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Sen. John Coghill, on Jan. 20, 2015. Coghill voted in favor of authorizing the lawsuit. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North) A panel of Alaska legislators voted 11-1 on Tuesday afternoon to sue Gov. Mike Dunleavy over his decision to bypass legislative confirmation for his picks for state boards and commissions. “He is assuming he has…

The Arctic Coastal Plain (Department of Interior Photo) Alaska’s state-owned development corporation can now spend up to $20 million to buy oil leases in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The board of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority unanimously approved the spending Wednesday night. “I believe resource development is our…

Heroin fentanyl pills. (Photo courtesy of the DEA) The state Section of Epidemiology published preliminary data this week showing that Alaska’s suicide rate hasn’t gone up in the first three quarters of 2020, though unintentional drug overdoses are continuing an upward trend from previous years.  Alaska’s suicide rate remains among the highest in the country…

Anchorage Correctional Complex (Alaska DOC photo) Despite efforts to reduce Alaska’s inmate population during the pandemic, some facilities are crowded. Jury trials remain suspended, and many people have no idea when they will get their day in court. Plus, defense attorneys say their inability to meet with clients makes it difficult to resolve cases through…

Anchorage Correctional Complex (Alaska DOC photo) Stories are posted on the statewide news page. You can subscribe to Alaska Public Media’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @AKPublicNews Wednesday on Alaska News Nightly: As COVID-19 surges through state jails, some Alaskans are stuck inside. And, Alaska’s suicide rate is holding steady, but drug overdoses are…

Ketchikan High School (Photo from KRBD) Tribal leaders in Ketchikan say they have “no confidence” in the school district’s top administrator. Ketchikan superintendent Beth Lougee is facing allegations she’s mistreated Alaska Native faculty. A letter to Ketchikan’s school board from all but one elected member of the Ketchikan Indian Community Tribal Council stops short of calling for…

An Alaska 511 camera shows conditions at Mile 45.8 on the Seward Highway, near Summit Lake, at 1:30 Tuesday afternoon. Credit Alaska 511 The Silvertip Maintenance Station may be small but it covers a well-traveled, 60-mile swath of the Seward Highway, stretching from Moose Pass up through Turnagain Pass and the 17-mile Hope Highway. Facing…

Jeff Landfield, blogger, The Alaska Landmine, sports a black eye given to him by a legislative staffer in a bar in Juneau on Friday, March 22, 2019. The photo was taken on March 25, at his “office” in public lounge in the Capitol while he was talking with Alaska Energy Desk reporter Nat hertz. (Photo…

The coastal plain is the northernmost piece of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It covers about 1.5 million acres, about 8% of the vase refuge. (Department of Interior Photo) Alaska’s state-owned development corporation may bid in the upcoming oil and gas lease sale in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Alaska…

DOT Webcam image from Bird Point on the Seward Highway at 3:33 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020 Winds gusted as high as 112 mph on the Anchorage Hillside on Tuesday morning as a winter storm brought blizzard conditions and heavy rain to parts of Southcentral Alaska.  Residents of Bear Valley above Anchorage bore the…

A pond on ANWR coastal plain. The fate of the plain, also called the 1002 area, has been in dispute for 40 years over a proposal to drill there for oil. (Photo: USFWS) Stories are posted on the statewide news page. You can subscribe to Alaska Public Media’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @AKPublicNews…

Bill Pugh, a P.E. and math teacher at Aquarian Charter School in Anchorage, dressed up in different costumes once a week to help keep his students engaged on zoom calls. (Photo courtesy of Bill Pugh) It’s hard teaching a class of fifth graders about double digit multiplication over zoom. “I can’t be over my students’…

Liane White, 35, with her children Presely, 14, Jonah, 11, Daniel, 8, and Natalie, 16 months, pictured at her husband’s gravesite on the day of his funeral, Nov. 25, 2020. (Courtesy of Liane White) Bethel father Kevin White was only 35 when COVID-19 took his life. He left behind four children, ages 16 months to…

A vial of the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by drug companies Pfizer and BioNTech. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media) The vaccines from drug companies Pfizer and Moderna are being hailed as a game-changing weapon in the fight against COVID-19, which has killed more than 180 Alaskans and infected tens of thousands more. But for the next several…

A humpback whale in Glacier Bay National Park. (National Park Service) Southeast Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve typically gets more than 150 visits by cruise ships each year. National Park Service wildlife biologist Chris Gabriele said that means more than 600,000 visitors. But then the coronavirus pandemic erased Alaska’s entire 2020 cruise season. That made…

Alaska Native artists from around the state typically sell their work at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention. The Convention was held virtually this year, as was the art fair. (Casey Grove/Alaska Public Media) The COVID-19 pandemic upended Alaska’s tourism season and led to the cancellation of many in-person events. Artists in the state are…

Hilcorp’s Innovation drilling rig on the North Slope. (Hilcorp photo) JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — BP said it has completed its sale of assets and ownership interests in Alaska to Hilcorp, in a $5.6 billion deal first announced in 2019. BP announced Friday completion of its sale of pipeline interests, including its stake in the trans-Alaska…

A tree lit up for the holidays at Towne Square Park in downtown Anchorage on Dec. 8, 2020. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media) Alaska is a big state, but people are very connected here. If you want to find out how connected Alaskans are, just listen to the radio for a while on Tuesday morning. It’s…

A crane hoists a PenAir Saab 2000 airplane on Oct. 18, 2019. One person was killed and multiple people were injured when the plane went off the runway while attempting to land the evening before. (Laura Kraegel/KUCB) It was a blustery fall day at Tom Madsen Airport. A PenAir flight from Anchorage was making its…

Kids interact with Santa from behind a plexiglass barrier at Bass Pro Shop in Anchorage on Dec. 16, 2020. (Lex Treinen/Alaska Public Media) Stories are posted on the statewide news page. You can subscribe to Alaska Public Media’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @AKPublicNews Friday on Alaska News Nightly: By land, by air or…

Wade Marrs mushing into the Cripple checkpoint during the 2020 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. (Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media) The 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is still on, but teams are no longer headed on a 1,000-mile trail to Nome. Iditarod officials announced Friday that mushers and their sled dogs will instead travel on…

The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 doses contained in this box were too warm when they arrived in Ketchikan on Wednesday, officials say. (Eric Stone/KRBD) Ketchikan’s first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine was spoiled and couldn’t be used. But replacements have already arrived. Pandemic response officials said Friday that the 20 doses that arrived at Ketchikan’s airport on Wednesday were…