Loading summary
Transcript83 lines
- [00:07]
A
They knew that January was going to be cold. A lot of the work was done on the front end rather than kind of being in like a defense mode.
- [00:14]
B
Anchorage homeless service providers prepare for a frigid cold snap. From Alaska Public Media, this is statewide news on Alaska News nightly for Friday, January 2nd. Good evening. I'm Wesley Early. Also tonight, Alaska sees a spike in hospitalizations from the flu.
- [00:28]
A
We've never in our careers seen seeing so much both volume of flu coming into the hospital rapidly as well as how ill people are.
- [00:37]
B
Those stories and more tonight on Alaska News Nightly. Anchorage could see temperatures as low as 25 degrees below zero through the weekend. That's according to the National Weather Service, which issued a cold weather advisory for Alaska's largest city this morning. Weather weather service forecaster Trason Knops says temperatures should be coldest tonight and Saturday night. He says several parts of the city had double digit below zero temperatures already this morning. Knopp says the cold weather is due to a large arctic air mass moving down from interior Alaska.
- [01:12]
A
Fairbanks is dealing with even colder temperatures and that air mass just got pushed over south central Alaska and Cook Inlet region. Seen some of it as well.
- [01:21]
B
Those colder temperatures in Fairbanks, they've resulted in eight days in a row of temperatures below minus 40 degrees.
- [01:28]
A
So yeah, this stretch hasn't happened since 1979.
- [01:30]
B
That's Fairbanks based weather service meteorologist Stephen Dennis. He says the frigid weather is due to a large block of cold air floating above northwestern Canada. Though temperatures in the interior are set to warm a bit starting Monday. The frosty weather increases the risk of hypothermia or frostbite, which can occur on unexposed skin within five minutes. Additionally, the colder weather is a greater hazard for unhoused people. Alexis Johnson is director of strategy with Henning Inc. A contractor that runs one of Anchorage's homeless shelters. She says the shelter normally has a capacity of 100 people. But Mayor Suzanne LaFrance's administration approved an expanded capacity of 150 for the winter. After a cold snap in early December, Johnson says the city approved another expansion.
- [02:11]
A
We have had 200 people for the last, I would say nine days. But this was planning leading into they knew that January was going to be cold. A lot of the work was done on the front end rather than kind of being in like a defense mode.
- [02:28]
B
City officials have also made use of a warming area, the Anchorage Safety center with expanded warming capacity at the downtown transit center. Thea Agnew Bembin, a special assistant to Mayor Lafrance says the Anchorage Police Department's HOPE team has been coordinating with the city's various outreach departments, working with unhoused residents.
- [02:45]
A
They've been really focusing that outreach effort to make sure we're going out and checking with people, offering them to come indoors, offering them resources. We've also been coordinating that outreach effort with all of the camp reports that we get.
- [03:03]
B
Knopp, the Anchorage forecaster, says the city should start to see above zero temperatures after Sunday afternoon, as a winter storm in the forecast is expected to bring warmer temperatures, cloud cover and some snow. Flu cases are spiking in Alaska. Like in the rest of the United States and abroad, the state is also seeing a surge in hospitalizations related to the flu. Alaska Public Media's Rachel Cassandra has more on how Alaskans can protect themselves.
- [03:38]
C
At least three Alaskans have died from complications of influenza so far this season, according to state epidemiologists, and the surge in cases this year is happening earlier in the season than last year. Benjamin Wesley is an infectious disease physician in Anchorage. He says he and his colleagues are concerned about how many patients they're seeing with severe cases of the flu.
- [04:02]
A
Most of us are saying that we've never in our careers seen so much both volume of flu coming into the hospital rapidly, as well as how ill people are.
- [04:13]
C
Alaska has seen about 1100 reported flu cases so far this season. Those most vulnerable to have severe cases or be hospitalized include anyone age 65 and older, kids under 2, those with underlying medical conditions, obese people, pregnant women and black, Latino and Alaska Native people. Symptoms of the flu include fever, cough, sore throat, headache, a runny or stuffy nose and tiredness. Wesley says it can be hard to tell the flu apart from other respiratory illnesses, but he says people at higher risk for complications should consider getting treatment right away. Doctors can prescribe Tamiflu, which is a medication that can reduce the flu's severity.
