TopFeatured.com

U.S Capitol. (Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media) The U.S. Senate is headed toward a decision: Whether to defy President Trump and override his veto of the annual defense bill. Both of Alaska’s senators say they will. “I plan to vote to override veto,” Sen. Dan Sullivan said. Sullivan sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, the…

Guardsmen prepare to remove Bus 142 in June 2020. (Alaska National Guard Public Affairs) Our site had millions of readers over the last year. Much of that audience was drawn by reporting which helped readers navigate changes to public life that came with the pandemic, as well as unique stories about Alaska life and politics.…

Karen Froland (right) and her mom, Alene Robinson, hold hands on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020, at the Aspen Creek assisted-living home in Anchorage. It’s the first time they’ve held hands since March. Aspen Creek set up the “hugging wall” as a way for residents to have some physical contact with loved ones after months staying…

Shelves of food at the Sitka Salvation Army. (Photo by Emily Kwong/KCAW) Among the many things that changed because of the pandemic: how we think about food. More people are cooking at home, restaurants have closed or are struggling to adapt to a take-out model, and there have been shortages of everything from bread yeast…

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski speaks at an event in Anchorage in August. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media) Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has received her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, a spokeswoman said this week, and the two other members of Alaska’s Congressional delegation, Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young, plan to get the vaccine…

Firefighters check hoses outside the home off Minnie Street that was heavily damaged by the early morning house fire. (Photo courtesy City of Fairbanks) 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. Wednesday on Alaska News Nightly: The US Senate sets…

U.S Capitol (Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media) The U.S. Senate launched deciding whether to defy President Trump and override his veto of the annual defense bill, and both of Alaska’s senators say they will. “I plan to vote to override veto,” Sen. Dan Sullivan said. Sullivan sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, the panel that…

Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson announces Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020 plans to ease COVID-19 restrictions. She spoke during a news conference streamed online. (Screenshot) A small group of people protested from their cars outside Anchorage Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson’s West Anchorage home Tuesday night, the Mayor’s office confirmed. A video of the protest shows about a…

Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anne Zink, is vaccinated against COVID-19 by Dr. Michael Alter, Emergency Medicine Specialist at Mat-su Regional Medical Center on Dec. 18. (Photo courtesy Alaska Department of Health and Social Services) 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…

Gwennie’s Old Alaska Restaurant is empty on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. (Matthew Faubion/Alaska Public Media) Anchorage Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson will ease the city’s COVID-19 restrictions starting New Year’s Day. Quinn-Davidson on Tuesday announced the updated rules that will follow the city’s month-long hunker down.  Beginning Friday, she says, bars and restaurants can reopen for…

William Tauanuu or “Pastor Willie” as he’s better known in the Pacific Islander community, at the University Baptist Church on Friday, Oct. 30, 2020. Tauanuu spent 44 days in the hospital, three weeks of which he spent on a ventilator in a coma with COVID-19. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Publlc Media) The coronavirus has infected tens of…

Nome musher Aaron Burmeister at the Iditarod Ceremonial Start in downtown Anchorage, March 1, 2014. Burmeister is one of the ITC board members who may be resigning soon. (Photo: David Dodman, KNOM). 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…

Rep. Don Young in his Washington, D.C. office in 2017. (Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media) The U.S. House has voted to override President Trump’s veto of the annual defense bill. Alaska’s lone House member Don Young voted with Democrats on the override. “Mr. Speaker, as the member designated by Mr. Young of Alaska  …. I inform…

Chignik Lake. July 2019. (ALEX HAGER/KDLG) One man died and another is missing after a boat capsized in Chignik Lake Saturday afternoon, according to a dispatch from Alaska State Troopers.  The Coast Guard recovered the body of 42-year-old Fred Shangin of Chignik Lake Saturday evening. He died from cold water exposure, troopers said.  Nicholas Garner, 39, also…

A screen shot from a public health information video produced by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services Anchorage residents responding to cell phone surveys by the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Institute of Social and Economic Research have been asked a variety of questions about their behavior through the months of pandemic. Are they…

The coastal plain is the northernmost piece of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It covers about 1.5 million acres, about 8% of the vast refuge. (Department of Interior) Alaska’s state-owned development corporation may bid in the upcoming oil and gas lease sale in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Alaska Industrial…

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks at a press conference on Dec. 22, 2020 (Screenshot from Office of the Governor) Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced Tuesday that he’s splitting the state’s health department in two. Dunleavy and Alaska Department of Health and Social Services Commissioner Adam Crum said the department is too big, too unwieldy and needs…

Hiland Mountain Correctional Center. (Alaska Dept. of Corrections) Another Alaska prison is experiencing a large-scale COVID-19 outbreak. Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, a women’s prison in Eagle River, has 109 active cases of COVID-19 as of Monday. That’s up from just three cases a week ago. The prison can house 400 inmates, according to the Department…

Gov. Mike Dunleavy at the Capitol in Juneau in 2019. Alaska Landmine owner Jeff Landfield has sued Dunleavy and members of his administration, saying they’re violating constitutional protections he has as a journalist by barring access to press conferences. (Rashah McChesney/KTOO) Alaska Landmine owner and journalist Jeff Landfield is suing Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration. He…

The Canning River in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Randy Brown/USFWS) Supporters of drilling in the northernmost slice of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge often point to its oil potential as a reason to develop the remote stretch of land. But what does the federal government actually know about how much oil sits under the…

A picture of the COVID-19 vaccine, after the third person in Alaska received it the morning of Dec. 15, 2020, at the Alaska Native Medical Center. (Jeff Chen/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 Alaska…

The Tongass National Forest is the largest temperate rainforest in the country. With exceptions, the Clinton-era Roadless Rule restricted road building and industrial activity in around 55% of the national forest. Advocates for its repeal said it posed unnecessary hurdles to development projects, like logging, mining and renewable energy (Erin McKinstry/KCAW) A coalition including environmental…