Alaska

NOAA pulled the plug on its 20-year Arctic climate record — and Alaska's scientists are scrambling to save it

NOAA cut its 20-year Arctic warming record, written largely by Alaskans — and UAF scientists are now scrambling to publish the 2026 edition themselves.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read

Palmer man accused of DUI after forcing officer off Parks Highway

A Palmer man ran a Wasilla officer off the Parks Highway, then admitted to a bottle of wine and being too drunk to drive. His breath test came back at 0.109.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Sealaska Heritage honors four Southeast educators at Juneau conference

Sealaska Heritage Institute awarded four Southeast Alaska educators for weaving Indigenous knowledge into classrooms at its annual conference in Juneau.

by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 3mo ago1 min read

Money floods a dead-even Alaska Senate race

Alaska's U.S. Senate race is awash in unprecedented money — some $30 million — as Sullivan and Peltola run dead even ahead of the Aug. 18 primary.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Two arrested after reported armed robbery at Big Lake campground

Alaska State Troopers arrested two Anchorage residents after three campers were robbed at gunpoint at Northshore Campground in Big Lake early Wednesday, Aug. 12.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

New federal rule limits e-scooters and hoverboards in national parks

A new federal rule starting Sept. 11 limits e-scooters, hoverboards and Segways in national parks to designated areas and bars them from wilderness entirely.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Ben Le, missing since a hike at Port Armstrong on Aug. 10, was found dead at the bottom of a cliff

A hiker missing near Port Armstrong since Monday is being searched by crews that added a thermal drone team Wednesday morning after ground and aerial searches found no sign of him.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Juneau asks Mendenhall Lake evacuation zone residents to leave by 3 p.m.

Juneau ordered 5,000 residents in the Mendenhall Valley evacuation zone to leave by 3 p.m. Wednesday as a glacial outburst flood crests early Thursday.

by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago3 min read

Eklutna Tailrace closes stretch to anglers 16 and older Saturday

Alaska Department of Fish and Game closes a stretch of Eklutna Tailrace to anglers 16 and older on Saturday, Aug. 15, to give kids 15 and younger a youth-only coho salmon fishery from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

A Tsimshian carver, accused of inventing clan stories, is affirmed by another clan

Accused by some in his own community of inventing Tsimshian migration stories, carver David Boxley was publicly affirmed by a Wrangell clan that shares them.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Burn permits suspended in Fairbanks, Delta and Tok areas

Alaska banned burning across the Fairbanks, Tok and Delta areas as the Interior dries out and high winds approach, with the Tatlanika Fire smoking the region.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Juneau's glacial outburst flood crested Thursday at 14.7 feet, above major flood stage

Juneau is responding to glacial outburst flooding, nearly 1,900 homes in its advisory area, after the Mendenhall crested above major flood stage Thursday.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

State testing finds little or no PFAS in Alaska marine fish, with one exception for pollock

Alaska tested 610 marine fish specimens from 2022 to 2024 and found PFAS in only five samples, all below European and Japanese food thresholds, suggesting locally caught fish pose little dietary risk.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Alaska trains construction workers, then struggles to keep them

Just 19% of Alaska's ironworkers and 44% of electricians are still in the trade five years on, a study found — a retention gap atop a worker shortage.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

The body overseeing the Y-K Delta's only fuel lifeline hasn't been able to meet in a year

Bethel's port commission hasn't had a quorum in a year — leaving the road-less Y-K Delta's fuel lifeline without oversight and a dock warning unaddressed.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

The Kenai Assembly will fill the vacant Kalifornsky seat Tuesday

The Kenai Assembly will appoint someone to the vacant Kalifornsky seat Tuesday from three applicants — voters decide who finishes the term in November.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

A closed Seward school would become a city-run community center

The closed Seward Middle School would be leased to the city for $1 a year to become a community center, under a deal the borough Assembly takes up Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

From California to Southeast Alaska, salmon fisheries are closing in lockstep this week — under the same treaty

Southeast Alaska's king troll fishery hit its treaty cap and closed the same week West Coast fisheries are closing — all tied to the same shared Chinook.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Alaska's EMS compact takes effect Sept. 20, but isn't usable yet

Alaska's EMS compact takes legal effect Sept. 20, but out-of-state paramedics and EMTs still can't work under it yet — the office says wait to pay fees.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Dunleavy's LNG bill would swap a graduated S corp tax topping 9.4% for a flat 2%

