Public Safety
RSSAlaska News tracks public safety coverage including law enforcement operations, emergency response, regulatory enforcement.
Kodiak borough weighs $70,919 off-road rescue vehicle for Womens Bay firefighters
Womens Bay's volunteer firefighters have been riding their own ATVs to off-road calls. The borough may buy them a $70,919 side-by-side with a pump and a plow.
by Walter AlaskaNews4h ago1 min read
Alaska prisons seek contractor for mental health care, with video visits allowed in Nome, Bethel and Ketchikan
Alaska's prisons want a contractor for mental health care at four facilities. In Nome, Bethel and Ketchikan, clinicians might visit in person only monthly.
by Walter AlaskaNews12h ago2 min read
Anchorage police say missing 65-year-old Vona Skinner has been located
Anchorage police located 65-year-old Vona Skinner, who was missing since Sept. 24 near East 8th Avenue.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 9h ago1 min read
Ketchikan man, 78, dies after his vehicle leaves North Tongass Highway near Mile 13
John Olson, 78, of Ketchikan died Saturday after his vehicle left North Tongass Highway near Mile 13. Troopers haven't said what caused the crash.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 10h ago1 min read
Troopers arrest driver for DUI after car strikes moose near Soldotna
A Camry met a moose near Soldotna around 2:20 am. Troopers arrested the driver for DUI, and the badly hurt moose was gone before they could find it.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1d ago1 min read
Troopers investigating death of Elim woman after reported injury
A 40-year-old Elim woman died early Saturday after an injury at a house in the village. Alaska State Troopers and the medical examiner are investigating.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 19h ago1 min read
Palmer junk hauler cited for dumping over 500 pounds of trash on Mat-Su land
A junk removal business is supposed to take the junk to the dump. Troopers say a Palmer man's took 500-plus pounds of it to a Point MacKenzie railbed instead.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1d ago1 min read
Troopers say semi driver fell asleep before hitting car stopped on Parks Highway near Healy
A Massachusetts driver stopped partly in the lane for a photo on the Parks Highway near Healy. A semi driver troopers say fell asleep hit him. Both got cited.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1d ago1 min read
Bethel police warn residents not to shoot suspected rabid animals in the head
Bethel police warn residents to avoid shooting suspected rabid animals in the head, since brain tissue is needed to confirm the disease. Two foxes in Bethel tested positive for rabies in February.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2d ago1 min read
Four taken to hospitals after Spenard Road shooting, Anchorage police say
Four people were taken to hospitals after a shooting on Spenard Road in Anchorage on Saturday, police said. Their injuries were not life-threatening.
by Walter AlaskaNews2d ago1 min read
Togiak man, 19, dies after ATV hits shipping container
Tyler Lee Maines, 19, of Togiak died early Friday when the ATV he was driving hit a shipping container, troopers said. The investigation is continuing.
by Walter AlaskaNews3d ago1 min read
Warrant rule for sharing police camera data splits Anchorage Assembly surveillance drafts
Anchorage Assembly debates whether outside agencies need a warrant before police share Real Time Crime Center data, with one version requiring warrants for inter-agency sharing and the other allowing broader data sharing for law enforcement purposes.
by Walter AlaskaNews3d ago3 min read
10-year-old boy reported missing in Big Lake is found safe, troopers say
A 10-year-old boy reported missing in the Big Lake area Friday has been found safe, Alaska State Troopers said, thanking the public for its help.
by Walter AlaskaNews3d ago1 min read
Anchorage police officers now must intervene when a colleague uses improper force
Anchorage police say they've acted on 48 of 52 outside recommendations on use of force, but allow one pursuit tactic at higher speeds than reviewers advised.
by Walter AlaskaNews3d ago3 min read
Police are searching for two missing teenagers in Anchorage and Wasilla
Anchorage police are searching for two missing teenagers: Sparrow Kowatch, 16, missing since Sept. 19, and Jay Moriwaki, 13, last seen Wednesday night.
by Walter AlaskaNews4d ago1 min read
Tlingit & Haida wins $1.57M to train Southeast Alaska overdose responders
Tlingit & Haida will spend $1.57 million over four years training responders and keeping naloxone stocked across Southeast Alaska communities.
