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- [00:00]
Avery Elfelt
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. When you choose Alaska Public Media through Pick Click Give,
- [00:20]
Greg Allen
I'd say it's one of the, in my view, one of the best run portfolios amongst our clients.
- [00:26]
Casey Grove
State lawmakers get an assessment of the Permanent Fund's performance from Alaska Public Media. This is State Statewide news on Alaska News nightly for Wednesday, February 25th. Good evening, I'm Casey Grove. Also tonight, with pedestrian deaths on the rise in Anchorage, officials say there are many factors at play, but vehicle speed stands out.
- [00:45]
Brad Coy
Being hit by a car going 55 miles per hour has a 90% chance of death.
- [00:51]
Casey Grove
Those stories and more tonight on Alaska News Nightly.
- [01:01]
Avery Elfelt
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. When you choose Alaska Public Media through
- [01:14]
Casey Grove
Pick Click give President Donald Trump's pick for surgeon general. Wellness influencer Casey Means told U.S. senators today that anti vaccine rhetoric was never part of her message. Senator Lisa Murkowski, though, suggested she had cast doubt on science based vaccine schedules and she said Means should talk up the success of immunization campaigns.
- [01:37]
Avery Elfelt
My state of Alaska has had a very long history with this, including early childhood immunization campaigns that were targeted specifically to Alaska Native communities.
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Casey Grove
At her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health Committee, Means repeatedly denied she was against vaccination and said it was a matter for patients to discuss with their doctors. Murkowski took issue with the statement from Means on the Tucker Carlson show in
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Avery Elfelt
2024 and the hep B vaccine is for hepatitis B, which is a sexually transmitted disease and IV drug user disease, of course, which babies are not going to be exposed to. And yet every single baby in America is getting the intervention.
- [02:17]
Casey Grove
Murkowski told her that intervention has saved lives and prevented chronic disease, particularly in western Alaska, where Hepatitis B was endemic.
- [02:25]
Avery Elfelt
We have been able to turn the corner on this. We're no longer seeing children with liver cancer with this liver disease and it is because the hepatitis B vaccine has been made available to them at birth.
- [02:44]
Casey Grove
At his confirmation hearing last year, Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. Assured senators he supported vaccines, but last month his agency removed six immunizations from the universal recommendations for children, including the hepatitis B vaccine. No date has been set for Means Senate confirmation vote. President Trump did not mention any Alaska projects during his State of the Union address yesterday, but he did talk about
- [03:11]
Brad Coy
energy, American natural Gas production is at
- [03:14]
Casey Grove
an all time high because I kept my promise to drill baby, drill. The three members of Alaska's all Republican congressional delegation were in attendance. Members of Congress, like the President, often invite guests to the annual address to represent values or events they want to highlight. Senator Lisa Murkowski's guest was Sandy Snodgrass from Anchorage, who has devoted herself to anti addiction advocacy in Alaska and Washington, D.C. after her son Bruce died of a fentanyl overdose. Senator Dan Sullivan invited North Slope leader and whaling captain Crawford Puttkatuck. Congressman Nick Begich's guest was Noran Kreiner, owner of Kreiner's Diner in Anchorage. The diner rose to statewide prominence in 2020 for defying COVID 19 control orders. In an emailed statement, Begich spoke of how Kreiner benefits from President Trump's tax cuts. The Alaska Permanent Fund beat its performance benchmarks last year and is approaching $90 billion. That's according to the investment consulting firm Callen, which has advised the state on the permanent Fund's performance for decades and briefed state lawmakers today, Alaska Public Media's Eric Stone reports.
- [04:38]
Eric Stone
Speaking to the House and Senate Finance Committees this week, Callen CEO Greg Allen had I praise for the Permanent Fund's managers.
- [04:44]
Greg Allen
I'd say it's one of the, in my view, one of the best run portfolios amongst our clients.
- [04:50]
Eric Stone
The fund earned 12.5% last year, far in excess of the long term target of 5% plus inflation. Over the past 10 years, the consultants say the permanent Fund has performed about on par with peers like large foundations and college endowments, and it's performed better than most large state retirement funds. But over the past three years, the Permanent Fund's return has lagged behind its peers. That's due in part to the fact that the fund has more bonds and less stock than some other funds, making it more stable and less risky. And Callen VP Steve Sinner says that when you adjust for that risk, the Permanent Fund looks like it's doing a better job extracting returns than most similar funds.
- [05:27]
Casey Grove
The investment team is taking measured risks that are paying off well compared to the other peers in this peer group.
