Alaska News Nightly

The State of Alaska has filed felony criminal charges against an oilfield services company on the Kenai Peninsula. An Anchorage grand jury indicted Baker Hughes and John Clyde Willis on 25 felony counts of assault.

The Anchorage School District calls for dismissing a volunteer judgewho disqualified a high school swimmer for a uniform violation. And, when it comes to delivering rural healthcare, reliable internet is critical.

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

Stryker Brigade soldiers deploy from Fort Wainwright to Iraq to help train security officers. Plus, can a new Anchorage business help residents eliminate plastic waste?

A new pool of warm water in the Pacific brings back memories of the blob. Plus, climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe wants Alaskans to talk more about global warming.

Coastal Alaska communities are bracing for higher ticket prices and big reductions in ferry service. Also: It's time to stock up on your supply of reusable grocery bags — Anchorage's plastic ban bag goes into effect Sept. 15.

The state ombudsman finds the Alaska Board of Fisheries broke the open meetings law. Plus: A new DNA technique that's helping solve decades old cases in Alaska and around the country.

DNA evidence may have helped solve an Anchorage murder from the 1970s. Also: How damage caused by the Swan Lake wildfire on the Kenai Peninsula could cause monthly power bills to go up in Anchorage and Fairbanks.

After a summer of uncertain budget numbers, homeless prevention service providers assess the damage. Also: How climate change, and more frequent wildfires, could be changing Alaska's forests for the long term.

Governor Dunleavy selects Representative Laddie Shaw to fill the late Chris Birch's Senate seat. Plus, the state asks the U.S Supreme Court to uphold the rights of a funeral home that fired a transgender employee.

Internal email casts uncertainty on future of BP Alaska employees; Is the USDA now leaning toward a full exemption of the Roadless Rule in Alaska?; As fires burn across Southcentral, a Montana study is looking at long-term effects of wildfire smoke; As Sec. DeVos promotes her Education Freedom Scholarship statewide, some advocates wonder how it would work in Alaska; Nanwalek is rapidly running out of water; Longtime lobbyist accused of fishing over the line; New alcohol regulations have brewers and distillers worried; Missile Defense Agency: ‘Kill vehicle' contract cancellation won’t affect Greely expansion; It's finally going to rain in Southcentral Alaska

Inside Hilcorp, the oil company taking over BP's assets in Alaska; Swan Lake Fire takes a toll on Homer businesses; Alaska regulation to limit events at breweries, distilleries; Medicaid to cover Alaska dental patients through September; During visit to Unalaska, Sullivan pushes for greater military presence in Aleutian Islands; Health officials issue public health alert about ‘vaping-associated’ lung illness; Alaska's licensed marijuana growers cite tax concerns; Lightning strikes reported on two Alaska Airlines flights Sunday near Juneau; There's tons of plastic polluting the ocean. A UAA professor hopes her book can show kids how to fix it.; Bethel community gathers to remember beloved teacher Sophie Alexie

BP’s Alaska exit not a surprise, experts say; What does BP's exit from Alaska mean for the state; After SCOTUS ruling, AG urges Dunleavy to limit public employees' unions; Swan Lake Fire conditions improve as residents remain on alert; Lightning started Paul's Creek Fire near King Salmon; Offal Fire moving away from Port Heiden; Alaska adding second insurer to individual insurance market; Fairbanks poet earns prestigious Willa literary award ; St. Herman’s legacy as a defender of Alutiiq people remembered

McKinley Fire close to 50 percent contained, evacuation levels lowered; 'Do they know that it's that bad?' Drivers describe 'hellfire' on Sterling Highway Sunday; Kennicott rescues boat passengers in Canada’s Inside Passage; Dunleavy sends letter encouraging potential Pebble investor; Rockslide blocks Pogo mine entrance; Water shortage looms in Chignik Lagoon; Dunleavy appoints 2 new members to human rights commission; In Alaska, Education Secretary DeVos touts alternative schooling agenda; Veteran musher Jim Lanier denied entry into 2020 Iditarod; Southeast Alaska’s summer chums returned much lower than expected; Elim residents ride on new roads; Kawerak says they’ll improve quality of life

