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Support for Alaska Public Media on Demand comes from Siri, an Alaska Native corporation with operations and investments spanning five continents, 45 states and two US territories. You know we're facing even tighter revenue constraints than before. The state legislature gavels in amid growing concerns about Alaska's financial future. From Alaska Public Media, this is statewide news on Alaska News for Tuesday, January 20th. Good evening. I'm Casey Grove. Also tonight, the Office of Children's Services is the subject of a new lawsuit around the state's foster system.
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As a state, we've continued to see a decline in foster homes. We've continued to see challenges with workforce.
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Those stories and more tonight on Alaska News Nightly.
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Hi, I'm Avery Elphelt, a reporter with the Alaska Desk. That's a joint reporting effort from Alaska Public Media, khns, where I work in Haines and other public radio stations in Anchorage, Fairbanks and the Aleutians. It allows us to connect you with the issues happening in communities all across the state. You can hear our stories during the morning news on Alaska News Nightly or online@alaskapublic.org the The Alaska Desk is only possible with the support of grants and listeners like you. Thank you.
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The Alaska Legislature is back in session. Lawmakers in the House and Senate gaveled in this afternoon. They have the next four months to act on a multitude of issues facing the state, from energy prices and the possibility of a gas pipeline to the perennial question of how the state will pay its bills. Alaska Public Media's Eric Stone reports in.
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The Alaska State Capitol today. It's a lot like the first day of school. Lots of smiles and hugs. Some what did you do this summers? Blue delphiniums and yellow roses adorn the dais. But despite the sunny mood, there is a cloud over this year's session.
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We know we're facing even tighter revenue constraints than before. We know that demands will continue to.
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Rise as they always have.
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That's Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican. For years, Alaska has had a structural deficit. The state treasury takes in less money than it pays out. Last year, lawmakers approved a permanent fund dividend of just $1,000. That's an all time low when adjusted for inflation. So this year, members of the bipartisan majority leading the state Senate say raising revenue is their top priority. Senator Lyman Hoffman, a Democrat from Bethel who co chairs the Senate Finance Committee, says even a $1,000 dividend will be a challenge this year with oil prices persistently low.
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One way or another, if we are going to continue to provide the services that people of Alaska have been accustomed to that. That is the the million dollar question can we come up with revenue measures this session?
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Lawmakers and Gov. Mike Dunleavy have repeatedly butted heads on the best ways to raise money for state government and, of course, how to spend it. Last year, Dunleavy vetoed the sole significant revenue raising bill to reach his desk, saying he wanted lawmakers to make fiscal reforms part of a larger package. The bill would have tweaked the state's corporate income tax structure to capture more re from out of state businesses. The state House and Senate plan to consider overriding that veto on Thursday morning after a two day delay at Dunleavy's request. But it's unclear whether lawmakers will be able to muster the necessary supermajority. Paulman Republican Representative Delaina Johnson, who leads the all Republican House minority, says she'd like to see lawmakers consider something more comprehensive.
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I think we need to take up.
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Things as a whole, not as just individual items, and they may have a chance this year. Dunleavy told reporters in December that he's planning to roll out a fiscal plan that would serve as a bridge to brighter d. He says growth in the permanent fund and a potential gas pipeline will eventually ease the pressure. But in the meantime, I think the next five years we're going to have.
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To be real careful and we're going.
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To have to have in place things.
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That will pay for government. Dunleavy may provide some clues in his final State of the State address on Thursday. But it's not just fiscal issues facing the state this year. There's also the possibility of that natural gas pipeline connecting the North Slope and south central Alaska moving forward. The developer of the project, which has been a dream for decades and is now a priority for the Trump administration, says it plans to make a final investment decision early this year. Anchorage Republican Senator Kathy Giesel says that'll be the top issue in the Senate Resources Committee this year.
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The Resources Committee will be looking at the resource itself and its impact and the project's impact. Then we'll be sending it onto the Finance Committee that will dig even deeper into the finances.
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And more urgently, lawmakers say they'd like to craft a funding package for a variety of infrastructure projects Dunleavy, vetoed from last year's budget. Trade groups recently sounded the alarm and asked lawmakers to quickly approve $70 million in construct, saying the vetoes risked as much as $700 million in federally backed construction projects. House Speaker Bryce Edgman, a Dillingham independent, says lawmakers plan to dig into that issue promptly.
