News

An Alaska State Trooper helicopter rescue ended in tragedy on Saturday night when the rescue helicopter crashed near Larson Lake, killing all three people on board.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough assembly shot down an ordinance Thursday night that would have paid people $30 a day not to burn wood when air quality is poor. Download Audio

Congressman Don Young says he's not worried about an investigation into whether he violated ethics rules. Download Audio

A panel of experts met last night at the University of Alaska Justice Center to discuss Tribal Courts in Alaska.

Federal regulators said today that ConocoPhillips will need to meet the same standards they set for Shell for drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort Sea. At an Anchorage field hearing of Senator Mark Begich’s Oceans Subcommittee today, Tommy Boudreau, head of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, was asked if that means a containment dome for blowouts, such as the one BP used at the Macondo Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Speaking by teleconference due to federal budget constraints, Boudreau told Begich the same standard would be used. Download Audio

The major oil companies in Alaska testified last night to the state House Resources Committee about the latest version of Governor Sean Parnell's oil tax reform legislation. The bill passed the Senate last week. It represents a major tax break for the oil companies. The state estimates it will cost Alaska $6 billion in tax revenue over the next five years. Download Audio

Education advocates have long promoted pre-school as a way of closing the achievement gap between rich and poor students, and this year the president named expanding early education programs as one of his top priorities in his State of the Union address. But here in Alaska, fewer kids could have access to pre-school due to budget cuts. Download Audio

The Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery is scheduled for a 3 p.m. opening Wednesday. It is the first opening of the season as fishermen try to catch more than 11,500 tons of the small silverfish. Herring eggs are valued on the Japenese market.

The Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, or SEARHC, is closing down its residential drug and alcohol treatment program. The closure was announced Tuesday and comes after massive reductions in federal funding, also known as sequestration. Download Audio

A report released Tuesday offers stark findings on the status of Alaskan women. Women in the state earn much less than their male counterparts, have been imprisoned at a higher rate during the last decade and are committing suicide at a rate twice as high as the rest of the United States. Download Audio

The Kulluk and the Xiang Rui Kou heavy lift vessel have left their anchorage in Unalaska -- but the ships aren't on their way to Asia yet. The vessels have been moved to Broad Bay, just outside of town, says Coast Guard Lt. Jim Fothergill.

The Alaska Legislature has passed a resolution about genetically modified salmon. The resolution, which passed the House last month and the Senate unanimously on Monday, asks the FDA to take another look at the potential risks of allowing the so-called "franken-fish" on the market.

A federal judge has dismissed Alaska’s court challenge of the roadless rule for national forest land. Alaska had the last remaining legal case against the 2001 nationwide rule, which prohibits new road construction, reconstruction or logging on large undeveloped areas of national forest land across the U.S. That includes parts of the Tongass and Chugach national forests in Alaska. Download Audio

Early Saturday morning the U.S. Senate passed a budget, a first in four years. Joining us from the Capitol to recap the vote and what it means for Alaska is APRN’s Washington correspondent Peter Granitz. Download Audio

A move to reduce funding for a new sex trafficking investigation unit has one high-profile critic: Alaska First Lady Sandy Parnell. Download Audio

The Sitka herring fishery went on two-hour notice today at 11 a.m. It means if Fish & Game calls an opening, the fleet has at least two hours to make it to the location of the fishery. Download Audio

A bill that would require a longer probationary period for teachers has attracted opposition from labor organizations, who say it's an attack on job security.