Alaska News Nightly: Thursday, May 14, 2026

Summary

Alaska News Nightly: Thursday, May 14, 2026 - Episode Summary

Podcast: Alaska News Nightly (Alaska Public Media)
Host: Casey Grove
Date: May 14, 2026
Description: This episode covers major legislative moves in Juneau, imminent oil developments on the North Slope, renewable energy initiatives in Southeast Alaska, local traditions in Bethel, and cultural education projects in Juneau’s schools. The reporting is grounded in diverse voices from across the state.

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Main Theme

This episode spotlights significant statewide developments—including the Alaska Legislature's rare rejection of the governor’s attorney general nominee, progress and questions surrounding North Slope’s Pikka oil field, landmark investments in clean energy, community traditions like the Kuskokwim Ice Classic, and the passing on of indigenous knowledge to a new generation. The reporting provides an in-depth look at the intersections of governance, resource extraction, renewable innovation, and community resilience.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Legislature Rejects Governor’s Attorney General Pick

• [00:25] Host Casey Grove introduces the episode’s lead: a historic legislative vote rejecting Gov. Dunleavy’s nomination of Stephen Cox for attorney general.
• [01:26] Reporter Eric Stone explains Cox’s record—Alaska's signing of over 100 amicus briefs in less than a year and a pattern of aligning with Trump administration legal arguments, particularly on contentious issues like birthright citizenship.
• [01:51, 01:58] Senator Luki Tobin (Anchorage Democrat) voices skepticism about Cox’s priorities:

  “We deserve an attorney general who is focused on our public safety, on consumer protection, on missing and murdered indigenous peoples, on racial justice, on rural protections, and on defending our constitutional rights. Not ideological national legal battles.” (01:58)

• [02:17] The birthright citizenship brief was a pivotal point. Senate President Gary Stevens (Kodiak Republican) and others opposed Cox for straying from Alaska’s constitutional norms.
• [02:49] Rep. Kevin McCabe (Big Lake Republican) defends Cox as executing the governor’s directives, not his personal agenda:

  “I suspect that a lot of what we are talking about here is not some rogue attorney general off on his own. I think that he's had direction... his boss is telling him to do.” (03:34)

• [04:04] Rep. Julie Coloum (Anchorage Republican) praises Cox for cooperation on city-wide public safety.
• [04:22] After rejection, Cox is moved to a new role as legal counsel to the governor, and other department appointments clear easily.

2. Senator Murkowski Breaks Ranks on Iran War Powers

• [04:45] Senator Lisa Murkowski, for the first time, aligns with Democrats to push a resolution removing US troops from Iran.
• [05:06–07:58] Liz Ruskin details Murkowski’s nuanced position: Murkowski still considers supporting nearly $30B in war funding, but forcefully presses for transparency from the Trump administration.

  “It is time for the administration to begin to withdraw our forces.” (06:24)
  “That's. That's eye popping.” (07:58)

• [06:54] Murkowski criticizes the administration’s claim that hostilities in Iran are over, accusing them of twisting the War Powers Act’s intent to avoid congressional authorization.
• [08:15] She emphasizes her role on the Appropriations Subcommittee and wariness about open-ended “forever war” appropriations.

3. Pikka Oil Field Readies First Batch of Oil

• [08:51] Casey Grove and reporter Wesley Early provide a first-person account of a journalist tour of the Pikka oil project, highlighting its scale and imminent launch.
• [09:27] Pikka is in the National Petroleum Reserve, about two hours from Deadhorse. Wildlife sightings and snowy tundra paint the journey’s backdrop.
• [10:11] Oil is already flowing in tests, but commercial sale hinges on finishing final commissioning—“imminent” but just behind schedule.
• [11:04] Pikka, led by Australian firm Santos, represents the largest North Slope oil development in decades.
  Joe Balash (Santos SVP):

  “We expect in this next year, you know, on a conservative oil price, we'll be contributing somewhere around $250 million to the Treasury. And over the life of the project, it gets closer to 7 billion.” (11:32)