- [05:34]
Eric Stone
The fund has a very diverse portfolio. It's not just stocks and bonds. Alaskans also collectively hold billions in real estate, hedge funds, shares in private companies and non bank lending known as private credit. Those last two categories, private equity and private credit, give the fund a chance to capitalize on opportunities that as a whole perform better than their equivalents on the public market. The performance consultants also addressed a common question from lawmakers and the public why doesn't the fund just invest in a low cost index fund like the S&P 500? Lawmakers across the political spectrum have floated the idea in recent years as a way to cut management costs as the stock market has soared to record highs. But Alan says that would be unthinkably irresponsible for an institution like the permanent fund. For one thing, about a third of The S&P 500's value comes from seven closely related tech stocks, the so called Magnificent Seven.
- [06:23]
Greg Allen
So call that $30 billion in seven stocks. That's what you would have if you're invested in the S&P 500. There's no planet on which that's considered diversified in the institutional investment world. And you'd be subject to massive criticism when the piper has to be paid and the entire portfolio goes down 40%.
- [06:42]
Eric Stone
And he says that is not theoretical. That's what happened in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis. He says the fund's diversified portfolio means it'll never do as well as the best performing assets, but it also means all the state's eggs aren't in one basket. Reporting in Juneau, I'm Eric Stone.
- [06:59]
Casey Grove
The Anchorage School Board has approved deep reductions to the district's budget. At a meeting Tuesday night, the board voted to cut more than 500 staff, including over 300 teachers. They also opted to close three elementary schools in order to preserve some programs and teachers. Alaska Public Media's Wesley early has more.
- [07:18]
Wesley Early
The budget cuts come as the Anchorage School district faces a $90 million deficit, which officials attribute to years of flat funding from the state. ASD Superintendent Jarrett Bryant called the cuts severe and says the is already projecting multimillion dollar deficits in the next two years.
- [07:35]
Eric Stone
Even once this 90 million structural deficit is closed, the work begins to find
- [07:40]
Casey Grove
$40 million on top of that and $30 million on top of that.
- [07:44]
Wesley Early
The budget makes widespread cuts to almost every part of the district. Besides losing hundreds of teacher positions, the budget trims more than 50 administrative staff, more than a dozen nurses, nine principals and eight counselors. It would increase average class sizes by about four students. During the meeting, community members filled listen as board members spent hours debating over whether to close Fire Lake, Lake Otis and Campbell STEM elementary schools. While Lake Otis and Fire Lake had been floated as potential closures late last year, the district recommended closing Campbell less than two weeks ago. And that's after board members gave ASD officials about a week to come up with closure options. Member Pat Higgins opposed closing Campbell and said he felt the school community wasn't given enough time to respond.
- [08:28]
Greg Allen
Campbell STEM is a great program. It got selected in a rush and, and, and, and you don't have a replacement for it. They've got the preschool for the special kids. They've got special education programs. It's, it's occupied. It's not one of those half empty.
- [08:45]
Wesley Early
Asd Chief Operating Officer Jim Anderson said the closure decisions were not made lightly.
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Casey Grove
I don't think there's anyone in the city that, that likes everything we cut in the budget. You know, it's an amazing school. We've learned over the last, you know, half a decade plus of trying to close schools that every school is the wrong school for somebody.
- [09:06]
Wesley Early
After several attempts by board members to delay or prevent the closures, the board ultimately voted 4 to 3 to close the schools. Using funding from the closures, the board was able to preserve all middle school sports and many high school sports like hockey, wrestling and cross country skiing. The board also restored more than a dozen middle school teachers and roughly 16 nurse positions. Member Kelly Lessons said community members expressed strong support for the benefits sports brings students.
- [09:33]
Avery Elfelt
I think that there is incredibly strong
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Samantha Watson
support in our community for offering students
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Avery Elfelt
the opportunity to develop the grit, the
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Samantha Watson
perseverance, the teamwork,
- [09:43]
Casey Grove
all of the engagement
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Avery Elfelt
and drive that can happen when you have something you care deeply about.
- [09:51]
Wesley Early
Members ultimately voted 5 to 2 to approve the district's roughly $867 million budget. The Bud could change if Anchorage voters approve a one time tax hike on the April ballot. The roughly $11.8 million levy would go to the school district, and ASD leaders have indicated that they would use the money to fund about 80 teacher positions. Reporting in Anchorage, I'm Wesley Early.
