Another week of topsy-turvy Alaska news is behind us, and boy, was it a doozy: the Alaska Legislature adjourned but was quickly called back for a special session to address the perpetually looming oil tax reform that they can never quite seem to nail down. In light of that, Craig Medred took a look at the man who called that special session, looking closely at perhaps a governor more tangled up in oil than just about any other in Alaska's short state history.

Alex DeMarban took a look at the special session itself, and asked the question: How "special" is it, really? And the answer came back: Not special at all. Indeed, there have been 36 special sessions since Gov. Bill Egan called the first one in 1964 for disaster relief in the wake of the Good Friday earthquake.

But in unrelated news, Doug O'Harra took a looooong look back at a new study that concluded polar bears as a species may be as many as 600,000 years old -- much older than previously thought. Alaska Quarterly Review debuted a world-class collection of photography from award-winning photojournalists to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the deaths of two photographers covering the uprising in Libya. And just in time for tax day, Jill Burke tells us why it's a bad idea to prepare returns for drug dealers.

So get caught up with Alaska Dispatch's best of the week!