Tag: Alaska

Putin and Trump conclude ‘productive’ summit but provide no details
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ANCHORAGE — Three hours of negotiations with Vladimir Putin over Russia’s war in Ukraine were “extremely productive,” but only Kyiv can decide whether a deal toward a ceasefire is possible, President Trump said Friday, capping a historic summit with the Russian leader.

At a news conference at a U.S. air base in Alaska, the two men alluded to agreements made, but offered no details and took no questions. “We didn’t get there,” Trump said.

“I believe we had a very productive meeting. There were many, many points that we agreed on,” Trump said, adding: “There’s no deal until there’s a deal. I will call up NATO in a little while. I will call up various people.

“It’s ultimately up to them,” he added.
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Standing alongside Trump, Putin warned Europe not to “torpedo the nascent progress” of “the agreement that we’ve reached.”

“We’re convinced that, in order to make the settlement last in the long term, we have to eliminate all the primary roots, the primary causes of the conflict,” Putin said. “Naturally, the security of Ukraine should be ensured as well.”

The talks were the first high-level negotiations in Russia’s years-long military campaign, a war of conquest that has resulted in Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.

Trump had said before the summit he would know if Putin was serious about peace within minutes of their meeting. Yet, before the talks began, the Russian leader, a global pariah since launching his full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, received a red carpet arrival on American soil and a greeting of applause from the U.S. president.
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It was an extraordinary welcome for Putin, whose government has called the United States an “enemy state” and who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over war crimes in Ukraine. Putin’s war has led to 1.4 million casualties, according to independent analysts, including 1 million dead and wounded among Russian soldiers alone.

At the end of their news conference, Putin suggested Trump visit Moscow for their next summit. Trump said he would consider it.

The high-stakes summit came amid ongoing Russian strikes on civilian targets. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, condemned Russian forces for striking a market in Sumy mere hours before the Alaska summit.

“On the day of negotiations, the Russians are killing as well,” Zelensky said in a statement. “And that speaks volumes.”

Zelensky was not invited to the Anchorage negotiations. But Trump said he hoped his meeting Friday would lead to direct talks “very shortly.”

The Ukrainian president met with Britain’s prime minister in recent days, and planned to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron after the Alaska summit.

Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to Anchorage, Trump suggested he had planned to take a tougher line with Putin, threatening to walk if he didn’t see immediate progress.

“I want to see a ceasefire,” Trump said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be today, but I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today.”

The two men were scheduled to meet privately, accompanied only by interpreters, before joining their aides for a working lunch. But in-flight, Trump’s plans changed to include his secretary of State and national security advisor, Marco Rubio, as well as his special envoy to the conflict, Steve Witkoff.

Whether Putin is ready to implement an immediate ceasefire is far from clear, with the Russian Foreign Ministry stating this week that the Kremlin’s war aims are “unchanged.” Over the past week, with the presidential summit scheduled, the Russian army launched an aggressive attempt to breech the Ukrainian front lines.

Trump’s deference toward Putin has been a fixture of his time in office, with the president often refusing to criticize the Russian leader. But his tone began to shift toward Putin at a NATO summit in June, held in The Hague, where European leaders agreed to significant defense spending commitments in a bid to keep Trump on their side.

Since then, Trump has repeatedly expressed “disappointment” with Putin’s refusal to heed his calls for a ceasefire, authorizing the deployment of Patriot missiles in Ukraine and the shipment of other U.S. military equipment.

The Trump administration set a deadline of Aug. 8 for Putin to demonstrate he was seriously committed to peace negotiations, or otherwise face a new round of sanctions, this time targeting its trading partners. Witkoff, a real estate investor with no experience in the region and no diplomatic background, was dispatched to Moscow for meetings with Kremlin leadership.

Within hours of Witkoff’s departure, White House planning for the summit was underway.

The summit came together with so little time that the White House and the Kremlin struggled to secure hotels and venue spaces across Anchorage. The Kremlin press corps, comprising roughly 50 journalists, found itself sleeping on American Red Cross cots on the floor of a University of Alaska sports center.

President Trump meets with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. At right is Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

(Julia Demaree Nikhinson / Associated Press)

Trump received Putin on the tarmac of the U.S. air base with a U.S. stealth bomber flying overhead, flanked by U.S. fighter jets and Air Force One. The two men then entered the “Beast,” the official presidential vehicle, for a short ride that included no aides or translators.

On his way to Anchorage, Trump said that Putin would face “economically severe” consequences if the negotiations failed to yield progress toward peace. He said that only Ukraine could decide whether to cede territory to Moscow. And he expressed support for U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine in any future peace agreement, so long as they fall short of NATO membership for the beleaguered nation.

“Yes, it would be very severe,” Trump said. “Very severe.”

Putin brought several Russian business leaders along with him from Moscow, according to the Kremlin, a sign he had hoped to begin discussions on normalizing relations with Washington. But Trump said he would not discuss business opportunities until the war is settled. Despite bringing his Treasury and Commerce secretaries to Alaska alongside him, a lunch scheduled to include an expanded circle of their aides, to discuss matters other than Ukraine, did not appear to go forward.

European leaders have urged Trump to approach Putin with a firm hand after months of applying pressure on Zelensky to prepare to make concessions to Moscow.

Trump had said in recent days that a peace deal would include the “swapping” of land, a prospect roundly rejected in Kyiv. But the Ukrainian constitution prohibits territorial concessions without the support of a public referendum.

He seemed to soften that stance ahead of the Friday meetings.

“They’ll be discussed, but I’ve got to let Ukraine make that decision,” the president said of land swaps. “I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine. I’m here to get them to the table.”

The summit is the first of its kind between a U.S. and Russian president since 2021.
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Michael Wilner

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August 15, 2025
Trump says Putin wants a deal as Kremlin says Ukraine war aims remain ‘unchanged’

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ANCHORAGE — Vladimir Putin is lavishing praise on President Trump ahead of their high-stakes summit in Alaska on Friday, thanking his host for “energetic and sincere efforts to stop the fighting” in Ukraine over three years since the Russian leader attempted to conquer the country.

Trump, at the White House, also expressed optimism ahead of the talks, telling reporters he believes Putin “would like to see a deal” after suffering more than a million Russian casualties on the battlefield.

