Robyne, KUAC - Fairbanks

Robyne, KUAC - Fairbanks
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Richardson Highway reopens after weeklong closure due to flood damage

Department of Transportation spokeswoman Danielle Tessen says the worst damage was under a 70-year-old bridge at milepost 233, south of Black Rapids.
A mostly spruce forest with a bunch of smoke rising and a mcDonalds arch

At statewide convention in Fairbanks, GOP plans to focus on election law changes

It has been six years since Fairbanks hosted the statewide Republican convention, and it sold out earlier this week.
A woman smiling at the camera

Fairbanks jury finds Downs guilty in Sergie’s 1993 murder, sexual assault at UAF dorm

Steven Downs was an 18-year-old first-year student at University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1993, and presumably had no connection to the victim, Sophie Sergie, who was from the village of Pitka's Point.
A woman smiling at the camera

Sophie Sergie cold case murder trial ends and goes to jury

Lawyers stepped the jury through evidence and testimony in four hours of closing remarks on Monday.
A woman poses in a jacket outside.

Alternative suspect says he had nothing to do with murder of Sophie Sergie

Kenneth Moto testified Thursday that volunteered to give a DNA sample in 1996 because he wanted to help any way he could solve a crime against a Native person.
A woman poses in a jacket outside.

At Sophie Sergie murder trial, jury hears recordings of Steven Downs’ interrogation

Law enforcement officers who arrested Steven Downs for the 1993 rape and murder of Sophie Sergie testified at Downs’s trial on Wednesday.
A woman poses in a jacket outside.

Firearms expert describes ‘extensively damaged’ bullet in murder of Sophie Sergie

Debra Gillis, with the Alaska Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, said the bullet she examined was too mangled to match it to guns taken from the suspect.
A courtroom

Suspect’s college girlfriend and lead trooper investigator testify in Sophie Sergie murder trial

The former girlfriend and chief investigator of the 1993 murder of Sophie Sergie took witness stand in a Fairbanks courtroom on Tuesday to testify in a case that was cold for nearly three decades.
An image of a man behind a desk in a courtroom.

Former UAF roommate of Steven Downs takes the stand in Sophie Sergie murder trial

Nicholas Dazer shared a dorm room with Steven Downs, who is accused of killing Sophie Sergie in 1993. He said Downs had two guns.
A courtroom

Investigators testify about losing potential witnesses after 1993 UAF campus murder

The chaos of students taking finals and then leaving at the end of the spring semester frustrated investigators in the days after 20-year-old Sophie Sergie was found dead on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.
A woman poses in a jacket outside.

Former University of Alaska Fairbanks janitor testifies in 1993 cold-case murder trial

The first person who reported seeing the Sophie Sergie’s body was Okcha Ancheta. She testified Thursday in the trial of Steven Downs, who is charged with Sergie’s murder and sexual assault.
A screenshot of a trial held by Zoom.

Former UAF students describe what they heard and saw in dorm in 1993 before Sophie Sergie was found dead

The former university students spoke at the trial of Steven Downs. Downs is charged with Sergie’s murder and sexual assault.
Two girls are sitting in front of a TV that says "Molly of Denali."

‘Molly of Denali’ episodes getting translated and dubbed in the Gwich’in and Koyukon languages

The "Molly of Denali" project is just one effort of Doyon Foundation’s language revitalization program, which works to preserve the ancestral languages of the Doyon region.
A big white container.

Fairbanks hospital readies mobile morgue

Fairbanks Memorial Hospital has set up a mobile morgue in the parking lot to prepare for any mass casualty event. The refrigerator container is not running yet, but can be ready in two hours.
A nurse in a white suit, mask and clothes holds a vial

COVID spike prompts Fairbanks hospital to convert meeting rooms into patient rooms

"We are in a spike far bigger than anything that we have seen to date," says chief medical officer of Foundation Health Partners. "And unfortunately we’re in it at the same time as many places across the country and Alaska.”
A white man with a small beard in a police uniform

Fairbanks police officer resigns alleging hostile work environment

Detective Avery Thompson was put on leave this spring and then demoted after he says he supported his partner, Alana Malloy’s sexual harassment claims.
a red piñata with eyes and a mouth made to look like the COVID virus

Pfizer vials, Zoom costumes and plexiglass: Museum of the North builds pandemic collection

Before too many people move on from the pandemic the University of Alaska's Museum of the North wants to collect culturally important objects that represent Alaska’s response to the pandemic to be able to display for future museum visitors.
A person on a mountain above some clouds in a black and white photo

Walter Harper Day commemorates first person to summit Denali

Walter Harper, an Athabascan guide, was the first person to step foot on Denali. A group of Alaskans have been pushing for more recognition of Harper, who died in his 20s after a steamer he was on ran aground on his way to medical school.
A whoman holds a clear plastic bag filled with black leafs

For Alaska’s first tea farm, geothermal energy is key

Jenney Tse is an international-award-winning tea expert, consulted by artisanal growers in Hawaii, India and China. Now she will be starting the only tea farm in Alaska linked to Chena Hot Springs geothermal resources.