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You know, I think there's a lot riding on that decision, and I expect us to spend ample amount of time right from the opening moments looking at it closely and figuring out what and how we're going to approach it.
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And that's still not all. There's education, health care, elections, a state pension plan, all priorities for various legislators in the coming session. What will get done, though, is an open question. Senator Republican Senator Burt Steadman says lawmakers likely won't be able to address everything.
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So we'll have to prioritize that that list. There's only so much bandwidth in the Legislature.
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They have until May 20th to get it done. Reporting in Juneau, I'm Eric Stone.
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An Alaska foster youth advocacy organization is suing the state Office of Children's Services for allegedly failing to provide food and necessities for older youth in their career. The lawsuit, by Facing Foster Care in Alaska, claims foster youth placed in shelters or college dormitories don't receive enough money for food or basic needs like they would if they were in a home placement with a family facing foster care, Director Amanda Metivier says for years she's heard complaints from foster youth that they cannot afford to buy enough food or other basic necessities for a young person.
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In the dorm who needs transportation to a therapy appointment. The state has a duty to cover that cost. When the commons close during winter break and there's no meal plan, we hear from those youth who say, I don't know how I'm going to eat during winter break.
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Alaska Foster Youth 16 years and older get a small stipend to help with transitioning to adulthood for things like getting a driver's license. But Metivier says the stipend amounts to a small fraction of the more than $1,000 a month that foster families get to provide food and Necessities Facing Foster Care has provided gift cards to cover transportation and food outside of meal plans and shelter meals, according to the lawsuit. The Office of Children's Services declined an interview for this story, but an official with OCS wrote in an email that they routinely offer food and clothing vouchers, bus passes and other transportation assistance, and that young adults have access to the same funding streams as younger children. Metivier says her organization's youth board works with OCS and has brought up the issue multiple times without resolution. She says some other states have better systems to provide stipends to youth living independently as they transition out of foster care.
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As a state, we've continued to see a decline in foster homes. We've continued to see challenges with workforce in the child welfare system and those things are not going to improve overnight. And these youth have needs right now and this would be a pretty simple way to solve that right.
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Facing foster care in Alaska filed the lawsuit Jan. 6 in state civil Superior Court. As of Friday, there were no hearings set yet in the case. It's been almost a year since Glenfarn Group LLC took over development of the Alaska LNG project, and since then it's netted a handful of non binding agreements from companies tentatively interested in becoming natural gas customers. But where others have come from, places like Taiwan and Japan. The latest comes from a company that does business in Alaska. Donlen Gold LLC and Glenn Farn announced a non binding early stage agreement Jan. 7. Glenfarn would lend Donlin its pipeline expertise and Donlen would buy natural gas from Glenfarns. According to a press release, donlin would buy 50 million cubic feet of natural gas from the Alaska LNG project every day. That's about one and a half percent of the project's daily capacity. Glenfarn says adding new commercial natural gas customers brings potential costs down for all buyers. And Donlin's been trying to get its own project off the ground and proposing its own smaller natural gas pipeline that would power operations at its proposed gold mine in southwest Alaska. But neither the Alaska gas line nor the Donlen gold mine are a sure thing. Donlin's waiting for a feasibility study before deciding whether to move forward. And Glenn Farn has not decided to develop the 800 mile pipeline yet either. A natural gas pipeline that spans the state has been floated for decades, but it's long been stymied by a steep price tag. The most recent cost estimate puts it around $44 billion, but that's an old number, so Glenn Farne has enlisted a private company to update that estimate. Last week, a Glenfarn spokesperson said the update is complete, but Glenfarn won't publish the new cost. Initially, the company said to expect a development decision by the end of 2025. Now a development decision on the pipeline is expected in the coming weeks. Still to come on Alaska News Nightly, the resident baby giant octopus at the Sitka Sound Science center has outgrown her current current tank.
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She is so small and we have to be careful with octopus that they can't climb out and get into trouble.
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That's ahead. Stay with us. I'm Theo Greenlee, a reporter with the Alaska desk. That's a joint reporting effort from Alaska Public Media and kucb, where I work in Onalaska and other public radio stations in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Haines and the Aleutians. It allows us to connect you with the issues happening in communities all across the state. You can hear our stories during The Morning News, Alaska News nightly or online at AlaskaPublic.org the Alaska Desk is only possible with the support of grants and listeners like you.