Yet Russian Foreign Ministry officials said Wednesday that Putin’s war aims remain “unchanged.” And an aggressive Russian advance along the front lines this week provided evidence to military analysts that Moscow has no plans to implement a ceasefire.

It was a day of diplomatic maneuvering ahead of an extraordinary visit from a Russian president to the U.S. homeland, and the first audience Putin has received with a Western leader since the war began.

“It’s going to be very interesting — we’re going to find out where everybody stands,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. “If it’s a bad meeting, it’ll end very quickly. And if it’s a good meeting, we’re going to end up getting peace in the very near future.”

Putin’s positioning ahead of the summit, and Trump’s eagerness for a deal, continue to fuel worries across Europe and in Ukraine that the Alaska negotiations could result in a bilateral agreement designed by Moscow and endorsed by Washington that sidelines Kyiv.

In London, Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, offering support for Trump’s effort while placing the onus on Putin to “prove he is serious about peace.”

“They agreed there had been a powerful sense of unity and a strong resolve to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” 10 Downing Street said in a statement.

Trump said the Alaska summit, to be held at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, is meant to “set the table” for direct talks between Putin and Zelensky that could include himself and European leaders.

Journalists stand outside Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage on Thursday ahead of Friday’s summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)

But addressing reporters, Trump suggested that denying Putin dominion over all of Ukraine — and allowing him to hold on to the territories he has seized militarily — would be concession enough from Moscow. The president had said in recent days that land “swapping” would be part of an ultimate peace settlement, a statement rejected by Kyiv.

“I think President Putin would like to see a deal,” Trump said. “I think if I weren’t president, he would take over all of Ukraine.”

“I am president, and he’s not going to mess around with me,” he added.

Russian state media reported Thursday that Putin had gathered his advisors to inform them of “how the negotiation process on the Ukrainian crisis is going.”

Trump, “in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the fighting, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict,” Putin said.

But U.S. efforts to get Russia to halt the fighting have proved futile for months, with Moscow pressing forward in an offensive that has secured incremental gains on the battlefield.

“Putin thinks that he is winning this war militarily,” said Frederick Kagan, director of the Critical Threats Project, which collaborates with the Institute for the Study of War to produce daily battlefield assessments on the conflict. “He’s also confident that Western support for Ukraine, and particularly U.S. support, will break, and that when it does, Ukraine will collapse, and he’ll be able to take control of the whole thing.”

“It’s been his theory of victory for a long time,” Kagan said, “and it’s a huge part of the problem, because he’s not going to make any concessions so long as he’s confident that he’s winning.”

Russian incursions along a strategic portion of the front line, near a crucial Ukrainian logistics hub, spooked Ukraine’s supporters earlier this week. While serious, Kagan said that Russia does not hold the territory, and said that the conditions for offensive Russian operations had been set over the course of months.

“The Russians continue to have the initiative, and they continue to make gains,” he added. “The first step in changing Putin’s calculation about the war is to urgently help the Ukrainians stop the gains.”

Zelensky, after meeting with Starmer in London, said that he and the British leader had “discussed expectations for the meeting in Alaska and possible prospects.”

“We also discussed in considerable detail the security guarantees that can make peace truly durable,” Zelensky said, “if the United States succeeds in pressing Russia to stop the killings and engage in genuine, substantive diplomacy.”

Trump and Putin plan on arriving of the U.S. airbase within moments of one another, and are expected to meet on the tarmac before retreating into a private meeting.

Afterward, Trump and Putin will take questions from the press, the White House said.

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Michael Wilner

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August 14, 2025
Close call at Nashville airport came after planes were directed to same runway, probe shows

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Investigators said Wednesday that air traffic controllers cleared an Alaska Airlines jet to take off from Nashville last month after telling pilots of a Southwest Airlines jet to cross the same runway.

Pilots of the Alaska plane aborted their Sept. 12 takeoff at Nashville International Airport, applying the brakes so hard that the tires deflated as they are designed to do when they get too hot.

The National Transportation Safety Board gave a timeline of the incident as part of a brief preliminary report. The agency said it is continuing to investigate the incident. The board usually issues a probable cause for accidents and close calls after lengthy reviews.

There were 176 passengers and crew members on the Alaska jet and 141 on the Southwest plane. No injuries were reported, according to the NTSB.

The agency said it listened to conversations between pilots and controllers and retrieved flight data recorders from both planes. Investigators got the cockpit voice recorder from the Alaska Airlines jet, but the recorder on the Southwest plane was overwritten after the plane took off.

The NTSB said that a controller told the Alaska crew to line up on runway 13 and wait for permission to take off. About a minute later, a controller told the Southwest pilots to cross runway 13 on their way to another runway, and 15 seconds after that, a controller cleared the Alaska plane for takeoff.

The Alaska plane started down the runway before the pilots cut short their takeoff. Fuse plugs deflated on all four tires on the main landing gear, the NTSB said.

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October 26, 2024
Navy issues apology for destroying Alaska Native village in 1882

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Shells fell on the Alaska Native village as winter approached, and then sailors landed and burned what was left of homes, food caches and canoes. Conditions grew so dire in the following months that elders sacrificed their own lives to spare food for surviving children.

It was Oct. 26, 1882, in Angoon, a Tlingit village of about 420 people in the southeastern Alaska panhandle. Now, 142 years later, the perpetrator of the bombardment — the U.S. Navy —has apologized.

Rear Adm. Mark Sucato, the commander of the Navy’s northwest region, issued the apology during an at-times emotional ceremony Saturday, the anniversary of the atrocity.

“The Navy recognizes the pain and suffering inflicted upon the Tlingit people, and we acknowledge these wrongful actions resulted in the loss of life, the loss of resources, the loss of culture, and created and inflicted intergenerational trauma on these clans,” he said during the ceremony, which was livestreamed from Angoon. “The Navy takes the significance of this action very, very seriously and knows an apology is long overdue.”

While the rebuilt Angoon received $90,000 in a settlement with the Department of Interior in 1973, village leaders have for decades sought an apology as well, beginning each yearly remembrance by asking three times, “Is there anyone here from the Navy to apologize?”

