News

The Alaska Goldpanners baseball team officially announced its new contract with the Fairbanks North Star Borough Wednesday. Last year, the semi-pro ball club had tangled with the borough over the safety issues at its home field, Growden Park. Differences have been set aside so the tradition of the Midnight Sun Game continues. Download Audio

The Yukon Quest is winding down. The last musher, Canadian rookie Gaeton Pierrard is expected to cross the finish line early Friday morning. Running at the back of the pack can be just as trying and rewarding as racing at the front. That was the case for rookie mushers Andy Pace and Laura Neese. Download Audio

Lumber prices have been soaring across the country as demand for wood during the pandemic outstripped supply. In the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, those high prices have been slowing down construction of new homes, exacerbating a severe shortage of housing in the region.

The effort to get the Kuskokwim 300 into the Hall of Fame began three years ago.

Biologists are forecasting another massive run of sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay this summer, raising questions about whether the industry will be able to keep up.

This week on AK, we go fishing. Most fly fishing guides in Bristol Bay come from Outside. But the Bristol Bay Fly fishing and Guide Academy is working to train young people from the region.

A new novel set in Alaska shows how quickly traditional knowledge could become far more valuable in a world under ecological stress. “The Raven’s Gift” is set in a future that might be closer than we realize. Readers have a chance to talk it over with author Don Rearden, on the next Talk of Alaska. KSKA: Tuesday, 7/5 at 10:00am Download Audio

This is not the first time moving the capital from Juneau to Willow has been considered.

The Alaska State Troopers have provided this update on the autopsy of Israel Keyes: "The Alaska State Troopers investigation into the 12/02/12 suicide of Israel Keyes while he was in federal custody at the Anchorage Jail Complex has determined that Keyes used a blade from a disposable shaving razor that had been imbedded into a pencil to cut himself on the left wrist. Additionally, Keyes had used a length of bedding material from his cell to strangle himself. A determination from the State Medical Examiner as to which of these injuries, either alone or in combination, primarily contributed to his death is not yet available. This event occurred while Keyes was locked alone in a cell, from 9:30 p.m. on 12/01/12, until he was discovered deceased at 5:57 a.m. on 12/02/12. There is no indication of any criminal involvement from other persons. Pages of crumpled, blood soaked paper that appeared to have writing on them were recovered from the cell. AST has provided this item to the FBI, at their request, for laboratory processing."

“These individuals were in fear, so much in fear of their own government that they risked their lives and took a 15-foot skiff across those open waters,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski said.

One of Southeast Alaska’s ferries stalled near Petersburg on Wednesday. Listen now

Among the groups vaccinated: dozens of workers from four major fish processing plants which have struggled with COVID-19 outbreaks over the past several months.