Alaska State Troopers in Ketchikan are offering new details in the Dec. 31 arson investigation in which a trooper left a woman at her ex-boyfriend’s home. The woman is accused of intentionally setting fire to the property a few hours later.

Initially, Alaska State Troopers wrote in a court filing that Kami D. Riley had used Trooper Joey Beaudoin’s cellphone to leave a voicemail for her ex-boyfriend threatening to burn his house down.

One of the biggest stories of 2019 was the display of passion that two young Indigenous women had for their environment.

“It’s our life. It’s our future.” said Quannah Chasing Horse – she’s a Lakota Sioux and Hans Gwich’in from Fairbanks. She’s also 17. “It is not just about us either. It’s about the world. The Arctic is feeling twice as much as the entire world. We are thawing twice as fast as anywhere else in the world. And it is right now.”

The only tribal gaming casino in the state is in Metlakatla, on the Annette Island Indian Reserve. But a federally recognized tribe near Anchorage wants to change that.

In the state’s early history, a federal law -- the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act -- parceled out land to 12 regional corporations, Native Village corporations and thousands of tribal allotments. In exchange Alaska Natives gave up further claims to land and most of the resources on and under the ground. 

Alaska also considers most gambling -- outside of state-licensed gaming -- illegal.

Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau starts the year-long process of counting every American, and it begins right here in Alaska. Surveyors will start work in Toksook Bay on January 21.

Gabe Layman is chair of the Alaska Census Working Group. He explains why a complete count of all Alaskans is important to the state as a whole.

One Alaska representative wants Gov. Mike Dunleavy to ask President Donald Trump for an extension of the REAL ID deadline and additional funding for outreach in rural communities.

Olson wrote Tuesday to the governor that both Dunleavy and Trump have a responsibility to ensure the ID mandate is implemented properly so that Alaskans’ rights to travel are not infringed upon.