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 handful of buildings on a peninsula with foggy mountains in the background

A Metlakatla man is charged with shooting his brother

Court documents allege 18-year-old Isaac G. Henderson shot his brother with a .40 caliber pistol outside their mother’s home around 3 a.m. Sunday.
Vials of COVID-19 vaccine sits on a table.

Pfizer says COVID booster offers protection against omicron

Pfizer said Wednesday that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine may offer important protection against the new omicron variant even though the initial two doses appear significantly less effective.

Anchorage Assembly ends its indoor mask mandate

The ordinance mandated that people wear masks in indoor public and communal spaces. 
People outside a white building with columns.

Why overturning Roe wouldn’t end abortion rights in Alaska

Making an abortion ban stick would likely take an amendment to the state Constitution.
A man poses for a photo in uniform with a flag behind him.

Bronson announces new Anchorage police chief

Deputy Chief Michael Kerle will be the city's new chief, effective Feb. 2., Bronson announced Tuesday night at an Assembly meeting.
A white man in a tshirt and tan pants holds a sign that says "I call the shots" in front of other protestors

Alaska health care workers plead for reason as COVID misinformation persists

Some patients continue to request unproven treatments like Ivermectin and hydroxycholorquine, and a small number of doctors actually prescribe them despite the lack of data supporting their effectiveness.
A community on the edge of a frozen ocean.

A historic settlement turns 50, but questions linger over whether it was fair

While the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act created monetary wealth for Alaska Native shareholders, it also came at a huge cost.
A sign in an airport for a free COVID-19 rapid test.

19 U.S. states now have detected the omicron COVID-19 variant

States that have detected the variant range from Hawaii to Massachusetts. The reports are part of a new surge in COVID-19 cases.
A man in a winter jacket holds a baby in a winter jacket.

Alaskans we’ve lost to COVID: John Redmond Evans Sr., hard-working dad

His youngest daughter, Suzanne, says his work ethic was matched by his care for his family – and that many of her favorite memories of him involved holiday gatherings.
People cut up meat in a kitchen.

Dunleavy administration loses lawsuit over Kake subsistence hunt

A federal judge has rejected the Dunleavy administration’s legal challenge to a special rural subsistence hunt for the Southeast community of Kake during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Four orcas breach

Alaska’s resident killer whales have a lot to say in underwater recordings

Hannah Myers is a Ph. D. marine biology student with UAF's College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. A recent paper Myers co-authored in the journal Scientific Reports delves into the mysteries of where North Pacific killer whales spend their time in winter.
An eagle perched on top of boxes.

Unalaska volunteers rescue eagle that ‘decided to go shopping at Alaska Ship Supply’

As staff at a local Unalaska shop opened the back door for a delivery last week, they got an unexpected visitor. An adult female eagle dashed in and headed for the rafters, occasionally swooping down toward the people and merchandise below.

Anchorage School District faces $67M budget shortfall going into next year, officials say

The most recent ASD budget was around $565 million. The district's projections anticipate that revenues will decline by about $20 million and expenditures will increase by about $47 million.
A white five story building

Anchorage’s deputy health director is resigning, the latest in a string of departures

DeeAnn Fetko announced her resignation in an email to staff on Monday after 25 years working for the city.

As much as 30 inches of snow could fall in parts of Southcentral Alaska

The National Weather Service is forecasting between 16 and 30 inches of snow in the Upper Susitna Valley, while the area north of Seward along the Turnagain Arm could see between one and two feet of snow. 
People lined up in an airport

Omicron spreads uncertainty about holiday travel and dampens recovery for airlines

The rapid emergence of the omicron variant of the coronavirus has many questioning whether they should rethink their holiday travel plans.
A town in the mountains and near water.

Second hunter found dead days after boat capsized near Whittier

The body of Luki Akelkok III was found Saturday, ending a multi-day search for the 28-year-old Dillingham man who went missing after his boat sank near Whittier in bad weather, according to Alaska State Troopers.
A snowy city street in downtown Anchorage.

Anchorage Assembly questions Bronson administration over credit rating report

Some Assembly members said the revenue forecasts that the administration presented to a major credit rating agency before the agency downgraded Anchorage’s score intentionally downplayed the city’s forecasts to score points in an ongoing budget debate.
A line coming up to a boat attached to some buoys with kelp hanging down

A new proposed kelp farm off Kodiak is part of growing trend

The kelp would likely be for sale to an in-state buyer, who would process the kelp and sell it in different seafood products.
A whitish gray gravestone with a small cross and the word "unknown"

Alaska Native stories featured in new ‘Buried Truths’ documentary on painful history of boarding schools

A new half-hour documentary on the Al Jazeera program "Fault Lines" delves into that painful history of Native American boarding schools in the U.S.