“You can imagine the generations of people that have died since 1882 that have wondered what had happened, why it happened, and wanted an apology of some sort, because in our minds, we didn’t do anything wrong,” said Daniel Johnson Jr., a tribal head in Angoon.

The attack was one of a series of conflicts between the American military and Alaska Natives in the years after the U.S. bought the territory from Russia in 1867. The U.S. Navy issued an apology last month for destroying the nearby village of Kake in 1869, and the Army has indicated that it plans to apologize for shelling Wrangell, also in southeast Alaska, that year, though no date has been set.

In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, commander of Navy Region Northwest, Rear Adm. Mark Sucato, is gifted a canoe paddle by Leonard John, Raven Clan, Native Village of Angoon, following the One People Canoe Society’s welcoming ceremony to kick off the annual Juneau Maritime Festival on May 4, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska.

Chief Mass Communication Spc. Gretchen Albrecht/U.S. Navy via AP

The Navy acknowledges the actions it undertook or ordered in Angoon and Kake caused deaths, a loss of resources and multigenerational trauma, Navy civilian spokesperson Julianne Leinenveber said in an email prior to the event.

“An apology is not only warranted, but long overdue,” she said.

Today, Angoon remains a quaint village of about 420 people, with colorful old homes and totem poles clustered on the west side of Admiralty Island, accessible by ferry or float plane, in the Tongass National Forest, the nation’s largest. The residents are vastly outnumbered by brown bears, and the village in recent years has strived to foster its ecotourism industry. Bald eagles and humpback whales abound, and the salmon and halibut fishing is excellent.

Accounts vary as to what prompted its destruction, but they generally begin with the accidental death of a Tlingit shaman, Tith Klane. Klane was killed when a harpoon gun exploded on a whaling ship owned by his employer, the North West Trading Co.

The Navy’s version says tribal members forced the vessel to shore, possibly took hostages and, in accordance with their customs, demanded 200 blankets in compensation.

The company declined to provide the blankets and ordered the Tlingits to return to work. Instead, in sorrow, they painted their faces with coal tar and tallow — something the company’s employees took as a precursor to an insurrection. The company’s superintendent then sought help from Naval Cmdr. E.C. Merriman, the top U.S. official in Alaska, saying a Tlingit uprising threatened the lives and property of White residents.

The Tlingit version contends the boat’s crew, which included Tlingit members, likely remained with the vessel out of respect, planning to attend the funeral, and that no hostages were taken. Johnson said the tribe never would have demanded compensation so soon after the death.

Merriman arrived on Oct. 25 and insisted the tribe provide 400 blankets by noon the next day as punishment for disobedience. When the Tlingits turned over just 81, Merriman attacked, destroying 12 clan houses, smaller homes, canoes and the village’s food stores.

Six children died in the attack, and “there’s untold numbers of elderly and infants who died that winter of both cold, exposure and hunger,” Johnson said.

Billy Jones, Tith Klane’s nephew, was 13 when Angoon was destroyed. Around 1950, he recorded two interviews, and his account was later included in a booklet prepared for the 100th anniversary of the bombing in 1982.

“They left us homeless on the beach,” Jones said.

Rosita Worl, the president of Sealaska Heritage Institute in Juneau, described how some elders that winter “walked into the forest” — meaning they died, sacrificing themselves so the younger people would have more food.

Even though the Navy’s written history conflicts with the Tlingit oral tradition, the Navy defers to the tribe’s account “out of respect for the long-lasting impacts these tragic incidents had on the affected clans,” said Leinenveber, the Navy spokesperson.

Tlingit leaders were so stunned when Navy officials told them, during a Zoom call in May, that the apology would finally be forthcoming that no one spoke for five minutes, Johnson said.

Eunice James, of Juneau, a descendant of Tith Klane, said she hopes the apology helps her family and the entire community heal. She expects his presence at the ceremony.

“Not only his spirit will be there, but the spirit of many of our ancestors, because we’ve lost so many,” she said.

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October 26, 2024
Unbelievable facts

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Alaska is so vast and sparsely populated that its population density is roughly equivalent to having…

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October 19, 2024
Trail cameras capture the magical and violent world of Alaska’s wildlife

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Fat bear week gets off to controversial start

Fat bear week gets off to controversial start

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Millions of people worldwide tuned in for a remote Alaska national park’s “Fat Bear Week” celebration this month, as captivating livestream camera footage caught the chubby predators chomping on salmon and fattening up for the winter.

But in the vast state known for its abundant wildlife, the magical and sometimes violent world of wild animals can be found close to home.

Within half a mile of a well-populated neighborhood in Anchorage, the state’s biggest city, several trail cameras regularly capture animals ranging in size from wolverines to moose. And a Facebook group that features the animals caught on webcams has seen its number of followers grow nearly sixfold since September, when it posted footage of a wolf pack taking down a moose yearling.

This image made from video provided by Donna Gail Shaw shows a view from a trail camera of a brown bear and cub on July 18, 2024, in Anchorage, Alaska.

Donna Gail Shaw via AP

But it’s not all doom-and-gloom videos on the page, and the actual death of the moose calf was not shown. The group, named Muldoon Area Trail Photos and Videos, also features light-hearted moments such as two brown bear cubs standing on their hind legs and enthusiastically rubbing their backs against either side of a tree to mark it.

Ten cameras capture lynx, wolves, foxes, coyotes, eagles, and black and brown bears — “just whatever is out here,” said Donna Gail Shaw, a co-administrator of the Facebook group.

In addition to the 290,000 or so human residents of Anchorage, nearly 350 black bears, 65 brown bears and 1,600 moose also call it home.

Joe Cantil, a retired tribal health worker, said the idea for the page started when looking down at the vast open lands of Alaska from an airplane on a hunting trip near Fairbanks.

“You’re out in the middle of nowhere, so you see animals acting however they act whenever we’re not around,” he said.

This image made from video provided by Donna Gail Shaw shows a view from a trail camera of wolves attacking moose on Sept. 12, 2024, in Anchorage, Alaska.

Donna Gail Shaw via AP

He later met wildlife officials in the Anchorage park conducting an inventory of predators. He saw them set up a trap and three webcams where a moose had been killed.

“When I saw that, I thought, ‘Yeah, I can do that,’” he said.

