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Support for Alaska Public Media On Demand.
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Comes from Siri, an Alaska Native corporation with operations and investments spanning five continents.
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45 states and two US territories.
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It's still heartbreaking to think of the anguish that victims suffer.
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Alaska's Supreme Court chief justice says there's been progress to reduce case backlogs from Alaska Public Media. This is statewide news on Alaska News nightly for Wednesday, February 11th. Good evening. I'm Casey Grove. Also tonight, rising costs have lawmakers considering sending prisoners out of state. You know, oftentimes we get to run legislation that we're excited about, and there.
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Is none of that here.
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Those stories and more tonight on Alaska News Nightly.
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The PFD application is open. Just a small amount of your PFD will help share local news and stories about Alaskans with Alaskans across this great state.
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When you choose Alaska Public Media through.
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Pick Click give Alaska Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Carney highlighted efforts to reduce case backlogs and asked lawmakers to fund new judges and long delayed courthouse maintenance. During the annual State of the Judiciary address today, Carney pointed to a pair of December reports from the anchorage Daily News, ProPublica and Bethel Public Radio station KYUK. They told the story of a man who spent seven years in jail awaiting trial for a murder he did not commit and the victim's family's ongoing search for justice. Carney is also the judicial branch's chief administrator, and she says the reports remind the court system that it must remain committed to resolving cases quickly and fairly.
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I know that the cases with extreme delay are outliers compared to the vast majority of criminal cases and the time it takes to resolve them, but it's still heartbreaking to think of the anguish that victims suffer and the problems that delays cause to everybody involved in criminal cases.
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But Carney says the court system has made significant progress. She says it's cleared a pandemic backlog, with the number of open cases significantly below pre pandemic levels. Carney also celebrated the rededication of the Utqiagvik courthouse to honor an Indigenous legal pioneer. She called Magistrate Sadie Brower Neocuk a trailblazer and highlighted her commitment to ensuring language access for Indigenous people.
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She regularly held court at her kitchen table and did it in Nyupiak when the people appearing in front of her didn't understand English. When she became a state court magistrate, she and Magistrate Nora Gwynne from Bethel insisted that they be able to hold court in the language that their community members understood.
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Carney also came with requests. She asked lawmakers to open the state's purse to fund a new judge in Palmer to handle the growing workload in the Matanuska Susitna borough. The last time the state added a judge to the state's fastest growing region was in 2006. The Chief justice also urged lawmakers to fund long delayed maintenance. And she says court facilities across the state are badly in need of repair, including an administrative building in Anchorage.
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The building has a facade that's crumbling. It's barely keeping out the elements and the occasional vermin. On the facade, close to head height so that people passing by can see it, is a great big metal map of the state of Alaska. I'm sorry to tell you, cold Kodiak is no longer part of the state of Alaska.
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Fortunately, Carney says the Kodiak shaped hunk of metal did not land on any passing pedestrians. But she says the episode underscores the dire need to repair and upgrade courthouses. Key lawmakers have said that despite a large deficit, they plan to prioritize school and state facility maintenance in this year's budget. As Alaska lawmakers reckon with a tight state budget and rising costs in the Department of Corrections, lawmakers are floating an uncomfortable idea once again sending Alaska inmates out of state. As Alaska Public Media's Eric Stone reports, nobody seems to love the idea, but some lawmakers say it might be necessary.
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Over the last 10 years, lawmakers have boosted the Department of corrections budget by 70%, and even that hasn't been enough. The department's commissioner, Jen Winkelman, says she looks every day for ways to rearrange operations to avoid budget shortfalls. Winkelman says healthcare for inmates and overtime to make up for short staffing are the two largest cost drivers.
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I would say it is consistently. I'll call it a perfect storm, whether that's staffing levels or vacancy rates cuts.
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Lawmakers went as far as to close one housing unit at the Spring Creek Correctional center in Seward last year in an effort to save money. And sometimes, Winkleman says big expenses come up unexpectedly. Here she is speaking to a House Budget committee on Tuesday.
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Approximately two weeks ago, we had a large fight on the yard. 48 inmates involved in a fight. Quick napkin math. We believe it to be just under $200,000 that that cost us.