Dunleavy cut the disputed oil-and-gas tax to a flat 2% in a revised LNG bill, trying to revive a stalled pipeline deal. The Legislature takes it up Aug. 20.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read

A NOAA study finds Pacific capelin may spawn more than once

A NOAA study found 41% of the Pacific capelin examined can spawn more than once — upending the assumption that, like salmon, they spawn once and die.

by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago3 min read

Kodiak's Saltery Cove anglers get their five-fish sockeye limit back after a thin July

Kodiak's Saltery Cove anglers get their five-fish sockeye limit back after a thin run recovered — though the area's subsistence closure remains in place.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

New $605k research asks why some Denali spruce survive the beetles

A spruce beetle outbreak has killed up to 60% of the spruce around Denali. New UAA research will dig into why some trees die and others survive.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

The panels that shape Alaska's pollock and cod catch limits meet next month

The scientific panels that shape catch limits for Alaska's pollock, cod and rockfish meet Sept. 8-11 to start setting what the fleet can take in 2027 and 2028.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Federal money can now put a homeless family in a motel room to keep a kid in school

Federal guidance now lets Alaska schools use homeless-education money for a motel room when no shelter's available — a last resort to keep a child in school.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Anchorage planning commission approves Chugach substation rebuild over neighbor's objection

Anchorage planners approved Chugach Electric's Campbell Lake substation rebuild despite a neighbor's objection to transformers 25 feet from their home.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Follows: A Chugach substation rebuild draws a neighbor's concern over transformers near a home

APIA is hiring two paid interns in Anchorage and Sand Point

APIA is hiring two paid interns, in Anchorage and Sand Point, for hands-on work in employment and social services for Alaska Native communities.

by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read

Interior faces warmest stretch of summer as Tanana Valley smoke lingers

Interior Alaska is in its warmest stretch of summer, upper 70s to low 80s, with smoke from the Tatlanika Fire — though the advisory has expired and air eased.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Merrill Field gets nearly $954,000, mostly federal, to plan its future

Merrill Field would get nearly $954,000, mostly federal, to plan how the airport grows and update its layout, under two measures the Assembly takes up Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Seward's shipyards are tooling up as the town becomes a Coast Guard port again

Seward's shipyards got $2.3M in grants as the town becomes a Coast Guard port again, with a fast response cutter and later an Arctic icebreaker bound there.

by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago2 min read

Ribbon cutting opens Johnny Ellis Rainbow Bridge Park in Anchorage's Fairview

A Fairview park opened Tuesday honoring the late Sen. Johnny Ellis, the Anchorage legislator whose advocacy for LGBTQ+ Alaskans gives its rainbow bridge a name.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Landslide on Canadian side closes Klondike Highway at the border

A landslide on the Canadian side closed the Klondike Highway at the U.S.-Canada border Tuesday evening, cutting Skagway's road link to the Yukon during peak summer travel season.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Water begins flowing over Suicide Basin ice dam, NWS tells Juneau to finish flood prep

Water is spilling over Suicide Basin's ice dam near Juneau, and the National Weather Service is telling residents along Mendenhall Lake and River to finish flood prep now.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

SBA rule drops 8(a) disadvantage presumption for individual owners, leaves Native corporations untouched

Alaska Native corporation-owned firms keep federal 8(a) contracting eligibility unchanged, but individual applicants must now prove disadvantage starting Sept. 10.

by Alaska News3mo ago3 min read

Yukon fall chum and coho fishing closes as the Canadian-bound run comes in far below treaty levels

Yukon fall chum and coho fishing closes Saturday as the Canada-bound run falls far below treaty levels, deepening food-security strain for families.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Sullivan voted against every Iran war powers resolution this year — a record now drawing outside money before the primary

Sullivan voted against all 13 Iran war powers resolutions this year — a common GOP vote, now drawing outside money for and against him before the primary.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Kamishak District closed to seining after survey found fewer pinks

Alaska closes the Kamishak District to commercial salmon seining Wednesday night after an aerial survey found fewer pink salmon than expected in Lower Cook Inlet.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Jedidia Atchak, 40, has been missing from Chevak since Aug. 7, and no new search has been announced

An adult male reported missing in Chevak on Aug. 7 remains missing after search efforts by local teams and rescue crews paused on Aug. 11, with Alaska State Troopers continuing to follow leads.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read

Sheep mortality has run near triple its long-term rate in three Alaska ranges, state research finds

A GPS collar on a Dall sheep ram triggered a mortality signal, leading state biologists to a kill site showing signs of bear predation in the Alaska Range.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read