Cantil set up a low-tech camera and caught his first animal on it, a wolverine, fueling a passion that led to the creation of the Facebook page in 2017.

Then, while hiking, he met Shaw, a retired science education professor and associate dean of the College of Education at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Shaw was intrigued by his game cameras and began bugging him to see the footage.

“Well, he finally got tired of me pestering him and one day he said, ‘You know, you can get your own camera,’ and so that started my hobby,” said Shaw, a native of Texas.

This image made from video provided by Donna Gail Shaw shows a view from a trail camera of a coyote on March 15, 2022, in Anchorage, Alaska.

Donna Gail Shaw via AP

She started by strapping a single $60 camera to a tree. Now she has nine cameras, seven of which are active in Far North Bicentennial Park, a 4,000-acre park stretching for miles along the front range of the Chugach Mountains on the east side of Anchorage.

Her cameras are set up anywhere between a quarter-mile to a half-mile of the Chugach Foothills neighborhood and she frequently posts to the Facebook group page. Cantil also posts videos from his three cameras.

“I knew there was wildlife out here because I would occasionally run into a moose or a bear on the trail, but I didn’t know how much wildlife was out here until I put the cameras on it,” Shaw said.

She replaces batteries and storage cards about once a week, walking into the woods to do so armed with an air horn to announce her presence, two cans of bear spray and a .44-caliber handgun for protection.

This image made from video provided by Donna Gail Shaw shows a view from a trail camera of a brown bear and a black bear on Aug. 29, 2019, in Anchorage, Alaska.

Donna Gail Shaw via AP

Many of the page’s followers are Anchorage residents looking for information about which animals may currently be roaming around the popular trail system. Other users join to see what the cameras capture, including people from other states who “enjoy looking at the wildlife that we have here,” she said.

Shaw said that every few years, her cameras catch a wolf or two — and sometimes even a pack. This year she was surprised when a pack of five wolves came by, walking quietly in a single file.

Last month, while she collected memory cards, she saw moose fur on the ground across the creek from two of her cameras. After she spotted what looked like a roughed-up patch of dirt where a bear might bury its kill, she assumed it was another moose attacked by a black bear, similar to what happened earlier not too far away.

Donna Gail Shaw checks her trail camera on Sept. 26, 2024, near a populated neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska.

AP Photo/Mark Thiessen

But when she checked the memory card, it instead showed the wolves taking down the moose yearling as the moose’s mother attempted to protect her offspring by trying to kick the wolves away with her long legs.

Now, the demand for the page is growing, but Shaw said she’s done adding cameras.

“I think I’m at my camera max,” she said. “Nine is enough!”

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October 12, 2024
“Grazer” claims victory in Alaska’s fat bear contest after dramatic showdown

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“Grazer” claims victory in Alaska’s fat bear contest after dramatic showdown – CBS News

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In a fierce competition, 20-year-old bear Grazer won Alaska’s Fat Bear Contest for the second year in a row, defeating fan favorite Chunk, who had killed one of her cubs earlier this summer. Grazer claimed victory by more than 40,000 votes

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October 9, 2024
Climate change destroyed an Alaska village. Its residents are starting over in a new town

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MERTARVIK, Alaska (AP) — Growing up along the banks of the Ninglick River in western Alaska, Ashley Tom would look out of her window after strong storms from the Bering Sea hit her village and notice something unsettling: the riverbank was creeping ever closer.

It was in that home, in the village of Newtok, where Tom’s great-grandmother had taught her to sew and crochet on the sofa, skills she used at school when students crafted headdresses, mittens and baby booties using seal or otter fur. It’s also where her grandmother taught her the intricate art of grass basket weaving and how to speak the Yupik language.

An abandoned home is locked up in Newtok, Alaska on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Permafrost melts on the coast in Newtok, Alaska on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Today, erosion and melting permafrost have just about destroyed Newtok, eating about 70 feet (21.34 meters) of land every year. All that’s left are some dilapidated and largely abandoned gray homes scraped bare of paint by salt darting in on the winds of storms.

“Living with my great-grandmother was all I could remember from Newtok, and it was one of the first houses to be demolished,” said Tom.

Ashley Tom tends to her plants at her home in Mertarvik, Alaska, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

In the next few weeks, the last 71 residents will load their possessions onto boats to move to Mertarvik, rejoining 230 residents who began moving away in 2019. They will become one of the first Alaska Native villages to complete a large-scale relocation because of climate change.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a series on how tribes and Indigenous communities are coping with and combating climate change.

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Newtok village leaders began searching for a new townsite more than two decades ago, ultimately swapping land with the federal government for a place 9 miles (14.48 kilometers) away on the stable volcanic underpinnings of Nelson Island in the Bering Strait.

But the move has been slow, leaving Newtok a split village. Even after most residents shifted to Mertarvik, the grocery store and school remained in Newtok, leaving some teachers and students separated from their families for the school year.

Power poles lean in the village of Newtok, Alaska on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A resident drives along a flooded boardwalk on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Newtok, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A young man drives an ATV on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Homes of people who relocated from Newtok, Alaska are visible in Mertarvik, Alaska on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Calvin Tom, the tribal administrator and Ashley’s uncle, called Newtok “not a place to live anymore.” Erosion has tilted power poles precariously, and a single good storm this fall will knock out power for good, he said.

For now, the rush is on to get 18 temporary homes that arrived in Mertarvik on a barge set up before winter sets in.

Calvin Tom, the tribal administrator, stands along the eroded coastline in Newtok, Alaska on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Alaska is warming two to three times faster than the global average. Some villages dotting the usually frigid North Slope, Alaska’s prodigious oil field, had their warmest temperatures on record in August, prompting some of Ashley Tom’s friends living there to don bikinis and head to Arctic Ocean beaches.

It’s the same story across the Arctic, with permafrost degradation damaging roads, railroad tracks, pipes and buildings for 4 million people across the top of the world, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Arctic Institute. In the Russian Arctic, Indigenous people are being moved to cities instead of having their eroding villages relocated and across Scandinavia, reindeer herders are finding the land constantly shifting and new bodies of water appearing, the institute said.

