Published Jul 13, 2023 by https://fm.kuac.org/people/dan-bross-1

There’s a new member of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Police Department: officer Yogi is an explosives detection dog.

Yogi is a 15-month-old chocolate Labrador retriever, and despite his vest and badge, he’s definitely not scary. His partner UAF Police officer Jill Copeland says Yogi is different from the typical law enforcement K-9.

“He’s super friendly so he can be social. He does not apprehend suspects as far as biting or anything like that. He is strictly explosives detection at this point.”

Officer Copeland says she worked with police dogs in the Lower 48 before joining the UAF department last summer.

“And so, I kinda brought it up to our chief here and asked if I could maybe write a proposal to start a program. I think it’s super beneficial for the college, and I found out during my research that Interior Alaska does not have any other explosive dogs other than what’s in the military, and they’re not always available. So I came up with a proposal and we have a ton of support within the university and the community.”

Published Jul 12, 2023 by Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media - Anchorage

Another member, Jenny Taylor, works for the Bunnell House in Fairbanks, a child care center partnered with the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She said she’s concerned about how much families must pay for child care. While the university helps pick up some of the operation costs, Taylor said, families are having trouble qualifying for help from the state. 

“I currently don’t have any families that qualify for child care assistance,” Taylor said. “I do have one that qualifies for their tribal child care assistance. But that’s really different from the state child care assistance program.”

State Health Commissioner Heidi Hedberg said the task force’s initial meetings were aimed at providing a broad view of child care across the state. She said the next two meetings, held every two weeks, will focus on background checks and licensing issues.