Tim Ellis, KUAC - Fairbanks
Tim Ellis is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
‘There’s Nothing Left to Cut’: Fairbanks Assembly Gives School District $800K Boost
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly approved a measure that allows the area school district to keep $800,000 that it would’ve been required to give back to the borough. Assembly members say the action was a small step toward helping the district cope with personnel and program cuts that district officials have proposed to deal with an $11 million state funding shortfall.
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Fairbanks School Board OKs Budget That Cuts 60 Jobs; Member May Seek Salary Freeze
The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District Governing Board passed a budget Wednesday that would cut about 60 full-time positions and trim many programs. One board member who voted against the measure says the cuts go too far, and she says she'll push for a salary freeze to reduce the impact of the cuts.
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Army Confirms Investigation of Racism in Stryker Brigade
Army investigators have confirmed they've launched a formal investigation into a Stryker Brigade soldier’s allegations of racist behavior by some members of his unit. The action follows an earlier informal inquiry into allegations- first outlined in a story published Wednesday by the Army Times.
Army Investigating Stryker Brigade For Allegations of Racist Behavior
Army investigators are looking into a Stryker Brigade soldier’s allegations of racist behavior by some members of his unit. A U.S. The allegations were outlined in a story posted today to the Army Times’ website. The story cites an NCO with the 25th Infantry Division’s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Wainwright. According to the Times’ story, the staff sergeant says soldiers with the platoon created a weekly opportunity to racially slur fellow soldiers during a weekly event the sergeant says was known as "Racial Thursdays."
Tanana Chiefs Says DOJ Tracking Fairbanks Four Case
A member of the Tanana Chiefs Conference Native Justice Task Force says the federal Department of Justice is tracking the case of the Fairbanks Four. That’s the four Alaska Native men who the task force and others say were wrongfully convicted of killing a teenager in Fairbanks in 1997.
Sikuliaq Commissioned, Ready to Begin Research
The Research Vessel Sikuliaq was officially commissioned Saturday in a ceremony at the boat’s home port in Seward. The commissioning marked the end of decades of efforts to design and build it; and the beginning of its mission to research the Earth’s rapidly changing and increasingly important polar regions.
Mayor, Chief Pitch ‘Community Policing’ At South Fairbanks Meeting
Fairbanks’s mayor and police chief rolled out a new approach to law enforcement last night. The community policing program is getting started in crime-plagued South Fairbanks.
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Fairbanks Assembly OKs Air-Quality Ordinance; Dissenter Predicts Voter Backlash
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly passed a sweeping air-quality ordinance Thursday night that supporters hope will finally begin to clean up Fairbanks’s wintertime air pollution. Most members agreed the ordinance isn’t perfect, but that it’s a good start.
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Cuts Could Cost Fairbanks Schools Over 60 Jobs
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Schools superintendent says the district is facing a budget shortfall of up to $11 million in the coming school year. Karen Gaborik says that will require the district to eliminate more than 60 jobs.
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Stampede State Rec Area Advocates Say They’ll Persist, Despite Budget Woes
Supporters of the proposed Stampede State Recreation Area near Healy aren’t giving up. Tonight the Denali Borough Assembly will consider and probably pass another resolution urging the Legislature to create the new rec area.
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Fairbanks Delays Vote On Air Quality Regulations
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly has delayed voting on a package of air quality regulations, following abundant public testimony for and against the ordinance at a hearing Thursday night. The regulations are aimed at cracking down on wood and coal heating systems that chronically pollute neighborhoods, and many of the comments focused on the health impacts.
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Delta ‘Subsidizes’ Landfill – and Wonders Where’s the Missing 400 Tons of Trash?
City of Delta Junction officials are worried about the rising cost of operating the city’s landfill. And they’re wondering what happened to the 400 tons of trash they were expecting to be dumped there.
News-Miner to Begin Requiring Electronic Subscriptions for Frequent Online Visitors
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner will soon begin charging a fee to frequent visitors to its website. The so-called “paywalls” are a growing trend in the U.S. newspaper industry, used by some as way to recoup revenue lost to online news sites. But many in the newspaper industry disagree over whether paywalls hurt or help online readership. That disagreement is being played out between the Alaska’s two top news sites.
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Blindingly Bright ‘Moose Lights’ Worry Troopers – But They’re Legal, Unregulated
High-intensity headlights are popular and getting more so, especially here in Alaska during the long, dark winter months. They’re called “moose lights,” because they help drivers see farther down the road than conventional headlights to spot animals and other hazards. But Alaska State Troopers say moose lights can also create a hazard by temporarily blinding oncoming motorists in the other lane.
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Delta-area Birders Spot Species New to Interior During Christmas Bird Count
Delta Junction-area birders participating in the annual Christmas Bird Count spotted a rare species not normally seen this far north in the winter.
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DEC Commissioner to Rule in 2015 on Groundwater Sulfolane-Cleanup Level
It appears the dispute over how much to clean up contaminated groundwater in the North Pole area will continue into the new year. Officials with the state’s environmental regulatory agency are still reviewing studies to help them decide on a safe cleanup level for the chemical that leaked from a North Pole refinery into the area’s groundwater.
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Avalanche Survivor Returns to Rainbow Ridge, Recovers Bodies of Companions
The survivor of the Dec. 6 avalanche at Rainbow Ridge returned to the site in the Eastern Alaska Range last week to recover the bodies of his friend and dog. Michael Hopper says he had to go, because Alaska State Troopers had ruled out a recovery mission until the danger of avalanche in the area subsided. That could’ve taken months.
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Generators Going Again; Lights Back on In Ft. Yukon
The lights are back on in Fort Yukon, including the Christmas trees, now that three of the village’s four electrical generators are functioning again. A couple of weeks ago, the holidays didn’t look so happy for the remote Yukon River community, when all but one of its generators broke down.
DEC Reaches Diesel Spill Site Along Dalton Highway
The state Department of Environmental Conservation has been able to get back in to a remote spot along the Dalton Highway where a fuel tanker wrecked and overturned Sunday night, spilling 1,200 gallons of diesel. The spill and a fire that burned the wrecked rig occurred near the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.
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Federal Spending Bill Appropriates $100 Million for Missile Defense in Alaska
The federal omnibus spending bill that awaits President Obama’s signature contains $100 million for missile defense in Alaska. It's the only major funding for military construction work in Alaska this fiscal year.
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