Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins

Special projects editor

Kyle Hopkins is special projects editor of the Anchorage Daily News. He was the lead reporter on the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Lawless" project and is part of an ongoing collaboration between the ADN and ProPublica's Local Reporting Network. He joined the ADN in 2004 and was also an editor and investigative reporter at KTUU-TV. Email khopkins@adn.com

The neverending case: How 10 years of delays have prevented a ‘horrendous’ sexual assault allegation from going to trial

Four judges have agreed to delay the trial more than 70 times in total. We pieced together a timeline of the delays using audio recordings and logs from every hearing.

Kyle Hopkins January 9, 2025

Anchorage police say they witnessed a sexual assault in public. It took seven years for the case to go to trial.

In Alaska, where the time to resolve most serious felony cases has nearly tripled over the past decade, one case was delayed so long that both victims died. A former prosecutor called it “a travesty of justice.”

Kyle Hopkins January 7, 2025

After the mass dismissal of Anchorage criminal cases, the state will assist in city prosecutions

The state’s offer of seven to 10 prosecutors comes days after the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica reported hundreds of cases were dropped since May because the city lacked prosecutors to hit court deadlines for speedy trials.

Kyle Hopkins October 16, 2024
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Hundreds of people charged with domestic violence, child abuse or DUIs are walking free in Anchorage

An effort to clear a backlog in the court system, combined with a lack of prosecutors, has led hundreds of people charged with an array of criminal misdemeanors in the city to have their cases dismissed without a trial.

Kyle Hopkins October 13, 2024

Police say they won’t reopen case of Kotzebue woman found dead on mayor’s property

In an open letter, the Kotzebue police chief said Alaska state investigators reviewed the case of Jennifer Kirk’s 2018 death and found no new leads. But parts of the letter contradict information the department previously released about the case.

Kyle Hopkins January 30, 2024

For families in Northwest Alaska, questions remain about unsolved deaths and ‘suicides’

Local law enforcement said there was only one official unsolved killing in Kotzebue. An Anchorage Daily News/ProPublica journalist who reviewed that case and others reports many residents suspect otherwise.

Kyle Hopkins November 21, 2023

One woman died on an Alaska mayor’s property. Then another. No one has ever been charged.

Before they died, Jennifer Kirk and Sue Sue Norton were both victims of domestic violence, but the men involved — the ex-mayor’s sons — faced few consequences despite a long history of similar allegations.

Kyle Hopkins November 11, 2023

Anchorage city commissioner charged with fraudulently obtaining $1.6 million in COVID-19 relief funds for her charity

Despite a history of fraud allegations, Rosalina Mavaega and her husband received one of the city’s largest awards under the American Rescue Plan Act. Prosecutors say the couple spent the funds buying cryptocurrency and on other personal uses.

Kyle Hopkins September 28, 2023

Anchorage gave her a $1.6 million grant despite prior fraud allegations. Now she’s under investigation again.

Rosalina Mavaega was made a city commissioner and given a large grant to support her homeless services charity. Federal investigators are looking into her business dealings.

Kyle Hopkins May 31, 2023

Former Anchorage library and fire worker sues city over discrimination, retaliation claims

The lawsuit, filed in state Superior Court, includes claims of bullying and discrimination under former library deputy director Judy Eledge and makes allegations of race and sex discrimination at the Anchorage Fire Department.

Emily Goodykoontz, Kyle Hopkins May 11, 2023
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