51 homes burned from McKinley fire, 3 businesses, 80 outbuildings; Large chunk of Southcentral deemed an 'extreme drought' area for the first time; Poll by anti-tax Gov. Dunleavy shows Alaskans, narrowly, favoring more taxes; GOP sends 3 nominees for vacant Alaska Senate seat; Once vetoed by Dunleavy, funding for Alaska’s arts council is back in the budget; ConocoPhillips' next big oil project in Alaska takes another step forward; Unalakleet’s water troubles persist; city looks for long-term solution; Lawsuit blames fatal Butte home fire on gas company, owners; 2 Juneau 13-year-olds in custody after alleged school shooting threat; New transportation bill could reinstate funding for the Shakwak Project; At the moment, Donlin Gold isn't building a mine. But it is building a church

The latest on Southcentral wildfires: Aug. 22, 2019; Volunteers remain hopeful, as Levelock Fire reaches 5% containment; Experts: It’s heat and drought, not spruce beetles or leaf miners, that turned Alaska forests into kindling; Budget cuts rely on Medicaid savings that will be difficult to achieve; State agricultural workers react to restorations, and vetoes, from Dunleavy; Diocese of Juneau finds ‘credible evidence’ of sexual misconduct by Southeast Alaska priests; Alaska rolls back air ambulance ‘membership plan’ regulations; Bethel Iditarod champion Pete Kaiser to deliver 2019 AFN keynote address; Wrangell aims to put itself on the virtual map

'Pride' and 'sadness' for local Alaska crews who saved some homes from wildfires, and saw others burn; Caribou Lake Fire grows to 700 acres overnight; Swan Lake Fire pushes Cooper Landing's smoky air quality off the charts, literally; Pentagon scraps Fort Greely missile plan; Will EPA veto Pebble? Boss of agency says it’s not his call; Trump’s path to ‘energy dominance’ in Alaska hits a key obstacle: lawyers; Veto to debt reimbursement could raise your tax bill; To bolster financial options for refugees, a state program works to get them into farming

Alaska wildfire officials reassess cause of McKinley fire; ‘Nothing survived. It’s just ash.’ In a trickle of information, fire evacuees learn fate of homes; Wildfires crimp Alaska’s major transportation corridor, halting tourist operations, delaying groceries; 5,000-acre fire continues to burn outside Levelock; Dunleavy repeats calls for closing budget gap, paying full dividends; University of Alaska regents vote to end financial exigency; EPA hears testimony on air plan; Alaskan Joe Balash resigns as assistant secretary of Interior; Dunleavy vetoes ferry funding added by the Legislature in the wake of cuts; Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney visits Nome to discuss public safety

Southcentral fires burn, traffic at a crawl on highways, evacuees tell of heavy smoke and flames; Heavy winds breath new life into Swan Lake Fire; Smoke from Southcentral blazes creating unhealthy air conditions in Anchorage; This August is extremely abnormal, and fire likes it; Governor says third special session would focus on full dividend after allowing $1,600 PFD to stand ; Proposed Fair Share Act would raise taxes on oil companies; Alaska’s Planned Parenthood chapter withdraws from federal family planning program; Organizations partner to teach more Anchorage kids how to fish; ‘Molly of Denali’ creators help Juneau kids find their own voices

Group seeking Dunleavy recall isn’t stopping at minimum as it continues to gather signatures; Dunleavy says he won't veto $800K for OWL and homework help programs; Tali Birch Kindred, daughter of deceased state Sen. Birch, takes step toward trying to fill his seat; Heavy rainfall continues in Fairbanks area; Haines water department works to keep water flowing from Lily Lake amid drought; Plans for moving Napakiak school fuel tanks to develop at pace of erosion; Michael Krauss, Alaska linguistics expert, dead at 84; Sanitation is focus as Indian Health Service head tours Wales, Shishmaref; Fort Wainwright begins process of replacing old, increasingly inefficient power plant