Stephanie Joyce

Cutting down a Christmas tree is a venerated tradition in many parts of the country, and decorating the tree is many people’s favorite holiday activity. But in Alaska, there are places where there simply aren’t trees to cut down.Download Audio

Every March, the Alaska legislature shuts down so lawmakers can travel to Washington, DC to participate in the Energy Council. The Council is a non-profit whose stated mission is to facilitate discussion about energy and environmental issues. But the trips have frequently been criticized as taxpayer-funded junkets.Download Audio

The federal government is cutting subsidies to the telephone company that serves Adak amid concerns about how the money is being spent.Download Audio

It’s shaping up to be a busy year for Arctic shipping. The Russian government has already granted 218 vessels permission to transit the Northern Sea Route this summer -- four times as many as made the trip last year.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld restrictions on fishing in the western Aleutians to protect an endangered stock of Steller Sea lions. The basic question the court addressed in their opinion was whether the National Marine Fisheries Service violated any statutes when it restricted fishing in the western Aleutians in 2011.Download Audio

The State of Alaska has filed criminal charges against Aleut Enterprise, a subsidiary of the Aleut Corporation, over a fuel spill in Adak. The spill happened in January 2010, during a fuel transfer from the tanker Al Amerat to Adak Petroleum’s shore-based storage facility. A state investigation concluded that the fuel storage tank was overfilled, flooding a nearby stream.

The ferry Tustumena is delayed in shipyard yet again. The ship was scheduled to be back in the water on Monday, but a Coast Guard inspection revealed problems with some of the welding work on the ship’s hull.Download Audio

The “pirate ratship” is no more. The Coast Guard seized the F/V Bangun Perkasa almost two years ago while it was illegally driftnetting in the North Pacific, a practice that’s banned by United Nations moratorium because of its indiscriminate harvest. Now, the ship is on its way to the scrapyard.Download Audio

Over the weekend, 21-year-old Jack Wiegand became the youngest person to ever fly solo around the world. Before making it back to California though, he stopped in Unalaska, where KUCB’s Stephanie Joyce caught up with him.Download Audio

Last week, the City of Adak and the Adak Community Development Corporation bought $2 million worth of fish processing equipment at auction. Now, they’re looking for someone to operate it.Download Audio