• [12:12] Santos, new to North America, acquired Pikka in 2021; major investments, technological innovations (remote-controlled rigs), and environmental and community relations are detailed.
• [14:11] Efforts to collaborate with the Inupiaq community of Nuiqsut: special boat launches for local hunters, infrastructure improvements. John Cunningham (Santos):

  “They would have to go all the way to Ulitok scp, which is a couple hour drive by boat, and it shortens the drive by an hour so it’s well received by the community.” (14:28)

• [15:13] Journalists clarify that their tour, though organized by Santos, was independently funded. Senior Trump administration officials will visit next.

4. Renewable Energy: Wrangell’s Solar Power Farm

• [16:07] Wrangell launches a 44-acre solar farm to supplement costly diesel generation during hydropower maintenance.
• [16:41] Mason Vallarma (Wrangell’s borough manager):

  “This is huge for our economic development potential.” (16:41)

• [17:43] Spiking diesel prices, upcoming shipyard demand, and renewable goals drive the project forward.
• [18:55] Overcoming skepticism about solar in a rainforest climate:

  “It's built to support local renewable energy goals. We want to stay renewable and stay off diesel.” (18:51) — Robert Seidman (CEPA CEO) “I think we all have—solar works in the clouds.” (19:19) — Community exchange

• [19:23] Construction must be fast-tracked to meet investment tax credit qualifications; the project aims for completion despite Southeast’s cloudiness.

5. Kuskokwim Ice Classic Results & Community Traditions

• [20:03] Seasonal community bet on river ice breakup—Louise Russell and Shannon Samuelson split the jackpot at $9,550 each, with Russell’s birthday being a lucky pick.
• [21:08] Proceeds benefit local nonprofits, tying longstanding tradition with community support. Celebration includes music and hot dogs.

6. Cultural Education: Middle School Traditional Canoe Paddles

• [21:55] Juneau’s Thunder Mountain Middle School students learn woodworking and Tlingit traditions, carving their own canoe paddles.
• [22:18] Cash Miller, student:

  “I think it's really cool because it's paddles. It's really cool and you get like you get to use all these tools and it's really fun.” (22:40)

• [23:08] Teacher Johan Kugelman, Inupiaq, underscores the importance of connecting students to the significance of Southeast Alaska’s waters and their place in the world.
• [23:51]

  “Well, first of all, this, this kind of program was not kind of existing when I was their age, so... it would have been something that I would have loved to have taken in middle school.” — Johan Kugelman (23:51)

• [24:20] Brandon Gomez, apprentice, describes students’ enthusiasm:

  “There's been a few students that... may have skipped before and now they're like really, really locked in and they have some of the best, like, looking paddles, like the sharpest looking paddles, because they're really interested in this stuff.” (24:20)

• [25:03] Grayson Dalton, student, connects new learning to his identity as a Tlingit:

  “It's so much like funner and better to like learn more about it in Juneau.” (25:03)
  “It's fun learning it like more and like getting to know my culture.” (25:24)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We deserve an attorney general who is focused on our public safety... not ideological national legal battles.”
  — Senator Luki Tobin (01:58)
• “If you're born here, you are a citizen now.”
  — Rep. Kevin McCabe on birthright citizenship (02:49)
• “It is time for the administration to begin to withdraw our forces.”
  — Senator Lisa Murkowski, on Iran (06:24)
• “We expect in this next year, you know, on a conservative oil price, we'll be contributing somewhere around $250 million to the Treasury.”
  — Joe Balash, Santos (11:32)
• “This is huge for our economic development potential.”
  — Mason Vallarma, Wrangell Borough Manager (16:41)
• “It's paddles... you get to use all these tools and it's really fun.”
  — Cash Miller, Student (22:40)
• “It's so much like funner and better to like learn more about it in Juneau.”
  — Grayson Dalton, Student (25:03)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:25] – Breaking news: AG nomination rejected
• [01:26–04:22] – Detailed legislative debate on AG Cox
• [04:45–08:15] – Murkowski’s war powers stance and Congressional debate
• [08:51–15:49] – Pikka oil field tour and community relations
• [16:07–19:23] – Wrangell’s solar farm and Southeast renewable efforts
• [20:03–21:08] – Kuskokwim Ice Classic winners, tradition, and community giving
• [21:55–25:28] – Juneau middle schoolers’ Indigenous paddle carving project

