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On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The 2024 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race kicked off at the race’s ceremonial start in Anchorage on Saturday, A remote Kenai Peninsula village is running out of time to to use grant money to replace its dilapidated school. And difficulties with financing and logistics have led to the end of the Makushin Geothermal Project.

Photo: Ramey Smyth’s team run into Finger Lake during the 2022 Iditarod. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)

On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska’s biggest regional airline has laid off 130 of its 400-plus employees. A bill working its way through the state House could have big implications for reproductive rights. And Anchorage’s historic city hall will become a new downtown public library.

Photo: A Ravn Alaska airplane at Unalaska’s Tom Madsen Airport in 2022. (Theo Greenly/KUCB)

On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Alaska House has passed a bill today aimed at making child care more accessible and available in the state. The state Department of Transportation is racing to submit revisions after federal authorities rejected Alaska’s statewide highway project funding plan. And arctic air will bring subzero temperatures to Southcentral and Southwest Alaska this week.

Photo: Snow blows across the Parks Highway near the Glenn-Parks highway interchange at 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024 in a state road camera image. (From Alaska DOTPF)

On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Gov. Mike Dunleavy is demanding additional concessions from lawmakers before he’ll sign a bipartisan education bill. The Anchorage Assembly failed to pass a resolution last night calling for an “immediate bilateral ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.” And the Great Sitkin volcano has been erupting for almost three years, and scientists have now discovered why. 

Photo: Eruption plume of Great Sitkin Volcano captured by Lauren Flynn (USFWS) from the R/V Tiglax on May 25, 2021

On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines:  More than 100 people gathered in downtown Juneau Saturday afternoon for a rally to urge city and state officials in Alaska to support a ceasefire in Gaza.  Gov. Mike Dunleavy has cast doubt on the future of a bill that would boost state education funding and implement other reforms.  And Rep. Mary Peltola hits positive notes in her address to the State Legislature.

Photo: U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola addressed the Alaska Legislature on February 26th.
(Photo courtesy of Gavel Alaska/KTOO)

On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola ranks second-highest in staff turnover for the U.S. House of Representatives. One of Gov. Mike Dunleavy's 12 executive orders would bring big changes to a board tasked with overseeing Alaska’s ferry system. And federal grants are now available to help reduce rural energy costs.

Photo: The M/V Kennicott leaving Wrangell on Jan. 8, 2021 (Sage Smiley/KSTK)

On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The Kodiak Police

Photo: North Pacific Right Whales seen in Barnabas Trough, 25 miles south of Kodiak Island, in 2021 (NOAA Fisheries)

On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Rep. Sarah Vance of Homer apologized on the house floor on Monday for comments she made about assault rates and violence against Indigenous women. Midwives in Alaska are speaking out against a plan from Governor Mike Dunleavy to dissolve the board that governs their profession. And members of the state House and Senate are working out the details of a wide-ranging education bill.

Photo: Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy delivers the State of the State address on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024.

On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has introduced a bill to support coastal communities. Roofing businesses in Anchorage have been slammed with snow removal work. And a moose has been hanging out at the East Anchorage Costco.

Photo: Moose in Costco parking lot.

On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Two longtime King Cove residents died from injuries sustained in a suspicious fire in Anchorage at the start of the month. The city of Anchorage has reached a legal settlement with the organization that sued it over the lengthy amount of time it took to outfit police officers with body cameras. And Alaska lawmakers are searching for solutions to a looming shortage of natural gas that threatens power and heating for much of the state’s population.

Photo: A policeman wears a body camera during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations this year in North Charleston, South Carolina. (Creative Commons photo by North Charleston)