News

An analysis of what would be the first commercial development in the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska is the subject of a report issued by the Bureau of Land Management. Download Audio

Residents of Mekoryuk on Nunivak Island are seeking more involvement, and more musk oxen harvest. This is happening as the 20-year-old agreement that guides management is set to undergo changes. Download Audio

Search and rescue crews have found the body of Wassillie Berlin. Searchers found him deceased on the trail between Atmautluak and Bethel. The Nunapitchuk man was reported missing by his brother on Saturday. Crews had found his snowmachine earlier.

Alaska air taxi operators say the IRS has re-interpreted tax law for their industry, hitting some Bush pilots with tax bills of up to a million dollars. Alaska’s federal lawmakers are asking the revenue office to back off until they get some answers about what the rules are. The unexpected burden is driving some air carriers into debt or out of business entirely. Download Audio

Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly members had a spirited discussion Tuesday night over a letter that had been submitted by two Assembly members as a suggested response to Gov. Sean Parnell’s comments in the community last week. Download Audio

Alaska air taxi operators say the IRS has re-interpreted tax law for their industry, hitting some Bush pilots with tax bills of up to a million dollars. Alaska’s federal lawmakers are asking the revenue office to back off until they get some answers about what the rules are. In the meantime, the unexpected burden is driving some air carriers into debt, or out of business entirely.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough will participate in a school funding lawsuit filed by the Ketchikan Gateway Borough against the state of Alaska. The suit challenges the constitutionality of the state requiring organized municipalities to help cover the cost of local schools. Download Audio

Employers in Alaska pay the highest workers compensation premiums in the country. And most of that cost goes toward medical claims. The Alaska State Chamber of Commerce has for several years, made reforming the system one of its legislative priorities. And this year, at least one state lawmaker is working on legislation to help control workers compensation costs.

The National Transportation Safety board has found that pilot error was to blame in the 2011 crash that killed one pilot and injured another in separate planes.

Alaska has a constitutional amendment that bans same sex marriage and state attorneys have filed support briefs for states fighting to preserve their own constitutional bans.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says he is creating a new Arctic position. In a letter to Sen. Mark Begich, Kerry says he will appoint a person of high stature to serve as “Special Representative for the Arctic Region” in order to elevate U.S. attention on the far North. Download Audio

A tanker truck rollover on the Dalton Highway near Deadhorse resulted in a substantial fuel spill. More than 2,100 gallons of diesel leaked from the tanker following Tuesday’s accident near mile 309 of the Haul Road. Download Audio

Legislators got an update on the partially state financed North Slope to Fairbanks natural gas trucking project this week. The state is working with private company MWH to build a $185 million gas processing plant on the North Slope to feed tanker trucks that will move LNG to Fairbanks. The goal of the Interior Energy Project is to deliver first gas by late 2015, at a consumer cost equivalent of about half the price of fuel oil, but many questions remain about how the project will play out. Download Audio

This week’s drug-related arrests came after a several-month-long investigation involving the work of a confidential informant. It led to seizures of heroin, pot, and the arrest of an alleged bootlegger who bought over 1,500 bottles of whiskey.

In Washington, D.C.  the Senate Indian Affairs Committee yesterday reviewed a controversial report on Native American law-and-order that portrays the high rates of violence in rural Alaska, particularly against Native women and children, as a national disgrace. While Alaska’s senators agreed the gaps in law enforcement are deplorable, the long-standing dispute over tribal jurisdiction in the state hangs over the search for solutions. Listen Now

The U.S. Senate is considering two international treaties that Sen. Lisa Murkowski says would help crack down on pirate fishing in the North Pacific. Murkowski today told the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee that illegal high seas fishing is an economic threat to the crab industry. Listen Now