About 85% of Alaska’s land area lies atop permafrost, so named because it’s supposed to be permanently frozen ground. It holds a lot of water, and when it thaws or when warmer coastal water hits it, its melting causes further erosion. Another issue with warming: less sea ice to act as natural barriers that protect coastal communities from the dangerous waves of ocean storms.

Calvin Tom, left, the tribal administrator, lifts his son Brady Tom into his boat in Mertarvik, Alaska on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

The Yupik have a word for the catastrophic threats of erosion, flooding and thawing permafrost: “usteq,” which means “surface caves in.” The changes are usually slow — until all of a sudden they aren’t, as when a riverbank sloughs off or a huge hole opens up, said Rick Thoman, a climate specialist with the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

There are 144 Alaska Native communities that face some degree of infrastructure damage from erosion, flooding or permafrost melt, according to a report in January from the the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. Six of them — Kivalina, Koyukuk, Newtok, Shaktoolik, Shishmaref and Unalakleet — were deemed imminently threatened in a Government Accountability Office report more than two decades ago.

Communities have three options based on the severity of their situations: Securing protection to stay where they are; staging a managed retreat, moving back from erosion threats; or a complete relocation.

Water and patches of green are visible near Mertarvik, Alaska Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Moving is hard, starting with finding a place to go. Communities typically need to swap with the federal government, which owns about 60% of Alaska’s land. But Congress has to approve swaps, and that’s only after negotiations that can drag on: Newtok, for example, began pursuing the Nelson Island land in 1996 and didn’t wrap up until late 2003.

“That’s way too long,” said Jackie Qatalina Schaeffer, the director of climate initiatives at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.

“If we look back a decade at what’s happened as far as climate change in Alaska, we’re out of time,” she said. “We need to find a better way to help communities secure land for relocation.”

Kivalina last year completed a master plan for relocation and is negotiating with an Alaska Native regional corporation for the land, a process that could take 3 to 5 years, Schaeffer said.

A girl plays with a dog on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, in Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Children play along the tundra on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, in Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Another big hurdle is cost. Newtok has spent decades and about $160 million in today’s dollars on its move. Estimates to relocate Kivalina vary from $100 million to $400 million and rising, and there’s currently no federal funding for relocation. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has disaster funding and programs, Schaeffer said, but that comes only after a disaster declaration.

In 2018, a resource for Alaska communities identified 60 federal funding sources for relocation, but according to the Unmet Needs report, only a few have been successfully used to address environmental threats. But an infusion of funding into these existing programs by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act could provide benefits to threatened Alaska communities, the report said.

About $4.3 billion in 2020 dollars will be needed to mitigate infrastructure damage over the next 50 years, the health consortium report says. It called for Congress to close an $80 million annual gap by providing a single committed source to assist communities.

Bosco and Jennifer Carl say grace with their children before a meal at their home on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Marie Carl, 75, sits at the kitchen table at her home on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

“Alaska Native economic, social, and cultural ways of being, which have served so well for millennia, are now under extreme threat due to accelerated environmental change,” the report said. “In jeopardy are not just buildings, but the sustainability of entire communities and cultures.”

After five years of separation and split lives, the residents of Newtok and Mertarvik will be one again. The school in Newtok closed and classes started in August for the first time in a temporary location in Mertarvik. A new school building should be ready in 2026. The Newtok grocery recently moved to Mertarvik, and there’s plans for a second grocery and a church, Calvin Tom said.

The new village site has huge benefits, including better health, Tom said. For now, most of the people of Mertarvik are still using a “honey bucket” system rather than toilets. But that method of manually dumping plastic buckets of waste should be replaced by piped water and sewer within the next few years. The new homes in Mertarvik are also free of black mold that crept into some Newtok homes on moisture brought by the remnants of Typhoon Merbok two years ago.

Girlie Carl, 4, plays with her grandmother Marie Carl, 75, on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A young girl prepares to participate in an Indigenous drum and dance on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Marie Carl, 75, performs during an Indigenous drum and dance in Mertarvik, Alaska on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Tom said there’s talk of someday renaming the relocated town Newtok. Whatever the name, the relocation offers assurance that culture and traditions from the old place will continue. An Indigenous drum and dance group is practicing at the temporary school, and subsistence hunting opportunities — moose, musk ox, black bear, brown bear — abound.

A pod of belugas that comes by every fall should arrive soon, and that hunt will help residents fill their freezers for the harsh winter ahead.

Jennifer sits with her daughter Girlie, 4, at their home on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Ashley Tom is excited by the arrival of the last Newtok residents in Mertarvik. Although their home will be different than what they’ve known for most of their lives, she’s confident they will come to appreciate it as she has.

“I really love this this new area, and I just feel whole here,” she said.

___

Thiessen reported from Anchorage.

___

This story was first published on Sep. 26, 2024. It was updated on Sep. 28, 2024 to correct the number of villages facing infrastructure damage from erosion, 144 not 114. It also corrects the name of the organization that authored the Unmet Needs report, and where Jackie Qatalina Schaeffer works as the director of climate initiatives. It is the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, not the Alaska Native Travel Health Consortium.

___

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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September 28, 2024
Santa Saves Cannabis

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As marijuana become legal across North America – the North Pole got caught in fight.

Canada and a big chunk of the United States have legalized cannabis. The results have been improved medical options, a decrease in alcohol consumption, a reduction of youth use and some more chill people. But the journey to this point has been tough. Opponents have spread misinformation and slowed the process. Even the current administration has be lackadaisical in the approach. Medical marijuana patients will tell you the benefits in trea tment of chronic pain, cancer, insomnia, inflammation and more. Veterans now have access to treatments to a proven help with PTSD. It has been a battle, but, in one case, Santa saves Christmas for marijuana fans.

Thomas O’Connor legally changed his name to Santa Claus in 2005 and is a monk, child welfare activist and local city council member. He is also a cancer patient and a consumer of medical marijuana. He resides in North Pole, Alaska, which originally banned all cannabis use.

RELATED: Science Says Medical Marijuana Improves Quality Of Life

North Pole, Alaska, a small suburb of Fairbanks, is known for its year-round Christmas decorations, including candy cane–striped street lights. Santa Claus House is a Christmas store with walls covered in children’s letters to Santa and a huge Santa statue outside. Streets have names like Kris Kringle Drive and Mistletoe Lane. In 2016, the local city council voted to ban marijuana businesses within its city limits. But they didn’t talk to the official leader of the North Pole, Santa Claus.

