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 man in a tie sitting in front of a flag and behind a microphone

Biden is canceling up to $10K in student loans, $20K for Pell Grant recipients

President Biden announced a sweeping effort to forgive up to $20,000 of federal student loan debt for Pell Grant recipients, and up to $10,000 for other borrowers making under $125,000 a year.
A woman looks out a window from inside a building with plywood on the interior walls.

Alaska faces unique housing challenges, as feds send millions of dollars to help, top HUD official says

Housing and Urban Development Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman was in Alaska recently. Her trip was filled with meetings and tours in Anchorage, Wasilla and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta -- including the villages of Napakiak and Oscarville -- to learn about Alaska's housing challenges and to see the work the department has been funding already.

Electric buses are in the works for Ketchikan and Metlakatla

In Metlakatla, the bus will run to the ferry terminal, which is 14 miles outside of town — a first for the community.
two fish swim together in foggy water

Yukon River chum and coho runs remain too low to open subsistence harvest

Biologists do not expect either to reach their goals for fish reaching their spawning grounds.
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.
Students eat lunch of homemade pizza and caesar salad at the Albert D. Lawton Intermediate School, in Essex Junction, Vt., Thursday, June 9, 2022. The pandemic-era federal aid that made school meals available for free to all public school students — regardless of family income levels — is ending, raising fears about the effects in the upcoming school year for families already struggling with rising food and fuel costs. (AP Photo/Lisa Rathke)

As students go back to school, many face a lunch bill for the first time in 2 years

Parents and schools prepare to lose free meals provided as federal assistance during the pandemic at a time when families are feeling the strain of high food, gas, housing and utility costs.
a dirty revolver dug up from the ground

Palmer man convicted of murder in drug robberies won’t face death penalty after all

Prosecutors say John Pearl Smith II, 36, shot and killed Ben Gross and Crystal Denardi in a garage during another attempted robbery in 2016 in Wasilla, after which he burned the bodies and garage.
A mirrored building.

Anchorage Assembly overrides Bronson’s veto of the creation of a homelessness task force

The Assembly also overrode the mayor's veto of federal COVID-19 relief money.
cherries in a high tunnel

At this Nikiski farm, a cherry-tree experiment blossoms

Michael O’Brien's latest challenge has been a high tunnel containing 90 cherry trees.
a person swinging on a swingset

Mat-Su students go one day a week without bus service as hiring struggle continues

The school district covers an area larger than the state of West Virginia, adding additional challenges to the bus driver shortage.
A woman with a red and blue jacket on drinking coffee

Peltola’s lead widens in U.S. House race with another batch of first-place votes counted

Peltola's lead increased from 7.5% to a little over 8%, according to updated results posted late Thursday.
police car parked on the side of the road

Anchorage police shoot man after they say he used a child as a ‘human shield’

Police say the man fled with the child after firing a weapon during a domestic dispute early Friday morning. Officers say the man was not fatally injured in the shooting.
A man in a suit gives a talk at a microphone.

Charlie Pierce resigns as Kenai Peninsula Borough mayor

Pierce said he’s resigning as mayor next month to focus full-time on his gubernatorial campaign. He did not respond to calls seeking comment.
a remote court hearing

Former top-level employee at Juneau hospital charged with making fraudulent travel claims and online purchases

Court documents detail two felonies: the first involving more than $25,000 in travel-related reimbursements, the second for more than $25,000 in Amazon purchases. 
A golden chalice emblazoned with a marijuana leaf sits -- full of marijuana buds -- on a table.

Alaska plays host to High Times Cannabis Cup with unique, more ‘mom-and-pop’ industry

High Times Director of Events and Competitions Mark Kazinec says Alaska, as the second state to legalize recreational use of marijuana in 2015, is a great place for a competition.
a piece of heavy equipment tears into a burned building

Witnesses say responders came unprepared to fight Bethel apartment fire that killed 3

On Aug. 12, a fire tore through a Bethel apartment complex, killing three people and injuring six others.
a plane takes off

Active duty airmen will soon drive school buses on JBER to help with driver shortage

The Anchorage School District has launched a third-party audit of its transportation operations to avoid similar shortages in the future.
ballots go into a scanner

Alaska primary count is done, as near-record voting sets fields for ranked choice election

The outcome of the special election to fill the remainder of Don Young’s term will be announced on Wednesday.
TWO USPS trucks on the road

The government will no longer be sending free COVID-19 tests to Americans

The Biden administration is pausing its distribution of free COVID-19 tests this week, but you can still order new ones before the end date.
A man talking into two microphones

Ketchikan City Council candidate violated restraining order after relationship with 18-year-old, records show

Dave Timmerman pleaded guilty and served time in jail for violating one of the protective orders, court records show. He filed on Wednesday to run for a one-year city council seat.