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Cars on Northern Lights Boulevard sit at a standstill during rush hour on Wednesday. (Elyssa Loughlin/Alaska Public Media) Anchorage resident Megan Premer said she was stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic in Midtown Tuesday evening.  “I mean I stayed on Lake Otis for well over 30 minutes, because it was one lane,” she said “And then people…

A lone male polar bear cub spotted Nov. 24, 2022 near Prudhoe Bay oil drilling facilities by Hilcorp staff has been taken to the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage for care. (Alaska Zoo via USFWS) 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.…

Before leaving the Capitol for the year, Sen. Lisa Murkowski outlined the Alaska priorities in the spending bill the Senate passed. (Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media) The U.S. Senate passed a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill Thursday that had Sen. Lisa Murkowski brimming with happiness. She didn’t know where to start. “There’s so much in this…

Electronic cigarettes are promoted on Dec. 21 in the windows of a specialty store in Midtown Anchorage. A new state report shows that teen use of e-cigarettes, also called vapes, has risen dramatically, as is the trend nationally. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon) Alaska teens have largely ditched cigarettes over the past two decades, but they have…

The trial over Rep. David Eastman’s qualifications to serve was conducted largely by Zoom. (Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media) The civil lawsuit was aimed at disqualifying Rep. David Eastman from office due to his membership in the Oath Keepers, the far-right group whose leaders have been convicted of seditious conspiracy for their roles in the Jan.…

Cots inside of Sullivan Arena on Feb. 9, 2022. The arena is currently serving as housing for the homeless. (Adam Nicely/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. Wednesday on Alaska…

From left to right: Then-Health Director David Morgan, Then-City Manager Amy Demboski and Mayor Dave Bronson at a July 29, 2021 news conference. Morgan has since resigned and Demboski was fired this week. (Lex Treinen/Alaska Public Media) Anchorage’s recently ousted municipal manager says her workplace had become “a toxic environment,” and that Mayor Dave Bronson…

A sign outside of a store in midtown Anchorage announcing that they accept EBT Cards, the distribution method for SNAP benefits. (Hillman/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. Tuesday on…

Goose Creek Correctional Center. (Alaska Public Media file photo) A 64-year-old man died earlier this month at Goose Creek Correctional Center, the Alaska Department of Corrections said Tuesday. The department said no foul play is suspected in the Dec. 11 death of 64-year-old Morris Teeluk. He was serving a sentence for a sexual assault conviction,…

An Anchorage Police patrol vehicle. (Hannah Lies/Alaska Public Media) Anchorage police say a man fatally stabbed his roommate Friday afternoon at the condo they shared. The roommate, Jesse Belarde, attempted to escape by jumping out a third-story window, according to investigators. Jessy Bryan Amos, 32, is now charged with first-degree and second-degree murder in Belarde’s…

Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers speaks during a rally outside the White House in 2017. Rhodes was convicted Nov. 29, 2022 of seditious conspiracy for a plot to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential win. (Susan Walsh/AP file photo) Oath Keeper founder Stewart Rhodes, who is awaiting sentencing for seditious conspiracy, was a witness…

Clear-cut logging site at Humpback Creek near Yakutat. (Courtesy of Defend Yakutat) Controversy over a logging project near Yakutat in Southeast Alaska has intensified. The local tribe, an archaeologist and others say a site that’s being logged is home to centuries-old ruins that could provide clues into the history of Southeast Alaska’s Indigenous people. Yakutat…

Municipal Manager Amy Demboski at a June Anchorage Assembly meeting. (Lex Treinen/Alaska Public Media) Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson announced an abrupt change in leadership Monday morning. He replaced Municipal Manager Amy Demboski, effective immediately.  Public Works Director Kent Kohlhase is now the acting municipal manager, said Bronson’s two-sentence statement. It’s unclear how or why Demboski…

Jovell Rennie helped tow Feeg Feng’s taxi out of the snow on Thursday. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media) Last week, Jovell Rennie of downtown Anchorage tweeted an open offer to help out drivers stuck in the snow. Since then, he’s unstuck more than 20 people. He said it’s his favorite winter activity.  “I was like, completely…

Andy Wieczorek helps blow snow off his neighbor’s driveway on Wednesday. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media) All Anchorage and most Mat-Su schools are closed again Friday due to snowy road conditions. It’s the Anchorage School District’s second snow day in a row and the sixth one in two weeks. For the Mat-Su Borough School District, it’s…

A Kodiak brown bear stands in shallow water. (Steve Hillebrand/USFWS) A highly contagious form of avian influenza was found in a Kodiak brown bear cub. It’s one of only four mammals in Alaska known to have contracted the virus, and the first brown bear to be found with the disease. A deer hunter found the…

The Stewart Trail looking into Upper Potter Valley. (Photo courtesy Friends of the Stewart Public Trail) On the next Outdoor Explorer, the second part of a two-part series on the Stewart Trail, a contested public access point to Chugach State Park. Our guests are Chris Reynolds, the treasurer of Friends of the Stewart Public Trail,…

The “Denali Gang” June 9, 1993 featuring Tom Choate. Tom Choate came to Alaska in the in the late 1950’s exploring and climbing,  and is still at it.  He was a ski infantryman for the Air National guard, the first ranger naturalist in Mt Mckinley National Park, now Denali National Park, climbed or tried to…

Erik W. Kolstad, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Planning for the outdoors comes at all levels, both personal and for State Park staff. On the first half of this Outdoor Explorer we’ll talk to Ricky Geese, Director of Alaska’s Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation, and Zach Babb with the National Park Service’s…

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. Friday on Alaska News Nightly: Anchorage teachers worry about budget cuts that could mean larger class sizes. Plus, we dig deep into your questions about the…

East High School teacher Derek Reed talks with his students over the computer on the first day of school in 2020 when the coronavirus pushed all classes online. (Tegan Hanlon/Alaska Public Media) The Anchorage School Board will decide Monday on several proposals to help close a major budget deficit for next school year. Among the…

The Juneau School District office. (Bridget Dowd/ KTOO) The Juneau teachers union has declared an impasse in its negotiations over a new contract with the school district. Discussions will continue in the coming months with the help of a federal mediator. The district’s initial proposal included a pay increase similar to the union’s. But the district also…