KMXT News: Recent Episodes
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In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The K-12 school on the Aleutian Island of Akutan now has two local Unangax̂ teachers. Governor Mike Dunleavy has issued a disaster declaration for communities in western Alaska hit by a powerful storm. And former Revenue Commissioner Adam Crum is defending his decision to invest $50 million from the state’s rainy-day account in an outside private equity fund.
Photo: Akutan students learning outside. (Jacob Mark Stepetin)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Funding for a program subsidizing rural air travel is set to continue through early November despite the ongoing government shutdown. The city of Kotzebue is under mandatory evacuation orders. And Alaska's growing birch syrup industry.
Photo: Roads near Kotzebue’s dock were flooded Wednesday afternoon.
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The state of Alaska is studying the possibility of building a road that would connect Juneau, Haines and Skagway. Indigenous peoples in the Arctic are reimagining the future of ice cellars. And a Washington state jury awarded nearly $17 million to the family of a man who died in a 2019 airplane crash on Unalaska’s runway.
Photo: A functioning ice cellar in Utqiagvik, Alaska. (Mike Brubaker/Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium/The Associated Press)
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
It s been six years since Alaska State Troopers updated their list of cold case homicides. Communities across Southeast Alaska are tweaking their tax policies to rake in tourist dollars during the summer months. And President Trump yesterday approved the 211-mile Ambler road in Northwest Alaska.
Photo: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum points to a map of Alaska on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, as he announces the Trump administration’s decision to reverse a Biden administration action that canceled a right-of-way permit for the Ambler Road.
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
Former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson is joining the race for governor. Juneau voters will decide in this fall’s municipal election whether to exempt essential food and residential utilities from local sales tax. And the PFD doesn't buy what is used to.
Photo: Former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson speaks at a campaign launch event at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
On this week's episode, we hear about a NOAA report on entangled whales in 2024, an update on the St. Herman Harbor replacement project timeline and funds, Kodiak's main park has a new Alutiiq name, Election day in Kodiak is Oct. 7 for municipal elections, and Alaska Public Media tells us about the federal government shutdown that happened after end of day Sept. 30.
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
Former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson is joining the race for governor. Bethel residents gathered on Wednesday to highlight Domestic Violence Awareness Month. And Juneau’s elementary schools have a library again after three years.
Photo: The Tundra Women's Coalition demonstrates against domestic violence. (Marycait Dolan KYUK)
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
Congress defunded public broadcasting, but this week, 14 public media stations in Alaska got some good news. A Pennsylvania man allegedly used the stolen identities of seven Alaskans in an attempt to steal their Permanent Fund Dividends in 2022. And Tuesday was Orange Shirt Day — a day of remembrance for Indigenous children who were separated from their culture and sent to residential schools across North America.
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
Most of the staff running three Alaska newspapers in Homer, Kenai-Soldotna and Juneau resigned in protest yesterday. A Wasilla couple has been charged in connection with the death of a child that was in their care. And the Juneau Police Department is taking action to reform its policies after an officer was filmed slamming a man to the ground during an arrest in July.
Photo: A copy of the Homer News is seen in 2015. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
The Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center is so far spared from closures coming to a third of these climate science centers across the country. Another glacial outburst flood is underway on the Taku River south of Juneau today. And the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded a $16.7 million dollar grant to begin construction of the first veterans cemetery in the Interior.
Photo: The Taku River. (Commander John Bortniak, NOAA Corps)
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game may allow Jet Skis, in Kachemak Bay. A Homer Republican state representative is declaring victory after pressuring the local newspaper to revise a story about a vigil honoring Charlie Kirk. And Alaska State Troopers shot and killed a man near Anchor Point on Thursday who they say brandished a knife after a footchase.
Photo: Rep. Sarah Vance speaks during a beachside memorial event for Charlie Kirk in Homer on Sept. 17, 2025. Simon Lopez/KBBI
In this week's episode, we hear about early voting opening in Kodiak, a borough assembly member resigned, hydroponics in Ouzinkie, and the White House increased the price of H1B teachers — the one many schools use to hire teachers from abroad.
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, dispatched U.S. aircraft Thursday to intercept four Russian military planes off Alaska. The Northwest Arctic community of Selawik hasn’t had consistent drinking water for over three weeks. And people from around the world are voting for their favorite to be the chubby champion of Fat Bear Week.
Photo: Selawik, Alaska. (Northwest Arctic Borough)
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
The Alaska LNG Project netted two more agreements earlier this month during an energy conference in Italy. The only year-round medical clinic in the small Interior community of Healy announced last week (9/17) that it will soon close its doors. And St. Paul has lost its major air carrier.
Photo: The Interior Community Health Center clinic in Fairbanks, pictured on Sept. 24, 2025. After Nov. 1, the facility will be the only INHC clinic. (Shelby Herbert/KUAC)
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
University of Alaska Southeast staff and nursing students gathered at the Ketchikan campus to celebrate the new nursing lab. One family in Juneau is trying to raise a million dollars for a lifesaving treatment for their child. And researchers have been recording the mysterious “thrumming” sounds of humpback whales.
Photo: A single-patient room inside UAS Ketchikan’s new nursing lab. (Hunter Morrison/KRBD)
In today's Midday Report with host Davis Hovey:
Democrats and independents in the Alaska state Legislature are urging Congress to preserve federal funding for science and research. A project to map out the Pacific Northwest’s critical mineral potential Was frozen and put under review in February. And the U.S. Coast Guard is proposing a new two-way shipping route along the northern Alaska coast.
Photo: The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy in the Arctic Ocean. Photo by Petty Officer Second Class Prentice Danner/U.S. Coast Guard
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
This year’s Permanent Fund Dividend will be exactly $1,000. Payments to more than 600,000 Alaskans are set to begin Oct. 2. The U.S. Senate rejected two partisan spending bills on Friday, bringing the country closer to a partial government shutdown on October 1st. And Senator Sullivan and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez DeRemer were in Fairbanks Friday.
Photo: Senator Sullivan and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez DeRemer. (FaceBook)
In today's Midday Report with host Davis Hovey:
Lawyers are trading arguments in a case challenging the state’s failure to process applications for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on time. Heat pumps are growing in popularity across the country, including in parts of Alaska. And a group in Unalakleet is bringing traditional dance back to life — after more than a century without it.
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
State officials are investigating the death of a 37-year-old man found unresponsive on Sunday in his locked Anchorage jail cell. Sen. Lisa Murkowski broke from other Republicans on the firing last month of the Director of the Centers for Disease Control. And former Alaska attorney general Treg Taylor filed to join the 2026 race for governor Wednesday.
Photo: Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on an Alaska tour in August. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
An unusually warm August and early September near Sitka has attracted an unusual fish to the area - tuna. A U.S. House hearing Tuesday on energy in Alaska was largely a tale of two Alaskas. And six years ago, a man tossed a message in a bottle on a patch of sea ice near Utqiagvik. This spring, it was finally found – thousands of miles away.
Photo: Jared Nelson, left, and Adam Olson, with albacore tuna caught off the Sitka coast on Sept. 7. (Photo by Rebecca Olson)
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
Alaskans can expect a La Niña climate pattern this winter. Former Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor is asking the Alaska Public Offices Commission to exempt him from disclosing who is renting his apartments. And Unangax̂ dance is having something of a renaissance in the Aleutians.
Photo: Unangax̂ dancers. (Lucy Bagley, KUCB
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
The U.S. Department of Education has announced that it will cut millions in federal grants for its Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions program. Scientists studying killer whales in Alaska are uncovering long-term impacts of a warmer ocean. And Native advocacy organizations say plans to reorganize U.S. Department of Agriculture could harm tribal food security programs.
Photo: Killer whale. (AZ Animals)
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
A man shot by Sand Point police last week was arraigned in Anchorage Thursday. Juneau has a cat problem. And the founder of the influential conservative blog Must Read Alaska says she resigned this week.
Photo: Duke Ogata. (Alaska's News Source)
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
U.S. Antimony Corporation says it's begun to recover antimony from old deposits at a historic mine near Ester Dome. Efforts to make part of the Kenai Spur Highway safer kicked off Tuesday. And the union that represents support staff at the Juneau School District is suing the district over its afterschool child care program.
Photo: State and local officials break ground on a Kenai Spur Highway safety project on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/KDLL)
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
The Northwest Arctic saw record breaking rainfall in August, which led to flooding, erosion and high water throughout the region. It’s getting harder for Alaskans to afford a place to live, whether that means buying a house or renting. And one man has been getting generations of people in Ketchikan to sing sea shanties for over 30 years.
Photo: Sea shanty poster for the Alaska Fish House in Ketchikan.
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
One question hangs over Alaska’s 2026 governor’s race: what will Peltola do? In rural Alaska, there are a growing number of cases that involve young teens who are sexually exploited online. And Alaska students’ test scores improved modestly last school year.
Photo: Mary Peltola
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
A Kenai superior court judge declined to dismiss the state’s case against a former Alaska State Trooper facing a felony assault charge. It’s been about two weeks since the post office in Nikiski closed abruptly. And layer by layer, a new home in Nome is taking shape. Once complete, it’ll become the first occupied 3D printed house in Alaska.
Photo: X-Hab 3D's Lead of Systems Engineering, Sven Bilén, evaluates a segment of concrete printed by the company's MX3DP model printer.
This week we hear about an oil spill near the Kitoi Bay Hatchery, a small earthquake near Kodiak, elevated levels of harmful algal blooms, Alaska Aerospace is looking to expand its presence along the Aleutian Chain, and Kodiak's landfill is filling up.
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
An Alaska Native group seeking the names of Indigenous people murdered in the state ran into a roadblock this summer when the Alaska Department of Public Safety rejected their request. Two Sitka community gardens have received grant funding to support their development. And students’ in Napakiak have a brand new school.
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
Ships could pose a risk to seabirds migrating through Alaska’s waters. The U.S. House voted along party lines yesterday to repeal a land use plan covering 13 million acres in Alaska. And researchers continue to investigate a massive landslide and tsunami that hit a fjord last month.
Photo: A bird storm strikes the R/V Tiĝlax̂ near Kasatochi Island in 2003. (Photo courtesy of Jeff Williams/USFWS)
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
Contractors broke ground in Sitka last week on the final piece of a two-decade project seeking more affordable housing. Gov. Mike Dunleavy has named Stephen J. Cox to be Alaska’s next attorney general. And Federal data shows that a subset of cruise ships violate pollution standards in Alaska hundreds of times every year.
Photo: Contractors pour the concrete foundation for the first of three duplexes in the Sitka Land Trust. (KCAW/McKenney)
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
The Juneau School District Board of Education is fast tracking a move to restore universal free breakfast for K-12 students. An Alaska-based environmental organization is restoring the landscape by constructing man-made beaver dams. And a haunting crime story and an Alaska Native legend are at the center of a new documentary that will premiere on Hulu next month.
Photo: Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve ecology technician Spencer Johnson points to a man-made beaver dam on the southern Kenai Peninsula. The dam's goal is to extend wetland habitat important to spawning salmon.
(Hunter Morrison/KDLL)
This week we hear about the latest rocket launch from the Kodiak Island spaceport, a "plus-up" underway at Coast Guard Base Kodiak, more than 50 dead shearwaters found near Kodiak beaches, brown bears are wreaking havoc at the landfill, the Alutiiq Museum's annual meeting, and KIBSD school district staff prepare for the new school year.
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has named Stephen J. Cox to be Alaska’s next attorney general. Skagway is inching toward building a dock that Canadian mining companies could use to once again export ore from the local port. And “The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn.”
Photo: Ben Vaughn.
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
An F-35 fighter jet crashed at Eielson Air Force Base back in January because water-contaminated hydraulic fluid caused an ice buildup in the plane’s landing gear. And scientists are trying to figure out an early warning system for earthquakes, but it will cost money.
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
A former south peninsula firefighter is suing the Kenai Peninsula Borough and her former boss. And a group of Mertarvik students got to travel to New York City to share the impact of climate change on kids.
Photo: Mertarvik students and Province Town students play basketball in Brooklyn, New York on June 6, 2025. (Gabby Salgado/KYUK)
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
People in Fairbanks are expressing concern about federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the city. Two Anchorage residents face federal charges alleging they used a Spenard hotel to distribute illegal drugs. And Unalaska's primary clinic is the first level 5 trauma center in the state.
Photo: A sign outside of the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, where Fairbanks resident Atcharee Buntow is currently detained. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
Anchorage could soon join other communities in the state that allow people to smoke marijuana at licensed cafes. A researcher has designed a program meant to help small communities make big energy decisions. And the federal government is in the process of rewriting the rules for how it issues federal contracts, including those with Alaska Native Organizations.
Photo: Good Titrations operates one of the few on-site consumption cannabis cafés in the United States.
This week we hear about Alaska State Troopers putting down a Kodiak brown bear, Aleutian terns rebounding, we have a list of candidates for municipal elections this fall, construction on the island by the U.S. Navy, and Alaska Marine Lines will no longer ship electric vehicle.
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
Advocates say it’s finally time to connect Alaska’s largest city to communities to its north using commuter rail. Petersburg's waste water line is broken, and no one knows for how long. And a kitten cafe!
Photo: An Alaska Railroad passenger excursion train at Spencer.
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
Providing healthcare in rural communities can come with a lot of unique challenges. Mt Spurr is no longer expected to erupt in the near future. And the Juneau Assembly voted to kill a proposed ordinance that would have made it easier for police officers to arrest campers in public spaces.
Photo: Mt. Spurr.
n today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
The Alaska House and Senate met yesterday in Juneau but adjourned in less than a minute. Interior mushroom enthusiasts enjoyed a rich morel harvest. And Alaska Marine Lines will no longer ship electric vehicles or plug-in hybrid vehicles to Alaska or Hawaii.
Photo: A plateful of Morchella tomentosa, one of Alaska's most common morels. Photo credit Adam McCrae
In today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
Democrat Tom Begich has announced a run for Governor. A man seeking asylum in Anchorage was arrested by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. And adding kelp to the concrete recipe.
On today's Midday Report with host Brian Venua:
Access to Kodiak's Fossil Beach is restricted today. Protests of the meeting between Trump and Putin were held around Alaska. And Ravn will no longer be flying in Alaska.
Photo: A Ravn Alaska plane at Unalaska’s Tom Madsen Airport. (Photo by Theo Greenly/KUCB)
This week we hear some details about the a potential project for temporary housing at the Kodiak Island spaceport, the Coast Guard has commissioned its second new cutter homeported in Kodiak, the service intercepts Chinese vessel in the Bering Sea, the Coast Guard's Healy is back in Kodiak for now, the Asian Grocery store celebrates 30 years in Kodiak, and the police department has new Tasers.
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Sitka’s restaurant owners looking to score beer and wine licenses will have to wait– at least for now. After the water receded from this week’s all-time record-breaking glacial outburst flood, Mendenhall Valley residents spent yesterday taking stock of the damage. And Fairbanksans packed a bridge downtown to protest President Donald Trump’s meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Investments for aviation safety were included in the budget reconciliation bill. Floodwaters from Juneau’s glacial outburst are receding. And Sitka’s long-awaited marine haulout is one step closer to opening.
Photo: The assembly voted 5-1 in favor of the operating agreement with Highmark Marine, with member Scott Saline opposed. (KCAW/Woolsey)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Juneau’s glacial outburst flood reached a record-breaking crest of 16.65 feet at about 8:00 a.m. today. A historic petroglyph on a Wrangell beach was destroyed by vandalism. And advocates are trying to change the formula for federal homelessness funding for Anchorage.
Photo: (Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service) A meter stick laid alongside the damaged petroglyph rock shows the size of the stone.
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A massive tsunami ripped through a fjord popular with sightseers south of Juneau early Sunday morning. The Coast Guard has officially commissioned its latest icebreaker. And Alaska has finally regained the jobs it lost during the pandemic.
Photo: The Coast Guard Cutter Storis.
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
White supremacist activity in Alaska has dramatically increased this year. President Donald Trump says he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin this Friday in Alaska. And hunters from the North Slope community of Point Lay will collaborate with a University of Alaska Fairbanks anthropologist from Russia this summer, to document traditional knowledge about walruses.
This week we hear about Mayor Branson not running for reelection, the federal government released education funds for both Kodiak College and the archipelago's public schools, the Alutiiq Museum found its oldest artifacts from the island yet, and the inaugural adult sobriety camp on Afognak Island.
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Hundreds of people gathered in Wrangell at the end of July to help raise five new totem poles. A company that owns a controversial mining exploration effort outside Haines says work will continue at the site – despite plans to sell some or all of the project. And an Interior Gas Utility plans to truck in gas from the North Slope.
Photo: A large group of close to 300 people raise the Kadashan Totem on July 19, 2025 in Wrangell’s Totem Park. (photo courtesy of Brian Hockenstein)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
in Alaska, experts say changes in Medicaid coverage will look very different in Alaska. It’s a bit of a mystery where some birds go when they leave Alaska for the winter. And Salmonfest also showcases Alaska Native culture.
Photo: Michael Franti & Spearhead perform at Salmonfest in Ninilchik, Alaska, on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024.
(Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has cancelled half a billion dollars for vaccine development using mRNA technology. Salmonfest aims at a less trashy future. And Governor Dunleavy has ordered an efficiency review of state agencies and grants.
Photo: Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. spoke to reporters at Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium on Aug. 5, 2025, the same day he canceled nearly $500 million for mRNA vaccine development. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
What just happened at Saturday's Special Session of the Alaska Legislature? Is Senator Murkowski thinking about running for Governor? And what do very deep boreholes have to do with coal fired powerplants?
Photo: House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham independent, speaks alongside Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, during a news conference at the Alaska State Capitol following two successful veto override votes on August 2, 2025. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska lawmakers on Saturday voted to override Governor Mike Dunleavy’s veto of state funding for public schools. And they refused to accept an executive order from him seeking to create a state agriculture department. They also overrode his veto of a bill intended to bolster the authority of the legislative auditor.
Photo: Suzanne Cohen holds a sign in the rain outside the Alaska State Capitol on Friday, Aug. 1 calling on lawmakers to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy's veto of more than $50 million in public school funding. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The impending glacial outburst flood in Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley is raising tensions. Legislators are planning to arrive soon in Juneau for the special session. Educators and education advocates are hopeful that legislators will vote Saturday to override Governor Mike Dunleavy’s education funding veto.
Photo: On August 6, 2024, an outburst flood from the Mendenhall Glacier caused major flooding in the Mendenhall Glacier Basin. Multiple homes and roads are inundated. Courtesy photo/Alaska National Guar
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
More than 700 participants, including leaders from the circumpolar North, are gathering this week at Arctic Encounter. Alaska's Senators have different ways to vet federal judges. And cell phones are now banned in Anchorage School District classrooms.
Photo: Participants at Arctic Encounter
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has announced his policy priorities for the Alaska State Legislature when they reconvene for a special session. Senator Murkowski continues to buck the party with regard to controversial nominations. And Unalaska was mistakenly evacuated after the recent earthquake in Russia.
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Trump administration wants to eliminate the Denali Commission. Wildfires have calmed down around Fairbanks thanks to cooler, wetter weather that moved in over the last few weeks. And an audit of the state's foster care system gives it a failing grade.
Photo: Smoke from the Bear Creek Fire seen from the Parks Highway on Sunday, June 22, 2025. Courtesy of Sierra Early
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The federal government will be releasing billions of dollars in education funding that it withheld at the end of June. A man was mauled by a bear near the South Fork of Eagle River Saturday morning. And The Alaska Department of Natural Resources on Monday reaffirmed its denial an underwater gold mine near Nome.
Photo: A rock formation is seen at the edge of Safety Sound east of Nome. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
This week we hear about the expanding infrastructure to monitor vessels traveling in Alaska's Arctic waters, the Kodiak Police Department has nowhere to store more impounded vehicles, pet boarding facilities and pet hotels can now operate in more zoning districts within the Borough, Starlink had a global outage for a couple hours Thursday that affected Kodiak residents, and an Alaska Airlines plane was grounded after running over deer on the Kodiak runway.
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Lawmakers are planning to gather in Juneau in just over a week for a special legislative session called by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. After a fatal shooting at a downtown bar, Anchorage police say they’re adding more officers to the area. And for over 50 years, one Nome business has operated the old fashioned way.
Photo: The proprietors of Builders Industrial Supply of Nome.
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Golden Valley Electric Association is racing to use federal funds before they dry up. Rural Alaska communities will get money to fix tank farms, thanks to the Denali Commission. And the state does not know what effect the Big Beautiful Bill will have on Medicaid in Alaska.
Photo: A tank farm in Elim.
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska’s former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola is suing the owners of the aircraft that her late husband was piloting at the time of his death. A coalition of schools and advocacy groups is suing the Trump administration over its decision to withhold some $6.8 billion in federal education funds. And the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development is appealing a federal decision that could cost the state $80 million.
Photo: Eugene "Buzzy" Peltola Jr.
This week we hear a recap of the tsunami warning and later all clear in Kodiak and the Alaska Peninsula, Congress voted to cut public media funding, the state government has struggled to keep up with Alaskans applying for government benefits, and inside Kodiak's sole operational kelp hatchery.
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This week we hear about the vacant position for the director of engineering and facilities at the Kodiak Island Borough, the City of Kodiak approved an agreement with a new city manager, the federal government has frozen more than a million in grants that would fund KIBSD programs, NOAA has multiple research vessels conducting surveys this month, ADF&G raises catch limits for sockeye in Kodiak area rivers and some of the Kodiak Alutiiq Dancers participate in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C.
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On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A fire burned through the public safety building and city jail in the Western Alaska coastal community of Chevak. Samoans and other Pacific Islanders gather in an Anchorage park all summer long to play their distinct form of cricket. And a pilot and three passengers were seriously injured this weekend in a floatplane crash in Katmai National Park.
Photo: Teammates run past each other on a concrete pitch to score a point after one hit the ball during a kirikiti match at Jefferson Park on Beacon Hill in Seattle. (Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Smokey conditions persist in the interior as numerous fires continue to burn. A pilot and three passengers were seriously injured this weekend in a floatplane crash in Katmai National Park. And Alaska lawmakers plan to compel the administration of Gov. Mike Dunleavy to release data on oil taxes.
Photo: Smoke from the Bear Creek Fire seen from the Parks Highway. Courtesy of Sierra Early
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Representative Begich has no reservations about his vote for the budget bill. Skagway has a trapeze. And not everyone is thrillled about the new musher in the Iditarod.
Photo: Katia Aryeh works with local trapeze student Anika Thole, age 10. (Melinda Munson/KHNS)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The U.S. Department of Education is withholding nearly $7 billion in education funding for programs that range from migrant education to English language instruction and gifted education. Gov. Mike Dunleavy is now asking roughly half of the Alaska state House not to show up for the first five days of the special session he called. And reactions to Sen. Murkowski's Big Beautiful Vote.
Photo: U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and John Barrasso of Wyoming, both Republicans, center, walk into the Senate chamber on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
This week we hear about more than half a million dollars in federal grant money slated for Kodiak College is frozen, the Alutiiq Museum's archaeology team has pieced together a historical timeline for Shuyak Island, the City approved its FY26 budget, the borough is on the hook for a quarter million dollars for school bond debt, and another dead whale washed up on Surfer's Beach.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Gov. Mike Dunleavy is calling lawmakers back to Juneau for a special session next month. A wildlife facility outside Haines that’s popular with tourists has come under scrutiny over concerns related to animal care and public safety. And U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan says he’s pitching the Alaska LNG Project to the U.S. Department of Defense for potential investment.
Photo: The entrance to the Kroschel Films Wildlife Center, pictured above on June 27, 2025. (Avery Ellfeldt/KHNS)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Non-teaching staff across the University of Alaska system are working to form a union. An atmospheric research facility near the Interior community of Gakona has been a magnet for conspiracy theories for decades. And the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in springtime can feel like a bit of a bird super-highway.
On this week's Talk of the Rock, host Jared Griffin discusses this weekend's Renaissance Faire with organizers.
This week with host Davis Hovey, we hear about how Gov. Dunleavy's line item vetoes to education funding will impact Kodiak's school district, the city council has selected a new city manager as negotiations continue, a recap of the inaugural Kodiak Mountain Series and a report from our colleagues at Alaska Public Media about the latest on how portions of the "big, beautiful bill" will impact Alaskans.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski spoke out Wednesday against President Trump’s plan to claw back $9.4 billion Congress appropriated for public broadcasting and global health programs. The Bear Creek Fire near Healy is one of the largest and most destructive fires in the state this summer. And military helicopters have been spotted buzzing communities across western Alaska this week.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Cold and rainy weather has slowed wildfires raging in Interior Alaska since late last week. Advocates say proposed changes to the SNAP food assistance program under the the “One Big Beautiful Bill” would create food insecurity in Alaska. And businesses are in the dark about new regulations, shortly before they become law.
Photo: The Himalaya Fire near Fairbanks on June 22, 2025. (Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Coalition for Education Equity is preparing to sue the state over what it says is inadequate funding for public schools in Alaska. Around 50 people marched to South Peninsula Hospital in Homer this week to protest proposed federal cuts to Medicaid. And wildfires continue to spread across the interior.
Photo: Marchers proceed with signs and American flags waving during a rally in support of Medicaid and South Peninsula Hospital on Wednesday, June 18.
(Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Questions are being asked about dozens of immigration detainees in an Anchorage jail. More than 900 cyclists are set to participate this weekend in an annual cross-border race that starts in Canada and ends in Haines. And Senator Lisa Murkowski has a book out.
A solo rider crests the summit during a previous Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay. Jillian Rogers/KHNS
This week we hear about Alaska students being part of a mass panic at the National Speech and Debate Association's tournament, Harbormaster Dave Johnson's charges were dismissed by the state, a Kodiak dog has parvovirus, the Griffin Memorial Hospital could be used for museum storage, state land is for sale on Kupreanof Strait for the first time, and Kodiak was part of the "No Kings Day" protests on June 14.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Anchorage city officials began clearing the two largest homeless encampments on Tuesday. A section of the Republican megabill pending in the U.S. Senate would require the government to sell some of the public land in Alaska and 10 other states, to build housing. And Skagway is a small town but it celebrates Pride month in a big way.
Photo: Brian Vaughn urged Anchorage police on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, to not clear the encampments. ( Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A section of the Republican megabill pending in the U.S. Senate would require the government to sell some of the public land in Alaska and 10 other states, to build housing.
Transportation officials say $600M in federal funding is at risk due to unmet state grant match requirements. And a new federal report says the group overseeing the 800-mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline System needs to update its operations.
Photo: The Trans-Alaska Pipeline along the Dalton Highway near Atigun Pass in September, 2021. ( Alena Naiden)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
This year’s fire season roared to life last week with Red Flag warnings in effect around the state. An eagle made an unexpected visit to a Petersburg home earlier this month. And Pilgrim Hot Springs is growing!
Photo: Smoke rising from the Riley Fire in Denali National Park & Preserve, June 30, 2024. Paul Ollig, NPS
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Smoke from blazes in Canada poured over the Canadian border into eastern Alaska this weekend. Researchers say for the first time, they’ve linked seal deaths in the Bering Sea to the same toxins that cause paralytic shellfish poisoning. And the National Weather Service issued its first-ever heat advisory for Alaska last week.
Photo: Smoke from wildfires in Canada descended on Skagway, Klukwan and Haines over the weekend, resulting in hazy skies and poor air quality. (Avery Ellfeldt/KHNS)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska state lawmakers introduced a bill on the last day of the legislative session that would ban mining projects in the Bristol Bay watershed – including the controversial Pebble Mine. The national theme was “No Kings” for protests held nationwide Saturday and some of the Alaska protesters added a seafood exception. And why is Juneau the state capitol?
This week we hear about a dead gray whale washed up near Surfer Beach, the Kodiak Island Borough will lower its mill rate, young fishermen went through a new training program, a Kodiak fisherman went to D.C. to testify in front of lawmakers about illegal fishing, and Chiniak has a new resort.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska’s public schools likely won’t get all the money lawmakers approved in a bipartisan vote last month. As President Donald Trump orders the U.S. military into Los Angeles hundreds of Alaskans are preparing to join pro-democracy rallies planned for Saturday. And the U.S. House has passed President Trump’s rescission request, taking back $9.4 billion from foreign aid programs and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A group of state lawmakers is set to meet this summer and fall to continue working on ways to improve Alaska’s public schools. Alaskan advocates are descending on Washington DC. And the Air Force has announced plans to develop a microreactor on Eielson Air Force Base.
