We're making coronavirus coverage available without a subscription as a public service. But we depend on reader support to do this work. Please consider joining others in supporting local journalism in Alaska for just $3.23 a week.The City of Seward, which normally swells with visitors for the Fourth of July, has approved a face covering rule and other temporary restrictions to stem a coronavirus outbreak.The city council on Wednesday night unanimously approved that require face coverings in indoor public spaces, ban large gatherings and limit capacity in businesses and churches. The city...…We're making coronavirus coverage available without a subscription as a public service. But we depend on reader support to do this work. Please consider joining others in supporting local journalism in Alaska for just $3.23 a week.The City of Seward, which normally swells with visitors for the Fourth of July, has approved a face covering rule and other temporary restrictions to stem a coronavirus outbreak.The city council on Wednesday night unanimously approved that require face coverings in indoor public spaces, ban large gatherings and limit capacity in businesses and churches. The city...WW…

We're making coronavirus coverage available without a subscription as a public service. But we depend on reader support to do this work. Please consider joining others in supporting local journalism in Alaska for just $3.23 a week.A traveler took a COVID-19 test Saturday at Ketchikan’s airport. Then, officials say, he or she ignored quarantine orders and attended social gatherings over the weekend.Now that person’s name is circulating in the community, and authorities are urging a combination of coronavirus safety and kindness to the infected traveler as Ketchikan waits to find out whether...…We're making coronavirus coverage available without a subscription as a public service. But we depend on reader support to do this work. Please consider joining others in supporting local journalism in Alaska for just $3.23 a week.A traveler took a COVID-19 test Saturday at Ketchikan’s airport. Then, officials say, he or she ignored quarantine orders and attended social gatherings over the weekend.Now that person’s name is circulating in the community, and authorities are urging a combination of coronavirus safety and kindness to the infected traveler as Ketchikan waits to find out whether...WW…

We're making coronavirus coverage available without a subscription as a public service. But we depend on reader support to do this work. Please consider joining others in supporting local journalism in Alaska for just $3.23 a week.Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s announcement Friday that Alaska will set the phones ringing at the Denali Lakeview Inn in Healy.Not in a good way.At the 21-room hotel 10 miles from Denali National Park and Preserve, owners Daryl and Tara Frisbie estimate they’ve lost more than $700,000 so far this season as tourists sacrifice Alaska trips amid the uncertainties of the...…We're making coronavirus coverage available without a subscription as a public service. But we depend on reader support to do this work. Please consider joining others in supporting local journalism in Alaska for just $3.23 a week.Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s announcement Friday that Alaska will set the phones ringing at the Denali Lakeview Inn in Healy.Not in a good way.At the 21-room hotel 10 miles from Denali National Park and Preserve, owners Daryl and Tara Frisbie estimate they’ve lost more than $700,000 so far this season as tourists sacrifice Alaska trips amid the uncertainties of the...WW…

An Alaska state legislator is among seven dead after two aircraft collided in midair Friday morning near Soldotna’s airport on the Kenai Peninsula, a crash witnessed by numerous people on the ground.One of the aircraft involved in the crash was a single-engine de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency originally described the other plane as a twin-engine Piper Aztec but by Friday afternoon had confirmed it was a Piper PA-12.The Beaver carried six people, : 57-year-old pilot Gregory Bell, of Soldotna; 40-year-old guide David...…An Alaska state legislator is among seven dead after two aircraft collided in midair Friday morning near Soldotna’s airport on the Kenai Peninsula, a crash witnessed by numerous people on the ground.One of the aircraft involved in the crash was a single-engine de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency originally described the other plane as a twin-engine Piper Aztec but by Friday afternoon had confirmed it was a Piper PA-12.The Beaver carried six people, : 57-year-old pilot Gregory Bell, of Soldotna; 40-year-old guide David...WW…

We're making coronavirus coverage available without a subscription as a public service. But we depend on reader support to do this work. Please consider joining others in supporting local journalism in Alaska for just $3.23 a week.Blood Bank of Alaska is urging recovered COVID-19 patients to donate plasma for use in treating people who are severely ill with the disease.The organization has about a dozen units of what’s called “convalescent plasma” from recovered coronavirus patients in storage now, according to CEO Robert Scanlon. That’s not nearly enough should predictions of increasing...…We're making coronavirus coverage available without a subscription as a public service. But we depend on reader support to do this work. Please consider joining others in supporting local journalism in Alaska for just $3.23 a week.Blood Bank of Alaska is urging recovered COVID-19 patients to donate plasma for use in treating people who are severely ill with the disease.The organization has about a dozen units of what’s called “convalescent plasma” from recovered coronavirus patients in storage now, according to CEO Robert Scanlon. That’s not nearly enough should predictions of increasing...WW…

