TopFeatured.com

Author Kim Heacox is a former National Park Service Ranger who has written multiple award-winning books and is based in Gustavus, Alaska. (Courtesy of Kim Heacox) Author Kim Heacox is a former ranger with the National Park Service who has written multiple award-winning books and contributes to The Guardian, writing opinion pieces about the environment…

Mark Begich, left, describes his downtown hotel redevelopment project to the board of the Anchorage Community Development Authority at a recent meeting. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media) Stories are posted on the statewide news page. Send news tips, questions, and comments to news@alaskapublic.org. Follow Alaska Public Media on Facebook and on Twitter @AKPublicNews. And subscribe to the Alaska News Nightly podcast.…

Jason Smart vacuums the floor at a temporary warming center at the former Golden Lion Hotel in Anchorage on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media) Friday morning, Jason Smart volunteered to run a vacuum cleaner over a dingy, beat up orange carpet in what used to be a conference room in Anchorage’s former…

The Anchorage Community Development Authority is selling its “Sockeye” parking lot to a business led by developers Mark Begich and Sheldon Fisher, who are renovating the hotel on the left of the photo. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media) In 2019, an Anchorage real estate firm estimated the market value of a downtown parking lot at more…

ENSTAR President John Sims speaks at a press conference at Anchorage City Hall on Feb. 1, 2024. (Wesley Early/Alaska Public Media) Stories are posted on the statewide news page. Send news tips, questions, and comments to news@alaskapublic.org. Follow Alaska Public Media on Facebook and on Twitter @AKPublicNews. And subscribe to the Alaska News Nightly podcast. Thursday on Alaska News Nightly:…

An Alaska State Trooper hat (Alaska Public Media file photo) Alaska State Troopers say two people were found dead Tuesday after separate Mat-Su residential fires, including a man who escaped his burning home but died outside it. Troopers said in an online dispatch that 59-year-old Kevin Vance of Sutton was killed in a fire reported…

A classroom at Dena’ina Elementary School, which opened in 2016 (Mat-Su School District photo) The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District for the district’s policy that prevents transgender students from using the bathroom that matches their gender identity.  The lawsuit, filed in superior court, alleges…

Gov. Mike Dunleavy, R-Alaska, delivers his annual State of the State address to a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on Jan. 30, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO) Stories are posted on the statewide news page. Send news tips, questions, and comments to news@alaskapublic.org. Follow Alaska Public Media on Facebook and on Twitter @AKPublicNews. And subscribe to the Alaska News Nightly podcast.…

Solar array located at the Houston Solar Farm in Houston, Alaska on August 29th, 2023. (Adam Nicely/Alaska Public Media) Just a fifth of the electricity produced on Alaska’s Railbelt today is generated from renewable sources. The rest comes from fossil fuels, primarily natural gas. But with a looming natural gas shortfall on the way, clean…

“Now Hiring” signs cover the door at a local grocery store in Anchorage. (Michael Fanelli/Alaska Public Media) Private and federal investments are pouring billions of dollars into Alaska’s economy, but Anchorage is struggling to keep and attract working-aged adults.  Experts say the trends in state and national demographics mean labor shortages will only intensify in…

Flames engulfed one of the largest buildings in Chevak on Jan. 29, 2024. It housed the village’s hardware store and corporation headquarters. (Photo Courtesy Of Chevak Resident Stella Lake) Stories are posted on the statewide news page. Send news tips, questions, and comments to news@alaskapublic.org. Follow Alaska Public Media on Facebook and on Twitter @AKPublicNews. And subscribe to the Alaska…

Flames engulfed one of the largest buildings in Chevak on Jan. 29, 2024. It housed the village’s hardware store and corporation headquarters. (Photo Courtesy Of Chevak Resident Stella Lake) Stories are posted on the statewide news page. Send news tips, questions, and comments to news@alaskapublic.org. Follow Alaska Public Media on Facebook and on Twitter @AKPublicNews. And subscribe to the Alaska…

Protestors hold a banner calling for an increase in the base student allocation, a key part of the state’s education funding formula, during a rally at the Alaska State Capitol on Jan. 29, 2024. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media) Hundreds of protestors gathered in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Monday to call for an…

Protestors hold a banner calling for an increase in the base student allocation, a key part of the state’s education funding formula, during a rally at the Alaska State Capitol on Jan. 29, 2024. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media) Hundreds of protestors gathered in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Monday to call for an…

UAA’s Atwood Chair of Journalism, John Sharify, brings a wealth of experience to the next generation of Alaska reporters. (O’Hara Shipe) On this episode of Hometown, Alaska we’re joined by University of Alaska Anchorage Atwood Chair of Journalism, John Sharify. He’s a 79-time Emmy award winner, a nine-time Edward R. Murrow award winner and a…

UAA’s Atwood Chair of Journalism, John Sharify, brings a wealth of experience to the next generation of Alaska reporters. (O’Hara Shipe) On this episode of Hometown, Alaska we’re joined by University of Alaska Anchorage Atwood Chair of Journalism, John Sharify. He’s a 79-time Emmy award winner, a nine-time Edward R. Murrow award winner and a…

A man pulls a sled full of shovels down Muldoon in Anchorage on Monday, Jan. 29, 2024. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media) Stories are posted on the statewide news page. Send news tips, questions, and comments to news@alaskapublic.org. Follow Alaska Public Media on Facebook and on Twitter @AKPublicNews. And subscribe to the Alaska News Nightly podcast. Monday on Alaska News Nightly:…

Rachel Policar and Dane Suarez portray Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia in Anchorage opera’s upcoming production of “Scalia/Ginsburg.” (Nick Gould Photography) Despite having opposing political beliefs, the late Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg shared a love of opera. That relationship is playfully examined in Anchorage Opera’s upcoming production of “Scalia/Ginsburg.”…

King Cove n August 2023. (Theo Greenly/KUCB) The U.S. Department of Commerce is giving the Aleutian Islands community of King Cove $888,789 for harbor improvements. Within the Commerce Department, the Economic Development Administration provides grants and other assistance to economically distressed communities. They said in a statement Tuesday the money is meant to support the region’s fishing…

Ron Kaiser and Nate DeHann on the Gweek River during the Bogus Creek 150 on Jan.14, 2023. (Katie Basile/KYUK) Cold is expected; it’s what Alaskans prepare for in January. But out on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, where the wind howls off the Bering Sea and cold sinks deep into the bottoms of the river valleys, there…

High water from Typhoon Merbok caused a fuel spill and damaged Newtok’s diesel fuel tanks. The storm surge also shifted boardwalks across the community and further exacerbated coastal erosion. Residents here have been trying to relocate from this village for decades because of the adverse effects from a changing climate. (Emily Schwing/KYUK) More than three…

Cats look out a viewing window at Juneau Animal Rescue on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO) Nine puppies at Juneau Animal Rescue — all named after different Paw Patrol characters — were waiting for their forever homes last week. And they weren’t the only ones looking for new homes. The shelter is, too.  Kevin…