The Upside

The 2023 Heart Run will take place Saturday morning at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.

Graduates walked across the stage to claim diplomas clothed in flags, headdresses, fur, beads and other elements important to their diverse heritages.

The 2023 NFL Draft weekend saw lifelong dreams of making it to the league come true for a trio of prospects who take pride in hailing from the Last Frontier.

Chelsea Jensen-Roehl remained hospitalized Thursday after a nearly eight-hour surgery to repair crushed ribs, her mother said.

The Ukrainian players who have newly arrived in Alaska come from various cities and paths in life, but soccer is a uniting and steadying force for each of them.

Nanuq, a year-old Australian shepherd, was gone nearly a month before Facebook posts helped reunite him with his family on St. Lawrence Island.

Basketball team members and parents said players’ shoes, cash and backpacks and head coach Curtis Nayokpuk’s bag were also stolen.

Less than 70 miles from finishing his first Iditarod, rookie Hunter Keefe spent the night riding out a wicked windstorm in an emergency shelter. It turned out to be the finishing touch on a race Keefe said was a “joyride all the way.”

“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.

Redington, grandson of the Iditarod’s founder, is the first member of his family to win the race in its 51-year history. “It means everything to bring that trophy home,” he said at the finish line in Nome.

The duo from New Hampshire have trained for years and relocated to colder, snowier climates to prepare for their first run.

President Biden awarded the Medal of Honor to retired Col. Paris Davis, one of the first Black Green Berets, almost six decades after the Army lost his original 1965 nomination.

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta has a crop of young racers keeping veteran mushers on their toes.

Teacher and coach Wes Cornelison organized the fundraiser, which raised a total of $8,000.

Founded more than a decade ago, the Chugiak-based August Fund finds ways for retired sled dogs to be adopted by Alaskans and people all over the nation.

The Mo Mountain Mutts dog walking business has produced a few viral videos over the past year. But a video of dogs being picked up by the Puppy Bus has become a sensation.

In his first journey outside the hospital since his ordeal began in November, Ryan Clevenger attended the team’s morning skate and got to meet with Kraken forward Ryan Donato and goaltender Martin Jones.

Patrick Holland knows that if he’d been in Seattle instead of Fairbanks last week, the heart would have been his. Dozens of readers reached out to offer him a place to stay so he’d be close by when the next heart became available.

The UAA basketball player had to recover from open heart surgery, along with an Achilles injury, to return to the court — and gained a new perspective on life along the way.

Fairbanks resident Patrick Holland found — and then lost — his chance at an ideal match for a transplant as poor weather sent air travel into disarray. But for now, he’s holding on to hope and being thankful for what he has.

Moose, eagles and ravens keep wildlife specialists occupied in winter around Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, which faces unique challenges.

Manusiu Muti from Barrow High School took first place in her division at the state tournament, becoming the first athlete from Utqiaġvik to win a state championship in girls wrestling.

With a little help from a chartered flight, a whaling crew from Nuiqsut shared bowhead with the inland community of Anaktuvuk Pass.

After a pandemic hiatus, the annual tradition spreading festive cheer around the state traveled up to the North Slope with presents, ice cream and trombones.

Alaska Native artifacts taken from Kake in the early 1900s were brought home from a university in Oregon this month. “When I looked at them, it was like looking at my past and my elders,” said Lincoln Bean, vice chairman for the Organized Village of Kake.