Photo: F-35 Lightning II and F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets at Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks. (From Eielson Air Force Base)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska’s U.S. Senators are split over President Trump’s decision to send Marines to Los Angeles in response to protests there. Officials with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute and Alaska Aerospace Corporation announced a wide-ranging agreement Tuesday. And a Korean F-16 fighter plane crashed on takeoff from Eielson Air Force Base late Tuesday afternoon.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
An Alaska Railroad locomotive leaked about 900 gallons of diesel fuel after it derailed in an area north of Talkeetna. Investigators are still looking into what caused a fatal helicopter crash on the North Slope last week. And the Alaska Department of Corrections has taken in 40 people detained outside of the state by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Photo: The Alaska Railroad provides freight and passenger operations on a 470-mile main line between Seward and Fairbanks.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Nome residents gathered to protest proposed cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Graphite mining in Alaska could be one step closer. And the Alaska Board of Education unanimously approved new reading standards for Alaska Native languages.
Photo: Nome residents John Bioff, Bob Lewis and Hannah Anderson protesting at Anvil City Square. (Wali Rana photo)
This week we hear about the Coast Guard cutter Earl Cunningham arrives in Kodiak, a Kodiak crabber illegally transported Tanners, Harbormaster Dave Johnson is arrested for assault, North Star elementary school teachers look ahead to next year as they clean out their building, the City Council denies Brechan Construction's proposal to buy land on Near Island, and two finalists for the city manager job are set to visit Kodiak later this month.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The largest timber companies in Southeast Alaska are suing the federal government to get access to more old-growth timber. Senator Murkowski is ambivalent about the "Big Beautiful Bill." And the state school board elicited a firestorm of public comment on a proposal to limit how municipalities can contribute to their school districts.
Photo: Tongass trees. (Photo by Katie Anastas/KTOO)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Coast Guard is responding to a cargo ship that caught fire near Adak yesterday. Two people died in a helicopter crash on the North Slope near Deadhorse on Wednesday. And three officials from the Trump administration visited the beginning of the Trans-Alaska oil Pipeline on Monday.
Photo: The distressed freighter Morning Midas. Smoke is still coming from the vessel. (US Coast Guard)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The State Board of Education is considering a regulation change that would further limit how much money local governments can give to school districts. The Juneau Assembly is mulling over a plan to implement a ranked choice voting system for local elections beginning next year. And the City of Hoonah’s chief of police submitted his resignation on Friday, but he was fired instead.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
An energy company plans to build an ammonia plant in Adak. The Trump administration plans to lift environmental protections on roughly half of the National Petroleum Reserve. And new app mapping wildfire risk in Bristol Bay is just in time for what officials warn could be a dangerous fire season.
Photo: Adak. (Aleut Corporation)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A trio of high level Trump administration officials are touring Alaska this week, looking for ways to "unleash Alaska’s resource potential." Volunteers say they recovered the remains of three people missing since their boat capsized in Kachemak Bay last summer. And a skater explores Alaska.
This week we hear about the Alutiiq Museum reopened, Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center has a few openings, there's a new fishermen crew training course, half of Kodiak's rural school seniors were in Ouzinkie, the Kodiak Island Borough upped how much it funds education, and we look at bills Kodiak's state legislators worked on.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski is emphasizing her support for Alaska’s Ukrainian refugees. In the Anchorage School District, a recently-introduced curriculum for young students learning to read is working, but funding is in question. And Immigration officials detained an Anchorage man originally from Peru last week, according to his wife.
Photo: U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski speaks with Tetyana Robbins in Delta Junction on May 29, 2025. (Shelby Herbert/KUAC)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Scientists and hunters have been counting bowhead whales passing by Utqiagvik for the past two months. Senator Lisa Murkowski is concerned about implications for Alaskans of cuts to SNAP benefits and medicaid. State lawmakers have passed bills designed to help pull the struggling Alaska seafood industry out of its tailspin.
Photo: Bowhead whale. (Vicki Beaver)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Plans by the Native Village of Kotzebue to sell wind power to its local electric cooperative are on hold after the federal government slashed its grants. A Dillingham resident is trying to supply fresh greens to the region. And about 70 Southeast Alaska high school students traveled to Wrangell last month to attend Art Fest.
Photo: Southeast students at Art Fest’s mosiac stained glass workshop on April 25, 2025. (Colette Czarnecki/KSTK)
This week we have a special edition of the show. KMXT presents: Mabuhay sa Alaska, a five part feature series exploring Alaska schools recruiting teachers from the Philippines.
We look at what recruiting is like, meet teachers looking to come here, learn how some already in Kodiak are navigating their new lives, learn some history about Filipino immigration, and question if hiring teachers from the Philippines leads to a brain drain.
Text: https://www.kmxt.org/kmxt-special-series-mabuhay-sa-alaska
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Conservation groups and a Tribal government have sued to overturn a permit to develop a site important to endangered whales. An unvaccinated Anchorage youth tested positive for measles May 21, according to the Anchorage Health Department. And Drue Pearce, a former president of the Alaska Senate, has taken a new job in the U.S. Interior Department.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Trump administration is attempting to alter long standing regulations that seek to protect endangered species habitat. Senator Gary Stevens is retiring. And The US House has passed a spending bill, barely.
Photo: Gary Stevens speaks on the Senate floor. (Wikipedia)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A novel new internet system could have the potential to revolutionize internet access in rural Alaska. The Legislative session is over. And Delta Junction's Ukrainian immigrants hope for a legal means to remain in the United States.
Photo: A row of white, bulbous receivers at Pacific Dataport's Nome Gateway near the Port of Nome. (Ben Townsend)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska lawmakers have finished this year’s business at the state capitol in Juneau. Alaska lawmakers overrode Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of a high-profile education bill Tuesday morning. And the Juneau Assembly passed an ordinance on Monday mandating that the Police release body camera footage within 30 days of a shooting.
This week we hear about harmful algal blooms around Kodiak, the City Council picked its next clerk, halibut populations are at some of the lowest levels in a century, the Alaska Legislature is winding down its 2025 session, Ouzinkie is declared tsunami ready, and Kodiak Middle School's Kaci Martin, Jasper Ignacio, Neal Skonberg, Ryker Christiansen, and Cole Martin give us a preview of CrabFest. That story is featured in KMXT's Weekly Wrap thanks to a collaboration between KMS' journalism class and KMXT News staff.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska officials who help resettle immigrants say they re facing a lot of uncertainty amid the Trump administration s crackdown on legal and illegal immigration. A third Republican candidate has joined the 2026 campaign for Alaska governor. And contractors are nearing completion of a fourth missile field at Fort Greely that will increase the number of interceptor missile silos there to 62.
Photo: A Ground-Based Interceptor, designed to destroy incoming ICBMs, is lowered into its silo at the missile defense complex at Fort Greely, July 22, 2004. (Wikipedia)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska has a shortage of residential programs for people experiencing mental health crises. The Trump administration has started cancelling grants to tribal libraries across And Gov. Mike Dunleavy says he’s ordering a freeze on most state hiring, out-of-state travel and new regulations as oil prices tumble.
Photo: The Klukwan Library has reduced its hours from 35 to four and cancelled all future events amid federal funding cuts. (Photo courtesy of Jamie Katzeek)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A Sterling woman recently placed first in a duathlon in Hawaii. The next season of the PBS KIDS show “Molly of Denali” will be the last for the foreseeable future. And an exhibit on Native boarding schools will officially open at the Alaska Native Heritage Center.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Gov. Mike Dunleavy is once again threatening to veto a compromise bill legislators hammered out to boost funding for the state’s public schools. The Indigenous language of the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands is at risk of aging out. And Alaskans sound off about President Trumps first 100 days.
Photo: Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters during a news conference on April 17, 2025. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Alaska Senate approved its version of the state budget yesterday. Libraries in Alaska may no longer be able to request books from out of state, or mail books and other media to Alaskans who don’t live near a library. And the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced that it will defund a program that catalogs sea ice data.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Monday was Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day. The Alaska House is scheduled to vote today on a change to corporate income taxes that could raise millions of dollars for the state. Anchorage officials are moving forward with a plan to free up space at the landfill by burning trash, and harnessing that power into electricity for the city.
Photo: The facade of the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau on May 22, 2024. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Former Fairbanks Republican state Sen. Click Bishop filed a letter of intent to run for governor. Republicans in the U.S. House are trying to clear hurdles for Alaska oil drilling and mining with a bill that’s written to thwart environmental lawsuits. And a successful program in Anchorage to get homeless people into into housing lacks the housing it needs.
Photo: Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, at left, and former state Sen. Click Bishop, at right, have each filed letters of intent signaling they will run for governor in 2026.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska’s oldest ferry is too expensive to fix. Alaska has been leading the nation in employment growth since late 2022, mainly due to federal funding. And a proposal that would create and fund tribally run public schools inched closer to reality on Thursday.
Photo: AMHS Ferry Matanuska. (Alaska Marine Highway System)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Petersburg’s police chief is suing his employer, the borough. Funding for child advocacy centers is in doubt. And low oil prices could hinder plans to ramp up production.
Photo: This 2019 aerial photo provided by ConocoPhillips shows an exploratory drilling camp at the proposed site of the Willow oil project on Alaska's North Slope. (ConocoPhillips via AP)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Benny Benson, the designer of Alaska’s state flag, has been recognized with a posthumous, honorary doctorate. A new Alaska law requires all businesses that sell alcohol to post a warning that drinking alcohol can cause breast and colon cancers. And Alaska’s public schools might get a long-sought increase in state funding this year.
Photo: A young Benny Benson.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski says Congress needs to reclaim the power of tariff authority from President Donald Trump. A Homer pilot and passenger died Monday in a plane crash near Nanwalek. And the Kuskokwim River is breaking up far quicker than normal.
Photo: Kuskokwim River breakup is seen at the mouth of the Holitna River, a short distance upriver from the community of Sleetmute on April 26, 2025. (Angela Hayden)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Native Youth Olympic Games wrapped up in Anchorage on Saturday. The Alaska Senate has passed a bill that would substantially boost long-term funding for public schools. And the Trump administration is reversing the termination of international student records.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Trump administration is planning an Alaska summit with leaders from Japan and South Korea in early June. Scientists say the Trump administration's planned cuts would devastate climate research in Alaska. And Ketchikan band Dude Mtn headlined shows at the Alaska Folk Festival, and set records.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A recent University of Alaska graduate is suing the federal government after his foreign student status was revoked by the Trump administration. The Alaska Senate is planning to vote soon on a new education funding bill, even as Gov. Dunleavy says he opposes it. And Canada is affirming the importance of cross-border relationships – while also pushing back against Trump’s global trade war.
Photo: Jean Kashikov, a recent University of Alaska graduate, is one of four UA students who have had their foreign student records terminated in recent weeks by the Trump administration. (Wesley Early/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
At the University of Alaska Southeast they are trying to balance upholding the university’s values with maintaining federal funding. After the Governor's veto, what next for school funding? And REAL ID could be a real problem for rural residents.
Photo: Alaska REAL ID. (AK DMV)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska lawmakers failed to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of a $1,000 boost to basic per-student funding for public schools. In Juneau, babies can start learning to swim as young as six months. And the Alaska Supreme Court's says that the state can confiscate a Fairbanks pilot's plane for attempting to transport a six pack to a dry village.
Photo: Swim instructor Katie McKeown blows bubble with students at the Dimond Park Aquatic Center pool in Juneau on April 19, 2025. (Photo by Jamie Diep/KTOO)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Protesters visited Alaska Congressman Nick Begich’s Anchorage office Monday to object to a plan he voted for that would cut Medicaid. Some federal workers in Juneau were fired again this month after the Supreme Court declined to reverse the Trump administration's efforts to shrink the federal workforce. And Alaska's Governor has ruffled feathers in China.
Photo: Caregivers and other supporters of Medicaid gather on April 21, 2025 in the lobby of Congressman Nick Begich's Anchorage office. (Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has proposed a smaller funding and policy package for schools than the bill he vetoed. In the same week the Port of Nome took a potential $10 million hit in state funding, leaders from across the country met to discuss the future of the western Alaska hub. And short-term tenants on land designated for Sitka’s new public boatyard are going to have to vacate by the end of the summer.
Photo: An aerial view of the Port of Nome. (File/KNOM)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a closely watched education funding bill yesterday. Police say a kicked-out car window led to a man’s fatal shooting Wednesday night in South Anchorage. And an eruption at Mount Spurr, the closest volcano to Alaska’s population centers, is now less likely, researchers say.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Arctic research has not been spared as President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk seek to slash what they see as unnecessary government spending. The Alaska House has passed a budget. And the future of a federal program that supports rural Alaska schools remains grim.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she’s worried new U.S. tariffs will damage some of Alaska’s biggest industries, especially commercial fishing. International students in Alaska on education visas are among hundreds nationwide facing removal, as the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown continues. And tensions over a levee that’s taking shape in backyards along Juneau’s Mendenhall River have come to a head. Photo: HESCO flood barriers line the Mendenhall River on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Sen. Lisa Murkowski is urging Alaskans to speak out against changes the Trump administration is bringing to their lives and the government they’ve relied on. The Alaska Legislature passed a bill Friday that would boost per-student education funding by $1,000. And federal investigators have issued a final report on the crash of a commercial cargo plane near Fairbanks last year.
Photo: The Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, pictured May 6, 2024. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The first cruise ship of the 2025 tourism season, the Norwegian Bliss, is set to arrive in downtown Juneau this afternoon. An Anchorage police officer’s home was searched last week by fellow officers and the FBI, as police seek a missing man last seen nearby. And well-known Alaska Native leader Willie Hensley is the subject of a new documentary.
Photo: Willie Hensley, a former Alaska congressman and an Arctic Native rights advocate, briefs Alaskan Command leadership as part of ALCOM’s Arctic Speaker Series at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in 2022. (Senior Airman Emily Farnsworth)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Microplastics appear to be ubiquitous in spotted seals harvested in Alaska’s most remote waters. The Kenai Peninsula's biggest electric utility trying to save a massive solar farm project after uncertainty over federal solar investment tax credits threw it into limbo. And Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance says her administration's goal is building 10,000 homes in 10 years.
Photo: Spotted seals have ingested microplastics consistently since at least 2012.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
If countries want to keep the Trump administration from imposing tariffs on their exports to the United States, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggests they invest in Alaska’s Liquified Natural Gas project. The Alaska Legislature’s quest to pass a viable state budget for this year isn’t getting any easier. And two Alaska State Troopers facing assault charges over alleged conduct during their arrest of the wrong man in Kenai last year won’t go to trial until next February.
Photo: The facade of the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau on May 22, 2024. ( Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Alaska Permanent Fund suffered a multibillion-dollar loss during last week’s stock market crash. A jury is deliberating on whether a 24-year-old Unalaska man is guilty of two felony charges for his involvement in the deaths of two teen girls in a 2019 car crash. And Alaska Head Start programs are reeling after the regional federal office was suddenly closed last week.
Photo: Students swing on a playground at Meadow Lakes Head Start in Wasilla, Alaska. It closed in 2024 due to funding and staffing challenges. (Image by Lela Seiler, courtesy of CCS Early Learning)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Job growth is flat across most of Alaska, but the Arctic saw a big spike last year. The state of Alaska has charged 10 U.S. nationals in the small community of Whittier with voter misconduct and perjury. And Hand's Off protesters rallied around he state.
Photo: The Trans-Alaska Pipeline runs alongside the Dalton Highway near the Toolik Field Station in the North Slope Borough on June 9, 2017. (Rashah McChesney/Alaska's Energy Desk)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Interior Alaskans responded to a call for a national day of protest on Saturday. The dance group from the Cup’ik community of Chevak brings a special flair to the annual Cama’i Dance Festival in Bethel. And the Trump administration is dismantling a federal office that funds programs for seniors and people with disabilities across Alaska.
Photo: People protesting President Donald Trump's process for restructuring the federal government line the sidewalk on one block of Cushman Street. The protest covered several blocks in front of Fairbanks City Hall. (Robyne/KUAC)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska’s two U.S. senators split Wednesday on a vote against President Donald Trump’s economic tariffs against Canada. A high-priority bill that would substantially boost education funding took another step forward in the state Legislature this week. And Alaskans used to pay the highest rent in the nation, but new state data show that cost has stabilized.
Photo: Susan Collins (left) and Lisa Murkowski (right) were two of the four Republicans who backed legislation to block tariffs on Canada. (Reuters)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Mentions of diversity, equity and inclusion have gradually disappeared from University of Alaska webpages. A group of education leaders from tribal organizations spoke at a U.S. Senate hearing against the dissolution of the federal Department of Education. And Bethel’s unofficial loudest event of the year is the "Heart of the Drums."
Photo: Drummer Panuk Benjamin Agimuk co-leads the crowd during Heart of the Drums. (Ryan Cotter/KYUK )
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Kobuk 440 — one of the last sled dog races of the season — begins on Thursday. Many of the weather buoys floating in the waters off Alaska are out of service. And Senator Sullivan uses confirmation hearings to make political points.
Photo: NOAA weather buoys. (National Data Buoy Center)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska’s U.S. Senators have co-sponsored a resolution to keep the U.S. Postal Service as an independent agency and not privatize it. Alaskans fear an executive order signed by President Trump might disenfranchise voters in rural Alaska Native communities. And the pilot recently rescued off of a small plane in an icy, Kenai Peninsula lake may face disciplinary consequences, and be responsible for cleaning up the wreck.
Photo: A small plane was spotted Monday morning after it crashed on Tustumena Lake. ( Image courtesy of Dale Eicher)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Caregivers in Homer gathered last week to support state legislation to increase oversight of in-home care services and attempt to boost caregivers’ wages and benefits. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up to $43 million dollars in federal grants that support public health programs in Alaska. And airport workers in Fairbanks are preparing for a possible eruption of Mt Spurr.
Photo: Fairbanks International Airport terminal entrance. (Quintin_Soloviev)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Sitka Assembly has invited a Kodiak-based company to run its new publicly-owned marine haulout – over the strenuous objections of many in the local fleet and marine services industry. State lawmakers are now more than halfway through their four-month legislative session, and time is ticking away. And U.S. House Republicans put the top executives of NPR and PBS on the hot seat Wednesday.
Photo: Work began on Sitka’s marine haul out as soon as the necessary government permits were secured in late November. The facility is scheduled to be operational next spring. (KCAW/Woolsey)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A murder and subsequent wrongful conviction case in Fairbanks is finally coming to an end. The $44 billion Alaska LNG Project picked up a letter of intent last Thursday from Taiwan’s state-owned CPC Corporation. And for many tribes in rural areas, cuts by the Trump administration could make food security even tougher.
Photo: The Fairbanks Four (left to right): Marvin Roberts, Eugene Vent, Kevin Pease and George Frese at an event celebrating their exoneration in December 2015. (April Monroe)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
People living in the northern part of the state will have a chance to watch rockets soar through aurora-lit night skies for the next couple weeks. Friday was World Glacier Day. And the Alaska House of Representatives says it recognizes Canada’s right to govern itself and opposes efforts to restrict cross-border trade.
Photo: A NASA technician works on the payload of an AWESOME rocket. (UAF)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The University of Alaska is rolling back its Diversity, Equity, and Incusion programs, in compliance with recent executive orders signed by President Donald Trump. A report that highlighted the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous people was removed from several federal websites last month. And President Trump’s cuts to the federal government have repercussions for the National Weather Service.
Photo: Weather Service Forecast for Kodiak, 2024
On this today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher says electric vehicles could benefit rural communities that are off the road system. A rockslide near Ketchikan has blocked the island’s main road. And Sen. Dan Sullivan enthusiastically embraced President Trump and many of his policies during his annual address to the Alaska Legislature.
Photo: Thursday’s Wolfe Point landslide near Ketchikan seen from above. (Jason Baldwin/KPU)
On this today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Silver Bay Seafoods announced in a press release that it will take over all Alaskan facilities owned by OBI Seafoods, through a partnership with Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation. The National Transportation Safety Board report says the fatal Bering Air flight from Unalakleet to Nome was hundreds of pounds overweight. And lawmakers narrowly rejected an executive order from Gov. Mike Dunleavy that would have created a cabinet-level state agriculture department.
The Petersburg Fisheries seafood processing plant (shown) has changed hands multiple times in recent years, from Icicle to OBI to Silver Bay. (KFSK)
On this today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Sen. Lisa Murkowski says President Trump is testing the limits of his power. The Nanook Diversity and Action Center closing and having its website taken down. And the BLM released a draft feasibility study for public comment last week that evaluates whether the proposed Alaska Long Trail would be a suitable National Scenic Trail.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, smiles on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, as she exits the Alaska House of Representatives following her annual address to the Alaska Legislature. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
On this today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Employees fired last month from the agency that oversees federal
fisheries in Alaska were reinstated Monday morning, but will not necesarily go back to work. Officials say residents across Southcentral Alaska should prepare for potential ashfall from Mt Spurr. And Sen. Murkowski continues to be one of the only Republicans in Congress willing to break with President Trump.
On this today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Haines, Alaska, publicly supports Canada’s sovereignty. The powerful Senate Finance committee discussed long deferred maintenance at rural schools. And Alaska’s state development agency says it’s talking with the operator of the Ketchikan Shipyard to resolve a dispute that threatens the future of the yard.
On this today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has a new champion. Tanana Chiefs Conference full board of directors voted Thursday to rejoin the Alaska Federation of Natives. And former federal employees are applying for unemployment.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Trump administration is set to impose tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico. The Iditarod started in Fairbanks yesterday. KYUK’s Samantha Watson looks at the warming climate’s impact on the race trails themselves and what this means for the future of the on-snow sport.
Photo: Rookie musher Bryce Mumford of Preston, Idaho, heads down the Chena River. Thirty-three mushers and dog teams began the 2025 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race from Fairbanks on March 3, 2025. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Leaders in the Alaska House and Senate say they’re deeply concerned about the impacts of federal staff cuts and a forthcoming congressional immigration and tax cuts bill, and are imploring Alaska’s all-Republican federal delegation to halt possible reductions in Medicaid coverage.
Photo: Demonstrators gather outside the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau to protest the Trump administration's policies on Feb. 17, 2025. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Interior Alaska residents are hustling to get ready for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race next week now that the competition is starting in Fairbanks. The board of Sitka’s industrial park is postponing a decision about placing the city’s new marine haulout under the management of Highmark Marine. And a longtime member of the Anchorage Filipino community will serve the largest immigrant group in the state as an honorary consulate.
Photo: Evelyn Abello being sworn in as the Philippine Honorary Consul in Anchorage. (The Philippine Consulate General)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The U.S. House Tuesday passed a spending blueprint that would extend tax cuts and almost certainly reduce Medicaid. Alaska Senate leaders are reviving options for raising revenue. And the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program has removed the phrase “Alaska Native” from its website.
Photo: The Trans-Alaska Pipeline winds through the landscape. Legislators are looking at ways to increase oil tax revenue. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A group of protesters demonstrated against US Ukraine policy in Fairbanks on Monday. A new report paints a bleak picture of the impacts of frozen and cancelled federal funds in Alaska. And probationary federal workers based in Kotzebue joined thousands of other employees fired earlier this month by the Trump Administration.
Photo: Protesters mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the corner of Geist Road and University Avenue on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (Robyne/KUAC)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Influenza cases in Alaska are spiking, according to data from the state’s division of public health. Seward’s roughly 60-year-old cruise ship dock is on track to get a $140 million makeover. And farmers are in favor of a state Department of Agriculture.
Photo: Concept drawing for the new cruise ship terminal in Seward. Photo Credit: The Seward Company
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The University of Alaska System will no longer use or refer to “diversity,” “equity,” “inclusion,” or other similar words. The wide-open sky and super-flat tundra expanses of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta are great for snowkite skiing. And Alaska legislators are facing even larger deficits than they previously thought.
Photo: Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, after debate on the state operating budget, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Congressman Nick Begich III told the Alaska Legislature yesterday the state has become too dependent on federal spending. Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted against confirming Kash Patel as President Trump’s FBI director. Plus: are chicken coops the new gold mines?
Photo: A fried egg. (Matthew Murdoch)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Sen. Lisa Murkowski introduced a bill yesterday that would keep the name Denali on North America’s highest peak. Lawmakers are looking closely at Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s plan to create a state Department of Agriculture. And funding to expand electric car charging capacity has been stalled, if not cancelled.
Photo: Sen. Lisa Murkowski on the Senate floor Feb. 13, 2025. (CSPAN)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A Fairbanks legislator wants the state to have an official dinosaur, and he has one in mind. A new report in Haines chronicles which parts of the mountainous borough might be prone to future landslides, but they may not want to officially adopt it. And four cats and two dogs were euthanized by the Sitka Police Department following a break-down of shelter operations last summer.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The U.S. Forest Service is warning Juneau residents to stay away from the face of the Mendenhall Glacier, where a large piece of ice may fall off at any moment. Lawmakers are turning to reforming the retirement system for state and local government employees. And Sen. Lisa Murkowski says Elon Musk and the President are overreaching their constitutional powers.
Photo: Large cracks in the Mendenhall Glacier are observed by U.S. Forest Service officials on the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (U.S. Forest Service photo)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Bristol Bay Representative Bryce Edgmon was elected Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives last month, back in the role after a four-year break. President Trump has announced a partnership with Japan on the Alaska LNG project. And a fisher poet teams up with a percussive musician.
Photo: Speaker of the House Edgmon talking to constituents in the Speaker's Chambers. (Margaret Sutherland/KDLG)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Investigators are still determining what caused the Bering Air plane crash near Nome on Thursday that killed all 10 people on board. A lawsuit that clouded the future of homeschooling in Alaska for months last spring took on new life Thursday. And Bethel’s Pete Kaiser has won his 9th Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A look back at the effects of Limited Entry. A passenger aircraft is missing near Nome. And tough budget decisions are in store for Alaska legislators.
Photo: Snow falls on the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau on Jan. 30, 2025. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
It looks like the Yukon Quest may be won as early as this afternoon. FBI agents in Anchorage helped in a nationwide immigration crackdown under President Trump last weekend. And more than 100 Juneauites took to the sidewalk to join a nationwide protest against President Donald Trump’s administration and its recent executive orders.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Lawmakers are working to hammer out a compromise on an education bill that could avoid the governor’s veto. The Trump tariffs could dramatically impact the state if they go forward. And the City and Borough of Juneau will move forward with a controversial plan to mitigate glacial outburst floods in the Mendenhall Valley.
Photo: Juneau's flooded Mendenhall Valley is seen on Aug. 7, 2024. (Photo provided by the City and Borough of Juneau)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Lawmakers are pushing Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration to release drafts of a statewide salary study. Alaska nonprofits face immense uncertainty due to the Trump administration’s pause on federal grants and loans. And trail for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has been describes as "favorable' for mushers.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The U.S. Senate has so far confirmed eight of President Trump's cabinet picks, including Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. The upper Kuskokwim River communities of McGrath and Kalskag were shaken by a rare magnitude 5.2 earthquake. And Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy unveiled his plan to fund education.
Photo: Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters in the Cabinet Room in the Alaska State Capitol on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Alaska students posted some of the lowest scores in the country in national reading and math test results. State regulators have fined proponents of the 2024 ranked choice repeal ballot measure nearly $157,000 for what officials called “egregious and widespread” violations of campaign finance laws. And the Kenaitze Indian Tribe recently held a traditional medicine workshop about the wildflower yarrow.
Photo: Achillea millefolium, also known as common yarrow. (SAplants)
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Renewable energy projects across the country are in limbo after the Trump administration placed a 90-day hold on funding. The Sitka Assembly will invite a Kodiak-based company to bid on the operation of a new, publicly-funded marine haulout. And seven school districts in rural Alaska are trying something new to help revamp education.
Photo: A solar array in Kotzebue.
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Chaos reigns as the on-again, off-again federal spending freeze poses more questions than answers. The Governor gives himself high marks in the State of the State speech. And an expensive fighter jet crashes at Eielson Air Force Base.
Photo: President Trump is seen here after signing a range of executive orders on Jan. 23. (Anna Moneymaker.)
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
The City of Delta Junction’s only ambulance service, Delta Medical Transport, announced it would dissolve earlier this month. The Alaska House of Representatives has offered a rebuke to President Donald Trump’s move to rename Denali as Mount McKinley. And residents of the Kenai Borough could lose their emergency flood insurance.
Photo: Mount Denali. (Denali National Park and Preserve)
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
he Alaska Legislature is getting to work on a bill that would boost state funding for public schools by more than $460 million. At least three districts across the state are considering closing at least one school. And the icebreaker Aiviq is the Coast Guard’s newest vessel, despite a history of design problems and failure.
