Programs

In January 2012, local filmmaker and outdoor adventurer Luc Mehl toured the southern states with Timmy Johnson and Roman Dial and their pack rafts. Click for larger view.

Got your hippety-hop on, this morning? You’ll sure need it to get anywhere in the 49th state, lately. There’s more snow than most of us have seen in a long time, and aside from shoveling it all into an enormous cone-shaped configuration in the front yard, one activity in particular comes to mind – snowshoeing. Way more fun, too.

It’s hard to imagine a person crazy enough to want to climb Denali alone in the depth of winter. But Minnesota adventurer Lonnie Dupre has tried – and failed – twice in the last two years. Earlier this month, heavy winds forced him to abandon his latest attempt and retreat back to base camp.

Winter blahs are the Alaska norm after New Year’s. With kids back in college and tax time approaching, my husband and I have traditionally ignored the cold and dark by spending January cleaning our office, putting labels on manila envelopes and rummaging through the shoe box we use for accumulating tax information (actually we have upgraded to a Rubbermaid container). Read more.

Here in Alaska we are used to snow. I have friends who build elaborate families of snowmen, have plows attached to the front of their trucks and I personally have trained Brodie (our dog) to eat snow in an attempt to keep our back deck clear....seriously he loves the stuff. Read more.

In 1961, segregation seemed to have an overwhelming grip on American society. Many states violently enforced the policy, while the federal government, under the Kennedy administration, remained indifferent, preoccupied with matters abroad. That is, until an integrated band of college students — many of whom were the first in their families to attend a university — decided, en masse, to risk everything and buy a ticket on a Greyhound bus bound for the Deep South. They called themselves the Freedom Riders, and they managed to bring the president and the entire American public face-to-face with the challenge of correcting civil-rights inequities that plagued the nation. KAKM: Tuesday, 2/7 @7:00pm

This is the incredible story of Trishna and Krishna, twin girls born joined at the head. Abandoned shortly after birth at an orphanage in Bangladesh, they had little chance of survival, until they were saved and taken to Australia by an aid worker. After two years battling for life, the twins are ready for a series of delicate operations, which will prepare them for the ultimate challenge: a marathon separation surgery that will allow them to live truly separate lives. Since the beginning, surgeons knew there was no guarantee of survival for either of the girls — but without surgery there was no hope at all. With exclusive access to this extraordinary human and medical drama, NOVA’s cameras have been with Trishna and Krishna and their caregivers at each moment of their journey. KAKM: Wednesday, 2/8 @ 8:00pm

Lucy Brown, Agnes Baptiste, and Rosa Luhrs talk to 7th grade Yup'ik students about making kuspuks. More photos.

"Green Jobs" has been a common buzzword in national political dialogue and is no stranger to Alaska, where over $350 million in state funding and federal stimulus dollars funded our Weatherization and Home Energy Rebate programs. The akGreenJobs.com website offers those curious about green jobs an overview of what the opportunities are in Alaska for jobs and training programs. Learn more.

Calling all Alaskan artists: Rasmuson Foundation just opened the application period for its annual Individual Artist Awards grant program, and it’s more inclusive than ever.

The setting couldn’t be more bleak; averaging negative 20 degrees before the wind chill is factored in, the frozen and lifeless landscape spans in almost all directions. Sheets of ice creak and groan while a team of specially trained soldiers dressed in subzero-rated arctic coveralls move across the surface of the once flowing and animated Tanana River. Read more.