Talk Of Alaska

When you’re in the middle of a mental health crisis you need help immediately but options are often limited and inappropriate. Organizations around Alaska are working to change that and connect people with the support they need. Guest host Anne Hillman discusses Crisis Now and the state’s evolving mental health response system. Listen here: HOST: Anne Hillman GUESTS: Summer Lefebvre, Psychiatric Emergency Department Manager, Providence Alaska Medical Center Steve Williams, Chief Operating Officer, Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast. Send an email to talk@alaskapublic.org (Comments may be read on air). Post your comment during or after the live broadcast on social media (Comments may be read on air). LIVE Broadcast: Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2021 at 10 a.m. on APRN stations statewide.LIVE Web stream: Click here to stream. ]]>

Bunny Blackbird with her mother, Martina Dundas, a partial shareholder born after ANCSA was signed in 1971. Shee Atiká issues distributions to shareholders, funeral benefits, and scholarships. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo) As the 50th anniversary of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act approaches, corporations, subsidiaries and shareholders in and outside the state are reflecting on the landmark legislation and how it’s evolved over time. Despite the successes, problems remain, including how younger generations of Alaska Natives will be included. In the final Talk of Alaska program in the ANCSA at 50 series, young leaders discuss their vision moving forward. Listen here: HOST: Adelyn Baxter GUESTS: Marina Anderson, Executive Director, Organized Village of Kasaan Andrea Gusty, CEO & President, The Kuskokwim Corporation LINKS & RESOURCES: ANCSA at 50 stories and conversations ANCSA at 50 on Talk of Alaska: Behind the history of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (Part

Diane Shrader joined roughly 150 protesters to oppose mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for employees at the Alaska Native medical campus on Aug. 5, 2021. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media) What will it take to recover from this pandemic? Vaccines and booster shots are widely available, but less than 60% of eligible Alaskans are fully vaccinated. Many doctors feel inaccurate information and conspiracy theories are a big part of the problem. How are they working to help their patients believe in the facts? Listen here: HOST: Lori Townsend GUESTS: Justin Ruffridge, Pharmacist & Soldotna City Council memberDr. Robin Ninefeldt, Board Certified Family Medicine PhysicianDr. Tom Quimby, emergency physician, Mat-Su Regional Medical Center LINKS & RESOURCES: Alaska COVID-19 Information Hub PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast. Send an email to talk@alaskapublic.org (Comments may be read on air). Post your comment during o

Many businesses closed or reduced operations early on during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Abbey Collins/Alaska Public Media) Alaska businesses are facing another holiday season of pandemic problems, this time from shipping delays and price increases that are rippling across the national and international economy. How are they weathering this latest challenge? Small business owners share their experiences and the Alaska Small Business Development Center breaks down the challenges. Listen here: HOST: Lori Townsend GUESTS: Jon Bittner, executive director, Alaska Small Business Development Center Jonathan White, owner, SteamDot Coffee Roasters Camille Adenaka, owner, Apres Alaska LINKS & RESOURCES: Buy Alaska PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast. Send an email to talk@alaskapublic.org (Comments may be read on air). Post your comment during or after the live broadcast on social media (Comments may be read on

Caribou from the Porcupine Caribou Herd in 2007. The herd often calves on the Arctic Coastal Plain. (Andrew Ramey/USGS) The history of caribou, their migrations within the arctic, climate change and the intertwined lives of the people who depend on this fragile ecosystem are captured in Kotzebue-based author Seth Kantner’s latest book, “A Thousand Trails Home: Living With Caribou.” As the cold and dark part of our season settles in, join us for a discussion on Kantner’s writing and other new Alaska author releases for winter reading. Listen here: HOST: Lori Townsend GUESTS: Seth Kantner, author, “A Thousand Trails Home: Living With Caribou” Barbara Hood, Board President, 49 Writers PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast. Send an email to talk@alaskapublic.org (Comments may be read on air). Post your comment during or after the live broadcast on social media (Comments may be read on air).

