North Korea Sends First High-Level Envoy to China This Year Amid Cooling Relations
For the first time this year, and for the first time since China's change of leadership, a high-ranking North Korean official has made a visit to its neighbor and largest trading partner.... Full story
With the Closing Arguments Finished, Jodi Arias Awaits the Jury's Decision on Her Fate, Life or Death
Jody Arias, the subject of a five-month First Degree Murder trial that ended in her conviction, was in court again today. This time pleading for her life as the jury determines whether she should get a prison sentence or the death penalty.... Full story
Arctic Storm Catches fire Outside of Grays Harbor, 78 Crewmembers Evacuated
The U.S. Coast Guard responded to a fire aboard the 314-foot catcher-processor Arctic Storm 32 miles outside of Grays Harbor on Monday afternoon.... Full story
Latest additions
NASA's Asteroid Sample Return Mission Moves into Development
NASA's first mission to sample an asteroid is moving ahead into development and testing in preparation for its launch in 2016.... Full story
- Asteroid 1998 QE2 to Sail Past Earth Nine Times Larger Than Cruise Ship
- Research Offers Promising New Approach to Treatment of Lung Cancer
- Overeating Learned in Infancy, Study Suggests
- Kuskokwim Fishermen Get Small Win on Religious Grounds, But Found Guilty Anyway
- 24 Confirmed Dead in Oklahoma Tornado, Obama Promises Flattened Town all the Resources They Need
- Slow Earthquakes: It's All in the Rock Mechanics
- The Tripod Trips at 2:41 pm, the Nenana Ice Classic Sets New Late Breakup Record!
- North Korea Fires Short Range Projectiles into its Coastal Waters for Third Straight Day
Speeding, Eluding, Reckless Driving on Seward Highway Brings Anchorage Man Felony Charges
The Alaska State Trooper Dispatch revealed today that on Monday, May 20th, troopers with the Bureau of Highway Patrol attempted to stop a vehicle on the Seward Highway before being led on a hi-speed chase. ... Full story
Wasilla Man Slumped over Steering Wheel Charged with DUI and Several Weapons Charges
It was on Sunday afternoon, according to the Alaska State Trooper dispatch, that a trooper patrol and the Bureau of Highway Patrol responded to a call of a man slumped over the steering wheel of his car. ... Full story
Fairbanks Transient Breaks into Home, Steals Kayak, then Falls Victim to Chena River
It was reported that at 7:03 pm on Sunday night, a Fairbanks woman living along the Chena River heard a person on the river calling for help, and saw a yellow kayak overturned and a head bobbing in the water. ... Full story
Search Continues for Two Snow-Machiners Missing Since Wednesday Morning
There are still no results in the search for two travelers on a black Polaris IQ snowmachine traveling from Kotzebue to Selawik. ... Full story
Pavlov Continues to Erupt, Ashfall Moving to the Southeast Today
Pavlov Volcano, which has been erupting all week, continues to do so. As of Sunday, its plume has risen above the 20,000 foot level considered the threshold where it becomes a threat to trans-continental commercial aircraft. ... Full story
Yakutat Man Loses Boat and Hunting Privileges for Taking Big Game from Boat
In a plea agreement in Yakutat District Court on Thursday, Rube L. Evens, Rube M. Evens, and Derek Dalton pled "no contest" to Taking Big Game from a Boat and Unlawful Possession of Illegally-Taken Game stemming from charges filed after an investigation completed late last month. ... Full story
Governor Parnell Announces ANWR Exploration Proposal
Alaska's Governor Sean Parnell announced the proposal titled, "Oil and Gas Resource Evaluation and Exploration Proposal for the ANWR 1002 Area" on Monday. The proposal was produced by the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas. ... Full story
Begich Meets with Commerce Secretary Nominee to Discuss Fisheries Issues, Arctic Development
U.S. Sen. Mark Begich met with Secretary of Commerce nominee Penny Pritzker today in his Senate office, where he pressed her on the importance of sound fisheries management – noting that 55 percent of America’s domestically caught seafood is harvested in Alaska- as well as Arctic development. ... Full story
Homer Selected for 2013 Governor’s Picnic
Juneau, Alaska – Governor Sean Parnell on Thursday announced Homer will host the 2013 Governor’s Traveling Family Picnic. The Homer picnic will be held on July 25 at the Karen Hornaday Park. ... Full story
First Copper River Salmon Arrive in Seattle from Yesterday's First Opener
Sea-Tac Airport saw the first planeload of Copper River King Salmon from Cordova this morning. It is the first of four Alaska Airlines flights scheduled to bring the prized Alaska Salmon to Seattle on Friday. ... Full story
President Obama Appoints Daniel Werfel as Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue
WASHINGTON – President Obama today announced the appointment of Daniel Werfel as Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue, effective Wednesday, May 22. ... Full story
President Obama Attempts to Tamp Down Benghazi Aftermath, Associated Press Seizures and IRS Scandal This Week
