Public Safety

An intrastate case raised grand legal questions about poor, rural Alaskans’ access to the justice system. Yet it was also an exercise in budgetary semantics with almost no practical effect — except for running up publicly funded legal bills.

A LifeMed medevac flight crashed into the water Thursday morning near Unalaska shortly after taking off from the island’s airport. No one was seriously hurt.

Only 500 feet from the shoreline, the ice thinned to just an inch and a half. Anything less than 4 inches is considered dangerous.

Temperatures in Juneau have been well below the 24-degree average low for January. That makes it tough for the more than 200 homeless people in Juneau.

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

The ruling allows the Recall Dunleavy campaign to move forward. But opponents are expected to appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court.

A judge ruled that an environmental review of ConocoPhillips’ exploration work did not violate federal conservation laws, as the Nuiqsut tribal government and environmental groups alleged.

The agency said it largely agreed with a report from Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration that reviewed the agency.

Ash eruption at Shishaldin Volcano in the Aleutian Islands has intensified, sending an ash cloud 27,000 feet in the air.