Gov. Mike Dunleavy promised no state mandates would follow Alaska’s spiking confirmed coronavirus infections in his first appearance since Alaska hit a new record Sunday with more than 100 daily cases.A combination of younger people getting the virus and limited outbreaks in care centers and prisons have so far kept hospitalizations and deaths relatively low here, officials said during a 90-minute briefing Monday. Other states also had COVID-19 outbreaks in meatpacking facilities but Alaska has so far avoided clusters in similar industries here such as seafood processing plants.The state...…Gov. Mike Dunleavy promised no state mandates would follow Alaska’s spiking confirmed coronavirus infections in his first appearance since Alaska hit a new record Sunday with more than 100 daily cases.A combination of younger people getting the virus and limited outbreaks in care centers and prisons have so far kept hospitalizations and deaths relatively low here, officials said during a 90-minute briefing Monday. Other states also had COVID-19 outbreaks in meatpacking facilities but Alaska has so far avoided clusters in similar industries here such as seafood processing plants.The state...WW…

A FedEx pilot from Eagle River is serving a four-week sentence in a Singapore jail for breaching a COVID-19 order to spend two weeks in his hotel room upon arrival.The case of the American pilot jailed for violating foreign coronavirus protocols generated a brief sensation in Southeast Asian news outlets when the case broke.Brian Yeargan, 44, arrived in Singapore from Australia in early April, according to . He went to jail this week, family members in Alaska said.The last time Yeargan’s parents, Jim and Pam, talked with their son was Mother’s Day. They’d chatted a few times before that...…A FedEx pilot from Eagle River is serving a four-week sentence in a Singapore jail for breaching a COVID-19 order to spend two weeks in his hotel room upon arrival.The case of the American pilot jailed for violating foreign coronavirus protocols generated a brief sensation in Southeast Asian news outlets when the case broke.Brian Yeargan, 44, arrived in Singapore from Australia in early April, according to . He went to jail this week, family members in Alaska said.The last time Yeargan’s parents, Jim and Pam, talked with their son was Mother’s Day. They’d chatted a few times before that...WW…

A 38-year-old Wasilla woman has been charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse of a minor dating back several years, Alaska State Troopers say.Marcella Castoe is charged with multiple felonies including first- and second-degree sexual abuse of a minor. The charges filed in Palmer court indicate the abuse occurred in 2016. But a sworn affidavit filed with the charges describes incidents that began that year and continued to April involving at least two juveniles.Castoe was arrested this week at her Wasilla home, troopers said.Troopers believe she may have other victims in the Palmer and...…A 38-year-old Wasilla woman has been charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse of a minor dating back several years, Alaska State Troopers say.Marcella Castoe is charged with multiple felonies including first- and second-degree sexual abuse of a minor. The charges filed in Palmer court indicate the abuse occurred in 2016. But a sworn affidavit filed with the charges describes incidents that began that year and continued to April involving at least two juveniles.Castoe was arrested this week at her Wasilla home, troopers said.Troopers believe she may have other victims in the Palmer and...WW…

PALMER — The Matanuska-Susitna School Board has banned the teaching of five “controversial” books used for high school English courses.The books, considered literary classics, are: “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison; “Catch-22” by Joseph Heller; “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien; “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou; and “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald.All five books are used by high school classes in the Anchorage School District, some as required reading.The Mat-Su School Board voted 5-2 at to remove the books from the list of materials for English elective...…PALMER — The Matanuska-Susitna School Board has banned the teaching of five “controversial” books used for high school English courses.The books, considered literary classics, are: “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison; “Catch-22” by Joseph Heller; “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien; “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou; and “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald.All five books are used by high school classes in the Anchorage School District, some as required reading.The Mat-Su School Board voted 5-2 at to remove the books from the list of materials for English elective...WW…

Update 6:30 a.m. Wednesday: Palmer police Chief Dwayne Shelton has been placed on administrative leave by city officials, according to a statement posted Tuesday evening.The statement reads: “The City of Palmer (City) rejects the ideas contained in the past inappropriate social media postings by Palmer Police Chief Shelton who is currently on administrative leave with pay. Instead the City recognizes and respects the diversity of our society and promotes the principles of tolerance and equality embedded in the Constitutional underpinnings of our Nation. In furtherance of these principles...…Update 6:30 a.m. Wednesday: Palmer police Chief Dwayne Shelton has been placed on administrative leave by city officials, according to a statement posted Tuesday evening.The statement reads: “The City of Palmer (City) rejects the ideas contained in the past inappropriate social media postings by Palmer Police Chief Shelton who is currently on administrative leave with pay. Instead the City recognizes and respects the diversity of our society and promotes the principles of tolerance and equality embedded in the Constitutional underpinnings of our Nation. In furtherance of these principles...WW…