- [04:58]
A
If you have a risk factor for bad outcome of flu and you have an influenza like illness, meaning you have symptoms consistent with flu, you do not need a test and shouldn't even really get a test. You should just get treated.
- [05:10]
C
Wesley says people sick with the flu need to talk to a provider to get a prescription, but but they don't necessarily need a doctor's visit. It's best to take Tamiflu within 48 hours of experiencing flu symptoms, but he says it can be effective for those with risk factors after that. Joe McLaughlin heads the state section of Epidemiology. He says this flu season is dominated by a new variant, but getting the existing flu vaccine is still the best prevention historically.
- [05:40]
A
Even when there are new variants of influenza that are circulating, people who are vaccinated tend to still have some protection against flu cases, but more importantly, they still seem to be quite well protected against hospitalization and death compared to those who have not been vaccinated, he says.
- [06:02]
C
Alaskans can also protect themselves by washing their hands, staying away from coughing people and staying away from crowds, he says. If you get the flu, you should stay home until you've been fever free without medicine for at least 24 hours. In Anchorage, I'm Rachel Cassandra.
- [06:19]
B
For many, the new year signals a fresh start. But for Alaskans, it also means it's time to apply for the Permanent fund Dividend applications for the 2026 PFD opened yesterday. Over 600,000 Alaskans receive the PFD each year, which is usually paid out in October. It's not yet clear how much the 2026 dividend will be. In 2025, Alaskans received $1,000, the smallest PFD in state history with when adjusted for inflation. The legislature and Governor Mike Dunleavy will determine the 2026 PFD amount during the upcoming legislative session. To be eligible for a pfd, you must be an Alaska resident for the entire calendar year and intend to stay in the state. Alaskans have until March 31. To apply, you can file online@mypfd.alaska.gov or pick up an application at any Permanent Fund Division office. Still to come on Alaska News nightly Wednesdays bring drum and dance to the Alaska Native Medical Center.
- [07:17]
A
This right here is not technology. This is real life. It's spoken through the drum and lived.
- [07:25]
B
Through the motion that's ahead. Stay with us. Two Alaska State troopers fatally shot a Fairbanks man on New Year's Day after he allegedly charged at one of them with a knife, according to the Alaska Bureau of Investigation. KUAC's Tim Ellis reports troopers got a.
- [07:42]
D
Report at around 11:30 Thursday morning about a man damaging property at a Fairbanks home. When the troopers arrived, they talked with the Suspect, identified as 24 year old William Rexford, an Alaska Native man, and with family members to find out what happened. According to trooper spokesperson Austin McDaniel, as.
- [08:02]
A
We were talking with the family members and Rex were kind of working to determine what happened. We made the determination he was experiencing some mental health issues. He was also making some suicidal statements to the troopers as they were all calmly speaking together.
- [08:17]
D
Just then, troopers say Rexford abruptly fled the living room as one of the officers tried to stop him.
- [08:24]
A
Without any warning Rexford jumped up from the couch he was sitting on, ran into a kitchen, armed himself with a kitchen knife and then charged one of the troopers that was right behind him.
- [08:35]
D
McDaniel said the troopers sustained a minor cut during the attack.
- [08:40]
A
Multiple state troopers that were in the residence by their handguns at Rexford. He was fatally shot as a result of that, and then another adult male that was in the residence was also struck by gunfire.
- [08:56]
D
Troopers then immediately began life saving efforts on both men until paramedics arrived and pronounced the suspect dead on the scene. Troopers say the other wounded man, who's a family members of Rexford's, sustained serious injuries and was taken to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital where he remained hospitalized Friday. Rexford's body was sent to the state medical examiner's office for autopsy, McDaniel said major crime investigators with the Alaska Bureau of Investigation were called in to conduct a forensic examination, interview people in the house and collect evidence. Once their investigation is completed, it'll be sent over to the state Office of Special Prosecutions, which will independently review the investigation to determine if any criminal charges should be filed against the troopers. The names of the two officers who were placed on leave in accordance to state Department of Public Safety policy will be released Sunday. In Delta Junction, I'm Tim Ellis.
