News

Calista, the for-profit Native Corporation for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, still has a board member filling in as President. But amid the controversy over current leadership, one of Calista’s subsidiaries has gone on with business as usual, managing to secure a staggering $4.5 billion Federal contract.

The State’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management has identified 1,300 structures affected by September’s flood disaster. As homeowners continue to slog through paperwork for disaster claims, FEMA has stepped in to join the state’s recovery efforts.

After concerns were raised about the safety of the Drift River storage facility located at the base of Mt. Redoubt, the energy company Hilcorp has started a project to ensure protection of the large oil tanks located there. But, the project first needed waivers from provisions of the Redoubt Bay Critical Habitat Management Plan.

An 18-year-old Homer High School football player and his older brother have been accused of sexually assaulting a boy passed out at a party.

The state of Alaska wants to participate in a legal challenge of National Park Service authority. The case involves a run in between a moose hunter and park rangers on the Yukon River that generated major tensions.

Absentee and faxed ballots have changed the outcome of the mayoral race for the City and Borough of Wrangell.

This week, we’re going way up north, to the village of Kaktovik, inside the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The community of about 300 people is located on the north shore of Barter Island on the Beaufort Sea. Annie Tikluk is the mayor of Kaktovik.

A 45-year-old Kiana man accused of shooting two men north of his village has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and other counts. Teddy Kyle Smith was arraigned Friday in Nome.

The state doesn’t have any major action planned following approval of a Fairbanks ballot proposition that bans the North Star Borough from regulating heating devices. The "yes" vote has shifted the responsibility for reducing winter air pollution from wood and coal burning.

The Healy coal powered electric plant could be back online within two years. Golden Valley Electric in Fairbanks spent $50 million on the plant, which sits just outside of Denali National Park. The EPA is giving them 18 months to install $40 million worth of pollution controls. The utility also plans on spending $20 million to improve the safety of the operations. The experimental "clean coal" plant operated briefly in the late 1990s before closing in 2000 because of safety and reliability concerns.

The Two Rivers Dog Mushers Association will not participate in the International Federation of Sleddog Sports World Championship, which is scheduled to be held in Fairbanks next March. The association decided against participating earlier this week because the IFSS subscribes to the World Anti-doping Code and is banning the use of medications commonly used in dog care for distance racing. It’s unclear if the event, which could bring $1.1 million to the Fairbanks North Star Borough, will or will not be cancelled.

After further investigations and an autopsy, police are saying that the woman whose body was found in the parking lot of a west Anchorage church died of self-inflicted wounds. 44-year-old Marya Abramczyk's's death was initially deemed suspicious. They are not releasing any other details.

Alaska’s chronic shortage of alcohol and drug detox services recently got worse when one of only four residential detox centers in the state temporarily closed. A state Board of Nursing clarification about staffing requirements forced the Ernie Turner Center in Anchorage to close its program in late July.

Alaskans with direct deposit woke up $878 richer Thursday morning from the Permanent Fund Dividend. Paper checks were also mailed out Thursday. This year’s dividend is the lowest since 2005, but travel columnist and Alaska Travel Gram publisher Scott McMurren says the PFD always inspires airfare deals and Alaska Airlines offers sales from all of their jet destinations in Alaska.

The state is auctioning off a large parcel of agricultural land near Anderson. The month long sealed bid auction is for 637 acres. Its’ the third sale in the state’s Kobe designated agricultural use area.

When a plane load of soldiers arrives Thursday night, it will mean more than half of the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson soldiers deployed to Afghanistan nearly a year ago are home.

Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan is welcoming a plan last night for a gas pipeline from Trans Canada and the three would be producers. But, the pipeline could cost $65 billion, and a construction date is still unknown.