How COVID-19 is slowing down the relocation of a Southwest Alaska village
With Newtok continuing to erode at alarming rates, the urgency to move grows by the day. But construction in Mertarvik, the new village that will replace the eroding one, has been slow the past two summers, and COVID-19 is a big reason why.
Anchorage mayor doubles down on opposition to public health measures, prepares for ‘more combative’ Assembly
In an interview with Alaska Public Media two months into his first term, Mayor Dave Bronson says he doesn’t believe a mask mandate will help prevent the spread of COVID-19. He also took a confrontational tone with the Assembly, which recently voted down his nominee for library director.
Alaska’s COVID hospitalizations still climbing, 1 in 5 patients now fighting virus
Alaska’s already overwhelmed hospitals took on another 20 patients with COVID-19 over the Labor Day long weekend, with more than 180 people hospitalized with the virus.
Alaska water can be teeming with Giardia, as this science writer knows well
Giardia are a one-celled creature that get inside mammals — science columnists included — and multiply by the millions.
New studies find evidence of ‘superhuman’ immunity to COVID-19 in some individuals
That's how some scientists describe the findings of a series of studies looking at the antibodies created by individuals who were infected by the coronavirus and then had an mRNA vaccine.
Mass testing can keep COVID out of schools. But none of Alaska’s largest districts are doing it.
A few small districts have instituted mass screening testing programs, to pick up COVID-19 cases in people without symptoms. But Anchorage, Fairbanks, the Kenai Peninsula and Mat-Su districts have not followed suit.
Anchorage business owners fear worker burnout as hiring struggles persist
One business owner is closing her ice cream shop one day a week to give workers a break. Another has raised wages in hopes of not losing her staff.
Millions lose jobless benefits this week. It doesn’t mean they’ll be rushing back to work.
Millions of Americans are losing a lifeline as pandemic unemployment benefits expire. Research suggests the loss of aid won't do much to push people back to work, but may lead to a drop in spending.
Grappling with school closure and masking, Mat-Su schools hold tight to current mitigation plan
Two weeks into the school year, 11 of the district’s 46 schools had moved to requiring masking due to COVID-19 spread, according to the Mat-Su district’s dashboard, and two schools are closed.
Juneau nonprofit hands out yard signs with positive messages to comfort the community
Juneau resident Melissa McCormick s distributing yard signs all over the community with phrases including "You matter" and "Don't give up." She hopes they remind people that they're not alone.
Alaska PFD payout remains up in the air as special session grinds on
Alaskans eager to know how much their permanent fund dividend will be this year, as well as when they’ll get it, will have to wait some more. The dividend is caught up in a broader debate over state budget policies. And a legal disagreement could affect its size even if lawmakers settle on an amount.
A new $350 million Bering Sea fish fight could hinge on a miniature Canadian railroad
The quickly escalating saga involves Donald Trump’s personal lawyer. And it stems from the way that one of Alaska’s biggest fishing companies, American Seafoods, is using an exemption in the federal law that typically allows only U.S. ships to move cargo between U.S. ports.
Alaska House leaders call on Dunleavy to ease hospital crisis with disaster declaration
But Gov. Dunleavy said Friday that he has no intention of issuing a disaster declaration.
Sharing harrowing details, hospital officials implore Alaska lawmakers to help quickly
on Thursday, hospital leaders told lawmakers at a House Health and Social Services Committee meeting that it’s most important that the state act now to help overburdened hospitals, no matter the method.
Fairbanks hospital to require COVID-19 vaccine for staff as it wrestles with full ICU
“It’s really tough right now and I just feel for our employees who are overworked and — to some degree, I think —underappreciated when people don’t look at the science and don’t wear masks and don’t get vaccinated," says the board chair of Foundation Health Partners.
Kenai homeowners tackle bluff erosion, one recycled pipe at a time
Dave Salter’s yard is, quite literally, falling into the ocean. He didn’t know it was going to happen so fast when he bought the...
These tribal activists want Biden to stop a planned lithium mine on their sacred land
In Nevada, tribal opposition to a proposed lithium mine is testing the White House's pledge to electrify America's transportation system and give more of a voice to Indigenous people in federal lands.
Anchorage hockey boosters raised the funds, but a lot of work remains for Seawolves to skate again
The University of Alaska Anchorage announced Tuesday it was reinstating the hockey program after a group called Save Seawolf Hockey said it had raised the necessary $3.1 million.
Budget bill in Congress could derail ANWR drilling
House Democrats want to use the budget to reverse the 2017 law opening the Arctic Refuge.
Kenai Peninsula Borough to consider resolution against ‘vaccine segregation’
The Kenai Peninsula Borough mayor and several members of the assembly want to publicly denounce what they call “vaccine segregation” by the government.