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Conclusion

This episode exemplifies the breadth of Alaska’s challenges and opportunities—from the corridors of power in Juneau and Washington, to remote tundra oil camps, to vibrant classrooms and community celebrations. The reporting delivers a balanced mix of political drama, resource development, environmental innovation, and local tradition, closing on a powerful note of cultural continuity for the next generation of Alaskans.

Transcript

[Alaska Pipeline Service Company Announcer]

Support for Alaska Public Media on Demand comes from Alaska Pipeline Service Company proud of its ties to Alaska communities since 1977. More at Alyeskapipeline.com.

[Senator Luki Tobin]

We deserve an attorney general who is focused on our public safety, on consumer protection, on missing and murdered indigenous peoples.

[Casey Grove]

State lawmakers reject Governor Dunleavy's pick for attorney general. From Alaska Public Media. This is statewide news on on Alaska News nightly for Thursday, May 14th. Good evening. I'm Casey Grove. Also tonight, officials say the first sellable oil from Pica, the largest development on the North Slope in decades, is imminent.

[Joe Balash]

We expect in this next year, you know, on a conservative oil price, we'll be contributing somewhere around $250 million to the Treasury.

[Casey Grove]

Those stories and more tonight on Alaska News Night. The Alaska Legislature, in a historic vote, rejected Governor Mike Dunleavy's pick for Attorney General, Stephen Cox today. The 2931 vote is only the second time in state history the legislature has rejected a cabinet level appointee by the governor and the first since the Palin administration. As Alaska Public Media's Eric Stone reports, Cox's tendency to defer to the Trump administration and his willingness to wade into culture war issues ultimately doomed his nomination.

[Eric Stone]

Amicus briefs, sometimes also called friend of the court briefs, give interested parties a chance to weigh in on a case even when they're not directly involved. In Cox's roughly nine months in office, Alaska signed onto more than 100 of them. That's about one every two days.

[Senator Luki Tobin]

Alaska's attorney general has enormous discretion. They choose the cases and they put the credibility of the state on the line.

[Eric Stone]

That's Senator Luki Tobin, an acreage Democrat. She said Cox had not given lawmakers enough reason to trust that he'd use that discretion wisely.

[Senator Luki Tobin]

We deserve an attorney general who is focused on our public safety, on consumer protection, on missing and murdered indigenous peoples, on racial justice, on rural protections, and on defending our constitutional rights. Not ideological national legal battles.

[Eric Stone]

She pointed in particular to a brief in a Supreme Court case challenging birthright citizenship. That brief, signed by 25 state attorneys general, argues in support of the Trump administration's position that the simple fact that a child is born in the United States is not enough to establish them as a citizen. Nearly every Democrat and independent in the legislature voted to reject Cox. Republicans aligned with the House and Senate's bipartisan majority. Caucuses were split. One of them, Senate President Gary Stevens, a Republican from Kodiak, said Cox's brief opposing birthright citizenship was reason enough to vote him.

[Representative Kevin McCabe]

I just think it's the wrong headed approach to our Constitution. Constitution makes it very clear that if you're born here, you are a citizen now.

[Eric Stone]

It wasn't all about amicus briefs. During confirmation hearings, lawmakers also questioned Cox's approach to other conflicts with the Trump administration, like the Division of Elections decision to turn over confidential voter data to the Justice Department despite the Alaska Constitution's right to privacy. Cox defended himself to lawmakers, saying he'd followed a state law that allows voter data to be turned over to another government for legitimate purposes. And he said most of the amicus briefs he'd signed were written by other states and he didn't have an opportunity to edit them. Minority Republicans in the House and Senate defended him on the floor. All but one voted to confirm him. Representative Kevin McCabe, a Big Lake Republican, said he thought Cox was simply carrying out the governor's priorities.

