Read the latest news from regional and global sources, presenting different voices and perspectives.

Trump Officials Visit Alaska as Interior Department Pushes Proposal Rescinding Biden-era Arctic Protections
The Department of the Interior announced a proposal last week to cancel its protections of 13 million acres of Alaskan land inside a previously created reserve. More than 40 Indigenous communities rely on the acreage in question for clean water...

Cunard's Queen Elizabeth in place for Alaska debut
The newly refurbished Queen Elizabeth arrived in Seattle for the first time Thursday to begin a season of Alaska voyages. The Cunard ship is committed to two subsequent summers in Alaska. Passengers will be among the first to experience The...

Alaska House Judiciary Committee to hold a fact-finding hearing on ICE detention in state prisons
The Alaska House Judiciary Committee plans to hold a hearing June 20 on the use of Alaska Department of Corrections facilities to house and supervise federal detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The announcement comes following...

Alaska gets its first-ever heat advisories from National Weather Service
With temperatures forecast to soar as high as 89 degrees in Interior Alaska, the National Weather Service has issued its first-ever heat advisories for the state. The advisories, which started Thursday and are in effect through Sunday, warn...

Alaska leaders decry governor’s education veto as districts consider new rounds of cuts
Signs supporting an increase in education funding are left outside a legislative town hall on Saturday, April 5, 2025 at the University of Alaska Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN) School districts and elected officials across Alaska were reeling in...

Juneau fire department offers paid internships to spark new hires
Firefighter Meg Thordarson exiting building via ladder in 2020. (Photo courtesy of Meg Thordarson/CCFR) Juneau’s fire department is piloting a paid internship program this year that equips locals with certifications and skills needed to work in...

Anchorage mayor wants to open 2 overnight car camping lots for homeless residents
Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance wants to create two overnight car camping spots for homeless people this summer. Farina Brown, with the mayor’s office, said the idea is to increase outreach to those living in their vehicles. The designated lots...

Alaska, Where Only 2% of Homes Have AC, Just Issued Its First Heat Advisory Ever
Alaska just crossed a first off its bucket list with the first-ever heat advisory for Sunday, June 15. Temperatures in central Alaska are expected to reach 86 degrees Fahrenheit (that's 30 Celsius) through the weekend and into the week of June 16....

Alaska avalanche kills skier on tallest mountain in North America
An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a mountain, hill or any steep incline. DENALI NATIONAL PARK, Alaska – A 29-year-old skier from Washington was killed after being caught in an avalanche on Mt. McKinley in Alaska. The National Park Service...

Opinion: We’re frontline caregivers. We see how Anchorage mental health units are putting patients and staff at risk.
Providence Alaska Medical Center. (Loren Holmes / ADN) Caregivers at Providence’s Mental Health Unit and Crisis Recovery Center believe the public should know about conditions that called into question the safety of patients and staff. Recently, a...

Opinion: The governor’s school vetoes are more than a policy disagreement. They’re an assault on public education in Alaska.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy delivers video remarks on his budget videos. (Screengrab / Gov. Mike Dunleavy via YouTube) Alaskans take pride in our independent spirit, our commitment to community and our belief in providing every child with a strong...

An Anchorage man remains lost in the Susitna River. His family is searching for answers.
PALMER — Three months after two workers went missing in the Susitna River, their families say they still have more questions than answers despite a report that includes accounts from three other workers who survived. Sean Kendall and Skye Rench...

David Boyle: Anchorage school superintendent melts down over 0.7% budget gap
By DAVID BOYLE Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued his budget vetoes on Thursday and added an $500 to the Base Student Allocation, the school funding formula. He reduced the Legislature’s budget $700 BSA increase to the more sustainable $500 increase,...

Sullivan Chairs Hearing On Foreign Illegal Fishing, Highlights Impact On Alaska Industry
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan says illegal foreign fishing practices pose a serious threat to Alaska’s fishing industry, warning that subsidized, unregulated harvests by countries like China and Russia are destabilizing markets and...

Americans have a choice: Weapons and war, or food and health care?
Lindsay Koshgarian Submitted photo By Lindsay Koshgarian | Institute for Policy Studies For weeks, Congress has been wrapped up in passing President Trump’s big, brutal budget — the one that pays for tax cuts for the wealthy and a trillion-dollar...

Here’s where the national mental health hotline is used the most
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our...

Anchorage’s biggest homeless camp is shrinking ahead of abatement but plenty of people remain
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The clock is ticking on Davis Park in Mountain View, which the city says will be abated this coming Tuesday. The city estimates at least 100 people have been living in the park or at the snow dump across the street,...

Opinion: Public media is a lifeline across Alaska. Congress needs to protect it.
Lenora Ward, general manager at KOTZ radio in Kotzebue, at the station in April 2022. (Emily Mesner / ADN) In 1983, I took a job in Alaska for two years. That was 42 years ago, and I still vote in Alaska. I was the fourth executive director of the...

Juneau School District to crack down on cell phone use
Students enter Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé on August 15, 2024. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO) The Juneau School District is cracking down on cell phone use in schools. The Board of Education passed a policy amendment Tuesday....

Health Watch: Increase of strokes reported in the Alaska Native population
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - June is stroke awareness month, a time dedicated to spreading awareness of one of the leading causes of death in the United States. In 2021, according to the American Heart Association, strokes accounted for 1 out of 21...