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The top teams in this year’s Iditarod likely won’t be decided until they cross under the burled arch in Nome. That’s because teams have spent the last quarter of the race, if not the last 900 miles leap frogging each other as they travel down the trail.

The Anchorage Assembly voted 6 to 3 to shut down public testimony on a controversial proposal that would limit unions last night (Monday, 3/11). KSKA's Daysha Eaton has the story.

Mitch Seavey is back in the Iditarod lead. He passed Jeff King halfway through the run from Koyuk to Elim along the Bering Sea Coast. King surprised everyone by speeding through the Koyuk checkpoint at 8:20 this morning, stopping less than six minutes. That put him out front for most of the day. Mitch Seavey left the checkpoint three hours after King. Aliy Zirkle, Ray Redding Jr and Aaron Burmeister followed a few hours later. APRN trail reporter Emily Schwing is in Koyuk. She says King’s dogs looked good when they passed through the checkpoint.

Public school teachers might have to wait a couple years longer to acquire tenure rights if a bill proposed in the Alaska House is passed.

Less than 5 percent of food consumed in Alaska is harvested in the state. Now, a group of lawmakers want to find ways to increase that amount.

Homer city officials are expressing relief over a jury’s verdict Thursday exonerating the actions of Homer Police Department officers during a 2006 shootout at the Homer Airport, although attorneys for the plaintiff have promised to appeal the case.

The state is proposing a land sale in the Central area. The Department of Natural Resources is taking public comment on the 600 acre subdivision about a mile and half northeast of Central. D.N.R. Northern region land sales manager Timothy Shilling says the land was identified for sale under a management plan that classified it for private recreation.

Today, Iditarod leaders are closing in on Elim on their way to the finish line in Nome. Nine days ago, just after leaving downtown Anchorage, they turned onto the Chester Creek trail and passed by one “trail party” after another. Along this stretch, as along much of the trail to Nome, the Iditarod means community. As Jessica Cochran tells us, the race is part of our culture – one of the ways we identify ourselves as Alaskans.

Former Iditarod champion Mitch Seavey was the first musher into Unalakleet, checking in at 10:13 a.m. Sunday. Aaron Burmeister is hot on Seavey's heels, riding into Unalakleet less that 15 minutes later.

With a climb through the Alaska Range and a run down the Yukon River now behind them, Iditarod mushers have only to tackle the Bering Sea coast before they cross the finish line in Nome. But there’s still a third of the race to go. Overnight, the front-runners left Kaltag for Unalakleet. It’s the longest run of the race. KUAC’s Emily Schwing caught up before they set off.

About three hours separate Martin Buser from Aliy Zirkle and the rest of the pack. Buser checked out of Eagle Island at 2:41 a.m. Saturday morning for his 60-mile run to Kaltag. Seven other mushers have departed Eagle Island, including Zirkle, Mitch Seavey, Jessie Royer and Aaron Burmeister.

Iditarod mushers running outside of this year’s top-20 are just as competitive as the front of the pack, but they have different reasons for travelling the trail.

Martin Buser has again regained the Iditarod lead, departing Grayling at 12:52 p.m., staying at the checkpoint for only 10 minutes. Aliy Zirkle, Aaron Burmeister, Jake Berkowitz and Sonny Lindner round out the top-5. Buser is the only competitor in the top-5 that has used both the mandatory 8-hour and 24-hour layovers.

While the legislature debates whether to cut taxes on oil companies, state lawmakers are meeting with state oil and gas lobbyists in Washington, D.C. They’re attending a meeting of The Energy Council, a group consisting of Alaska, ten other states, four Canadian provinces, and the Venezuelan government.