[Representative Kevin McCabe]

I suspect that a lot of what we are talking about here is not some rogue attorney general off on his own. I think that he's had direction, direction's been provided to him. He's doing a certain number of things that his boss is telling him to do.

[Eric Stone]

Other Republicans commended his character, saying they'd been impressed with him. In one on one interviews, Representative Julie Colomb, an Anchorage Republican, said she was grateful for a joint effort between the state and the municipality of Anchorage targeting retail theft, public disorder and drug use.

[Representative Julie Colomb]

We've had a public safety problem for quite some time. AG Cox was vital to making that connection between the governor and the resources from the Department of Law to come help our city. And I really, really appreciate that from him. We haven't seen that before.

[Eric Stone]

The governor's office announced shortly after the vote that Department of Law attorney Corey Mills would take over as acting attorney general. But the story's not over for Cox. Dunleavy announced he'd appointed him to a new position, counsel to the governor, basically a legal advisor. After rejecting Cox, legislators approved four other Dunleavy appointed department heads in unanimous or near unanimous votes. Reporting in Juneau, I'm Eric Stone.

[Casey Grove]

Senator Lisa Murkowski voted for the first time with Democrats yesterday to advance a resolution to remove US Forces from Iran. But she says her stance is not absolute and she says she might be willing to approve nearly $30 billion to pay for the war. Alaska Public Media Washington correspondent Liz Ruskin explains Murkowski's nuanced position.

[Liz Ruskin]

Murkowski says the Trump administration won't tell Congress key information about the war, like its plan to open the Strait of Hormuz or how America's Mun stockpiles are holding up, and she says she needs more detail about what the war has cost beyond the round numbers the Pentagon has given lawmakers.

A couple weeks ago, the number was 25 billion. On Tuesday, they moved that up to 29 billion. But what wasn't clear was what that 29 billion actually covered.

Murkowski occupies rare ground as a Republican challenging Trump's war powers while remaining open to funding the same conflict, conflict she's trying to end. It reflects her frustration that the Trump administration is keeping Congress in the dark as it pursues a war that has already cost nearly $30 billion. She's tried for weeks to muster support for an authorization of use of military force, an aumf. It would have authorized Trump's war, which Democrats don't like, and put some restraints on it, which most Republicans oppose. She's setting that strategy aside for now, but she says she plans to keep voting for resolutions to end the hostilities

until such time as the president has basically complied under the War Powers Act. I think it is time for the administration to begin to withdraw our forces.

The War Powers act says a president has to get congressional authority to continue a war after 60 days. Instead of doing that, Murkowski says Trump claimed that the conflict no longer exists.

The president has said on May 1, 60 days after hostilities have ended, we've ceased the hostilities. And so therefore, there's no reason for me to come back to the Congress either requesting an authorization or really for anything. I think that that twists the intent and the meaning and the understanding of the War Powers Act.

Other Republicans are backing Trump's view that the hostilities officially ended with last month's ceasefire. Senator Dan Sullivan voted against advancing the Democratic measure, as did one Democrat, Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. If one more senator flips to yes, the resolution calling for the withdrawal of US Forces would go before the full Senate for debate. Meanwhile, Congress still holds the power of the purse over the war. Murkowski says she's waiting to see the administration's request for a supplemental war spending bill.

What we're talking about with this supplemental is what has been spent, and it's eye popping. 60 plus days, close to maybe $30 billion. That's. That's eye popping.

She sits on the Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees defense spending, and she says she wants to see a detailed request to make sure the administration isn't padding it with money for future fighting, leading the country into another forever war. Reporting from Washington, I'm Liz Ruskin.

[Casey Grove]

Still to come on Alaska News Nightly, Juneau, Middle Schoolers craft traditional canoe paddles.