- [09:56]
B
It's a new year, but Juneau residents are still digging out from four feet of snow that fell earlier this week. According to the National Weather Service, more than 80 inches of snow fell at Juneau International Airport last month. It made last December the snowiest December on record and the capital city's second snowiest month ever recorded. City Manager Katie Kester said in a press briefing earlier this week that the city is struggling to keep up.
- [10:21]
C
The snow removal process takes a long time because we basically have to either with snow blowers or loaders, load all of that snow up into dump trucks and then take it away. We're also having challenges with snow storage sites just because of the tremendous volume of snow.
- [10:37]
B
Fred Meyer closed early yesterday and did not reopen this morning. A spokesperson said they're closed for snow removal and hope to reopen as soon as possible. The Fred Meyer gas station is also closed after part of its awning collapsed. The roof of the Juno Shotokan Karate Dojo in the Mendenhall Valley collapsed on Wednesday morning. Board Vice President Sandy Burgess wrote on social media that no one was inside the building at the time. At least nine vessels and multiple boat shelters sank at Juno's harbors Throughout the week, the city's docs and harbor staff are working around the clock to respond to reports and are pleading with owners to check their vessels. Harbormaster Matt Cresswell says dozens of boats have had near misses.
- [11:19]
A
It's going to be a long process.
- [11:20]
B
Though, with the number of boats that.
- [11:22]
A
Are that are currently sunk, but staff's ready for that challenge and we'll be working in earnest starting today raising vessels.
- [11:31]
D
But expect that to be a couple week process.
- [11:33]
B
The Alaska Department of Transportation reopened Fain Road on New Year's Day after performing avalanche mitigation on the ridge above. Officials say the avalanche danger remains high in all neighborhoods below Mount Juneau. No major snow is forecast to fall in Juneau until Monday. However, temperatures are expected to drop this weekend. The Sitka assembly is looking to address an ongoing problem in the city bears breaking into trash cans. But how the body will go about it is still up in the air, KCAW's Hope McKinney reports.
- [12:17]
E
When the Sitka assembly met on December 30, Bear Trash Management strategies were on the group's agenda. But one of the item's sponsors, assembly member Scott Saleen, was hoping for participation from key stakeholders like residents of neighborhoods with high bear traffic, Alaska State Troopers and Sitka's solid waste contractor, Alaska Waste.
- [12:39]
A
I've asked people to show up here and just try to re emphasize what it's like to live up Indian river with brown bears squishing on your front doors and kids waiting for the bus year after year with bears in the shadows. So I'm just hoping that people didn't show up because they're shy to come before the assembly.
- [12:58]
E
Sitka has seen an uptick in bear calls over the past several years, starting in 2021, when a record 14 bears were put down either by law enforcement or homeowners. In response, the city re established a Bayer task force, which recommended bear resistant trash cans as one possible solution to the problem. The preferred cans came with a hefty price tag and the city did not move forward with the recommendation at the time. Then this summer, the city started a pilot program in the Indian river neighborhood to see if a centrally located trash bin would reduce bear traffic, But Municipal Administrator John Leach said they still need to check the data to see whether or not the effort was successful. Martha Moses sits on the Sitka Tribe of Alaska Tribal Council and was part of the bear task force.
- [13:49]
A
I think we talk a lot about the garbage situation, but we have a bear problem. We know bears develop habits and we know that the bear that's going over to the Coast Guard housing into the Edgecombe School area has got a habit because he's been going there for two, three years now. And so, you know, there's more than just Indian river. There's other areas that we've shared at the bear task force. And so when they become a problem, they should be taken care of. That's what we really wanted to have, not just Indian river, but our community.
- [14:24]
E
Leah Mason is with Baranoff Island Housing Authority. She agreed that the Indian river neighborhood isn't the only place with increased bear activity and that rather than using new cans, the city should look into dealing with organic waste differently.
- [14:39]
F
I've been house sitting in Bjerke street when somebody shot a bear across the road from Market center. We've had bears getting into the large cans at Monastery. The bears are currently opening people's cars. We've had a garage door pulled off by a bear trying to get to something in someone's garage. So there's a lot of discussion about what would work and we have a lot of experience of what doesn't.
- [15:05]
E
Assembly member Katie Riley recommended talking to Alaska Waste about cost and with the Sustainability Commission, which she said has been looking at solid waste management solutions, especially reduction efforts.
