News

All news stories, regardless of topic (local, statewide + national news stories, as well as Talk of Alaska, Alaska News Nightly, Alaska Insight, Alaska Economic Report). Some news stories may also have other categories marked, which will also put them on a subpage. Not all news stories will fall into a subpage.

a medical worker talks to someone through their driver's side window

Most Americans have been infected with the COVID-19 virus, the CDC reports

So many people caught the omicron variant over the winter that almost 60% of everyone in the U.S. — including most children — now have antibodies to the virus in their blood, the CDC said Tuesday.
Six people standing in shallow water working with buckets, hoses and other equipment

Counting clams: Fish and Game surveys Cook Inlet beaches in hopes of reopening to clammers

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game could reopen the razor clam fisheries in Ninilchik and Clam Gulch for the first time since 2014.
Five Alaska Airlines planes parked at gates

Alaska Airlines suspends Alaska-Hawaii nonstop flights during summer

The suspension will last from June until November.
a woman in a troopers uniform

Alaska’s first investigator focused on missing and murdered Indigenous people is a veteran of the troopers

Anne Sears had been retired after 22 years in law enforcement, as the first Alaska Native woman to serve as an Alaska State Trooper.
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The US Army expands benefits for soldiers who are parents

The Army is expanding the benefits it offers soldiers — both birth and non-birth parents — around pregnancy, parenthood and the postpartum period.
The Anchorage Assembly chambers at the Z. J. Loussac Public Library in Anchorage.

Mayor Bronson selects Robert Hudson as third pick to lead Anchorage library

Unlike Bronson’s first two picks, Hudson does have a master’s degree in library science.

Biden closes half of NPR-A acreage to oil drilling

The Bureau of Land Management announced that it's ditching a Trump administration plan for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and instead will revert to managing the area according to a 2013 plan crafted by the Obama administration.
An aerial view of a parking lot next to some woods.

Anchorage officials and private funders agree to put $13M toward addressing homelessness crisis

The money will go toward four new projects to serve the more than 700 people who have been using the Sullivan Arena for more than two years, along with local hotels.

Alaska’s voter registration deadline for special U.S. House election is May 12

That’s also the deadline for Alaskans to update their mailing addresses.
A blue and white ferry in the left hand side of the image sails in foggy weather and a foggy mountain in the background

Masks now optional on Alaska ferries

Although passengers and employees are no longer required to wear masks, the federal CDC still recommends that people wear face coverings while indoors and on public transportation to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
People stand at the edge of a steep drop in a gravel road through a mountain pass

Bridge plan moves forward as Denali Park Road landslide speeds up

“It was really sobering to arrive on scene and see that 40-foot cliff on that eastern side of the slump this year,” said the Denali National Park acting superintendent.
a crew in a spacecraft

The 1st private astronaut mission to International Space Station is back on Earth

Flying back in a SpaceX capsule, they splashed down in the Atlantic off the Florida coast to close out a 17-day tour that cost them $55 million apiece.
Aerial photo of a large fire burning in brown tundra

The largest April wildfire in Alaska in a quarter century is burning near Kwethluk

The fire still is not threatening the community of Kwethluk or any Native allotments.
A woman seen in profile, with her shadow cast on the side of a house

Their mom died of COVID. They say conspiracy theories are what really killed her.

Stephanie was usually careful about her health and regular vaccinations. But then she got into sharing far-out videos and fringe ideas. When COVID hit, misinformation put her and her husband at risk.
A large cruise ship docked in Juneau

Juneau’s first large cruise ship arrives with uncertainty

The Norwegian Bliss can accommodate 4,000 passengers, but it’s unknown how many people will actually be on board. 

Alaska artist’s new film captures ‘slow motion tsunami’ of plastic marine debris

It's called "If You Give a Beach a Bottle," it's by Max Romey and it incorporates scenes of volunteers cleaning up Alaska shorelines littered with marine debris, coupled with images from Romey's watercolor sketchbooks.
White man in blue blazer

Alaska Republican Party endorses Nick Begich III for US House

It’s the party’s first official endorsement in the crowded race.

Line One: Vaccine access for the disabled community

More than two years into the pandemic, vaccines are widely available and most health measures have been lifted. But there are still Alaskans who have difficulty accessing vaccines or who have continued health risk in spite of them.

Interior Department opens 27 million acres for Alaska Native Vietnam veteran land allotments

Veteran Nelson Angapak applauded Interior Secretary Deb Haaland for her outreach to the state’s Native Vietnam vets. "We’re grateful that through her efforts and the efforts of the Department of Interior and Bureau of Land Management, the land base for our veterans has expanded," said Angapak.
a cloudy town

New COVID surge hits Skagway the week before this year’s first cruise ship visit

“What I have seen is mostly kids, some adults. Seems like it affects the kids a little harder this time,” said Skagway’s Dahl Memorial Clinic’s Medical Director Brent Kunzler.