Screenshot via WCMH

When it happened (and it was covered by The Fresh Toast), Santa shared with Alaska’s KTUU. “I think they are not in this particular instance are not embracing the spirit of love. I think what they’re doing is engendering hate, which comes from fear.”

But you don’t become Santa without having some good will, determination and drive. Santa worked with the city and city council and managed to get the proposition overturned. Now the area boosts three cannabis dispensaries.

RELATED: Beer Sales Flatten Thanks To Marijuana

And Santa? He continues his children welfare advocacy work and, as of 2022, is the mayor pro tem of North Pole. Unfortunately, Santa is still plagued with cancer and continues to be a medical marijuana patient. We hope more research is in his stocking this year to provide help and relief for him and the millions of patients who would benefit.

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Anthony Washington

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September 18, 2024
U.S. deploys soldiers, rocket systems to Alaska island as Russian military activity ramps up in region

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The U.S. military has moved about 130 soldiers along with mobile rocket launchers to a desolate island in the Aleutian chain of western Alaska amid a recent increase in Russian military planes and vessels approaching American territory.

Eight Russian military planes and four navy vessels, including two submarines, have come close to Alaska in the past week as Russia and China conducted joint military drills. None of the planes breached U.S. airspace and a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday there was no cause for alarm.

“It’s not the first time that we’ve seen the Russians and the Chinese flying, you know, in the vicinity, and that’s something that we obviously closely monitor, and it’s also something that we’re prepared to respond to,” Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a news conference.

As part of a “force projection operation,” the Army on Sept. 12 sent the soldiers to Shemya Island, some 1,200 miles southwest of Anchorage, where the U.S. Air Force maintains an air station that dates to World War II. The soldiers brought two High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, with them.

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said the U.S. military also deployed a guided missile destroyer and a Coast Guard vessel to the western region of Alaska as Russia and China began the “Ocean-24” military exercises in the Pacific and Arctic oceans Sept. 10.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command said it detected and tracked Russian military planes operating off Alaska over a four-day span. There were two planes each on Sept. 11, Sept. 13, Sept. 14 and Sept. 15.

The planes operated in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, a zone beyond U.S. sovereign airspace, but within which the U.S. expects aircraft to identify themselves, NORAD said.

The Russian Embassy in the U.S. did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

NORAD has said the number of such incursions has fluctuated yearly. The average was six to seven intercepts a year. Last year, 26 Russian planes came into the Alaska zone, and so far this year, there have been 25.

Often in such encounters, the military provides photos of the Russian warplanes being escorted by either U.S. or Canadian planes, such as during a July 24 intercept of two Russian and two Chinese planes. However, none was released in the past week and a NORAD spokeswoman, Canadian Maj. Jennie Derenzis, declined to say whether jets were scrambled to intercept the Russian planes.

Also in July, the Coast Guard spotted four Chinese military ships north of the Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands in international waters, but also within the U.S. exclusive economic zone.

The U.S. Coast Guard said Sunday its homeland security vessel, the 418-foot Stratton, was on routine patrol in the Chukchi Sea when it tracked four Russian Federation Navy vessels about 60 miles northwest of Point Hope, Alaska.

The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stratton (WMSL 752) encountered and shadowed four Russian Federation Navy (RFN) vessels 57 miles northwest of Point Hope, Alaska, Sept. 15, 2024. The Russian Surface Action Group consisted of a Severodvinsk-class submarine, a Dolgorukiy-class submarine, a Steregushchiy– class Frigate, and a Seliva-class tug.

U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo

The Russian vessels, which included two submarines, a frigate and a tugboat, had crossed the maritime boundary into U.S. waters to avoid sea ice, which is permitted under international rules and customs.

Two years ago, a U.S. Coast Guard ship about 85 miles north of Alaska’s Kiska Island in the Bering Sea came across three Chinese and four Russian naval vessels sailing in single formation.

In August 2023, the U.S. Navy sent four destroyers to the Alaskan coast after 11 Chinese and Russian warships were spotted patrolling in international waters within the Exclusive Economic Zone.

Ryder, the Pentagon spokesperson, said the recent spike is “something that we’ll continue to keep an eye on, but doesn’t pose a threat from our perspective.”

Sullivan called for a larger military presence in the Aleutians while advocating for the U.S. to respond with strength to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“In the past two years, we’ve seen joint Russian-Chinese air and naval exercises off our shores and a Chinese spy balloon floating over our communities,” Sullivan said in a statement Tuesday. “These escalating incidents demonstrate the critical role the Arctic plays in great power competition between the U.S., Russia, and China.”

Sullivan said the U.S. Navy should reopen its shuttered base at Adak, located in the Aleutians. Naval Air Facility Adak was closed in 1997.

Russia has also ramped up its military presence in the Arctic. The expansion includes the recent unveiling of two nuclear submarines by Russian President Vladimir Putin, signaling a major strategic shift in the region.

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September 18, 2024
2 Alaska State Troopers charged with violently assaulting the wrong man in case of mistaken identity

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Two Alaska State Troopers who pepper-sprayed, beat, stunned and used a police dog on a man in a case of mistaken identity have been charged with assault, authorities said Thursday.

Charging documents said the troopers — canine handler Jason Woodruff and Sgt. Joseph Miller — thought they were dealing with Garrett Tikka, a man wanted for failing to serve a 10-day sentence for driving with a revoked license, on May 24 when they checked out an SUV parked in the Kenai Peninsula community of Soldotna, southwest of Anchorage.

Instead, the man inside the vehicle was Garrett Tikka’s cousin, Ben Tikka, according to the charges filed Tuesday by the Office of Special Prosecutions in the Alaska Attorney General’s Office. The arrest left Ben Tikka bloodied and in need of surgery to repair muscle lacerations. He also suffered a fractured shoulder, cuts to his head and an open dog bite on his left upper arm.

During a news conference Thursday announcing the charges, authorities said they would not release body-worn camera video that captured the arrest until after the criminal case is resolved. But James Cockrell, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety, said he had never seen anything like it in his 33 years with the department.

