Over the past year, a wave of high-profile development proposals - from oil fields and mining roads to timber projects - has reshaped a fast-moving debate, propelling Alaska into the center of the national conversation over how to balance energy production with conservation. These projects have revived long-running tensions over what the state's public lands are for, and who they ultimately benefit.
Whenever I'm asked about my recent trip to Alaska-a journey to visit Katmai National Park & Preserve and Kenai Fjords National Park-I nearly always mention the scale. The scale of the glaciers, the mountains, the sunsets, and the utter wilderness; every aspect of the landscape was just so much larger and more grand than anything I'd ever experienced. Magnitude is a continuous theme all across Alaska.
America's national parks are treasures worth exploring, and the best part? You don't always have to open your wallet. With 63 official national parks and more than 400 additional sites managed by the National Park Service, there's no shortage of stunning landscapes to discover. Some parks charge entry fees-typically $20-$35 per person or per vehicle-but there are plenty of ways to enjoy the beauty for free.
There was a time not that long ago in the United States when the federal government did not warn people about tsunamis in the aftermath of earthquakes. We learned the hard way - after a deadly wave traveled all the way across the Pacific - why we needed to invest in such a system. MIKE WEST: It was started in 1946, after an earthquake from Alaska killed 150 people in Hawaii.
Driving the news: The average award for 2026, the first of five years, is $200 million. Alaska, a rural state with unique challenges for health care access, got the second most funding after Texas, receiving $272 million. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) voted for the bill after being the focus of hours of negotiations with GOP leaders. The Wall Street Journal reported over the summer that officials had reassured Alaska's GOP senators that the state would do well in allotments from the fund.
One of his patients was 17 years old when he first examined her for stomach pain. McMahon discovered she had developed liver cancer caused by hepatitis B, just weeks before she was set to graduate from high school as valedictorian. She died before the ceremony. McMahon thinks often of an 8-year-old boy who showed no signs of illness until he complained of pain from what turned out to be a rapidly growing tumor on his liver.
Although hundreds of thousands of people embark on Alaskan cruises each year, I wanted to connect with locals and see more than just popular port stops. When my cousin moved to Anchorage, visiting him gave me the perfect excuse to do all of those things and explore the massive state on my own terms. So, we spent a week in late June traveling through Alaska in his converted school bus, far from the tourist crowds.
According to newly released American Community Survey (ACS) data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Alaska homeowners with a mortgage typically pay $1,000-$1,499 a year for homeowner's insurance, while those without a mortgage pay $800-$999; overall costs fall in the $1,000-$1,499 range. At the extremes, Alaska has 182,292 insured homeowner households in total-110,175 with a mortgage and 72,117 without. Among mortgaged owners, 10,862 pay less than $100 annually and 6,473 pay $4,000 or more.
The glacial release from Suicide Basin above Mendenhall Lake has begun, leading to a flood warning for Mendenhall Lake and surrounding areas while flooding is expected to crest at record levels.
The investigation revealed that the pilot, Eugene Buzzy Peltola Jr., had installed an unapproved external load, with moose antlers tied to the right wing strut, affecting the aircraft's flight performance.
Rep. Jim McGovern criticized Sen. Lisa Murkowski for voting for a spending bill that cuts Medicaid and expands tax cuts, despite its serious flaws and implications.
I feel like it's a redundant message in my writing. Our Indigenous way of life is beautiful. Living in relationship with the land and water is so rich and so life-filling that all the diversions in Western cultivated society cannot hold a candle to a calm day on the water.
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