Bringing Money to Politics: A Job for a Pro
Alaska’s U.S. Senate race is shaping up to be a big-money affair. One hidden asset the campaigns deploy is the professional fundraiser. Sen. Mark Begich and the Republican front-runners hoping to unseat him all list professional fundraisers in their campaign finance reports, but they declined to talk about it. That’s not unusual, says fundraiser Kirsten Borman. She says there’s too much at stake for a campaign to pull back the curtain.
Download Audio
Kelly Maixner Leads Mushers Into Rohn
Kelly Maixner is the first musher into Rohn, checking in at 11:26 Monday morning. He took the lead from fellow Big Lake musher Martin Buser at Rainy Pass earlier Monday.
Norwegian Contingent Prepared For For Iditarod Challenge
Teams are making their way into Rainy Pass as they head trough the Alaska Range. It’s arguably the toughest stretch of trail. Many say they’re ready for the challenge, including a contingent of Norwegians who are in Alaska to find out how their dog teams fare on this side of the world.
Buser Takes Early Iditarod Lead
Martin Buser took an early lead in this year's Iditarod. The former Iditarod champion was the first into Rainy Pass about 5:42 Monday morning. Nicolas Petit was into Rainy Pass about an hour later.
Iditarod Veterans Anticipating Rough Trail Conditions
The 42nd annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race is underway. Dog teams left Willow Sunday. They’re making their way toward the Alaska Range, where the trail is reportedly extremely rough.
Ceremonial Start Kicks Off 42nd Iditarod
On Saturday, mushers lined out their dog teams in downtown Anchorage for the Ceremonial Start of the race. This year's race includes six former champions and at least 20 mushers vying for a top-10 finish.
EPA Starts The 404-C Veto Process To Stop Development At The Pebble Mine
Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency announced today they are starting a formal process to look at using EPA’s authority under the Clean Water Act to stop development of the proposed Pebble Mine.
Download Audio
Pebble Opponents, Proponents React To EPA Decision
The EPA’s announcement today was directly targeted at the Pebble Mine. The developers of that project are understandably not pleased with what they say is a gross overreach of federal authority which should be concerning to all Alaskans.
Download Audio
Pacific Area Commander Tapped As Next Coast Guard Commandant
The White House has nominated the Coast Guard’s Pacific Area commander to be its next commandant. Vice Admiral Paul Zukunft was nominated Friday to replace outgoing Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Robert Papp.
Strong Deep-Sea Quake Rattles Unalaska
If there’s an earthquake in the ocean and no one’s there to feel it, did it really happen? On Wednesday in the Aleutian Islands, the answer was yes.
3 OK After Vessel Sinks Near Valdez
Three men are okay after their vessel sank near Valdez while participating in an oil spill response drill. The Coast Guard Sector Anchorage Command Center received a report Wednesday night that the landing craft Belltech 5 was taking on water and sinking near Valdez Arm.
Download Audio
4 Snowmachiners Rescued By Alaska Air National Guard
On Tuesday afternoon, four snowmachiners were rescued by the Alaska Air National Guard in the Talkeetna Mountains.
Download Audio
Industry Says U.S. Fish Law Works Well in Alaska
The Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 1976 law that governs fishing in the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska and other federal waters, is up for reauthorization in Congress. In past revisions, sectors of the Alaska industry squared off against each other. This time, the industry is mostly united in praising the law. But some of Alaska’s non-commercial fishermen say their needs aren’t getting enough attention.
Download Audio
Legislation Introduced to Compensate Victims of Wrongful Imprisonment
A State Representative from Fairbanks has filed legislation intended to protect Alaskans who are wrongfully convicted of a crime and serve time in prison. House Bill 352 was put forward by Representative Scott Kawasaki.
Buccaneer, CIRI Heading Back To Court
Buccaneer Energy is going back to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to try and settle issues at the Kenai Loop well site in Kenai.
Alaska Gets $21 Million In Federal Disaster Funds
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration today announced it is sending Alaska $21 million in federal disaster funds for poor king salmon returns in three regions.
Download Audio
Pebble Mine Opponents Urge EPA To Kill Project
About 30 opponents of the proposed Pebble Mine met in Washington today with White House and high-ranking EPA staff. They came armed with a new EPA study that found a mine of Pebble’s size would pose a significant risk to Bristol Bay and its valuable salmon fisheries. Now they’re asking the Environment agency to take the next step and kill the project. They didn’t get a definite answer.
Download Audio
Quinhagak Man Arrested For Murder of 25-year-old Woman
Harold Smith, 26, was arrested in Quinhagak Monday and charged with the first degree murder of 25-year-old Lisa Johnson. Johnson's body was found off a trail near the end of the new runway in Quinhagak on February 3.
Download Audio
Glacier Bay Landslide Excites Scientists
A massive landslide in Glacier Bay National Park more than a week ago is exciting scientists around the world for the way it was the detected, the images of the slide and the sheer magnitude of it. It’s also near a similar slide that occurred in 2012 on Mount Lituya.
Download Audio
Peter Tony Pleads Guilty To 3 Counts Of Child Sexual Abuse
Former Bethel foster parent Peter Tony has pleaded guilty to three counts of child sexual abuse in a plea deal. In the agreement with prosecutors, the 70-year-old pleaded guilty to charges of sexually abusing a minor in 2012 when he abused a 4-year-old his wife had in day care at their home. Those charges carry sentences anywhere from 5 to 99 years each.