An Epidemiology Bulletin titled “Drowning Deaths in Alaska, 2016-2021” published Wednesday, May 31, 2023. (Screenshot)

Health officials say Alaska leads nation in drowning deaths, urge safe practices

A majority of non-occupational Alaska drownings occur in relation to boating, both for recreation and for subsistence

An Epidemiology Bulletin titled “Drowning Deaths in Alaska, 2016-2021” published Wednesday, May 31, 2023. (Screenshot)
In this aerial photo chunks of ice follow flooding from an ice jam in Crooked Creek, Alaska, May 15, 2023. Ice jams along two Alaska rivers unleashed major flooding over the weekend. (Jennifer Wallace, Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management via AP)

Breaking ice jams, rapid snowmelt flood homes, businesses and roads across Alaska

Flooding across Alaska has inundated scores of homes, with several of them knocked from their foundations by large ice chunks, and shut one of the… Continue reading

In this aerial photo chunks of ice follow flooding from an ice jam in Crooked Creek, Alaska, May 15, 2023. Ice jams along two Alaska rivers unleashed major flooding over the weekend. (Jennifer Wallace, Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management via AP)
Rep. Justin Ruffridge works in the Alaska State Capitol building on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)

Ruffridge vet bill heads to governor’s desk

The bill exempts veterinarians from opioid monitoring program

Rep. Justin Ruffridge works in the Alaska State Capitol building on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

COVID-19: Hospitalizations rise, cases still low

According to state data, 27 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Alaska

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
Alaska State Veterinarian Dr. Bob Gerlach gives a presentation on Avian Influenza Virus at the 4-H Agriculture Expo in Soldotna, Alaska, on Aug. 5, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Avian influenza expected to return to Alaska with migrating birds

The variant is described as “highly pathogenic” because it has the ability to kill poultry — representing a threat to food security and economics.

Alaska State Veterinarian Dr. Bob Gerlach gives a presentation on Avian Influenza Virus at the 4-H Agriculture Expo in Soldotna, Alaska, on Aug. 5, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Juneau artist Crystal Kaakeeyáa Worl poses with an Alaska Airlines 737-800 aircraft decorated with Worl’s latest work, Xáat Kwáani (Salmon People). Alaska Airlines held a unveiling ceremony on Friday, May 12 to welcome the plane into service. (Courtesy Photo / Alaska Airlines)
Juneau artist Crystal Kaakeeyáa Worl poses with an Alaska Airlines 737-800 aircraft decorated with Worl’s latest work, Xáat Kwáani (Salmon People). Alaska Airlines held a unveiling ceremony on Friday, May 12 to welcome the plane into service. (Courtesy Photo / Alaska Airlines)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

COVID-19: Small increase in cases and hospitalizations

20 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Alaska

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
A State of Alaska Epidemiology Bulletin titled “Traumatic Brain Injury in Alaska,” published May 9, 2023. (Screenshot)

Alaska led deaths from brain injuries in the US

In people under 30 years of age, one in four deaths in Alaska followed a TBI

A State of Alaska Epidemiology Bulletin titled “Traumatic Brain Injury in Alaska,” published May 9, 2023. (Screenshot)
A troller fishes in Sitka Sound, Alaska on February 2, 2021. A ruling from a U.S. judge in Seattle could effectively shut down commercial king salmon trolling in Southeast Alaska — a valuable industry that supports some 1,500 fishermen — after a conservation group challenged the harvest as a threat to protected fish and the endangered killer whales that eat them. (James Poulson/Daily Sitka Sentinel via AP)

Ruling might cancel Alaska commercial king salmon season

Wild Fish Conservancy, the organization that brought the lawsuit, heralded the decision

A troller fishes in Sitka Sound, Alaska on February 2, 2021. A ruling from a U.S. judge in Seattle could effectively shut down commercial king salmon trolling in Southeast Alaska — a valuable industry that supports some 1,500 fishermen — after a conservation group challenged the harvest as a threat to protected fish and the endangered killer whales that eat them. (James Poulson/Daily Sitka Sentinel via AP)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

COVID-19: Cases and hospitalizations stay low

15 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Alaska

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
Alaska State Troopers logo.