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Thank you.
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After more than a year of negotiations, Alaska's largest school district and the local teachers union have come to a tentative contract agreement. Anchorage School District and Anchorage Education association officials announced the agreement in a joint statement Saturday. The Union represents roughly 2,800 educators. Its newly elected president, Kristi Sitz, celebrated the agreement.
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We have worked really hard with the ASD bargaining team to come to an agreement that's palatable for both of us.
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The tentative agreement includes raises that fall between what both sides initially wanted. If approved, the three year contract would increase teacher salaries by 5% in each of the first two years and 4% in the third year. In a statement, school District Superintendent Jarrett Bryant said the contract reflects months of collaboration and a shared commitment to supporting the educators our students rely on every day through fair compensation and strong working conditions. While the agreement is a far cry from the union's original offer, a one year contract with a 15% salary increase, sit says it still offers something positive for all members.
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There may be some people that find a longer contract with, you know, without that single wage increase in one year that they might not find that palatable. But we need to make sure that we are doing things that are in the best interest of all our members.
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AEA members will vote on the tentative agreement between January 28 and January 30, if ratified by union members. The Anchorage School Board would then vote on the contract in early February. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources has approved a controversial permit application that would help a company carry out Haines largest timber sale in decades. The land use permit would allow Oregon based NSEA Timber Inc. To export harvested logs to market, likely in China. That process would entail transferring logs into the area's Lutac Inlet and storing them there until they're shipped out. The state agency approved that permit last week. The decision came after two separate public comment periods. Some community members expressed support for the permit and the logging industry, arguing increased activity would serve as a much needed economic boost. But the comments were largely dominated by individuals, commercial fishermen, tribes and conservation groups concerned about the idea. Some argued that storing logs in the inlet could affect the marine ecosystem, including the area's Hooligan and salmon runs. Others said the storage area would impede commercial and subsistence fishermen. The department says it addressed the latter concern by restricting log storage from mid June through August. The permit is effective starting January 31st and will last five years. The public has 20 days to appeal the decision, after which the decision would be final. Southeast Alaska's largest tribe has earned nearly $40 million from U.S. navy contracts in Guantanamo Bay. Money, some tribal members are concerned comes from supporting immigrant detention. While tribal corporation leadership says their operations are separate from the detention center on the base, what's happening on the ground might tell a different story, KTO's Yvonne Crumry reports.
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Guantanamo Bay is the site of an active US Navy base with about 6,000 military personnel. It also houses a detention facility. The Trump administration has been using the facility to detain migrants as part of its aggressive deportation policies. And Guantanamo Bay is where the Tlingit Haida Tribal Business Corporation, the tribe's business arm, currently has a contract. In 2018, the corporation announced the contract with the US Navy. The corporation is now in the middle of a second contract, which is set to end in 2028. The value of both contracts have reached about $40 million. Tlingent Haida said the corporation's contract provides services to the Navy base. It does not support detention operations at the base. But some tribal members have doubts about that, like Clarice Johnson. She says she's been concerned about the contract since it began seven years ago. But when the Trump administration vowed to hold thousands of immigrants there, it brought new urgency to her concerns.
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It makes me ill to think of Plankton and Haida making money off the abuse of other people, especially those who are just looking for a better life.
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Guantanamo Bay's detention center has been controversial, known for human rights violations for decades. Around the state, Alaska Native tribal members are protesting their corporation's investment in immigration detention centers. Nana Regional Corporation has been directly investing in ICE detention operations, including in Guantanamo Bay. When stories about inhumane conditions at those detention centers surfaced this fall, Johnson says she started posting in a Facebook group to make sure tribal members knew Tlingit and Haida also had connections to Guantanamo Bay.
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I didn't want people to forget whenever they're criticizing other corporations for doing this, that our own tribe was also participating.
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Her posts garnered discussion with other tribal members, who also posted concerns. In response to public criticism, Tlingit and Haida issued a statement in December saying the contract is, quote, strictly limited, unquote, to operating and maintaining boats and ports, and that the corporation is obligated to continue the work until the contract ends. But Johnson is worried that some of those boats transport migrants to the detention center in Guantanamo Bay. Richard Reinhart is the CEO of Tlingit Haida Tribal Business Corporation. He says it's against taking on contracts that assist in immigration detention.