- [10:18]
Casey Grove
Still to come on Alaska News Nightly, a basketball tournament brings together teams displaced by Typhoon Halong.
- [10:24]
Samantha Watson
I can see some motivation in school and for the village. I could see so much motivation because they look forward to practice.
- [10:34]
Avery Elfelt
Hi, I'm Avery Elfelt, a reporter with the Alaska Desk. That's a joint reporting effort from Alaska Public Media, KH&S, 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.
- [11:05]
Casey Grove
An Anchorage police sergeant has been charged with driving under the influence after allegedly driving his truck into a ditch near Chugiak. In a charging document filed this week, prosecutors alleged that on January 31, 41 year old Corey Adkins drove his Dodge pickup truck into a ditch off the Glenn highway near the North Peters Creek exit while off duty. Officers responded to the incident at around 3am and found Adkins asleep at the wheel. After several attempts, police were able to wake Adkins. Officers described Adkins as disoriented and smelled alcohol in his truck and on his breath. Police issued Adkins a field sobriety kit and he was arrested. His blood alcohol level was measured at.13, significantly above the legal limit. Adkins has been charged with one count of driving under the influence, a misdemeanor. Prosecutors with the state Office of Special Prosecutions filed the charge on Monday, weeks after Adkins was arrested. At the time of his arrest, police officials said he was placed on administrative leave. A police spokeswoman said by email Tuesday that Adkins remains an APD employee, though she wouldn't comment on whether he was on paid or unpaid leave. Anchorage police began publicly releasing information on officers arrested for operating under the influence after the December 2023 arrest of officer Ethan Copeland. Another officer, Aaron Richwine, was arrested and charged for OUI in November 2024. Pedestrian deaths have been on the rise around the nation, and Anchorage is no exception. In 2025, 15 pedestrians were killed by vehicles, the same number as in 2024. Both years marked the city's highest pedestrian death toll in more than a decade. A lot of things can lead to crashes, but as Alaska Public Media's Hannah Flor reports, officials say there's one leading cause of pedestrian deaths.
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Samantha Watson
Brad Coy wants to know whether you'd walk a mile from your house to the store.
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Brad Coy
If your answer is no, that sounds completely insane and dangerous, then it's a good indicator that our system is built with the focus on vehicle traffic.
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Samantha Watson
Coy is head of the Anchorage Traffic Department. He says the recent spike in pedestrian deaths isn't surprising. The city is designed for cars, which makes it less safe for everyone else. Anchorage is a dangerous place to walk for other reasons, too, like those long hours of dark. Graham Downey is with the Anchorage Mayor's office. He says looking at the past two years of data, there's one major thing that predicts whether a pedestrian will actually die when they're hit. It's the speed of the vehicle.
- [13:53]
Brad Coy
We do know that almost all of the deaths are happening on those 45 mile an hour roads. You know what I mean? Thinking roads like Tudor, Benson and Northern Lights or faster Roads like the highways, so we are definitely seeing that is where the deaths are happening.
- [14:08]
Samantha Watson
While speed is the biggest predictor of death, Coy says the size of the car matters, too. Bigger cars are much more likely to kill a pedestrian.
- [14:16]
Brad Coy
You look at the mix of our vehicles on our streets and you can see this in Anchorage. How many of them are your smaller vehicle, low profile hood versus how many are trucks, SUVs?
- [14:29]
Samantha Watson
But data shows there are also a bunch of things that increase the chance that a pedestrian crash will happen in the first place. Some come back to the way the city is designed, as Coy says. For cars in Anchorage, a lot of pedestrians are hit in the road, far from crosswalks, Coy says when there isn't one nearby, which is common in Anchorage, people will often dart across the road. Time of year comes into play, too. Crash numbers bump up in September and October when darkness returns. But driving habits haven't changed.
- [15:00]
Brad Coy
It is kind of surprising to all of us how everyone forgets how to drive in the winter because of the summer.
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Samantha Watson
Drunk driving also shows up in the data. In 2020, four drivers were impaired in one quarter of pedestrian crashes. Here's Graham Downey again.
- [15:17]
Brad Coy
Intoxication is a factor in many of the accidents, both in terms of the pedestrians and the drivers. That's something we definitely want to be careful we talk about. A drunk pedestrian doesn't put anyone but themselves in risk. A drunk driver puts all of us at risk.
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Samantha Watson
Coy agrees. He says Anchorage should be designed in a way that people can walk home from the bar safely. And it's rarely just the pedestrian's behavior that causes the crash. He says there are usually multiple factors.
