalls Before Vote

A constitutional amendment that would reconfigure a commission tasked with vetting judges was pulled from a vote in the Alaska Senate on Monday after struggling to pick up the necessary support. Download Audio

State Reviewing Sulfolane Cleanup Standards

The state will take another look at its cleanup standard for sulfolane contaminated water in North Pole. Last November, the Department of Environmental Conservation set a 14 parts per billion clean up threshold for groundwater tainted by historic spills at the Flint Hills North Pole Refinery. Download Audio

Students Compete For Spot In National Geography Bee

Students from across the state competed in the 26th annual Alaska State Geographic Bee last week in hopes of winning a spot in this year’s national competition in Washington D.C. 101 students vied for the spot. Download Audio

Alaska News Nightly: April 8, 2014

Alaska Dispatch To Buy Anchorage Daily News; Can an Aggressive Russia Remain Our Nice Arctic Neighbor?; Executive Orders Aim To Tighten Pay Gap; Amendment To Restructure Judicial Council Stalls Before Vote; House Strikes Retirement Plan, Funding Formula Change From Education Bill; State Reviewing Sulfolane Cleanup Standards; Students Compete For Spot In National Geography Bee Download Audio

Reflections from the Trapline

Erik Johnson Trapline 1 The woods after the first snowfall have a distinctive sound. The world becomes quieter, and any remaining sound is muffled, as though filtered through cotton. It’s in this new silence that I find myself snowshoeing through the trees. Read more.