[Cash Miller]

I think it's really cool because you like it's paddles. It's really cool and you get like, you get to use all these tools and it's really fun.

[Casey Grove]

That's ahead. Stay with us. When the Picka oil and gas field was discovered in 2013, industry leaders hailed it as the beginning of a renaissance on the North Slope that would extend the life of the Trans Alaska pipeline. Now, more than a decade later, the first batch of sellable oil is expected to come from that field soon. In anticipation of Pica's first oil, Santos, the company that operates the field, hosted a tour of the facility this week for journalists. Alaska Public Media's Wesley early was one of them and joins us now. First, Wesley, where is Pika anyway?

[Wesley Early]

Yeah, so Pica's on the North Slope

in the National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska, or npra. It's about a two hour drive northwest from Deadhorse. That's the logistics hub, oil field, camp sort of town there on the slope.

We took a small bus on a

long winding road to Picka where you see long metal pipelines flanking both sides of the road. It's pretty windy that day, snow blowing onto the road as we drove. Several flocks of birds like geese and ducks were on the side. Officials told us they typically come up for spring, but I guess they were early this year. And there were a couple arctic foxes and some caribou off the road. It's a lot of tundra, but it's pretty covered in snow right now.

[Casey Grove]

Gotcha. Still snow, some wildlife. But here's the big question. When are we going to see oil from Picka well?

[Wesley Early]

Oil is coming out of Pick already through like test drills, but that doesn't mean it's ready to be sold. Santos is still working on testing and installing the last bit of equipment at the Picka facility. Trevor Palahniuk is the operations and maintenance manager for this facility. He laid out what the first oil process will look like.

[Trevor Palahniuk]

Get the oil out of the ground, get it to the facility, finish commissioning the equipment that actually makes it sales spec crude, and then we can get it to market.

[Wesley Early]

Yeah.

So Santos admits it's a little behind its initial schedule on that.

In fact, at the main camp we stayed at overnight, there was actually this countdown clock to the first oil that had started to count up.

But they say it's coming soon.

When I toured around the pickup facility, the word of the day was imminent.

How imminent?

That's still up in the air. But Santos says it should come by the end of the month imminent.

[Casey Grove]

Okay, well, how does the Pick a project play into the wider oil and gas industry in Alaska?

[Wesley Early]

Well, so Pica is part of this

westward push across the NPRA in an area called the Nanushuk Formation. Most Alaska oil is still produced to the east in Prudhoe Bay. But Pica is the biggest oil development project on the North Slope in decades. As we all know, the state government gets the lion's share of its revenue from oil taxes, royalties, and fees. And Pica is expected to contribute billions to the state over its lifespan. Here's Joe Balash, a senior VP for external affairs at Santos.

[Joe Balash]

We expect in this next year, you know, on a conservative oil price, we'll be contributing somewhere around $250 million to the Treasury. And over the life of the project, it gets closer to 7 billion.

[Wesley Early]

So Balash's name might sound familiar.

He's a former state revenue commissioner and was the Assistant Interior Secretary for Land and Minerals during the first Trump administration.

This job with Santos is Baelish's first

foray into the private sector, and he

says he's hopeful that the first phase

of the pickup project, which again, is supposed to bring in like 7 billion dol over its lifespan, will lead to more exploration in the npra.

[Casey Grove]

Tell us more about Santos, the company that operates the Picka project. What's their deal?

[Wesley Early]

Yeah, so Santos is actually a newer

player on the North Slope. They acquired the pika area in 2021 after merging with the company, OilSearch. Pica's actually their only operation in North America. They're an Australian company, and before that, their only assets were in Australia and Papua New Guinea. A lot of people I met on the tour have decades of experience with the oil and gas industry, whether it was with BP or ConocoPhillips or Hill Corp. But a lot of them been working with Santos the last few years. And Santos has invested about $3 billion in the Deepicka project. And there are about 45 wells at the drill site out there. The operation also includes a processing facility, a seawater treatment plant, both of which were included on the tour.

