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.”

Two white men pictureed side by side

WATCH: Anchorage mayor candidates debate visions for the city

Former Air Force and commercial pilot Dave Bronson and Assemblymember and Alaska Army National Guard Captain Forrest Dunbar are the two runoff candidates for the Anchorage mayoral election.

Global warming makes expedition to ice-locked North Pole possible

Two specially-equipped sailboats are attempting a voyage that’s never been done before - a trip to the North Pole. Led by a British explorer, the international crew has moved the boats from their home in Sitka up to Nome, where they’re hoping to launch for their journey to the Pole this weekend. Melting sea ice in the Arctic could make their voyage possible for the first time in history. Listen now
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland speaks from behind a lectern

US boarding school investigative report released

The findings show the federal Indian boarding school system consisted of at least 408 federal schools across 37 states and roughly 53 different schools had been identified with marked or unmarked burial sites.
a nurse administers a vaccine to a patient

Alaska leads nation with steepest climb in coronavirus hospitalizations

According to The New York Times on Thursday evening, Alaska had the country’s fourth-highest increase in coronavirus cases over the past two weeks, and it was also the state with the steepest rise in coronavirus-related hospitalizations.

As sea ice melts, fish are showing up farther north off Alaska. A federal fishing trip will investigate if they’re sticking around.

Two summers ago, federal scientists discovered something shocking: The Northern Bering Sea was teeming with cod and pollock. Those two commercially valuable species had never been found in such large huge numbers that far north.

Iditarod Mushers Ponder When To Take 24-Hour Rest

Denali musher Jeff King led the Iditarod front-runners into Galena...with Aliy Zirkle and Aaron Burmeister arriving around an hour and a half later. The Iditarod saw its first scratch of the race, as Zoya DeNure made the decision in Tanana, citing personal reasons. Download Audio

Even before vetoes, poll by anti-tax Gov. Dunleavy shows Alaskans, narrowly, favoring more taxes

Alaska GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy opposes new taxes. But in a poll he quietly commissioned earlier this year, a narrow majority of respondents supported them.
a person receives a vaccination

With many Alaska vaccine appointments unfilled, officials want you to know: You could be ‘essential’

After months of tight vaccine supply, the state of Alaska last week made a massive expansion of the groups eligible for shots. But it’s not clear that the expanded criteria are fully registering with Alaskans yet, public health officials said at a briefing for reporters Monday.

Longstanding tensions underlie Arctic Slope Regional Corporation’s withdrawal from AFN

Long before Arctic Slope Regional Corp. announced its withdrawal from the Alaska Federation of Natives last week, there were signs of a schism.

Report Shows Sea Ice May Recover if Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduced

Annie Feidt, APRN – Anchorage Reducing greenhouse gas emissions could go a long way toward saving the world’s polar bears. That’s the conclusion...
a man and woman hug

Eugene ‘Buzzy’ Peltola Jr. remembered for his humor, public service and commitment to family

Eugene "Buzzy" Peltola Jr. was an avid sport hunter and fisherman who turned his love for subsistence harvesting into years of public service.
A map shows in graphics which marine mammals have had toxin levels show up in research.

Scientists report an increase in harmful algal blooms in the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas

The blooms carry toxins, but scientists aren’t yet sure what impact they will have on marine mammals.
A white man with gray hair and black zippup jacket

As deaths and cases rise, pressure grows on Dunleavy to mandate masks

Municipal and health care leaders are pushing Alaska GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy to take a new approach to contain Alaska’s COVID-19 outbreak, as case counts rise, schools remain closed, businesses clash with customers over face coverings and hospitals warn that they're stretched thin.

Study finds poor air quality aboard cruise ships

A covert study undertaken by a public health researcher found air quality on cruise ships to be on par with the world’s dirtiest cities.

Anchorage health care providers discuss rural tele-health systems with FCC Commissioner

As part of his statewide tour of broadband systems, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr stopped in Anchorage today to hear from rural health providers. Commisioner Carr has already visited Unalaska and Palmer on his Alaska tour to learn about challenges with broadband Internet access. Listen now
candidates sit at a table

Some of Alaska’s US House candidates are millionaires. Another is paying off student loans.

Newly filed financial disclosures reveal huge wealth disparities that are shaping the special election between 48 candidates for the state’s sole U.S. House seat.

Sharp comments reflect ill will as Legislature starts 2nd special session

House majority’s handling of budget debate was compared to Pearl Harbor attack, tyranny and Jim Crow laws. Listen now
A white man in a gray suit gestures in front of a microphone

Gov. Dunleavy says he’s open to working with President Biden but will oppose blocking development

“Alaska’s viewed very differently by the rest of this country,” Dunleavy said in an interview. “And they don’t necessarily see this as a sovereign state. But they see it as a vision of a larger park. In 1959, that was not the vision.”

State moves to update its petroleum spill guidelines

Alaska’s petroleum-based economy means there are many opportunities for toxic petroleum-based spills. At least 80 percent of the contaminated sites that the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation deals with have petroleum products in them. Now, the Department is making moves to update the decades-old protocols it uses when petrochemicals leak into the soil and water. Listen Now

Ketchikan planes in mid-air crash both had equipment designed to help avert collisions. What went wrong?

How the planes' GPS transponders were or weren't working is a question investigators will explore, they said Wednesday.