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A spokesperson says five people were injured in the fight and all are recovering. But Winkelman says the cost cutting move to close part of the prison may have played a role and ultimately resulted in a large, unexpected cost.
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Those are just those anecdotal examples of the population and the complexity. When we start overpopulating one area. What happens as a result due to the population we serve.
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All of that has some senators floating a return to a practice Alaska abandoned more than a decade ago, sending prisoners out of state to save money. Wasilla State Senator Rob Yount, a Republican in the minority, filed a bill last year that would direct the Department of Corrections to explore the idea to see if it actually would save money. Here he is, speaking during a hearing on Tuesday.
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You know, oftentimes we get to run legislation that we're excited about and there.
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Is none of that here.
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Alaska has tried this before. In the 1990s and 2000s, the state contracted with private prisons in Colorado and Arizona. By 2005, about a third of Alaska's prisoners were held out of state in private facilities, according to news reports at the time. One of those prisoners was Adam Barger, who spent more than a decade in out of state prisons after his conviction in Alaska. He returned in 2013 after the state opened the $240 million Goose Creek Correctional center in the Matsu Ber in an effort to bring Alaska's prisoners home. When he was transferred back, Barger says, guards told him how much harder it was to manage prisoners who had been outside compared with those who had not.
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We were more violent, had gang affiliations, drug addictions, behavioral problems and were more resistant to authority than those who had never been sent out of state. Then we were released back into the community.
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He asked lawmakers to oppose Yount's bill during public testimony. The bill would mandate that Alaska prisoners be kept separate from others. It would also limit the prisoners that could be sent out of state to those with at least seven years left on their Senates and direct prisoners be brought back to Alaska as their release date approaches. An advocate with the Alaska Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said that sending prisoners out of state would cut them off from family and friends in Alaska and make them more likely to reoffend. Democratic Juneau Senator Jesse Keel, a member of the powerful Finance Committee, says he understands the cost concerns, but he's skeptical.
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We've done that in the past. The cleanup has been both expensive and ugly, and I don't know that that's a long term cost we want to bear.
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Winkelmann says that to realize any savings, the department would likely need to close a facility, and that brings with it a whole host of thorny questions about jobs, local economies and public safety. But other top Senate budgeters say that with few options to control rising costs, it may be a choice they're forced to make. Reporting in Juneau. I'm Eric Stone.
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Still to come on Alaska News Nightly, Yukon Quest mushers endure frigid trail conditions on day four of this year's race.
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I stretched out next to my sled on the ground, and when I woke up, I was like, I'm frozen.
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That's ahead. Stay with us.
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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 Alaska Desk is only possible with the support of grants and listeners like you. Thank you.
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The families of three more victims of last year's fatal Bering airplane crash have sued the regional airline. Bering Air Flight 445 was on its way from Unalakleet to Nome when it crashed on sea ice. All nine passengers and the pilot died in the crash. A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board found that the Cessna Caravan was overweight when it flew into icing conditions. The agency hasn't yet determined the cause of the crash. The family of one of the passengers, JD Moncur, filed the first wrongful death lawsuit in Nome Superior Court last week. Two more separate lawsuits followed in Nome Superior Court in the days after, one filed by the family of passenger Talaluk Kachitag and another one by the families of Donnell Erickson and Cameron Hartvigson. All complaints are based on the NTSB preliminary report and assert claims for wrongful death. Bering Air President Russell Rowe said in an email that the company can't comment on the lawsuits out of respect for the legal process and the families involved. He says Bering Air continues to cooperate with the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration as their investigations continue and that the safety of our passengers, employees and community members remains our highest priority, end quote. The NTSB expects to release a full report into the incident in early summer. The state Senate will consider a bill meant to increase educational options for Alaska students who are deaf or hard of hearing. It's called the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children's Bill of Rights, and it passed the state House unanimously last week. Jamie Allard, a Republican from Eagle river, sponsored the legislation. She says it would require Alaska schools to present families with information on all possible methods of communication for their deaf and hard of hearing children. Here she is making the case for the bill on the House floor.
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Establishes consistency in information provided to parents by the school district, allows parents to choose the best method of communication for their child and requires the school district to provide services using the parents chosen method of communication.