[Casey Grove]

And speaking of the tour, did anything stand out to you?

[Wesley Early]

Well, right off the bat, the first thing you notice is how new the facilities are.

Lots of components had just been built and shipped in from all over the world. Palahniuk, the operations manager, told me a lot of the facilities on the North Slope are decades. There's some more modern advances in technology that Pick is able to take advantage of. One example is the rigs Control center. Poloniq says in the past, the control centers were at the rigs themselves, but Picas is actually able to operate remotely from the camp.

[Trevor Palahniuk]

So a lot of the older design of facilities that they call it facility siting wasn't really well understood. So you had a lot of control rooms to put into hazardous areas. So that's the biggest driver here, is that we got them out of there away from the site. So if there's a major incident back there, these guys are safe.

[Wesley Early]

So a lot of the rig's facilities

were active when we were there, which meant we had to have a bunch of safety gear. Things like coveralls, heavy boots, safety glasses, earplugs. Basically everything a worker has to wear, we were wearing.

Another interesting part of the tour was

the focus on the relationship between Pika and the local village of newikset, about nine miles away. The Inupac village of about 450 people has long had a complicated relationship with oil development. Balancing money that the local Kook Pic Native Corporation gets from owning the Sur mineral rights on the land with concerns over impacts to things like subsistence hunting.

Santos officials say they've been working hard

to strengthen their relationship with New Exit. Part of the tour was actually a boat launch that Santos built specifically for New Exit residents to use when they're hunting. Not even like Santos employees can use it. John Cunningham is Santos's community liaison with the village and says the boat launches help locals out a lot.

[John Cunningham]

They would have to go all the way to Ulitok scp, which is a couple hour drive by boat, and it shortens the drive by an hour so it's well received by the community.

[Wesley Early]

Other projects include a local bridge project

and upgrades to the village's wastewater treatment plant.

[Casey Grove]

Well, Wesley, it really sounds like they rolled out the red carpet for you.

[Wesley Early]

You know, I have to admit it was fun and interesting to spend some

time on the North Slope and see sort of in person how the oil is taken out of the ground and all the things that go into taking out things like gas and water from it. It's not a place that we as journalists get to often.

But I do want to point out that while Santos invited us on this

trip and facilitated it and of course guided the tour, we did pay our own way to get there.

And we aren't the only guests Santos

is showing the Pick a project to. A lot of the movement in Picker comes amid this national push from the Trump administration to, as they put it, unleash Alaska's resource potential. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is set to tour the facility on Friday, ahead of attending the governor's sustainable energy conference next week. And that'll actually come after a tour of ConocoPhillips Willow project. That's another major oil development that officials hope will bring a lot of revenue to the state.

[Casey Grove]

All right, well, that was Alaska Public Media's Wesley early talking about the tour that he went on of the Pika project on the North Slope. Wesley, thanks for being here.

[Wesley Early]

Thanks for having me.

[Casey Grove]

A 44 acre solar power farm in Wrangell is starting up. The local borough assembly approved the project at a meeting on Tuesday night. The island town is partnering with a nonprofit that supplies it and two other southeast communities with hydroelectricity. CoastAlaska's Angela Denning reports.

[Angela Denning]

Rangel uses diesel generated power every June for at least a week while the local hydropower system gets maintenance this year. That short stint is expected to cost Wrangel about a quarter of a million dollars. But a new solar farm could offset this cost in the future.

[Mason Vallarma]

This is huge for our economic development potential.

[Angela Denning]

That's Rangel's borough manager, Mason Vallarma, speaking to the assembly. The solar farm will start with a capacity of 1.5 megawatts, with plans to expand to 5 megawatts of battery power. That's enough to keep Rangel's lights on during short outages.

[Mason Vallarma]

If there's a bird strike on the lines or a tree on the lines or something like that, that fluctuation in voltage cause the whole grid to go down.

