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 North Slope natural gas leak is under investigation

Authorities are investigating a natural gas leak detected last week at a ConocoPhillips Alaska oil drill site on Alaska’s North Slope, officials said.
AlaskaCare mailers

Retired public employees and state settle long-running legal dispute over medical, dental benefits

The Alaska Constitution says that public employee retirement benefits “shall not be diminished or impaired.” But the state and retirees have differed on how to interpret this guarantee.
Underwater photo of the deck of a shipwreck, showing the ship's wheel

Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance, lost since 1915, is found off Antarctica

An expedition that set out in search of the lost ship of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton has found it — remarkably intact — 106 years after the vessel sank off Antarctica.
A woman in a furruffed parka drives a sled through heavy snow with a person in a thick down jacket sits in a sled in front of her

Iditapod bonus: Apayauq Reitan interview with Shady Grove Oliver

Kaktovik dog musher Apayauq Reitan, the first out trans woman to compete in the Iditarod, talks to Iditapod colleague and Alaska Public Media contributor Shady Grove Oliver - originally for a piece in the Guardian newspaper - about Reitan's goals for this year's race, what it's like to mush dogs, her Alaska Native culture, coming out as trans and a lot more.
A woman draped in a trans pride flag

‘Proud to be an Iñupiaq woman’: Apayauq Reitan makes history as first out trans woman in the Iditarod

This is a story about a family and their names. Both hold deep meaning. That’s something Kaktovik musher Apayauq Reitan knows all too well.
A musher and his dogs

Brent Sass is first Iditarod musher to leave race’s halfway point

All mushers in the nearly 1,000-mile race across Alaska must take three mandatory rest periods: a 24-hour layover at any checkpoint, an eight-hour layover somewhere along the Yukon River and another eight-hour layover at White Mountain, which is 77 miles from the finish line.
A home with a Garage Sale sign outside with a Ukranian flag

Delta Junction’s Slavic community, reeling over Ukraine war, launches relief effort

Shestopalov’s family was among the first in a wave of refugees that began arriving in Delta Junction in the 1990s.
A white and black Alaska husky

Found: Sled dog Jimbo from Richie Diehl’s team located in an Anchorage backyard

Race officials say Jimbo has eaten a meal and is in "good health."
A woman in red with a dog

This trio of Iditarod mushers teamed up to navigate a heavy snowstorm

The trail and the non-trail looked exactly the same on the way into McGrath. The only way to tell the difference: When they stepped off the trail, they sank into hip-deep snow.
moonrise over Capitol, with dome to the left and purple sky.

Why Sen. Sullivan voted against a bill to fund government, aid Ukraine and renew VAWA

Sen. Sullivan says he supports much of the $1.5 trillion bill but wasn't given enough time to read it.
A magnet on the side of a truck with a rat crossed out

The Aleutians have a rat problem. Scientists are trying to solve it.

“The rats are like an oil spill that keeps on spilling, year after year,” said Steve Delehanty, the refuge manager for the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.
A black and white photo of a boy

Historians correct details about Benny Benson’s age and heritage nearly a century after he designed Alaska’s flag

Researchers nd historians discovered that Benny Benson was actually 14 years old when he designed Alaska's state flag.

Despite more than 50,000 lost jobs, federal relief boosted Alaska incomes during first year of pandemic

“Who would’ve predicted that in 2020, overall income to Alaskans, even on a per capita basis, increased?" state economist Neal Fried said. "And why was because of all these transfer payments that people were receiving.” 

Iditarod mushers look forward to fast river trail, ready to put the miles of moguls behind them

"We've been dealing with the moguls from the start," says Richie Diehl. "It'll be nice to be on the river."
A man and his dogs

Hugh Neff scratches from Iditarod halfway into the race

Neff said he was given the choice of being disqualified or scratching because of concerns from veterinarians about his dogs.
The stern of a blue boat with a yellow stripe and the name "Malaspina" on it

Malaspina ferry could get second life as Alaska attraction

“We would be interested in converting the ferry into a floating hotel/restaurant,” said one pitch letter to the state.
An aerial shot of a dog team in orange jackets

Meet musher Hanna Lyrek, the Iditarod rookie who’s racing closest to the front of the pack

While she’s a newbie to the Iditarod, Lyrek has already proven her mettle in long-distance dog mushing. At age 19, she won the 2019 600-kilometer Finnmarksløpet, one of the biggest races in Europe.