- [15:18]
C
So seeing if we can dovetail some of those efforts to both like reduce the amount of solid waste that's being generated and figure out if there's any kind of like value added thing that we can do, especially with organic waste to divert that, you know, as like a particularly bare attractant waste and then.
- [15:39]
B
Come up with some, some of those.
- [15:40]
C
Neighborhood wide solutions like that could be all part of a comprehensive strategy.
- [15:45]
E
Municipal Administrator Leach said addressing the issue is complex and might require restructuring solid waste rates, renegotiating with the garbage collection contractor and adjusting city code.
- [15:58]
A
Ultimately, whatever the solution is and if it's going to cost more, it's going to get passed on to the ratepayer in some expense. Meaning if you don't want the bin at your house and want to use the big one, like how's that going to work? Are you going to pay for both of them if it's in your neighborhood? I don't know.
- [16:14]
E
As for the future, assembly member Celine said he hopes to encourage more stakeholder participation at upcoming meetings.
- [16:21]
A
Can't subpoena people, but I'm going to get the paper trail going so that the next meeting we could have people here and make this come together.
- [16:29]
E
Reporting in sitka, I'm Hope McKenney.
- [16:33]
B
The federal government this week gave up its claim to ownership of the North Fork of the Forty Mile river in Alaska's eastern Interior, court documents show. The move was announced by the state Department of Law and comes after a seven year legal dispute between the federal and state governments. The Forty Mile river is a tributary to the Yukon river southeast of Fairbanks. Alaska was given ownership over the lands below navigable rivers since statehood, but the state and federal governments have disagreed about what it means for the river to be navigable. The U.S. bureau of Land Management previously classified the portions of the Forty Mile river as non navigable and therefore owned by the federal government. Robert Anderson is a Native American law specialist who served as a solicitor of the U.S. department of the Interior under the Biden administration. Anderson says that ownership matters because it affects decisions about hunting and fishing as well as mineral extraction.
- [17:24]
A
If the state owns the submerged lands, they can authorize activities in that submerged land like mining and so on, which is often takes place in these areas that are navigable for part of the year, but part of the year the dry were very shallow, anderson says.
- [17:40]
B
The ownership also defines who has jurisdiction over subsistence hunting and fishing. The region around the river is also where the first major gold discovery happened in interior Alaska, and it continues to be a home for gold mining. Alaska sued the federal government seven years ago over the ownership of the portion of the river, arguing that it is navigable. The recent move by the federal government comes after a review of the disputed area. John Sturgeon is a former president of Alaska Safari Club. He says the decision is significant because it allows for local control over the river.
- [18:12]
A
The state of Alaska is much more responsive to the needs of state of Alaska residents when it comes to hunting, fishing, travel, commercial development, all those things.
- [18:22]
B
President Trump issued an Alaska specific Executive order last January that mandated a review of the navigability of Alaska waterways. Governor Mike Dunleavy praised the 40 mile decision in a statement and said that the president's administration has been fulfilling its promise to resolve land ownership disputes. Meanwhile, western Alaska residents who evacuated Anchorage after the remnants of typhoon halong battered their villages are now moving out of city hotels and into temporary housing. Jeremy Zitic is a spokesperson for the state's emergency response.
- [18:52]
A
People are looking forward to having a little bit more privacy, having a little bit more room, being able to cook for themselves and really kind of settling in a little bit better.
- [19:08]
B
The state moved evacuees into hotel rooms around Anchorage in early November after some had stayed in mass shelters for several weeks following the storm. More than 500 people are still in hotel rooms, but as of the end of the year the state had moved more than 150 people into temporary housing. Zitik says there are financial and logistical hurdles that slow down the process with.
- [19:29]
A
A diverse group of people with different capabilities. We have to really do that case by case and do that casework. So it's a complicated process, and to do that with 600 people is taking some time.
- [19:45]
B
Each move requires background and credit checks, and the homes need to be furnished, which Zitik says has been a challenge. They're routinely buying out stores around the city. The state is also working to keep extended families close to each other, and Zitic says the extreme cold weather this winter makes moving more difficult as well as Another hurdle is the tight housing market in Anchorage. But Zitik says housing is tight around Alaska, and Anchorage actually has more availability than the rest of the state. The state of Alaska has a cost share agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or fema, to fund the hotel stays. Zidik says once people move into temporary housing, that changes.
