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.”

Alaska Medevac planes are flying recovering COVID patients from urban hospitals to smaller ones

To make room for critically ill patients at Anchorage's overloaded hospitals amid Alaska's largest surge in COVID-19, medevac planes are sometimes flying in reverse: moving still-hospitalized but recovering patients from Anchorage back to rural areas.

Anchorage school nurses are busier than ever as the coronavirus transforms their jobs

As the city wades through its worst coronavirus surge yet, driven by the super contagious delta variant, school nurses have become a go-to source of information for families.
Close up shot of a woman with dark hair and eyeglasses looking into the distance

In ERs and public meetings, Alaskans rage at health care workers trying to stem COVID spread

Alaskans have been "belligerent, disrespectful, very, very aggressive" to contract tracers, says a public health nurse manager. They've followed nurses to yell at them.

Judge deals blow to Eklutna’s bid for tribal gaming

Parcel Eklutna wants for gaming parlor is not "Indian land," judge rules.

Alaska reports record 1,330 new COVID cases and 7 deaths

Alaska on Thursday reported another daily record for new coronavirus cases, and it also recorded seven new deaths and a nearly 5% jump in hospitalizations as the state contends with its worst COVID-19 surge so far.

Low teenage turnout for vaccine increases COVID case rate in Alaska

We’re a month into the school year and Alaska is experiencing peak Covid-19 cases and a hospital system at max capacity. Alaska Public Media’s Jeff Chen looks at how low teenage turnout for the Covid vaccine increases case rates in Alaska.
A dirt road under cloudy sky

St. Paul island has recorded just 2 COVID cases since the pandemic started

A city official says the island’s high vaccination rate and strict protocols, like mandatory testing, have kept the virus from spreading.
A smiling girl next to a river holding a fish.

Alaska Native graduate program aims to elevate Indigenous knowledge in fisheries research

It's called Tamamta, a Yup'ik and Sugpiaq word that means "all of us" or "we", and it's part of UAF's College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.

Birds thrived where humans feared to tread during the pandemic, scientists say

A new study shows that as people mostly remained indoors during lockdowns last year, many bird species found less noisy and polluted cities more inviting.

Boatbuilder sentenced for defrauding 22 customers, including Village of Igiugig

Michael Dismer received more than $4 million from customers but he never fully delivered on his promises, instead spending much of the money on personal expenses.
A man behind a podium with flags on either side.

400 health care workers on their way to help fight Alaska’s COVID-19 surge

Gov. Mike Dunleavy painted a stark picture of the state’s COVID-19 woes as a surge in cases of the Delta variant put hospitals in crisis mode.

Inside of Alaska Native Medical Center’s ICU, doctors and nurses fight to keep COVID patients alive

Nurses at ANMC say aside from long hours and the emotional toll of seeing Alaskans dying from the coronavirus, they’re also dealing with people doubting their intentions.

From a fossilized tusk, UAF researchers unravel the story of Kik the woolly mammoth

The scientists found clues about Kik’s life in the isotopes in the fossil.

Kotzebue man sentenced to 99 years in death of 10-year-old Ashley Johnson-Barr

Peter Vance Wilson, 44, had earlier pleaded guilty to charges of murder and sexual abuse of 10-year-old Ashley Johnson-Barr.
people talk to staffers in windows at the PFD office

Here’s when Alaskans can expect to get this year’s PFD

Permanent fund dividends will likely hit Alaskans' bank accounts in the middle of October, says the state Department of Revenue.

An invasive parasite is taking over Alaska blue mud shrimp. Researchers want to kill it.

Orthione griffenis, or O. griffenis, eventually kills its host shrimp, and soon the remaining shrimp can’t find each other to reproduce, rendering a blue mud shrimp population extinct.

Anchorage’s early snow unofficial but pleasing to zoo’s polar bears, otters

Snow blanketed parts of Alaska’s largest city Tuesday morning, as Anchorage saw an early, though unofficial, first snowfall of the season. It's technically unofficial because none was reported at the National Weather Service’s official measuring spot on the city’s west side.
Two women and a man post for a photograph in front of a quilt.

Faced with dozens of open jobs, Lower Kuskokwim schools look outside the U.S. for teachers

This year was the first time the Lower Kuskokwim School District recruited and hired teachers from outside of the United States. It had dozens of open jobs in the months leading up to the school year, and the pandemic made a tough hiring market even more difficult.
Two f-35 fighter jets are parked in front of a beige aircraft control tower

Following JBER, Eielson Air Force Base restricts interactions off-base due to COVID

Eielson Air Force Base in Interior Alaska has increased its COVID-19 precautions after Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson’s commander declared a public health emergency on Friday due to a surge in COVID cases.
Graphic of airplane and mountains

Searching for solutions to Alaska’s high rate of deadly air crashes

Our investigation revealed that Alaska has a growing share of the country’s deadly crashes from small commercial flights. Here’s what experts say could be done to improve aviation safety in the state.