by Maggie AlaskaNews5d ago2 min read
Pile burning starts Friday at three White Mountains cabin sites
Crews will burn slash piles at three White Mountains cabin sites starting Friday. If you see smoke out there this week, it's supposed to be there.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago1 min read
Man dies entrapped in heavy equipment on Goldridge Drive in Fairbanks
A man died after becoming entrapped in heavy equipment on Goldridge Drive in Fairbanks, Alaska State Troopers said.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago1 min read
Rob Mathis accepts full-time Whittier fire chief job
Whittier made Rob Mathis its permanent fire chief eight days after he ran the cruise terminal fire response as the interim. That's one way to interview.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago1 min read
Hiker injured by bear on Jones Point Trail in Haines
A hiker attacked by a bear on the Jones Point Trail got herself out. It is the second bear attack in Haines in under a month, and both bears are loose.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
A police drone searched south Anchorage for a brown bear before dawn
Anchorage police flew a drone over a south Anchorage neighborhood before dawn looking for a brown bear. Whether they found it is not public.
by Alaska News6d ago1 min read
Mat-Su bans license plate readers before the borough owns any
Mat-Su banned borough use of license plate readers before owning any, with the sponsor calling himself a brick wall against Anchorage's surveillance push.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago4 min read
A teen moose hunter was flown to a hospital after a tree stand fall near Fairbanks
A teenage moose hunter fell from a tree stand southeast of Fairbanks and was flown out by trooper helicopter along with his father. Injuries weren't described.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago1 min read
Ketchikan Gateway Borough gets $347,000 to replace a South Tongass ambulance
South Tongass lost both its ambulances when the station burned in 2024. It has been driving an 18-year-old hand-me-down from Valdez ever since.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
Fairbanks gets $728,000 in congressionally directed funds for a 14-stretcher ambulance bus
Fairbanks is buying a bus that can carry 14 patients on stretchers. The grant covers one year; crewing it after that is the city's problem.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
Palmer pilot and Michigan passenger killed in eastern Alaska plane crash
Two people died when a Piper Super Cub went down in eastern Alaska on Sept. 17, two days after a separate crash near Aniak killed two men.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 6d ago1 min read
Campfire and fireworks ban north of Fairbanks runs to Oct. 31
Campfires and fireworks stay banned on federal land north of Fairbanks through October 31 to prevent wildfires near homes and the NOAA facility.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Troopers arrest driver on DUI charge after 105 mph stop near Fairbanks
Alaska State Troopers arrested a driver on a DUI charge after stopping them for driving 105 mph with signs of impairment on the Richardson Highway near Fairbanks on September 20th.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Scammers posing as MEA are threatening Mat-Su members with shutoffs
Scammers posing as MEA are calling members, some with their account numbers, threatening to cut the power. MEA says hang up and call 907-761-9300.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 6d ago2 min read
Inmate accused of assaulting officer at Fairbanks Correctional Center
An inmate at Fairbanks Correctional Center assaulted a correctional officer early Sunday, and troopers forwarded charges against her.
by Alaska News1w ago1 min read
Search continues for missing Akiachak boater Jonathan Lomack
Jonathan Lomack, 59, of Akiachak, has been missing on the Kuskokwim River since Tuesday night, with his boat found empty and search crews from three communities now in their third day looking for him.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Two dead in Piper Cub crash near Nabesna, troopers say
Two people died when a Piper Cub crashed shortly after takeoff from a dirt airstrip near Nabesna in Interior Alaska on Thursday evening, Sept. 17.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Troopers say Fairbanks driver hit 90 mph before DUI arrest
Troopers arrested a driver who ran lights through Fairbanks above 90 mph. City police, meanwhile, spent $593 of a $278,000 DUI enforcement budget.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Alaska leads the country in elder fraud complaints
Alaska led the country per capita in elder fraud complaints in 2024. Older Alaskans lost $8.17 million, most of it to fake tech support calls.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Troopers find missing hunter near Tanana after weather grounded search a day
Alaska Wildlife Troopers found a missing hunter near Tanana on Wednesday after weather grounded the search a day earlier. He declined medical treatment and returned to camp.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
A free crisis intervention course in Wasilla has 30 seats next month
Thirty free seats in a crisis intervention course in Wasilla next month, and Mat-Su officers and first responders get first crack at all of them.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Chugiak fire chief to ask voters this spring for first mill rate increase since 2005
Chugiak's fire calls are up 27 percent, and the chief says it is not fires driving it. It is people without a doctor calling an ambulance instead.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Kaktovik's do-not-drink notice stays until sharper lab results arrive
Kaktovik's do-not-drink order is still in place. The North Tank starts refilling Friday, and new samples with finer detection limits are at the lab.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
After the tow trucks left, one family could reach their own land
Fifty vehicles came off a half-mile of road in Big Lake. One family could finally drive to their own property. It took $42,000 and eleven dumpsters.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Two missing after boat overturns near Bethel
Two people are missing after a boat overturned near Bethel on Tuesday afternoon. Search and rescue efforts are ongoing.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
