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Alaska Airlines announced a schedule of December direct flights between Anchorage and Las Vegas, with a special promotional fare on Tuesday. It is also introducing a Phoenix direct route at that time. And it says it will be bringing in Horizon Air planes for some in-state routes beginning next March.

Rates for federally subsidized Stafford loans are set to double July 1st. Download Audio

Last week, a superior court judge scolded the redistricting board, saying that it was unnecessarily holding up the redrawing of the state's political boundaries. Now, Democratic lawmakers are calling for non-partisan "masters" to step in and guide the redistricting process. Download Audio

Rocks began sliding off Pillar Mountain between Piers 2 and 3 Monday afternoon, possibly driven by steady rain and winds gusting to 45 mph. Rezanof Drive West was closed for about two hours at midday, according to Department of Transportation spokeswoman Sharon Barrett.

The long awaited entry of telecommunications carrier Verizon into the Alaska market is now happening. The company announced it is about to light up its 4G LTE network in the more urban parts of the state and begins taking customers for data transmission Friday.

On Monday, BP committed to spending at least a billion dollars in Alaska over the next few years. The oil giant plans to use that money to bring two drill rigs to Prudhoe Bay and to potentially expand into undeveloped parts of that field. The announcement comes on the heels of a major change to the state's oil tax system. Download Audio

Major hurdles need to be cleared before Galena residents, who evacuated due to a major ice jam flood last week, can return home. Download Audio

A draft Environmental Impact Statement released by the Air Force Friday recommends downsizing Eielson Air Force Base for cost savings, but Alaska’s leaders argue the document ignores requests for cost reduction estimates and fails to consider the local impact. Download Audio

About 35 carpenter union locals in the Pacific Northwest have closed in the past three years to join larger locals. Earlier this month, Juneau’s Carpenter Union Local 2247  fell to the same fate and its members have been absorbed by Anchorage’s Carpenter Union Local 1281. Download Audio

Early Saturday morning a man assaulted a couple from the Pribilof Islands with his car in the parking lot of a hotel near the Anchorage airport. Reportedly the vehicle was occupied by two people, who first accosted the couple with insults and then went after them with the car.

BP today announced a billion dollar spending program for the North Slope. The company said this decision was made because of changes made in Alaska's oil tax. BP said some of the spending could come this year. Later BP plans to bring two more drilling rigs to the Slope by 2016 and says it is evaluating another $3 billion of development projects with its partners in the western end of the Prudhoe Bay area. And it says it is ready to start selling its natural gas.

The next U.S. Senate race in Alaska is still 18 months away. A number of Republicans have jumped in the race, or are publicly mulling taking on Senator Mark Begich in November 2014. Download Audio

In an update to legislators on Thursday, Frank Richards with the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation explained that they're in the process of trying to figure out the safest places to lay down the pipe, which should stretch down from the North Slope to Southcentral Alaska. Download Audio

Wednesday, the federal on-scene coordinator of the Kulluk grounding incident testified to investigators that before the rig departed he was confident that Shell was doing a good job. Coast Guard Captain Paul Mehler said he wished he would have taken a closer look at the tug that was to tow the rig. Download Audio

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game took 89 bears this month as part of a predator control program approved by the Board of Game last year. The efforts are meant to encourage the growth of a struggling moose population in Southwest Alaska. Download Audio

Floodwaters are subsiding at Galena, after an ice jam on the Yukon River broke up last night. State Emergency Operation center Chief Mark Roberts says the blockage began giving way around 8 p.m. The state isn’t expecting major flooding in the down river communities of Koyukuk and Nulato. Roberts says conditions are looking better than previously feared because of the way the ice and water are moving. Download Audio