President Obama has had a busy week countering reports of poor decisions that led to the death of a U.S. ambassador to Libya in the Benghazi attack last September, overreach and seizure of Associated Press phone records, and possible criminal charges against the IRS for political targeting of conservative organizations. ... Full story
Kerry and Lavrov Hold Conference, are Positive of June Meeting to Bring about Syrian Peace
It was announced at a joint news conference held in Sweden by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the two countries are working toward a solution to end the violence in Syria. ... Full story
Russians Arrest and Expel American Embassy Secretary for Attempting to Recruit Intelligence Officer
A Secretary in the Political section of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow was arrested and held for at time in that city on charges that he attempted to recruit a member of the Russian Intelligence Services on Monday. ... Full story
Syria's Internet and Communications with the Outside World 'Go Dark'
Reports coming from several global Internet monitoring sites say that Syria went dark on Tuesday night(10:45am Tuesday Alaska time) as service to Internet and cell phones became non-existant. ... Full story
Researchers Pinpoint Upper Safe Limit of Vitamin D Blood Levels
Chevy Chase, MD––Researchers claim to have calculated for the first time, the upper safe limit of vitamin D levels, above which the associated risk for cardiovascular events or death raises significantly, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism ... Full story
Secondhand Smoke Presents Greater Threat to Teen Girls than Boys
Chevy Chase, MD––When teenage girls are exposed to secondhand smoke at home, they tend to have lower levels of the “good” form of cholesterol that reduces heart disease risk, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). ... Full story
Study: Young Men Who Feel Body Shame Less Hopeful about Relationships
It's no longer just Barbie dolls that evoke a sense of unattainable beauty. Now, it seems G.I. Joe's biceps and six-pack abs are doing the same. Increasingly, objectification and heightened masculinity in images of men is saturating popular culture and the media. ... Full story
UAF Researchers Contribute to Global Glacier Study
Fairbanks, Alaska— Alaska’s melting glaciers remain one of the largest contributors to the world’s rising sea levels, say two University of Alaska Fairbanks geophysicists. ... Full story
Orion's Hidden Fiery Ribbon
Clouds of gas and interstellar dust are the raw materials from which stars are made. But these tiny dust grains block our view of what lies within and behind the clouds — at least at visible wavelengths — making it difficult to observe the processes of star formation. ... Full story
Carbon Dioxide at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Observatory reaches new milestone: Tops 400 ppm
On May 9, the daily mean concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Mauna Loa, Hawaii, surpassed 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time since measurements began in 1958. Independent measurements made by both NOAA and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have been approaching this level during the past week. ... Full story
Begich Provision to Spur Arctic Deepwater Port Development Clears the Senate
The Senate, by a bipartisan vote of 83-14, approved the Water Resources Development Act of 2013 (WRDA) on Wednesday, a major bill that authorizes ports, navigation and flood control projects and includes an important provision inserted into the bill by U.S. Sen. Mark Begich to help Alaska develop its remote harbors. ... Full story
Barrow: Spring is in the Air and in the Ice
On the 5-mile snowmachine ride up to Point Barrow, we saw several fresh polar bear tracks the size of dinner plates, a pile of whalebones from last year, and a 3-foot-wide crack in the sea ice that could swallow a sled. ... Full story
Alaska Science Forum: Measuring the Winds of Space
On a clear, cold night two winters ago in Fort Yukon, Carl Andersen watched a rocket he helped design pierce the upper atmosphere. He and three other scientists shot pictures as the rocket ejected bright puffs of chemicals in an inverted V formation more than 60 miles up. ... Full story
NOAA Releases Steller Sea Lion Protection Measures for Public Comment
Draft environmental impact statement seeks balance between protecting Steller sea lions and reducing economic impacts on fishing industry. ... Full story
Coast Guard Crews Search for Missing Fairbanks Boater near Key West, Florida
MIAMI - Coast Guard crews are searching for a man who went out on his boat Monday from Fort Myers, Fla., and never arrived in Key West, Fla., as planned. ... Full story
Using Earthquake Sensors to Track Endangered Whales
The fin whale is the second-largest animal ever to live on Earth. It is also, paradoxically, one of the least understood. The animal’s huge size and global range make its movements and behavior hard to study. ... Full story
