On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Billions of dollars in federal funding coming into the state are hoped to help bridge the rural digital divide. The state of Cook Inlet belugas looks a bit better. And The City of Valdez is asking the Alaska Supreme Court to make Hilcorp show it could handle an oil spill.
Midday Report June 28, 2023
![A gray beluga whale calf and three adults swim together in Cook Inlet. A newly released population estimate shows signs of recovery, or at least stablization, among the endangered whales. The unprecedented marine heatwave known as The Blob is believed to have taken a toll, but the population has increased since that heatwave dissipated. (Photo by Paul Wade/NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center)](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bb0affb/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1024x684+0+0/resize/880x588!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F55%2F0c%2F9d43132643f889a0c8f67792438d%2F50887662428-df42a9c113-o-1024x684-1.jpg)