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Rep. Tiffany Zulkosky, D-Bethel, speaks during a House floor session in the Capitol in Juneau on March 16, 2020. On Friday, she spoke in favor of House Bill 76, to extend Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s COVID-19 disaster declaration. The bill passed, 22-15. (Photo by Skip Gray/KTOO) On Friday, the Alaska House of Representatives passed a bill…

Anchorage Health Department public health nurse Marguerite Leeds prepares to administer the Covid-19 vaccine during the community vaccine clinic held at Manai Fou Assembly of God Church in Airport Heights on Feb. 23, 2021. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media) Alaska is leading the nation in COVID-19 vaccination rates, bringing us closer to the herd immunity needed…

Tying different colored ribbons to a tree to remember victims of crimes is an annual event across the nation, including in Anchorage, during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, April 18-24. The focus on victims is an opportunity to review and evaluate how victims’ rights are being observed, and what changes still need to happen. (Photo…

Fourth Avenue in Downtown Anchorage, Alaska in early December, 2019. (Joey Mendolia/Alaska Public Media) The head of the organization that oversees Anchorage’s downtown parking abruptly resigned Friday, in what appears to be a split with city officials after the pandemic caused a large drop in revenue.  Andrew Halcro, executive director of the Anchorage Community Development…

A Canadian Coast Guard Ship approaches the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy in the Arctic Ocean. (File photo: Patrick Kelley/ Coast Guard) The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy will take a trip through the Northwest Passage in conjunction with Canada this summer, which experts say is a sign that the two countries are willing to…

The Alaska House Finance Committee discusses the bill to extend Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s disaster declaration on Monday. The representatives, from the left, are: DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer; Adam Wool, D-Fairbanks; Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage; an aide; Sara Rasmussen, R-Anchorage; Kelly Merrick, R-Eagle River; Neal Foster, D-Nome; Dan Ortiz, I-Ketchikan; Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham; Ben Carpenter, leaning forward, R-Nikiski;…

Gov. Mike Dunleavy at a press conference in 2020. (Photo by Skip Gray/KTOO) Gov. Mike Dunleavy says, after 62 years of Alaska statehood, he’s finally asserting the state’s right to control submerged lands under navigable lakes and rivers. “We’re now at the point where we will be physically exerting our sovereignty,” he said during a…

Nurse Shawnece Stovall prepares doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination site at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska on March 24, 2021 (Lex Treinen/Alaska Public Media) Stories are posted on the statewide news page. You can subscribe to Alaska Public Media’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @AKPublicNews. Thursday on…

Dean Cummings mugshot (Sandoval County) Dean Cummings was a champion big mountain skier and a pioneer in the Alaska heli-skiing industry with his now-defunct, Valdez-based company H2O Guides. But Cummings is now charged with murder in the shooting death of a New Mexico man. And after years of Cummings’ bizarre, sometimes abusive behavior, paranoid delusions…

The Alaska House Finance Committee discusses the bill to extend Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s disaster declaration on Monday. The representatives, from the left, are: DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer; Adam Wool, D-Fairbanks; Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage; an aide; Sara Rasmussen, R-Anchorage; Kelly Merrick, R-Eagle River; Neal Foster, D-Nome; Dan Ortiz, I-Ketchikan; Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham; Ben Carpenter, leaning forward, R-Nikiski;…

Tom Li (right) and a person who didn’t want to be identified hold signs that say “Hate is a virus” and “Stop Asian hate” at the corner of Dimond Boulevard and Old Seward Highway Saturday, in response to increased anti-Asian racism and violence. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media) Stories are posted on the statewide news page. You can…

Soldiers participate in a skijoring exercise at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson in January. (Alejandro Pena/USAF) The Army says it will boost its ability to operate in the Arctic, in part by recruiting soldiers who want to be in Alaska. The Army’s new plan for the region is called “Regaining Arctic Dominance.” The name implies both…

Gov. Mike Dunleavy (Dunleavy Flckr) Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy sent a letter to all legislators on Wednesday saying the state should not return to having a disaster declaration and pushing the legislature for a more limited bill. “To reenter a state of disaster without apparent catalyst would irreparably harm the trust Alaskans have placed in us,” he…

iPhone 6 front (Flickr photo courtesy of thronx) Stories are posted on the statewide news page. You can subscribe to Alaska Public Media’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @AKPublicNews. Tuesday on Alaska News Nightly: Some Alaska lawmakers say their regions are suffering without a disaster declaration for the pandemic. And, new reporting examines the…

Retired chemistry teacher David Boyd holds up his COVID-19 vaccination record card after receiving one of the 771 vaccinations administered at the Anchorage School District Education Center on Jan. 7, 2021. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media) Anchorage’s mask mandate is easing up, though only slightly.  Beginning Tuesday, Anchorage residents who work in separate rooms from unvaccinated…

Senator Lisa Murkowski at the August 26, 2020, opening ceremony for the Operation Lady Justice Task Force Cold Case Office in Anchorage, Alaska. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media) WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is withdrawing its planned nomination of Elizabeth Klein to become deputy secretary at the Interior Department amid opposition from Alaska Republican Sen.…

A team of marine mammal experts perform a necropsy on a male sperm whale. (Photo courtesy Johanna Vollenweider/NOAA) Stories are posted on the statewide news page. You can subscribe to Alaska Public Media’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @AKPublicNews. Monday on Alaska News Nightly: Alaska health officials combat rising vaccine hesitancy in more conservative…

UAA’s hockey team practices in Oct. 2013. (Josh Edge/APRN) Anchorage will get a new Junior hockey team for the 2021-22 season.  The Anchorage Wolverines will join two other Alaska teams in the North American Hockey League, one of the top-tier Junior leagues in the continent.  “The Anchorage Bowl has been starving for this,” said Darryl…

iPhone 6 front (Flickr/thronx) Anchorage officials say they’re pushing closer to the launch of smartphone apps that could alert people they’ve been exposed to someone with COVID-19, though the initiative is still waiting for Alaska GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration to approve it. Some two-dozen states, from Washington to Wyoming to North Carolina, have already…

(Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media) The U.S. House passed a bill to renew the Violence Against Women Act this week, with a pilot program that would to expand tribal law enforcement in five Alaska Native villages. The VAWA bill would give Alaska tribes authority to prosecute crimes of sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking and related offenses. Anchorage…

Ballot drop boxes wait to be deployed in the Municipality of Anchorage Election Center on Jan. 14, 2021. (Photo by Kavitha George/AKPM) Anchorage is less than a month away from its next municipal election. Residents will decide who the next mayor and school board members will be, plus vote on several smaller seats and propositions.…