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How exactly are sled dogs different from typical house dogs? Dr. Stuart Nelson, the Iditarod’s chief veterinarian, compares dogs to NFL players. On a pro team, the sled dogs would be the wide receivers. “They’re fast, they’re light on their feet. A lab would be more like a defensive tackle,” said Nelson.

An illustrative poem performed by a group of 5th graders.

Dallas Seavey has pushed his team at the front of Iditarod pack into the old gold mining settlement of Cripple. 400 miles into the race, the three-time champion is joined by seven others out of Ophir, including Jeff King, Norwegian Robert Sorlie, and Noah Burmeister. With 14 dogs in harness, Dallas Seavey wins the Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award: $3,000 in gold nuggets. Download Audio

Some Southeast Alaska families have stayed with the tradition of helping loved ones age in place. Elders live at home, with children and grandchildren, instead of moving into assisted living or a nursing home. It’s a friendlier and lower-cost option for older residents of the region, whose numbers are growing faster than the state as a whole. As part of CoastAlaska’s Aging Southeast series, we talk to one Petersburg family with four generations living under the same roof. Download Audio

The battle to keep the 425 Airborne Brigade Combat Team at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson may seem all but won, or at least postponed. But Sen. Dan Sullivan says it’s not a done deal yet. He is still talking about the value of the 425 at hearings, to build support. Download Audio

There's really not a lot of "planning" for this. I'm only two days in, and I feel like more attention goes towards tracking flights, coordinating deadlines, and finding Internet than it does to figuring out who's at the front of the race and why.

The 2016 race strategies that mushers have chewed over for months are coming into focus as top teams near their mandatory 24-hour rest period...

Iditarod dog teams have travelled more than 300 miles down the trail in the last three days. Defending champion Dallas Seavey. Says they’ve reached a turning point in the race.

Mushers have reached a point in the Iditarod where rest becomes strategic. Overnight, a number of them opted to push their teams further down the trail, while others chose to hunker down for a mandatory 24-hour rest. The majority of mushers who arrived first into McGrath, didn’t stay long, but some of their decisions earlier in the race, might offer clues about their race plans.

Reigning Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey, of Willow, leads the field Wednesday morning, spending about 5 minutes in the Ophir checkpoint before continuing on toward Cripple at 2:21 a.m.

The Municipality of Anchorage is conducting a comprehensive study on the impact of the potential troop drawdown at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson and is seeking community input.

Dallas Seavey was the first musher to reach the McGrath checkpoint Tuesday evening at 6:34. 11 minutes behind him--and with the fastest run time...

The village of Nikolai was bustling all day as dog teams pulled in and out of the sixth checkpoint on the Iditarod trail. After teams have passed over some of the roughest trail, the race reaches a turning point. From here, mushers will evaluate their dogs as they try to decide how best to execute a their race plans. Download Audio

Governor Bill Walker named Ivy Spohnholz Tuesday as his choice to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative Max Gruenberg in February. Download Audio

This morning in Washington, Forest Service chief Tom Tidwell said the same thing several different ways. He repeatedly insisted the plan to move to young-growth trees in the Tongass can sustain Southeast Alaska’s timber industry. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is unconvinced. Download Audio

Dallas Seavey is surging to the front of the Iditarod trail between Nikolai and McGrath. The defending champion dropped one dog and rested four hours in Nikolai, about 250 miles into the race. His father Mitch Seavey and Wade Marrs followed closely behind this afternoon, according to the Iditarod GPS tracker.

Due to a shortage of assisted living homes, some of Southeast Alaska’s aging residents can’t stay in their home communities. Facilities in Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka and Petersburg provide assistance to seniors needing help with daily activities, such as cooking, dressing and medication management. As part of the CoastAlaska series Aging Southeast, KTOO’s Lisa Phu reports on how the region isn’t keeping up with the demand for assisted living, and that demand is only expected to grow. Download Audio