Photo: The Aiviq (blue hull) escorts the tugs Corbin Foss, Ocean Wave and Lauren Foss as they tow the conical drilling unit Kulluk from Kiliuda Bay near Kodiak Island, Alaska, Feb. 26, 2013. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Sara Francis)
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Anchorage saw nearly three dozen homicides last year, coming close to its modern record. Over $130 million in grants for clean energy projects in rural Alaska are now frozen after President Trump signed an executive order. And the Eklutna Tribe has a mini casino up and running.
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
The Alaska Board of Education and Early Development released a draft statewide cell phone policy for students. Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday praised a series of executive orders President Donald Trump issued shortly after taking office. And powerful winter storm systems are set to impact most of western, northern and interior Alaska from Thursday evening through the weekend.
Photo: President Donald Trump signs an executive order at the White House supporting natural resource development in Alaska on Monday, Jan. 21, 2025 in Washington. (CSPAN)
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
State lawmakers convened in Juneau yesterday to kick off the first session of the 34th Alaska Legislature. President Trump is in favor of a gas pipeline in Alaska, but state lawmakers remain skeptical. And a mini-protest in Soldotna.
The proposed route for an Alaska natural gas pipeline.
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
On his first day back in office, President Trump yesterday signed an executive order that aims to undo most of his predecessor’s work on Alaska energy and environmental issues. Juneau is mulling another cruise ship dock. And the state wants to offer geothermal lease sales for Augustine volcano.
Photo: Augustine volcano.
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
State lawmakers are calling on Gov. Mike Dunleavy to release the results of a million-dollar study on how competitive the state’s salaries are. Sitka is moving ahead with allowing a Kodiak-based company to bid on the operation of a new, publicly-funded marine haulout. And another subsea cable break has taken out internet across northern and western Alaska.
Photo: Highmark Marine could run Sitka's Boatyard.
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Alaska will receive more than a million dollars in federal funds to clean up abandoned coal mines across the state. The Biden administration has issued instructions aimed at protecting subsistence resources in the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska. And the largest juried photography show in Alaska has made its way to Kenai Peninsula College.
Photo: Funds are used for abandoned mine lands reclamation projects like this one in Healy, Alaska, which addressed more than 1,600 feet of unstable, dangerous highwalls standing as high as 265 feet. Photo courtesy of the Alaska Abandoned Mined Lands Program.
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
A Southeast Alaska lawmaker has a proposal to offer a state flood insurance alternative that may include coverage for both floods and some landslides. Another Alaska lawmaker is proposing a bill that would protect the personal information of law officers and stalking victims. And Sen. Lisa Murkowski lauded President-Elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Energy.
Photo: Ketchikan's Third Avenue landslide.
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
The federal Office of Subsistence Management has a new director. A project to build Alaska’s first state-run veterans cemetery received a $7 million grant last week. And lawmakers are once again pushing to revive a pension system for state and local government workers in Alaska, including teachers.
Photo: An aerial view of the Salcha property that will house the proposed Interior Alaska State Veterans Cemetery. Photo from Alaska Veterans for Justice.
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Rural schools in Alaska are facing a major funding shortfall this year Congress failed to reauthorize a bill aimed at funding communities alongside national forests and lands. State lawmakers have released more than 80 proposals for new laws and constitutional amendments ahead of the legislative session. And Skagway School is planning an international trip.
Photo: Comedian Nat Townsen (center) with students from Skagway School's climate club.
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
High winds and warmer temperatures led to large power outages across Southcentral Alaska yesterday. The mayor of Anchorage has thrown her support behind the Eklutna Tribe’s efforts to build a small casino on the outskirts of the city.
Photo: Debris from the damaged Rabbit Creek pedestrian bridge lies on the Seward Highway early on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025 after high winds swept through the region. (AK DOT)
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:The University of Alaska Fairbanks is getting $7-and-a-half million from the U.S. Department of Energy to advance the nation’s domestic supply of critical minerals. No bids were received in the oil and gas lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And the federal government says it no longer thinks the state underfunded school districts.
Photo: UAF Critical Minerals Lab analyst Piper Kramer places a rock sample in an x-ray spectrometer on Jan. 7, 2025. Photo by Shelby Herbert/AKPM
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Anchorage officers shot a man early yesterday morning after police say he shot a homeowner in the Government Hill neighborhood. A plan to improve air quality in Fairbanks is nearing federal approval. And Juneau is struggling to hire and keep firefighters.
Photo: Smokestack emissions are seen along the Fairbanks skyline on March 1, 2023. At left is the coal-fired heat and power plant on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
The federal government will see who bid on oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Friday. Anchorage police have shot their first person of 2025. And surf's up in Unalaska.
Photo: The Hulahula River, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Haley Johnson)
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
The Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count has wrapped up. A Sitka man is celebrating the 35th anniversary of an Arctic trek that almost defies belief. And Bethel’s library director was honored with a national librarian award.
Photo: Theresa Quiner, Director of the Kuskokwim Consortium Library in Bethel, is one of 10 librarians across the nation chosen to receive the American Library Association's I Love My Librarian award. (MaryCait Dolan)
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Nick Begich the Third was sworn in on Friday as Alaska’s representative in the U.S. House. The Storis is back in the Coast Guard fleet...this one is an icebreaker. And arctic sea ice is forming later each year, and is thinner. The thin sea ice can have wide-reaching repercussions.
Photo: The Coast Guard cutter Storis. (US Coast Guard.)
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
The bald eagle recently became the United States’ official national bird. It’s already a celebrated creature in Haines. Juneau is working on a long-term plan to address glacial outburst flooding. And a Christmas day shooting in Juneau shows the need for mental health services.
Photo: A bald eagle in Haines grasps a salmon. Photo by Reba Hylton.
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Child care shortages could be addressed by a combination of actions, according to a new task force. Mushing season has started on the Kuskokwim. And Governor Dunleavy has made his appointments to the Boards of Fisheries and Game.
Children's coats hang in a hallway at Hillcrest Childcare Center in Anchorage o n April 18. The second and final report of a child care task force holds recommendations for expanding subsidies that families receive, speeding the caregiver licensing and hiring process and other steps intended to address the state's shortage of affordable child care. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Petersburg’s harbormaster told legislators that Alaska’s harbors need more funding. The Arctic tundra shifted this past year from capturing carbon to releasing it, which means it’s now contributing to rising global temperatures. And one of three independent birth centers in Anchorage will no longer deliver babies.
Photo: The Arctic Report Card shows sea ice is retreating. This graph of monthly arctic sea ice extent anomalies (solid lines) and linear trend lines (dashed lines) for March (black) and September (red) 1979 to 2023, shows a marked decline.
National Parks Service
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Mary Peltola speaks with Alaska Public Media Washington Correspondent Liz Ruskin about her tenure, and future. A company wants to mine a substance called antimony near Fairbanks after a ban on exports of the substance by China. And the world's best helicopter skiing is in Haines, Alaska.
Photo: A chunk of stibnite, which contains more than 70% antimony, from Felix Gold’s Treasure Creek project near Fairbanks. (Photo by Max Graham/Northern Journal)
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Birdwatchers in Fairbanks braved temperatures deep into the negatives for the Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count. 50 coastal communities will get a chance for part of $39 million in funding for heat pumps. And... WiFI on the Ferry!
Photo: An air-to-air heat pump. (Erin McKinstry/KCAW)
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Making it easier for people to live in multigenerational homes. A successful program to help kids read has struggled to find funding. And the state's battle to own the land under Mendenhall Lake has been dealt a blow by a federal judge.
Photo: Mendenhall Glacier, River, and Lake. US Weather Service.
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
The U.S. Department of Education is releasing nearly $17.5 million in COVID-19 relief funds for the state of Alaska. President-elect Donald Trump says he plans to re-rename Mount Denali to McKinley. And how to stay healthy over the holidays.
Photo: Mt. Denali. Tim Rains/U.S. National Park Service
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Governor Mike Dunleavy said Friday he intends to establish a state Department of Agriculture. A bill that would increase thousands of Alaskans’ Social Security benefits is headed for President Biden’s desk. The Kuskokwim River ice continues to be variable as the winter season progresses.
Photo: A large open hole is seen in the Kuskokwim River in front of the community of Akiak on Nov. 18, 2024. (Courtesy Mark Leary/Bethel Search and Rescue)
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Alaskans giving birth are experiencing obstetric hemorrhage at increasing rates. NORAD detected and tracked four Russian military aircraft Tuesday as they passed through international airspace off Alaska’s coasts. And the status of refugees from abroad working in Alaska is uncertain.
Photo: The North American Aerospace Defense Command made a Monday, Sept. 23, 2024 intercept of Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers like this one, seen during a previous intercept escorted by two U.S. F-16 and F-35 fighter jets. (From NORAD via DVIDS)
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
International shipping and logistics giant Maersk is ceasing operations in Alaska by February. A federal court has ruled on a case that questioned the rights of Alaska Native tribes. And a group of homeowners in Birchwood are suing the Eklutna tribe and the head of a federal agency over a small-scale casino planned near Anchorage.
Photo: Cargo dock in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor. Andy Lusk/KUCB
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
The loss of an estimated 4 million common murres during the marine heatwave called the “Blob” was the biggest bird die-off in recorded history. A motorist is being treated for severe hypothermia after their vehicle was found in the Kenai River. And as urban upgrades replace mobile home parks residents struggle to find new housing.
Photo: A vehicle was found in the Kenai River near a boat ramp at the Sportsman’s Landing fishing access Tuesday morning. Courtesy of Cooper Landing Emergency Services.
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Hospitals across the country are reeling from the collapse of a staffing agency for emergency medicine doctors. The thousand Ukrainians who have come to Alaska worry that President-elect Trump will deport them. And...Christmas trees!
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Visitors to the Alaska State Capitol won’t need to pass through an airport-style security checkpoint. An Anchorage nurse is training healthcare providers on how to collect forensic evidence of crimes. Plus early Americans were dining largely on mammoth.
Photo: Early Americans hunted megafauna like mammoths, a study shows.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Republicans in the Alaska House have formed a 19-member minority caucus. President Joe Biden’s has announced the creation of a national monument to honor Native American boarding school survivors. And after a recount, ranked choice voting remains in place.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Nearly 180 researchers and other experts from the University of Alaska Fairbanks are in Washington, D.C., this week for an annual gathering of top geophysical scientists. A swarm of earthquakes shook Alaska's western Aleutian Islands yesterday. And A Sugt’stun language game is teaching children around the world about Sugpiaq culture.
Photo: Azalyn Ukatish-Evan plays Nunaka: My Village at the Nanwalek Head Start. Photo courtesy of Chugachmiut.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Tribal members from Wrangell were introduced on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol, where they blessed the Capitol Christmas tree. According to a study, building a pipeline between the North Slope and Southcentral Alaska would be cheaper than importing gas from other countries. And a new art installation opening in Homer is a wild ride through space, time – and textiles.
Photo: The 2024 Capitol Christmas tree, from Wrangell, Alaska. (US Forest Service)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
There are expected to be a lot fewer people in Southeast Alaska by 2050. Six Republicans in the state Senate have announced that they’re planning to form a minority caucus. And the Kenai Peninsula school board mulls the best way to restrict student cellphone use,
Photo: An iPhone. (Renee Gross/KBBI)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A tit for tat between China and the U.S. over sales of materials used for semiconductors could have wide-ranging implications for Alaska. Former House member Gabrielle LeDoux's election misconduct trial has ended with a deadlocked jury. And for the first time women make up most of Alaska's Supreme Court.
Photo: Gabrielle LeDoux confers with defense attorney Kevin Fitzgerald, who is seated, during her trial on Nov. 27, 2024, in the Nesbett Courthouse in Anchorage. (Photo by Andrew Kitchenman/Alaska Beacon)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The lower Yukon River town of Russian Mission has been without piped water for three days. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski has a crucial position in the current Congressional makeup. And a report on Alaska's changing environment is getting an update.
Photo: Russian Mission Alaska. Wikipedia
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A seiner capsized in heavy weather near Hoonah early Sunday morning. The power is off for good in Newtok. And the Glenn Highway Christmas Tree is lit up for the season.
Photo: The fishing vessel Wind Walker fishes near Sitka, Alaska, March 29, 2022, during the Sitka Sound sac roe fishery. (James Poulson/The Daily Sitka Sentinel via AP)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Romig Middle School 8th grader Emily Brubaker won the first ever National Civics Bee in Washington D.C., last week. Tomorrow is Small Business Saturday. And a Kwethluk man has been sentenced to serve 36 years in prison for kidnapping, assault, and a string of related charges.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Loons in Alaska are facing a number of human-caused threats. The Alaska Legislature has announced its committee chairs. And another flurry of shootings in Anchorage.
Photo: Loons are striking, and have an unforgettable call often heard at dusk on local lakes when they are here. Adeline Baxter, KTOO
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski proposed a bill on improving forecast systems for natural disasters. New research is challenging thinking about why an endangered population of killer whales in Puget Sound continues to be in jeopardy. And the U.S. Coast Guard inked a deal last week to bring a third icebreaker into its fleet.
Photo: The icebreaker Aiviq completing refueling operations at Davis Research Station, Antarctica. Photo: Kirk Yatras
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
People can now view a livestream feed of Cook Inlet beluga whales swimming in the Kenai River. More and more people are combining opioids with stimulants. And the U.S. Senate has been working late into the night to vote on President Biden’s nominees for federal judgeships before he leaves office.
Photo: A Cook Inlet beluga whale swimming with a calf. Chris Garner/Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Ranked choice voting remains in Alaska, just barely. Nick Begich III is Alaska's new Representative. And Support Your Local News Hound!
Photo: Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich helps wave campaign signs with supporters in Anchorage on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A ballot measure that would repeal Alaska’s ranked choice voting and open primary system remains on track to fail, if barely. Homer Mayor Rachel Lord declared a local emergency after water and debris washed over the Homer Spit last weekend. And The Biden administration announced its support for a land exchange that would allow the construction of a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.
Photo: Erosion causes damage to the road on the Homer Spit. (City of Homer)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Researchers from an organization that is looking for extraterrestrial life are studying the language of humpback whales. Two Alaska State Troopers each pleaded not guilty to a felony assault charge during an arraignment at the Kenai Courthouse. And a federal court sided with halibut conservationists in a case over new rules limiting halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Department of the Interior has set the stage for a controversial land trade that would allow a road to be built through Alaska’s Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is going to be in the spotlight a lot next year. And Skagway is looking to other communities to see if a land trust might help ease the housing crisis.
Photo: Sen. Lisa Murkowski, right, speaks to a scrum of reporters in 2020, after a speech critical of then-President Donald Trump. (Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Republican Nick Begich III is maintaining his lead over Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola. Homer Police arrested a man Monday night as the suspect in three shootings at two local health nonprofits. And Veteran's Day in Petersburg.
Photo: The Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic’s administrative and education building on Nov. 12, 2024. (Jamie Diep/KBBI)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The percentage of Alaska high schoolers texting or emailing while driving has jumped over the past few years. Someone made a $10 million mistake buying steel for a critical dock project in Haines. And one Southeast Alaska precinct seemed to overwhelmingly choose a peculiar candidate for the U.S. House earlier this week.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Members of Alaska Legislature's bipartisan coalitions are announcing their leadership and organizing their caucuses. The Alaska Volcano Observatory raised its color code for Spurr to yellow, or "advisory" status. And the Hecla Greens Creek mine near Juneau plans to break ground on an expansion sometime next year.
Photo: Crater Peak Spurr Volcano. Photographer: Mayo, Wyatt
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska is well into the start of respiratory disease season, and some trends are emerging. Bipartisan majorities will control both the Alaska House and Senate following the election. And regulations about who could hunt sea otters in Alaska have been clarified.
Photo: Artist Christy Ruby sits for a picture with her colored sea otter in her studio on March 2, 2023. (Eric Stone/KRBD)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Preliminary election results are in. An Anchorage solid waste service is distributing usable hazardous waste like paint for free. And more Alaskans are abusing multiple types of drugs.
Photo: Solid Waste Services has a program at its central transfer station that allows residents to pick up used hazardous materials.
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On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Polls don't always open in Northwest Alaska. Soldotna residents walk for democracy. And the Coast Guard has wrapped up an international patrol looking for illegal fishing in the North Pacific.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Delta Junction schools briefly locked down Friday afternoon in response to a threat of gun violence that was later determined to be unfounded. Alaska isn’t a swing state in the Presidential election. But the U.S. House race here could help decide who controls Congress. And Alaska’s election results will take some time to come in following Election Day.
Photo: Volunteers at Anchorage School District hand out ballots to voters during Alaska’s primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A Kenai grand jury indicted two Alaska State Troopers on felony assault charges in connection to a violent arrest of the wrong man. Providence Alaska is introducing a new system in which telenurses work alongside bedside nurses. And the City of Seward is receiving nearly $46 million in federal funding to add shore power to its cruise ship port.
Photo:
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Canadian government will fund a road leading to Galore Creek Mine, very close to the Stikine River headwaters. A Dillingham family has spent the last several years collecting wooden pallets for an annual pallet maze, which could be the world's largest. And Political groups are spending money supporting opposition candidates.
Photo: The entrance of the the Hulett's 2024 pallet maze. Margaret Sutherland/KDLG
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:About a foot of snow fell in Southcentral Alaska’s first major snowstorm. The Museum of the Aleutians in Unalaska has received 22 boxesfilled with archaeological artifacts from the Islands of Four Mountains. And an all-female crew drove a train full of tourists to the Yukon recently.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska's way of voting is on the ballot next week. The U.S. Navy has apologized for bombarding the Lingít village of Angoon 142 years ago. And the Alaska Marine Highway has put out its plan for the next 20 years.
Photo: Rear Adm. Mark Sucato offers a gift to Joe Zuboff in Angoon on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024.
(Clarise Larson/KTOO)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
President Biden has apologized for federal Native American boarding schools. And education funding is a major issue in races for seats in the Alaska Legislature.
Photo: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at Gila Crossing Community School in Gila River Indian Community, Arizona, U.S., October 25, 2024. Elizabeth Frantz/REUTERS
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
After three months on the job, the Haines’ borough clerk was let go at the Oct. 22 Haines Borough Assembly meeting. Ketchikan will remain federally designated as an urban community, at least for now. And recovery efforts continue in Kotzebue, after a storm and severe flooding Tuesday night.
Photo: Flooding near Kotzebue’s lagoon on Oct. 22, 2024. (Courtesy Micheal Andrew Gudmundson)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Northwest Arctic community of Kotzebue is starting recovery efforts after a coastal storm caused widespread flooding. Ketchikan has introduced a free program that emphasizes preventative care. And pumpkins and planes took to the skies last Saturday for an unusual fall-time celebration.
Photo: A pumpkin falls from a plane in Kenai. (Hunter Morrison/KDLL)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A coastal storm that first hit Northwest Alaska on Sunday is causing significant flooding and high winds around Kotzebue, and a slush-mageddon in Fairbanks. Plus Mary Peltola and Nick Begich held their final debate before election day.
Photo: Kotzebue is experiencing coastal flooding today. Credit: NW Arctic Borough Emergency Manager Dickie Moto.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Alaska Federation of Natives wants the state and federal governments to overhaul how subsistence is managed in Alaska. Thirty people have died as a result of homicide in Anchorage so far this year. And grant funding from NOAA will help rural Alaskans adapt to climate change.
Photo: Sand-filled Super Sacks are piled along the eroding coastal bluff in Utqiagvik. New federal funding will help address climate change in rural Alaska.
(Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Water levels on Juneau’s Mendenhall Lake and River are returning to normal following a moderate glacial outburst flood. Senators Sullivan and Murkowski addressed the Alaska Federation of Native Convention last week. And Ketchikan estimates it spent about eight million dollars last year to accommodate cruise ship passengers.
Photo: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) addresses the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention on Oct. 19, 2024. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Subsistence has taken center stage at the Alaska Federation of Natives Conference. The Soldotna Seed Library allows folks to check out seeds adapted to Alaska's climate. And Wrangellites gathered on a beach earlier this month to watch a rescued and rehabilitated seal get released back into her natural habitat.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The City of Nenana is considering re-doing its municipal election. Analysts have pointed to Alaska's three electoral college votes as possibly being a factor in the presidential election. And do charter schools discriminate against low-income students and students with disabilities?
The state of Alaska has asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit by eight young Alaskans arguing that a North Slope natural gas pipeline would violate the state constitution. Sitka’s Indigenous Peoples Day celebration was a feast for the senses, and a rich lesson in what it means to be a contemporary Lingít person. And Skagway’s historic Red Onion Saloon is changing hands.
Photo: The historic Red Onion Saloon in Skagway.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
An Anchorage couple has been arrested after a shooting in Mountain View Friday evening that left a man dead. And Wrangell’s been busy over the past few months preparing to send a 74-foot Sitka spruce to Washington D.C., as this year’s Capitol Christmas Tree.
Photo: The Forest Service announced in July that the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree would come from the Wrangell Ranger District of the Tongass National Forest, only the second time an Alaska tree will light up the official spot on the Capitol lawn. US Forest Service
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Qayak builder Lou Logan is building a qayak based on designs that may go back thousands of years. And a play showing in Anchorage looks at the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous people through one family's eyes.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Candidates running for Alaska’s U.S. House seat debated in Anchorage, with stark differences on abortion rights, presidential elections, and personal style. This year’s second glacial outburst flood could be on the way in Juneau. And Palmer's new manager will get a payout after resigning 53 days into the job.
Photo: U.S. House Republican challenger Nick Begich III and Congresswoman Mary Peltola, a Democrat, presented their views Thursday at Debate for the State at Alaska Public Media.(Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Moderate candidates have a big fundraising advantage in state House and Senate races. Federal officials visited Unalaska to talk about energy options. And a basketball tournament covered by kid reporters.
Photo: The Makushin Geothermal Project began building a corridor to the site of the proposed power plant in 2021. (Courtesy Of Ounalashka Corp./Chena Power LLC)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Look for warmer, shorter winters in the future. A coalition of fishing groups and environmental organizations is pushing for restrictions on trawling. And a deeper look at a political ad.
Photo: A factory pollock trawler.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Canadian mining company Panther Minerals is set to drill for deposits known to contain uranium on the Seward Peninsula. Another landslide in Ketchikan strands some residents. And Nome residents question the merit of designating Nome as a Strategic Seaport.
Photo: The village of Elim, 30 miles from the site where uranium deposits are thought to be. Ben Townsend photo.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Opponents and supporters of the proposed Donlin gold mine meet local residents. The Anchorage Assembly has again balked at paying a settlement to the former municipal manager. And The Alaska Marine Highway is about to release its long range plan.
Photo: Anchorage municipal manager Amy Demboski at the Oct. 27, 2021 Anchorage Assembly meeting. (Wesley Early/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Four people who died when a plane crashed near St. Mary’s last month faced faced conditions that caused another plane to turn back shortly before the accident. A look at bipartisanship in Alaska. And an effort will be made to at least partially restore the Eklutna River.
Photo: A Cessna 207 operated by Yute Commuter Service is seen following a crash that occurred near the lower Yukon River community of St. Mary’s on the evening of Sept. 15, 2024, killing all four men aboard.
(From Federal Aviation Administration)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska had a record number of opioid overdose deaths last year. An Alaska man convicted of cyberstalking will get a new trial after revelations that the judge handling his case received nude photos from a government attorney involved in his prosecution. And here comes Fat Bear Week.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A man was killed Monday when the vehicle he was driving was struck by a double-trailer ore-hauling truck on the Richardson Highway. The Tustumena has canceled all of its sailings through Sunday so it can be repaired. And Ketchikan hosted a celebration last week to officially proclaim September 10th as Nettie Jones Day.
Photo: Descendants of Irene and Nettie Jones stand with artist Matt Hamilton in front of his installation at Schoenbar Middle School depicting the Jones women. (Jack Darrell/KRBD)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: It is election day. State prosecutors will not be bringing charges against an Anchorage police officer who shot and killed a teenager in August. And leaders from Anchorage and the state are exploring ways to make the city safer for pedestrians.
Photo: Cars drive by the intersection of 36th Avenue and Seward High on Sept. 16, 2024. The intersection is one of the most dangerous for pedestrians in Anchorage. (James Oh/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Anchorage Police Department is delaying the release of the body camera footage of officers shooting and killing a 16-year-old. Alaska’s highest court ruled against the City of Soldotna on Friday in the city’s long standing annexation case. And vaccination rates in Alaska are among the lowest in the nation.
Photo: A syringe containing a vaccine for whooping cough in a waiting room at Alaska Family Care and Associates in Anchorage on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Alaska’s winter ferry schedule starts October 1st and looks a lot like last year. Research is underway in Alaska that could expand the story of how the first humans arrived and traveled in the Americas. And rural Alaska schools are using grant funds to improve student lunches.
Photo: During the second year of the “Our Submerged Past” expedition, the team used the SUNFISH® autonomous underwater vehicle to explore submerged caves and rock shelters discovered during the first year of the project. (Image courtesy of Jill Heinerth, Stone Aerospace)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: All three members of Alaska’s congressional delegation voted for a short-term spending bill that will keep the government funded until Dec. 20. The Alaska U.S. Attorney’s Office is the subject of a Department of Justice investigation related to a federal judge’s sexual misconduct. And Wasilla’s only book store is hosting an event for Banned Books Week to combat censorship in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
Photo: The U.S. Capitol. (Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Anchorage Assembly members are calling on state and local governments to take action to reduce the number of pedestrians killed by drivers. This week, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation will fly to almost two-dozen villages to deliver RSV immunizations. And fishing with magnets in Bethel.
Photo: Bethel students in the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program gather around a dirt bike pulled from Brown’s Slough in Bethel on Sept. 8, 2024. (Corinne Smith)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Three people were shot yesterday near an Anchorage park, including a police officer. And public safety departments are working to better handle police officers’ stress, after a recent change to state law.
Photo: Anchorage police and other law enforcement officers responded to a suspect barricaded into a home on Monday.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
An Eielson Air Force Base contractor has excavated about a thousand tons of soil from a site in Salcha contaminated by more than 700 gallons of jet fuel. Mandatory wastewater upgrades are hitting coastal communities around Alaska. And a ride to Homer on the Tustumena.
Photo: The Alaska Marine Highway ferry Tustumena. Theo Greenly/KSDP
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Anchorage School Board will consider a policy update next month that encourages patriotism in district schools. Sitka’s Community Land Trust has sold a cottage home at a price far below the market rate for housing in Sitka. And Anchorage will provide rooms for up to 500 homeless people this winter.
Photo: Three of the 10 existing cottages in the S’us’ Héeni Sháak Community. When complete in 2027, there will be 14 homes in the neighborhood, and six apartments.
(KCAW/Woolsey)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The U.S. Army has deployed soldiers to an air station on Shemya Island in the Aleutians, about 280 miles from Russia. The federal government has awarded money to the ferry system that will completely fund the replacement for the Tustumena. And the federal government plans to withhold nearly $17.5 million in grant funds after it says the state underfunded some Alaska school districts.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The U.S. Coast Guard spotted four Russian Navy vessels on Sunday, off Point Hope on the North Slope. It’s the 200 year anniversary of the first Russian Orthodox Bishop of Alaska’s arrival in the state. Alaska’s U.S. senators split their votes on a bill that would provide federal protection and guarantee insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A years long hazardous waste disposal project is turning a corner at the Bethel Air Force Station. Four people are dead after a plane they were traveling in from Bethel crashed short of the runway in St. Mary’s. And Bartlett High School in Anchorage was on high alert after a threatening post circulated on social media.
Photo: The village of St. Mary's on the Andreafsky River in Southwest Alaska. Ryan McPherson/Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service via AP.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska received $15 million in funding from the U.S. E.P.A. that they will use to expand composting. Tribes and Indigenous groups from across the country met in Anchorage this week for a national conference on climate. And a remote site in western Alaska may become the country's first new graphite mine since the 1950's.
Photo: A chunk of rock containing graphite picked up from the surface of the Graphite Creek site. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Over $3 million dollars is headed to the Native Village of Kotzebue for a new solar farm. Landslide prone communities in Alaska are reassessing their level of risk. And the travel landscape changes once again for Aleutian communities.
Photo: Travel options are more limited in the Aleutians now that regional airline Ravn Alaska has suspended service there. (Theo Greenly/KUCB)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
U.S. House candidates Nick Begich and Mary Peltola differ on abortion and reproductive health issues. Bethel’s Yup’ik language immersion school is in its own building for the first time. And a gathering in Homer last Saturday honored those who died from opioid overdose.
