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 person uses a red snow blower.

Anchorage’s back to back (to back?) snowstorm totals pushing city toward December record

Back for our Ask a Climatologist segment, Brian Brettschneider with the National Weather Service says there are a couple ways to think about the snow, including one measurement that gets at how it feels to, say, shovel it out of driveways.
A group of Police officers bring out a coffin covered in an American flag

Man killed by a muskox near Nome

Troopers say Curtis Worland was trying to haze a group of muskox away from his dog kennel on Tuesday when one of the muskox attacked.
livestream still showing four boxes

Wasilla Rep. Eastman’s qualifications trial delves into Oath Keeper ideology

Rep. David Eastman isn't accused of attacking the U.S. Capitol. But if he belongs to a group that did, his legislative career could be over.
A blonde woman in a blazer smiles at the camera.

Nancy Dahlstrom has spent most of her 20-year political career out of the spotlight. Now she’s second in command.

Dahlstrom said she’s committed to upholding the policies of the election system set in law. Even so, she expressed reservations about the current ranked choice voting system.

In wake of a smaller $48M deficit, Anchorage school officials weigh numerous budget cuts

School board members on Saturday found wide consensus on closing Abbott Loop Elementary School, increasing the student-to-teacher ratio by one and using roughly $28 million in savings to close next year's budget gap.

Iconic Fairbanks satellite dish helps map floods thousands of miles away, under trees, clouds and at night

Franz Meyer, chief scientist at the Alaska Satellite facility, and his colleagues use satellites to map what's happening on the ground, even if it's covered by trees or clouds.
a damaged fish camp

Arctic Report Card 2022: Rapid climate change brings extreme events to the North

NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad says the changes are visible in diminished sea ice, plankton blooms, mass seabird die-offs, coastal erosion and damage to Arctic communities.
Cars drive down a road while a person walks in the middle of the road. The sidewalk to their left is covered in snow.

Mat-Su schools closed, Anchorage schools reopen Tuesday after weekend storm

Mat-Su Borough schools remained closed Tuesday in the wake of Sunday’s major snowstorm, with Anchorage schools set to reopen after four consecutive snow days.
Snow plows plow snow on snowy street.

Anchorage Mayor Bronson commits more workers and equipment to snow removal

Bronson said the new agreements will bring up to 10 additional graders, 10 plow trucks and numerous dump trucks.
a woman in a sweater poses for a photo, seated at a table

Alaska elections chief, never one for drama, makes an orderly exit after a big year

Gail Fenumiai is retiring just as Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom takes up her new duties, which include overseeing elections.
A woman shovels snow from a driveway.

‘Anomaly’ winter storm closes Anchorage and Mat-Su schools, slows traffic

The latest storm brought more than a foot of new snow. The snow again closed schools, tangled traffic and left residents frustrated about unplowed roads.
A snowy street with a Speed Limit 25 mph sign

Kenai woman killed by plow truck in whiteout conditions

About 18 inches of snow were piled on the roadway at the time of the fatal crash, troopers say.

Santa visit brings joy to a frosty Alaska Inupiat village

Santa and Mrs. Claus left Rudolph at home to catch a ride recently on an Alaska Air National Guard cargo plane to visit the Inupiat village of Nuiqsut.
a trooper car

Wasilla explosion that injured man and demolished building likely due to gas leak, troopers say

A woman who identified herself on Facebook as the wife of the owner of Connoisseur Lounge, a cannabis retail shop, wrote that the injured man was a contractor checking on a newly built part of her husband’s shop.
an ambulance with a mountain in the background

Nursing shortage leaves Juneau hospice patients with few options until gap is filled

Juneau has been without hospice and home care since mid-September.
An album cover says 2022 Holiday songs with a tree on it

Proceeds from new holiday album will help rural Alaska domestic violence shelters

Each song on the Bright Lights album is a fresh take on holiday music.
A woman with a black jacket and black pants holding a bag walks on the sidewalk filled with snow near a busy street next to a gas station.

Anchorage road crews working ‘around-the-clock’ as city braces for more snow

Road conditions were still so bad by Friday that the Anchorage School District closed schools for a third straight day. 
moose burger

What happens to illegally killed moose? In Petersburg, the meat is turned into free burgers

Petersburg Rotary Club members Steve and Desi Burrell manage the club's Burger Bank, which has distributed more than 1,700 pounds of illegally hunted meat this year.
a flu vaccine shot

Alaska’s flu season continues to worsen, epidemiology reports show

Alaska’s flu season is worsening with no signs of leveling off, the latest surveillance report from the Alaska Department of Health showed on Wednesday.
Exterior: Smoke over a home

Alaska routinely skimps on wildfire response budget, study finds

Researchers found that wildfire-prone states like Alaska were obscuring the true costs of fires, creating an added challenge to budgeting for mitigation and prevention.