Interior

Alaska fourth graders had the lowest reading scores in the country in a national assessment last year.

A legislative working group has come up with recommendations that Alaska lawmakers hope will solve some of the issues with the VPSO program.

Bethel resident Renee Gregory grew up in a dry cabin with her family in Denali. “When I was a kid, that was my least favorite chore: cleaning the honey bucket.”

The Dunleavy administration acknowledges in its budget proposal that many rural Alaska areas depend on troopers for law enforcement and that current trooper staffing levels delay responses to violent crimes, including sexual assault and murder.

The extent of next summer’s road closures will be unclear until crews begin work at Pretty Rocks.

But experts say the details of what the Dunleavy administration proposes will be important.

The Alaska State Troopers’ plan — which includes transferring dispatchers in Ketchikan, Wasilla and Soldotna — was the subject of much concern at a recent assembly meeting in Ketchikan.

The scale of the gap between what the state spends and what it brings in is similar to last year — roughly $1.5 billion.

Cody Eyre’s family claims that the city of Fairbanks and the Alaska Department of Public Safety failed to properly train officers to respond to a mental health crisis, and that officers used excessive force.

Fifty-eight mushers have signed up for the 2020 Iditarod. Among them are six former champions, including 2019 winner Pete Kaiser. But one four-time champion is absent.