Photo: Candidate Nick Begich and U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola listen to the moderator at a 2022 debate in Kodiak. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
On today's Midday report with host Terry Haines: A regional native organization is trying to raise awareness about dementia across the Aleutian Chain. The two officers who shot and killed a Juneau during a standoff earlier this summer will not face criminal charges. And the two Alaska State Troopers charged with assault after arresting the wrong person in Kenai pleaded not guilty in Kenai District Court.
Photo: Police and other emergency officials treat Steven Kissack after he was shot on Front Street in Juneau. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A new study has identified high levels of mercury stored in permafrost along the Yukon River. Alaska librarians are cautiously optimistic that a state agency will restore a big cut in funding. And there could me a mental health upside to Sitka's extended internet outage.
Photo: A 2022 drone image of the Yukon River and its floodplain downstream from Beaver, Alaska, shows accumulations of sediments harboring mercury. Michael P. Lamb / USC Dornsife
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Alaska Democratic Party wants the Division of Elections to bar Eric Hafner from the ballot. Relatives of Cassandra Boskofsky want answers about how her disappearance was handled. And a bill addressing missing and murdered indigenous persons has been signed into law.
Photo: Eric Hafner’s campaign announcement. (Jack Darrell/KRBD)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Gov. Mike Dunleavy has vetoed a bill that would have required car rental apps to collect state taxes. Anchorage’s hydropower czar says there are solutions that could satisfy all parties competing for the water that collects in Eklutna Lake. And libraries around the state are scrambling after learning a key state grant was being slashed.
Photo: Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters during a news conference on Feb. 7, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Advocates for a proposition set to appear on Juneau’s local ballot want one day a week during the summer cruise season when there are no ships in port. A truck drove into the Turnagain Arm. And researchers are working on an algorithm to predict earthquakes.
Photo: A semi truck in the waters of Turnagain Arm, after Anchorage police say it left the Seward Highway near Mile 82.5 on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A landslide in Kenai Fiords Park caused a 55 foot tsunami last month. Search and rescue personnel had a long holiday weekend that included three plane crashes in Alaska. And Alaska’s Department of Education and Early Development released statewide assessment data on Friday that shows most students are not proficient in core subjects.
Photo: agle River High School students protest Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s education funding veto on Thursday, April 4, 2024. A new study shows most Alaska students are not proficient in core subjects. (James Oh / Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: An updated version of the Bunny Boot is about to hit the market. A recent report documents extensive community health risks from plastics in the Arctic region. And Fairbanks North Star Borough residents are highly energy burdened, according to a recent study.
Photo: Bunny Boots. (Alaska Gear Company)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A working group in Petersburg hopes information from newly-installed weather stations can eventually be used to build a landslide warning system. A project to map permafrost thaw and erosion could help communities adapt. And the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska held its 27th annual culture camp for a week at the end of July.
Photo: The Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska held their 26th annual Camp Qungaayux̂ earlier this month.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A scientist explains why landslides are so unpredictable. Starlink has revolutionized communication in rural Alaska. And the Tribal Association in Bethel has sued to stop the Donlin Mine.
Photo: Justin Andrew and Gregory Larson work examining and classifying core samples at the Donlin Mine on Aug. 11, 2022. The hill outside the building holds the gold deposit that would be mined if Donlin goes into production. The mine is controversial, and opponents have filed legal challenges to key state permits and authorizations for the project. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Teams of scientists, engineers and meteorologists continue their work assessing the steep hillside in Ketchikan following Sunday's fatal landslide. United States Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has finalized a decision to maintain protections for “D-1” lands. And Petersburg’s Little Norway Festival was marshaled in by a horde of vikings and valkyries.
Photo: Brandi Thynes leads the youngest Norwegian dancers during their last practice at Petersburg’s Fishermen’s Memorial, outside of the Son’s of Norway Hall on May 10, 2024. (Photo: Hannah Flor/KFSK)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Ketchikan residents describe a chaotic scene after a landslide ripped through a residential neighborhood. Weather observations at Denali have been taken for one hundred years. And Unalaska is now officially Tsunami ready.
Photo: The scene of the landslide in Ketchikan, Alaska. Credit...Travis Watkins/Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A trial is set to begin today in a fight over whether the parent companies of two Alaska grocery chains can merge. Emergency crews are responding to a large landslide that killed one person and destroyed several houses in Ketchikan yesterday. And the siblings of a man who was shot and killed by law enforcement in Juneau last month say they’re still waiting for answers.
Photo: Houses on Second Avenue destroyed by the landslide. August 25, 2024. (Jack Darrell/KRBD)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The union that represents Alaska’s public safety employees is criticizing comments made by the Department of Public Safety commissioner about two Soldotna-based troopers. Senator Murkowski cut the ribbon on a new cabin in the Tongass. And the license plate bill to end all license plate bills.
Photo: Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner James Cockrell speaks to reporters about assault charges brought against two state troopers during a press conference on Thursday, August 15, 2024 in Anchorage, Alaska. (Wesley Early/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Parents in Nikiski want their kids to be able to ride ATVs to school. Kobuk is flooded. And Experts in psychedelics and psychedelic medicine are convening in Anchorage this week.
Photo: Presenters will discuss Indigenous Arctic ceremonial traditions using Amanita Muscaria at the Anchorage conference. These mushrooms are poisonous without proper ceremonial processing. (Rachel Cassandra/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska’s Congressional delegation is calling for action to pause transboundary mining in Canada upstream of Southeast Alaska rivers. Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola has a wide lead in Alaska’s nonpartisan primary for U.S. House, followed by Republican challenger Nick Begich III. And Nikiski will be the site of the state’s largest solar farm...someday.
Photo; The Stikine River Flats area in the Tongass National Forest is viewed from a helicopter on July 19, 2021. The Stikine River is one of the major transboundary rivers impacted by mines in British Columbia. (Photo by Alicia Stearns/U.S. Forest Service)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: It is Primary Election Day today. A series of large storms have left some Western Alaska communities grappling with flooding and erosion. And Wood Bison are being introduced to the Minto Flats State Game Refuge west of Fairbanks.
Photo: Severe flooding is seen in the coastal community of Kwigillingok on the morning of Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024. (Courtesy Lewis Martin)
On this week's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Some of the hottest temperatures of the summer were recorded yesterday in the Eastern Interior. More than 100 Anchorage community members gathered on Friday for a vigil to remember a teenager who was shot and killed by Anchorage police. And Anchorage has a cash flow problem.
Photo: Attendees hold hands during a moment of silence at the vigil for Easter Leafa on Friday, Aug 16, 2024.
(Anisa Vietze/Alaska Public Media)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Anchorage Mayor wants answers, action and accountability following a police killing of a teenage girl. Two Alaska State Troopers are being charged with using unreasonable force while arresting the wrong person. And an Alaska wildfire fighting team is working in the Lower 48.
Photo: The Alaska Engine Strike Team supporting Oregon Department of Forestry fires through the Northwest Compact on August 13. (Fairbanks Area DOF)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Three members of the US House Natural Resources Committee are visiting Alaska this week, led by Senator Sullivan. Growing Alaska's number one crop, cannabis, is becoming less profitable. And the throwing stick, or atlatl, was showcased in a recent presentation.
Photo: Indoor cultivation facility in Alaska.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Two dead whales were discovered in Southeast Alaska this July, and at least one probably died after being struck by a vessel. The sun remains at the peak of an eleven-year activity cycle and a recent spike in sunspots is lighting up aurora activity. And nearly 400 people turned out for a 5K run and walk to raise awareness about Alaska’s missing and murdered Indigenous people in Anchorage.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Two city officials in the lower Yukon River community of Pilot Station have been charged with felony election interference. Ten disabled Alaskans are suing the state in a class-action lawsuit, alleging financial abuse and neglect. And KBBI’s Jamie Diep spoke with Kristen Faulkner about how growing up in Homer shaped her fast paced journey to the podium.
Photo: Kristen Faulkner in 2021.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A Texas company is working to develop develop a floating liquefied natural gas import terminal in Cook Inlet. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy has been forced to cancel an Arctic mission due to mechanical issues. And heavy rain has produced flooding in Anchorage.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Anchorage ultra endurance cyclist Lael Wilcox is trying to beat the Guinness World Record for fastest bicycle circumnavigation of the globe by a woman. Governor Mike Dunleavy and U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski toured the Juneau neighborhoods that experienced record-breaking flooding earlier this week.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau broke records for the second year in a row. More money is now being drawn from the Permanent Fund than it earns. And the second volume of a report on Native Boarding Schools has been released.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola has joined Republicans in a resolution criticizing Kamala Harris. Anchorage has a serious lag in its bookkeeping. And why pushki "burns" the skin.
On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines: A rockslide shut down travel in the Yukon on Tuesday afternoon, stranding cruise ship passengers. The investment manager at the center of an email leak controversy at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. is resigning from her seat on the board. And U.S. and Canadian fighter jets intercepted two Russian and two Chinese aircraft Wednesday that were flying through international airspace off Alaska.
Photo: A Russian fighter and Chinese bomber flying through international airspace off Alaska.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Early attack ads from the Republican National committee are targeting Mary Peltola, who declined to endorse fellow Democrat Kamala Harris for President. And a Palmer man who nearly caused a midair collision last year says as a "sovereign citizen" he does not need a pilot's license.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A grand jury has indicted an Anchorage doctor and her husband for allegedly deceiving patients about the drugs being injected into their bodies. There’s an entangled humpback whale off the coast of Unalaska. And Anchorage's Potter Marsh may be expanded.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Hot dry weather has increased wildfire activity. Alaska-based Air Force units hosted European flyers for training last week. And the Bay Whalin' Hour will be spinning its last tune on Friday.
Photo: A German Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon flies over Alaska during exercise Arctic Defender 24.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska federal prosecutors say a federal judge who resigned in disgrace this month had undisclosed conflicts of interest. This year's World Eskimo-Indian Olympics high kick champion has his eyes set on the record. And Petersburg log rollers compete to stay dry, and win the championship.
Photo: Skipper Erickson (center) out-rolls a competitor in Petersburg’s logrolling semi-finals on July 4, 2024. (Photo by Olivia Schmidt/KFSK)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Entomologists say the Tongass is emerging from the latest insect outbreaks with "a bad haircut," but it's all part of a natural process. A processing barge in Bristol Bay is repaired and buying fish. And a college student from Bethel and Emmonak has been crowned Miss World Eskimo Indian Olympics.
Photo: A western black-headed budworm hangs from a silk thread. (Photo by Elizabeth Graham)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The long-range weather forecast is calling for a heat wave across mainland Alaska. The Anchorage Police Department published a draft of a new body camera policy on Friday. And a classic plane from the 1940s is flying around the interior documenting the effects of rapidly thawing permafrost.
Photo: Protestors in the audience of the Anchorage Assembly meeting on July 16, 2024 at the Loussac Library hold up branded signs of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. The signs support a resolution urging the police department to make its body camera policies more transparent. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A Juneau man has died after he was shot multiple times by police on Front Street in downtown Juneau yesterday. A sightseeing plane lost power and was forced to land near a glacier in Denali National Park Friday. And the judge sentencing convicted killer Brian Smith in Anchorage on Friday gave him a 226-year sentence for the murders of two Alaska Native women.
Photo: Brian Smith walks out of the courtroom after receiving what amounts to two separate life sentences. Anchorage Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby said Smith, who was convicted of killing two Alaska Native women, was beyond rehabilitation. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska’s political leaders have sent messages of support to former President Donald Trump, after an assassination attempt. Governor Dunleavy has signed a bill that increases penalties for the distribution of deadly drugs. And gnat larvae in seen in Fairbanks this week look like a moving snake.
Photo: A Camp Denali staff member spotted this column of gnat snakeworm larvae on July 8, 2022. (Photos courtesy Jenna Hamm)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A study released this month shows that Juneau has the highest average cost of a single-family home in Alaska — again. A salmon management group on the Kuskokwim River is calling on the federal government to address the impacts of bottom-trawling in the region. And working drones over Cook Inlet will carry water samples.
Photo:
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The U.S. Coast Guard encountered four Chinese military ships in the Bering Sea last weekend. Two world records were set during the first two days of this year’s World Eskimo Indian Olympics happening this week in Fairbanks. And a man shot and critically injured by Anchorage police on Monday morning had fired a shotgun at officers.
Photo: Volunteers set up the Big Dipper a day before WEIO opening ceremonies. Robyne /KUAC
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Two women have recently died in separate whitewater rafting accidents in Alaska. Highland games celebrations have been going on around the state, including Homer. And Alaska's Senators react to the resignation of a federal judge they recommended.
Photo: Jason Simmons throws a stone during the Katchemak Bay Highland Games. Jamie Diep, KBBI
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: An Alaska State Trooper shot and killed a man in Kasilof who allegedly charged them carrying a harpoon. Joshua Kindred, who resigned as a U.S. District Court judge for Alaska last week, allegedly had an “inappropriately sexualized relationship” with one of his law clerks. And archeologists excavating an ancient pit house near Delta Junction say the artifacts they’ve found go back 14000 years.
Photo: Members of a University of Alaska crew excavate the site of an ancient dwelling south of Delta Junction. Tim Ellis/KUAC
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Cool, rainy weather over the long holiday weekend aided firefighters working to contain wildfires around the state. A judge has ruled that one part of a citizen lawsuit aimed at stopping the Manh Choh Mine ore haul, can proceed. And hundreds of runners raced from the streets of Seward up Mount Marathon and back on July fourth.
Photo: Some areas of the Riley Fire have experienced partial burn patterns, leaving some fuels intact but burning through root systems that weaken standing trees. (From Al Nash/Alaska Division of Forestry)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Juneau Icefield, between the Coast Mountains and British Columbia, is melting faster than we thought. The 52-foot seiner, the Jaci Grace, sank on Sunday in Southeast Alaska. Aniak’s tribal government is suing state and federal agencies for taking human remains from an airport site and not returning them – and not allowing the tribe to excavate the site.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska's two Senators have different reactions to the Supreme Court's decision on Presidential immunity. Denali Park remains closed while fires are burning nearby. And a U.S. federal grant will help repair parts of the Alcan Highway inside Canada.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A federal judge in Anchorage ruled that tribes in Alaska may create “Indian Country” in the state. 24 mushers signed up on the opening day of registration for the Iditarod. And Suzanne La France has been sworn in as the first elected woman mayor of Anchorage.
Photo: Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance shakes hands with the crowd at her inauguration in Town Square Park on Monday, July 1, 2024. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Denali National Park has largely shut down operations because of a wildfire. The Biden Administration finalized a decision blocking the controversial Ambler Road project Friday. And 28 million acres of wilderness lands scattered across Alaska will likely remain off-limits to development.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Over 140 active wildfires are burning up acreage and sending smoke across the Eastern Interior. Alaska’s heavy reliance on wild foods has prompted the U.S. Interior Department to take an unusual step. And Anchorage's outgoing budget director says there are problems with the city's accounting practices.
Photo: An aerial view of the Globe Fire on the afternoon of Thursday, June 27, 2024. (From Alaska Fire Service)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A Juneau artist’s family is donating hundreds of photos of King Island to residents who were removed from the remote Bering Sea island. A fast-moving wildfire near the Elliot Highway prompted a Level 3 “Go” evacuation notice last night. And at least nine buildings have been destroyed by a structure fire in Stebbins.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Fires are burning around the state. An author is doing her Alaska book tour by bicycle. And Bristol Bay set netters train for safety.
Photo: An aerial view of the McDonald Fire burning through black spruce near Salcha on Thursday, June 20, 2024. The blaze has since grown to more than 54,000 acres. (From Tasha Shields/BLM AFS)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The state has released its draft winter ferry schedule, which residents might find familiar. Supporters of Alaska’s ranked choice voting and nonpartisan primaries were in court trying to disqualify a ballot measure that would repeal the election reforms. And there MIGHT be a rat on St. Paul Island.
Photo: Norway rat. (UAF)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A Wisconsin museum has sent a Chilkat robe it’s had for the last 80 years to Sealaska Heritage Institute in Juneau. U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan says he’s added an amendment to an annual Defense bill that would override the rejection of the Ambler Road. And wildfire activity ramped over the weekend, due to hot dry conditions and numerous lightning strikes.
Photo: Sainteen Anna Brown Ehlers wears a 150-year-old Chilkat robe that was recently returned to Southeast Alaska on March 1, 2024.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: New rules for wastewater are on the horizon here in Alaska. Supporters of Robert Kennedy Jr. have enough signatures to get him on the ballot. And herring in Northwest Alaska is still a bit of a mystery.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: More hot, dry weather and scattered thunderstorms are forecast for this weekend around the Interior. Warming temperatures mean more mud on Alaska's trails. And Anchorage police say a standoff Wednesday night in Muldoon ended with an armed woman dead.
Photo: Lightning strikes rake the interior.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The U.S. Department of Justice says the Alaska Division of Elections is discriminating against voters with disabilities. Lydia Jacoby won’t compete in this year’s Olympics. And a dangerous Alexandrium bloom has been detected near Ketchikan.
Photo: Butter clams. PSP is a hazard associated with eating personal use and subsistence-harvested clams and mussels.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: European green crabs are expanding their territory in Southeast Alaska. Three Japanese climbers got some Alaska style help after their gear was recently stolen. And a group called Alaska Jobs Coalition has launched an ad campaign to support Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola.
Photo: Invasive Green Crab. Photo: Linda Shaw, NOAA Fisheries
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: An Anchorage renter of recreational vehicles abruptly shut down on Friday, as the state sues it over deceptive business practices. Hilcorp Alaska was again the only bidder in the state of Alaska’s oil and gas lease sale for Cook Inlet. And visitors to the Mendenhall Glacier will learn more about Indigenous connections through cultural ambassadors.
Photo: Mendenhall Glacier.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska’s U.S. senators split their votes yesterday over a bill to protect in vitro fertilization. Homeschool families around the state are facing a cloudy future after a court ruling in April. And a mountain lion was recently discovered on Wrangell Island.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Alaska Judicial Council announced that it is accepting applications from attorneys and judges interested in replacing Chief Justice Peter Maassen. Farmers are welcoming this week’s heavy rainfall around the eastern and central Interior. And the family of a man fatally shot last month by Anchorage police is asking that they be allowed to view the footage of the shooting privately.
Photo: Mike Schultz harvests barley at his 6,000-acre farm in an agricultural area south of Delta Junction.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Silver Bay Seafoods has purchased Trident’s processing plant in False Pass. Kenai’s eroding bluff will be getting a buttressing. And kids learn about business through lemonade.
Photo: U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (center) cuts the ribbon during a ceremony to celebrate the start of construction on the Kenai bluff stabilization project on Monday, June 10, 2024 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A project in the Bering Straits backed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will measure sea ice and phytoplankton. Every year, one dance group is chosen to lead the procession of dancers that begins and ends Celebration in Juneau. And two middle schoolers from White Mountain are headed to the National Civics Bee.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska's remoteness from the rest of the country means a cyberattack on its infrastructure -- could cause big problems. The state of Alaska is facing a new class action lawsuit over its failure to process Medicaid applications on time. And the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge is piloting a new approach to wildfire management aimed at limiting greenhouse gas releases.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The federal government announced on Thursday that it’s requiring the state to update its water quality standards. A thunderstorm struck Juneau recently. And Researchers have linked warming ocean temperatures to more salmon showing up in the Western Canadian Arctic.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: One person has died and another is at a local hospital after two boats collided south of Petersburg yesterday. Anchorage police officers have been involved in a spate of shootings. And Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins of Maine were the only Republican senators to vote yesterday to advance a bill that would put the right to contraception into federal law.
Photo: Anchorage Police chief designee Bianca Cross speaks at a press conference at APD headquarters on June 5, 2024. (Wesley Early/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska’s Little Norway celebrated Norwegian Constitution Day late last month with a week-long festival. A multi part bill passed by the state legislature last month includes a provision extending Alaska’s Senior Benefits Program. And suspicious illegal aliens on the Yukon.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: We have a clearer picture of this year’s races for the Alaska Legislature after Saturday’s filing deadline. Eight young Alaskans are suing the state to block the Alaska natural gas pipeline project. And a last-minute candidate joined the race for the House District 5, which covers Kodiak, Seward and Cordova.
Photo: Alaska’s natural gas pipeline would largely follow the route of the existing trans-Alaska oil pipeline, pictured here, from the North Slope. (David Houseknecht/USGS)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Advocates are accusing the Alaska Department of Corrections of unconstitutionally limiting access to attorneys at the state’s only all-female prison. The Alaska Department of Transportation reports progress in an area where ancestral graves underlie a popular trail. And some Alaska Republicans are decrying Donald Trump's conviction on 34 felony counts.
Photo: From left to right: U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, Former President Donald Trump, Gov. Mike Dunleavy. (Alaska Public Media and Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska's Head Start program is set to get a boost, pending the governor's signature. Are herds of mammoths in Alaska's future? And the canoes are on their way to Celebration.
Photo: Researchers believe woolly mammoths walked into North America 100,000 years ago. Mauricio Antón via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY 2.5
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: An organization in Southeast Alaska has won a half-million dollar grant to reduce the cost of trash disposal. Lawyers in Alaska are hoping to become a more diverse profession, and ideally more accessible. And the Alaska Department of Transportation has temporarily closed a trail across a desecrated burial ground.
Photo: Trail closure at the O'Brien Creek Bridge.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Alaska Judicial Council has voted to recommend retention of all 19 judges on the November ballot, but not without dissent. The Donlin Gold project plans to be powered by a gas pipeline stretching hundreds of miles to Cook Inlet. And the Alaska Federation of Natives has rolled-out plans for its October convention, with a program dedicated to the younger generation.
Photo: Proposed natural gas pipeline to be used by Donlin Gold facility.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Dozens of people had to scramble to find a way home from Haines this weekend when two sailings of the LeConte were canceled. Sixteen people from Wrangell and Petersburg are about to paddle north to Juneau for the bi-annual Celebration festival. And a bill to help ease Alaska’s teacher shortage is on the governor’s desk awaiting his signature.
Photo: Paddlers practice on April 15, 2024 near Reliance Float Dock in Wrangell for the upcoming Journey to Celebration – A 150-nautical mile paddling journey from Wrangell to Juneau. (Colette Czarnecki/KSTK)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A group of young Alaskans is suing the state of Alaska in an attempt to block construction of the trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline. A Kotzebue police sergeant has resigned after making racist comments on social media. And Alaskans investing in renewable energy for their homes could tap into a “green bank”, eventually.
Photo: Mike Cox resigned from the Kotzebue police department after making racist comments.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly heard from citizens who want to change the way ballots are counted in local elections. The state’s powerful tides have enormous potential to generate power, but that energy is inaccessible. And across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta families are celebrating young hunter gatherers with Throwing Parties.
Photo: Researchers steady a bottom lander, deployed in a tidal study at the East Foreland this summer.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A cyclist from Homer came out on top at the U.S Professional Road Race Championship last Sunday. Suzanne LaFrance has declared victory in Anchorage’s mayoral race. And Finance Co-Chair Senator Bert Stedman talks about the state operating budget.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The mining company Graphite One may be able to tap into new funding to speed up their plans. An investigation says the loss of a charter vessel in Sitka Sound one year ago was sudden and catastrophic. And the interconnected electrical grids of Ketchikan, Petersburg, and Wrangell need work.
Photo: Morgan Robidou poses with the Awakin in October, 2022. According to the Coast Guard report, the Awakin was quickly capsized, leading to the loss of Robidou and his four passengers.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola continues to be one of the Democrats most likely to vote against her party. A bill awaiting the governor's signature would ban harmful “forever chemicals”. And two brothers and a friend walked the 100 miles from Nome to Shishmaref.
Photo: James Horner, Wilson Hoogendorn, and Oliver Hoogendorn pose for a photo in the Bering Air terminal at the Nome Airport. Photo courtesy of Oliver Hoogendorn.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Alaska legislature passed a bill this month to start a psychedelic medicine task force. The Alaska House and Senate passed a high-priority package of crime bills on Wednesday. And advocates for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People say a recently passed bill is a major milestone.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Suzanne LaFrance is poised to unseat incumbent Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and become the city’s first elected female mayor. After 121 days in Juneau, state lawmakers have concluded their work. And National Parks are using social media to boost visitor numbers and amplify their conservation efforts.
Photo: Anchorage mayoral candidate Suzanne LaFrance speaks at Williwaw Social after results showed her leading incumbent Mayor Dave Bronson on May 14, 2024. (Wesley Early/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Budget negotiators in the Alaska Legislature have settled on the amount of this year’s Permanent Fund dividend and energy relief check. And Juneau executed two Black men for murder In 1948 and 1950. A legal historian says the trials were riddled with misconduct and errors, and should be remembered.
Photo: Headlines from Alaska newspapers in the late 1940s covering the trials of Austin Nelson and Eugene LaMoore. (Library of Congress/KTOO)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Breakup has wrapped up on the Kuskokwim River, now the cleanup starts. Families around the state are waiting to find out whether they’ll get correspondence school allotments next school year. And injured commercial fishermen and boat owners in Alaska will now be able to access higher insurance reimbursements.
Photo: Home school students Isaac Ward and his sister Primose, with mother Miriam at the UAA Fine Arts Building on Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The National Weather Service says the end of breakup is in sight for the Kuskokwim. The Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska is running out of ore. And key state lawmakers are throwing cold water on the idea of cutting state royalties on oil and natural gas to spur production in Cook Inlet.
Photo: 1989 photo of Red Dog Mine.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaskans who sued the state over long wait times for food assistance are asking a federal judge to order the state to speed up processing. Ice jams from breakup on the Kuskokwim River are causing high water to inundate many lower river communities. And a bill to regulate community solar projects is moving quickly through the Alaska Legislature and appears close to becoming law.
Photo: Floodwaters rise in Bethel’s Alligator Acres neighborhood on May 9, 2024. (Photo by MaryCait Dolan/KYUK)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A recent report describes transboundary Canadian gold mines as Ponzi schemes. NANA Regional Corporation announced on Wednesday that it plans to withdraw from the Ambler Road Project. And the state Department of Environmental Conservation has no plans to clean up the site where a cargo plane crashed and burned near Fairbanks.
Bjorn Dihle stands in front of acid mine drainage at the abandoned Tulsequah Chief Mine, which has been contaminating the transboundary Taku River for decades. Photo: Chris Miller
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Coast Guard’s plan to build three heavy icebreakers is years behind schedule and the price has ballooned. The Alaska Legislature shot down one of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s nominees to the state Board of Education and Early Development on Tuesday. And Kinross’s partner in the Manh Choh Mine has agreements to acquire some new Alaska gold prospects.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A killer whale has been approaching boaters in Juneau. Lawmakers in the House and Senate are racing to craft a bill that would allow homeschool programs to continue. And red sweaters filled the streets of Nome Sunday as nearly 100 people marched to bring awareness to indigenous injustice.
Photo: An orca travels near Admiralty Cove on Saturday, March 23, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A weeks-long interruption affected incoming calls for an unknown number of GCI mobile customers across Alaska. One People Canoe Society instructors taught Wrangell residents how to make traditional Tlingit paddles. And one Alaska city prepares for a potential measles outbreak.
Photo: Doug Chilton instructs Wrangell residents on how to make a paddle on March 8, 2024 at the Wrangell High School’s woodshop. (Colette Czarnecki/KSTK)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Federal investigators say the cargo plane that crashed and burned near Fairbanks late last month lost a burning engine in the moments before impact. In a Ketchikan School Board meeting that focused on a massive budget shortfall, the Board also voted to keep a book in the high school library. And Anchorage mayoral candidates Dave Bronson and Suzanne LaFrance faced off in a debate last night.
Photo: Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson (left) asks a question of his opponent Suzanne LaFrance (right) during a mayoral runoff debate held at the Alaska Public Media Building on Thursday, May 2, 2024.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Efforts to increase availability of the overdose reversing drug Narcan are being met with skepticism from some in law enforcement. The Alaska Senate passed its version of the state’s operating budget Wednesday. And the state House Judiciary Committee proposed a constitutional amendment that would keep correspondence school funding in place.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: State Senators are pitching a new package of crime bills dealing with a wide range of issues, from drugs to child abuse to grand jury proceedings. The number of refugees settling in Alaska has sharply increased in recent years. And the annual spring bowhead whale hunt is in full swing along Alaska’s Arctic coast.