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Brad Coy
When you have the compounding effect of maybe a pedestrian in the road and a driver who's distracted, intoxicated, or something else going on, speeding, that's really when the problems happen.
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Samantha Watson
Coy says the municipality and the police department are working to decrease the number of pedestrians killed. Each year. Police have upped enforcement for drivers who are intoxicated, distracted or speeding. But other changes are harder to make. All those high speed roads where people are dying, they're mostly owned by the state. To slow traffic and make other changes to those roads, the Muni has to work with the Alaska Department of Transportation. Coy says sometimes the that process can be frustrating and it can take a while. In the meantime, though, he says drivers can also help make the streets safer.
- [16:32]
Brad Coy
I would hope that everybody would be able to take this shared experience that we're all having with fatalities and traffic safety issues in Anchorage and say, what can I do individually?
- [16:45]
Samantha Watson
He says, slow down, stay off your phone and don't drive under the influence. And maybe this year fewer pedestrians will die. In Anchorage, I'm Hannah Fluor.
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Casey Grove
A Southeast Alaska working group is hosting a landslide conference in Sitka next month. Southeast Alaska Landslide Information Preparedness Partnership, or slip, is a regional coalition that formed several years ago with a goal to reduce the risk of landslides in southeast Alaska and help communities better understand and prepare. In the last decade, 12 people have died in landslides across the region. Lisa Bush, the group's director, says the conference is an opportunity for folks from impacted communities to learn from each other.
- [17:25]
Avery Elfelt
So the idea of SLIP is really a community of practice. It's this idea of sharing between communities.
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Samantha Watson
So, you know, in Southeast we all live in our little own town and we're all on our separate island, literally, physically. And what can we learn from each other?
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Casey Grove
At the conference next month, the coalition will share recent research planning information and provide opportunities for attendees to ask experts questions. An engineer will be available to answer homeowners questions about mitigating landslide risk, along with a representative from the Division of Insurance. A representative from the Green Cross will also join the conference. That's an organization that provides mental health first aid and training, something Bush says is critical in a small community like Sitka, which experienced a deadly landslide in 2015.
- [18:13]
Samantha Watson
Once there is a landslide, a tragedy
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Avery Elfelt
that we have these very unique circumstances in our small Southeast Alaska communities where, where we have to help people in a very, very, very tender, vulnerable, tragic time, and do we have the skills to do that?
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Casey Grove
The conference runs March 3rd through the 4th at Sitka's Harrigan Centennial Hall. And online. Language educators in Juneau are working to create a Masters in Teaching program for teaching Indigenous languages at the University of Alaska Southeast. It would be the first of its kind in Alaska. Tlingit language professor Hune Lance Twitchell talked about the possible future degree program during KTOO's Juno afternoon last week.
- [19:13]
Hune Lance Twitchell
My colleague Ida Heatherburg and I collaborating to create a certificate in teaching Indigenous languages. And as we look at how are languages taught in Alaska, who teaches them, what are their qualifications, what are they permitted to do in the current school systems? And what they're permitted to do is just not enough.
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Casey Grove
The program would be for those who want to go into teaching Alaska Native languages to all ages. There are more than 20 distinct indigenous languages throughout the state. Twitchell said the program still has some steps ahead of it before prospective students can enroll.
- [19:50]
Hune Lance Twitchell
This degree has to go before the Board of Regents and so we're very hopeful that they will see the value in it, they'll see the need, they'll see the demand. I think it's maybe one of two programs that are like it, perhaps in
- [20:05]
Casey Grove
all of North America, twitchell said. While Southeast Alaska Native languages have endured and continue to grow, they should still be prioritized and with urgency by schools and communities.
- [20:15]
Hune Lance Twitchell
But to be able to get to that is going to take some monumental shifts in the way that we do things, which is really hard today because one of the things that a colonial government likes to do is pretend that there's no time, there's no money, everything's already spoken for.
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Casey Grove
Twitchell said this program would create more pathways for educators who can advocate for time, money and effort to go into revitalizing Indigenous languages. He said the program would focus on the hows of teaching Indigenous languages, how to create schools, build programs and what materials to use. University officials are currently reviewing the proposal. After that, it'll be up to the University of Alaska Board of Regents to decide whether to approve the program. While almost everyone in Kipnuk and Quigilingok had to evacuate in the wake of Typhoon Ha Long, many in the communities have been looking for normalcy while displaced. And one familiarity they've found is high school sports. KYUK's Samantha Watson reports from a basketball tournament that brought back together Coastal YK Delta teams.
