Alaska News Nightly: Thursday, August 20, 2015

Stories are posted on the APRN news page. You can subscribe to APRN’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @aprn.

Download Audio

 

Second body recovered from slide, crews hone in on the third

Rachel Waldholz, KCAW – Sitka

Search crews have recovered two bodies from the Kramer Avenue landslide in Sitka.  One man remains missing but search dogs have alerted to a third location on the south side of the slide, where work focused this afternoon.

To stand a fighting chance, anti-Medicaid lawsuit needs to show irreparable harm

Annie Feidt, APRN – Anchorage

Medicaid expansion is set to roll out in Alaska September 1st. It would offer health coverage to 40,000 very low-income adults who don’t have children. The lawmakers suing to stop expansion will ask a judge for a preliminary injunction. That would prohibit the state from implementing the program before the issue is decided in court. Both sides of the lawsuit have specific points they need to prove to win the case.

NOAA: whale deaths in the Gulf are three times the average

Associated Press

A federal agency has announced plans for a more intense investigation into what caused the deaths of 30 large whales in the western Gulf of Alaska since May.

As fur seal numbers in the Aleutians decline, one population is curiously thriving

John Ryan, KUCB – Unalaska

A team of scientists with the National Marine Fisheries Service is on an isolated island in the Aleutian chain. Or, to be more precise, they’re a bit north of the chain. They’re researching an exploding population of fur seals on tiny Bogoslof Island.

Flint Hills refinery asks for loosened cleanup standards 

Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks

Flint Hills continues to push for a less stringent standard for removal of a spilled chemical from groundwater at the company’s shuttered North Pole refinery.

Transforming teaching: Nanwalek School received Apple tech grant

Shady Grove Oliver, KBBI – Homer

For students and teachers in the village of Nanwalek, this academic year will likely be very different from years past. They are the recipients of a technology grant from Apple that could change the face of education in the village entirely.

Storyworks: Refugees share their journeys

Anne Hillman, KSKA – Anchorage

Everyone has a story to tell, but it may not be the story you’d expect. An Anchorage non-profit called StoryWorks is helping teenagers find their stories, and this summer they focused on students who arrived in the state as refugees.

Previous articleNOAA: Whale deaths in the Gulf are three times the average
Next articleSecond body recovered from slide, crews hone in on the third