Fifty years ago, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act established regional and village corporations throughout the state. In the second of our three-part discussion of ANCSA, we’ll speak with corporate executives about the economic and cultural impact the corporations have on not just Alaska Native lives, but on all Alaskans. Listen here: HOST: Lori Townsend GUESTS: Kim Reitmeier, Executive Director, ANCSA Regional Association Hallie Bissett, Executive Director, Alaska Native Village Corporation Association Aaron Schutt, ARA Chair and President & CEO, Doyon Limited LINKS & RESOURCES: Part 1 — ANCSA at 50: Behind the history of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Special Alaska Insight: Celebrating ANCSA at 50 – Nov 17 PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast. Send an email to talk@alaskapublic.org (Comments may be read on air). Post your comment during or after the live broadcast on

Juneau drag queen Gigi Monroe performs at the youth Pride party on June 20, 2019. (Photo by Zoe Grueskin/KTOO) Queer and trans youth are at increased risk of homelessness across the nation. In Alaska, limited resources compound the problem, and that makes it more likely young people will become chronically homeless. How are advocates working to address the shortfalls? Listen here: HOST: Adelyn Baxter GUESTS: Julia Terry, Co-Director of Programming, Choosing Our Roots Enigma Jindra, board member & youth advocate, Choosing Our Roots Tracey Wiese, Clinic Director, Identity Health Clinic Joe Hemphill, Chief Development Officer, Covenant House LINKS & RESOURCES: Choosing Our Roots Covenant House Identity Alaska PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast. Send an email to talk@alaskapublic.org (Comments may be read on air). Post your comment during or after the live broadcast on social media (Commen

Students in a classroom at Redington Sr. Jr/Sr High School in Wasilla on September 21, 2020. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media) Educators and students have been through the gamut over the last year and a half. Now that they’re back in the classroom, the long term impacts of virtual learning and social isolation are making themselves known. Teachers are reporting issues with learning loss, with students falling behind where they should be academically, and behavior. Educators share how they’re addressing these problems amid an ongoing pandemic. Listen here: HOST: Lori Townsend GUESTS: Tom Klaameyer, president, National Education Association AlaskaNathan Erfurth, president, Kenai Peninsula Education Association PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast. Send an email to talk@alaskapublic.org (Comments may be read on air). Post your comment during or after the live broadcast on social media (Comments may be read on air).

A crane prepares to move a shipping container off a cargo ship and onto a truck at the Port of Alaska on March 22, 2020. (Mayowa Aina/Alaska Public Media) International and national shipping delays are rippling down the supply line to Alaska. What’s causing the issues, and what does it mean for consumers and businesses in our state? How are the pandemic and labor shortages contributing to the slowdown? Experts explain the impacts and what’s being done to address them ahead of the holiday shopping season. Listen here: HOST: Lori Townsend GUESTS: Darren Prokop, Professor of Logistics, University of Alaska AnchorageRalph Townsend, Professor of Economics, University of Alaska Anchorage Institute of Social and Economic ResearchAlyssa Rodrigues, State Director, Alaska Manufacturing Extension Partnership PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast. Send an email to talk@alaskapublic.org (Comments may be read on air). Post your comment

Willie Iġġiaġruk Hensley speaks during the Elders and Youth conference in 2019 at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks. (Tripp J Crouse/KNBA) It has been called the most important legislative act since statehood. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act is 50 years old in December and the economic effect of the Native Corporations ripples across the state, representing an increasingly larger piece of the state’s economy and jobs. What do those who helped create ANCSA think about it today? What are the biggest successes and where are the fault lines? In the first of a series of conversations about ANCSA’s legacy, guests who were there at the beginning lay out the history. Listen here: HOST: Lori Townsend GUESTS: Willie Hensley, former state legislator Marlene Johnson, former chairmen, Sealaska Corporation Joe Rothstein, former Anchorage Daily News editor and former chief of staff to Sen. Mike Gravel PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North) Permanent Fund Dividends will arrive soon, but the plan to pay for them going forward hasn’t materialized. Legislators have yet to agree on a solution, despite a fourth special legislative session and a list of recommendations made by a bipartisan working group this summer. Advocates share their ideas for a sustainable plan for the future. Listen here: HOST: Lori Townsend GUESTS: Andrew Kitchenman, State Government Reporter, Alaska Public Media and KTOO Rick Halford, Permanent Fund Defenders Brad Keithley, Managing Director, Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets Cliff Groh, Alaska Common Ground CORRECTION: Alaska Public Media and KTOO reporter Andrew Kitchenman made an error in this Talk of Alaska. An update to public employee pension contributions will save the state more than $100 million per year. It will not cost more money than the working group assumed. PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or

