Wesley Early
Anchorage ReporterWesley moved to Anchorage in 2008, graduating from Bartlett High School and the University of Alaska Anchorage with a degree in journalism and public communications.
He started working in public radio in January 2016 as an intern at Alaska Public Media during his last semester of college. After graduating, he was hired full time and spent three years as a web editor, producer for Alaska News Nightly and education reporter. He then moved to Kotzebue (Qikiqtaġruk in Iñupiaq) to work at KOTZ-AM, where he was the community’s first news director in more than a decade.
After two years covering Arctic climate change, subsistence, Iñupiaq culture and the region’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wesley returned home to Anchorage where he covers city government and Anchorage life. When he’s not at work, he enjoys reading, finding new music to obsess over and searching for a new restaurant to try with his wife.
Reach Wesley at wearly@alaskapublic.org or 907-550-8421.
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The number of officers patrolling the area after bars close will increase from four to eight, said Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case. The block the bar sits on will be closed off from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. -
Tweto and his passenger, a hunting guide from Idaho, died in the crash near Shaktoolik in June 2023. -
On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board released its final report on the Sept. 2023 plane crash near St. Mary’s that resulted in the death of pilot Eugene “Buzzy” Peltola Jr., 57. -
The Office of Special Prosecutions deemed that officer Carter Mayes was legally justified in shooting 41-year-old Utuva Alaelua in May. -
Benedicte Galligan sued the city in 2023, alleging the fire department fired her in retaliation for voicing her concerns over disparaging comments made about female employees and for filing a racial discrimination report. -
Organizers are trying to collect enough signatures so that voters can decide in the spring whether to establish an inspector general for the city. -
The ordinance makes it a misdemeanor to camp near many public spaces, including schools, playgrounds, public trails and sidewalks. -
A man claims ICE officers discarded his legal documents when he was wrongfully detained. Also, specially trained dogs help keep bears away from firefighters in the Interior. -
Roble Salad, a 28-year-old Somali refugee, has filed a theft report, alleging that ICE officials discarded his social security card and his work permit. -
Suzanne LaFrance recently marked her first year as mayor of Alaska’s largest city and discussed some of her accomplishments, the city’s response to homelessness, goals for increasing the city’s housing supply and ongoing public safety concerns.
