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Good afternoon. It’s Monday, Dec. 22.

In today's newsletter:

A Kipnuk man was accused of killing his girlfriend, Eunice Whitman, in Bethel in 2015. In Alaska’s slow-motion criminal justice system, he was kept behind bars for years even as the evidence against him fell apart.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration revealed a Highway Safety Improvement Program plan omitting nearly $19 million that city officials had expected to use to address some of Anchorage’s dangerous roadways.
With the Anchorage School District facing an $83 million shortfall next year, school board members are discussing drastic ideas to reduce expenses for next year’s budget.

There are plenty of factors that can snarl your holiday travel: weather, delays, other people. But one thing you can control to save you time at security is how you pack. Want to speed through TSA? Beware of these 11 tricky carry-on items that are most likely to get flyers stopped.

Anchorage weather

The cold snap we've been experiencing continues this week. It's sunny with a high around -5 degrees today, and Tuesday's daytime high will be around zero. Looking ahead, the forecast calls for cloudy conditions and highs in the low single digits later this week.

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

— Megan Pacer, mpacer@adn.com

Bad evidence got him indicted on murder charges. He waited 7 years to walk free. →

Justine Paul spent seven years in jail waiting to be tried on a murder charge built on bad evidence. The central clues that prosecutors relied on crumbled as soon as anyone checked, but it took dozens of delays, agreed to by a revolving cast of lawyers, before the state finally dropped the case in 2022. (This article was reported in partnership with ProPublica)

State opts to give Anchorage $19M less than expected for road safety next year →

Some of the Anchorage projects that the state did not fund include increased pedestrian lighting on Gambell Street, traffic signal upgrades at Gambell and Ingra streets and lane reductions on Northern Lights Boulevard and A Street.

Anchorage School Board members float 4-day week, closures and consolidations in face of massive deficit →

Neither the district administrators nor school board members included formal proposals to implement any of the suggested cost-cutting measures, but officials say tough decisions are ahead.

Woman reported missing found dead near Anchorage's Basher Trailhead →

Kaitlyn Kaganak, 28, had last been seen on Dec. 1 and was reported missing earlier this month. Police have asked anyone with information about her disappearance and death to contact the department.