Lori Townsend, Alaska Public Media
Lori Townsend is the news director and senior host for Alaska Public Media. You can send her news tips and program ideas for Talk of Alaska and Alaska Insight at ltownsend@alaskapublic.org or call 907-550-8452.
NEA Alaska President Says Teachers Should Not Be Armed
National Education Association Alaska President Ron Fuhrer says representatives from all 50 states believe they have as much if not more information about how to reform public education than lawmakers do. Fuhrer says in light of recent school shooting tragedies there is a heightened concern over school safety, but he says that doesn't mean teachers should be armed. “The last thing that an educator should be concerned about is trying to shoot someone, " Fuhrer said.
Catholic Church Rings In ‘Fortnight For Freedom’
If you’re in Juneau, Fairbanks or Anchorage tomorrow, you may hear the bells of the Catholic Church ringing at noon. Catholics in Alaska have been observing a two week period leading up to July 4, called the Fortnight for Freedom.
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Court Issues Decision On Indian Child Welfare Act
The U.S Supreme court released another decision today that has implications for tribes in Alaska. The Indian Child Welfare Act or ICWA was enacted to stop American Indian and Alaska Native children from leaving their biological families and tribes when these children were being placed in foster care or up for adoption. ICWA mandates a preference for the Native child’s family and tribe before non Native placement can be considered. The Supreme Court’s decision is in response to a case in South Carolina.
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Artist Making Masks Representing Top-10 Diseases In Alaska
On a recent sunny afternoon, Alaska Native mask carver Drew Michael puts the finishing touches on an enormous mask under a canopy in his backyard in east Anchorage. Michael is creating three foot by five foot wooden masks that will be painted by artist Elizabeth Ellis to represent the cells of the top ten diseases in Alaska for a show called Aggravated Organizms.
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McKinley To Denali Name Change Legislation Passes Out Of Senate Committee
The long time tug of war over the name of North America's highest peak was back in front of the U-S Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee on Tuesday.
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State, Federal Governments Investigate Deepwater Port Possibilities
The state and U.S. government are partnering together to investigate building a deep port at Nome or Port Clarence. They’re in the early stages of the study. Officials from the Alaska Department of Transportation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineer visited Nome, Brevig Mission and Teller last week to collect public input about marine infrastructure and to hear about local concerns over natural resource impacts.
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Alaska Author Tackles Arctic Gardening
Seth Kantner is known to many Alaskans as the award winning author of the novel Ordinary Wolves and a collection called Shopping for Porcupine.
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Former Marine Speaks About Military Toxins, Potential Health Risks
A former Marine Corps Master Sergeant is in Alaska visiting communities to talk about military toxins and the potential health risks of those exposed. Jerry Ensminger spent 25 years in the Marines, but a local television news story about drinking water contamination that became a super fund site at Camp LeJeune in North Carolina changed his life.
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Galena Flooding Forces Many To Evacuate
More than half of Galena’s 400 residents have evacuated as flooding from an ice jam on the Yukon River worsened today. Power has been shut off as a precaution, there is no city water available.
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Yukon River Causing Flooding In Galena
The Yukon river is flooding in Galena as an ice jam at a notorious bend called Bishop’s Rock is keeping water high near Galena.
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New Book Explores Lost Legacy Of Harry Karstens, Stuck Expedition
One-hundred years ago today, the first expedition to summit Denali was slowly making its way up the mountain. After setting out from Fairbanks in mid-March, the four man team finally topped out on North America’s tallest peak on June 7, 1913. It’s often called the Stuck Expedition, after Hudson Stuck, the man who organized it. But a new book tells the story of the man who led the expedition to the top. Harry Karstens was a determined sled dog mail carrier with no previous climbing experience.
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Galena Prepares for Flooding as Yukon River Ice Remains Jammed
National Weather Service staff are in Galena monitoring rising Yukon river water and conducting fly overs to check on one particular jam.
Stu Ramstad Relives Memorable Moments In The Air
Alaska is celebrating 100 years of aviation this year. And aviator Stu Ramstad is an important part of that history. He grew up in a gold mining family. And became a pilot at age 14 in 1954. He says he didn’t goof off in the air. He considered the plane a tool that you loaded up and used to deliver supplies. But he told APRN’s Lori Townsend, he did have scary times as a pilot and survived two in-flight fires.
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Alaska Native Rapper Finding Worldwide Success
There are not great numbers of female rappers and Alaska Native female rappers probably number in the single digits. But one such artist is finding great success in the state and around the world as a woman with a passion for raising awareness of the struggles of Native people.
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Tribal Leaders Paint Bleak Picture At Summit
Tribal leaders and representatives met in Anchorage last week to denounce the exclusion of Alaska Native tribes from the Violence Against Women Act reauthoritization and other problems facing Alaska's tribal people.
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Scientists Study Mt. Redoubt’s 2009 Seismic Activity
For several months in 2009, Redoubt volcano had residents of Southcentral Alaska on edge. Scientists warned that the volcano could erupt at any time in January. But it wasn't until mid March that Redoubt sent a ash plume thousands of feet into the air.
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New Film Covers Former Governor Wally Hickel
The colorful and often controversial former Governor, the late Wally Hickel is the subject of a new film entitled, “Alaska, the World and Wally Hickel.” Consulting producer Paul Brown says the film covers everything from Hickel’s resolve to rebuild downtown Anchorage after the devastating 1964 earthquake, to his firing by President Richard Nixon when he served as Interior Secretary and disagreed with Nixon over the war in Vietnam. The former Governor was around 78 years old when Brown met him. He says Hickel was still youthful in his vision.
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Crowley, UIC Form Joint Venture In Arctic
Long time marine transport providers Crowley Marine Services and Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation or UIC Bowhead have formed a joint venture to help meet the growing demand for services in the Arctic.
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Spring Whaling Begins In Arctic
Despite the lingering effects of winter, spring whaling has begun in Arctic Alaska and seal hunters are also heading to the coast from Chevak in the Southwest part of the state. Grace Levettte with the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission in Barrow confirmed today that whaling crews on St Lawrence Island have landed a total of three bowheads so far – two for Gambell and one for Savoonga.
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Still Points North
Writing well is not an easy task and writing about painful family breakups is even harder. On the next Hometown Alaska, Lori Townsend hosts guest Leigh Newman, author of the new book Still Points North: One Alaskan Childhood, One Grown up World and one long journey home. Leigh's riveting story tells of her struggles growing up between two homes; her father's in Anchorage and her mother's in Baltimore.
KSKA: Wednesday 4/24 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm