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.”

Anchorage to decide again on an alcohol tax

Anchorage voters will get another chance to vote on an alcohol tax this April. In a meeting Tuesday night, the Anchorage Assembly opted to...

Dunleavy promotes resource development in speech to Alaska business leaders

The governor said the state is in a good position on multiple fronts. One is the warming Arctic, which could allow for shipping across the Arctic Ocean. Another is the demand for minerals that are used in electronics.
woman stands at podium. men in suits on either side of her.

Murkowski confirms she’ll vote no on witnesses in impeachment trial

Senator Lisa Murkowski announced Friday that she will vote to call witnesses in the impeachment proceedings before the Senate, putting herself among a minority of Republicans to support a Democratic push to extend the proceeding.

Katmai National Park moves to permit bear viewing for the first time

This will be the first time Katmai would require permits to access the bear-viewing corridor.

Four young siblings, the youngest a toddler, lost in a storm in Nunam Iqua

The group went missing around 1 p.m. Feb. 2, when they drove towards the dump on snowmachine and never came back, according to Nunam Iqua Tribal Council president Edward Adams Sr.

Goldman Sachs, in Arctic drilling tiff with Alaska governor, hires veteran Juneau lobbyist

In response to Goldman's announcement that it would not finance oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska's governor suggested he could cut off the millions of dollars a year that the state pays the Wall Street firm. Now Goldman is playing defense: Last week, it hired a lobbyist, Wendy Chamberlain, to represent its interests in the state.

Here’s what experts in Alaska want you to know about the new coronavirus

Speaking on Talk of Alaska this week, officials with the CDC and state weighed in on how Alaskans can be prepared for the novel coronavirus.

Rescuers found lost Nunam Iqua children in a hole in the snow, huddled around the youngest child

When the searchers arrived, all four children were able to verbally respond to their questions. The searchers said they looked bad, and would not comment further on the children’s physical condition.

Alaska’s largest rural solar project set to break ground in Kotzebue

The city of Kotzebue has used wind power for decades to supplement its fuel use, and is now about to break ground on a brand new solar project.

Sullivan, after voting to acquit Trump, calls the president’s actions less than ‘perfect’

"I believe the President should have requested such an investigation through more official and robust channels," Sen. Dan Sullivan says

Nunam Iqua brothers who survived night alone on the tundra will make a full recovery, mother says

The four Nunam Iqua brothers who were found in the snow on Tuesday, Feb. 4, will make a full recovery according to the boys’ mother, Karen Camille.
A black and red tender with a white cabin with a hilly spruce tree forest in the background

When the Scandies Rose sunk west of Kodiak, he survived. Now he’s grappling with losing his crewmates.

Dean Gribble describes it as a "whirlwind" — everything that happened between 10 p.m. on Dec. 31, when the crew hit the mayday button, and 2 a.m. on New Year's Day, when he and Lawler were rescued by a U.S. Coast Guard swimmer.
An Alaska State Trooper cruiser parked on Nome’s Front Street in January 2015.

Five dead in small commercial plane crash outside of Bethel

Bethel, Alaska — Five people are dead following a plane crash Thursday near the lower Kuskokwim community of Tuntutuliak, according to Alaska State Troopers....

As newly-renovated Kaktovik school continues to burn, villagers express shock, officials say it’s ‘a total loss’

The school in the North Slope village of Kaktovik is a “total loss” after a fire early Friday, according to a report by Anchorage station KTUU-TV.

Yute Commuter Service has named pilot of plane that crashed, killing 5

Yute Commuter Service has released the name of the pilot killed in a plane accident on Thursday, Feb. 6, along the lower Kuskokwim River that also killed four passengers. The pilot, Tony Matthews, was flying a Piper PA-32R from Bethel to Kipnuk when it crashed about 11 miles southwest of Tuntutuliak.

Kaktovik mourns burned school; workers were thawing pipes before the blaze

The North Slope community's mayor says the school is a "total loss."

Hungry Alaska bears find a new prey: Katmai’s sea otters

One scientist speculates that some of Katmai's bears have long fed on seals, and simply added sea otters to their diets as the marine mammals returned to the area after their near-extinction caused by the fur trade.
An aerial view of one of the exploration pads and wells that ConocoPhillips drilled during the 2018 exploration season at its Willow prospect.

Conoco shelves proposal to build a temporary island after criticisms from North Slope

Conoco says this is how the environmental review process is supposed to work: Communities provide input, and companies respond.

The operators of the flight crashed last week, killing 5, had 3 other incidents in 2019

Yute Commuter Service, whose plane crashed and killed five people last week, including the pilot, is owned by a family whose aircraft were involved in several incidents last year.

President’s budget would whack Denali Commission, but that’s just a suggestion

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Several large cuts to Alaska programs are included in the 2021 budget the Trump administration sent to Capitol Hill Monday. As in...