Snow falls on the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau on Feb. 18. (Skip Gray/360 North) The Alaska Legislative Council voted on Thursday to keep the Capitol closed to the public, at least until the next Legislature convenes in January. Legislative staff and the news media will still be allowed in the building. The council also…
Alaska News Nightly: Thursday, October 29, 2020
The Tongass National Forest (Creative Commons photo) 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 News Nightly: Gov. Mike Dunleavy and other state leaders share steps the state is taking to try to reduce the recent surge in…
The Alaska Psychiatric Institute says it’s resuming admissions after investigating COVID-19 cases
Samples for COVID-19 testing are collected using a cotton swab like the one pictured here from the lab at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation hospital in Bethel, Alaska. (Katie Basile/KYUK) The Alaska Psychiatric Institute is resuming admissions after further investigating four coronavirus cases that it had announced last week, according to a statement Wednesday from the…
Alaska News Nightly: Wednesday, October 28, 2020
Pandemic alert levels on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020, according to data from Alaska DHSS (Chart by David Purdy/KTOO) 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: A health advisory over COVID — but no further restrictions…
Tutoring programs give a window into what reopened Anchorage schools may look like
Seven year old Aidyn (in red) works on coding a small robot with instructions for how to move across a piece of paper during an enrichment activity in an after school tutoring program at Aurora Elementary in Anchorage, Alaska on October 23, 2020. (Mayowa Aina/Alaska Public Media) After school at Aurora Elementary, seven-year-old Aidyn explained…
A torrent of Democratic absentee ballots could reverse Alaska’s Election Night vote counts
People stand in a socially distant line at the early voting site at Anchorage’s Midtown Mall on Tuesday. (Nat Herz/Alaska Public Media) More than 75,000 Alaskans have already cast absentee ballots in this year’s election — nearly one-fourth of the total number of votes cast in the state in the last presidential election, in 2016.…
Sealaska subsidiary’s mislabeled halibut recalled by FDA
The 10-ounce frozen breaded frozen filets retail for around $8.99 and are supplied by Orca Bay Foods, a subsidiary of Sealaska Corporation. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Food and Drug Administration) A labeling mistake has led the FDA to order the recall of more than two tons of packaged halibut filets produced by a subsidiary of Sealaska, the…
Trump administration will eliminate roadless protections for Alaska’s Tongass forest
Beached logs pile up in Shoal Cove on Revilla Island in the Tongass National Forest. (Jim Baichtal/USFS) President Donald Trump’s administration announced Wednesday that it is finalizing its plans to reverse roadless protections for more than 9 million acres of the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska, or a little less than 15,000 square miles.…
As coronavirus infections surge across the state, Alaska finds itself at ‘a tipping point’
SEARHC personnel test a colleague for COVID-19 at the employee screening tent behind the hospital on April 28, 2020. (KCAW photo/Berett Wilber) Alaska is in the grips of its highest number of coronavirus infections yet, and some health experts say the state has again reached “a tipping point” in the pandemic. Either Alaskans get the…
Anchorage residents urged to stay home, reconsider travel plans as COVID-19 cases hit record highs
The Anchorage Health Department in downtown Anchorage. (Joey Mendolia/Alaska Public Media) As coronavirus cases surge in Anchorage, the city health department on Wednesday issued a public health advisory urging residents to avoid gatherings, and to wear a mask and stay at least 6 feet away from others in public. The department is also asking residents…
LISTEN: Here’s how it feels to go to the most remote place in Alaska
St. Matthew’s Bull Seal Point. (Ned Rozell) St. Matthew is a sliver of an island that sits in the Bering Sea nearly 200 miles from any human settlement. It’s been described as the most remote place in Alaska. Humans have found their way to St. Matthew from time to time, but none for very long.…
Amid COVID-19 surge in Y-K Delta, health officials call for lockdowns, school closures
YKHC technicians collect samples in June, 2020. (Katie Basile/KYUK) The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is now one of the nation’s leaders in COVID-19 infection rates. In order to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the region, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation is asking for drastic actions. The organization’s recommendations include almost 20 villages locking down and that…
Debate for the State 2020 – U.S. House and Senate
The U.S. House Debate between Rep. Don Young and Alyse Galvin happened at Alaska Public Media on Thursday Oct. 22, 2020. The U.S. Senate Debate between Sen. Dan Sullivan and Dr. Al Gross happened at Alaska Public Media on Friday Oct. 23, 2020. Top Featured Tags: – Alaska News Press Release Distribution Service
Friends mourn Jack Roderick, who helped build Anchorage government
Former Greater Anchorage Area Borough mayor Jack Roderick, photographed at the Captain Cook hotel in 2014. (Loren Holmes / ADN) Jack Roderick, one of the founding fathers of Anchorage’s government and infrastructure, died this week. He was 94. He packed what seems like three different lives into those years: military service, college football, truck driving,…
What’s behind dry, irritated eyes, and can it be fixed?
A close up of a human eye. Via Flickr Do you have red eyes, itching, burning, or irritation of the eyes, a gritty feeling in the eyes, or contact lens discomfort? You may be experiencing dry eyes. Dry eyes is an actual medical condition which is caused by a deficiency in one or more areas…
Alaska News Nightly: Friday, October 23, 2020
Incumbent Rep. Don Young debating Congressional candidate Alyse Galvin for Alaska’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, on October 22 at Debate for the State. (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 Friday on Alaska…
Anchorage School District reports 36 active coronavirus cases
The Anchorage School District Education Center street sign (Mayowa Aina/Alaska Public Media) There are 36 active coronavirus cases within the Anchorage School District, and 127 people in quarantine because of close contact with someone who’s infected. That’s according to the district’s weekly case count released Friday. It comes as the district prepares to bring thousands…
Murkowski votes no on step toward confirming a new Supreme Court justice
Thousands came to the steps of the Supreme Court to mourn Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September. (Brett Davis) U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted with Democrats against proceeding toward a vote on President Trump’s latest nominee to the Supreme Court. Friday’s procedural motion passed anyway, by a vote of 51-46. Murkowski and Sen. Susan Collins…
Alaska News Nightly: Thursday, October 22, 2020
Justin Williams photographs his food for his Instagram and Facebook accounts on Oct. 21, 2020 (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 Alaska News Nightly: Some people exposed to COVID-19 are refusing to quarantine…
Police fatally shot Eagle River man involved in domestic violence incident
Anchorage Police Department downtown headquarters on June 9, 2020 (Lex Treinen/Alaska Public Media) An Eagle River man is dead after an hours-long standoff with police Thursday morning that ended when he left his home holding a shotgun and five officers fired at him, according to the Anchorage Police Department. Police have not yet released the…
This Anchorage mom is trying to keep up with her kids’ online learning and keep a business afloat
Kasandra Tafoya and her brother Manuel Isaac Tafoya work on assignments from their family’s restaurant Pedro’s Mexican Grill. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media) The school day started around 9 a.m. in a tidy mobile home in South Anchorage where Elisa Yepez Oregel lives with her husband and their four kids. Vanessa, a fourth grader at Klatt…
