In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Hundreds of evacuees from Western Alaska are staying in Anchorage hotels after last month’s storms destroyed their homes. A controversial mineral exploration project near Haines is changing hands again – just one year after the last shakeup. And totem poles at the Ketchikan Totem Heritage Center are getting a facelift.
Photo: Evacuees Ally Shangin, her partner Garrett Kashatok and their four daughters – Katelynn, 9, Allyssa, 3, Lola, 2, and Shameka, 11 months – in their room at the Wingate hotel on Nov. 14, 2025. ( Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
In this week's recap with Host Brian Venua, Old Harbor has water again, Kodiak's Chamber of Commerce held its annual awards dinner, the State of Alaska is looking into an agriculture cooperative and recently published its preliminary salmon numbers statewide, and the Alaska Groundfish Data Bank was raided by state troopers.
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Recovery in the isolated Western Alaska communities slammed by typhoon Halong will be a long process. University of Alaska President Pat Pitney will retire this spring. And three tribal governments and several environmental groups have sued the Trump administration to try to block a deal to build a road from King Cove to Cold Bay.
Photo: University of Alaska President Pat Pitney announced her retirement for May 2026, on Nov. 13, 2025. (Screenshot of UA video announcement)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Glennallen’s only hotel burned to the ground Wednesday. Biologists are interested in sounds whales make above water. And Anchorage residents have reported seeing – and hearing – wolves on area trails.
Photo: Fire destroyed the Caribou Hotel in downtown Glennallen Wednesday. (Cross Road Medical Center)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
State Senator Matt Claman has entered the race for Governor. A group of state lawmakers has been tasked with studying how Alaska pays for public education. And the state of Alaska is limiting payments to SNAP recipients this week in response to federal guidance.
Photo: Matt Claman. (Wikipedia)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Fairbanksans are stepping up to make sure their neighbors don’t go hungry. Elders and youth from around Alaska learned how to process a seal. And the University of Alaska Board of Regents approved increasing tuition across the board by 4% next year.
The Fairbanks Food Bank. (The Fairbanks Food Bank)
This week with host Davis Hovey, we hear about the City of Kodiak again seeking an interim manager, the state has launched a project to replace Sargent Creek and Russian River bridges, Dr. Nick Loomis has been appointed as the interim administrator at PKIMC, the U.S. Arctic Research Commission held its 121st meeting in Kodiak this week, flights at Anchorage International Airport are being cut, KMXT has put together a list of local holiday bazaars and art markets, and hundreds of people on Kodiak Island need assistance paying for food.
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
Skagway’s summer drag season finished with its last event in September. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is among 40 airports across the country forced to slash air traffic by 10% starting today. And World Central Kitchen is bringing familiar foods to victims of typhoon Halong.
Mustached participants at Skagway's September drag bingo. Photo: (Munson/KHNS)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Rasmuson Foundation has named Kodiak-born carver Jerry Laktonen as its 2025 Distinguished Artist. Alaska might soon regulate its own hazardous waste. And Alaska Public Media’s Liz Ruskin checked in with a few furloughed workers in Anchorage.
Photo: Jerry Laktonen and a bird mask he made. (Rasmuson Foundation)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
A controversial higher education compact from the Trump administration has sparked a petition from several University of Alaska unions. Months before a storm devastated parts of Western Alaska, a federal agency canceled a grant that would have helped protect one of the communities from flooding. And some residents of Juneau's Telephone Hill refuse to leave despite being evicted by the city.
Photo: The village of Kipnuk, largely submerged by the remnants of Typhoon Halong, is seen from the air on Oct. 12, 2025. (Courtesy Alaska National Guard)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
People who rely on food assistance from SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, could have their electronic benefits cards refilled as soon as this week, thanks to the state. The Environmental Protection Agency said last week that Alaska’s revised plan to improve air quality in the Fairbanks and North Pole is good to go. And communities across Alaska are doing what they can to support the more than one thousand people displaced by Typhoon Halong.
