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.”

Renaming of Mt. McKinley to Denali recognized by tribal officials

Renaming of North America’s highest peak from Mt. McKinley to Denali was recognized Wednesday by federal and tribal officials at the Tanana Chief’s Conference annual meeting in Fairbanks. Three other lesser publicized name changes were also highlighted. Download Audio
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Defense secretary on board with keeping JBER unit

Now even the secretary of Defense says he’d reverse the plan to cut several thousand troops from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, nearly ensuring the Anchorage base will retain 4-25 Infantry Brigade Combat team, at least for another year. Download Audio

Freeride athletes excited to take on ‘famous mountains’ of Haines

An international big mountain ski and snowboard competition is back in Haines. The Freeride World Tour tests the skills of alpine athletes from around the world, with stops in five countries. The athletes say the slopes in France, Austria and Andorra don’t compare with the mountains in Haines. Download Audio
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Push to label GE food, including salmon, has staunch opponents

This morning, the U.S. Senate considered a bill to block state labeling mandates for GMO foods, including fish. The bill didn’t get enough votes to advance, but the debate shows the forces Sen. Lisa Murkowski is up against as she tries to require consumer labels for genetically engineered salmon. Download Audio

For some teams, Iditarod’s final miles make the biggest difference

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race is 1,000 miles long, but for a couple dog teams, the most competitive stretch of trail came down to the final mile.

Critics call feds’ new ‘mitigation’ a coerced fee

Conoco had to pay $8 million in mitigation for a project in NPR-A. Sen. Lisa Murkowski calls the amount arbitrary, "throwing a dart at the board." Another Republican senator says it's a way for the feds to hold projects hostage.

Dallas Seavey wins 2016 Iditarod in record time

In the wee hours of Tuesday morning, Dallas Seavey and his dog team came running down front to claim victory in this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and he set a new race record. The younger Seavey finished less than an hour ahead of his father.
Brent Sass just couldn't get his dogs to leave White Mountain

Photos: Brent Sass suddenly disappeared from the front

As Dallas Seavey was jogging into Nome, his main rival for much of the race, Eureka musher Brent Sass, hadn’t left White Mountain. After barreling down the trail at the front of the pack, Sass’s dogs had had enough.

Dallas Seavey wins 2016 Iditarod in record time

Dallas Seavey is the Iditarod's newest four-time champion. He crossed beneath the Burled Arch in Nome at 2:20 a.m. Tuesday with six dogs and hugged his family and championship dogs. His family now owns six titles, including two from his father, Mitch. His grandfather, Dan Seavey, ran the first Iditarod in 1973.
Dallas Seavey coming into the checkpoint at Galena. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/KSKA)

IDITAROD LIVEBLOG: Dallas Seavey claims fourth title in record time

Dallas Seavey, Mitch Seavey, and Brent Sass are racing to the finish of the 2016 Iditarod from White Mountain to Nome. Alaska Public Media reporters will bring you the latest from the final miles of the last great race.

Father and son face off in Iditarod sprint finish

The top three teams in this year’s Iditarod have pulled into White Mountain, the final big stop along the trail. But as KNOM’s Emily Schwing reports, it’s not entirely clear who will finish first. Download Audio

Trump’s take on public land bucks Western trend

Alaska issues don’t come up much in presidential debates, but Donald Trump did face a public lands question, and his answer struck a nerve among Western conservatives. Download Audio
Dallas (left) and Mitch (right) embrace and share a few words before departing Koyuk. (Photo by Emily Schwing/KNOM)

Dallas Seavey first into White Mountain

Reigning Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey is the first musher into White Mountain. He checked in at 9.48 a.m. Monday for the mandatory 8-hour layover at the checkpoint before continuing on the final 77 miles to Nome by way of Safety.

Monday’s Three to Read: catch up on Iditarod 44

39 minutes separate Dallas Seavey from his father, Mitch Seavey, in the final stretch of the 2016 Iditarod. Brent Sass is in pursuit in the third position as the race comes to a sprint finish. Dallas Seavey pulled into White Mountain at 9:48 Monday--the exact same time of his record-setting 2014 win. But between White Mountain and Nome that year, a ground blizzard ended the race for then-leader Jeff King, and Dallas pushed through the Safety checkpoint and past Aliy Zirkle for the win.

In push up the coast, Iditarod mushers vie for top 10

Competition is hardly confined to the front as Iditarod teams sprint along the coast. Mushers in Unalakleet are hoping to hop, skip, and leap-frog their teams toward the top 10.

Trio of Iditarod leaders neck-and-neck on final stretch

A day-long march up the coast and across the sea ice has boiled down to an honest race for Nome as a father-son duo from Seward battle it out on the Iditarod trail against each other and an Interior musher who has trained tirelessly to cross under the burled arch ahead of the pack. This year’s race could come down to a combination of speed and power among dogs and pure grit and desire among mushers. Download Audio

Iditarod leaders close to White Mountain

Dallas Seavey and Mitch Seavey are within 30 miles of White Mountain, with Brent Sass trailing just a couple miles behind. The trio pulled out of Elim within half an hour of each other - Dallas at 4:11 a.m., Brent at 4:37 a.m., and Mitch at 4:40 a.m.

For mushers who know real-life struggle, Iditarod is only part of a bigger journey

It’s been a week of racing for mushers in the Iditarod, and those in the middle of the pack are struggling. Though, it’s for a variety of different reasons. As Alaska Public Media’s Zachariah Hughes reports, for some the difficulty is the race itself, but for others it’s the challenges inside the lives they’re away from while out on the trail. Download Audio

INTERVIEW: Brent Sass leads Iditarod to the Bering Sea coast

Brent Sass has been hard to catch in this year’s Iditarod. He has camped outside of checkpoints for the majority of the race, stopping only long enough to grab food and supplies, running his team much like he would in Alaska’s other 1,000 mile sled dog race, the Yukon Quest. Download Audio

Sass exits ‘camping mode’ as Iditarod kicks into high gear

Unalakleet was buzzing overnight as Iditarod mushers and their dog teams arrived on the Bering Sea Coast. As KNOM’s Emily Schwing reports, their sense of urgency was palpable. Download Audio