Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media - Anchorage
Wesley Early covers Anchorage life and city politics for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at wearly@alaskapublic.org and follow him on X at @wesley_early. Read more about Wesley here.
Former Kivalina substitute teacher charged with sexual exploitation of multiple children
Jayson Knox, 21, is accused of soliciting explicit pictures from children, sending obscene photos to a minor and attempting to meet some of the children for sex.
Citing ‘escalation of violence,’ Noorvik pleads with local, state officials for law enforcement
Residents of the Northwest Arctic village of Noorvik, where there is no village public safety officer, say their town is feeling increasingly unsafe. Describing a “dangerous escalation of violence,” villagers have drafted a letter to local, state and federal officials asking for permanent law enforcement.
As REAL ID deadline looms, concerns from rural Alaska grow louder
As the REAL ID deadline looms, lawmakers and state officials haven’t yet figured out how to help rural Alaskans get their IDs. Many, if not most, rural residents will need access to flights for medical appointments or emergencies at some point.
Rep. John Lincoln says he’s not running for re-election
The Alaska representative who for the Northwest Arctic and North Slope boroughs says he will not run for re-election.
In a Facebook post, John Lincoln, an Independent from Kotzebue, wrote, “I’m at a stage in...
Kotzebue prisoners transferred to Nome due to jail’s frozen pipes
Kotzebue has had a cold February, with little snow for insulation. That means some locals have had to contend with frozen water and sewer lines. That problem is also being faced by the city, which recently had to transfer several prisoners to Nome after the jail toilets became unusable.
‘We will rebuild’: Kaktovik prioritizes getting kids back to class following school fire
The village of Kaktovik is still clearing the rubble after a Friday morning fire destroyed much of the only school in town. The community plans to rebuild the school, but the timeline is still unknown.
Kaktovik mourns burned school; workers were thawing pipes before the blaze
The North Slope community's mayor says the school is a "total loss."
As newly-renovated Kaktovik school continues to burn, villagers express shock, officials say it’s ‘a total loss’
The school in the North Slope village of Kaktovik is a “total loss” after a fire early Friday, according to a report by Anchorage station KTUU-TV.
Counselor turnover and second helpings at lunch, Northwest Arctic students grill superintendent candidates
The Northwest Arctic Borough School District has two candidates for the vacant superintendent position. This week, principals, staff and teachers from across the district got an opportunity to meet with the candidates, providing their input in the hiring process. But it wasn’t just the adults that were involved in the selection.
About a fourth of Selawik homes currently have frozen pipes, and it’s a chronic problem
Selawik mayor Clyde Ramoth says frozen pipes are a chronic problem due to issues with the initial installation of the above-ground water system.
Idaho man banned from hunting in Alaska after illegally guiding in Noatak Preserve
An Idaho man was sentenced in Anchorage Wednesday for illegally guiding moose and bear hunts through the Noatak National Preserve.
Coastal erosion unites village of Kivalina and Louisiana tribes in UN complaint
Last week, the Native Village of Kivalina joined four Louisiana tribes in a formal complaint to the United Nations.
North Slope elder Ugiaqtaq Wesley Aiken remembered for ‘life of hard work’
Ugiaqtaq Wesley Aiken was born in 1926 in the village, long before the region was driven by oil development.
Sea ice begins to recede as Northwest Alaska cold snap dies down
The cold snap helped the sea ice form in the Chukchi and Bering Seas, but the recent shift is slowing it down.
After months with no VPSOs in villages, Northwest Arctic Borough hires three
For months, the Northwest Arctic Borough hasn’t had any Village Public Safety Officers in any of their 10 village communities — home to over 4,000 people — and those vacancies have left those communities without any real policing.
Noorvik’s mayor says he was denied a REAL ID. He’s concerned other villagers won’t qualify for the same reason
There are several requirements needed to get a REAL ID, including two documents bearing a physical address showing proof of residence. For some Alaskans, that's a problem.
With a focus on wellness, Kotzebue schedules series of suicide prevention learning circles
The Alaska group Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide, or PCCARES, focuses on addressing suicide in Northern Alaska communities through community-focused listening circles.
LISTEN: Ringing in the new year (a little late) in northwest Alaska
While people around Alaska and the world rang in the New Year with collective celebration and thunderous fireworks displays, high winds and frigid temperatures forced the city of Kotzebue to postpone celebrations until Jan. 1.
Holiday cold snap breaks records, may save Northwest Alaska snowmachine races
Rick Thoman, a climatologist with the International Arctic Research Center in Fairbanks, says it’s a dramatic drop from this winter’s balmy start, but this is a normal weather pattern for this time of year.
Unexpected repairs to Alaska Airlines freighters delay holiday season shipments
While the jets are under repair, Alaska Airlines has had to put a hold on new general and premium cargo orders to the Alaska communities that use the service, including Kotzebue, Ketchikan, Utqiagvik, Nome and Bethel.