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-19 outbreak at Juneau’s Kensington Mine grows to 19

Coeur Alaska’s Kensington Mine reported Wednesday that number of employees testing positive for the coronavirus had risen to 19. And that number could still rise. Juneau city officials say tests for 94 of the 210 workers at the mine are still pending.

U.S. Treasury Inspector General warns property purchases might not be acceptable use of CARES Act funds

Federal officials cautioned the Anchorage municipality that the plan to purchase properties for a substance treatment center and housing for people experiencing homelessness may not fall within the allowable use for CARES Act funds.
A photo of a normal black colored orca breaching in the water at the same time as a mottled white orca.

Rare white orca spotted in Southeast Alaska

A Petersburg-based whale watching and charter company documented the white orca in the Inside Passage this summer. It’s been sighted frequently in British Columbia and Washington state as well.
White and green ship sits in still ocean water

Uncruise says Wilderness Adventurer did not have COVID-19 on board after all

The passenger who tested positive for coronavirus aboard the only cruise ship to sail in Alaska during the pandemic does not have COVID-19, according to the ship’s operator.
Flowers of different colors in front of the beige Anchorage Pioneer Home buildgin

Eight more COVID-19 cases found at Anchorage Pioneer Home

Another seven elders and one staff member are infected with the coronavirus, the state health department says.
A white woman with blond hair in a white suit and an arm in a black sling speaks on a podium with the DPS logo and two photos of a teenage girl on an easel on the lefthand side of the image

24 years after her death on a Sitka bike path, genetic evidence leads to Jessica Baggen’s killer

DNA evidence led investigators to a 66-year old man living in Arkansas, who took his own life last week, shortly after Alaska investigators arrived to question him.
Dr Anne Zink, a white woman with brown hair and dark rimmed glasses speaks in front of an American flag.

Alaska Natives, Pacific Islanders have a disproportionate number of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations

Alaskans of Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander ethnicity make up 4% of the cases in the state, while they’re only 1% of the population.
America's Best Value Inn and Suites

Anchorage Assembly authorizes city to purchase properties for homeless services

The Anchorage Assembly voted Tuesday night to authorize the municipality to move forward with the purchase of four properties for substance treatment and homelessness resources. The controversial plan stirred multiple protests on both sides of the issue, plus nearly thirty hours of public testimony and thousands of emailed comments about the proposal.
President Trump signs an executive order.

Alaska officials say Trump’s proposed $400-a-week unemployment boost is under review

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy's administration is working to see how it can restore expanded unemployment benefits to about 60,000 people under a new initiative announced by President Donald Trump, but there's no time frame for getting the program started.
alaska canadian border sig

Border woes: When Canada says no

Kathryn Miller and her boyfriend were just trying to get home to Juneau with a truck they'd just purchased in Anchorage. But at the...

6 things you need to know about Alaska’s new travel rules

Alaska is imposing new testing requirements. Here's what travelers need to know.
A man in orange work raingear holds a large sea turtle in front of a background of corks on a fishing net

Seiners in Southeast Alaska rescue an unlikely hard-shelled visitor

Biologists identified the catch as a Pacific green sea turtle.
A man reaches across the frame to shake hands with another man in a school cafeteria. Political placards are in the background, as is one man wearing a "Mike Dunleavy for governor" t-shirt.

Prevo selected to run Liberty University in Falwell’s absence

Liberty University has selected retired Anchorage Baptist Temple Pastor Jerry Prevo to be the interim president of the school.

Murkowski, Sullivan back Senate bill to help Postal Service

Alaska’s U.S. senators have signed on to the Postal Service Emergency Assistance Act. It has aid for USPS that Senate leaders left out of their latest coronavirus relief bill.
A radio sattelite

Questions remain after GCI sells television assets to competitor

The future is uncertain for many employees of Anchorage CBS affiliate KTVA, after the television station’s owner, telecommunications company GCI,announced in late July it is getting out of the broadcast television business.
Customers dined inside at Kriner's Diner on Friday afternoon, Aug. 7, 2020, just a few hours after a state judge ordered the restaurant to shut down dine-in service.

Kriner’s Diner backs down after Municipality of Anchorage seeks to increase fines

A co-owner said in a Facebook video that the new fines would be more than the business could afford.
A digital simulation showing different

Biden vows to block Pebble mine project if elected

“It is no place for a mine,” the former vice president said in a statement to news media.
Joshua Easterly, operations manager at Alaska Club East, uses a disinfectant fogger to clear the gym.

As gyms adapt to operate during a pandemic, some are struggling to get users back inside

Gyms are adapting, but some still face financial strain as Alaskans opt out of indoor exercise.
“Shin-chi’s Canoe” by Nicola Campbell, “Not My Girl” and “When I Was Eight” both by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, and “My Name is SEEPEETZA” by Shirley Sterling will be available in fourth grade classrooms and elementary school libraries. (KTOO file photo)

Alaska families: Can we follow you as kids return to school?

Alaska is about to start a very unusual school year. And as we cover schools reopening this fall, we’d like to follow some of you through this transition.
People eat outside on a blocked off section of G St. A white tent is set up in the middle of the street.

Taking advantage of space that used to be for cars, downtown businesses work to weather pandemic

Lack of tourism and changing city restrictions on dining in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have forced downtown Anchorage restaurants to be flexible and creative with the way they keep business running.