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.”

Gov. Dunleavy names first two members to high-stakes Redistricting Board

The board is charged with rewriting the legislative boundaries based on federal census results.

Intervention 2020 group pushes for incarcerating homeless, a plan that may be unconstitutional

Nearly thirty hours of in-person public testimony on a city plan to purchase property  for a treatment center, housing and other homelessness services wrapped up last week. While the assembly says they’ve received thousands of emails in support of the plan, the majority of hundreds of in-person testifiers were against it. Some of the negative testimony was fueled by a conservative opposition group called Intervention 2020.

Mysterious Bering Straits seabird die-off enters fourth year

Most of the dead birds reported last month were murres and horned puffins.
Boats in a sweeping bend in a river

Processor settles cannery worker lawsuit for more than $440,000

North Pacific Seafoods was sued for false imprisonment and failing to pay the workers, among other charges.

Two Alaskans die of COVID-19 as case count climbs

It's the 21st Alaskan to die with COVID-19.
People in gloves and smocks take the bones out of fish.

Juneau processor sanitized, screened, quarantined but COVID-19 still got in

Health officials who investigated the case say it resulted from community spread — not from inside the plant.
A digital simulation showing different

Pebble closes in on a federal permit, supporters and critics respond

Critics say that the environmental impact statement was flawed.

Efforts underway in Alaska to remove statues of colonialists

As many in the Lower 48 call for statues of Confederate leaders to be removed amid a national reckoning on race, some Alaska residents are conducting a similar movement demanding statues tied to colonization be eliminated or relocated.

Seafood processor outbreaks drive coronavirus count to one-day high

Alaska again set a one-day record for new coronavirus cases, with 231 reported on Sunday, according to the state’s coronavirus dashboard.  Of those, 158 were...
People in gloves and smocks take the bones out of fish.

Another 21 employees at Juneau seafood processor test positive for COVID-19

That brings the total number of employees who have tested positive for COVID-19 at the plant to 61.
A sign on a beige wall that says "Anchorage Health Department"

At an Anchorage seafood processor, more than a third of employees test positive for COVID-19

Anchorage Health Department announced on Friday that 56 of 134 employees at the Copper River Seafoods plant in Anchorage tested positive for COVID-19 between July 17 and July 22. Thirty more employees have tests pending and 14 have not been tested. Nearly all are residents of the municipality, the department said.

COVID-19 cases in Anchorage move school district into all-online learning

The average number of cases is now above 30 cases over the last 14 days.
A worker leaves some class doors

COVID-19 case shuts down Atwood Building in downtown Anchorage

Part of the building was closed down last weekend for cleaning after another positive case.

Despite months of aggressive measures, Fort Yukon reports 21 cases of COVID-19

The community has been in lockdown since March, and the cases only resulted from a false positive of a resident who had been flown to Fairbanks.
Fish fillets slide down a stainless steel slide in a processing pllant as a worker inspects in the background.

Seafood companies kept COVID-19 from infecting Alaskans. Now they’re trying to keep the virus out of their plants.

At the start of the pandemic, fishing towns feared that seasonal workers could import the virus and infect locals. Now, as infection rates rise among residents, the dynamic has reversed: Seafood processing companies are trying to keep locals from infecting workers in their plants.

As extra unemployment runs out, Food Bank of Alaska braces for elevated need to grow

The food bank estimates that the need for food assistance is up about 75% statewide compared to last year.

With permit for controversial mine nearly in hand, Pebble CEO says he’s sure opposition will soften

Pebble Chief Executive Tom Collier said it’s the most significant day for the proposed mine n 15 years.
The Alaska Airlines check-in counter at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

Alaska Air loses a nearly quarter of a billion dollars in second quarter

Alaska Air Group Inc. on Thursday reported a second-quarter loss of $214 million