There are not great numbers of female rappers and Alaska Native female rappers probably number in the single digits. But one such artist is finding great success in the state and around the world as a woman with a passion for raising awareness of the struggles of Native people.

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Individual news stories are posted on the APRN news page. You can subscribe to APRN’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @aprn.

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Great Bear Undecided On 2013 Drilling Season

Peter Granitz, APRN – Washington DC

A few years ago, executives from start up oil company Great Bear Petroleum told Alaska legislators they’d drill some two hundred North Slope wells per year for fifteen years.

Activity Increases At Pavlof Volcano

Stephanie Joyce, KUCB – Unalaska

Pavlof Volcano put on a light show for residents of several communities on the Alaska Peninsula on Tuesday night. Activity at the volcano has increased, and it’s spewing ash up to 20,000 feet.

Interior Rabies Cases Prompt Animals Vaccinations

Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks

The recent detection of two cases of rabies in wolves trapped south of the Brooks Range has prompted concern about whether the deadly disease has re-emerged in the interior.  Many pet owners in Fairbanks are getting their animals vaccinated as a precaution.

Marine Highway Dropping Discounts To Save Money

Ed Schoenfeld, CoastAlaska – Juneau

Say so long to summer drivers riding the ferry for free. Wave goodbye to the winter roundtrip discount. And printed schedules? Those are on their way out too. The changes are some of the ways the Alaska Marine Highway plans to address a $3.5-million spending cut mandated by the Legislature.

Atka Searches For Funds To Replace Aging Health Clinic

Lauren Rosenthal, KUCB – Unalaska

The remote village of Atka, in the western Aleutians, is home to just 71 people. But that’s about to change. The local processing plant wants to quadruple its workforce – and with that, the city of Atka is ramping up a campaign to replace its dilapidated clinic.

Officials Close Kotzebue-Area Subsistence Musk Ox Hunt

Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage

State wildlife officials have closed a subsistence musk ox hunt near Kotzebue because of evidence of wanton waste of the animals.   Area biologists say five cow musk oxen from the Cape Thompson herd were killed sometime during January or February of this year.

According to Jim Dau a biologist with the state office in Kotzebue,  wildlife officials were tipped off to the killings when two musk oxen bodies were spotted by census takers last month.

On further investigation, Wildlife Troopers found 5 more cow moose bodies that had apparently been shot, and left unsalvaged.

Dau says the illegal harvests exceeded the harvest quota for the unit. The hunt was scheduled to open July 1. The closure does not affect a similar musk ox hunt on the Seward Peninsula.

State Keeping Close Eye On Mat-Su Flood Conditions

Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage

State officials are keeping an eye on anticipated flood conditions in the Interior of the state, but in the Matanuska Susitna Borough flooding is already starting. Borough officials say the ground is saturated with rain from last fall’s heavy storms, and that, coupled with the lack of snow this winter is causing conditions that give melting ice runoff nowhere to go.

Fisherman Recovers Over Half Of Group’s Lost Canoe Paddles

Matt Lichtenstein, KFSK – Petersburg

A Petersburg fisherman has recovered more than half of the hand-carved cedar paddles that were lost by the One People Canoe Society late last month.

Female Alaska Native Rapper Finding Worldwide Success

Lori Townsend, APRN – Anchorage

There are not great numbers of female rappers and Alaska Native female rappers probably number in the single digits. But one such artist is finding great success in the state and around the world as a woman with a passion for raising awareness of the struggles of Native people.

Rasmuson Foundation announces 2013 grant, fellowship winners Alaska's Rasmuson Foundation announced the winners of its 2013 fellowships and grant awards, including Tlingit weaver Teri Rofkar, who won the coveted Distinguished Artist award.May 15, 2013

Controlled fire planned this week at Anchorage International Airport You may see big billowing plumes of smoke this week, coming from nearby the Anchorage international airport. How big a deal are the live-fire exercises? It depends on where you live.May 15, 2013

An off-duty RCMP officer who clipped a Fulda rental SUV with the wing of his private airplane at 200 kilometres an hour pleaded guilty to the crime Tuesday afternoon.

The Yukon Hospital Corp. knew as of late May 2012 that Dowland Construction Ltd. had not paid at least one subcontractor working on two rural hospital projects.

Christina Asp has refused to testify in the first-degree murder trial of her boyfriend, Norman Larue, and has been cited for contempt of court.

It was an experience that 20 local high school students won’t soon forget.

Cadet Corporal Brendan Curteanu of Whitehorse carried the Yukon flag during the National Cadet Marksmanship Championship opening ceremony recently held at historic Fort George, in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.

