Rural Alaska

Three people broke into an 80-year-old man’s trailer and beat him after they saw accusations about him online, according to court documents filed in the case.

Curtis and David Francis were found next to their stuck snowmachine roughly 2 miles from Pilot Station about a day after they’d left the community, according to Alaska State Troopers.

With sea ice declining, bowhead whales are staying longer in the waters north of Bering Strait. A change in migration patterns could affect the health and safety of bowheads, as well as access to the subsistence resource for hunters in Arctic Alaska.

The Safety Roadhouse is one of the race’s quirkiest stops, and it marks the beginning of the end of the race trail. For snowmachiners, tourists and mushers, there’s nowhere quite like it.

The self-anointed fan group based on the iconic sitcom stuck out from the crowd Wednesday as they encouraged friends and family at the state high school basketball tournament in Anchorage.

“It shows that in some parts of rural Alaska, mushing’s not dying,” said Aniak musher Richie Diehl, who placed third after champion Ryan Redington and second-place finisher Pete Kaiser.

With Ryan Redington still a few miles out from being the first musher to reach the Iditarod finish line, a crowd amassed around the race chute Tuesday awaiting his arrival.

Accessing businesses and neighborhoods has grown challenging for emergency services, and 76 fire hydrants were buried under snow, Kotzebue City Manager Tessa Baldwin said.

Francis James Robert is accused of fatally shooting a neighbor in the Interior Alaska village who was his great-uncle.

Alexia Wolfson died at the Port Alsworth clinic and a man was medevaced to Anchorage in critical condition, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Residents far from the nearest food pantry are struggling to feed their families, advocates say. State health officials say they’re making headway on applications but recipients say help can’t come too soon.

The tribal councils of Allakaket and Huslia said they recognized the need to balance their traditional lifestyle and environmental protection with future economic opportunities.

In the hours after an unidentified object was shot down off Alaska’s Arctic coast, some Alaskans saw flights canceled while state leaders said the incident underlined the state’s strategic position.

Lance Brickley, 47, faces murder charges in the shooting death of 41-year-old Timothy Snyder, Alaska State Troopers say.

Each day of the messenger feast, hundreds of people filled the Barrow High School gymnasium, dancing, visiting, feasting, sharing stories and exchanging crafts.

Analysis by a state wildlife veterinarian indicates the bear was probably older and in poor physical health, but tests for pathogens that affect the brain and cause aggressive behavior came back negative.

The Public Defender Agency will stop accepting new clients facing serious felony charges in the Bethel and Nome Superior Courts because of a shortage of qualified attorneys.

Utqiaġvik saw its first sunrise in more than 60 days on Monday. Residents at Iḷisaġvik College and Fred Ipalook Elementary School celebrated the end of polar night with the traditional “Welcome Back the Sun” dance.

About 400 Fred Ipalook Elementary School students celebrated the end of polar night with the traditional “Welcome Back the Sun” dance on Jan. 25, 2023.

The other missing snowmachiner, also 18, was found Friday and was flown to Anchorage for medical treatment.

Josiah Ballot and Thomas Aki Pungalik Brown, both 18, went missing early Monday as they traveled between Kotzebue and Noorvik, Alaska State Troopers said.

Several communities above or near the Arctic Circle rely on patrols where people use vehicles, lights, beanbag shotguns or other nonlethal measures to scare bears out of town. The bear patrol program in Wales, where Tuesday’s attack occurred, had lapsed, though it’s unclear that it could have prevented the mauling even if it had been active.

Questions linger over what factors may have contributed to Alaska’s first fatal polar bear mauling in more than 30 years. An administrator said some employees at the Wales school hit the bear with shovels in an attempt to get it to leave.