Photo: Bowhead whales. Creator: Cynthia Christman
Copyright: NOAA Fisheries Service, AFSC, Natl Marine Mammal Lab
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Iditarod’s Burled Arch that marks the finish line of the annual Sled Dog Race collapsed Saturday evening. State lawmakers are still debating a return to a pension-style defined-benefit retirement system for public-sector workers. And the U.S. Coast Guard retired a fleet of helicopters based out of Kodiak in a ceremony last Tuesday.
Photo: MH-65 Dolphin. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard 17th District Public Affairs, April 24,2024
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A ban on social media accounts for children under 14 has passed the Alaska House. The National Native Boarding School Healing Coalition has sent a team to Alaska. And the Alaska House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that would put more guardrails on the property assessment process in the state.
Photo: The Wrangell Institute school and dorms, looking south, probably in the early 1960s. (NPS Photo)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Petersburg residents joined a statewide demonstration in support of school funding. The Alaska House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a proposal that would ban children under 14 from creating social media accounts. And following a harsh winter the village of Shishmaref is emerging from a fuel crisis.
Photo: Shishmaref, Alaska.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: State Representatives are also considering a bill that would require adult websites to verify users are 18 or older. Congresswoman Mary Peltola has joined Alaska's U.S senators on a legal brief in support of the proposed Donlin Creek Mine. And the Alaska House of Representatives is weighing in on a court decision that threatens key elements of the state’s homeschool system.
Photo: Justin Andrew and Gregory Larson work examining and classifying core samples at the Donlin Mine on Aug. 11, 2022. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Authorities say no survivors have been found after a large cargo plane carrying two people crashed and burned yesterday near Fairbanks. Juneau tackes short term rental regulation. And a new campus slated for Juneau will be dedicated to immersing children in Alaska Native culture and languages.
Photo: Smoke rises from the site of Tuesday morning's plane crash along the Tanana River west of Fairbanks. Alaska State Troopers.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: US Congressional candidate Nick Begich says he would drop out rather than split the Republican vote again. The Alaska Senate passed a bill Monday to tighten residency requirements on hunting and fishing licenses. And the Biden administration has announced policy changes that aim to protect the Arctic environment and hinder mining and drilling.
Photo: Nick Begich III at his Anchorage campaign headquarters during the 2022 campaign. (Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Kodiak will see its first cruise ship of the 2024 season on Saturday. Alaska's Senators blast decisions expected from the Biden administration to block resource development in the Arctic. And the Alaskan Independence Party has held its first statewide convention in Fairbanks since 2008.
Photo: The Westerdam in Kodiak.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: There is a flood watch in effect in Kodiak. The Alaska Senate rolled out its first crack at the state’s operating budget on Wednesday. And a set of 20,000-year-old fossilized human footprints has had a big impact on archaeologists in Alaska.
Photo: Human footprints at study site in White Sands National Park.
National Park Service
On today’s Midday Report with host Jared Griffin: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has upheld its denial of a permit for the proposed Pebble Mine, upstream from Bristol Bay. A national environmental nonprofit named the Kobuk River among America s most endangered rivers. And a fish passage restoration project will soon benefit the Kenai Peninsula salmon population.
Photo: The word Kobuk means “Big River” in the local native language. Photo George Wuerthner
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola is far ahead of her Republican challengers in campaign fundraising. As spring sweeps into Alaska, weather and water scientists turn their attention to predicting when the ice of rivers around the state will break apart. And the next total solar eclipse in North America will happen in 2033, and the path of totality will cross Northwest Alaska.
Photo: An aerial view of flooding in Glennallen, after breakup in 2023. (Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Peter Pan Seafood announced Friday it was ceasing operations. The former Soldotna teacher and union president charged with 61 counts related to sexual abuse of a minor appeared in court Friday for a hearing about evidence in the case. And an Alaska conservation group has released a new series of reports criticizing Alaska’s state-owned investment bank as ineffective.
Photo: Skiffs sit on shore in the Southwest Alaska fishing town of King Cove. (James Brooks via Flickr under Creative Commons license.)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska has the highest proportion of independent voters in the country. Alaska’s Division of Forestry released its plan for selling timber in Southeast Alaska for the next five years. The Alaska House of Representatives passed its $6 billion operating budget yesterday.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A partisan brawl is about to erupt in Congress over the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and Alaska's Senators are at odds. The University of Alaska Fairbanks has received a 20-million-dollar National Science Foundation grant to research climate change effects on marine species in the Gulf of Alaska and the communities which depend on them. And a conversation with Reresentative Mary Peltola.
Photo: Alaska’s congressional delegation spoke to visiting students outside the U.S. Capitol Wednesday. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan were demonstrating the hand signals they use to vote in the Senate chamber. Their gestures happen to reflect how they feel about a Senate trial on the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. (Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Bianca Cross has been named the city's next police chief, which will make her the first woman to lead the state's largest police force. A fire broke out at one of Ketchikan’s fire stations last night [Weds 4/9], with multiple emergency vehicles presumed destroyed and heavy structural damage to the building. And a bill in the state House aims to improve access to telehealth services.
Photo: The South Tongass Volunteer Fire Department responds to emergency calls from the southern area of the Borough. (Jack Darrell/KRBD)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A young humpback whale was rescued in Unalaska last Friday after being entangled in suspected fishing gear for at least four days. Demolition of Fairbanks tallest building is scheduled to get underway this spring. And Silver Bay Seafoods is poised to take over Peter Pan Seafoods’ processing operations this year, according to a joint press release on Thursday.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowksi has applauded more than $50 million in federal funding headed for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta area. The railbelt needs to find a replacement for Cook Inlet natural gas. One study suggests the cheapest option is to ramp up renewable energy. And Anchorage officials are trying to create some clear structure and guidance for people living in Anchorage without homes this summer.
On today’s Midday Report with host Brian Venua: State lawmakers got some perspective on a COVID-related, education funding dispute between Alaska and the federal government on Wednesday. A federal grant program that aims to keep Alaskans safe from tsunamis is slated for elimination. And the Bureau of Land Management is holding a series of public meetings next week on the Alaska Long Trail.
Photo: The Bureau of Land Management is holding a series of public meetings next week on the Alaska Long Trail.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Juneau could set aside cruise ship money aside to help the city’s tourism businesses cut down on polluting fossil-fuels. The Anchorage Assembly and Mayor Dave Bronson are at odds over water. And the federal government has given partial approval to most of Alaska's Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.
Photo: Senate Finance Committee Co-Chair Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, listens to testimony from Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities Commissioner Ryan Anderson on Feb. 28, 2024. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska lawmakers in the state House are giving a skeptical eye to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s efforts to challenge the federal government in court. The top two candidates in Anchorage’s mayoral race are preparing for a runoff election. And a U.S. District Court will mull over the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District’s decision to remove 56 books from school libraries.
Photo: Plaintiffs who sued the Mat-Su School District over the removal of 56 books without review (from left to right) Mitchell Clarkson, Dawn Adams, Gannon Clarkson, Northern Justice Project attorney Savannah Fletcher and Scott Adams on April 2, 2024 (Tim Rockey / Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Federal researchers indicate the gray whale population along the West Coast is showing signs of recovery . Bristol Bay communities are struggling with numerous overdoses as tens of thousands of lethal doses of opioids flow into the region. And work is scheduled to resume this month on a bridge that will cross a slumping stretch of the road into Denali National Park.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola frequently votes against her party. Federal officials have approved most of Alaska’s four-year statewide transportation improvement program, or STIP. And University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers will partner with Galena residents on a Yukon River hydroelectric project.
Photo: ACEP research engineer Jack Schmid, left, and research professional Paul Duvoy help position the Oceana river turbine suspended from a barge during testing in the Tanana River near Nenana conducted in 2016 by ACEP's Hydrokinetic Energy Research Center.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The federal government says Alaska’s education department owes almost $30 million to four school districts. There was a small volcanic eruption on Atka Island Wednesday. And lawmakers are debating the size of this year's Permanent Fund Dividend.
Photo: The Atka volcanic complex includes Korovin Volcano, Mount Kliuchef and Sarichef Volcano.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Kids in Kenai are losing their jitters by reading aloud to dogs. Three airlines are adding nonstop flights from Anchorage to new destinations this summer. And Bethel has been growing some massive icicles.
Photo: 89.5 inch icicle at KYUK, Bethel Alex Salonga KYUK
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Juneau’s Indian restaurant Spice hosted its third Holi Festival in Juneau on Monday. The Alaska Legislature has relaunched a caucus focused on providing support to children. And Kensington Gold Mine near Juneau has reported a spill of more than a hundred thousand gallons of mine waste that happened back in January.
Photo: Holi Festival, also known as the Festival of Colors, in downtown Juneau. (Photo courtesy of Cody J. Bennett)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska isn’t ruling out leaving her party to become an independent. The Alaska Board of Game has rejected a proposal that would have brought back a wolf no kill zone. And Kenai Peninsula College recently unveiled an exhibit featuring encaustic art.
Photo: Ann-Margret Wimmerstedt heats a plywood board in preparation for painting with encaustics on July 30, 2017 at Wimmerstedt’s home. “Encaustics” means “to burn,” and is the art technique of using pigmented hot wax to paint. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Sen. Dan Sullivan says President Biden’s push for electrical vehicles is a threat to the free market, consumer choice, and the American dream. The annual Cama-i Dance Festival in Bethel featured the ever-popular Native Foods Dinner. And a regional working group in Southeast Alaska wants to create a regional landslide warning system.
Photo: Tatiana Taanka Korthuis, later crowned 2024’s Miss Cama-i, serves Elders at the Native Foods Dinner at Bethel Regional High School on March 16, 2024.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Allegations of illegal, unethical and unprofessional behavior in Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson’s administration are valid, according to an independent investigator. Bethel’s Filipino community made a big splash at the annual Cama-i Dance Festival. And the battle over education funding for Alaska schools may be a stalemate.
Photo: The Bethel Filipino Community Dancers perform at the Cama-i Dance Festival in Bethel on March 16, 2024.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Representative Mary Peltola sat down with KYUK’s Sage Smiley to discuss infrastructure, fish, and why she’s running for re-election. Senator Murkowski's new Chief of Staff is a familiar face. And it’s more and more difficult for Alaska prisoners to win discretionary parole.
Photo: Rep. Mary Peltola at a campaign event in Bethel, March 15, 2024. Sage Smiley/KYUK
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Dozens of Juneau educators and residents flooded the Alaska Capitol yesterday to support an override to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of millions in state education funding. The override fell one vote short. And Alaska has submitted to the federal government a first-of-its-kind plan to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions that drive global warming.
Photo: Dozens of Juneau residents and educators lined the halls at the Alaska State Capitol on Monday, March 18, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Buddy Streeper won his tenth Open North American Championship sled dog race in Fairbanks yesterday. The Alaska Legislature plans to vote this afternoon on whether to override Governor Dunleavy’s veto of a bill to boost state funding for public schools. And Friday was the final day of the Arctic Winter Games.
Photo: The "knuckle hop" is based on a traditional method for hunting (Credit: Photo courtesy of Kyle Ḵaayák'w Worl)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Governor Dunleavy has vetoed the Legislature's school funding bill. Humpback whales are struggling after showing signs of recovery. And Sitka's land trust has been awarded a federal grant to build housing.
Photo: Courtesy J. Moore – HIHWNMS/ NOAA Permit # 15240
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The 2024 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race kicked off at the race’s ceremonial start in Anchorage on Saturday, A remote Kenai Peninsula village is running out of time to to use grant money to replace its dilapidated school. And difficulties with financing and logistics have led to the end of the Makushin Geothermal Project.
Photo: Ramey Smyth’s team run into Finger Lake during the 2022 Iditarod. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska’s biggest regional airline has laid off 130 of its 400-plus employees. A bill working its way through the state House could have big implications for reproductive rights. And Anchorage’s historic city hall will become a new downtown public library.
Photo: A Ravn Alaska airplane at Unalaska’s Tom Madsen Airport in 2022. (Theo Greenly/KUCB)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Alaska House has passed a bill today aimed at making child care more accessible and available in the state. The state Department of Transportation is racing to submit revisions after federal authorities rejected Alaska’s statewide highway project funding plan. And arctic air will bring subzero temperatures to Southcentral and Southwest Alaska this week.
Photo: Snow blows across the Parks Highway near the Glenn-Parks highway interchange at 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024 in a state road camera image. (From Alaska DOTPF)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Gov. Mike Dunleavy is demanding additional concessions from lawmakers before he’ll sign a bipartisan education bill. The Anchorage Assembly failed to pass a resolution last night calling for an “immediate bilateral ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.” And the Great Sitkin volcano has been erupting for almost three years, and scientists have now discovered why.
Photo: Eruption plume of Great Sitkin Volcano captured by Lauren Flynn (USFWS) from the R/V Tiglax on May 25, 2021
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: More than 100 people gathered in downtown Juneau Saturday afternoon for a rally to urge city and state officials in Alaska to support a ceasefire in Gaza. Gov. Mike Dunleavy has cast doubt on the future of a bill that would boost state education funding and implement other reforms. And Rep. Mary Peltola hits positive notes in her address to the State Legislature.
Photo: U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola addressed the Alaska Legislature on February 26th.
(Photo courtesy of Gavel Alaska/KTOO)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola ranks second-highest in staff turnover for the U.S. House of Representatives. One of Gov. Mike Dunleavy's 12 executive orders would bring big changes to a board tasked with overseeing Alaska’s ferry system. And federal grants are now available to help reduce rural energy costs.
Photo: The M/V Kennicott leaving Wrangell on Jan. 8, 2021 (Sage Smiley/KSTK)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Kodiak Police Department says reports of a firearm at Kodiak High School this morning were found to be not credible. Though he won’t be born for another 300 years — and he’s a fictitious character — William Riker just might be the most famous person born in Valdez. And Northern Right Whales are set to get expanded critical habitat.
Photo: North Pacific Right Whales seen in Barnabas Trough, 25 miles south of Kodiak Island, in 2021 (NOAA Fisheries)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Rep. Sarah Vance of Homer apologized on the house floor on Monday for comments she made about assault rates and violence against Indigenous women. Midwives in Alaska are speaking out against a plan from Governor Mike Dunleavy to dissolve the board that governs their profession. And members of the state House and Senate are working out the details of a wide-ranging education bill.
Photo: Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy delivers the State of the State address on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has introduced a bill to support coastal communities. Roofing businesses in Anchorage have been slammed with snow removal work. And a moose has been hanging out at the East Anchorage Costco.
Photo: Moose in Costco parking lot.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Two longtime King Cove residents died from injuries sustained in a suspicious fire in Anchorage at the start of the month. The city of Anchorage has reached a legal settlement with the organization that sued it over the lengthy amount of time it took to outfit police officers with body cameras. And Alaska lawmakers are searching for solutions to a looming shortage of natural gas that threatens power and heating for much of the state’s population.
Photo: A policeman wears a body camera during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations this year in North Charleston, South Carolina. (Creative Commons photo by North Charleston)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Sen. Lisa Murkowski was one of only four Republicans to vote for a national security bill that was rejected yesterday. Former Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, accused of misconduct during the 2018 primary and general elections, will face trial starting July 22. And a fire broke out at Sand Point’s Peter Pan Seafood facility yesterday morning.
Photo: Both the warehouse and nearby stock room were involved in the fire, according to a press release from Peter Pan. The company said there were no injuries.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A former firefighter who sued the Kenai Peninsula Borough last year settled out of court with the borough.
A legislator from Big Lake has a vision of an Alaska Port Authority. And the Anchorage School Board presented a budget that would cut nearly 100 full-time positions.
Photo: The seven-member Anchorage School Board is the governing body for the Anchorage School District.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Advocates call for more education funding locally, and state wide. Lieutenant Governor Dahlstrom's US House campaign is funded mostly by outside PACs. And Governor Dunleavy wants to eliminate the state board that oversees the nation's biggest state park.
Photo: Lake Kulik, in the Wood Tikchik State Park.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska is a motherlode of characters, and Lulu Small is one of them. Tribes have submitted evidence to the Canadian government that they hope will give them a voice in transboundary mining discussions. And a condo developer in Juneau borrowed money from the city’s affordable housing fund, but is not offering affordable housing.
Photo: LuLu Small performs at the Watering Hole at the Alaska State Fair.
Jacob Mann/Frontiersman
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Alaska Senate passed a bill yesterday to create a new pension plan for state and local government employees. Alaska’s largest utility voiced support for a bill that would step up the use of renewable energy. And a Petersburg-based Lingit actor is featured in the HBO crime drama, True Detective.
Photo: Senate Majority Leader Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, speaks in favor of Senate Bill 88 on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, on the floor of the Alaska Senate. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines The Governor's State of the State praises mining and charter schools. Protesters in Juneau call for increased education funding. And a revamped public employee retirement plan will be getting a hard look by the Senate next week.
Photo: Protestors hold a banner calling for an increase in the base student allocation, a key part of the state’s education funding formula, during a rally at the Alaska State Capitol on Jan. 29, 2024. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A controversial deal to develop residential lots in Girdwood is back. The State House is holding hearings on a bill that Governor Mike Dunleavy claims could generate billions of dollars in revenue for the state. And rural Alaska communities will need more than $4 billion over the next 50 years to address the impacts of climate change on local infrastructure.
Photo: A “Halt Holtan Hills!” sign sits in the window of a small business at the Girdwood Station Mall on Jan. 5, 2023. (Jeremy Hsieh/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Congresswoman Mary Peltola was in Alaska to kick off her reelection campaign. Lawmakers are considering a measure that would tighten residency requirements for Alaska hunting and fishing licenses. And mushers pushed through 30-below temperatures to finish the 45th running of the Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race.
Photo: Pete Kaiser celebrates his eighth Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race victory with his dogs in Bethel, Alaska on January 28th, 2024.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The war in Ukraine has resulted in the loss of Russian input to an international Arctic monitoring project. The leadership of the Anchorage Economic Development Corp. is advocating for the creation of a new 3% city sales tax. And the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium is calling on Congress to streamline federal response to climate change.
Photos: Residents flee in the village of Newtok, on the front lines of climate change.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A wave of cold weather across Alaska has brought subzero temperatures and higher demand for homeless shelters. The Alaska House of Representatives’ Republican-led majority caucus unveiled and quickly advanced a package of education reforms last week. And The Feast of Theophany is one of three major Orthodox Christian celebrations, along with Christmas and Easter.
Photo: Fr. Michael Trefon Jr. leads a service for Russian Orthodox Epiphany on Jan. 19, 2024 at St. Sophia Orthodox Church in Bethel, Alaska. The Epiphany is a Russian Orthodox holiday that commemorates the baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The 35th annual Anchorage Folk Festival got underway this past weekend. A domestic violence organization in Anchorage is training people in the beauty industry to recognize signs of domestic abuse and offer support. And an exhibit at the Anchorage Museum spotlighting the history of Filipino Americans in Alaska was defaced last week.
Photo: Folk Festival Bear.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Denali Highway is being regularly groomed for winter recreation. Research work on the Mt. Edgecumbe crater has shed some light on what may be happening below the mountain. And the homeless shelter in Kotzebue has closed as temperatures plunge..
Photo: Mt. Edgecumbe. Photo Alaska Volcano Observatory.
On today’s Midday Report with host Brian Venua: The Alaska Legislature on Thursday failed to override a veto by Gov. Mike Dunleavy that erased $87 million in education funding. The University of Alaska has begun the process of fulfilling its long stalled federal land grant. And this weekend Sitka will host the first ever Alaska state pinball championship.
Photo: Ettin Briar competing in a pinball tournament at the Bearcade in Juneau. August 29, 2023. (Photo by Yvonne Krumrey/KTOO)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Scientists at University of Alaska Fairbanks say a prehistoric mammoth spent her life near human hunting camps. Following an emotional 6-day trial, a Ketchikan Superior Court closed the book on a 30-year cold case that had haunted the city. And North Slope oil production is projected to rise significantly in the coming decade.
Photo: Image by Julius Csostonyi
Artwork shows three mammoths being watched by a family of ancient Alaskans from the dunes near the Swan Point archaeological site, a seasonal hunting camp occupied 14,000 years ago.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Dillingham police say the man accused of firing a shotgun at the local hospital on Sunday had also allegedly set fire to his girlfriend’s bedroom that same morning. Avalanche activity was high in Juneau yesterday after more than 30 inches of snow fell over the weekend. And debates over education funding dominated as lawmakers gathered in Juneau Tuesday for the start of this year’s legislative session.
Photo: A snow cloud over the Behrends neighborhood during an avalanche on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024 (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Whitcomb)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Brent Sass claimed a second win in the Copper Basin 300 Sled Dog Race in Glennallen yesterday. There was a pipeline leak on the North Slope over the weekend. And Petersburg’s Borough Assembly will look at signing letters of support for fisheries across the state, in the face of years of hardship.
Photo: Point Thomson is on state land 60 miles east of Prudhoe Bay. (ExxonMobil photo)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in November proposed one of the largest changes to lead pipe regulations in three decades. Seafood processor Peter Pan announced that it will not operate its King Cove facility until spring. And Alaska’s sole U.S. Representative Mary Peltola says FEMA needs more resources.
Photo: Skiffs sit on shore in the Southwest Alaska fishing town of King Cove. (James Brooks via Flickr under Creative Commons license.)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The tundra village of Nunapitchuk sits on top of a high concentration of permafrost, and it’s melting. The Anchorage Assembly decided Tuesday night that the name of Alaska’s late Congressman should be attached to the city’s port after all. And melting permafrost is bringing decay and fungus to the North.
Photo: An example of an Arctic fungi, the Arctic basidiomycete.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Attorneys delivered oral arguments yesterday in a perjury case for a retired Homer judge. An Anchorage home invasion last night led to a shootout that left a father and child wounded. And Chugach Electric says there’s been an excessive number of power outages this winter in the communities of Cooper Landing and Moose Pass. Residents want linemen based in town.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Sixteen-year-old Emily Robinson won the Knik 200 Sled Dog Race yesterday. A tame moose that escaped from a wildlife center during moose season has returned. And a federal judge has ruled that a civil rights case against the City of Fairbanks can proceed to trial.
Photo: A bull moose.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Challenges continue over books on shelves in the Ketchikan Public Library. The Legislature will consider bills that would seek to expand capacity for renewable energy. And taprooms can now stay open one hour longer!
Photo: A new solar farm located in Houston, Alaska.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Anchorage officials are puzzled by a bill sponsored by a Bethel Senator that would transfer its port to the state. A new program will help Alaska nonprofits with their heating and electricity bills. And months after being found stranded in Kenai, a young otter pup is thriving in captivity in another part of the country.
Photo: Rescued baby sea otter in a blue blanket.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: State economists are predicting modest job growth this year across Alaska. A drag queen story hour event planned for the Soldotna Public Library this weekend has been postponed following online uproar about the event. And a man dies while being taken into custody in Fairbanks.
Photo: Online poster announcing the postponement of a drag show to be held at the Soldotna Library.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A cargo ship carrying lithium-ion batteries reported a cargo fire Thursday morning, and is currently anchored outside of Unalaska. Juneau’s only electric bus hasn't hit the road in more than a year. And enough mushers have signed up to make the Yukon Quest a go.
Photo: Capital Transit’s first electric bus has faced persistent problems, but the city will electrify the fleet with a new manufacturer. (Photo from the City and Borough of Juneau)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The tiny Eastern Interior community of Healy Lake is the first in Alaska to go live with high-speed internet funded through the federal Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. The Bureau of Land Management is seeking public input regarding removing protections for 28 million acres of lands across Alaska. And opinions vary about why Sitka is struggling to staff its police department.
Photo: The Yukon River flows through the traditional lands of 73 Tribes in Alaska, and much of this land is covered by D-1 public land orders.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: An Alaska Native corporation is trying to develop a new hotel in Homer, but some residents have concerns. Sealaska Heritage Institute has released new language learning apps for endangered Indigenous languages. And local health officials are encouraging residents to take precautions to avoid seasonal respiratory viruses.
Photo: Front parcel of land at Lighthouse Village on Homer Spit Road purchased by Doyon Limited in March 2023.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The final sled dog race of 2023 brought 14 teams out into the bitter cold to compete for the Holiday Classic title. After months without a clear plan, Juneau’s new cold weather emergency shelter opened in a warehouse south of downtown in late October. And the U.S. military did not begin a new “Arctic pay” bonus for Alaska-based military members in 2023, as Sen. Lisa Murkowski intended when she added a new provision to a Defense bill last year.
Photo: Mass start of the 2023 Holiday Classic in Bethel, AK
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: In Anchorage the Meaning of Home Project has showcased the poetry, music, and art of those who struggle with housing. Other states have been quicker to adjust the salaries of educators to compensate for higher costs, while Alaska has fallen further behind. And arctic temperatures continue to rise, according to the recent Arctic Report Card.
Photo: Mary Johnson was a regular performer among a group of local musicians that played each time the Meaning of Home exhibit opened at a new location.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Christmas in Ambler, above the Arctic Circle. The drinking water from a Nikiski utility contains higher-than-safe levels of PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.” And it’s unclear whether the Alaska Marine Highway System will have enough crew to operate all of its ferries.
Photo: The M/V Malaspina sits at the dock in Auke Bay, near Juneau, as the MV LeConte pulls away from the dock early March 28, 2019. Both ships are part of the Alaska Marine Highway System. (Photo by Nat Herz/Alaska’s Energy Desk)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Anchorage schoolkids celebrate light for the solstice. Operation Santa brings cheer to remote Alaska communities. And the Anchorage Assembly struggles to rename the Port of Anchorage.
Photo: Santa rides in a Blackhawk.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines:There are more beavers in the Arctic, and they are busy releasing methane into the atmosphere. Governor Mike Dunleavy outlined a variety of ideas to address Alaska’s energy needs in his budget proposal. And Petersburg’s Borough-owned hydro-power plant upgrade is in its final phase of testing.
Photo: A pair of beavers work over some branches in shallow water south of Glennallen in central Alaska. (Courtesy Ken Tape)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Only two companies bid in the state’s first royalty-free Cook Inlet natural gas lease sale. It was a very tuba Christmas at the Anchorage Performing Arts Center. And St. Paul plans to revitalize reindeer meat processing in the Pribilofs.
Photo: Neal Haglund, a retired school band teacher, has conducted TubaChristmas for most of its 28 years in Anchorage. (Rhonda McBride/KNBA)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines A recent report to Congress on gaps in law enforcement response to cases of missing and murdered Native people had a special chapter just on Alaska. Landslides are almost impossible to forecast precisely. But scientists say more data could help. And The small Kasilof Historical Museum recently acquired two maritime navigation lanterns from the Smithsonian Institution.
Photo: Hunter Morrison/KDLL
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Hispanic community in Juneau celebrates the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The National Weather Service has issued high wind and flood watches for Southeast Alaska communities from Juneau down to Ketchikan. And Manh Choh ore trucks are being allowed across the Chena River bridge in Fairbanks, despite an earlier ban.
Photo: Residents sing and carry a banner depicting Our Lady of Guadalupe outside of St. Paul Catholic Church in Juneau on Dec. 10, 2023. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Governor Mike Dunleavy has issued a disaster declaration for Little Diomede. The southern half of the village of Quinhagak has been without power since Friday. And Alaska State Troopers responded to a plane crash near Anchor Point on Friday.
Photo: Little Diomede, a village in the Bering Strait, is only accessible by aircraft during the winter. (File/KNOM)
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Two days of memorial services are planned this week for Father Michael Oleksa. Bethel’s Fire Department has a new training facility that's expected to be a hot destination for training firefighters. And Alaska Airlines is buying Hawaiian Airlines.
Photo: Father Michael Oleksa
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Internet and phones are back online for residents in Wrangell cut off after last week’s landslide. Alaska may have ballots in fewer Native languages next year. And The front doors of the Petersburg middle and high school will be locked each day after classes begin.
Photo: Early Voting stickers say “I voted” in English, Spanish, Tagalog and several Alaskan Native languages. The stickers were designed by Pat Race and translated by the Division of Elections. (Image courtesy of Alaska Division of Elections)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: In Bristol Bay, students got a chance to practice their first aid and health triage skills as part of crisis training. Work has begun to clear a path through the landslide debris in Wrangell. And drag queens from across the state vied for the title of Miss Gay Alaska America recently.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Two people are still missing after last week's deadly landslide in Wrangell. The only known survivor of the Wrangell Landslide tells her story. And Senator Lisa Murkowski has an idea to ease Congressional tension.
