News

The State Department of Public Safety is reviewing its safety procedures following a helicopter crash that took the lives of three men in March of last year. The crash is still under investigation. Download Audio

This week the board of fish is dealing with the contentious battles over Cook Inlet salmon. In both the Kenai and the Mat-Su Boroughs many are fighting over fish that are disappearing. Download Audio

A decided “front-of-the–pack” is beginning to shake out on the Yukon Quest Trail. A fast trail means mushers are looking for ways to hold back dog teams. Download Audio

Shell announced on Thursday that it has called off its plan to do exploratory oil and gas drilling in Arctic waters off Alaska this year – and what it will do in future years is not clear. Download Audio

At least one Alaska community was banking on Shell’s presence – and business – this summer. Download Audio

A campaign by Senator Lisa Murkowski to lift the decades-old ban on crude oil exports got its first hearing in Washington today. It’s been 25 years since Congress has formally considered the ban it adopted during the Arab oil embargo, but the recent energy boom in the Lower 48 is triggering new debates. Download Audio

State Department of Transportation crews will be working for days to get the Richardson highway completely opened. Download Audio

Democratic state lawmakers are introducing legislation in the House and Senate to expand Medicaid in Alaska. Governor Sean Parnell rejected the expansion, which is part of the Affordable Care Act, in November. Download Audio

Fire destroyed an apartment building in Fairbanks this morning. The blaze caused multiple injuries and two residents were unaccounted for as of this morning. Download Audio

The legislature’s Community and Regional Affairs Committee convened Tuesday to discuss House Bill 199, a proposal to allow arming village public safety officers in rural Alaska. Download Audio

The U.S. House today passed a farm bill that includes programs for Alaska unrelated to agriculture. The bill continues another year of funding for Payment in Lieu of Taxes, a program that pays municipalities surrounded by federal land to compensate for the loss of tax base. The so-called PILT program sends about $26 million a year to Alaska and is a large portion of the budget for some local governments. The bill also renews Alaska’s Village Safe Water program, which gets some $30 million a year from the federal government. Download Audio

President Obama gave his State of the Union address Tuesday night, and the response from Alaska's U.S. senators was swift and negative, particularly to Obama's pledge to act without Congress where he can. Download Audio

A Fairbanks substance abuse counselor is pushing for the state to consider an alternative to jail for drug offenders. The effort is in response to a steady stream of young heroin addicts, some of whom end up in jail. Download Audio

With unseasonably warm weather reaching all the way up into the Brooks Range in Alaska and bitterly cold weather dipping deep into the Lower 48 states, everybody wants to know more about the Polar Vortex – the jet stream that wobbles around the Arctic. Last month in San Francisco a team of scientists with the Byrd Polar Research Center came out with a study that takes one more step toward better understanding that wobble by putting a lot more detail into high-latitude weather records of the past. Download Audio

A snowboarder with deep ties to the Bristol Bay region will miss out on a return trip to the Olympics. Girdwood's Callan Chythlook-Sifsof had hoped to make the U.S. snowboardcross team but when the team was announced on Saturday she was left off. Download Audio

Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race Officials are keeping a close eye on the weather and trail conditions as they prepare for the starts of the 1000 mile race this Saturday.