Photo: Smokestack emissions rise into the air on Feb. 7, 2025, above Golden Heart Plaza in downtown Fairbanks. Snow dusts the statute of the “Unknown First Family” that is the plaza’s centerpiece. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
State officials say there are no longer evacuees from Western Alaska staying at mass shelters in Anchorage. The nearly 70,000 Alaskans who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP or food stamps, are still waiting for their November benefits to hit their accounts. And Mary Peltola, is about even in a head-to-head match with Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, a new poll shows.
Photo: Mary Peltola, in her official Congressional photo. (Leah Herman)
In this week's episode with Host Brian Venua, near record winds in Kodiak, Caroline Roberts will remain on the borough assembly, Kodiak schools have fewer students, there will be no Tanner crab fishery for Kodiak, Highmark Marine Fabrication is taking more control over the City of Kodiak's shipyard, United Fishermen of Alaska held a meeting on the island — a first in over 20 years, and the Alaska Desk's Shelby Herbert talks about support for the military amid a government shutdown.
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The Western Alaska disaster relief effort has moved to its next phase. The government shutdown is delaying funding for a federal heating assistance program, according to the Alaska Department of Health. And land acknowledgment signs and statements honoring Dena'ina and Ahtna people will no longer be used in Mat-Su district schools.
Photo: A student reads a land acknowledgment sign in Wasilla High School on Oct. 16, 2025. District officials removed the sign on Oct. 17, 2025, school officials said. (Amy Bushatz/Mat-Su Sentinel)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The government shutdown is creating a lot of uncertainty and disruption for Alaska Native communities, and for tribal organizations that administer federal programs. Federal subsidies for rural air travel will continue through at least mid-November despite the government shutdown. And a bill passing through Congress hopes to solidify protections for Alaska Native ivory artists.
Photo: An Island Air Cessna Caravan flies toward Old Harbor, a village of about 200 people in the Kodiak Archipelago, July 2, 2024. ( Brian Venua/KMXT)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The State of Alaska cut its payments to districts and municipalities for school construction and renovation projects by roughly 25 to 30 percent this year. Alaska State Troopers are looking for a North Pole man connected to a fatal shooting during a party early Saturday morning in Fairbanks. And Juneau plans to expand its temporary levee along the Mendenhall River, in part by using money originally intended for a new arts and culture center.
Photo: HESCO flood barriers line the Mendenhall River. (Photo by Clarise Larson, Mikko Wilson/KTOO)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
The proposed Alaska natural gas pipeline project picked up another nonbinding agreement last week. Sen. Lisa Murkowski took to the Senate floor yesterday to call on her fellow senators to put away the partisan rhetoric and end the government shutdown.
And the City and Borough of Wrangell is pausing work at a housing project after archaeologists confirmed artifacts at the site.
Photo: Sen. Lisa Murkowski at the U.S. Capitol in 2023.
(Liz Ruskin/Alaska Public Media)
In today's Midday Report with host Terry Haines:
For some Ketchikan residents, Diaz Cafe is more than just a Filipino restaurant – it’s a gathering place that blends culture and community. A fix for a rockslide that has been threatening Skagway’s busiest cruise ship dock won't be cheap. And the Trump administration is again advancing the Ambler Road project in Northwest Alaska.
Photo: Diaz Cafe
In this week's episode we hear about new Kodiak Island Borough Assembly members swearing in, YMCA Alaska has a new program at East Elementary, Kodiak College held a college and career fair, Fish and Game upped its commercial harvest limits for Bering Sea snow crab, and several groups are coordinating relief efforts for Western Alaska after damage from remnants of Typhoon Halong.
This week with host Davis Hovey, we hear about Malia Villegas winning an AFN award, Kodiak KINDNESS has hired two new peer counselors in the Northwest Arctic Borough, Kodiak's legislators give an update on the state's finances, the head of Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center leaves the hospital, KIBSD's superintendent has announced this school year will be her last in Kodiak, and the new city manager is leaving the City of Kodiak at the end of the month.