- [21:22]
Avery Elfelt
At the Mid Coast League basketball tournament in eec. The gym is loud, just like coastal basketball tournaments always are. Among the noise are cheers for the Kipnuk and Kuigalinguk teams, but no one traveled from those communities to be here today. Student Curtis Dock Jr. Plays for the Kipnook boys team. His family was evacuated to Anchorage after the storm.
- [21:48]
Greg Allen
I think when we got here, I think we almost forgot how to dress up in a village way because we're mostly in the city.
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Avery Elfelt
Back in his home region, about 100 miles from his village, he says it's a breath of fresh Delta air.
- [22:04]
Greg Allen
It feels lighter than Anchorage.
- [22:08]
Avery Elfelt
The Kipnook boys and girls teams reformed out of displaced students who now attend Anchorage high schools. There, the boys are part of student bodies three times the size of their hometowns. When it's time for basketball practice, though, the boys come back to a familiar group of nine.
- [22:26]
Greg Allen
On Wednesday, when we got here, a snow machine passed by and a lot
- [22:32]
Casey Grove
of the boys were like, that's Kipnock
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Avery Elfelt
boys coach Jesse Hochak.
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Greg Allen
The smell of the snow machine was just, just refreshing.
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Avery Elfelt
Hok's family has a home in Anchorage. But he spends nine months of the year back in the village because that's where his son Dallas wanted to go to school to play sports a few weeks before the storm. Dallas passed away at 15. He says right after the typhoon, he heard a lot of people talking like Kipnook and Quig didn't exist anymore. It didn' right with him, especially thinking about his son's basketball teammates.
- [23:10]
Greg Allen
And I didn't want all the students to think, not to think like this. What if, what if? What if Ha Long didn't hit us, we'd be playing right now.
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Avery Elfelt
When the school district asked him to coach the Kipnook boys team, he says he was hesitant. Being from Quig, he didn't know what the boys would think. But he says now he's not sure where he'd be without the team.
- [23:36]
Greg Allen
And they know how I'm going through, and they know. I always tell them, if you guys weren't there for me to coach, I don't know where I would be today. You guys always give me strength to look forward for the next day.
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Avery Elfelt
He says he's been able to see Dallas in them, a kid who was kind to everyone and loved basketball. And he's been able to help the boys adjust, moving through their own grief of being displaced from their homes. Even though basketball is still happening, it looks very different. To make the season work, the Kipnook team, which has nine players total, was slotted into the JV bracket of the 4A League, the division with the largest schools in the state. With tryout and A, B and C teams.
- [24:28]
Greg Allen
Everything is so new to them. Big school, big gym with big bleachers around. And when we got here on their first game, the bleachers were full with the people that can't speak our native tongue.
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Avery Elfelt
Hok says when they played their first game in ik, he could see this kind of shot shocked the voice that suddenly there was an audience. They knew. Adrian Kayunya has a daughter on the Kwikalingok team, which is based out of Bethel Regional High School. I can see some motivation in school
- [25:08]
Samantha Watson
and for the village. I could see so much motivation because
- [25:12]
Avery Elfelt
they look forward to practice. Like, not only for basketball, it was
- [25:17]
Samantha Watson
for nyu, it was for volleyball, it was for basketball now.
- [25:21]
Avery Elfelt
And now we're here. We are here now. Kyunya says it feels normal to be here. She keeps forgetting she didn't come here from Quig. However, life on the other side of the tournament still looks different. Doc Jr says his family will be moving out of the hotel they've been in since the storm, he says. It's been good to be back here and play in their 1A home division. Even though things are different now.
- [25:47]
Greg Allen
It doesn't feel the same because of that typhoon. It just changed our life.
- [25:58]
Avery Elfelt
But these guys are laughing at the Midcoast Tournament. It's clear these things live together, the big truths and the simple fact of loving ball. It's something they've been able to navigate together, not just as a team, but as Kipnook Falcons in eec. I'm Samantha Watson.
- [26:30]
Casey Grove
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 Liz Ruskin, Wesley early and Hannah Fluor in Anchorage, Eric Stone in Yvonne Crumry in Juno, Catherine Rose in Sitka and Samantha Watson in eec. If you want to send us a news tip, question or comment, email us@newsalaskapublic.org Our audio engineer tonight is Dave Waldron. Kirsten Dobroth is our producer and I'm Casey Grove. Good night,
- [27:12]
Greg Allen
Sam.