Newscasts

In this newscast: An expert tells the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. Board a few bad years could jeopardize the ability to pay dividends and support state government, the federal government awards another $36 million in earthquake disaster recovery grants, a private business proposes building a new marine haul out in Sitka, Petro Star is set to begin transporting fuel by rail between Anchorage and Fairbanks, a man from Kaktovik agrees to plead guilty to killing a polar bear without harvesting any of its meat, the Seward Peninsula community of White Mountain has gone without regular postal service since late October, and NATO-affiliated researchers say social media companies are failing to stop phony accounts and manipulated activity. 

In this newscast: Several service members are hospitalized after a small Coast Guard boat collides with a small Navy boat near Kodiak, about 24 marine highway system employees will be “relieved of service” after the ferry Aurora is put in layup, the University of Alaska Board of Regents rejects a consolidation plan the Legislature had backed, Gov. Mike Dunleavy asks for public input on a bill to set up a framework for tribal governments to operate K-12 schools, the latest quarterly report from the company trying to get the proposed Pebble Mine permitted flags significant cash flow problems, the family of former Juneau man Cody Eyre files a wrongful death lawsuit after law enforcement shot him to death in Fairbanks, upcoming research will show the last advancing glacier off the Juneau Icefield is now in retreat, the annual holiday open house at the Governor’s Mansion is scheduled for Tuesday, and new research documents a spike in emergency room visits for mostly minor injuries that correspond to the rise of smartphones. 

In this newscast: Parents wrestle with impossible “what ifs” after their 19-year-old daughter’s death, Wrangell’s Evergreen Elementary School wins national recognition as a “distinguished school,” the city of North Pole encourages residents with contaminated groundwater to sign up for municipal water service, Quinhagak closes its airport to all night flights due to disabled runway lights, an Anchorage company fires and disciplines workers caught on video throwing Amazon delivery packages, 58 mushers sign up for the 2020 Iditarod, for the first time a Native American justice is appointed to Washington state’s highest court, and the Tennessee Aquarium gets an electric eel to light up Christmas lights. 

In this newscast: Gov. Mike Dunleavy appoints an acting commissioner of the Department of Revenue, Alaska is now the 50th state to confirm its first case of the vaping related illness, The Wilderness Society produces and sells out a show designed to compel young people to care about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s king salmon forecasts for Stikine and Taku rivers probably won’t allow for harvesting next year, a commercial fisherman from Naukati Bay pleads guilty to fishing in closed waters and falsifying a harvest report, the National Weather Service issues a winter weather advisory for Juneau, and the creators of the “Baby Shark” video announce they’re developing a version in Navajo. 

In this newscast: All 60 seats of the Alaska Legislature are filled for the first time since August after an Anchorage Republican is sworn into the House, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski dedicates funding to a bill in Congress intended to help law enforcement investigate cold cases of missing and murdered indigenous women, President Donald Trump’s pick to be Alaska’s next Federal District Court judge scores poorly in an Alaska Bar Association poll, the Alaska Bar Association flags a coming legal brain drain in the state as older lawyers retire, a new study identifies environmental hazards threatening rural Alaska Native communities, officials say more buildings were damaged by last year’s earthquake in Chugiak-Eagle River where regulations are more lax than in an Anchorage zone, the Fairbanks City Council considers raising the tax on vaping products to be the same as tobacco products, and a Delta Junction High School sprinter becomes the first athlete from that community to be offered a chance to compete at a Division 1 school. 

In this newscast: A newly formed committee charged with planning for Alaska’s redistricting process will hold its first meeting next week, a boat adrift in Gastineau Channel prompts a little mystery, Alaska Native cultural interpreters discuss the work of explaining their existence to cruise ship visitors, the Anchorage Assembly approves studying a waste-to-energy incineration plant, Skagway Brewing Company’s has harnessed carbon dioxide from making beer to fuel an aeroponic garden, authorities arrest a Fairbanks man for allegedly using a backhoe to steal a truck, and a bear is blamed for a pair of vehicle break-ins in Akhiok. 

In this newscast: Proponents of a ballot initiative push Alaska election reforms while Republicans say its unconstitutional, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game forecast another underwhelming year for pink salmon in Southeast Alaska, a new federal report flags more problems with the F-35 fighter jets scheduled to come to Alaska, and Oregon State University haul in the remains of a massive blue whale to reassemble its skeleton. 

In this newscast: Recall Dunleavy lays out its legal arguments for its application to recall the governor, retired ferry workers are concerned that tying up the ferry Malaspina indefinitely with minimal maintenance will lead to costly damage, the Haines Economic Development Corp. estimates the borough will lose $3 million in visitor spending with Holland America canceling most of its summer cruise ship visits, an Alaska pilot involved in a 2014 crash is convicted of obstruction for lying to federal transportation agencies, Anchorage reflects and tallies expenses a year after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck, and the Salvation Army begins its red kettle fundraising campaign with a new way to donate. 

In this newscast: President Donald Trump signs an executive order creating a White House task force on missing and killed American Indians and Alaska Natives, the administration of Gov. Mike Dunleavy settles a lawsuit that sought to declare the Alaska Hire law unconstitutional, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it may revise its timeline for a releasing its final environmental review on the proposed Pebble Mine, oil company Hilcorp and one of its drilling contractors each paid more than $25,000 in penalties after a fatal North Slope work accident, Ketchikan has gone from extreme drought conditions to abrupt dumps of rain triggering flood emergency responses, Bethel’s Public Works Department building suffers millions of dollars in water damage, Sealaska Heritage Institute announces three new children’s books including its first trilingual one, and the Seattle City Council approves a 57-cent tax on Uber and Lyft rides. 

In this newscast: The U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on Alaska’s campaign contribution limit laws, a lawyer suing over Alaska Permanent Fund dividend benefits for same-sex couples says about seven other denial cases had been identified, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy defends how his administration spent federal grant money as members of Congress inquire about potential misuse, far-north communities have found their ice cellars are no longer reliable due to climate change, 
seven months of weekends in the new cabin at the Eaglecrest Ski Area get booked within hours of the reservation system opening, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ nonprofit awards $5 million to an Anchorage nonprofit to house at least 300 homeless families, and enrollment in ukelele classes surpasses guitar classes at an Anchorage high school.