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Crime & Justice

With Barrow DA's office closed, Dillingham is next on the chopping block

Alaska’s ongoing budget crisis has departments reaching deeper for possible cuts to expenditures, and the Department of Law, which has already closed one rural office, may see another shuttered in the next fiscal year.
Jerzy Shedlock
Alaska governor institutes hiring freeze and travel restrictions for most state departments
State court employees furloughed Christmas Eve; others may get paid day off
Politics

Judge rejects motion to dismiss suit over Anchorage legislative offices

An Anchorage judge on Thursday rejected a motion to throw out a public interest lawsuit seeking to void the Legislature’s controversial and expensive lease for its downtown Anchorage office building. 
Lisa Demer
Emails show collaboration between legislator, developer on Anchorage office deal
The man who'll lose millions if lawmakers skip out on Anchorage office lease
Sponsored Content

Fairbanks teacher-turned-principal has a flexible game plan

Deborah Hall, a 2004 winner of the BP Teachers of Excellence award, is now the do-it-all principal of Denali Elementary. 
Presented by BP
Rural Alaska

North Slope Borough mayor recall petition approved

An effort to recall North Slope Borough Mayor Charlotte Brower can move ahead, according to a letter hand-delivered Thursday to the movement’s sponsors.
Lisa Demer
Politics

Alaska Native veterans to receive federal housing assistance

The federal government on Friday announced $5.9 million in grants to tribes, aimed at caring for homeless veterans including 60 Alaskans. 
Erica Martinson

Second Anchorage marijuana homicide defendant gets 4 years

Nathaniel Kile Jr., 19, was sentenced Friday in Anchorage to four years in prison for his part in a marijuana robbery that ended in the death of 20-year-old Jeanpal Borge.Crime & JusticeJerzy Shedlock

Alaska has 2 years to change IDs before air travel restrictions

The Department of Homeland Security announced a timeline for the final phase of the Real ID Act Friday, and Alaska's deadline is January 2018.Alaska TravelSuzanna Caldwell

Feds push back at state game board over predator control

Federal wildlife managers and the Alaska state game board are at odds again, this time over a proposed new federal regulation that would limit predator control in wildlife refuges. WildlifeErica Martinson

A view of life's zoo: APU hosts rare show for prize-winning Fairbanks photographer Charles Mason

Award-winning photographer sees life as a zoo where the gawkers are as interesting as what they're gawking at.CultureMike Dunham

News & Politics

Owners of shuttered Anchorage restaurant Crossbar locked in legal battle

Breached contracts, embezzlement and fraud are among the accusations levied between the owners of Anchorage's now-defunct Crossbar Sports Restaurant.Laurel Andrews
Rare deep-sea fish washes ashore in Gustavus
Low oil prices are likely leading to Alaska’s first annual jobs loss since 2009
Ketchikan really IS in Alaska, Facebook finally realizes

Have a news tip? Let us know at newstips@alaskadispatch.com

Multimedia

Outdoors
Video: Whales bubble feeding off dock in Ketchikan
Science
Video: Archaeologists discover wreckage of lost whaling ships
Multimedia
Photos: Alaska Aces practice outdoors
Outdoors
Video: I Am a Birder | Indie Alaska

Popular columnists
Jeff Lowenfels  •  Heather Lende •  Shannyn Moore  •  Paul Jenkins  •  Elise Patkotak  •  Mike Dingman
Steven Haycox  •  John Havelock  •  Alan Boraas  •  Michael Carey  •  Rick Sinnott • Laureli Ivanoff

Voices

Alaska must be bold, creative to put budget on a sustainable basis

OPINION: Alaska's budget deficit requires not just tweaks, but a major transformation and honest leadership for long-term stability.Bob Kaufman
Koch Industries to state: Drop occupational licensing
Energy literacy yields extraordinary financial returns while helping the planet
Against loss: A pledge to honor Doug Demarest with action

Adventure

Schnuelle considering 2017 return to Iditarod racing (with video)

Despite being one of the sport’s more accomplished dog drivers, Sebastian Schnuelle decided after the 2011 Iditarod — in which he recorded his fourth-straight top-10 finish — that he was done. The racing grind had become too much.Scott Jensen
Oh so quietly, Allen Moore is creating a mushing dynasty
Warmer weather has Alaska sled dog race organizers worried and planning course changes
Slim field of Yukon Quest entrants weighted toward old guys

Events

Polar Nights
Second Friday at IGCA
Moonalice at The Sitzmark
'The 90s Files: A Plethora of Ephemera'

In case you missed it

Series: The making of a mother

Mariah Saari was barely out of her teens, couch surfing, broke and hooked on meth when she learned she was pregnant. Could a nurse who was once a teenage single mother herself help Mariah make a better life for herself and her baby?
Michelle Theriault Boots
Varsity Calculus: The amazing legacy of math teacher Chuck Strauss
One Anchorage classroom
Sidney Huntington learned leadership and survival at age 5

Sports

Top-line center Coffman stays hot in Aces' 3-2 shootout loss

Tim Coffman scored both Alaska's goals in a 3-2 shootout loss at Atlanta to give him nine goals and 16 points in the last 12 games.Doyle Woody
With Tour de Ski victory, Minnesota's Diggins joins elite club
UAA super subs fuel men's basketball win over Simon Fraser
UAA women steal their way to 90-39 basketball win over Western Oregon

Culture

A view of life's zoo: APU hosts rare show for prize-winning Fairbanks photographer Charles Mason

Award-winning photographer sees life as a zoo where the gawkers are as interesting as what they're gawking at.Mike Dunham
Alaska from Scratch: Warm up your morning with apple cinnamon baked oatmeal
Shannon Kuhn: A piña colada to push away the winter blues
Drink while you game: Will Alaska soon get a Dave & Buster’s?

Arctic

What scientists discovered in Greenland could be making sea-level rise even worse

Recent changes to the island's snow and ice cover appear to have affected its ability to store excess water, meaning more melting ice may be running off into the ocean than previously thought, a new study finds.Chelsea Harvey | The Washington Post
Russian icebreaker breaks speed record on Arctic route
Arctic Report Card documents continuing loss of ice
Arctic route path to Canada-Russia reconciliation?

Nation/World

  • If you're reading this, you're straining your eyes

    Three-quarters of people who use two or more devices simultaneously report symptoms of digital eye strain, according to a survey. Symptoms include, neck/shoulder/back pain, eye strain, headache, blurred vision and dry eyes.

  • Obama Vetoes Bill to Repeal Health Law and End Planned Parenthood Funding

    President Obama vetoed legislation Friday that would have repealed the Affordable Care Act and stripped all federal funds from Planned Parenthood, writing in his veto message that the measure would “reverse the significant progress we have made in improving health care in America.”

We Alaskans

Assembling Kachemak Bay belugas, bone by bone

The bones and teeth, separate from the once-living whale, were antiseptically clean, minimalist and disjointed, like parts of a model plane. And yet they were also beautiful, perfectly shaped by nature’s design, each as lovely to admire as a well-made vase.Nancy Lord
A vibrant flame snuffed too soon
Kiss snowy Alaska winters goodbye
Last year in the Last Frontier

Sponsored Content

Fairbanks teacher-turned-principal has a flexible game plan

Deborah Hall, a 2004 winner of the BP Teachers of Excellence award, is now the do-it-all principal of Denali Elementary. Presented by BP
Fish in a flash: Bear Tooth chef shares her go-to cod tacos recipe
The family business: Seine-to-table salmon for a sweet-tart burger
Of farming, fishing and farmers marketing