Top Stories

Research shows that kids who age out of the foster care system are less likely to finish high school, find jobs, or go to college. But one organization in Anchorage is trying to change the outcome for former foster kids and other young adults who need to learn the skills to live independently. Download Audio

In an email Monday, the Department of Law told staff it is cutting 15 positions across the state to close a 6% budget gap.

Over the past four days, we have brought you stories that go out into the field for an in-depth look at Alaska's rural sanitation situation - a series we call "Kick the Bucket." We have seen how the lack of modern sanitation is linked to disease as people strain the limits of their clean water supply. And we have looked at the implications of decreasing funding and looming maintenance expenses in villages with a limited cash economy. Today we’ll wrap up the series by trying to look into the future.

The Anchorage School Board amended their budget to account for proposed legislative funding cuts.

The first big cruise ship of the 2015 tourist season arrived in Ketchikan on Friday. In its inaugural visit to Alaska’s First City, the Ruby Princess brought more than 3,000 passengers and about 1,200 crew members. Download Audio:

A group in Kodiak recently completed an Alutiiq boat that was last seen in the mid-19^th century. Alutiiq people once used the angyaq to travel over long distances and through rough seas. It’s an open boat, like a dory, with a flat bottom and bulbous bow. The artist leading the effort says the boat builders aren’t just recreating the past. They’re reviving a piece of Alutiiq history for use now and in the future. Download Audio

West Anchorage High Senior Maeva Ordaz won the national Poetry Out Loud competition this week in Washington DC. It's the first time an Alaskan has both reached the finals and won.

Think about being sixteen, in high school, and standing in front of a group of friends and strangers telling a story. Your story. That's what a new Anchorage organization called Story Works Alaska is teaching local students to do while helping them build community at the same time.

Community members and education groups, like Alaska PTA, organized in Anchorage to speak out against public education funding cuts.

Citizens in Bethel are weighing a decision on a proposal for the for the first liquor store in decades. In the shadow of the debate is a powerful and elaborate bootlegging economy across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The region’s three Western Alaska Alcohol and Narcotics Taskforce investigators can’t be everywhere at once. Some villages are trying to fill in gaps where bootlegged alcohol reaches dry option communities. In the second of a three-part series on the law enforcements efforts to stem the flow of alcohol to the region KYUK’s Ben Matheson reports on Akiak’s tribal approach.

Juvenile crime in Anchorage is down, but crimes involving drugs and alcohol is not. Many who work in the juvenile justice system say we’re not catching young people who are getting into trouble soon enough. A new series examines what services are available, how youth are getting help and how they're helping themselves. APRN: Tuesday, 4/28 at 10:00am Download Audio

Iñupiaq artist Ross Schaeffer spent most of his life hunting, trapping, and fishing around Kotzebue, Alaska. Only in recent years has he transformed his lifestyle into creating artwork and carvings that blend traditional and modern techniques. Using age old materials such as woolly mammoth bone, Ross works on carvings inspired by his culture and natural environment, and encourages young folks to try artwork themselves.

If you're a teenager in Anchorage struggling with homelessness, hunger, or addiction there are few places to turn. One of the few organizations in Anchorage helping at-risk teens on their own terms is hidden in plain sight in one of the city's busiest buildings. Download Audio

This week Alaska Public Media is exploring the Blind Spot – how youth who are part of and outside of the juvenile justice system are getting help for substance abuse. One option is residential treatment, like the kind offered through the ARCH program in Eagle River, which Anne Hillman toured with one young resident. Download Audio

500 athletes from across the state were joined for the first time in decades by a foreign delegation from the Yukon Territory in Canada. Organizers say the tournament continues because of more deliberate efforts to promote traditional values across Alaska. Download Audio

In Anchorage, the number of criminal offenses by minors referred to the Department of Juvenile Justice has dropped by nearly half in the past decade for almost every offense type – except severe drug and alcohol offenses. That number has stayed fairly steady. In fact, as a share of the whole, substance abuse cases in Anchorage are up, although as a share of the total they are proportionately small. But the numbers only tell part of the story. Download Audio

Hundreds of Anchorage residents gathered in Cuddy park Thursday night to rally for Medicaid expansion. The event was organized by AFACT, Anchorage Faith & Action Congregations Together- a coalition of local churches. Organizers hope the rally will make a difference as lawmakers enter the final days of the legislative session. Download Audio