Juneau Clinic For Homeless, Low-Income Residents Open Through April
The clinic for Juneau’s homeless and low-income residents will stay open at least through April 30 thanks to the fundraising efforts of local community members and organizations.
Download Audio
SAFV Tackles Domestic Violence Crisis With Community Training
The domestic violence shelter in Sitka is stepping up its community training program following the release of new survey data last year. SAFV, or Sitkans Against Family Violence, has routinely offered volunteer advocate training, but now the organization is hoping to involve more of the community in how to recognize – and address – Sitka’s incredibly high rate of intimate partner violence.
Download Audio
AK: Preservation
In June, the Keku Cannery in Kake was named one of the 11 most endangered historic places in the country by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The building is an artifact of Alaska’s salmon canning industry and its a reminder of the different people that worked there.
Download Audio
300 Villages: Nelson Lagoon
This week, we’re heading to Nelson Lagoon, a tiny fishing community on the Bering Sea side of the Alaska Peninsula. Justine Gundersen is the administrator for the Nelson Lagoon Tribal Council.
Download Audio
Alaska’s Winter Olympians
For some years now, Alaska has produced more than its share of competitive athletes for the Winter Olympics. Is it just because it’s cold up here? We’ll find out from the athletes themselves, as they take a break from training for Sochi to appear on the next Talk of Alaska.
KSKA: Tuesday, 9/10 at 10:00am
Download Audio
Shell Agrees to $1M Fine for Arctic Air Permit Violations
Shell will pay the Environmental Protection Agency $1.1 million in fines for allegedly violating air permits during their 2012 drilling season in Alaska.
A Shrew-Eating Trout
This fish was caught on the Kanektok River during a rainbow trout project. It wound up being a mortality capture (it didn't survive), so it was cut open to see what it had been feeding on. Surprise! The answer was shrews, and a whole lot of them.
By my count, this trout ate twenty shrews. Twenty.
Read more.
Environmental Enforcement Doesn’t Sit Well With Miners, Politicians
A recent sweep by government agents looking for environmental violations at gold mines in the 40 Mile region, has angered locals and Alaska politicians. The governor’s office has ordered an investigation, and area placer miners are organizing to protest the Environmental Protection Agency lead action.
Download Audio
Hundreds Of Aftershocks Rock Aleutian Chain
Hundreds of aftershocks are rattling the Aleutian Chain following a 7.0 earthquake near Adak on Friday. Residents are ready for life to go back to normal – but it could be months before the quakes subside.
Download Audio
Oil Tax Referendum To Appear On Ballot
It's official: A controversial tax cut on oil companies will be put to a vote. Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai certified the referendum on the new tax law this Tuesday.
Download Audio
Geothermal Test Well Drilling Begins Near Nome
Drilling for a geothermal test well began today north of Nome at the Pilgrim Hot Springs. The Alaska Center for Energy and Power estimates two megawatts of sustainable power can be generated from the site. If the estimates are true, Nome residents may soon see the benefits of tapping into the resource.
Download Audio
Weekend Winds Won’t Reach Last Year’s Levels
September winds in Anchorage and Southcentral Alaska may increase going into the weekend, but National Weather Service forecaster Christian Cassell says they won’t reach the intensity of last fall’s big storm.
Download Audio
Budding Local Market For Local Blooms
The local food market in Alaska is well established. But there’s a quieter movement gaining momentum in Alaska agriculture: flowers. Peonies make up the largest share of flower farming in the state, and they’re exported around the world. And at Anchorage farmers markets zinnias, sunflowers and dahlias have moved in alongside the kale and potatoes.
Download Audio
Coal Development Spurs Protest
Numerous coal development projects are slated for lands in the Matanuska Valley that are owned by the Alaska Mental Health Trust. Some Anchorage and Valley residents are concerned about mercury poisoning linked to coal development, and on Wednesday, they aired their concerns before the board of directors of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority.
Download Audio
Union Files For Arbitration Over State Office Space
The state’s largest public employee union and the Parnell administration will enter into arbitration over the issue of office space. An arbitrator has been selected, but the time frame for the negotiations are still unknown.
Download Audio
Anchorage Snapshots
In the winter, in the late fifties and early sixties, when construction season in Anchorage was dead and Dad grew bored with painting landscapes, he got out his tripod and the black Graphlex he’d bought at Stewart’s Photo on Fourth Avenue.
The large box-like camera looked like those used by professional photographers, maybe for Life Magazine.
Read more.
Oil Tax Battle Wages On Through Regulatory Process
After a bill gets signed into law, coming up with the regulations to implement it is supposed to be the boring part. But when it comes to oil taxes, the way regulations are written could mean millions of dollars for either the state, or for oil companies. Now, both supporters and opponents of the recently passed tax overhaul aren't totally pleased with how the regulatory process is going.
Download Audio
Veniaminof Volcano Producing Weak Ash Plume
The ongoing eruption of the Veniaminof Volcano on the Alaska Peninsula has increased in intensity in recent days and a weak ash plume is being produced.
Download Audio
Fisherman Picket Anchorage Walmart Before Big Meeting
Protestors converged on a Walmart in South Anchorage on Wednesday to demand the megastore carry Alaska Salmon. The protest comes on the eve of a big meeting between Walmart and state officials. The company doesn't carry frozen salmon labeled from Alaska because it doesn't meet their certification standard.
Download Audio
As Stream Levels Drop, Salmon Die Before Spawning
Some rainfall over the weekend may have eased a looming crisis for pink salmon stocks in Southeast Alaska. The summer’s fine weather and record salmon runs have both made headlines – but they’re a recipe for trouble without enough water in rivers and streams for fish to spawn.
Download Audio