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.

Four people stand at the front of a room for a press conference

Special election dates announced to fill Alaska’s sole seat in US House

There will be two special elections this summer to fill that vacancy: a special primary election by mail on June 11 and a special election to pick the winner on Aug. 16.
A snowy street neaer several bars

City of Nome pays $750K settlement and apologizes to woman after police mishandled her 2017 rape case

The city of Nome has settled a lawsuit with a former police dispatcher after officers mishandled her sexual assault report, her attorneys announced today. 
A wide river that has flooded far outside its banks

Heavy snowpack in several Alaska river basins raises concerns of possible spring flooding

The Yukon, Tanana, Koyukuk, Kuskokwim and Susitna basins all have more snowpack than usual — and some are well above normal.
A Coast Guard member looks out the open door of a helicopter at a container barge surrounded by smaller vessels

Crews work to contain fuel spill after tugboat runs aground north of Sitka

The grounding ruptured one of the tug’s fuel tanks, which can hold around 13,000 gallons of diesel fuel.
A woman stands on the steps of a school bus and places bagged lunches in a box held by a security guard standing outside

Millions of children will miss healthy school meals when pandemic relief expires

As schools try to return to many pre-pandemic operations, feeding children remains a struggle, according to a survey of school nutrition leaders.

Rep. Don Young to lie in state at US Capitol

A formal ceremony will be held with the Young family, which will be open to invited guests. Following the memorial service, there will be viewing open to members of Congress.
Gov. Dunleavy speaks from behind a lectern with health commissioner Adam Crum standing beside him

Governor announces official split of Alaska health and social services department

Under the change, there will be a Department of Health and a Department of Family and Community Services.
A bald young man in a Filson jacket poses for a photograph on a porch

Sitka Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins to end his decade-long legislative career

Sitka Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins will end a decade-long legislative career when the Alaska House adjourns sometime later this year.
the port of anchorage in the evening

Anchorage mayor Bronson seeks to name Port of Alaska after late Congressman Young

Bronson says, considering the hundreds of millions in federal money that Young was able to secure for the Port of Alaska, an appropriate way to honor Young’s legacy in the state would be to name the port after him. 
A black-and-white photo of two men and and a woman

Veteran Alaska journalist Jay Barrett dies at 60

His first ever broadcasts were in his hometown of Dillingham, where he announced high school basketball games as a kid.

Line One: Moms Matter Now supports mothers before and after pregnancy

Motherhood is an amazing and incredibly challenging time, but few people talk about the emotional and psychological transition.

Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program to expand high school component

The program’s Acceleration Academy allows students to earn both a high school diploma and a bachelor’s degree in five years.
A woman in a green jacket and a blue and white shoulder bag knocks at a door

Alaska is the only state to see a decline in median income in 5-year census survey

It was also the only state to see poverty levels stay about the same — all other states saw declines.

Don Young: The man, the myth, the malapropisms

The Alaska congressman is remembered for his bombast but had a softer side, too.
An illustration of a proposed micronuclear plant

House bill would streamline approval of small nuclear reactors in Alaska

There are no microreactors operating anywhere in the United States, but a few pilot projects are planned, including one at Eielson Air Force Base.
A section of gravel road that has slidden several feet below where it should be

Construction of a bridge across Denali Park Road landslide could start this year

Twenty-five million dollars in funding for the project comes from the federal infrastructure bill that passed late last year.

State leaders mourn the loss US Rep. Don Young: ‘Alaska’s Alaskan’

State leaders from across the political spectrum reacted with shock and sadness to the news of the death of Rep. Don Young on Friday. 
A man speaks at a podium

Alaska Congressman Don Young has died

Young, a former teacher, trapper and riverboat captain from Fort Yukon was first elected to Alaska’s sole U.S. House seat in 1973 and has held it ever since.
A building with a cement sidewalk marked as "emergency"

State fines Juneau’s Bartlett Hospital for COVID safety violations after whistleblower report

Hospital staff tipped off the state, leading investigators to find the city-owned hospital’s health and safety program inadequate. They issued more than a dozen citations.
a musher waves from the back of a sled on a snowy day

Two Iditarod mushers rescued from trail

Gerhardt Thiart and Bridgett Watkins were rescued and flown to Nome.