Local state troopers among those to start wearing cameras

Ultimately every trooper, marshal and officer under the department will be issued a camera during a “full-deployment” later this year

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, left, addresses constituents during a town hall event on Saturday, April 15, 2023 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Bjorkman lumber bill heads to governor’s desk

Senate Bill 87 aims to make locally milled lumber more widely available for the construction of housing in Alaska

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, left, addresses constituents during a town hall event on Saturday, April 15, 2023 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

COVID-19 federal emergency to end in 2 weeks

A state bulletin detailed the ways that access to COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments will or will not be changed

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

COVID-19: Cases continue to fall statewide

13 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Alaska

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
Rose Carney organizes supplies at the food pantry at Harvest Christian Fellowship Church in Eagle River, Alaska, on April 17, 2023. Carney and thousands of Alaskans who depend on government assistance have not received food stamps for months, exacerbating a hunger crisis. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Food stamp woes worsen hunger in Alaska

The backlog, which began last August, is especially concerning in a state where communities in far-flung areas

  • Apr 24, 2023
  • By Mark Thiessen and Becky Bohrer Associated Press
  • NewsState News
Rose Carney organizes supplies at the food pantry at Harvest Christian Fellowship Church in Eagle River, Alaska, on April 17, 2023. Carney and thousands of Alaskans who depend on government assistance have not received food stamps for months, exacerbating a hunger crisis. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
The Alaska Department of Health And Social Services building is photographed in Juneau in 2021. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Health officials say Alaska falling behind on key cancer screenings

Screenings for breast and cervical cancer in Alaska have been on a downward trend for several years, Anne Remick, the program director for the Section… Continue reading

The Alaska Department of Health And Social Services building is photographed in Juneau in 2021. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
The Kenai Public Health Center is seen on Monday, Feb. 6, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Alaska lags national average for childhood vaccinations

All vaccines administered in Alaska are reported to the Alaska Immunization Information System

The Kenai Public Health Center is seen on Monday, Feb. 6, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A chart shows the number and type of Alaska residents receiving Medicaid coverage based on either 2022 Alaska Medicaid Claims data (yellow) or 2021 U.S. Census data (orange). More than 260,000 residents are currently enrolled, about 30,000 more than 2020, due to a federal provision that kept states from removing people during the COVID-19 pandemic. That provision ended April 1 and Alaska officials are scheduled review eligibility of all residents enrolled during the next 12 months. (Alaska Division of Public Assistance)

Department of Health to reevaluate every Medicaid beneficiary

The state has to begin redetermination for everyone receiving benefits by March 31

A chart shows the number and type of Alaska residents receiving Medicaid coverage based on either 2022 Alaska Medicaid Claims data (yellow) or 2021 U.S. Census data (orange). More than 260,000 residents are currently enrolled, about 30,000 more than 2020, due to a federal provision that kept states from removing people during the COVID-19 pandemic. That provision ended April 1 and Alaska officials are scheduled review eligibility of all residents enrolled during the next 12 months. (Alaska Division of Public Assistance)
Apayauq Reitan, the first transgender woman to participate in the Iditarod, tells the House Education Committee on March 30, 2023, why she opposes a bill restricting sex and gender content in schools. A second meeting for public testimony is scheduled Thursday. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)

Peninsula voices among ‘parental rights’ debate in Juneau

People who spoke in opposition outnumbered those who spoke in support by three to one

Apayauq Reitan, the first transgender woman to participate in the Iditarod, tells the House Education Committee on March 30, 2023, why she opposes a bill restricting sex and gender content in schools. A second meeting for public testimony is scheduled Thursday. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)
This March 10 photo shows fentanyl pills seized by police. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

State health alert issued for fentanyl mixture

Xylazine is not approved for human use and naloxone will not be able to reverse its effect

This March 10 photo shows fentanyl pills seized by police. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)