Top Stories

News stories, radio and TV episodes that warrant one of six spots on our homepage. The homepage is in chronological order of publication date, so stories are moved off the homepage as more are categorized “top stories.”

a rocket

Rocket suffers ‘irrecoverable damage’ in fire at Kodiak spaceport

Friday's fire is the second Kodiak mishap for ABL Space Systems, after a rocket crash-landed when it was launched last year.

‘Uber for icebreakers’ idea gains traction

Money for a new polar icebreaker is caught up in the fight over whether to build a wall at the southern border. But there’s more than one way to break ice.
a grave

Relatives of King Cove couple killed in suspicious Anchorage fire await answers

Niece Amy Carlough says James and Kathryn Gould, who were killed in the February fire, ran a general store in King Cove before their deaths.
COVID Testing Center

Alaska’s COVID ‘superstorm’ experience of 2021 offers lessons for future pandemics, study says

Alaska's 2021 COVID pattern showed positive impacts from vaccination but negative impacts from early easing of protections, study says.

New NOAA study confirms predictions of massive sea ice losses this century

A new report takes a closer look at the models the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) used to measure the loss of sea...

Hot Weather Settles Over Most Of The State

Hot and dry weather has settled over most of the state. National Weather Service meteorologist Shaun Baines in Anchorage says while temperatures are high in the region, they won't break records. Listen Now

Fresh, Drifting Snow Slowing Progress Along Iditarod Trail

In the final push for Nome, Iditarod mushers are making big moves and cutting rest, but fresh snow, and drifted trail isn’t only slowing the leaders – trail conditions have also slowed dog teams in chase mode. Download Audio
a man in an orange jacket cleans an area near tents

‘People are dying out here’: Inside ‘Tent City,’ Anchorage’s downtown homeless encampment

Homeless residents, nearby business owners and service providers say that gun violence, assaults, extortion, theft and drug dealing have proliferated, largely unfettered, in the Third Avenue encampment and surrounding streets.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry visits the Kodiak Archipelago

While on a recent day trip to Kodiak to tour the community’s electrical grid that’s almost entirely powered by renewable energy, Senator Lisa Murkowski and the U.S. Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry, hopped on a plane and took a quick detour to the small community of Old Harbor. Listen now
a Juneau land lot

A tiny Juneau lot is the latest battleground in a dispute over tribal sovereignty

For a Southeast Alaska tribal group, the lot of less than 800 square feet represents tribal sovereignty and self-determination.

State says first federal trust status application filed

Alaska officials say the first application by an Alaska Native entity to put lands into federal trust has been submitted to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. Listen Now
La Quen Náay Liz Medicine Crow sits at a table, speaking into a microphone

President of First Alaskans Institute testifies at committee hearing on federal boarding schools

La Quen Náay Liz Medicine Crow pointed to the history of Alaska Native youth being sent out of state to boarding schools and to punitive asylums in the Lower 48. 

House passes fast-track bill to keep ferries and Medicaid funded through spring

The bill now goes to the Senate. It includes $45 million for Medicaid, $24 million for the ferry system and $18 million for the Department of Corrections. Listen now
Former President Donald Trump speaks into a microphone at a pdoium

Trump bashed Alaska’s ranked choice voting, but Republicans likely need those 2nd votes to win

"Love it or hate it, this is what we have to deal with," one Republican strategist says.
a man in a jacket sits in a chair

After years of COVID restrictions, Nikolai meets Iditarod with cautious optimism

The Iditarod this year looks almost exactly as it did pre-pandemic.

Four decisions in three weeks: How Trump is transforming Alaska

Blink and you might have missed it: In just three weeks, there was a profound shift in the landscape for energy and environmental issues in Alaska. Listen now

Dunleavy promotes resource development in speech to Alaska business leaders

The governor said the state is in a good position on multiple fronts. One is the warming Arctic, which could allow for shipping across the Arctic Ocean. Another is the demand for minerals that are used in electronics.

Juneau Prison Deals With Overcrowding By Housing Women In A Tent

Alaska’s prison population is the third fastest growing in the country, and the prisons are over capacity. The crowding problem is especially evident at Juneau’s Lemon Creek Correctional Center where half the female inmates live in a tent outside. Some of them actually like it, but it’s an indication of a problem one state senator is trying to fix. Download Audio
A group of lawmakers sit at desks in a big room. Each of them is behind a Plexiglass shield.

Alaska’s regular legislative session ends without final budget or PFD amount

Under a version of the state budget approved by the Senate Wednesday, Alaskans would get PFD checks of about $2,300. But, critics say it’s way too much money to draw from the fund’s earnings reserve.

PSP Suspected in Man’s Death

Tara Bicknell, KHNS – Haines A Haines man died at his home early Tuesday, after being released from a Juneau hospital that had treated him...