Photo: Sen. Murkowski talks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in 2020. (Jeff Malet/MaletPhoto.com)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: While the search continued out the road on Thanksgiving Day, many Wrangell residents gathered at the local community center. The US Environmental Protection Agency has announced final action on a state plan to improve Fairbanks North Pole area wintertime air quality. And Alaska's Minimum Wage will rise, but Minimum Salary probably matters more.
Photo: Wood stove pipe on a Fairbanks area home.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Environmental Protection Agency has announced plans to give $150 Million to Alaska Tribes for clean energy, and climate change resilience projects. Three are dead and three people are still missing after a large landslide outside of Wrangell Monday night. And many Alaskans commute to work via aircraft, making coldwater aircraft crash training a necessity for much of the state’s workforce.
Photo: A fatal landslide at roughly Mile 11 of the Zimovia Highway near Wrangell, seen from the air on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. (Courtesy Sunrise Aviation)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: An unknown number of people are missing after a "massive" landslide in Wrangell. A lawsuit filed Friday accuses the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District of violating six students’ constitutional rights by removing books from school library shelves. And an emergency subsistence hunt held in Kake at the start of the COVID pandemic has been found to be lawful, over the objections of the state.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Recent overdoses overshadowed Covenant House Alaska’s annual candlelight vigil. Sitka's Assembly has voted to return excess sales tax revenues as energy credits. And the state will step in to stabilize barley prices in Delta Junction.
Photo: Wrigley Barley Field with Mt. Hayes Looming. Photograph courtesy of Alaska Flour Company
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Many people scrambled to help rescue the crew of the downed Coast Guard helicopter near Sitka. And Alaskans are encouraged to check out health insurance plans offered during the Affordable Care act's open enrollment period.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The number of missing and murdered indigenous people in Alaska continues to climb. The Sitka Community Land Trust is bridging the housing gap one cottage at a time. And high prices make Ketchikan an attractive fentanyl market.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Anchorage residents have faced a series of snow storms this week. The Anchorage Assembly voted Tuesday to raise the capacity at the city’s walk-in emergency cold weather shelter to 200 beds. And Alaska is falling behind in multiple areas regarding lung cancer, according to a report released yesterday.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A United States Coast Guard helicopter crashed near Petersburg last night, critically injuring two crew members. Senator Sullivan supports a rule change to allow confirmation of military promotions over the objections of a fellow Republican Senator. And experts have blown up a large artillery round near Cold Bay.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: About a hundred people gathered in Bethel on Friday for a federal hearing on the impact of the loss of salmon in the region. A group of Native American women to weigh on how they’ve used their law degrees to help their people. And one person died in a fire at an outdoor camp in east Anchorage on Thursday morning.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A record number of cruise ship passengers visited Juneau this year, resulting in a record number of complaints from locals. Residents of Prince of Wales Island are questioning the shortened wolf trapping season. And students and staff at Bethel Regional High School gathered to honor the region’s veterans.
Photo: An Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist came upon this Alexander Archipelago wolf on Prince of Wales Island in the summer of 2018. (Kris Larson/ADF&G)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: An Anchorage jury convicted a man Monday of murdering three people in a 2017 shooting at a Spenard gold business. At a recent fundraiser, the ACLU again called attention to the high death rate in Alaska prisons. And Ketchikan said goodbye this weekend to a beloved building.
Photo:Military members and friends gather in front of what remains of Ketchikan Post 3. The American flag was saved and reflown (photo from Post 3 Facebook page).
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Six years after losing a lawsuit over its invocation policy, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly is considering another change. Invasive species are more prevalent in Alaska than you might think. And For the first time in recent history, the Kuskokwim 300 has reached the 30 sled dog team threshold.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: An historic downtown Juneau building that hosted the first territorial Alaska Legislature is being demolished. Alaskans recently celebrated Dia de los Muertes. And Alaska’s Trust Land Office is planning to sell land to pay for mental health services throughout Alaska.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska high school students are asking local school districts to refrain from banning books. Experiments at the HAARP facility in Gakona will produce an artificial glow in the sky. And a hearing for comments on the proposed Ambler Road drew mostly negative responses.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska State Troopers fatally shot an armed suspect in Healy yesterday after a high-speed chase up the Parks Highway. The Alaska Permanent Fund appears headed toward maintaining its current steady growth, rather than pursuing riskier, higher-return investments. And a partially submerged barge on the Kuskokwim has residents alarmed.
Photo: A large sheen is seen on the lower end of Steamboat Slough on the Kuskokwim River on Oct. 31, 2023.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: As the rivers in southwest Alaska freeze, the final fuel barges are sailing through tricky waters. Alaska's state division of public assistance have worked through some of a large backlog in SNAP applications. And the state is suing a group of homeowners over easements near Campbell Lake in South Anchorage.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Dillingham City School District is still waiting for four international teachers to get their visas. Family of a Marshall woman whose body was found in the Yukon River asks for justice at AFN. And the studio at KYUK could be haunted.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A new threat is emerging from the climate change: rusting rivers. Alaska’s congressional delegation is staying in Israel’s corner. And the Governor's Energy Task Force meets with criticism.
Photo: A side by side comparison of a river in 2017 and 2018. The 2017 image shows clear water, the 2018 image shows reddish rusty water
A small headwater tributary of the Akillik Rivver in Kobuk Valley National Park in summer 2017 and summer 2018.
NPS / Jon O'Donnell
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Vic Fischer, the last living signer of Alaska’s constitution, died yesterday at his Anchorage home. Subsistence concerns were a major topic of discussion at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention on Friday. And two teenagers will pay fines, and forfeit their guns and hunting licenses, for illegally shooting two brown bears in Sitka.
Photo: Vic Fischer displays a copy of the Alaska Constitution. (Wesley Early/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The annual Alaska Federation of Natives Convention has kicked off in Anchorage. Hundreds of people in Anchorage are moving from encampments into hotel rooms as the winter shelter season begins. And the Southeast island community of Whale Pass is asking the state to pursue carbon credits instead of a nearby timber sale.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Western Arctic Caribou Herd continues to decline and managers are proposing dramatically reducing harvest limits. The slow uphill speed of Mahn Choh Mine ore haul trucks is a safety concern. And Alaska has one of the highest suicide rates in the country.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Villages in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta say fuel deliveries are behind schedule, and now the river is more treacherous. An international human rights commission says mining practices in British Columbia could violate the human rights of Southeast Alaskans. And Tribes in the Ketchikan area are calling for rural designation for everyone in the Borough.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The large number of unfilled jobs in Alaska is about demographics, according to new data. The Service High School jazz band jammed with members of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on Friday. And an effort is underway to renovate the oldest standing building in the Municipality of Anchorage.
Photo: A crowd watches as the bell tower from the St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church is removed on Friday. ShiriSegal/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks ordained and installed its seventh bishop, Father Steven Maekawa, last week. Anchorage Mayor Bronson says they are ready for extreme snow this year. And mushers are signing up for the 45th Kuskokwim 300.
Photo: Katie Basile
Mushers head down the chute at the start of the Kuskokwim 300. Jan. 27, 2023 in Bethel, Alaska.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Anchorage Assembly has approved a new, temporary homeless shelter for the winter. Unalaska may be getting its first legal cannabis dispensary. And the State DOT will spend millions making the route safer for 95 foot long, 80-ton double trailer rigs that will haul ore through Northwest Alaska.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: El Nino conditions are forecast to persist through the winter. Rural Alaska could see drone deliveries in its future. And a humpback whale calf known as Tango that washed up dead near Auke Bay earlier this summer was killed by a large boat.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The board governing Alaska high school sports voted Monday to ban trans girls from competing on high school sports teams that match their gender identity. Klukwan residents led a ceremony to honor the Chilkat watershed and the life it sustains. And the Presbyterian Church has committed to paying nearly $1 million in reparations to Juneau’s Alaska Native community.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly may finalize a revision to its code that regulates the operation of gravel pits, a years-in-the-making vote. Yesterday was Indigenous Peoples Day in Alaska. And the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program gets a preferential hiring deal.
Photo: Ileen Sylvester addresses the crowd gathered at Alaska Pacific University for Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Monday. (Adam Nicely/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Time is running out to vote for Fat Bear Week. Homeschool parents and community members gathered in Soldotna to share their grievances and suggest improvements to homeschooling options. And a controversial new intervention program intended to raise the reading scores of Alaska students in grades K-3 has produced some startling results.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Anchorage police say they will begin outfitting officers with body cameras in mid November. Anchorage is poised to open up more shelter beds than there are people living outdoors in the city. And an article about salt and sex by Alaska writer Amy Loeffler is featured in a prestigious national anthology.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Federal mine-safety regulators have cited the owners of the Red Dog mine for 13 violations. Radio control vehicle hobbyists have been gaining traction on the Kenai peninsula. And scammers are targeting Juneau homeowners whose property was damaged by August’s glacial outburst flood.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Katmai National Park and Preserve’s Fat Bear Week is here. Anchorage has joined a legal effort to allow it to clear homeless camps. And the Homer harbor expansion project is slowed for lack of funding.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Shareholders for Alaska Native Corporation NANA overwhelmingly voted in favor of creating a Permanent Fund last week. Unalaska-based internet provider OptimERA is offering faster internet speeds to customers by using Starlink. And Hospital Board candidates in Petersburg weighed in on everything from the new hospital project to… the "New World Order."
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A statewide program makes home ownership possible through "sweat equity." The Anchorage Assembly heard testimony Friday from people it subpoenaed to discuss an election challenge filed earlier this year. And a project to re-establish wood bison in Alaska has suffered another setback.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A woman in Nome is using social media as a tool to teach the Inupiaq language. Students across the state logged on for the annual Teaching through Tech conference. And American Indians and Alaska Natives are vastly overrepresented in state prison systems.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Federal officials are looking into the deaths of nine orcas that were hauled up by groundfish trawlers in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. Fat Bear Week kicks off this week with its junior bear competition. And a group of U.S. Forest Service personnel traveled to Kake late last month to help put on the annual Children’s Fishing Derby.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Senator Lisa Murkowski is not optimistic Congress can avoid a shutdown. Physician Assistants, or PAs, are not happy about how the state medical board is rewriting their regulations. And Golden Valley Electric Association and Westinghouse are teaming up on a power storage project near Healy.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Garage and estate sale season is still in full swing. Fatal crashes have been notably high on Kenai Peninsula highways this fall. And a lack of affordable housing continues to plague Alaska.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Affected communities look back on Typhoon Merbok after one year. The Center for Biological Diversity intends to sue the federal government over a new marine highway in Alaska. And a large part of the Denali Park Road is closed this week so scientists can collar bears.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: An event billed as the only Indigenous music festival in the country begins today in Juneau. The City of Nome is planning to build a demonstration home using a robot that prints concrete. And two bears climbed into a Krispy Kreme delivery van in Anchorage and ate the doughnuts.
Photo: Two bears getting into a doughnut truck in Anchorage. (Shelly Deano via AP)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: At least a dozen school districts across Alaska received bomb threats by email Tuesday. Repairs are complete to a severed fiber optic cable affecting internet and cellular services to much of Northern and Western Alaska. And the opioid overdose treatment Narcan became available over the counter in pharmacies throughout Alaska last week.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A group of sailors from Estonia anchored near Kotzebue last week, after traveling the Northwest Passage. Proxy hunting helps the elderly or disabled enjoy the moose harvest in Alaska. And the Kenai Watershed Forum is looking for unknown salmon streams.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: People packed into Bethel's High School gym Saturday to mourn the passing of Eugene “Buzzy” Peltola. This year infants will have access to a new immunization against RSV. And a group of Sitkans is calling for a cap on the number of cruise passengers next year.
Photo: Sitka’s Lincoln Street on June 21, 2023, when three cruise ships brought about 13,000 passengers and crew to the Southeast Alaska town. (Rich McClear/KCAW)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Two new species may have been discovered in the Aleutians by a federal research vessel. Repair crews are struggling to fix an undersea fiber optic cable that serves most of Northwest Alaska. And recovery efforts for a small plane that crashed in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park last month have been called off.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Eugene "Buzzy" Peltola is remembered. A Mat-Su board will consider banning school library books. And Sitka is getting a community garden...eventually.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The husband of Alaska’s U.S. Representative has been killed in a plane crash on the YK Delta. The Anchorage Assembly has voted to put more than $6 million dollars toward shelter for the city’s homeless. And the catastrophic fires on the Hawaiian island of Maui have inspired Bethel’s veterans to pitch in.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: President Joe Biden led a memorial at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage yesterday. Western and Northern Alaska internet users can expect more delays in getting service restored. And Bering Straits Native Corporation is making a 2 million dollar investment in Graphite One.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska has seen a big jump in refugees over the past two years, and all of them must learn how to access healthcare. King Cove has a new ambulance, and health care workers are celebrating. And rural Alaskans are suffering from opioid abuse, too.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A storied Petersburg climber advised the pros on how to summit the Devil's Thumb. The Mat-Su School Board has voted to silence its student representative. And Alaska's new Education Commissioner has defended the Alaska School Board's decision to ban trans athletes from girls sports.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Bristol Bay could see fewer sockeye return next year. A new recycling group says they collected and recycled over 145,000 pounds of lead-acid batteries from 45 Alaska communities last year. And Alaskans audition for American Idol.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues, there has been a significant increase in the shipments of Russian oil through the Bering Strait. Congresswoman Mary Peltola emphasized her support for Arctic drilling in a telephone town hall meeting last week. And The Environmental Protection Agency has announced $2.5 million in grants to three Alaska Native Corporations to clean contaminated sites.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A gusty wind storm caused damage across the central Kenai Peninsula, leaving over 9000 residents without power. ConocoPhillips says an ongoing federal court case is likely to make or break Alaska’s largest planned oil development in decades. And the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Department of Corrections for inmate deaths.
Photo: Beetle kill spruce trees. Elizabeth Earl/KDLL
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Berry picking success varies across the state. The Alaska Board of Education voted unanimously yesterday to approve a ban on trans athletes participating in girls high school sports. And the state's biggest ever solar farm is about to come online.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A man was sentenced to two years in federal prison this week for selling art made in the Philippines as authentic Alaska Native art. Governor Mike Dunleavy has vetoed a bill that would ban firefighting foam containing PFAS. And thousands of Alaskans are at risk of losing their Medicaid benefits this year–many because of paperwork issues.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The head of the EPA says he supports the decision to block the proposed Pebble Mine , while the state has asked the Supreme Court to overturn that action. High prices in Alaska make the state a preferred location for drug trafficking. And the big pumpkin king is champion again at the state fair.
Photo: Dale Marshall, right, maneuvers his pumpkin toward the scale, with an assist from Ken Blaylock. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Family and friends of a Marshall woman who was found dead in the Yukon River are asking why it took so long to find her. A world-renowned Yup’ik cultural museum in Quinhagak is celebrating its 5th anniversary this month. And Alaska remains near the top of the list of expensive places to live in the country as a whole.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Chinook winds gusting up to 75 miles an hour Saturday blew trees onto power lines and knocked out electricity for up to 10 hours in the Central Interior. President Biden will be visiting Alaska on September 11th. And Zucchini Fest, an afternoon of races and a parade centered around the popular squash, was held in Homer on Saturday.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska business experts say the ongoing child care crisis is hurting the state’s employers and the economy. Residents are asking the Alaska Department of Transportation to reconsider its use of salt brine on Kenai Peninsula roads. And buyers in Japan and South Korea have cooled on the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas project.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Administrator Isabella Guzmán of the Small Business Administration was in Nome. A fire broke out early Wednesday morning aboard an Alaska Marine Highway System ferry traveling through the Wrangell Narrows. And the Dillingham City School District wants to start growing its own greens.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The US Attorney General is meeting with Tribal leaders in Alaska. A new report says visitors to Alaska’s national parks and preserves spent more than a billion dollars in nearby communities last year. And The aviation company RyanAir celebrated its 70th birthday last week.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A new round of federal grants will help two tribes and two museums in the state bring some culturally important items home. Petersburg's Kyle Knight reached the summit of the Devils Thumb after a lifetime of watching the mountain. And the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health traveled throughout Alaska last week.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg focused on the ferry system during a stop in Juneau. Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman says that the Legislature will not allow the earnings reserve of the Alaska Permanent Fund to run dry. And Bristol Bay welcomed two Alaskan medical students this summer.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg traveled to Haines on Wednesday. A bus is roaming rural Alaska supporting people with brain injuries. And in Petersburg, a survey indicates that more than 300 houses may need to be built or renovated in the next decade.
Photo:U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg listens to ferry captain Gabriel Baylous (off camera) explain the operations of the ferry Hubbard on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, in Lynn Canal, outside Juneau, Alaska. Listening at background is U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Kenai Peninsula Borough took legal action against a resident and his canal this summer. Scientists are trying to guess how much glacial flooding Juneau can expect in the future. And hibernation scientists are gathering in Fairbanks.
Photo: Suicide Basin, the birthplace of Juneau’s annual glacial outburst floods, sits about two miles above the terminus of Mendenhall Glacier. (Anna Canny/KTOO)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Record-breaking rain this weekend in Sitka triggered their landslide warning system. Alaska is home to a large Hawaiian community, many of whom have links to Maui. And Alaska could see more renewable energy use in the future.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Authorities have released the names of the two victims who are presumed to have died after their airplane crashed Wednesday in Denali National Park. A man from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta was sentenced to over 12 years in prison for sexually abusing a minor. And the Anchorage School District has installed security vestibules in some of their elementary schools.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A glacial outburst flood eroded the banks of the Mendenhall River on Saturday evening, undermining some homes and sending at least one into the river. Hot, dry, windy weekend weather expanded wildfires around the Interior leading to hazardous air quality. And surfers in the Turnagain Arm catch the longest wave in the United States.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Unalaska’s drinking water shows traces of PFAS. Black seaweed in Southeast is becoming less tasty and harder to find. And scientists use sediments to predict future storms.
Photo:Black seaweed
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The rapid advance of a wildfire prompted an evacuation notice last night for a neighborhood north of Fairbanks. Alaska’s Congressional delegation wants to make the "Landless” communities of Southeast landless no more. And two swimmers have successfully crossed the Frederick Sound.
Andrew Simmons in Frederick Sound. Photo: Orin Pierson
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Warm and dry conditions increased wildfire activity around the Interior yesterday. Satellite data provided by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute is helping state and federal agencies fight wildfires. And the Senate has passed its version of the defense bill, with money for Alaska projects.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Ore trucks running on highways between Kinross’s Manh Choch Mine and its mill are projected to cause millions of dollars per year in pavement damage. A neighborhood near Kalifornsky Beach Road has been flooding, much to the dismay of residents. And police have killed an aggressive bear in Anchorage, the 16th so far this year.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Firefighters worked to knock down a new wildfire southeast of Fairbanks over the weekend. Tote Maritime Alaska recently converted their two cargo ships to run on liquefied natural gas, or LNG. And Alaska’s ferry board is drafting a 20-year plan.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: An ongoing effort to sell Seward’s city-run utility to a larger utility company is getting another chance on the ballot. Alaska educators are looking ahead to a future with AI. And the benefits of whale poop..
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The state board of education heard nearly three hours of public testimony over a regulation to limit high school girls sports in Alaska to athletes assigned female at birth. Anchorage officials took two big steps forward Tuesday toward rebuilding the Port of Alaska. And a seiner capsizes in Whale Pass.
In today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Operators of a store near Denali National Park are alleged to have sold alpaca wool clothing, jewelry, and other handcrafts falsely identified as Alaska Native made. Anchorage Mayor Bronson has a plan to fly the homeless out of Anchorage. And lightning strike fires have firefighters scrambling.
In today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Smoke from wildfires burning across Canada is reaching Southcentral and Interior Alaska this week. Thousands of lightning strikes around the eastern Interior sparked new wildfires Monday. And tourists are using Juneau’s city bus after commercial tour bus trips sold out mid-way through the season.
In today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: An insect infestation responsible for defoliating thousands of acres of the Tongass National Forest is abating. More than one hundred Bristol Bay fishing crews protested this year’s sockeye price in the Naknek River entrance on Thursday. And young burn survivors from Indiana are spending over a week in Ketchikan.
In today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A community garden proposal is making its way toward Sitka's assembly for approval. Almost half of Alaska's Head Start early learning programs are in danger of losing millions of dollars in federal funding. And Alaska's predator control programs do not work, according to research by two retired state Fish and Game biologists and a University of Alaska Fairbanks professor.
In today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The number of volunteer firefighters in Alaska has nearly halved since 2014. A federal judge has dismissed the state of Alaska’s lawsuit against the federal government over contamination on Alaska Native corporation lands. And Alaska Attorney General Taylor signed a letter supporting states’ rights to access medical information about abortion and gender-affirming care.
In today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: For the first time on record there will be no fall hunt for Nelchina caribou. An emergency service area in Cooper Landing is off, and a new effort for a regional service area is underway. And Bristol Bay fishermen are outraged at the low price of 50 cents per pound announced recently.
In today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Cell phones across a huge swath of Alaska beeped out a tsunami warning Saturday night, including places that were not in danger. Three villages in the Lower Kuskokwim formed their own School District embracing traditional native knowledge. And Shishaldin has erupted, experts say more activity is expected.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The 100th anniversary of completion of the Alaska Railroad was celebrated in Nenana Saturday. The sockeye run at Redoubt Lake near Sitka is so big it could be too big. And the spendable portion of the Alaska Permanent Fund is dwindling and could be exhausted entirely within three years.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Nick Begich the third is taking another run at a seat in the U.S. House. Shishaldin volcano is on watch for an eruption on Unimak Island in the Eastern Aleutians. And Alaskans on the forefront of diversity initiatives have been assessing the impacts of the Supreme Court decision striking down Affirmative Action.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Operators of Alaska child care centers say they are having trouble finding staff to meet high demand. Anchorage continues to struggle with a policy on homeless camping. And looking at beach seaweed through a microscope.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan was in Lithuania yesterday for the NATO summit. Alaska’s labor shortage might have more to do with less people coming into the state than the number of people leaving. And people in Southeast Alaska are starting to see the smoke from Canadian fires.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly is deciding whether to back a proposed rule to ban trans girls from women's high school sports teams. A former hotel in Midtown Anchorage is weeks away from reopening as low-income housing. And Anchorage bike riders take over the streets, for a while.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: After a fire closed a fuel dock in the Whittier Harbor this week, city officials say it’s operational again. And arctic Alaska is on the lookout for invasive species.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Petersburg’s Catholic Church caught fire yesterday afternoon in a blaze that continued for nearly 10 hours. Two Anchorage Assembly members are taking aim at with a proposal to dramatically simplify the city’s residential zoning rules. And Alaska wildfire managers have seen the least-ever acreage burned so far this summer.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A fire broke out at a fuel dock in Whittier on Tuesday, injuring two people and sinking a boat. A white raven has been spotted around Kenai for the last month. And Kotzebue celebrates the Fourth of July, complete with an eating contest.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: More than 800 runners tackled rain and treacherous trail yesterday in Seward’s grueling Mount Marathon race. The annual Kachemak Bay Highland Games were played on Saturday, complete with kilts. And a new Alaska housing agency has rolled out its first round of grants.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Law-enforcement officers shot and killed a heavily armed man who on Wednesday barricaded himself in his house near Ester. A phone sat at the bottom of the Kenai River for four days last week, until it was reeled in by an unsuspecting angler. And the traditional Polynesian voyaging canoe in Southeast will use traditional navigation techniques at sea.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Senator Sullivan says Alaska’s youth mental health crisis is severe and profound. Military weapons experts will visit Unalaska to examine a possible unexploded device. And Anchorage pushes homeless campers from one unofficial site to the next.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Billions of dollars in federal funding coming into the state are hoped to help bridge the rural digital divide. The state of Cook Inlet belugas looks a bit better. And The City of Valdez is asking the Alaska Supreme Court to make Hilcorp show it could handle an oil spill.
n today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Bethel joined in with Pride celebrations that took place across the world this weekend. A former Homer judge charged with perjury made her first court appearance. And bikes for Ukrainian refugees in Delta Junction.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Some Alaska lawmakers are still hoping for enough support to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of public school funding. A new Anchorage-based airline hopes to bring hundreds of jobs and a boost in tourism to Alaska. And Alaska schools will soon learn how much money they will receive from the federal government for school meals this year.
Photo: A Northern Pacific 757 on the tarmac.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Ukrainian refugees find a home in Juneau, with the help of some locals. Fish and Game shot over 100 predators to benefit the Mulchatna Caribou herd, but predators might not be the problem. And A man accused of sexually assaulting two Soldotna women after breaking into their homes was caught in Western Alaska.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Educators react to Governor Dunleavy’s funding vetos. Ketchikan summer campers are spending time each week learning about Filipino culture. And the decades-long saga over the King Cove road continues.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Scientists are collecting data in Unalaska to assess the level of contamination left over from WW II. Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed more than $200 million from the state budget yesterday, including big cuts to school funding. And Petersburg has been weathering a surge of COVID cases.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Two bills to advance renewable energy in Alaska may have a good chance of becoming law in 2024. A homelessness advocate with a checkered past was shot to death in Anchorage on Thursday. And as winters become milder, more ticks are able to survive further and further north.
Tick stages. Photo courtesy of the Alaska Division of Environmental Health, State Veterinarian.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Sitka’s Mt. Edgecumbe volcano is coming under closer scrutiny this summer, after an earthquake “swarm.” Much of Alaska has been cloudy and grey this summer. And many municipalities and schools in Alaska are facing record high property insurance rates for the year ahead.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic found their rainbow Pride flags vandalized this week. Alaska is off to an especially slow wildfire season. And the Race to Alaska has a winner.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Bethel's courthouse is among many GCI customers struggling with little to no service. A severed undersea cable has caused internet and phone outages for Northern and Northwest Alaska. And some Alaska companies have opted for corporate sponsored child care.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Port of Seattle has shut down its cargo operations due to labor conflicts and it could affect the Alaska. A wildfire near Healy has drawn a big response. And a Fairbanks woman ran 68 miles to celebrate her 68th birthday.
Photo: Container ships at the Port of Seattle.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The National Marine Fisheries Service hasn’t ruled out the possibility of opening the summer troll season for king salmon in Southeast Alaska. A 60 foot Polynesian voyaging canoe docked in Haines yesterday afternoon. And there is a new speed record for climbing Denali.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Another Alaska based wildfire crew is headed to Canada. Progress is being made in Fairbanks on what will be Alaska’s first off road vehicle park. And nearly 70 passengers were evacuated from a small cruise ship in Glacier Bay National Park when it caught fire Monday morning.
Photo: The Wilderness Discoverer sailing in November 2022 (Photo Courtesy of UnCruise Adventures)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Although smoking rates have gone down in the state, many teenagers are vaping instead. Grubby Junior has been captured in Homer, and he probably has siblings. And Senator Sullivan voted against the debt ceiling bill, calling for more military spending.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Governor Mike Dunleavy hosted a three-day conference focused on Alaska’s energy future. Further details were have been released about the 2017 killing of Eric Garcia, a prominent Ketchikan surgeon. And Unalaska’s local tribe is working to stop the spread of a concerning strain of avian flu.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A former advisor to Governor Mike Dunleavy who resigned Tuesday amid an Alaska Public Media investigation says he won’t apologize in a new video posted to social media. And a new drug use and HIV harm reduction center opened its doors last month in the Mat-Su Borough.
Photo: Jeremy Cubas and a podcast partner in a promo shot.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Governor Dunleavy’s new pro-family policy adviser resigned on Tuesday after discovery of his extreme views. One person is dead, and another four are missing and presumed lost after their charter fishing vessel sank in rough seas near Sitka on Sunday. And delicious Native dishes will be available at the state fair.
Photo: Jeremy Cubas was Dunleavy’s pro-family policy adviser. Dunleavy named Cubas to the position in spite of years’ worth of offensive comments that Cubas made on his podcast, Contra Gentiles. Nathaniel Herz for Alaska Public Media
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Juneau’s planning commission is not supporting the city’s new hazard maps. Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is back in Alaska. And the rate of deaths due to drinking alcohol nearly doubled over a two year period in Alaska.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a decision limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority over wetlands. The ice has swept downstream, but there is still risk of flooding on the Yukon River. And Grubby the Opossum has been apprehended.