“I was totally sickened by what I saw,” Cockrell said.

Woodruff’s attorney, Clint Campion, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Online court records did not list an attorney for Miller, and The Associated Press was not immediately able to find valid contact information for him.

Miller, 49, is a 14-year employee of the Alaska State Troopers, most recently assigned as a shift supervisor in Soldotna. Woodruff, 42, has been with the troopers for 16 years.

They were each charged with one count of misdemeanor assault and are due to have an appearance at state court in Kenai on Sept. 10. Both have been placed on administrative leave, Cockrell said, and the department is reviewing some past cases they have been involved in for possible policy violations.

The case began with a call about possible illegal camping in a vehicle at a dog park in Soldotna. The troopers had been advised that the SUV was associated with Garrett Tikka, but they failed to confirm who was inside it before telling the occupant he was wanted on an outstanding warrant and ordering him out, the charges say.

Ben Tikka responded that he was not the subject of any such warrant, and he did not immediately exit the vehicle.

Miller smashed a rear window with a baton and then fired pepper spray inside. When Tikka got out, Miller kicked him in the shin, punched him in the back of the head or neck, and stepped on his head.

He then repeatedly used a stun gun on him as another trooper, who was not charged, tried to handcuff him — at one point, Miller accidentally stunned the other officer, according to the charging papers.

As Tikka, lying face-down, placed his hands behind his back, he was repeatedly bitten by the police dog, named Olex, which had also bitten its handler, Woodruff, minutes earlier, the documents say.

Tikka tried to move away from the dog and Woodruff commanded it to continue biting; the dog did so, attacking Tikka even as Tikka, covered in blood, complied with commands to put his hands up and begged, “Please stop the dog. Please stop the dog.”

The dog has been taken out of service, Cockrell said.

Only as Tikka was being taken to a hospital did another trooper confirm he was Ben Tikka, not Garrett.

The troopers arrested Ben Tikka on several counts, including fourth degree assault for placing troopers in fear of physical injury. The Kenai District Attorney’s Office later dismissed the case.

Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore said the state has previously filed excessive use of force charges against police officers in Bethel and Anchorage, but he couldn’t recall such charges being filed against a trooper in the 25 years he’s been with the state.

According to charging papers, Miller told investigators that no force would have been used if Tikka had simply exited the vehicle and complied with commands. When asked if the force used by officers in this situation was reasonable, he replied: “From my understanding, yes.”

The investigators, with Alaska Bureau of Investigation, said Woodruff told them he was following his training in using the dog on Tikka. He described Tikka as “super pissed” when he got out of the vehicle.

“Was he throwing punches or anything like that? No. However, he was still resistant,” the charging papers quoted Woodruff as saying.

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August 15, 2024
Orphaned baby walrus has

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Rescuers rushed into action Tuesday after a walrus — estimated to be only a couple of weeks old or less — was spotted alone on an Alaskan beach.

Walruses are very reliant on their mothers for the first two years of their lives, so the newborn likely wouldn’t have survived for long after being left alone, according to the Alaska SeaLife Center. She was malnourished and dehydrated when a team arrived on Tuesday.

“She now has a second chance at life in human care, and she’ll help bring awareness to her species while receiving incredible care,” wildlife response animal care specialist Halley Werner said in a news release.

The Alaska SeaLife Center Wildlife Response Program is caring for an orphaned female Pacific walrus calf that arrived from Utqiagvik, AK on July 22, 2024.

Kaiti Grant | Alaska SeaLife Center

The 165-pound calf was found on a beach in Utqiagvik, a city in northern Alaska. A herd had recently left the area, which led rescuers to believe the calf had been left on its own.

Rescuers gave the calf emergency fluids and stabilizing treatments. The Alaska SeaLife Center has at least two people working in shifts, either staying with the calf, preparing food, cleaning or caring for other animals.

“There will be lots of weird sleeping hours ahead, but that’s OK. We do it for the animals,” veterinary technician Jessica Davis said. “We want to give back and set them up for success. This is all part of the job we love.”

Rescues of walruses are rare. The Alaska SeaLife Center’s Wildlife Response Department has helped just 11 since the organization started in 1998. The care regimen is intense; walrus calves are highly social and seek comfort from their mothers. Staffers from the rescue team are acting as surrogates, providing physical contact for the newborn.

Jane Belovarac comforting the orphaned female Pacific walrus calf that arrived from Utqiagvik, Alaska.

Kaiti Grant | Alaska SeaLife Center

The rescued walrus will become used to human care and will not be a candidate for release back into the wild, according to the center.

Last year, a rescued baby walrus who had been receiving “round-the-clock” cuddles as part of his treatment died. The calf had been dealing with hypoglycemia and gastrointestinal problems.

Pacific walruses live in the Bering and Chukchi seas, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Both male and females grow ivory tusks. They also have hundreds of short, strong and highly sensitive whiskers, which are used to search for food. Adult females can weigh more than a ton, while adult males can weigh up to two tons.

Polar bears and killer whales are the species’ only natural predators, according to the Marine Mammal Commission. The species is also threatened by a reduction in sea ice. They use the ice as a resting platform between foraging trips.

“With less sea ice, walruses will likely spend more time on shore haulouts along the Russian and Alaskan coasts where foraging trips may be more limited to foraging grounds nearby,” according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “Calves and yearlings suffer increased mortality on terrestrial haulouts when disturbances cause the herd to panic and rush to the water, running over and crushing the smaller animals.”

Aliza Chasan

Aliza Chasan is a Digital Content Producer for “60 Minutes” and CBSNews.com. She has previously written for outlets including PIX11 News, The New York Daily News, Inside Edition and DNAinfo. Aliza covers trending news, often focusing on crime and politics.

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July 25, 2024
U.S. intercepts Russian, Chinese bombers off Alaskan coast

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The U.S. military intercepted several Russian and Chinese bombers in international airspace near the coast of Alaska Wednesday.

Two Russian Tu-95s and two Chinese H-6s entered what is known as the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement Wednesday night.

The aircraft were “detected, tracked and intercepted,” NORAD said. They remained in the Alaska ADIZ and did not enter U.S. airspace.

