Bethel DMV office to close until new worker is hired
The state will send a worker every few weeks to operate the office for a week at a time beginning Oct. 8, DMV Manager Janice Torsen said.
Rural Alaska
‘She knew who he was’: Unified by loss, Kotzebue puzzles over arrest in child homicide case
With a local man jailed on charges of lying to federal investigators, the questions about how 10-year-old Ashley Johnson-Barr died are just beginning.
Charges detail how cellphone led investigators to Kotzebue girl’s body
A Kotzebue man lied to federal investigators about knowing Ashley Johnson-Barr, according to federal charges that also said they were relatives and knew each other.
1907 cabin, threatened by erosion, returns home
The telegraph cabin was threatened by erosion in Big Delta State Historical Park. It moved back to its original home after a crowdfunding project.
Troopers identify Bethel woman found dead after boat overturned, continue searching for missing man
Bethel Search and Rescue says one woman has died. The group is searching for a man who remains missing.
Investigation helped lead authorities to body of Kotzebue girl
After days of searching, evidence from a state-federal investigation helped lead to the discovery of Ashley Johnson-Barr's body, authorities said.
‘We are one’: As Kotzebue prays for return of missing girl, an entire state joins in
More than a week after Ashley Johnson-Barr disappeared, residents of the Northwest Alaska city pray, walk and wear purple to support her family. So do people in communities all over Alaska.
‘We got it wrong’: Governments apologize to Alaska Natives for banning migratory bird harvests
After Alaska statehood in 1959, game wardens began citing Alaska Native hunters and confiscated rifles under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. On Thursday, agencies apologized.
‘Someone knows’: Authorities shift focus to possible crime in search for Kotzebue girl
"We are confident that someone in this community knows what happened to Ashley and needs to come forward and share that information with us," Alaska State Troopers Lt. Dave Hanson said.
International whaling body approves automatic renewal of bowhead whale quotas for Alaska hunters
In a historic step, the International Whaling Commission permitted automatic renewal for Alaska villages as long as stocks and harvests remain healthy in the future.
Search for girl expanded to include shoreline of Kotzebue Sound
Ashley Johnson-Barr was last seen Thursday at a park in Kotzebue. Dozens of volunteers, local police, Alaska state troopers and FBI agents are looking for her.
Effort intensifies in search for missing Kotzebue girl
Five more FBI agents arrived in Kotzebue on Tuesday. Agents have been brought in from the Lower 48 who have specialized training in missing children cases, an official said.
Manokotak man dies in pickup crash
Local medical responders pronounced Darren Nanalook dead at the scene. An autopsy is scheduled in Anchorage.
FBI agents to join search for missing Kotzebue girl
"It’s still a search-and-rescue operation at this point," said troopers spokesman Jonathon Taylor.
Bethel seeks to remove offensive neighborhood nickname from city code
A section of the Western Alaska town has long been known as "Lousetown," which some residents find insulting to the Alaska Natives who live there. But it's in the municipal code.
Search continues for Kotzebue girl missing since Thursday
Police found the 10-year-old girl's cellphone but no sign of Ashley Johnson-Barr.
Multiagency search underway in Kotzebue for missing girl
Ashley Johnson-Barr, 10, did not return home after going outside to play Thursday afternoon, the mayor of the borough in Kotzebue said.
Man unearths massive mammoth tusk in Northwest Alaska
With a surface like shiny amber, the woolly mammoth tusk weighs 177 pounds and measures 12 feet, said the Shishmaref man who found it.
Advancing farm bill stirs worries that Alaskans could lose food stamps benefits
A congressional committee is hashing out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill -- one of which could put strict new limits on hungry Alaskans' benefits.
Tiny Alaska village experiences a tourism boom focused on polar bears
More than 2,000 people visited the Arctic village of Kaktovik on the Beaufort Sea last year to see polar bears in the wild.