Fairbanks
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Fairbanks inventors patent an ultra-light meal for the backcountry
Fairbanks scientists and a hunting expert patented a powdered meal for people who burn more calories than they can carry: hunters, racers, special ops.

Old Chena Ridge Road closed for duration of roundabout construction
Alaska DOT&PF has fully closed Old Chena Ridge Road at the Chena Small Tracts Roundabout site, with the closure set to last as long as construction continues. The Friday notice names no end date and no detour route.

Interior Native Vote pushes turnout for the Aug. 18 primary
Interior Native Vote is working to boost Native turnout for Alaska's Aug. 18 primary — a Fairbanks mixer drew 200-plus — as early voting opens.

Motorcyclist killed in left-turn crash at Geist and Loftus in Fairbanks
A motorcyclist died Saturday at the intersection of Geist Road and Loftus Road in Fairbanks after colliding with a vehicle turning left.

Fairbanks rezone would swap 50-foot river strip for 25-foot overlay
Fairbanks would shrink riverfront protection from 50 feet to 25 feet to allow a campground and RV park on the Chena River's north bank. • A borough commission recommended stricter rules requiring permits for vegetation clearing and bank work. • Public testimony is Aug. 25 at 6 p.m.

Smokejumpers contained the McCloud Fire at one acre, and found a lost person during the initial attack
Eight smokejumpers and two helicopters responded Wednesday to a half-acre fire burning 12.5 miles west of Fox, with no structures threatened.

Fairbanks borough voters to decide hand count and November election date Oct. 6
Fairbanks North Star Borough voters will decide Oct. 6 whether to move municipal elections to November and require hand counting of all ballots instead of electronic tabulation.

Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly weighs hand-count pamphlet text
Fairbanks voters decide in October if hand counting replaces machines. The Assembly meets Thursday to finalize ballot language.

Fairbanks borough moves to study rural emergency coverage it flagged in 2018
A 2018 borough plan flagged spotty rural emergency coverage around Fairbanks. Seven years on, the borough is finally moving to study a fix — one that could redraw who covers whom.

Anchorage and Fairbanks airports finish swapping PFAS foam out of crash trucks
Anchorage and Fairbanks airports replaced PFAS firefighting foam in their crash trucks with fluorine-free alternatives, cutting PFAS levels up to 99.999% in the tanks.

A UAF fix for the battery-and-generator clash in village grids
When villages add batteries to diesel plants, the two can 'fight' and destabilize the grid — a UAF researcher is testing a fix to cut rural diesel use.

Placer mining sought on Glacier Creek near Candle, with comments due Aug. 26
Alaska DNR received a placer mining application for Glacier Creek in the Fairhaven district, opening a multi-agency review that may or may not result in approval.

Eielson security design bid requires Honeywell training, no small-business set-aside
Alaska firms bidding on a $25 million security-system design job at Eielson Air Force Base must have Honeywell training credentials and active security clearances, with proposals due Aug. 25.

Burn permits suspended in Fairbanks, Delta and Tok areas
Alaska Division of Forestry suspended burn permits in Fairbanks, Delta and Tok areas starting Wednesday due to critical fire conditions, with no end date set.

Eielson airshow returns this weekend, with brief highway stops for the flyovers
Eielson's Arctic Lightning Airshow flies this weekend, free and open to all. Drivers on the Richardson Highway near the base should expect brief stops during the flyovers.

Tatlanika Fire smoke reaches Fairbanks, 39 miles away
Smoke from the Tatlanika Fire, burning 982 acres 39 miles southwest of Fairbanks, is now visible in Fairbanks and Nenana, though no structures are threatened in its limited-response zone.

Troopers issue Silver Alert for missing 73-year-old near Fairbanks
Alaska State Troopers are searching for Rodney Rutherford, 73, last seen at 11:30 p.m. Friday near 4805 Murphy Dome Road outside Fairbanks. Troopers ask anyone with information to call the Fairbanks post at 907-451-5100.

Soccer came home this summer — Where to watch the World Cup in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is happening across North America with viewer-friendly Alaska timing, and Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau have free or easy watch parties through mid-July.

Troopers: Fairbanks man, 79, injured in Old Nenana Highway motorcycle crash
A 79-year-old Fairbanks man was injured Wednesday in a motorcycle crash on Old Nenana Highway and taken to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.

Alaska's stacked weekend of BIG EVENTS
Get out of your house. Like, summers gonna be done soon. What're you waiting for?