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That means students would have access to information about and support for American Sign Language, adapting to spoken English and total communication, which can combine both. Allard, who is hard of hearing herself, says that will allow kids full access to educational opportunities. How deaf and hard of hearing people communicate is controversial. Some say American Sign Language better supports deaf cultural identity and language development. Others argue adapting to spoken language helps people integrate more fully into hearing society. Olivia Yancy is executive director of the statewide special Education service agency. She says the intention of the bill is great and it emphasizes providing neutral, unbiased information. But she says it's missing a key population, kids who aren't yet school age from birth to three.
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We have these critical language learning years and if a parent is digging for information and doesn't have this push for having a comprehensive, neutral and biased information.
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About communication modes, they're going to be.
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Digging for a while and they really need to have that information earlier.
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Many other states have deaf and hard of hearing bills of rights, and some do address Support for kids 3 and under. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is severely restricting and in some cases closing outright sport king salmon fishing on the central Kenai Peninsula again this year. The state's Sport Fishing Division issued a flurry of emergency orders Monday that target the Kenai and Kiselov rivers. Jay Balmer with Fish and Game says the limits should not come as a surprise.
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I hope it's not the new normal, but we are in that period of low productivity, so we're going to have to take action to make sure to.
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Conserve kings on the Kenai river. The Kings sport fishery is totally closed. The closure applies to the early run from May to mid June to the late run from mid June to mid August. Balmer says the restrictions are strengthening king salmon returns.
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They are making a difference and that's why we're encouraging anglers to read them, read over them, pay attention, follow them.
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There's slightly more leniency on the Kasiloff river this summer where king salmon fishing is sharply restricted instead of fully closed. Balmer says the department's latest announcements and emergency orders are shared on the department's website. Well, Alaska's longest serving lawmaker, Democrat Lyman Hoffman, recently visited his hometown of Bethel. The senator says he plans to spend some quality time there after stepping down at the end of the legislative session, KYUK's Evan Erickson caught up with Hoffman and has this report.
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Sitting in the Legislative Information office in Bethel, full of hardbound volumes and photos of the state's political history, Senator Lyman Hoffman says he's ready to close the book on his own four decade career in politics.
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Time the next closest person behind me is 14 years behind me.
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Hoffman has spent most of his time in the Senate representing southwest Alaska. He says he thinks he's made a difference in the lives of rural Alaskans.
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I funded weatherization, set up a weatherization program where about 700 million went into weatherizing people's homes. People have come up to me and said as a result of the weatherization program, their heating bill went down by hundreds of dollars a month.
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Hoffman also cites his creation of a billion dollar endowment to protect rural electricity subsidies under the state's Power Cost Equalization program. Though he admits the cost of living in rural Alaska remains staggeringly high, Hoffman says his priority in his final session is finding ways to fund the budget. He says Governor Mike Dunleavy's idea of a sales tax is not one of them.
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I haven't heard anybody that really likes that idea in the legislature.
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Hoffman says the proposal to add a 4% sales tax during the tourist season and a 2% tax during the other half of the year would run up against local taxing schemes adapted to rural needs.
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He wants no, no exceptions, no loopholes. So food, heating, fuel, everything is going to be taxed. And I would say that that would put rural areas at a larger disadvantage because we already pay the highest cost for heat.
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In Bethel, there have already been long standing challenges collecting the 6% local sales taxes the city levies. Hoffman says the governor's proposal would mean the state would collect taxes on behalf of cities like Bethel, removing that burden. But he says this potential upside is far outweighed by the downsides. Dunleavy's fiscal plan also proposes a constitutional amendment that would require half of the state's yearly draw from the permanent fund to go toward paying higher dividends. Critics say that would make balancing the budget nearly impossible. Hoffman says the state might be in a better position today if lawmakers hadn't stripped down a 2018 bill that used permanent fund earnings to cover state operating costs for the first time. Hoffman says he supported a provision to set the dividend at a lower, more sustainable rate, but that idea was rejected.
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If we had passed that bill with that provision in it, the dividend would be 1500 and continue to grow out in the future. Now we're fighting tooth and nail to try to get at least $1,000 in the dividend and fund government.