[Angela Denning]

Wrangell, like Petersburg and Ketchikan, runs mostly on hydroelectricity generated by two lakes. The system is operated by the public nonprofit Southeast Alaska Power Agency, or cepa. The communities share a power grid of overland lines and submarine cables. Valerma says solar energy will complement this hydropower system during periods of high demand, such as in the winter. He says it will also prepare Wrangell for economic development on the horizon, like a new shipyard that's expected to be the biggest in the region.

[Mason Vallarma]

The diesel price has skyrocketed given the war, Iran and geopolitical events. And as such, this project could fully run the town. We wouldn't have to burn any diesels.

[Angela Denning]

SEPA will build and operate the solar farm, leasing the land from the city and borough of Wrangell for $1 a year. In exchange, Rangel will get priority for the generated power. The location is about six miles south of town on previously logged land. The power agency has been seeking more capacity in recent years as residential use has gone up. The power agency also plans to expand its hydroelectricity capacity with projects over the next few years. But they also wanted to pursue solar. After studying other alternative energy options, they looked at wind. But in Southeast, it's either not blowing or blowing too strongly. Tidal technology is too new, and there are too many unknowns for permitting. And geothermal exploration was too costly. Robert Seidman is CEPA's CEO. He hosted a town hall in Wrangell this month about the solar farm.

[Mason Vallarma]

It's built to support local renewable energy goals. We want to stay renewable and stay

[Angela Denning]

off diesel, he says. People often question solar power in Southeast. After all, it is a rainforest. But he says solar still works. It just works less, say, than a sunny state like Arizona. He says Rangel's farm will run at about 10 to 20% of capacity over a year's time.

[John Cunningham]

Has anybody been out on their boat?

[Mason Vallarma]

It's been cloudy and you come home with a sunburn.

[Wesley Early]

I think we all have solar works in the clouds.

[Mason Vallarma]

It works.

[Angela Denning]

It's not clear exactly when the solar project will be complete. The first phase is expected to cost $6 million. SEPA hopes to use outside funding for most of it, including to save half through investment tax credits. That funding requires the project to be fast tracked. Some of the construction must be completed by July 4th due to the one big beautiful bill passed by Congress which killed the federal tax credit for residential solar projects. The borough's land lease term is 25 years. Reporting for CoastalASKA in Petersburg, I'm Angela Denning.

[Casey Grove]

The 2026 Kuskokwim Ice Classic is a wrap. Manager Haley Hanson stood beside the ice chunked Kuskokwim river as she phoned the first jackpot winner with the good news.

[Haley Hanson]

Okay. All right.

[Louise Russell]

So I want to let you know that with your guests of May 12th at 8am you have just won half of our jackpot for a total of $9,550.

[Haley Hanson]

Super cool.

[Casey Grove]

Louise Russell of Bethel's guess of 8am was, well, right on the money. The wooden ice tripod depicting a mama and baby moose tripped the clock and drifted downriver early Tuesday morning. But Russell wasn't the only one with a lucky guess. Shannon Samuelson of Napaskiak also chose the winning time, 8am May 12. The two split the jackpot of $19,100. Samuelsson says it was just a random number. As for Russell, the winnings come as part of a bigger celebration.

[Louise Russell]

Did you have anything, any reason in particular you picked that day and time?

[Haley Hanson]

Oh, no, that's my birthday, ma'.

[Angela Denning]

Am.

[Louise Russell]

Hey, happy birthday Part of this year's

[Casey Grove]

jackpot went to benefit local nonprofits including Teens Acting Against Violence, YK Delta Lifesavers, Delta Illusion Dance Company and Bethel Friends of Canines. Breakup arrived in Bethel one week later than last year, when the Ice Classic Tripod Clock stopped on May 5. In Ice Classic tradition, the announcement of the winners is followed by the annual Breakup Bash celebration to ring in the end of the winter with live music and lots of free hot dogs. Well more than 100 middle school students in Juneau are getting hands on experience to learn about traditional Lingit carving by crafting their own canoe paddles in the classroom. KTOO's Clarice Larson stopped by Thunder Mountain Middle School to learn about the project. And how's this story?