As North Korea heats up, South Korea and Japan should warm ties Cooperation on missile defense between South Korea and Japan would help blunt threats from North Korea. But Japanese officials' recent insensitivity to Imperial Japan's painful role in World War II, including forcing South Koreans to become 'comfort women,' works against cooperation.May 15, 2013

Death sentence recommended for Iditarod dog that attacked Alaska girl Deemed most dangerous: Animal control officers say a yearling husky from the kennel of Iditarod musher Jake Berkowitz should be destroyed.May 15, 2013

Outgoing Swedes say Arctic Council should not ban Arctic oil exploration Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has rejected criticism from environmentalists and indigenous groups over Sweden’s failure to push for an oil exploration ban in the Arctic.May 15, 2013

A firearm found Tuesday  in a Valdez school forced every school in the Valdez City School District on lock down.  The Valdez Police Department is investigating as to how the weapon ended up in the school.

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Students from Gilson Middle School boarded buses after they spent part of their Tuesday afternoon on lockdown.  Around 2 p.m., a loaded handgun was found in the school forcing the Valdez City School District to take immediate action.

“Valdez High School and Herman Hutchins Elementary also initiated lockdown protocol right away. The Valdez Police Department was notified immediately. Students were safe at all times. All students were dismissed by classroom and safely accompanied outside of the building,” Gilson Middle School Principal Rod Morrison said.

Morrison said the students were dismissed at their normal times, but the buses were delayed for about 15 minutes.

Valdez Police Chief Bill Comer said the District followed the right protocol in handling the situation.

“We sent officers to all the schools just to make sure that everything was safe until we could understand what was going on and the nature and the scope of how the firearm got there. We’re working on that, we don’t have any answers right now and we’ll let you know when we can,” Comer said.

Officers spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the night searching for more weapons.  For now, the police aren’t releasing the description of the firearm or where it was found.  So far, there is no indication as to why a weapon was brought to the school.  Comer said despite the incident, no one is at risk.

We’ll likely have an officer around, but the teachers and the school administration is the best read for us on what’s going on, and there’s really been no sign of any kind of aggressive behavior or any kind of threats to the school. So there’s really – outside of just finding this firearm in the school – there’s nothing to indicate that the school would be unsafe,” Comer said.

Students are scheduled to resume classes at normal times.

The salmon fleet is getting ready to go fishing on Thursday morning on the Copper River Delta.

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According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, this year’s harvest projection for Copper River sockeyes is 1.3 million.  Fish and Game Gillnet Area Management Biologist Jeremy Botz says the numbers are about the same as last year

“I think last year was about 1.2 [million], so it’s right in there,” Botz said. “The previous year it was a little lower, but then it came in over forecast.”

Two million sockeyes were tallied from last year’s run.  While sockeyes appear to be strong this year, kings are expected to be low for the second straight year.

Fish and Game is projecting a harvest of 14,000.  The total harvest for 2012 was 12,000, well short of the 20,000 harvest projection.

Last year, low king runs force emergency closures across the state.  Botz says despite the low run, the escapement goal for kings was still achieved.

“We’ve been making that goal for the last few years, but it seems, generally speaking, other King Salmon runs are down around the state and they have been for the last few years and it seems like the Copper River salmon runs have also been quite a bit smaller than they have been historically,” Botz said.

The Copper River commercial salmon season is slated to begin at 7 a.m. Thursday for a 12-hour period.

Photograph of Pavlof steaming, with fresh lava flow on its north flank. Photograph taken by Brandon Wilson, PenAir pilot, at about 7 pm, May 13, 2013. Brandon was at about 10,500 feet, westbound from Sand Point to Cold Bay. Photo by Brandon Wilson.

Scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory were able to get clear views of two restless volcanoes today. The images show that both Cleveland Volcano in the Aleutian Islands and Pavlof Volcano on the Alaska Peninsula are oozing lava.

Cleveland started erupting earlier this month, with six separate explosions sending up multiple ash clouds. The volcano has been quiet since early last week, but the new satellite imagery shows a lava flow coming out of the southeastern side of the crater. The flow is about 100 yards wide, and a mile long.

Scientists at the Observatory first detected activity at Mount Pavlof Monday morning, but weren’t able to visually confirm an eruption. Monday night, a passing PenAir pilot took a photo that shows a fresh, quarter-mile-long lava flow on the volcano’s northern flank, and steam emanating from the summit.

While the aviation alert level for both volcanoes remains at orange, neither has interfered with air traffic. Only Pavlof has a real-time monitoring network, while Cleveland is monitored remotely, using infrasound sensors and satellites.

