Robyne, KUAC - Fairbanks
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.
‘We get to keep existing’: Pandemic relief fund could be lifeline for concert venues and promoters
After COVID-19 has kept stages dusty and theaters empty for more than a year, performing arts producers, venues, and operators are getting a much-needed lifeline.
New program offers Alaskans up to $75 monthly discount for internet services
A household is eligible if someone qualifies for the Lifeline program, receives assistance like free school lunches, or experienced a substantial loss of income due to pandemic. Households that make less than 135% of the federal poverty designation per household also apply.
‘This place is on fire with COVID’: Younger, unvaccinated patients strain Fairbanks hospital
Medical workers at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital say the hospital’s capacity is being strained by high COVID-19 rates, and the community should be more alarmed.
In Interior Alaska, severe COVID-19 cases surge while vaccinations lag
Fairbanks doctors are pointing to a direct relationship between the high case rate and the Interior’s low vaccination rate.
Decades-old Sophie Sergie murder case proceeds in Fairbanks despite pandemic
The 1993 killing of 20-year-old Sophie Sergie at the UAF dormitory was a considered a cold case until 2018, when DNA evidence found a suspect.
New Paycheck Protection Program loans open to Alaska businesses
The second COVID-19 relief and spending package passed by Congress in December includes $284 billion more for businesses hurt by the pandemic.
Health care workers are first in line for the COVID-19 vaccine. But who’s next?
Health officials are expected to announce the next phase of vaccine allocations on Thursday, but many still won't know when they'll get the vaccine.
Fairbanks teachers’ unions denounce reopening of in-person schooling
In a joint statement, three unions asserted that the Fairbanks school board was disregarding safety standards in their plan to get kids back in classrooms by January, 2021.
Officials say first vaccines could arrive in Alaska by mid-December
The very first COVID-19 vaccine doses may arrive in Alaska before the month is out, but there will be very little of it, and logistics to distribute it are not easy.
Trailing in Republican primary, Coghill asks for recount
Under state law, if the difference between the top candidates is within 20 votes, the state will pay for a recount.
Fairbanks schools to start online
The district was shooting for a standard of fewer than five new COVID-19 cases per day on average over a two-week period, but the borough is far above that threshold.
Fairbanks hospital joins national study on convalescent plasma from COVID patients
Fairbanks Memorial Hospital and the Blood Bank of Alaska are participating in a nationwide study on using the blood of patients who have recovered from COVID-19 to treat sick patients.
Fairbanks missed EPA deadline for reducing fine particulate levels in North Pole area
The EPA says that the Fairbanks North Pole area failed to reduce wintertime fine particulate pollution to acceptable levels.
Birch pollen count breaks ‘world record’ in Fairbanks
After a cold winter and spring, high temperatures around the Interior prompted birch tree buds to burst, sending record-setting levels of pollen into the air.
After long, cold winter, Interior summer heat begins with near-record temperatures, flooding
Fairbanks' May 10 temperature was two degrees below the daily record, while snow melt from an above-normal year is flooding Interior rivers.
After being labeled coronavirus ‘hotspot’, Fairbanks now has the highest level of testing in Alaska
Fairbanks was working with a shortage of test kits until last week, but now says that 800 over test kits are available for use.
Athabascan leader and former AFN chair Mary Jane Fate passes away
She was known for her advocacy for the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and her leadership of the Alaska Federation of Natives and the Fairbanks Native Association.
University of Alaska officials prepare for coronavirus
No students, faculty or staff in the system have reported exposure to the virus, and there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, in Alaska.
Solarize Fairbanks looks to buy solar power in bulk
The community-driven, volunteer-run group aims to gather interest from home and business owners this month, in time to get solar panels installed this summer.