AK: Juneau beach yields gold to dedicated dredgers
In Juneau, a particular type of recreational mining has been picking up at a special beach in recent years. Mining histories identify the sand there as the century-old tailings of the Alaska-Gastineau Mining Company.
AK: Meet the Juneau couple who brush their teeth next to history
The Last Chance Mining Museum is celebrating 25 years of continuous operation. But for the Juneau couple who lives there, it’s been a permanent residence for longer than that.
AK: Silver-haired Haines athletes go for gold
Competitors in Haines are gearing up for the National Senior Games. The golden years are no time to slow down--they’re a time to bring home gold medals.
AK: The end of Wrangell’s king salmon derby leaves locals longing
King salmon fishing in Alaska is political — but for those who can’t do it this summer, it’s also personal.
AK: Counting the hooligan swimming through Haines streams
The only ongoing research on Southeast Alaska hooligan is the result of a nine-year study by the Chilkoot Indian Association.
AK: Petersburg students turn plastic trash into artsy treasures
In Petersburg, a visiting artist is turning plastic pollution into art at the grade school. These exercises are designed to educate kids on the true costs of plastics on our planet.
AK: Search dogs harness their super-powered noses
If you become lost or injured in Alaska, your best chance of being found may rest in the paws of an unassuming hero: a search dog. Man’s best friend has a super-powered sense of smell that can detect just about anyone, anywhere.
AK: Keeping the Tlingit language alive with youth
Officially there are 20 Alaska Native languages in the state. But fluent speakers continue to decline. That led then-Gov. Bill Walker to declare a linguistic emergency last year. Now, Tlingit elders are teaching young children early in a home-like environment, and they’re finding it more effective than the classroom.
AK: One family’s pirate home is Sitka’s hidden treasure
What if you wanted your home to be more extraordinary, more unusual, more like, say, a pirate ship? One Sitka family has been realizing that vision, slowly turning their home into a shipwrecked, tropical paradise over the last 40 years.
AK: Experimental tilapia skin burn treatment heals Haines dog
Veterinary medicine didn’t have solutions for severe burns in animals until a UC Davis vet was motivated by the California wildfires to pioneer a new treatment. She brought her skills to Haines to teach local vets how to use the tilapia fish skins—and help save a local dog’s life.
AK: Know the risks before you visit Mendenhall Glacier’s newest ice cave
Although the famous blue caverns from several years ago have disappeared, word of a new cave spread over social media this winter and brought crowds to the glacier. But while hiking to the cave is a remarkable experience, it also comes with some risk.
AK: Sludge, scum and grit take toll on Sitka’s aging wastewater facility
Ever wonder what happens when you flush? At Sitka’s wastewater treatment plant, a $10 million dollar revitalization project is in the works for the facility that was built almost 40 years ago.
AK: What happens when a community gets running water? People get healthier
What’s it like to go from hauling all your water and sewer to one day being able to turn on the faucet and flush a toilet? In Eek, a multi-year project is wrapping up bringing running water to the community for the first time.
AK: Ketchikan mental health clinic hopes ‘Proof’ will debunk taboos
The nonprofit that runs a Ketchikan mental health clinic recently sponsored a local production of a Broadway play. As Leila Kheiry reports, it's one of many steps in an effort to combat taboos around mental illness.
AK: The unique international agreement behind the Log Cabin Ski Trails
Skagway’s Log Cabin Ski Society and the BC Ministry of Forests work together to maintain a ski site that’s remote for Canadians, but local to Alaskans.
AK: Taking a ride with the last dog team left in Utqiaġvik
In Utqiaġvik, there’s still one dog team left, and their musher has been getting around the tundra by dogsled for more than 30 years.
AK: How a mischievous Home Depot surveyor turned this hill into guerrilla art
Theodolites, semaphore, trigonometry and some “Big Lebowski” references — everything you wanted to know about the peace sign and a few things you didn’t.
AK: Resurrecting the 52-year-old pipe organ at Fort Greely’s chapel
The old pipe organ in the chapel at Fort Greely will soon again be belting out gospel tunes, if Army officials approve the post chaplain’s request to allow a pipe-organ expert from Nenana restore the rare 52-year-old instrument.
AK: Hunters sleep in Bethel parking lot to get muskox permits
Muskoxen are prized for their fatty, flavorful meat and soft, warm fur. Every year, thousands of people apply online for less than 200 winter permits to hunt them in Alaska. Or, for the truly devoted, you can travel to Bethel to sign up in person.
AK: A show more real than ‘reality tv’ comes to Sitka
A pair of producers is hoping to put together a show that reflects a more authentic Alaskan experience than what is prevalent in reality television nowadays.