News

All news stories, regardless of topic (local, statewide + national news stories, as well as Talk of Alaska, Alaska News Nightly, Alaska Insight, Alaska Economic Report). Some news stories may also have other categories marked, which will also put them on a subpage. Not all news stories will fall into a subpage.

Premera Alaska Allows 5,200 Customers To Keep Insurance Plans

Health Insurer Premera Alaska will allow 5,200 customers in the state to keep their insurance plans. The company canceled the plans for 2014 because they didn't meet requirements of the Affordable Care Act. But earlier this month, after public outcry, President Obama said insurers could offer those canceled plans for another year, as long as states allowed it. Download Audio

SEARHC Front Street Clinic Soon To Be Under New Management

Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) decided to cut funding to Juneau’s homeless medical center at the end of September due to budgetary constraints. Front Street Clinic got a six month reprieve when the community was able to raise more than $120,000. Now, a coalition of local organizations have joined together to keep the clinic open, hopefully, forever. Download Audio

Juneau Panel Aims To Deconstruct Racism In Alaska And Beyond

A group of Juneau residents are tackling the issue of racism head on. Their work started earlier this year, and sprang out of the trial of George Zimmerman for killing unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, as well as a series of local events that had been building up for years. Download Audio

Breaking Up With Healthcare.gov

Enrolling in healthcare.gov is not easy. But Anchorage hair stylist Lara Imler is one of the few Alaskans who managed to get through the process late last month. Now though, after she discovered problems with her application, Imler wants to cancel her enrollment. And she's finding that may not be so simple either. Download Audio

FAA approves UAS Above JBER, New Runway Installed

Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or UAS, will soon be flying more often over Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Soldiers assigned to the aircraft just tested out a new runway on the base earlier this month. Officials say it will allow more training on the remotely piloted aircraft in Anchorage. Download Audio

Governor Appoints A New Judge To Bethel District Court

Governor Sean Parnell today appointed Nathaniel Peters to the Bethel District Court. Peters has experience in the local court system as he served in Bethel with the Alaska Public Defender Agency from 2003 to 2006.

State Proposes Changes to Oil Spill Response Plan

State officials were in Unalaska on Friday to talk about a proposal pre-authorizing the use of chemical dispersants on oil spills in Alaska waters.

KTUU And GCI Cable Continue Talks

The television station known statewide as Channel 2 will stay on the air in Juneau and Sitka through Dec. 6th, while the station andGCI Cable continue to negotiate carriage terms.

I am an Alaskan Pro Wrestler

After the untimely death of his brother, Michael Saunders set out to do something different. He founded the Alaska Pro Wrestling league and found closure amongst the barrage of punches and body slams. http://youtu.be/WMTUb4iKUpQ

Thanksgiving Risotto: Highly Refined Holiday Porridge

Today we’re getting ready for Thanksgiving. Sarah Alvarez has been writing her food blog The Hungry Alaskan for about two years. And being a food writer, it’s no surprise she gets excited about Thanksgiving. While risotto may seem like a simple dish, it does require constant attention; most of which is stirring. Read more.

Fishermen Propose Broader Testing of Electronic Monitoring

Alaska fishermen want to broaden the experimental use of cameras and other monitoring devices in the federal government’s fishery observer program.

State Completes New Magnetic Surveys of Historic Mining Area

Southwest Alaska has a special place in the state’s mining history with the gold rushes in the Iditarod and Aniak areas. It’s also where the future of gold is happening, at the nearby Donlin Creek project. The area now is getting a fresh look with the most recent survey technology.

Sealaska Dividends Total Close to $12 million

Most Sealaska shareholders will get a $713 check or direct deposit in about two weeks.This year’s winter distribution to stockholders totals $11.7 million.

Ice Coats Southcentral; Snow, Ice Expected Overnight

Freezing rain created hazardous driving conditions across Southcentral Alaska today and the roads aren't much better tonight. Freezing rain began coating snow at around 9 a.m. By noon cars were stranded across Anchorage and the People Mover Bus system shut down. Download Audio

Anchorage’s Ice Storm Closures

Freezing rain has hit Anchorage and is expected to stick around until this evening, when it is expected to transition into up to 5 inches of snow. The weather and detrimental road conditions have caused the closure or limited service of many entities and services around town. Click here to find a list of known closures.

Team Rubicon To Help Kotlik Clean Up After Storm

Team Rubicon, the disaster-relief NGO made up of retired military personnel, is heading to Kotlik on Monday. The same group has sent volunteers to Haiti, Pakistan, Chile, and, most recently, the Philippines. It’s part of the multi-agency effort to help communities in Western Alaska clean-up after powerful storms two weeks ago. Download Audio

Alaska SeaLife Center Using Resurrection Bay For Heat

As energy bills are rising for most people across the state, the Alaska SeaLife Center’s are actually dropping. That’s because they’re using the cold waters of Resurrection Bay to heat their building. Download Audio

Department of Defense Releases Arctic Strategy Document

The Department of Defense released a 16 page Arctic Strategy document on Friday. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel talked about it at an event in Nova Scotia. The report states the arctic is at a "strategic inflection point," transforming from a region of relative isolation to one of increasing access to resource extraction, fishing and tourism as sea ice recedes faster than projected. Download Audio

Richardson Highway Speed Limit Changed To 65 Between Delta Junction, Valdez

The State Department of Transportation begun changing speed limit signs this week along the Richardson Highway between Delta Junction and Valdez from 55 to 65 miles per hour. Download Audio

How Fairbanks Covered JFK’s Assassination

Fifty years ago when news of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy spread around the world, Alaska’s connection to the lower 48 was limited by technology. Listen to how how Fairbanks' newly created public radio station covered the story. Download Audio