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Hoffman says he has encouraged Dillingham independent Bryce Edgeman to run for his Senate seat in November. Edgman is also the current speaker of the House, and Hoffman says it makes sense because of Edgman's record of rural and urban support. Plus, he's already represented Kuskokwim river communities within his district. Hoffman says he's concerned that there will be less rural representation on the powerful Senate Finance Committee he co chairs when he leaves. But he's optimistic that the bipartisan Bush caucus he has played a key role on can continue to wield power across the aisle and that rural issues will continue to get attention statewide.
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The influence of people off the rail belt over the last three decades has.
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Been tremendous, hoffman says. It is critical that legislators form a better working relationship with the governor in 2026. When it comes to ways the state can support ongoing relief efforts following damage from typhoon halong, he says Dunleavy has given him an open ear. But Hoffman says specific ideas should come from affected communities.
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The decisions on what needs to be done has to be decided by the local people, and we have to see how we can implement them.
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Soon, Hoffman will be stepping away from politics on top of having more time to spend with his wife, Lillian, who he says has been his greatest source of support. Hoffman plans to take time for hunting and fishing around Bethel.
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When I go off, I'm going to jump on my snow machine and ride away into the sunset.
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The 2026 regular legislative session is scheduled to wrap up by May 20th in Bethel.
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I'm Evan Erickson, a homegrown Kotzebue basketball player whose high school coach called him the Michael Jordan of rural Alaska is being INV inducted into the Alaska Sports hall of Fame. Kotz's Desiree Hagan talked to him about his basketball career and has this story.
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Butch Lincoln had a humble beginning.
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My athletic career really started on the dirt basketball courts of Kotzebue.
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That's where he grew up. His parents were born and raised in Kotzebue, same with his grandparents. Lincoln, now 52, says he first started playing basketball just to get outside and play with other kids in the community, he says. It was a different time before the.
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Internet and before modern technology. So I think found yourself occupying your time and your days, really playing outside.
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Decades later, Lincoln can still name off Kotzebue's backyard basketball courts the Havilands, Pete.
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Snyders, June Nelson's Hensley's, the cement court uptown, the rec center, the Mormon church, the old gym.
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Playing on those courts, he started to think about a big goal to win.
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A state championship for the Kotzebue Huskies.
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And Lincoln and the Huskies came close. As a high school sophomore in 1990, he led the team to the state championship. That was the Husky boys first and so far only state championship, the five foot tall point guard said. Although the Huskies lost the championship game against Houston, he learned a lot from the experience.
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Humility, the importance of being an exceptional teammate and I think most importantly valuing the relationships you build with those you care about.
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The Kotzebue Huskies retired his jersey, number 12.
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It's in the rafters in in the gym in Kotzebue and really a highlight of my athletic career was getting my number retired. I did not expect it.
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Lincoln went on to play for the University of Alaska Anchorage, helping the Seawolves win three Pacific West Conference titles and move on to the National NCAA Championships. In 1999, Lincoln was honored by Sports Illustrated as one of Alaska's 50 greatest sports figures of the 20th century. Today, Lincoln is the executive vice president and chief operating officer for Arctic Slope Regional Corporation.
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Certainly been a remarkable journey.
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The Alaska Sports Report, an arm of the Alaska Sports hall of Fame, said in a press release that Lincoln broke down social and racial barriers with the same ease as an opponent's press defense on the basketball court. The report called Lincoln a trailblazer for Alaska Natives and a role model for all players.
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Well, at the time, I will admit I did not fully appreciate the moment. You know, my my focus was centered on obtaining a college education to provide a better life for my family. But looking back now from this vantage point, I'm grateful that other Alaska Natives were granted opportunity in athletics and education. And it's humbling to think that doors opened for others based on my success.
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Besides Lincoln, two other Alaska Sports hall of Fame inductees were announced in December, legendary Alaska adventurer Dick Griffith and champion bowler Sean Rash. After the induction ceremony in late spring, their portraits will be displayed at the Alaska Sports hall of Fame gallery at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Kotzebue. I'm Desiree Hagan.