What stories do Alaska’s ghost towns have to tell? In his newest book, longtime Alaska writer Tom Kizzia explores that question in McCarthy, digging into the bygone days of the tiny community nestled into Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Cold Mountain Path explores forgotten stories of mining, homesteading and loss. We’ll also discuss the new micropress based out of McCarthy that’s publishing the book. Listen here: HOST: Adelyn Baxter GUESTS: Tom Kizzia, author, Cold Mountain Path Jeremy Pataky, publisher, Porphyry Press LINKS & RESOURCES: Porphyry Press PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast. Send an email to talk@alaskapublic.org (Comments may be read on air). Post your comment during or after the live broadcast on social media (Comments may be read on air). LIVE Broadcast: Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021 at 10 a.m. on APRN stations statewide.LIVE Web stream: Click here to stream. ]]>

Two people pick up donations of chum and king salmon that will be distributed to villages along the lower Yukon river. (Olivia Ebertz/KYUK) The Chinook salmon fishery on the Yukon has been in decline for years, but this fall chum salmon numbers also collapsed and all subsistence and commercial salmon fishing was shut down on the Yukon. That left fishermen and families without a vital source of income and food for the coming winter. What’s known about the causes and consequences of the fisheries collapse? How are communities responding? Listen: HOST: Lori Townsend GUESTS: Holly Carroll, Yukon River Subsistence Fishery Manager, U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceSabrina Garcia, Marine Research Biologist, Alaska Department of Fish and GameAlida Trainor, Subsistence Resource Specialist, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Rhonda Pitka, First Chief of the Village of Beaver Brooke Woods, Chair, Yukon River Intertribal Fish Commission LINKS & RESOURCES: Yukon subsistence users go to new le

A nearly empty critical care unit at Bartlett Hospital on April 7, 2020, in Juneau, Alaska. on (Photo by Rashah McChesney/KTOO) Alaska hospitals are in crisis. The state is setting new records for COVID case numbers and hospitalizations, overwhelming medical facilities and forcing providers to make difficult decisions about who gets an ICU bed and who has to wait. What needs to happen to bring things back to a manageable level? Listen here: HOST: Lori Townsend GUESTS: Jared Kosin, President & CEO, Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association Dr. Ellen Hodges, Chief of Staff, Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation Dr. Kristen Solana Walkinshaw, Chief of Staff, Providence Alaska Medical Center LINKS & RESOURCES: Alaska’s largest hospital expects health care rationing to last weeksLetter from medical professionals at Providence Alaska Medical Center PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast. Send an ema

Food runner Amanda prepares to deliver entrées at 49th State Brewing in downtown Anchorage. The wait to be seated on a Wednesday evening in July was roughly 1.5- to 2-hours, according to staff and patrons. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media) With no more federal relief coming, what do economists see on the horizon for Alaska’s labor shortage? How much did tourism’s return over the summer make up for the last year of deep loss? Was it enough to help businesses survive the winter? How does the pandemic continue to affect supply lines and commerce? Listen here: HOST: Lori Townsend GUESTS: Sarah Leonard, President & CEO, Alaska Travel Industry Association Neal Fried, Economist, Alaska Department of Labor Nolan Klouda, Executive Director, University of Alaska Anchorage Center for Economic Development PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast. Send an email to talk@alaskapublic.org (Comments may be read on air). Post your

