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 high school opens professional clothing resale store for students

"We see their posture totally change once they get into the outfit," teacher Stacy Miller said. "They can own the look and also own that feeling of empowerment."
Television host interviews guests over Zoom.

Tracking permafrost thaw will help Alaska communities better adapt to climate change | Alaska Insight

A new program called Permafrost Pathways has a dual aim of measuring greenhouse gas emissions and supporting community adaptation ideas.

Interior Secretary Haaland still undecided on King Cove Road after village visit

During her trip, Haaland said, she heard from residents about the importance of the road due to various transportation and medical challenges. As of now, she said, she’s made no decision on the road project. 
Passengers wait at a luggage gate

Anchorage air travelers say few passengers are wearing masks following this week’s court ruling

Alaskans at the Anchorage airport estimated about 10% of passengers on their recent flights had masks on.
masked passengers entering an airport

These airlines are letting passengers banned for mask violations back on planes

Delta, United, American and Alaska Airlines have announced they're now allowing some passengers who were once banned to fly with them again.
A woman's hand holds a tap into a birch tree

Birch tree tappers say a warming Alaska is making the harvest season harder to predict

https://youtu.be/zHP6lEi-Iiw April is birch tree sap season in Southcentral Alaska. A season that is harder and harder to predict because of climate change. Alaska Public...

Interior Department opens 27 million acres for Alaska Native Vietnam veteran land allotments

Veteran Nelson Angapak applauded Interior Secretary Deb Haaland for her outreach to the state’s Native Vietnam vets. "We’re grateful that through her efforts and the efforts of the Department of Interior and Bureau of Land Management, the land base for our veterans has expanded," said Angapak.
White man in blue blazer

Alaska Republican Party endorses Nick Begich III for US House

It’s the party’s first official endorsement in the crowded race.

Alaska artist’s new film captures ‘slow motion tsunami’ of plastic marine debris

It's called "If You Give a Beach a Bottle," it's by Max Romey and it incorporates scenes of volunteers cleaning up Alaska shorelines littered with marine debris, coupled with images from Romey's watercolor sketchbooks.
A woman seen in profile, with her shadow cast on the side of a house

Their mom died of COVID. They say conspiracy theories are what really killed her.

Stephanie was usually careful about her health and regular vaccinations. But then she got into sharing far-out videos and fringe ideas. When COVID hit, misinformation put her and her husband at risk.
Aerial photo of a large fire burning in brown tundra

The largest April wildfire in Alaska in a quarter century is burning near Kwethluk

The fire still is not threatening the community of Kwethluk or any Native allotments.
a crew in a spacecraft

The 1st private astronaut mission to International Space Station is back on Earth

Flying back in a SpaceX capsule, they splashed down in the Atlantic off the Florida coast to close out a 17-day tour that cost them $55 million apiece.

Biden closes half of NPR-A acreage to oil drilling

The Bureau of Land Management announced that it's ditching a Trump administration plan for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and instead will revert to managing the area according to a 2013 plan crafted by the Obama administration.
a woman in a troopers uniform

Alaska’s first investigator focused on missing and murdered Indigenous people is a veteran of the troopers

Anne Sears had been retired after 22 years in law enforcement, as the first Alaska Native woman to serve as an Alaska State Trooper.
An aerial view of a parking lot next to some woods.

Anchorage officials and private funders agree to put $13M toward addressing homelessness crisis

The money will go toward four new projects to serve the more than 700 people who have been using the Sullivan Arena for more than two years, along with local hotels.
The Anchorage Assembly chambers at the Z. J. Loussac Public Library in Anchorage.

Mayor Bronson selects Robert Hudson as third pick to lead Anchorage library

Unlike Bronson’s first two picks, Hudson does have a master’s degree in library science.
Five Alaska Airlines planes parked at gates

Alaska Airlines suspends Alaska-Hawaii nonstop flights during summer

The suspension will last from June until November.
Six people standing in shallow water working with buckets, hoses and other equipment

Counting clams: Fish and Game surveys Cook Inlet beaches in hopes of reopening to clammers

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game could reopen the razor clam fisheries in Ninilchik and Clam Gulch for the first time since 2014.
a medical worker talks to someone through their driver's side window

Most Americans have been infected with the COVID-19 virus, the CDC reports

So many people caught the omicron variant over the winter that almost 60% of everyone in the U.S. — including most children — now have antibodies to the virus in their blood, the CDC said Tuesday.
Logs stacked near a road

The Roadless Rule is supposed to protect wild places. What went wrong in the Tongass National Forest?

The Tongass has been the heart of the logging industry in Alaska for decades, starting in the 1950s with the arrival of pulp mills.