Kaylin Bettinger

Reporter Kaylin Bettinger has spent the past week at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer. In addition to writing about people and events, she's been making a checklist of practical tips for fairgoers.

The new record to beat is 1,101 pounds in the giant pumpkin contest at the Alaska State Fair. On Wednesday, Dale Marshall, of Anchorage, beat the old state record of 1,019 pounds, set in 2006 by this year's second place finisher, John "J.D." Megchelsen.

Ventriloquist Michael Harrison held a puppet on his hand at the Bluebonnet Stage at the Alaska State Fair. What had the audience -- more than 100 people from small kids to grandparents -- laughing? A wedgy joke.

Conor, 10, and Quinn Janigo, 8, tagged along with me Monday at the Alaska State Fair. The boys each had $50. Booths that I routinely ignore were paradise to them.

Just after noon on Friday at the Alaska State Fair, Paul "Dizzy Hips" Blair had very still hips. Blair puts on a hula hoop show a few times per day at the fair and he was scheduled to start his first performance a few minutes later. But his hoops were locked in a trailer and he'd forgotten the lock combination.

The weather at the second day of the Alaska State Fair may have curbed some of the crowds, but at the Woodlot at 1 p.m., a rain-jacket-clad crowd erupted in laughter at Fred Sheer's Lumberjack Show.

A line stretched almost out of the tent at the Oasis Beer Garden at 4 p.m. on Thursday, the opening day of the Alaska State Fair. Amidst chaos that comes with rides, food vendors, events and music, grabbing a beer gives some people a chance to chill out.

The Alaska State Fair, which opened at noon today, is always about food, rides, music and people -- and this year is no exception. Organizers hope the weather will hold and draw even larger crowds than the almost 300,000 people who attended last year.

There's no question Alaska drivers love personalized license plates. Some are a mystery. Some are good for a laugh. But what happens when they have the potential to offend?

Last summer, local food finally had its moment in the restaurant scene. Across the city, dozens of menus, from Orso to Carl's Jr., featured local greens and veggies from Mat-Su farms. But this summer, chefs have been struggling to keep the momentum.

A Swiss woman who drowned on Saturday was trying to ford the Teklanika River less than a mile from the famous bus where Chris McCandless died almost two decades ago.

Two men were hospitalized with serious injuries after a shooting on the lower Hillside on Friday morning, according to Anchorage Police Sgt. Slawomir Markiewicz. A third man was treated for a gunshot wound and released.

A three-day operation to rescue five plane-crash survivors from high on Knik Glacier and four National Guardsmen who skied in with supplies, as well as three crewmen whose helicopter crashed while they were trying to save the lot, finally ended Wednesday.

Someone took a chunk out of the 6-foot-tall yellow half-dome that marks the beginning of the Anchorage Light Speed Planet Walk.

The southbound lanes of Boniface Parkway from 26th Avenue to Northern Lights Boulevard will be closed most of the day because of a traffic accident this morning. Northbound lanes are now open.