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We don't have anything to do with that.
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Instead, he reiterated that the contract is related to vessel operation and maintenance, including a ferry to and from the airport. However, Reinhart says he's heard that the ferry the corporation operates may be used to transport detainees, including migrants. But he says Tlingit Haida tribal business staff aren't involved with that process.
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There are times I hear I've not seen this, but my manager there tells me that they do come across and they'll put somebody on the ferry. It's usually late at night and it's all just there. It's all their vehicles, all their staff. They move across and they go to the airport. But we have the only ferry going from the airport to the. To the windward side, where everything is.
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At least 700 migrants have been detained at Guantanamo Bay this past year and were initially flown there, according to previous reporting by NPR and the New York Times. In an email to KTIO in response to follow up questions, Reinhart says he could not speak to how many migrants have been transported via the corporation's ferry. KTIO could not confirm whether or not there's another way migrant detainees are transported from the airport to the facilities they're held in. Reinhart says involvement in migrant transport is, quote, outside our visibility and control and is not tracked, directed, or managed by Tlingit Haida Tribal Business Corporation as part of our contractual duties, unquote. Though Guantanamo Bay is often linked with the detention facility, Reinhart says he doesn't think a lot of people realize that it's primarily a naval base. Clarice Johnson says even incidental involvement in migrant detention is still too close for comfort.
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I understand why they want to claim six degrees of separation from ice, but I think that their actions at Gratuit Bay place them in much closer proximity than many tribal citizens realize.
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And she wants to know if the tribal corporation will take a stance on migrant detention as more opportunities to profit from it arise.
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Will Clinken and Haida jump on the money train or will they actually have guidelines on which contracts they will bid on?
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Reinhart says that most Tlingit Haida tribal business contracts are with the US Military. And those contracts, he says, support the corporation's mission, create more funding for the tribe in Juneau.
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I'm Yvonne Cromry, a master Chilkat and Raven's Tail Weaver has been awarded a national fellowship that bolsters culture and tradition across the United States. Lily Hope is one of the United States artists awardees for 2026, which means she gets $50,000 toward her work with no strings attached.
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It's a wild gift to have somebody.
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Just hand you some money and say.
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Do what you will.
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There is absolutely zero parameters on how it is used.
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The award is nomination based United States Artists partners with foundation and philanthropists to support artists and cultural practitioners of all disciplines. According to its website. Hope's award was supported by the Rasmussen Foundation. Hope found out about the grant a few months ago and she's been thinking of what she can do with it ever since. Hope has taught hundreds of weavers and herself has weaved seven Chilkat and Raven's tail robes and ensembles, innumerable sets of earrings, face masks and even regalia for Labubus. Recently, in a conversation with another weaver, Hope had a realization she wanted to think deeply about the work she wants to do. That weaver was Sken Du Tan.
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George and I kind of had a.
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Coming to reality moment with Sken and thank you Sken for waking me up.
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And being like, hey, what if you made regalia for your clan members, your family and work that would stay in Tlingit Ani.
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What will come of that deep thinking? Hope is excited to find out. She closed her public studio downtown last fall to focus on weaving that will stay in the community. A Homer choir teacher is receiving a statewide honor for his work in the classroom and the community. As KBBI Simon Lopez reports, the surprise announcement came during a school assembly that began with a song from the Homer High School Swing cho.
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Hundreds of students filled the Homer High School gym for a semester kickoff assembly, but Principal Eric Peterson says the assembly was a cover for a surprise.
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We are thrilled to congratulate Kyle Scheiner on receiving NFHS Officer Opening Board for Athletics and Activities Outstanding Music Educator Award for the State of Alaska.
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The National Federation of State High School Associations awards the honor to one educator in each state annually. Peterson credited Schneider's work at both Homer Middle and Homer High schools. He highlighted Schneider's decision to move a recent performance to the school commons after a rigging failure forced the theater to close. Peterson says Schneider is the first Alaska teacher to receive the award in 20 years. Here's Kyle Schneider, the awards recipient.
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Fascinating, really cool and just a great.
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Honor and just proves how important it is that we have music education and arts education in schools.