Elite Alaska pararescuemen first to reach McKinley summit this year A group of five mountaineers from Anchorage have become the first team to reach the summit of North America's highest peak in 2013, despite a spring that still hasn't seemed to arrive.May 15, 2013

Still soaked from last year's floods, Mat-Su resident watch flooding The effects of widespread flooding last autumn across Southcentral Alaska is lingering into spring, as the Matanuska-Susitna Borough works to save roads from water flowing from the saturated ground.May 15, 2013

Book review: Mason Currey's 'How Artists Work' From Beethoven to Kafka to Warhol, artists reveal the daily rituals that help them create in author Mason Currey's new book "Daily Rituals: How Artists Work."May 15, 2013

Crunch. Crunch. Gravel shifts below each booted footfall. Crunch. Crunch. Warm morning sunlight cuts through the tree line throwing shadows. Crunch. Crunch.

Movement in the brush. Crunch. Stop. Reach for optics, raise to eyes, rack focus for clarity. Scan. Shadows obscure view. Found. Bird in silhouette. Perching-like song bird. It begins to jump from branch to branch. Track. Dark gray head & chest.

Works around tree trunk disappearing from view. Wait. Scan. Patience. Reappears with momentary pause. White belly. Cock of the head, flap of feathers it vanishes into the woods. White outer tail feathers.

Sometimes that is all you get. A few field marks, a couple pieces of a puzzle. Enjoying the world of birds doesn’t have to be expensive. It can be a fun hobby for the entire family without spending a dollar. However, if you would like to invest in birding tools, here are a few that will help putting those puzzles together.

Optics
Binoculars
From song birds to shore birds one commonality will be your desire to get a closer. Binoculars provide quick and easy image magnification.

Three types of Binoculars:
Full-Size
+ Better performance in low-light conditions
+ Wider field of view
+ Steadier image
- BIG

Mid-Size
+ Average overall performance in low-light conditions
+ Balance of size and image quality

Compact
+ Good performance during daytime activities
+ Easy to transport
- Less comfortable during extended periods of use

Size won’t be the only decision you need to make. Binocular image quality is quantified by two numbers. The first is magnification power, the second is the diameter of the front lenses. For example, you are out binocular shopping and come a cross Nikon Action 10×50 Binocular. This model would have a magnification power power of 10, and 50mm lens diameter allowing them to perform better in low-light. Each number has a range, and the higher the number the better the performance.

While it may seem like you would want the highest magnification possible, remember that the higher the power, the harder it is to steady the image as your hand movements will also be amplified. Don’t be afraid to try out a few pairs in-store. They should be comfortable to your eyes and provide desired magnification.

Field Guide
If you were exhausted shopping for binoculars, you may want to tackle field guides another day. Overwhelmed by variety? Prepare yourself! Illustrations or photos? Quick reference or comprehensive? Physical or digital? This list of questions goes on.

I recommend you start with Peterson, Sibley, or iBirds Pro (iOS). Peterson and Sibley are the gold standard field guides. Make sure your guide is specific to your region of North America. This will limit your search and help you get better results. iBirds Pro expands on it’s physical rivals with the addition bird songs on-demand.

Journal
Keeping a journal is a great way to track your expedition into the world of birds. You can list birds by location and date, allowing you to see who are permeant residents or just are migrating through, or maybe you want to start a life list and watch it grow as you add newly identified species. Either way, it can be a fun way and useful to chronicle your adventures.

Flip. Flip. Flip. Each page turn brings you closer to identification. Searching for Perching-like song birds. Skip waterfowl. Skip predatory. Arriving at song birds you narrow the search. Flip. Dark gray head & chest. Flip. White belly. Flip. White outer tail feathers.

Success.

Dark-eyed Junco.

Field Trips
Anchorage Audubon leads free early morning bird walks every Thursday in May. It is an great opportunity to meet up with some long time birders who are more then willing to share their experience and expertise (and spotting scope). Meet at the Campbell Creek Science Center at 6:30am.

Check out their website for more information: anchorageaudubon.org

When thunderclouds begin to gather over Botswana’s Kalahari each year, 20,000 zebras get itchy feet. As the first fat raindrops hit the dust, southern Africa’s biggest animal migration gets underway. In a never-ending quest for grass and water, the striped herds undertake an annual epic trek across the vast lunar landscape of the Kalahari’s Makgadikgadi Pans. See the story of this spectacular annual migration through the eyes of a single zebra family: a stallion, his three mares and their offspring. Documenting their journey across this otherworldly landscape, the film reveals their trials and triumphs as well as the fascinating social bonds that hold zebra families together.

• TV: Wednesday, 5/22 at 9:00 p.m.