State introduces first witnesses in Fairbanks 4 hearing
The state has begun calling witnesses in the Fairbanks Four evidentiary hearing. As the proceeding stretches into its 4th week, the focus has shifted from witnesses summoned by attorneys representing exoneration petitioners to those offered by state lawyers trying to uphold the men’s convictions for the 1997 murder of John Hartman.
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Release of new state test scores hits unexpected delay
School districts across the state are waiting on standardized test scores that were scheduled for release in early October. Third through 10th graders took the Alaska Measures of Progress tests for the first time last spring. State education officials say the test is more rigorous than the previous assessment. But finding out how students did on the new exams is taking longer than expected.
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Deep-draft Arctic port study shelved for at least a year
A highly anticipated study looking into a deep-draft Arctic port for Alaska is being shelved for at least a year by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—due to what the Corps calls the changing economic picture of the Arctic.
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Park Service bans controversial methods to hunt wolf, bear
The National Park Service has published its final rule on hunting in Alaska’s national preserves, turning a corner in a long-running tussle with the state. Park Service is now enacting a permanent ban on several controversial hunting practices allowed under state law, like using artificial lights to shoot black bears in the den, and using bait to hunt bears.
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Wasilla lawmaker: Keep education spending in check, cut rural schools
It started as a rumor. Democratic lawmakers and some education advocates have heard about it. That there are new ideas for changing how the state pays for education isn’t a surprise. That this cost-saving proposal could close 60 schools across the state is.
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Marvin Roberts testifies at ongoing Fairbanks Four hearing
Another one of Fairbanks men seeking exoneration from murder convictions has testified to his innocence. Marvin Roberts is the last of the so called Fairbanks Four, to address the court in an ongoing hearing to re-consider the 18-year-old case in light of new evidence.
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Protesters, lawmaker bring Fairbanks Four case to the Capitol
On the first day legislators were due back in Juneau for a special session, 20 protesters and one lawmaker brought the Fairbanks Four case to the Capitol.
Polygraph results debated at Fairbanks Four hearing
One of the Fairbanks Four passed a polygraph. The results of the lie detector test taken by Marvin Roberts last year were shared during day 13 of an evidentiary hearing being held to consider whether the Fairbanks Four are innocent.
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State cuts could close one Sitka harbor
Sitka will have to close one of its five boat harbors if a state matching-grant program is eliminated.
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Wasilla lawmaker: Keep education spending in check, cut rural schools
It started as a rumor. Democratic lawmakers and some education advocates have heard about it. That there are new ideas for changing how the state pays for education isn’t a surprise. That this cost-saving proposal could close 60 schools across the state is.
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Ex-FBI agent faults Fairbanks police interrogation tactics
A former FBI agent says Fairbanks police violated fundamental investigative protocol following the 1997 murder of John Hartman.
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Bill to crack down on IUU fishing goes to White House
Congress has passed a bill to combat pirate fishing. It puts in law the provisions of an international treaty aimed at denying illegal fishing vessels access to a country’s ports.
Fear, confusion prompted false confessions, Fairbanks 4 say
Two of the Fairbanks Four say they lied to police about some of what they did the October 1997 night John Hartman was attacked, but maintain they did so out of fear and confusion, not guilt.
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NTSB: Unbalanced weight caused 2013 crash that killed 10
The National Transportation Safety Board has released the results of an investigation into a 2013 airplane crash in Soldotna that killed 10 people.
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Latest trouble with F-35 bars light pilots from cockpit
While an environmental review is underway to determine whether Eielson Air Force Base will get two F-35 squadrons, the Air Force is already flying the fighters in the Lower 48. But the aircraft remains controversial in Congress. The latest problems are with the ejection seat.
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UAF comes clean about disciplinary failures in sex abuse, rape cases
The University of Alaska Fairbanks violated its own policy regarding sexual misconduct cases between 2011 and 2014. University students responsible for rape and other sex crimes were not expelled or suspended during that time.
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Murkowski’s irate; Interior nominee heard all about it
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski used a confirmation hearing as an opportunity to voice her frustration over a string of decisions by Sec. Sally Jewell limiting development in Alaska, including last week's cancellation of Arctic offshore lease sales. An Interior Department nominee felt the burn today.
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Under US chairmanship, Arctic Council convenes in Anchorage
The United States has taken the helm of the Arctic Council and the eight-nation body is meeting in Anchorage this week.
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State Dept. official to talk on nuclear treaty in Fairbanks
A high ranking State Department official will speak Monday night at the University of Alaska Fairbanks on the prospects of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
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Confronting suicide in Alaska: Talk, intervene, heal
A discussion after a suicide can help support vulnerable people who are at risk, or it can help push them in that direction, a lot depends on the words used to describe the event.
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