Top Stories

News stories, radio and TV episodes that warrant one of six spots on our homepage. The homepage is in chronological order of publication date, so stories are moved off the homepage as more are categorized “top stories.”

COVID is again raging across the U.S. just as Americans gather for the holidays

The jump in cases in recent days is being blamed, in part, on the omicron variant. It's expected to become the dominant strain in the U.S. in the coming weeks.
A snowy, forested scene with mountains and a grey building in the background

Retreating glaciers will open up salmon streams in Alaska, study says

A new study shows retreating glaciers are likely to open up thousands of miles of salmon spawning habitat by the year 2100. While that may sound like the distant future, it’s the blink of an eye in geologic time.
A woman waves as confetti falls.

Alaska’s first Miss America calls response to her historic win overwhelming and heartwarming

“Before I knew it, they were putting a crown on my head and I was just so overwhelmed with emotion," Broyles said the day after she was crowned. "Being the first Miss Alaska to be crowned Miss America means so much.”
Dave Bronson speaks with the media

Details remain scarce about Anchorage mayor briefly turning off fluoride in city’s water

In the days after the Bronson administration announced that the mayor had ordered the fluoride temporarily turned off — after initially denying it — details remain scarce. The Bronson administration has answered few questions and the Alaska Occupational Safety and Health Section says it has no recent records of worker complaints from the Eklutna water treatment plant.
A woman poses in a jacket outside.

Alaska detectives turning to genetic genealogy to catch cold case killers

Cold case detectives like Investigator Randel McPherron with the Alaska Department of Public Safety are finding more and more success with genetic genealogy.
A ochre and white concrete building in a greay cloudy day

Proposal would cut Alaska legislators’ daily allowance during sessions

A member of a state commission that can change legislators’ pay proposed on Thursday that their expenses be limited to $12,000 per year. Legislators have averaged $29,481 in session expenses — known as “per diems” — over the last 12 years. 
woman looking into camera

Alaskans we’ve lost to COVID: Elizabeth Ketah, family matriarch

Elizabeth Ketah was the glue that held her family together, says her daughter. She was kind, forgiving and taught unconditional love.

ANCSA made only Natives born before December 1971 corporate shareholders. Those born after want change.

Shares mean dividends, identity and a say in what corporations do. Many Alaska Natives under 50 are waiting to be included. 
A microscopic image shows a big orange circle with small blue circles around it.

A tantalizing clue to why omicron is spreading so quickly

A new study from the University of Hong Kong offers preliminary information that could explain why this new coronavirus variant may be more transmissible.
green island in the sea

After thousands of years, dormant Davidof Volcano in the Aleutians might be waking up

The three Aleutian volcanoes that have been erupting simultaneously in recent months could be joined by a fourth. Davidof Volcano in the Western Aleutians has remained inactive for thousands of years. But a series of earthquakes measured around the dormant volcano has some researchers wondering if Davidof is waking up.

The lack of law enforcement in rural Alaska prompted promises of more police. Two years later, they haven’t been kept.

Gov. Dunleavy promised to put Alaska State Troopers and police in specific communities off the road system. But two years later, reporting by the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica has found the state has mostly failed to follow through on those promises.
A woman poses in a jacket outside.

Judge allows evidence about alternative suspects in 28-year-old Fairbanks murder trial

A Maine man charged in a young woman’s killing 28 years ago at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks will be allowed to present evidence about three alternative suspects at his trial next month.

Rep. Young votes against contempt charge and lifting debt limit

"The government must pay its debts," said Young, but he doesn't like Democratic spending plan.
Man in a mask gets a shot in his arm.

Omicron evades Moderna vaccine too, study suggests, but boosters help

The Moderna vaccine's ability to shield against infection drops sharply when tested on the omicron variant. But getting a booster pumps the protection back up again, new research suggests.
man in red jacket speaks in microphone

Dunleavy’s latest budget proposal would fund $2,500 PFDs, public safety initiatives and big infrastructure projects

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has proposed a budget for the next fiscal year that would keep state spending similar to the current budget, while increasing the size of Permanent Fund dividends.
A man holds up dice.

A Soldotna man has created a new fantasy dice game

Aaron Gordon works at Kalifornsky Beach Elementary School and also really likes games. He just created his own called Battle Dice.
a person inside a large tent

Anchorage mayor turned off fluoride in city water for about 5 hours

Mayor Dave Bronson decided to stop the fluoridation while visiting the Eklutna Water Treatment Plant on Oct. 1, according to the mayor’s spokesperson Corey Allen Young.

Proposed Ambler project underscores promise and peril of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act

Ambivalence about the Ambler road and mine projects extends across the Upper Kobuk River region, where jobs could support subsistence but development could jeopardize it. 
A boy in a jacket stands outside in the snow.

How a Dillingham teen turned an ancient epic poem into a rap

When Tracen Wassily got the assignment to create something new based on the “Epic of Gilgamesh," he went right to work.
A man stands in the dark on top of a hill with a sign that says 321.

Meet Sean Peters, an Unalaska resident who climbed Bunker Hill more than 300 times this year

Unalaska resident Sean Peters broke his personal record this year by making the one-mile hike up Bunker Hill 321 times. That averages out to more than once a day for every day he’s been on island in 2021.