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.”

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.
Denali photos

Mislabeled photos, newly discovered at UAF, bolster 1910 Denali summit claim

There’s new proof of the success of a pioneering ascent of Denali. Historic photographs from the 1910 Sourdough Expedition were found this fall at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
a person crosses a finish line that says Ironman Alaska

Ironman Alaska canceled for the next 2 years

Liz Perry, president and CEO of Travel Juneau, said the Ironman Alaska triathlon organizer called her to say that the decision arose from economic concerns like inflation and the potential for a recession. 
a woman pushes a snowblower in a snowy driveway

Anchorage still shoveling out of its snowiest December day since the ’50s

The snowstorm closed schools for a second day on Thursday as road crews catch up.

Recount in Alaska Senate race reaffirms Giessel as winner

A recount of an Anchorage-area state Senate race reaffirmed Republican Cathy Giessel as the winner.

Iditarod’s smallest field in race history begs the question: Why so few?

As the Iditarod has become more competitive, the middle- to back-of-the pack mushers who made it more of a cultural event have struggled with rising costs.
a person sitting at a table

Is it legal for an Alaska legislator to belong to the Oath Keepers? That’s what a trial will decide.

A lawsuit alleges Rep. David Eastman's membership in an extremist group disqualifies him from office.
a group of people stand around a woman signing a piece of paper

Respect for Marriage Act clears Congress with bipartisan support

The bill, which would ensure federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages, now heads to President Biden's desk for signature.
a landscape with water and mountains

Alaska tribes join with Lower 48 allies to seek protections from impacts of Canadian mines

The tribes are seeking protective action under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909, the framework for resolving disputes over shared waters.
Alaska House floor

‘Stalemate’: Prepare to wait weeks, or even months, before a majority forms in Alaska House

Key decisions, like school spending and the size of Alaska’s oil-wealth checks, hang in the balance pending the outcome of a lawsuit challenging a Republican’s eligibility.
a portrait of a woman in a hat and black shirt

The cutting edge solution to rising debt? Paying in cash

2022 has been a rough year for America's personal finances. That's sparked a throwback movement among some young debtors: all cash, all the time.
a man with sunglasses and a mullet

Kenai man has the nation’s 19th-best mullet

Joe Malatesta III has been growing out his curly mullet for four years