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Five mushers are nearly halfway through the Yukon Quest, Alaska's longest course since the race split with Canada in 2022. As they approach their northernmost checkpoints, temperatures are dropping and teams are feeling the bite. But as Shelby Herbert reports for the Alaska desk, they got a warm welcome in Fort Yukon, where locals say they're thrilled to host Their first race checkpoint.
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The Fort Yukon checkpoint feels like Christmas, the fourth of July and series of fire drills all rolled into one. Between race errands, volunteers set out aluminum containers filled with caribou ribs, salmon salad and the biggest hit, cinnamon buns with wild blueberries baked inside. As she nibbles on a bun, first time race official Izzy Nicolier says it's imperative to taste all the snacks before the mushers arrive just to be sure.
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It's our job to check if it's.
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Safe for the mushers to consume, so.
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We'Re doing our due diligence and no poison. No poison, just deliciousness. But outside, the cold is punishing. Dog sled teams pushed into the Arctic Circle with temperatures dropping into the negative 50s. Frontrunner Josie Shelley charged across the Yukon river and up to the Checkpoint just after 3am on Tuesday. She says her team of 12 sailed over that segment of the trail, but the extreme temperatures were wearing on her. To manage. The steward of There and Back Again Kennels is escaping into a fantasy world. Actually, I was listening to the Silmarillion. It's kind of a long boring book pre Lord of the Rings, but I was like, this is a perfect time to listen to it. So yeah. Shelley left the checkpoint just before noon on Tuesday and Jeff Dieter followed six hours later. He dropped two dogs in Fort Yukon and is running to Beaver with 10. Dieter says this leg of the trail has been difficult for his team.
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So everything is just taking a bit longer and then I've got a few.
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Dogs with orthopedic issues.
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So just muscles and joints that are.
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Tight and with the cold that really needs heat.
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Jonah Bacon was third into Fort Yukon, pulling up in the noon sunlight. He says his 13 dog team is handling the extreme cold well, but he himself is a little worse for wear. Frostnip got to his feet while he camped out. He rolls up the ankles of his snow pants to show me where pale blisters are erupting out of his toes.
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I stretched out next to my sled on the ground and when I woke up I was like, I'm frozen. I was frozen. And then, yeah, I got a little bit of a blister on my right big toe. Pretty big blister. Actually. It's almost the size of the whole toe.
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He says the northern lights have been a welcome distraction from the pain.
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Oh, the Aurora's been ripping the last two nights. Absolutely incredible. That was a nice treat, you know, while it was cold and everything. Just like to look up and be like, that's Incredible. Just like a snake across the sky. It was crazy.
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Meanwhile, Fort Yukon checkpoint volunteers are doing their best to keep mushers comfortable and fed. Several told me about their excitement for hosting the race for the first time and of hopes it'll pass through their community for years to come. A couple of them showed their appreciation by sewing beaver mittens with colorful woven accents for each of the mushers. Karima Kadzo made the mittens with her aunt, Louis Fairchild. She says she got the idea while she was out moose hunting with family. They brought up that the quest might be going through Fort Yukon, and we threw around ideas how cool it'd be, and one of them said beaver mitts. So that's how we came up with beaver mitts. Five pairs took about three days. The whole thing, the whole mitt, the liner, everything. As the first to the checkpoint, Josie Shelley got first dibs, but Jeff Dieter picked out Kadzo's favorite pair.
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Oh, a beautiful pair of black, all like jet black beaver.
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They're really nice.
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They fold over at the top so.
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Snow doesn't get in them.
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Not only do they look beautiful, they're also very practical.
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Each of the mushers say they'll wear the mittens proudly as they charge south for the next leg of the race. In Fort Yukon, I'm Shelby Herbert.
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And that's all for this edition of Alaska News Nightly. We had reports tonight from Eric Stone and Juno Alyona Nylon and Rachel Cassandra in Anchorage, Ashlyn o' Hara in Kenai, Evan Erickson in Bethel, Desiree Hagan in Kotzebue, and Shelby Herbert in Fort Yukon. Our audio engineer is Crystal Hyde. Kirsten Dobroth is our producer. And I'm Casey Grove. Good night. This is statewide news on Alaska Public Media.