News

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.

Legislation proposing sea-otter bounties will get its first hearing next week. It’s already drawing opposition from environmental groups and the federal marine mammal protection agency.

A citizen review committee has weighed in on the proposed Fairbanks North Star Borough school district budget for next year. The over $262 million operating budget represents a 1 percent increase over the current year. The district anticipates a funding short fall and has proposed teacher cuts the citizen committee disagrees with.

Former Alaska Governor Bill Sheffield says it’s time for Alaska to build its own gas pipeline. Sheffield has been stumping the state on his own dime to promote the Alaska Stand Alone Pipeline – or ASAP. The acronym is appropriate, he says, because Alaska is on the threshold of an energy crisis and needs the gas As Soon As Possible. Sheffield says some communities are already over the edge.

This week, we’re heading to Unalakleet, an Iditarod checkpoint on the Bering Sea Coast. Jay Thomas is principal at the school in Unalakleet.

Aliy Zirkle has taken the lead in the 2013 Iditarod. She checked into the Grayling checkpoint at 9:54 a.m. Friday. Aaron Burmeister and Jake Berkowitz arrived in Grayling about 30 minutes apart, at 11:06 a.m. and 11:37 a.m., respectively.

President Barack Obama’s nominee to lead the Interior Department, REI chief executive Sally Jewel, testified before the Senate Energy committee today. She hinted at her positions on some issues pertinent to Alaska.

State agencies no longer need a Department of Environmental Conservation permit to use herbicides and pesticides on state property and rights of way. That’s unless it’s sprayed from an aircraft or directly into water.

The Alaska Railroad is cutting more than 50 jobs in an effort to trim the corporation’s costs as federal grants and revenue decline sharply.

A jury today ruled in favor of the City of Homer and three Homer Police officers who were accused of acting recklessly during a 2006 shootout at the Homer Airport.

The hill where the University of Alaska Fairbanks sits is again being recognized by its Athabascan name. A Native elder is calling it an important first step toward restoring many Athabascan place names around Fairbanks.

Iditarod, the namesake of the dogsled race to Nome, doesn't get a lot of visitors, and there is very little left standing that alludes to the gold rush-era importance the town once had, but it was once a bustling hub on the Historic Iditarod Trail that many prospectors journeyed through as they searched for the riches Alaska had to offer, In the summer of 2011, APRN's Josh Edge and KSKA's Kristin Spack had a chance to go out to the ghost towns of Iditarod and Flat, located about 10 miles apart, with Kevin Keeler, from the Bureau of Land Management. Here's a sneak peak inside Iditarod and once of it's focal points, the N.C. Store.