- [20:22]
A
Most people moving into the temporary housing are taking advantage of that FEMA rental assistance. And then as we move down the road, there'll be other housing assistance funding that could be brought to bear for people. It's based on a case by case basis.
- [20:42]
B
Zitik says. Some people have started working and are able to pay their own rent. The state pays for the cost of the move and to furnish the homes. And Zitik says the state will focus on rebuilding in western Alaska in the spring so that those who want to return home can do so as soon as possible. And you can count on it like the steady beat of a Native drum. Whether it rains or snows or even if it's New Year's Eve, there's one thing that always happens at the Alaska Native Medical Center. On Wednesday nights, dancers fill up the hospital lobby. Over the past few Wednesdays, KNBA's Rhonda McBride went to check out the scene where the past, present and the future come together as one.
- [21:27]
F
These days, we mostly see Alaska Native dance groups on a stage, but in the hospital lobby. The dancing is not meant to be a performance, instead a shared experience. The rhythms are almost hypnotic, yet the dancers are fully present. Everyone is seated within a circle of sound motion that spirals out from a small group of drummers. You can feel the air swirl around you as dance fans fringed with wispy white fur from caribou beards almost brush across your face, and you're close enough to hear the drum's low tones bend like rubber. Earl Polk III is in from Bethel, here in Anchorage to await surgery. He says the dancers and drummers make him feel fully alive, something that's hard to do in our modern world.
- [22:33]
A
This right here is not technology. This is real life. It's spoken through the drum and lived through the motion.
- [22:43]
F
Polk says he's reminded of growing up in At Mouth, a Yubik village near Bethel.
- [22:49]
A
It shares the energy of somebody else that has gone on, but they're still here. You can feel it. You can feel it in this room. And I hear their sound here. It's the only frequency of theirs that I have left.
- [23:07]
F
But dance is not really the word to describe what happens in this room.
- [23:13]
B
In Yupik, we say you rock, not dance.
- [23:17]
F
Kyle Watson is 12 years old, a sixth grader at Mears Middle School in Anchorage. He's here every Wednesday. His movements are sharp and precise, as if every fiber of his being snaps to the beat of the drum.
- [23:34]
B
It just makes me happy.
- [23:37]
F
Once Kyle is, he says, any anger or sadness fades away. The Yuhak demands his full attention.
- [23:45]
B
I keep on learning more about epic words, and I keep on learning more about dance motions, too.
- [23:54]
F
And then it's as if he's channeling something from another time and place. Kyle's grandfather, personally Alexei, usually stands in the back of the room to watch.
- [24:08]
A
I'm proud of him. He makes it fun. I enjoy meeting other people that enjoy watching him, too. And I'm proud to say he taught himself.
- [24:19]
B
He taught himself.
- [24:21]
D
Kids in their most pure form can do anything, and they could never do wrong.
- [24:28]
F
Asi Gayakhayak says this dance gathering is going on its 16th year and by far as one of the leaders of the group. The best part is watching kids like Kyle.
- [24:39]
D
This kid is purely motivated to learn those songs by heart and let his body, let his feelings express it. He has that gift, and it's fun to watch, and it's fun to embrace.
- [24:55]
A
And let him be who he was meant to be.
- [25:01]
F
Haya Hayek says Kyle's voice is an echo from the spirit world, proof of what his mother always told him, that our ancestors are always with us. In anchorage, I'm Rhonda McBride.
- [25:34]
B
And that's all for this edition of Alaska News Nightly. If you missed any of tonight's stories, we're online@alaskapublic.org and wherever you get your podcasts. We had reports tonight from Rachel Cassandra, Ava White, Hannah Flor, Alyona Knightson and Rhonda McBride in Anchorage, Tim Ellis in Delta Junction, Clarice Larson in Juneau and Hope McKinney in Sitka. If you want to send us a news tip, question or comment. Email us@newsalaskapublic.org Our audio engineer is Crystal Hyde. Casey Grove produced tonight's show. And I'm Wesley Early. Have a great weekend.
- [26:08]
D
This is statewide news on Alaska Public Media.