Individual news 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.
Begich Skeptical Of Syrian Strikes Without Congressional Assent
By Peter Granitz, APRN – Washington DC
The United States Sixth Fleet is sailing in the Mediterranean Sea, and the Fifth Fleet is in nearby Bahrain. The Pentagon is mobilizing forces for long-range bombings or cruise missile strikes.
With New Standards Test, Schools In For Rude Awakening
By Alexandra Gutierrez, APRN – Juneau
This year, Alaska got the OK to start judging schools using its own measurements instead of the standards required by the federal No Child Left Behind law. But with new metrics come new — and more difficult — tests, and state officials are expecting to see student performance fall as a result.
UAF Career Services Office Will Close
By Emily Schwing, KUAC – Fairbanks
Students are returning to the University of Alaska, Fairbanks campus for classes beginning this week. But this will be the last year they will have the opportunity to seek career advice from staff. The office of Career Services will close in December 2014 as part of what the University calls a “budgetary pullback.”
ASD Cuts Impact English Language Learners
By Daysha Eaton, KSKA – Anchorage
The number of immigrant, refugee and other students who need help with English is growing parts of Anchorage, but the school district is spread thin because of last year’s cuts and they don’t have the money to hire any new teachers or tutors.
Sequestration Cuts Shorten Head Start Year
By Ed Schoenfeld, CoastAlaska – Juneau
The Tlingit-Haida Central Council’s Head Start program serves more than 250 Southeast Alaska preschoolers. But they’ll have less time in the classroom this year due to budget cuts tied to sequestration. We took a this look at the program and the impacts of lower funding.
State Blocks $15 Million Hoonah Dock Grant
By Ed Schoenfeld, CoastAlaska – Juneau
State officials say they’ll withdraw funding for a $15 million Hoonah dock unless the Southeast city changes its location. The money was appropriated by the Legislature, in part to support the town’s Icy Strait Point tourist attraction, 40 air miles west of Juneau.
Lawmakers View Valley Farms
By Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage
The very word “Alaska” is synonymous with wintery snow and ice although on one Palmer farm, the sweet taste of summer can be found in an acre of plump, big -as- your -fist strawberries that are destined for sale at farmer’s markets. As KSKA’s Ellen Lockyer reports, a recent tour of Matanuska Valley farms is helping state legislators get in touch with Alaska’s agricultural potential.
