KMXT News

On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:

Alaska will receive more than a million dollars in federal funds to clean up abandoned coal mines across the state. The Biden administration has issued instructions aimed at protecting subsistence resources in the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska. And the largest juried photography show in Alaska has made its way to Kenai Peninsula College.

Photo: Funds are used for abandoned mine lands reclamation projects like this one in Healy, Alaska, which addressed more than 1,600 feet of unstable, dangerous highwalls standing as high as 265 feet. Photo courtesy of the Alaska Abandoned Mined Lands Program.

On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:

A Southeast Alaska lawmaker has a proposal to offer a state flood insurance alternative that may include coverage for both floods and some landslides. Another Alaska lawmaker is proposing a bill that would protect the personal information of law officers and stalking victims. And Sen. Lisa Murkowski lauded President-Elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Energy.

Photo: Ketchikan's Third Avenue landslide.

On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:

The federal Office of Subsistence Management has a new director. A project to build Alaska’s first state-run veterans cemetery received a $7 million grant last week. And lawmakers are once again pushing to revive a pension system for state and local government workers in Alaska, including teachers.

Photo: An aerial view of the Salcha property that will house the proposed Interior Alaska State Veterans Cemetery. Photo from Alaska Veterans for Justice.

On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:
Rural schools in Alaska are facing a major funding shortfall this year Congress failed to reauthorize a bill aimed at funding communities alongside national forests and lands. State lawmakers have released more than 80 proposals for new laws and constitutional amendments ahead of the legislative session. And Skagway School is planning an international trip.

Photo: Comedian Nat Townsen (center) with students from Skagway School's climate club.

On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:

High winds and warmer temperatures led to large power outages across Southcentral Alaska yesterday. The mayor of Anchorage has thrown her support behind the Eklutna Tribe’s efforts to build a small casino on the outskirts of the city.

Photo: Debris from the damaged Rabbit Creek pedestrian bridge lies on the Seward Highway early on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025 after high winds swept through the region. (AK DOT)

On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:The University of Alaska Fairbanks is getting $7-and-a-half million from the U.S. Department of Energy to advance the nation’s domestic supply of critical minerals. No bids were received in the oil and gas lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And the federal government says it no longer thinks the state underfunded school districts.

Photo: UAF Critical Minerals Lab analyst Piper Kramer places a rock sample in an x-ray spectrometer on Jan. 7, 2025. Photo by Shelby Herbert/AKPM

On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:

Anchorage officers shot a man early yesterday morning after police say he shot a homeowner in the Government Hill neighborhood. A plan to improve air quality in Fairbanks is nearing federal approval. And Juneau is struggling to hire and keep firefighters.

Photo: Smokestack emissions are seen along the Fairbanks skyline on March 1, 2023. At left is the coal-fired heat and power plant on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:

The federal government will see who bid on oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Friday. Anchorage police have shot their first person of 2025. And surf's up in Unalaska.

Photo: The Hulahula River, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Haley Johnson)

On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:

The Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count has wrapped up. A Sitka man is celebrating the 35th anniversary of an Arctic trek that almost defies belief. And Bethel’s library director was honored with a national librarian award.

Photo: Theresa Quiner, Director of the Kuskokwim Consortium Library in Bethel, is one of 10 librarians across the nation chosen to receive the American Library Association's I Love My Librarian award. (MaryCait Dolan)

On today's Midday Report with Host Terry Haines:

Nick Begich the Third was sworn in on Friday as Alaska’s representative in the U.S. House. The Storis is back in the Coast Guard fleet...this one is an icebreaker. And arctic sea ice is forming later each year, and is thinner. The thin sea ice can have wide-reaching repercussions.

Photo: The Coast Guard cutter Storis. (US Coast Guard.)