Fairbanks man killed after trooper opens fire during early-morning pursuit
Alaska State Trooper shot and killed a man in Fairbanks early Monday after a 90-second vehicle pursuit ended on a dead-end street and the driver turned toward the officer. • This is the second officer-involved fatality in Fairbanks in two weeks. • The Alaska Bureau of Investigation is conducting the investigation; the Office of Special Prosecutions will independently review findings.

Interior faces warmest stretch of summer as Tanana Valley smoke lingers
NWS Fairbanks forecasts highs in the upper 70s to lower 80s from Wednesday through the weekend across the Interior, with wildfire smoke already degrading air quality in the middle Tanana Valley and light winds unlikely to move it out.

Alaska's senators split on Iran war powers, and Murkowski missed the vote
Murkowski has repeatedly broken with Trump to rein in the Iran war. Thursday she missed the vote, and Sullivan again voted no. The motion failed 47-49.

Supreme Court to hear Alaska bush pilot's fight over $95,000 plane seized for a six-pack
Supreme Court will hear whether Alaska can seize a bush pilot's $95,000 plane because a passenger carried beer to a dry village.

A UAF mathematician is building better tools for understanding networks
A UAF mathematician won a $150,000 NSF grant to build better tools for understanding complex networks, from how they're structured to faster ways to solve problems on them.

Fairbanks: Old Chena Ridge Road and Transfer Site access close July 27 for season
Chena Small Tracts Road is already closed for the 2026 season for roundabout construction, and Old Chena Ridge Road plus the Transfer Site access will follow on July 27, remaining shut through the end of the construction season.

Carved salmon fill a Fairbanks health center as the real Yukon run collapses
Artist Ramy Brooks has installed two Yukon fish-camp salmon sculptures at a Fairbanks health center — arriving as the real Yukon runs collapse and closures shut off fishing across the drainage.

The new Richardson Highway bridge takes shape at Mile 346
The last girders are up on the new Richardson Highway bridge at Mile 346 — a rebuild aimed at reopening a key Valdez-to-Canada freight route to heavy loads.

Troopers issue Silver Alert for 73-year-old missing near Fairbanks
Troopers issued a Silver Alert for Rodney Rutherford, 73, last seen on Murphy Dome Road near Fairbanks Friday night. Call 907-451-5100 with information.

Eielson Air Force Base hiring fair set for Thursday
Eielson Air Force Base holds a hiring fair Thursday, Aug. 6, but the Alaska Department of Labor announcement omits time, venue, employers, and base-access details.

Troopers seek Jacob Wallace, missing from Fairbanks facility since Saturday
Alaska State Troopers are seeking Jacob Wallace, a juvenile who walked away from the Presbyterian House in Fairbanks Saturday night and has not been located.

The smoke over Fairbanks is from a fire the state is choosing to let burn
The smoke over Fairbanks is from the Tatlanika Fire, which the state is monitoring rather than suppressing because no structures are threatened. It's grown to about 2,000 acres.

Alaska throws a nine-day baseball party for America's 250th
For nine days, Alaska swaps the rink for the diamond: free kids' clinics, midnight-sun ball, a "Sandlot" screening, and a Fourth of July finish in Fairbanks.

Driver ran from Fairbanks crash scene, troopers forward charges
A driver fled a two-vehicle crash in Fairbanks on foot Friday, July 24, and troopers forwarded charges after passengers and a witness identified him.

Flames at Fairbanks airport this week are a drill, not an emergency
Those flames and smoke at Fairbanks airport this week are a scheduled firefighting drill, Aug. 3-7 — timed with notice so no one mistakes them for wildfire.

Six graduate a Tanana Chiefs apprenticeship built to staff Interior clinics
Six apprentices finished Tanana Chiefs Conference's yearlong clinical training in Fairbanks — the first cohort where everyone who started made it through.

Fairbanks rally targets data centers as Air Force pursues Eielson lease
Air Force is exploring AI data center leases at Eielson while a community group rallies Saturday against 15 proposed statewide data centers over power grid and revenue concerns.

Fairbanks man wanted on kidnapping, assault charges caught after foot chase
Alaska State Troopers caught Fairbanks man Kyle Curtin after a monthlong search and foot chase Wednesday, ending a manhunt for kidnapping and sexual assault charges.

A three-bite Fairbanks dog gets strict conditions instead of euthanasia
A Fairbanks dog with three bites gets to live — under a locked kennel, leashing, neutering, and a behaviorist plan built to keep it off the euthanasia list.

24 bottles of R&R, grounded short of Shungnak
Bargain whiskey, $400 a bottle: Fairbanks airport police seized 24 bottles of R&R bound for a dry village, street value $9,600.