[Clarice Larson]

The sounds of sanding, filing and chipping and the aroma of spruce fills a classroom in Thunder Mountain Middle School school Early Monday morning, students are working on something pretty atypical of a conventional classroom experience. They're carving and designing their very own canoe paddles.

[Cash Miller]

I am trying to thin out my handle of my paddle.

[Clarice Larson]

That's Cash Miller, a seventh grader and one of the 20 or so students in the first period STEAM class at Thunder Mountain Middle School. Students who sign up for the class get hands on experience for tasks like wood and metal working, electrical, circu, basic equipment, safety. Miller says he enjoys the class first thing in the morning because it gets his blood flowing and he doesn't have to think too much.

[Cash Miller]

I think it's really cool because it's paddles. It's really cool and you get like you get to use all these tools and it's really fun.

[Clarice Larson]

Johan Kugelman teaches Thunder Mountain science, technology, engineering, arts and math classes. He gets help with the carving process from two carving apprentices from Goldbelt Heritage Foundation. The foundation, alongside Sealaska Heritage Institute, collaborates with the Juneau School District to connect students to Southeast Alaska's land and indigenous cultures.

[Johan Kugelman]

Southeast Alaska's water is really important. The ocean, the rivers, the lakes and stuff are really important. So it's really cool to kind of encourage that and kind of tell the kids that where they are growing up is actually really special. It's not like everywhere else in the world.

[Clarice Larson]

This semester is the first time students at Thunder Mountain are carving full size 5 foot tall paddles in the class. The Gold Belt Heritage foundation donated the spruce from Hoonah along with dozens of carving tools. Students get to learn how to use tools like chisels, bench planes, rasps, draw knives and electric sanders. Kugelman, who grew up in Juneau and is Inupiaq says it's a special experience for him to be able to share Indigenous knowledge through project based learning.

[Johan Kugelman]

Well, first of all, this, this kind of program was not kind of existing when I was their age, so it's, it would have been something that I would have loved to have taken in middle school.

[Clarice Larson]

Kugelman says he grades students on their safety, using the tools and the effort they put into each task of the carving process. Brandon Gomez is Tlingit and one of the apprentices helping students as they carve and paint the paddles. He says he's found that many students don't have a problem with putting in the work.

[Brandon Gomez]

There's been a few students that like, I don't know, may have skipped before and now they're like really, really locked in and they have some of the best, like, looking paddles, like the sharpest looking paddles, because they're really interested in this stuff.

[Clarice Larson]

So the spring semester is coming to a close soon and many students will finish their paddles within the next week. While many students said they plan to hang their paddles for display at home, Grayson Dalton says he hopes to bring his to Celebration next month. Celebration is a biannual festival in Juneau where thousands of Indigenous people in Southeast Alaska gather to honor and uplift their cultures. Dalton says that before moving to Juneau from Washington, he wasn't really connected to his Tlingit roots.

[Grayson Dalton]

No, we never really got the chance to do this in Washington. Maybe like once a year we would do like a little project about Native American history, but it's so much like funner and better to like learn more about it in Juneau.

[Clarice Larson]

He says through the class and project, he's finding that connection and more.

[Grayson Dalton]

It's fun learning it like more and like getting to know my culture.

[Clarice Larson]

School in Juneau ends for most students on Wednesday, May 20th. Celebration kicks off on June 3rd in Juneau. I'm Clarice Larson.

[Casey Grove]

And that's all for this edition of Alaska News Nightly. If you missed any of tonight's stories, we're [e-mail] and wherever you get your podcasts. We had reports tonight from Eric Stone and Clarice Larson in Juneau, Liz Ruskin in Washington, D.C. wesley early at the picket field on the North Slope, Angela Denning in Petersburg, and Samantha Watson in Bethel. Our audio engineer tonight is Dave Waldron. Kirsten Dobroth is our producer and I'm Casey Grove.

[Haley Hanson]

Good night, Sam.