Photo: Mark Byzewski For many Alaskans, fall’s cooler temperatures and wet weather signal the peak of mushroom season. Two regional fungus festivals are happening this month, and whether you’re a veteran forager or a budding mycologist, there’s so much to learn about and discover in the woods and your own backyard. Listen here: HOST: Adelyn Baxter GUESTS: Kate Mohatt, Prince William Sound Zone Ecologist, U.S. Forest Service Cathy Renfeldt, executive director, Cordova Chamber of Commerce Gabriel Wingard, co-president, Turnagain Arm Mycological Society LINKS: Girdwood Fungus Fair Cordova Fungus Festival Outdoor Explorer: Gathering and foraging in Alaska PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast. Send an email to talk@alaskapublic.org (Comments may be read on air). Post your comment during or after the live broadcast on social media (Comments may be read on air). LIVE Broadcast: Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2

Avery Barnaby dances on the playground during her first day back to school as a first-grader at Sayéik Gastineau Community School on Jan. 14, 2021, in Juneau. (Rashah McChesney/KTOO) Students are back in school amid rising COVID-19 cases and community divisions over how to keep them safe. That has left many parents questioning how to best keep their families healthy. How much risk does the delta variant pose for unvaccinated children? And when can kids under age 12 expect to be able to get the shot? Medical experts weigh in and share advice for parents. Listen here: HOST: Adelyn Baxter GUESTS: Dr. Michelle Laufer, pediatrician, Medical Park Family CareColeman Cutchins, lead pharmacist, Department of Health and Social Services PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast. Send an email to talk@alaskapublic.org (Comments may be read on air). Post your comment during or after the live broadcast on social media (Comments may be

Two people and a dog curl up near a boiler room on Shattuck Way on Jan. 20, 2017 in downtown Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by Rashah McChesney/Alaska’s Energy Desk) For Alaskans who experience homelessness, the looming colder weather creates additional stress. The highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19 makes the logistics of safe shelter more complicated. What are the plans in Anchorage and across Alaska to ensure that residents without stable housing have help? How do those plans address public health and safety? Listen here: HOST: Lori Townsend GUESTS: Jasmine Boyle, executive director, Anchorage Coalition to End HomelessnessDr. John Morris, homelessness coordinator, Anchorage Mayor’s OfficeRoger Branson, member, Anchorage Houseless Advisory CouncilChris Kolerok, Director of Public Policy, Cook Inlet Housing Authority PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast. Send an email to talk@alaskapublic.org (Comments may

Gov. Mike Dunleavy (Dunleavy Flckr) Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants to amend the state constitution to enshrine an annual Permanent Fund earnings amount to use for government spending and dividends, impose a cap on annual spending and hold a statewide vote on any new taxes. As the third special legislative session gets underway to work on stabilizing the state budget, Dunleavy describes why he believes his proposals are the best way forward. Listen here: HOST: Lori Townsend GUESTS: Gov. Mike Dunleavy PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast. Send an email to talk@alaskapublic.org (Comments may be read on air). Post your comment during or after the live broadcast on social media (Comments may be read on air). LIVE Broadcast: Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021 at 10 a.m. on APRN stations statewide.LIVE Web stream: Click here to stream. ]]>

Childcare workers interact with infants at Gold Creek Child Development Center in Juneau in May, 2018. (Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO) Reliable and affordable child care continues to be a challenge for many families. The upcoming school year may help some, but before- and after-school care is limited. With a new surge in COVID cases, how are child care providers balancing the need for safety with parents’ needs to work?  Listen here: HOST: Lori Townsend GUESTS: Stephanie Berglund, CEO, thread Barbara Dubovich, CEO, Camp Fire AlaskaSarah Nicohls, Executive director, Fairbanks Montessori School PARTICIPATE: Call 907-550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast. Send an email to talk@alaskapublic.org (Comments may be read on air). Post your comment during or after the live broadcast on social media (Comments may be read on air). LIVE Broadcast: Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021 at 10 a.m. on APRN stations statewide.LIVE Web stream: Click here to stream. ]]>