Photo: Grubby the opossum seen Wednesday during its capture in Homer. (Homer Police Department)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Petersburg celebrated its Norwegian heritage with dancing and herring. A Crooked Creek man has been sentenced in a domestic violence homicide. And Juneau has cut its emissions by 30%, but is looking at at more ambitious goals.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The new Alaska ferry, Hubbard, carried its first passengers on Tuesday. Is an 800-mile natural gas pipeline running from the North Slope to the Kenai Peninsula back on the table? And a Soldotna teacher and union president was arrested last weekend for sexual abuse of a minor.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: More flooding in Yukon River communities as massive amounts of water and ice move downstream. A man died Sunday night, after he got trapped in mud near Hope during a rising tide. And the state is hopeful about a new revenue source: carbon offsets.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A bill passed by the Alaska legislature bans most uses of firefighting foams containing PFAS chemicals. A massive ice jam on the Yukon River caused flooding in the small village of Kokrines over the weekend. And the First Lady of the United States took the stage in Bethel, flanked by several influential Native women.
Photo: First lady of Alaska Rose Dunleavy, Rep. Mary Peltola, and Bethel Native Corporation president and CEO Ana Hoffman joined first lady Dr. Jill Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland at the Investing in America event on May 17, 2023 in Bethel, Alaska.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Alaska Legislature adjourned late Wednesday evening without passing a budget to fund the government. An estimated 150-mile-long run of broken ice running downriver jammed upstream of Ruby yesterday, but did not threaten any communities. And First Lady Jill Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visited Bethel yesterday.
Photo: House Majority Leader Rep. Dan Saddler (R-Eagle River) speaks with Minority Leader rep. Calvin Schrage (I-Anchorage) on the last day of the regular session on May 17, 2023. (Lex Treinen/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Senate failed to pass a budget yesterday, leaving a narrow window of time for a last-minute deal. Communities across Interior and Southwest Alaska are dealing with the effects of severe flooding. And the Wrangell School District wants to buy an old bus so they can throw it away.
Photo: Wrangell may have to buy a bus like this one, offered on Ebay for $4000.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Ice jam flooding continues to threaten communities downstream on the Yukon River. Encampments in public spaces around Anchorage have been growing since the city’s biggest shelter scaled down and the weather warmed up. And The Alaska Senate passed a bill on Monday that would allow the state to develop land for carbon credits.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Volunteers are going around Haines beaches to pick up trash and collect data. Across Alaska, parents are struggling to find childcare, especially in rural areas. And a bill to supplement education funding is on the Alaska Senate floor today.
Photo: The Alaska Senate.
This week on the Alaska Fisheries Report with Terry Haines: KCAW's Robert Woolsey reports on the state's seeking a salmon stay, Francisco Martinezcuello's soundscape of kids and briny pike, courtesy of KYUK, and the House Fisheries Committee looks at salmon rehabilitation permits.
(Photo by Rachel Waldholz/KCAW)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Reactions to the recent defections from the Alaska Federation of Natives. Alaska’s fire season is in full swing. And Reprsentative Peltola shares concerns that the Supreme Court will change the Indian Child Welfare Act.
A 25-acre wildfire burning in the McHugh Creek drainage south of Anchorage off the Seward Highway in 2016. (Alaska Division of Forestry photo)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska is withdrawing from the Alaska Federation of Natives, on the heels of the Tanana Chiefs Conference. And the Girdwood Fire Department has rescued a fisherman who was stuck in the mud.
Photo: Alaska Federation of Natives Conference 2023
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Snowmelt accelerated erosion of a Tanana River bank at Salcha over the weekend. Homelessness expert Nancy Burke shares her view of Anchorage’s homelessness response. And the Sitka School Board has gone on record in opposition to a bill before the Alaska Legislature that many expect would limit the rights of gender non-conforming students.
On today’s Midday Report with host Kirsten Dobroth: The Alaska Department of Health has agreed to cut the waiting list for the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by half in six months. A bill to make Juneteenth a state holiday advanced to the House on Wednesday. And the Army Corps of Engineers is preparing to clean up a former military outpost in Unalaska Bay.
Photo: Unalaska bunker. (Theo Greenly/KUCB)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Alaska Legislature appears to be marching toward another special session. The experts are estimating that breakup on the Kuskokwim River could begin next week. And the 31st Annual Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival kicked off Wednesday.
Photo: Katie Basile / KYUK
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The board that governs school sports in Alaska has decided against preventing transgender athletes from participating in girls sports, for now. A federal judge in Washington state has affirmed a controversial ruling that could shut down trolling for king salmon in Southeast Alaska. And scientists are looking into the past of Mount Saint Augustine to better understand its future.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The National Tribal Health Conference got underway this morning in Anchorage. The city of Bethel says the state isn’t helping rural communities access funds meant to help build modern water and sewer systems. And a trial is set to start today in Ketchikan to determine if the posting of a traditional Southeast Native value in public schools violates the First Amendment.
Photo: Ketchikan Charter School is pictured on Aug. 3, 2022. (KRBD file photo by Raegan Miller)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will reconsider the Pebble Partnership’s permit proposal to build a mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay. The Northwest Arctic and North Slope boroughs have agreed to support the Ambler Road Project. And the Alaska Senate is set to propose a one-time boost to the amount of money allocated to each student in public schools around the state.
Photo: Shungnak River, Ken Hill
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: For the first time in recent history, Alaska legislators in both parties and the governor are talking about implementing a broad-based tax. School districts are waiting anxiously to see if the Alaska Legislature will increase school funding after years of stagnant state support. And the Sitka School District has crossed its fingers and drained its bank account.
On today’s Midday Report with host Mike Wall: On the same day the first cruise ship of 2023 docked in Juneau city officials signed an agreement with the cruise industry to start limiting visitor volume. And Anchorage police officials say they’re moving forward with getting body cameras on officers, even though they’re locked in a dispute with the police union.
Photo: The Norwegian Bliss, a 4,000-passenger cruise ship out of Seattle, kicked off Juneau’s 2023 cruise season when it docked on April 17. (Photo by Anna Canny/KTOO)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Last year’s sockeye salmon surplus is pushing down the wholesale price this year. The Kenai Peninsula Borough will pay more than $200,000 to settle a harassment against former borough mayor Charlie Pierce. And a portion of the Coast Guard Band is scheduled to visit Kodiak on Wednesday.
Photo: The United States Coast Guard Saxophone Quartet
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A thirty foot Unangax̂ open skin boat will be the first of its kind to touch water in over two centuries. The Chilkat River has been nominated by as one of ten most endangered rivers in the country. And the Alaska House approved an operating budget on Monday that includes a 2700-dollar Permanent Fund dividend.
Photo by Stephanie McGeary: Kanesia McGlashan-Price and Marc Daniels next to the nigilax̂ frame at Mind’s Eye.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: After some record-breaking winter snowfall, Alaska is now approaching the start of summer wildfire season. Two bills being considered by the legislature would allow school districts to opt into the state’s health care plan. And the world’s largest flying salmon took its final swim upstream today on Monday.
In today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A Superior Court judge in Bethel has dismissed a lawsuit accusing state officials of mismanaging Yukon River and Kuskokwim River salmon fisheries. Anchorage’s homelessness experts expect the number of people sleeping outdoors to swell from about 300 now to as many as 800 as the city’s three winter shelters close. And the Anchorage Assembly will maintain its progressive supermajority.
Photo: he Sullivan Arena, Anchorage’s low-barrier emergency winter shelter, can sleep up to 200 people. (Elyssa Loughlin/Alaska Public Media)
n today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The eruption of a volcano this week on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula has prompted some Alaska flight cancellations. Denali National Park will be radio-collaring grizzly bears this spring. And an advisory board has endorsed placement of a book on relationships and sexuality within the Ketchikan Public Library’s teen section.
Photo: Shiveluch, one of Kamchatka’s most active volcanoes,
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Rep. Alyse Galvin has introduced a new bill to reimpose a state income tax, part of a broader proposal to address persistent state deficits. A labor department program to help immigrants gain employment in Alaska has been restarted, as hundreds of Ukrainian refugees are resettling here. And the City of Nome is working with retailers to limit alcohol sales.
Photo: Front Street in Nome, in March 2017. (David Dodman/KNOM)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Three Wasilla overdose deaths in less than 24 hours last week were likely due to counterfeit drugs containing fentanyl. In the small Prince of Wales Island town of Whale Pass a nearly 300-acre timber sale proceeds despite local opposition. And a 22 year old Russian Mission man faces over 100 years in prison after being convicted of murder, robbery, and assault charges.
Photo: A marked tree in Whale Pass. (Photo courtesy of Maranda Hamme)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska’s panhandle may look unchanging, but the area is moving rapidly in a geologic sense. The Division of Forestry is cutting firebreaks in anticipation of fire season.
Photo: A heavy masticator like this was among the pieces of heavy equipment used by state Forestry and a contractor to clear vegetation from the fuel break the agency cut in an area west of the Delta River and the City of Delta Junction. The masticator knocks down trees and then grinds them up into chips. (Alaska Division of Forestry
On today’s Midday Report with Terry Haines: Left-of-center candidates are leading in six out of seven Anchorage Assembly races. Anchorage Police officials say the timeline to put body cameras on officers has hit another delay. And a former Houston treasurer stole more than $1 million from the Mat-Su community and a Wasilla company where he later worked, according to federal prosecutors.
On today’s Midday Report with Terry Haines: The treeline is moving north. A federal judge has ruled that ConocoPhillips can move ahead with the Willow Project. And Representative Peltola shys away from stands on gun safety measures and former President Trump’s guilt.
Photo: The East Fork Toklat River, where the white spruce are marching northward. Photo by Kirk Stueve
This week on the Midday Report with host Terry Haines: There will be no sac roe herring fishery in Togiak this year. As Southeast Alaska otter populations have grown, so have calls to loosen the strict federal rules protecting them. And after losing half their population, humpback whales in Glacier Bay are rebounding.
This week on the Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A new article examines coastal communities that are losing land to erosion. The March for Respect is tomorrow. And Senator Sullivan speaks at Comfish.
Photo: Erosion carries trees over the edge of a cliff and into the sea in Dillingham, Alaska, a coastal city about 350 miles west of Anchorage. Grist / Saima Sidik
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Ryan Redington has won the 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The only Cook Inlet beluga whale in captivity is celebrating five years at his aquarium home. And Southeast weather nerds try to predict the future.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Two Aleutian volcanoes are showing signs of unrest, signaling the potential for an eruption. The University of Alaska Fairbanks rifle team won the NCAA championship over the weekend. Plus Iditarod leaders are tightly bunched. Tanaga, in November 2012. Photograph courtesy of Roger Clifford
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Kotzebue and the Northwest Arctic Borough have declared a disaster after a series of massive snow storms. The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is considering cuts to pools and theaters in the face of a large deficit. And a new brewery is opening in Sterling.
Photo: A Kotzebue home’s front is covered in snow on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. (Desiree Hagen/KOTZ)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: School bus service in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District resumed Monday after a month long bus strike ended. Brown bear baiting will not be allowed in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, after all. And the latest Iditarod update!
Photo: A brown bear cub looks for fish in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge’s Kenai River on Aug. 14, 2020. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday announced it will not consider an appeal seeking to overturn the ban on brown bear baiting in the Kenai Refuge. (Photo by Lisa Hupp/U.S. FIsh and Wildlife Service)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A new bill introduced in the state Senate last week aims to revamp the public retirement system. The Iditarod trail sled dog race got underway this weekend. And an international meeting on arctic policy will host 13 countries for three days in Anchorage.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska Native leaders stood with the state’s congressional delegation rallying for the Willow project at the U.S. Capitol yesterday. The Army Corps of Engineers has cleared another milestone in the Unalaska Bay dredging project. And the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is gearing up for a three-year investigation into potentially expanding Homer’s harbor.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan says we should investigate the possibility COVID came from a lab in China. The Fur Rondy snow sculpture competition wrapped up on Sunday. And Alaska’s melting glaciers are causing glacier tourism to melt away, too.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough visited Alaska last week. The U.S. Army is proposing to replace Fort Wainwright’s coal-fired heat and power plant with natural-gas fired boilers installed around the post. And the former head of Anchorage’s equal opportunity office is suing Mayor Dave Bronson and his administration in federal court.
On today’s Midday Report with host Mike Wall: The Iron Dog snowmachine race got underway this morning in Big Lake. The Anchorage School District says it intends to completely end its practice of locking away students with behavioral issues. And the Mat-Su school bus strike seems no closer to resolution.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Sitka Assembly will give $25,000 to support the Alaska Trollers Association’s legal defense fund. A Haines High School graduate spent four hours hiding from an active shooter on the Michigan State campus. And a new facility in Anchorage is designed to address the immediate needs of the homeless, and connect them to housing and other services.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: American scientists found 200,000 Pacific walrus on one Russian beach, they think. A Ketchikan podcaster is breaking down all things Filipino culture. And Alaska’s U.S. senators warn about shenanigans in the Willow project process.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: White House officials said Monday that they still had not come to any conclusions about what U.S. fighter jets have shot out of the skies over the past 3 days. After a months-long wait, thousands of Alaskans have received their food stamps, but thousands more are still waiting. And snowfall in Anchorage continues to break records.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A student-run cafe in Igiugig offers refreshments to both community members and travelers flying across the vast expanse of Bristol Bay. Toyo stoves have been failing in cold weather. And the State Workers’ Union rallied for better staffing and benefits, and to support for Department of Public Assistance staff as they battle a backlog of food stamp applications.
This week on the Alaska Fisheries Report with Terry Haines: Kodiak’s tanner crab fleet goes fishing, story by KMXT’s Kirsten Dobroth, KCAW’s Robert Woolsey reports on the lawsuit that would halt king salmon trolling, and Izzy Ross of KDLG tells of the governor’s vow to fight the Pebble veto.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Brent Sass won the Yukon Quest 550 sled dog race in Fairbanks last night. School districts around the state are grappling with holes in their budgets for the coming school year. And the tanner crab fishery begins this weekend in Southeast Alaska.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Brent Sass is on track to win the Yukon Quest Alaska 550 later today. Mary Peltola’s announcement last week that she hired a Republican to be her state director has ruffled some feathers. And one Anchorage man inspires others to help the un-housed.
Picture: Cassandra Segevan poses for a photo after getting juice and hot oatmeal from Duke Russell’s unofficial meal service at the Sullivan Arena emergency shelter in Anchorage on Jan. 18, 2023. Segevan said she was really grateful for the food and services there. Also pictured: Volunteer Michelle Gonzalez. (Jeremy Hsieh/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Matt Hall won the Yukon Quest 300 yesterday. Meanwhile, Brent Sass continues to lead the Quest 550. And some Kenai city council members say it’s a good time to loosen restrictions on owning chickens inside city limits.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: It was a fast and furious finale for Team Alaska at the Arctic Winter Games. A bus station in Ninilchik, has the potential to become a small Native reservation — but the state of Alaska is pushing back. And a Toksok Bay couple is an internet sensation.
On today’s Midday Report with host Kirsten Dobroth: A Senate Committee has proposed adding $1000 to the Base Student Allocation. Southeast Alaska has seen an uptick in fentanyl-laced pills. And Fairbanks’ only natural gas supplier signed a 20-year contract with Hilcorp to begin sourcing gas from the North Slope.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Bureau of Land Management is inclined to allow the development of the Willow project, to drill for oil on federal land in the Arctic. Sitka chef Renee Trafton is a finalist for a James Beard Award. And the Kenai Peninsula Board of Education has upheld the firing of a Soldotna physical education teacher.
Photo: Renee Trafton, owner of Beak Restaurant in Sitka, Alaska
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The 2023 Arctic Winter Games got underway in Wood Buffalo, Alberta Canada on Sunday night. A trial is set for late summer in the criminal case involving the deaths of two teenagers in a crash on Unalaska’s Mount Ballyhoo nearly four years ago. And environmental protesters against the Willow Project seem few and far between.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Fairbanks Native Association and Tanana Chiefs Conference hosted a gathering to raise awareness about cases of missing and murdered Alaska Native people. A sentencing hearing for admitted arsonist Jamison Gallion concluded Wednesday in Fairbanks. And Bethel musher Pete Kaiser has won the Kuskokwim 300.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A nationwide outbreak of avian influenza is having impacts far beyond the grocery store. The Sitka Assembly will donate $25,000 to support a fight against a legal decision that could shut down SE king salmon trolling. And state officials say they have no authority to investigate a behavioral health facility where two people were murdered.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines:Southeast Alaska is looking ahead to the next drought. Governor Dunleavy outlines his agenda in the State of the State address. And Anchorage mayor Bronson keeps quiet.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Teachers, school administrators and parents rallied outside the capitol building last night to call for increased education funding. The Board of Game has voted down a proposal to require hunters in Southeast to complete an education course. And a petition to get rid of the state’s ranked choice voting system and non-partisan primary has been certified for circulation.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A Cook Inlet natural gas producer is fighting the state and Kenai Peninsula Borough over property taxes. A small, vacant lot in downtown Juneau is at the center of a dispute between the state of Alaska and the U.S. Department of the Interior. And its been a relatively warm winter in the Y-K Delta.
Photo: Cook Inlet Platform. Source: the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
On today’s Midday Report with host Kirsten Dobroth: Earthjustice is representing tribes in opposition of the Donlin Gold mine. Homer’s Library Advisory Board unanimously voted to uphold a decision to keep 55 books in the children’s section of the public library. And the Alaska Marine Highway System’s decision to pull the Matanuska out of service has left some travelers stuck abroad.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: An Alaska Railroad freight train derailed after it ran into avalanche debris on the tracks south of Girdwood. The City of Homer and Homer Drawdown are working together to increase people-powered transportation and trail access around town.
Photo: An Alaska Railroad freight train is surrounded by snow after driving into an avalanche slide near Girdwood early on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023. (Courtesy Alaska Railroad)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska schools are preparing to meet the new state educational requirements of the READS Act next fall. Senate President Gary Stevens talks about his legislative priorities. And the state is offering help to livestock farmers who are struggling to buy feed.
Photo: Alaska Meat Company cattle on Sitkinak Island.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Anchorage Assembly leaders say they want Mayor Dave Bronson to publicly respond to scathing allegations made against him. Senator Bert Stedman says the state needs to balance its long-term fiscal health against its ability to pay large Permanent Fund dividends. And a pilot training program is underway to combat the Certified Nursing Assistant shortage on the lower Kenai Peninsula, as well as Kodiak.
n today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A Soldotna doctor known as the “Candyman” pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a charge that he overprescribed addictive narcotics. The US Environmental Protection Agency could reject portions of a state plan to reduce Fairbanks North Pole area wintertime fine particulate pollution. And Independent Representative Bryce Edgmon looks ahead to the start of the Legislative Session.
Photo taken from the University of Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 6, 2019, when there was an air quality alert in effect for the area. (Ravenna Koenig/ Alaska’s Energy Desk)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Two F-22 fighter jets from JBER stopped off unexpectedly in Whitehorse on the way home from Europe. The National Park Service has awarded a contract to build a bridge over a slumping section of the road into Denali National Park. And a pro skier is working to get more Alaska Native youth on the slopes.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska legislators have so far pre-filed 68 bills and resolutions ahead of the January 17 session start date. Klawock police chief Terry Stonecipher died unexpectedly Monday morning. And scientists say glaciers are melting faster than they thought.
Photo: Sean Gallup
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska has a fully fledged member of the U.S. House again. Ketchikan’s borough and school district take cautious steps forward in resolving their dispute over health care payments. And a Homer entrepreneur is making lumber from plastic.
Photo: Sean McDermott/KBBI
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A dog walking duo in Skagway has gained internet fame. Last year’s fire season is the largest on record for Bristol Bay. And Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola says it might be time to start thinking about a bipartisan solution to the House Speaker impasse.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Last month was the wettest December on record in Anchorage. A nationwide egg shortage has hit Alaska especially hard. And Rhonda McBride looks back on Mary Peltola’s fight to be the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska’s job market will continue on a path of recovery this year, but slower than other states. Mary Peltola waits to be sworn in while Republicans struggle to elect a leader. And Anchorage is still hauling snow, and has a long way to go.
Rep. Mary Peltola was the only member of Congress wearing a kuspuk on the first day of the 2023 session. (Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Work is underway on what will be Alaska’s tallest building. After months of back and forth over a high-profile oil and gas lease sale in Cook Inlet, just one company placed bids. Officials have arrested a Seward man after he allegedly drove his car, carrying three children, into the Seward boat harbor.
A rendering of the new air traffic control tower for Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.
STANTEC
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Reexamination of a cold case in Bethel has resulted in an arrest. Inflation is hitting everyday Alaskans at the grocery store. And a new hazard map in Juneau shows much of downtown in moderate to severe danger of landslides or avalanches.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The coach of the Homer High School girls wrestling team wants to talk about the sport of women’s wrestling. Today is the fourth day of Kwanzaa. And an Aleutian volcano will be renamed to honor Don Young.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Scientists in Alaska will bounce a radio signal off an asteroid today. A project combining solar energy production with food production will be studied by scientists at University of Alaska Fairbanks. And an eight-bridge project over the Good River near Gustavus will help fish get upstream.
The Good River, near Gustavus.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Stormy conditions in the Lower 48 have disrupted holiday travel plans for many Alaskans. An orphaned polar bear cub is receiving care at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage – where it may become a permanent resident. And a Native American movement is aiming to to expunge racist and sexist place names.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Beaches in Clam Gulch and Ninilchik will be closed to clammers for the ninth year in a row next summer. Bethel resident Becky Trimble is poised to become a permanent resident of the United States. And Metlakatla’s tribal government is asking residents to conserve power after a diesel generator failed.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Anchorage’s biggest emergency cold weather shelter now has bed capacity for up to 360 people. After some record-breaking cold temperatures in Southeast Alaska much of the panhandle is in for a wet Christmas. And an environmental group has filed a complaint seeking to halt use of federal wildlife restoration funds for predator control.
Lucille Williams pulls a cart filled with her belongings on a bike path along Mt. View Drive in January, 2022.(Photo by Adam Nicely/Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: People are waiting a really long time for food stamps and the state isn’t talking about it. Oath Keeper founder Stewart Rhodes testified from jail for the defense at a trial challenging the qualifications of Representative David Eastman to serve in the Alaska Legislature. Plus an aurora globe is being installed in a Fairbanks hotel.
On today’s Midday report with host Terry Haines: Discovery of an ancient weir in Southeast has archaeologists rewriting the timeline there. Three major snowstorms in under two weeks have made travel tough in Anchorage. And the Anchorage School Board will decide today whether to increase class sizes to help close a $48 million budget deficit.
On today’s Midday report with host Terry Haines: Governor Mike Dunleavy has unveiled the first proposed budget of his second term. Controversy over a logging project near Yakutat in Southeast Alaska has intensified. And Alaska school districts have decried the continued flat funding of education in the Governor’s proposed budget.
Aerial view of Yakutat site showing house pits (yellow), rock walls and boulders (black) and dry stream bed (blue). (photo credit: Sealaska Heritage Institute)
On today’s Midday report with host Terry Haines: The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is holding an Indigenous language film fest in February. And a geothermal energy project in Unalaska is taking another step forward in development.
On today’s Midday report with host Terry Haines: A muskox attacked and killed a man near Nome on Tuesday. Respiratory viruses have been threatening to overwhelm hospital capacity in Alaska this winter. And lieutenant governor Nancy Dahlstrom says she is up to the challenge of overseeing Alaska’s elections.
On today’s Midday report with host Terry Haines: Kindergarteners in Juneau have been learning the violin and an Alaska Native language at the same time. The Kenai Peninsula got nearly two feet of snow in some places this weekend. And a commercial building in Wasilla exploded Sunday afternoon, likely due to a natural gas leak.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Australian Christian Turner is among the Iditarod dog mushers to sign up for the 2023 race. Questions remain about how the planned merger of grocery store companies Krogers and Albertsons will affect shoppers in Alaska. And relatives mourn a man killed last month in front of his Anchorage home.
Christian Turner in a dry-land, dog scooter race. (Christian Turner)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Federal safety investigators are calling for new, more restrictive regulations on flightseeing tours in the Ketchikan area after a series of crashes. Alaska’s only National Heritage Area is pushing for a change. And GCI’s underwater fiber optic broadband cable in Unalaska has been damaged. Photo: Laurelin Kruse
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: More than 40 Wrangell residents are helping bring the musical “The Sound of Music” to the stage this week. A young climate activist from Ketchikan was one of two Alaskans named to Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list this year. The U.S. Senate passed a bill to protect same sex marriage yesterday, with the support of both Alaska senators.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Terry is joined by Art Schultz in a special Match Day Membership Drive edition of the Midday Report.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A group of state senators not only sliced up the turkey over Thanksgiving, but also carved-out Senate leadership roles. Residents of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough will be getting a lot more power from the sun next summer. And residents near Eielson Air Force Base are skeptical of the chosen method to clean up PFAs there.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: More Alaskans have been voting against letting state judges keep their jobs. A euthanized Alaska black bear cub is the first in the country to test positive for a highly contagious strain of bird flu. And the Bureau of Indian Affairs will give more than $45 million to US tribes to address climate change.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A contentious battle over books is playing out in Homer. More than a fifth of the high school population reports having used e-cigarettes in the last month. The Food Bank of Alaska has handed out about 10,000 free frozen turkeys and holiday meal kits over the last few days in Anchorage and the Mat-Su.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Lack of funding may cause Bethel to close its emergency shelter. Unalaskans welcome Aleutian Airways’ first commercial flight. And Skagway’s borough assembly has scrapped a plan to expand dock capacity, as questions remain about the viability of the town’s largest dock.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A surveyor got stuck in the mudflats near Girdwood yesterday. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says they are moving forward with dredging Unalaska Bay. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture is granting $3.6 million to Interior Alaska villages to help improve water systems and landfills.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: State health officials are urging Alaskans to get flu vaccines and take other protective measures. The city of Fairbanks is getting closer to demolishing the abandoned 11 story Polaris Hotel. And A totem pole that spent more than 100 years far from home has returned to Haida village of Kasaan.
Photo: The Polaris Hotel tower and annex. (Dan Bross/KUAC)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Wrangell residents are using their lunchtimes to learn the critically endangered Lingít language. Why are Alaska’s gas prices so much higher than other states? And Alaska lawmakers are urging the FTC to block a proposed merger between grocery giants Kroger and Albertson’s.
(Photo: Matthew Faubion / Alaska Public Media)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska lawmakers are starting to think about picking teams. Candidates Palin and Tshibaka cast aspersions on Alaska’s electoral system in the wake of disappointing results. And a Palmer pilot died on Thursday, when his small plane struck a cable and crashed into the Matanuska River.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Incumbent Governor Mike Dunleavy is very likely to win a second term. Craig needs a bigger cemetery. And the Sitka Assembly is moving forward with a long-planned seaplane project.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Local and statewide preliminary election results are available. The Bureau of Land Management is deciding what it should consider in a new environmental review of the proposed Ambler Road. And does La Nina foretell a cool Alaska winter?
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The village corporation in Yakutat has been ordered by the state to change the way it runs shareholder elections. St. Paul in the Pribilofs is issuing a unique disaster/emergency declaration in light of snow crab and red king closures. And Mike Motti, a veteran of Sitka’s Mountain Rescue team, has died during a solo hike.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A landslide near Petersburg on Halloween night was a close call for some nearby residents. The director of the recently released movie “Till” studied film at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. And trappers from Prince of Wales Island want more harvest opportunity in the upcoming wolf season.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A game changing broadband project in Bethel and other communities in the Y-K Delta has a new name. Anchorage Unangax̂ Dancers debuted a song at AFN that welcomes ancestors. And this election features a concerted effort to encourage Alaska Natives to participate.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska farmers and ranchers make tough choices as costs rise and yields fall. An Alaska wanderer has been declared missing. And Gubernatorial candidates Gara and Walker have released a joint ad urging voters to rank one another second.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A look at the Marine Mammal Protection Act on it’s 50th anniversary, with a view from St Paul Island. Middle school students in Ketchikan have spent more than a month learning songs in languages from all around the world. And kindergarten and first-grade students in Anchor Point are learning how to play the violin at school.
Students in the Homer OPUS program perform at the Alaska Superintendents Association conference at Lands End Resort on September 30, 2022. (Hope McKenney/KUCB)
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On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska’s US Senate candidates have clarified their positions on abortion rights. House candidates took on salmon bycatch in Wednesday’s debate. And Angoon residents have built their first traditional dugout canoe since the nineteenth century.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Southeast Alaska’s summer season for Dungeness crab was worth about $10 million less than last year. Gov. Dunleavy continues to support Republican Charlie Pierce in the governor’s race following a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Pierce, but Pierce’s running mate has dropped out. And the Alaska National Guard rescued six stranded snowmachiners from a glacier in the Eastern Alaska Range.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The U.S. Arctic Research Commission is meeting in Fairbanks today. A former Kenai Peninsula Borough employee is suing gubernatorial candidate Charlie Pierce, saying she faced constant sexual harassment from the former borough mayor. And: Is Ketchikan a rural community?
