Top Stories

News stories, radio and TV episodes that warrant one of six spots on our homepage. The homepage is in chronological order of publication date, so stories are moved off the homepage as more are categorized “top stories.”

For Gov. Dunleavy, COVID-19 evokes century-old family loss to the flu in rural Alaska

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy grew up in Pennsylvania. But his wife, Rose, is Inupiaq, raised in the Northwest Alaska village of Noorvik, and her mother once told Dunleavy a story that connects to the state’s traumatizing experience in the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.

How can Alaskans go back to the office, and what’s lost if we don’t?

Can the corner office-dwellers let their masks down if the cubicle workers can't? Doing office in the coronavirus age raises so many questions.

The state has revised its two-week quarantine requirement. Here’s what we know about the changes.

For more than two months, Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration required people traveling to Alaska from out of state to quarantine for two weeks once they get here. But, that changed June 6. Here is some of what we know so far.

As case counts rise, Anchorage mayor calls for renewed ‘personal responsibility’ to keep city safe

The virus is spreading within the community, with one cluster of 12 cases centered on a single household.
A grean lump with yellow dots

Friday update: 13 new COVID-19 cases in Alaska, including two non-residents; more Providence cases

Eleven of the new cases are in Alaska residents, and two are in nonresident workers in Anchorage -- one from the seafood industry and the other from the tourism industry. Eight are in Anchorage and five are on the Kenai Peninsula.

LISTEN: COVID-19 almost killed this marathon runner. Now he wants Alaskans to take the threat seriously.

Fairbanks resident Greg Finstad was one of the first people in Alaska diagnosed with COVID-19. He says the disease almost killed him and he’s still recovering.
Boats at a dock.

11 workers at Whittier seafood plant test positive for COVID

The infected individuals were taken to Anchorage, where they are under a monitored quarantine.
July 24, 2018 in Washington, DC

Trump vows to campaign for any Murkowski challenger with ‘a pulse’ after she echoes general’s denouncement

Alaska's senior U.S. senator today endorsed a blistering denouncement of President Trump, praised political courage and yet suggested she might still support Trump.

State revises travel mandate, offering testing as alternative to quarantine starting Saturday

The state says that even for travelers who receive a test at the airport, they should take a second test a week to 14 days later.
A town in tundra next to the ocean

Seafood industry workers test positive for COVID-19, marking first confirmed cases in Unalaska

The City of Unalaska has confirmed its first local cases of COVID-19. Two seafood industry workers tested positive for the virus on Wednesday.

18 more Alaskans, another nonresident seafood worker test positive for coronavirus, state says

The coronavirus cases include an outbreak at a transitional care center in Anchorage and a cluster of cases at the Nikiski Fire Service Area.

Palmer police chief suspended after ‘inappropriate’ 2018 posts surface, city says

In Facebook posts that were widely shared over the weekend, the Palmer Police Chief called the Black Lives Matter movement a "hate group" and seemed to question the legitimacy of reports by victims of sexual assault.

Alaska’s fishing communities have plans to contain COVID-19. Now they’ll be put to the test.

Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of fish are still available for harvest, and thousands of workers are set to arrive in coastal Alaska communities from Outside, where infection rates are much higher. But seafood companies, fishermen and local leaders say they’ve set up systems to limit the risk that the visitors could spread infection.
A red building in front of some mountains with a blue sign out frnot that says "Providence extended care campus"

Providence announces 6 more cases at Anchorage transitional care center; state tally grows by 21

The Providence Transitional Care Center in Anchorage is the site of the largest reported cluster of coronavirus cases at a single facility in Alaska since the virus started to spread.

As the University of Alaska grapples with budget cuts, its leader may leave

The head of Alaska's public university system is potentially leaving the state to take over the helm of the University of Wisconsin System.

Alaska’s congressman missed votes last week. He could’ve voted remotely but he doesn’t believe in it.

Rep. Don Young missed all six votes in the House last week. He could've voted by proxy, but he's suing to stop the practice.
A blue sign with directions that says "Providence Extended Care" and has a house in the background.

Anchorage transitional care center reports 5 new coronavirus cases, bringing total to 17

It's the largest reported cluster of coronavirus cases at a single facility in Alaska.

86 crew members on American Seafoods trawler test positive for COVID-19

Eighty-six crew members of an American Seafoods trawler have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a press release from the seafood company Sunday night. Nine tests are still outstanding.

Death of George Floyd sparks solidarity rallies across Alaska

Alaskans in the state’s three largest cities take to the streets in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis who died after being arrested. A widely circulated video shows him saying he can’t breathe as a white officer pinned him to the ground with his knee on Floyd’s neck.

A young girl tested positive for coronavirus in Quinhagak, but leaders say they’re ready

Representatives from the regional health corporation landed in the village within hours of the announcement and immediately began testing community members.