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The surprise announcement was met with applause from students and staff gathered in the gym as Schneider accepted the recognition in Homer. I'm Simon Lopez, a new pint sized.
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Resident at the Sitka Sound Science Center. Aquarium will soon be gaining both a larger tank and a name. KCAW's Hope McKinney reports that aquarium staff are brainstorming names for their rapidly growing baby giant Pacific octopus and asking Sitkins to help.
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So she is currently right underneath that rock there. And so she is.
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A pink octopus sits squeezed between two rocks in a glass tank, her tentacles unmoving as she watches me through her rectangular pupil.
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So giant Pacific octopus are the biggest octopus in the world.
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Matt Wilson is the aquarist at the Sitka Sound Science Center. And although this octopus we're looking at is a member of the largest marine cephalopods, she's currently the size of an orange. And that's more than seven times the size she was when a resident of Tenakee Springs found her on the beach in August.
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Currently, she is so small that she could easily fit in your hand, but we'll get to the size that she would be wrapping around you several times with her arms, an arm span of at least 15 to 16ft, if not even larger.
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But this octopus is a temporary resident and will likely be a few years old by the time she gets that big. Right now, she's in a small holding tank. She'll gradually move to bigger and bigger ones until she gets so big that she needs the aquarium's largest tank, which holds about 800 gallons of water.
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Right now, none of the bigger tanks that I would normally keep an octopus in is suitable for her because she is so small. And we have to be careful with octopus that they can't climb out and get into trouble. So we have to make sure that we can octoproof those tanks.
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Wilson says giant Pacific octopus only have a lifespan of three to five years. They're what's called a Semel Paris, which means they only reproduce once before dying.
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And then it's over for them. So that's one of the reasons why it's important that we're not going to keep her for her entire life. One she's going to get too large for us, is going to exceed what would be good for her and good for us. And we want to make sure that she'll be released so that she has the opportunity to go continue her life cycle and make babies.
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Wilson says her timeline at the aquarium is dependent on her growth Rate and her temperament. He's worked with a couple dozen octopuses over the years, although none as small as this one. And he says it's a unique relationship relationship with each one. Because they're so smart, they need daily enrichment with toys and puzzles, creatures to hunt, and change ups to their routines. Some love learning to open jars with treats inside. One of his octopuses would wave a jar at him every time she was hungry. Others don't like the game and tear the jars apart. Each octopus is unique, and Wilson says he has to constantly check in on their welfare and recognize when it's time to let them go.
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Sometimes they hit a point where they're like, I'm done here. And it's time to release them earlier than that. And sometimes they're like, I don't want to go, you know, so it really depends on that animal and how well they're doing in that environment in that situation, and just generally how quickly they're going to put on that mass.
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Wilson says he expects this one will be at the science center for up to two years. And even though this tiny cephalopod will outgrow Sitka's only aquarium soon, he says she still needs a name.
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With octopus, it's almost impossible not to give them some moniker of some kind because they do have such personalities.
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And that's where Sitkins come in. The science center is holding an octopus naming event where locals can enter names into a 32 seated double elimination tournament. Participants will vote on the entries until just one name remains. For Wilson, this is about more than just naming one octopus. He says octopuses, with all their personality and charisma are a great way to get people engaged.
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Even somebody that might not connect with, you know, an anemone, the same way is going to see the animatedness of an octopus and go, oh, that's, that's something that's really cool and really interesting and can really serve as a gateway to getting and talking into all sorts of different things. Their ways that they see the world is so fresh from what we see that it is just a really incredible way to introduce people to new ways of thought and open up all sorts of talk about how animals are perceiving and interacting with their environments around them.
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Wilson says he also hopes the octopus will inspire stewardship and a feeling of responsibility for local wildlife and their habitats. Reporting in sitka, I'm Hope McKenney.
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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 Eric Stone and Yvonne Crumry and Juno Rachel, Cassandra and Wesley early in Anchorage, Ashlyn o' Hara and Kenai, Avery Elfelt and Haynes, Simon Lopez and homer and Hope McKinney in Sitka. If you want to send us a news tip, question or comment, email us@newslaskapublic.org Our audio engineer is Crystal Hyde. Madeline Rose is our producer. And I'm Casey Grove. Good night. This is statewide news on Alaska Public Media.