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Today's sponsor:

Good afternoon. It’s Monday, Feb. 16.

In today's newsletter:

The Anchorage Fire Department has relaunched a pilot program that aims to reduce repeat 911 calls by bringing medical and mental health care in-home to frequent callers.
Alaska’s largest electric utility plans to study four new hydropower projects, a potential counterweight to future imports of natural gas that could be costly as local gas production declines in Cook Inlet.
The Alaska Department of Health is racing to award $272 million by October through a newly created federal program meant to transform health care delivery in rural parts of the U.S.

Utqiagvik, Alaska, the nation’s northernmost city, gets blizzards all the time, with snow totals on par with cities such as Boston or Chicago. And yet, the city of 4,700 people is technically considered a desert. How can that be? It’s all about the type of precipitation.

Anchorage weather

It's sunny today, with a high near 14 degrees. Looking ahead, the forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies on Tuesday and a chance of snow starting on Wednesday. Daytime highs will range from the mid-teens to the mid-20s this week.

Here’s what else is making headlines in Alaska today.

— Megan Pacer, mpacer@adn.com

Anchorage’s growing mobile health programs take pressure off first responders →

This two-person crew works to reduce repeat 911 calls and connect vulnerable residents to health care and substance use treatment services. The team has already experienced success by meeting community members’ needs at home rather than in the hospital, and will soon expand the program.

To deal with natural gas shortage, Chugach Electric explores 4 hydropower projects →

The projects, if developed, could reduce the utility’s reliance on natural gas, a fossil fuel, while providing a stable source of clean power.

State seeks proposals as it races to spend $272M in federal money on rural health care →

Alaska received the largest-per-capita award last year in the first phase of a five-year program that is intended to dole out $50 billion divided among all 50 states. The state must award the funding by October, or risk losing it.

Alaska House Republicans criticize majority decision to temporarily set PFD at zero →

House minority Republicans are decrying a procedural decision to temporarily zero out the Permanent Fund dividend size in next year’s draft budget while conversations are underway on its ultimate amount.