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Candidates for US House and Senate faced of at the Alaska Federation of Native Conference. Metlakatla and Ketchikan have taken a step toward joining power grids. And the NTSB reports leaking floats may have been a factor in both fatal plane crashes that occurred in the past month. Photo: AFN attendees wave their Mary Peltola fans at the U.S. House candidate forum. (Elyssa Loughlin/Alaska Public Media).
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Climate change policy is a controversial subject at the Alaska Federation of Native Convention. The Mat-Su School Board has adopted a bathroom policy for transgender students. And some supporters of a Constitutional Convention want to change how Alaska chooses judges.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: All four candidates for Alaska Governor squared off in a recent debate. A Kenai man is turning waste plastic into lumber. And the ACLU has joined supporters of changing parole rules for offenders sentenced to long jail terms as juveniles.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Juneau’s homeless campground is closing for the winter, and campers wonder where to go next. Tribes are beginning the first steps toward developing K-12 curriculums separate from school districts. And Ketchikan celebrates Phillipino-American History Month with a festival.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The “Tustumena Replacement Vessel” will be engineered to be a diesel/electric hybrid. Former State Senate President Ben Stevens has died while hiking near Seward. And there has been a break in one of four two-year-old missing persons cases in Fairbanks.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Kodiak City Council race has been decided. Boats blaze and sink in a Ketchikan harbor. And energy providers on the Kenai Peninsula strategize as future gas supplies become more unsure.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A logging operation owned by the Yakutat village corporation will be dissolved after shareholder complaints. Two thousand gallons of fuel has spilled at the new Vitus Terminal in Bethel. And the Commander of the Coast Guard Cutter Kimball recalls an encounter with Chinese and Russian vessels.
U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Thomas D’Arcy aboard his command, the cutter Kimball, during an Unalaska port call. The Kimball encountered several Chinese and Russian warships off Alaska in late September. (Maggie Nelson/KUCB)
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Few answers are available for relatives are asking questions about the 15 inmates who have died in custody this year in Alaska. Alaskans are thinking harder than usual about a Constitutional Convention. And bear awards in Southeast Alaska are about more than who is fattest.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The University of Alaska and its faculty trade complaints as their negotiations continue. The amount of Ukrainian refugees coming to Alaska seems to have peaked. And it’s Fat Bear Week!
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Another storm is headed for Alaska’s Northwest coast. And a state plan for electric vehicle charging stations has federal approval-paving the way for federal dollars.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Today is a day of remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools. Anchorage citizens protest the lack of police body cams, a year and a half after voters approved them. And the Bureau of Land Management has awarded one million dollars to clean up old placer mining sites in the Interior.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: KEA is getting a million dollar grant for use of the Terror Lake plant. Alutiiq language programs aim to keep the language and culture alive. And a Kenai space education center is hosting workshops on earthly sustainability.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Bears have been roaming the streets in Kodiak. An ancient fish weir going back 10,000 years is discovered in Alaska. And Hooper Bay takes stock after the big storm.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Chevak begins to set things straight after the storm. The Anchorage School District is facing a 68 million dollar budget shortfall. And the dam for Wrangell’s drinking water reservoir is deemed one of Alaska’s worst.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Residents of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough continue to weigh in on the school board’s bathroom policy for transgender students. And Juneau voters will decide whether real estate sale prices should be available to the tax assessor.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Drinking water continues to be an issue in storm damaged western Alaska communities. Mary Peltola would like to see the Magnuson Stevens Act reauthorized soon. And public health officials are urging the public to get boosted.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A looming landslide in Prince William Sound could mean a sudden tsunami in Whittier. Whether to hold a Constitutional Convention will be on the ballot in November. And supporters of Ketchikan’s Public Library demonstrated against its defunding.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Whether to hold a Constitutional Convention will be on the ballot in the next election. Unalaska is looking forward to being served by a second air carrier. And Western Alaska is preparing for a big storm.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Flood damage on the Richardson Highway will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to repair. A hunter has vanished in a remote area off the Dalton Highway. And Unalaska airfares are skyrocketing.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines; Kinross Alaska wants to truck ore between mines on pubic roads. The Kenaitze Tribe is working with contractors to preserve artifacts. And Kenai has a new Japanese Garden.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Mary Peltola will be sworn in as a member of the U. S. House of Representatives today. Don Young’s Chief of Staff will serve in the same role for Representative Peltola. And officials say Kenai Borough Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Charlie Pierce was asked to consider resigning after the Borough paid settlements to departing employees.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Anchorage School District is facing a 68 million dollar budget deficit next year. Legendary musher Lance Mackey has died. And Anchorage Mayor Bronson has produced a plan for the homeless in winter.
n today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: A bipartisan watchdog is suspicious Governor Dunleavy’s reelection campaign is breaking election laws. A Kenai Tribe is opening a new campus dedicated to cultural education. And two Homer swimmers cross Katchemak Bay.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Two vessels have now sunk in the same spot in the Kuskokwim River. An Anchorage man has been indicted for the murder of his father, a former state legislator. And a Petersburg workshop shows dog owners how to release their pets from snares and traps.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Soldotna City Council continues to hear public comment about a drag show held in a park. Senator Murkowski is calling for the federal government to clean up contaminated lands conveyed to Alaska Natives. And Kenai Peninsula Mayor Charlie Pierce is quitting to focus on gubernatorial run.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Two harbor seal pups graduate “fish school” at Seward’s SeaLife Center. Tara Sweeney has dropped out of the race for US House. And researchers are studying deep sea life in the Bering Sea.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Investors are trying to sell the Donlin Mine project to local residents. A Bristol Bay school principal makes a hair raising bet with a student. And the Kenai School District is struggling to transition away from universal free lunches for students.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Mud Run is back in Dillingham. Alaska’s Farm Family of the Year is from Soldotna. And a new Fast Response Cutter has arrived in Ketchikan.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: American jets fly in response to Russian surveillance aircraft. Two apparently unrelated stabbings occurred in Ketchikan over the weekend. And today is election day.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: COVID positive cruise ship passengers were sent home on the state ferry, and Alaska Airlines. A settlement has been reached regarding a crash involving two small commercial planes in 2016. And local Juneau leaders weigh whether to take sides on ballot questions.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Some Ketchikan parents have sued the school district over using tribal values at a school. The Anchorage economic future looks rosy, if enough workers can be found. And Alaska Universities will begin a program for a Marine Policy degree.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: 800 miles of fiber optic cable will bring high speed internet from Kodiak to Unalaska. Ukrainian refugees are living and working on the former state ferry Malespina in Ketchikan. And Governor Dunleavy has signed a bill that changes the definitions of sexual assault and domestic abuse.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: New daily returns to the Kenai and Kasilof Rivers spark fears of overescapement. Hatchery chum salmon are coming back in droves to Southeast Alaska. And Unalaska sockeye salmon are coming in late.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The potential for major rockslides hangs over Skagway’s main cruise ship dock. Home school parents can use state money for tutors and classes. And Alaska grocery stores are still faced with periodically empty shelves.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Training on treatment of overdose victims is coming to Kodiak. Chum and Chinook salmon are scarce again in the Yukon River drainage. And UAF Fairbanks is taking their drone program to Alaska students.
Flash floods have washed out a portion of the Richardson Highway. Beluga whales are swimming in a lake 20 miles upstream of Dillingham. And a Petersburg teen gets his wish to meet an NBA champion.
The Kodiak Island Borough acts to make voting more accessible for village residents. Cooler, wetter weather is dampening fire activity in Alaska. And a study shows long term harms to watersheds from past mining activity.
On today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Weather in the Interior should be cooler, and wetter. Rain and snow melt are collapsing a well known ice cave and damaging bridges along the Richardson Highway. And hydrogen fuel cells in big ships could be good business for Dutch Harbor.
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: New COVID Cases Reported in Kodiak, Sen Murkowski Retains Support of Washington Colleagues, Kensington Mine Running Out of Room for Waste
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Uptick in Kodiak COVID cases, New Football Coach for Kodiak High School, House Minority Caucus Digs In
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Governor Sued Over PCE by AFN, Munis, and Providers, Seattle Glad to Send First Cruise Ship North, Lightning on the Chukchi
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Milk Run 5K to Promote Infant Nutrition, New Music from Inuit Artist, Canada to Open Borders
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska Native Communities to Get Federal Tribal Energy Grants, State DNR Issues Permits to Donlin Mine Project, Munson Creek Fire Cools Down for Now
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Passenger Seizes Controls Aboard Ryan Air Flight, Delta Variant Cases Shoot Up in Alaska, New Commander at Coast Guard Station Juneau
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Weather Aids Firefighters Near Chena Hot Springs, Brightbox Farms Sees Bright Future in Hydroponics, Power Cost Equalization Program Unfunded
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Troopers Announce Evacuation in Munson Creek Fire, Erosion Challenges Bristol Bay Truck Fishermen, Kotzebue Celebrates the 4th
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Firefighters Near Chena Springs Resort Fall Back, Governor Asks for New Choices for Supreme Court Justice Pick, Bear Swats Tourist in Katmai
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska Minority Caucus Sees Moment in August Session, Medicaid Must Accept Transgender Treatment, Southeast Swelters
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska House Avoids State Shutdown, Electric Charging Stations for Railbelt, Airports Hubs for Vaccine Distribution
On today’s Midday Report with host Dylan Simard: Supreme Court Rules Alaska Native Corporations Can Receive Tribal COVID Funds
On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Ferries to Sail After Shutdown, Alutiiq Museum Gets Repatriation Grant, Special Session Update
On Today’s Midday Report with Host Terry Haines: Live Music to Return to Kodiak, Governor and Legislature Continue Feud, Watching the Rivers for Belugas
On Today’s Midday Report with Host Terry Haines: Invasive Flowers Smother Native Species, State Eyes First Ever Shutdown, Alaska Gets New Forester
On Today’s Midday Report with Host Terry Haines: City and Food Truck Operators Begin Dialog About Sites, Governor Sends Out Pink Slips, Ravn Alaska to Buy Electric Planes
Did you miss today's local news? Catch up here! On today’s Midday Report with Host Terry Haines: Senate Passes Budget by One Vote, Crawdads Invade Kodiak, Ostrander Enters Treatment
In this newscast:
- ComFish Alaska 2020 is rescheduled to Sept. 17-19 due to coronavirus concerns.
- Kodiak City Council meets tonight at 7:30. Will consider online sales tax and edible marijuana sales in city.
- The Kodiak Island Borough School District released students early on Wednesday, and again Thursday so staff and teachers can train in how to teach remotely, should the schools need to close because of coronavirus.
- Alaska Legislature approves $4 million for coronavirus preparations. State will also get $9 million from the federal government.
- A federal judge rules in favor of green groups challenging the largest Tongass timber sales. Judge did not throw case out, but will allow the Forest Service to file an additional brief.
- The state I soliciting for housing units to serve as quarantine areas for monitoring COVID-19 patients. Washington state has done similar housing areas.
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- The medical union representing Kodiak nurses, physical therapists and other health care workers issues 10-day notice to strike Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center, hoping to preserve earned sick leave and vacation benefits.
- School District Superintendent Larry LeDoux outlines what parents and the community can expect if the coronavirus spreads to Kodiak.
- Kodiak Island Borough School District is also releasing students early Wednesday and Thursday to train staff in remote teaching, should schools need to close down as a result of the virus.
- The Alaska Division of Insurance is barring companies it regulates from charging people from necessary COVID-19-related testing.
- Kodiak's middle and high school drama team ranks number two in Alaska after state championships.
- The Alaska Legislature passes a citation honoring Kodiak's Coach Joe Floyd.
- Iditarod mushers get a pleasant surprise entering the tiny town of Nikolai on Tuesday.
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- The committee tasked with exploring reconfiguration of Kodiak elementary schools opted against the stratification plan, which would have grouped specific grade levels at each of the elementary schools.
- The summer ferry schedule released last week shows fewer "chain runs" to Dutch Harbor, slightly more trips to Ouzinkie and Port Lions, no trips to Old Harbor and a new, dynamic pricing model.
- U.S. Department of State and federal health experts are advising against cruise ship travel in response to coronavirus spread.
- Alaska lawmakers are considering ending the session early if the coronavirus arrives in Juneau.
- The state instituted a freeze on hiring new state workers and suspended all out-of-state travel for state workers.
- Iditarod teams arriving at a checkpoint 153 miles into the race describe the trail as largely uneventful thus far.
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- Kodiak Island Borough Assembly gets a brief education on the coronavirus, COVID-19 and measures to protect local residents.
- State public health officials moved Friday to calm Alaskans' anxiety about coronavirus testing, saying the state has the resources it needs.
- Organizers are cancelling the Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse due to coronavirus fears.
- After 10 years of certification, Gulf of Alaska cod will have its blue-sticker sustainability label suspended starting next month.
- An audio postcard from a "trailgate" party in Anchorage, at the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- The city of Kodiak puts together an incident management team to prepare the community for a potential spread of the coronavirus
- The Borough Assembly authorizes two design contracts, hears a report from Bayside Fire Department and awards one borough staffer Employee of the Year and Employee of the Quarter awards.
- Saturday is tax free day in Kodiak -- participating businesses will not be collecting the city's 7 percent sales tax on March 7.
- Former Republican legislator and cruise industry frontman John Binkley is putting together an action group to help Gov. Mike Dunleavy keep his job in the midst of the recall fight.
- Anchorage School District administrators say a pilot program that extended lunch and recess time has largely been a success, but some schools are struggling to balance the schedule.
All that, plus Fish Radio, the Island Messenger community bulletin and Island Byways. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com and Byways is produced by KMXT'S Pam Foreman.
In this newscast:
- Kodiak Island Borough Assembly will hold a public hearing on disposing two land parcels and consider contracts for building renovation and culvert replacements.
- Despite scheduling and ferry uncertainty, the Chamber of Commerce secured Golden Wheel Amusement rides again for this year's Crab Fest.
- State officials are leading preparations for the anticipated arrival of the coronavirus.
- Meanwhile in Anchorage, coronavirus fears are spurring what critics call "panic buying" at certain retailers. Emergency managers are asking residents to be prepared, but not panicked.
- The Alaska House majority introduced a bill that would set permanent fund dividends at roughly $900.
- Dutch Harbor was surpassed by Naknek in NOAA's ranking of the nation's most valuable fishing ports.
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- Kodiak College Interim Director Betty Walters says the school will continue to serve the community despite budget woes in the University of Alaska system.
- The Alaska House passed the state budget on Tuesday along caucus lines.
- After touring ferry headquarters in Ketchikan, Kodiak Rep. Louise Stutes says the Alaska Marine Highway System is in poor shape.
- A Kaktovik man was sentenced to three months in prison for wasting a polar bear he shot outside his house. Kaktovik is seeing more visits from bears as the climate warms and their sea ice habitat melts away.
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- Astra's DARPA challenge launch scrapped, ending the company's efforts to complete the challenge and secure the multimillion dollar prize.
- Alaska Supreme Court Chief Justice Joel Bolger has recused himself from the ongoing case to determine the legality of the campaign to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
- The first day of the 2020 Norton Sound commercial crab fishery was a dud, with only one commercial crabber officially registered to fish and no way to sell potential crab.
- A cruise ship that was turned away from multiple ports in Asia due to fear of spreading coronavirus will arrive in Juneau later this month.
- A traveling exhibit will explore Alaska's unique journey towards women's suffrage, granted nationwide 100 years ago with the passage of the 19th amendment. Alaska women, in fact, were able to cast ballots seven years prior to the amendment.
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- The Alutiiq Museum is preparing to help people digitize their photos of Alutiiq life and people. If you have old family photos, or even more recent ones, the museum would like to see them. They will digitize photos to preserve them and make them easier to share. And, with your permission, they will include some in the Museum's photo archive.
- The Sitka Sac Roe Herring Fishery is not expected to open this year because of weak markets and smaller-than-average fish.
- Anchorage Schools cancelled all school-sponsored international travel in March and April due to concerns over the spread of coronavirus.
- Alaska Airlines says it will allow passengers to change or cancel travel reservations through March 12 because of concerns of coronavirus, and to receive a full credit good for up to one year.
- University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen announced this week that the university is proposing to delete, suspend, or revise more than two dozen academic programs in order to make up for budget shortfalls.
All that, plus Fish Radio, the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- Kodiak City Council advanced to public hearing a controversial ordinance which would allow sales of edible marijuana products.
- Kodiak City Mayor and City Council remember Dr. Bob Johnson and Coach Joe Floyd, who died within the last month.
- Endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales are continuing to drop in number and scientists aren't certain why.
- Private sector barges have benefitted from the near shutdown of the Alaska Marine Highway System, but it's costing state and private citizens a lot more to ship vehicles.
- The Anchorage Assembly is trying to figure out what to do with thousands of racially discriminatory covenants — now illegal — that remain on the deeds of thousands homes across the city.
All that, plus Fish Radio, the Island Messenger community bulletin and Island Byways. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com and Byways is produced by KMXT'S Pam Foreman.
In this newscast:
- An update on 2016 Pink Salmon Disaster funds,
- At tonight's meeting, Kodiak City Council will consider allowing sales of marijuana edibles, and next steps to collect sales taxes for online purchases.
- Remote Southeast town of Pelican gets a bit of good news — they'll get at least one ferry visit in the spring, after being left off the draft summer schedule.
- Without ferry delivery, one Southeast school district appealed to the Coast Guard for assistance with a delivery of school cafeteria food. The Coast Guard declined.
- J.P. Morgan Chase announced on Tuesday that it will stop financing new oil and gas projects in the Arctic.
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- The second "Blob" marine heat wave may have disappeared, but Alaska scientists warn, things aren't back to normal yet.
- Several cruise ships canceled stops in Kodiak this summer amid the spread of the coronavirus.
- Alaska State Legislature honors Kodiak's Dr. Bob Johnson with a memorial citation.
- Towns in Southeast Alaska are struggling without ferries. One issue in particular is the question of how to handle sanitation.
- A three-line bill would prohibit the state from selling, transferring or disposing of a state ferry without express approval by lawmakers.
- Pebble Partnership is proposing to offset its impact on wetlands by repairing sewer systems in three communities close to the mine site.
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- Remembering Joe Floyd, a beloved coach and mentor in Kodiak who started many of the high school’s athletic programs. Floyd died this past weekend.
- After years of receiving corporate donations from oil and gas giant BP, Alaska non-profits will have to adjust to a new kind of giving program under Hilcorp.
- Arctic Ocean temperatures are rising at rates faster than previously thought by the scientific community.
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski talks with KRBD’s Eric Stone about breaking with her Republican colleagues in voting for a resolution to limit the president’s power.
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- A fire decimated an outbuilding next to a residence on Sargent Drive on Sunday morning, just below Near Island Bridge. Kodiak Fire Department had the blaze out in an hour, despite difficulties due to the cold weather.
- Tribal officials are frustrated with the lack of movement from the state about getting rural Alaskans REAL IDs.
- Signature gathering for the campaign to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy has officially started. The campaign needs 71,000 signatures to hold a recall election.
- Five Italian tourists were rescued near the infamous Fairbanks city bus in which adventurer Christopher McCandless lived and starved to death in 1992.
- The National Archives and Records Administration facility in Seattle, which houses federal records pertaining to Alaska, is slated to close. Alaska's records could be moved to California, or even further away.
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- The second "Blob," a massive marine heat wave across the north Pacific, appear to be subsiding for now,
- Ketchikan city council is skeptical that a cruise-industry backed monitoring program can replace the scrapped Ocean Rangers program,
- The M/V Matanuska won't be returning to service in early March. Repairs have yet to begin on the broken down ferry.
All that, plus Fish Radio, the Island Messenger community bulletin, and Island Byways. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com and Island Byways is produced by KMXT's Pam Foreman.
In this newscast:
- Astra CEO Chris Kemp is keeping expectations low for the upcoming DARPA Launch Challenge launch at Narrow Cape,
- NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Morhard talks about some Alaska-related NASA projects,
- Gov. Mike Dunleavy calls for the Legislature to pay back the amount cut from the last few years’ permanent fund dividends,
- Haines and Skagway schools pay for charter boats to bring students and stranded travelers home from Juneau, raising questions about who should pay for alternative transportation while the Alaska Marine Highway System is down
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- Kodiak History Museum discusses the ongoing mission to preserve Kodiak's stories,
- Pebble Partnership leaned on Gov. Mike Dunleavy for help last summer, pleading the proposed mine was at risk,
- An update on the campaign to recall, after Stand Tall with Mike told its lawyers to withdraw its appeal of the recall yesterday,
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski calls on the state to make getting REAL IDs more accessible for Alaskans,
- A middle school band class in Sitka explores a technique called "soundpainting"
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Alaska Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- How does Kodiak's school district make the decision to close for a snow day?
- The organization opposing the recall campaign against Gov. Mike Dunleavy has withdrawn its appeal of the recall
- King Cove's Peter Pan processing plant — a major economic driver of the town — is up for sale
- State lawmakers are looking to extend state recognition of federally recognized Alaska Native tribes
In this newscast:
- Kodiak City Council approves a lease at Trident Basin and adopts a method for sharing the raw fish tax among area governments,
- The Rasmuson Foundation awards the Alutiiq Museum with an unsolicited grant of $25,000,
- Kodiak Rep. Louise Stutes' champions an amendment to budget an additional $11.3 million to restore year-round ferry service to stranded coastal communities,
- The shutdown of most of the Alaska Marine Highway System has jeopardized medical care for seniors and people with mobility issues in Southeast Alaska,
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski speaks on the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in a Senate hearing on Thursday
All that, plus Fish Radio, the Island Messenger community bulletin, and Island Byways. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com. Island Byways is provided by KMXT's Pam Foreman.
In this newscast:
- A preview of what's to come at tonight's Kodiak City Council meeting,
- Alaskan scientists work with their Canadian counterparts, studying the impacts of deadly warm stream temperatures on salmon,
- A bill to launch a lottery in Alaska was introduced in the Legislature on Wednesday,
- Alaska Chief Justice Joel Bolger assured the Legislature that the judiciary system remains independent, during his state of the judiciary address,
- Alaska Democrats will use ranked choice voting during this year's primary instead of a caucus system
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com
In this newscast:
- Kodiak joins coastal cities across the state in rallies to restore Alaska Marine Highway System service,
- Kodiak City Council considers locations for a new fire hall,
- Alaska's legislature is not considering any major proposals that would close the budget gap,
- The village of Kaktovik plans to rebuild its school after a fire last week — its priority now is to restore normal classes for the children
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- A rally to support the Alaska Marine Highway System is getting underway at Noon at the ferry dock,
- Public Works Director tells residents to keep dripping water in their homes as ground is still frozen enough to freeze them,
- From KMXT’s News Archives — Dr. Bob Johnson, who passed away last month, shares a some Kodiak history
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- Arts Council director Katie Oliver talks about the legacy of Kodiak's Dr. Bob Johnson,
- California-based rocket startup Astra is coming back to Kodiak for a launch scheduled for next Friday,
- Responders recover the bodies of five people who died in a Yute Commuter Service plane crash near Tuntutuliak last week,
- Donald Trump Jr. and his son will be embarking on a weeklong hunt for sitka blacktail deer, with a spot to join them auctioned off
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- Residents voice concerns about town bears at last night's Kodiak Island Borough Assembly meeting,
- Kodiak Chamber of Commerce to hold annual Coast Guard Appreciation Dinner tonight,
- Dean Gribble recounts what happened the events of the F/V Scandies Rose sinking on New Year's Eve (Note: this story includes intense descriptions of the sinking which may upset some listeners. To skip this story, jump ahead to 12:45 in the newscast recording.)
- All four boys found huddled in the snow near Nunam Iqua have been reunited with their family
- Five people are dead following a Yute Commuter Service plane crash near Tuntuliak,
- An Arctic policy expert told state lawmakers that Alaska will be at the front line of Arctic Ocean resources
All that, plus Alaska Fish Radio, provided by Laine Welch, and Byways, provided by KMXT's Pam Foreman.
In this newscast:
- Kodiak Chamber of Commerce organizes a letter-writing campaign to save the KFC/Taco Bell,
- A local group concerned about town bears to testify at tonight's Borough Assembly meeting,
- Kodiak school superintendent Larry LeDoux presented the district's plan for dealing with infectious diseases in light of the recent spread of the coronavirus in other parts of the world -- it remains an unlikely threat in Alaska,
- Regional ferry service will remain shutdown at least until March, since the last operating mainline ferry, the Matanuska, broke down two weeks ago,
- With wildfire and Medicaid expenses, state officials are asking the Legislature to add the most money to the state budget than they have in at least 10 years
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com
In this newscast:
- Medical workers union authorizes a strike on Saturday, holds an informational picket outside PKIMC,
- Gov. Dunleavy’s chief of staff announces the administration is asking the Legislature for AMHS repairs funding,
- Four children lost near Nunam Iqua, a village at the mouth of the Yukon River, located by ground searchers,
- A Togiak resident the city banished in 2017 is now suing the city for emotional distress,
- Police in Anchorage say there have been two recent incidents involving weapons at local schools
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski won’t vote to remove President Trump from office, but says he brought dishonor to the presidency.
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com. Note: there will be no Noon Newscast tomorrow, as KMXT will be carrying special coverage of President Trump's impeachment trial vote.
In this newscast:
- Katmai National Park is proposing requiring permits for visitors to the Brooks River Corridor, a popular spot for bear-viewing,
- Ferry Matanuska remains broken down in Juneau, with more than two dozen passengers and their vehicles stranded,
- Bethel GCI customers experienced intermittent internet connectivity possibly due to a cable break in Cook Inlet near Kenai,
- Alaska Public Media’s Casey Grove talks to state government reporter Andrew Kitchenman about Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s approaches to the budget,
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted against calling witnesses to President Trump’s impeachment trial on Friday
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch from alaskafishradio.com.
In this newscast:
- Kodiak KFC/Taco Bell closing its doors after 12 years in business,
- KISAR warns high avalanche risk for Kodiak after recent heavy snowfall,
- Alaska Department of Transportation organizes a caravan to help Skagway residents traverse obstructions on the Klondike Highway,
- UA President Jim Johnsen addresses the Legislature about tuition hikes and low enrollment,
- Juneau officials hold a closed-door meeting with Gov. Dunleavy after previously advertising it as public,
- Dunleavy promotes resource development in speech to Alaska business leaders
All that, plus Fish Radio, the Island Messenger community bulletin and Byways. Fish Radio is provided by Laine Welch at alaskafishradio.com, and Byways is a production of KMXT's Pam Foreman.
In this newscast:
- Kodiak receives nearly two feet of snow in 24 hours — longtime residents say that's how winters used to be,
- MH-60 Jayhawk crew from Air Station Kodiak medevac a badly burned fisherman from near St. Paul Island,
- Flight repatriating American citizens from Wuhan, China stops in Anchorage amid spread of coronavirus — state officials say everything went smoothly,
- Superior Court Judge Eric Aarseth issues another stay on recall supporters gathering signatures,
- First PFD education raffle held at an elementary school in Juneau,
- Sen. Murkowski asks a question during President Trump's impeachment trial that could indicate she favors calling witnesses
In this newscast:
- Blizzard updates for Kodiak,
- Gulf of Alaska cod appear close to losing the Marine Stewardship Council's sustainability certification,
- UAA sees a 10 percent drop in enrollment this fall,
- Pelican and Tenakee Springs react to a draft AMHS ferry schedule with no service for their remote island communities
All that, plus Fish Radio and the Island Messenger community bulletin.
In this newscast:
- Public Works fixes gushing fire hydrant at Walmart,
- Southeast high school basketball teams stranded in Upper Lynn Canal after engine trouble on the M/V Matanuska,
- Environmental group protests federal money going to a timber group to assess trees in the Tongass National Forest,
- Alaska lawmakers weigh whether to change the law that sets the amount of permanent fund dividends,
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s reactions to President Trump’s impeachment trial so far
In this newscast:
- Three problem bears killed last week, all near the same dumpster on Selief Lane,
- KEA's Upper Hidden Basin Diversion Project providing water security for Kodiak,
- Ferry Kennicott will be delayed getting back to Kodiak in April,
- State Village Public Safety Officer working group adopts final recommendations,
- Bethel Rep. Tiffany Zulkosky hopes to establish stronger relationships with Alaska Native tribes,
- Legislature votes against overriding Dunleavy's vetoes for school bond debt reimbursement, rural school construction and the ferry system