Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, sits at his desk in the Alaska House of Representatives on Jan. 16, 2024. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media) Stories are posted on the statewide news page. Send news tips, questions, and comments to news@alaskapublic.org. Follow Alaska Public Media on Facebook and on Twitter @AKPublicNews. And subscribe to the Alaska News Nightly podcast. Thursday on Alaska News Nightly: The number of Alaskans dying from opioid overdose is accelerating faster than anywhere in the country. Plus, a planned graphite mine draws environmental concerns from Nome ..read more

King Cove in August 2023. (Theo Greenly/KUCB) The city of King Cove is worried about the future after its seafood processor announced earlier this month that it will cease operations. The plant, formerly owned by Peter Pan Seafood Company, is the economic engine of the community on the Alaska Peninsula.  A new owner will take over the processing plant, but it’s unclear when the facility will reopen. Kirsten Dobroth is the Alaska reporter for Undercurrent News, which is a commercial fishing and seafood industry trade magazine. She’s been reporting on what this means just ahead of salmon se ..read more

Eagle River’s multi-sport athlete Bobby Hill. (Image courtesy of Alaska Sports Hall of Fame) On this Outdoor Explorer host Lisa Keller sits down with Harlow Robinson, executive director of Healthy Futures and the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame. On April 30, the Hall will induct the class of 2024. Harlow tells us about the people and the moment that comprise this year’s class, as well as the annual Director’s Awards and the popular 100 Miles in May. HOST: Lisa Keller GUEST: Harlow Robinson, executive director, Healthy Futures and the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame LINKS: Alaska Sports Hall of Fame ..read more

The Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday about whether a president enjoys broad immunity from criminal prosecution after leaving office. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images) A majority of the Supreme Court appeared skeptical of granting a president blanket immunity from prosecution for criminal acts. But it was unclear whether the court would act swiftly to resolve the case against former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president. The justices pushed lawyers for Trump and the special counsel prosecuting him over the limits of presidential immunity, but mu ..read more

Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, center, sits at his desk in the Alaska House of Representatives on Jan. 16, 2024. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media) The Alaska House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a proposal that would bar children under 14 from creating social media accounts. The measure came as an amendment to an otherwise unrelated bill that would require adult websites to verify users are 18 or older. Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, said he drew inspiration for the social media measure from an unlikely source — a conservative Republican governor thousands of miles away. “This amendme ..read more

A team of scientists and Alaska Native community members use an autonomous underwater vehicle to explore the continental shelf west of Prince of Wales Island in southeast Alaska, seeking submerged caves and rock shelters that would have been accessible to early inhabitants of the region. (From NOAA) A few years ago, a set of 20,000-year-old human footprints in a dry lakebed in New Mexico set scientists reeling. Those fossilized footprints, originally discovered in 2009, called into question what we thought we knew about when people first showed up in North America. Archaeologists thousands of ..read more

Commercial Tanner crab in Petersburg, Alaska in 2023. (Photo by Andy Wright) Three men are charged in federal court with illegally transporting Alaska crab to sell in Washington. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Alaska says Kyle Potter and Justin Welch caught crab in Southeast Alaska this spring and moved them to Seattle at the direction of Potter’s dad, Corey. The federal indictment says Corey Potter owns the two fishing vessels involved, which were run by his son, Kyle, and Welch. One of the boats is the 97-foot Arctic Dawn, which has been docked in Petersburg this spring but is ..read more

A rendering of the conceptual design of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s education campus. (Courtesy Tlingit and Haida) A new campus slated for Juneau will be dedicated to immersing children in Alaska Native culture and languages, according to the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. Tlingit and Haida President Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson announced the plans last week during his State of the Tribe address at the 89th Annual Tribal Assembly. The 12-acre tribal education campus would serve students from early childhood int ..read more

(Courtesy of Anchorage Opera) Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata” has stood the test of time and continues to be one of the most beloved and performed operas to this day. With a tragic love story between Violetta and Alfredo and some of the most recognizable melodies of the genre, Anchorage Opera’s production promises to be an excellent introduction to opera and a unique take on an old favorite. Anchorage Opera’s Stage Director, Laura Alley (center), and Principal Conductor, Brian DeMaris (right), recently joined State of Art host Ammon Swenson to discuss their production of “La Traviata.” (Ammon S ..read more

Travelers and their luggage in a terminal at Los Angeles International Airport in August 2023. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — In an effort to crack down on airlines that charge passengers steep fees to check bags and change flights, the U.S. Department of Transportation has announced new regulations aimed at expanding consumer protections. One of the final rules announced Wednesday requires airlines to show the full price of travel before passengers pay for their tickets. The other will force airlines to provide prompt cash refunds when flights are canceled or significantly changed. “P ..read more