The bombers were intercepted by U.S. F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, along with Canadian CF-18s and other support aircraft, a U.S. defense official confirmed to CBS News.

The official said that this marks the first time ever that Russian and Chinese aircraft have jointly entered the Alaska ADIZ, and the first time Chinese H-6s have encroached off Alaska.

While the Alaska ADIZ is considered part of international airspace, it is defined as an area where sovereign U.S. airspace ends but “that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security,” according to NORAD.

The activity from the Russian and Chinese bombers was “not seen as a threat,” NORAD noted.

FTupolev Tu-95 bomber and missile platforms take part in a rehearsal for a 2020 Victory Day parade in Moscow’s Tverskaya Street, Russia on June 20, 2020.

Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

In February, the U.S. detected four Russian warplanes flying in the Alaska ADIZ, as was another Russian military aircraft in May 2023.

And in February 2023, Russian warplanes were intercepted there twice in one week. And that same month, a Chinese spy balloon was detected near Alaska before eventually making its way across the continental U.S. and being shot down off the coast of South Carolina.

Military activity by the U.S., Canada, Russia and China has also ramped up in the Arctic. Just days ago, Moscow said it scrambled fighter jets to intercept two U.S. military long-range bomber aircraft that approached the Russian border over the Barents Sea in the Arctic.

Russia has ramped up military operations in the Arctic Circle, including tests of advanced hypersonic missiles. Earlier this month, Canada’s defense ministry said it plans to acquire 12 new submarines capable of traveling under sea ice to bolster the defense of the country’s vast Arctic coastal region.

China has expanded its own underwater fleet, and Russian submarines continue to collect intelligence in Arctic waters, the Canadian defense ministry said.

— Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.

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Faris Tanyos

Faris Tanyos is a news editor for CBSNews.com, where he writes and edits stories and tracks breaking news. He previously worked as a digital news producer at several local news stations up and down the West Coast.

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July 24, 2024
Climber who died near the top of Denali, North America’s tallest mountain identified

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A Malaysian climber likely died of exposure and altitude-related illness earlier this week after sheltering for days in a snow cave with minimal survival gear near the top of Denali, North America’s tallest mountain in Alaska, park officials said Saturday.

Zulkifli Bin Yusof, 36, likely died Wednesday in a 19,600 foot elevation cave in Denali National Park and Preserve, park spokesman Paul Ollig said Saturday. The National Park Service recovered his body Friday night, Ollig said.

Yusof was part of a three-man climbing team, all of whom listed their address as the Alpine Club of Malaysia in Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, according to Ollig. Yusof’s two partners survived. The climbers put out a distress call On Tuesday suggesting they were hypothermic and unable to descend on their own, according to the National Park Service.

Denali park rangers communicated with the group of climbers for several hours through a portable device that uses satellite to send messages. It also has a GPS system that allows recipients to see its location.

Sightseeing buses and tourists are seen at a pullout popular for taking in views of North America’s tallest peak, Denali, in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska, Aug. 26, 2016.

Becky Bohrer / AP

One of the men, a 48-year-old, was rescued Tuesday night after descending to a 17,200-foot camp. He was described by the park as having severe frostbite and hypothermia. Rescue teams then made attempts to reach the others but couldn’t reach the stranded climbers due to high winds and clouds, although at 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, a park high-altitude helicopter pilot dropped “a duffle bag of survival gear” near the climbers’ location.

As weather conditions improved, rescue teams made another attempt at 6:00 a.m. on Friday and favorable wind conditions allowed them to drop a short haul basket.

The climber rescued Friday was medevaced to an Anchorage hospital for additional care and “was in surprisingly strong condition, walking on his own even, considering what he endured,” Ollig previously said. The climber’s name and additional information about him and the other survivor would not be released by the park. The other climber is also recovering at a hospital.

Two of the three men had previous experience on Denali, Ollig said. All three had previously climbed other high-elevation mountains, he said.

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June 1, 2024
Climber rescued from 20,000-foot mountain — 2 days after partner dies in snow cave

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A climber was rescued near the peak of the highest mountain in North America — two days after his climbing partner died inside their snow cave at 19,600 feet.

National Park Service photo

A climber was rescued near the peak of the highest mountain in North America — two days after his climbing partner died inside their snow cave, officials said.

The climbers were part of a three-man team from Malaysia that embarked on an extended Denali summit push that left them “exhausted and hypothermic” late Tuesday, May 28, Denali National Park & Preserve said in a news release.

The climbers first sent an SOS to mountaineering rangers from the 20,310-foot summit at 1 a.m., saying they were “hypothermic and unable to descend the mountain,” officials said in a May 29 news release.

They communicated back and forth with rangers until 3:30 a.m., when they told rangers “they planned to descend to the ‘Football Field’, a flat expanse at 19,600-foot elevation,” officials said in the release. But after that transmission, rangers stopped hearing from them — and the location of the device did not change.

“Variable cloud cover on Tuesday morning prevented the park’s high-altitude helicopter from reaching the mountain from Talkeetna,” so rangers contacted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center for help, officials said.

The Alaska Air National Guard launched an emergency rescue mission helicopter at 10 a.m. and spotted two of the three climbers between 19,000 and 20,000 feet just before noon, officials said. A climbing guide spotted the third climber below them near Zebra Rocks at 18,600 feet.

“Although winds were relatively calm on Tuesday, several stagnant cloud layers prevented the park’s high-altitude helicopter from reaching the climbers safely,” officials said.

Rescuers tried again when the clouds cleared slightly at 5 p.m., and while the summit was still covered in clouds, the helicopter was able to reach a camp at 14,200 feet where mountaineering patrol had been treating another pair of climbers with frostbite injuries, officials said. Rescuers evacuated the frostbitten climbers and transferred the more severely injured climber to an air ambulance for more advanced care.

By 9 p.m., one of the three Malaysian climbers had descended to a camp at 17,200-feet “with severe frostbite and hypothermia,” where rangers were able to evacuate him, officials said.

Then clouds began to build back up again and high winds started whipping the upper mountain, officials said.

Rescuers were on standby through most of Wednesday and Thursday as the two remaining climbers bivvied in a crude snow cave, where they had been since late Tuesday night, officials said.

At 10:30 p.m. Thursday, the park’s high-altitude helicopter pilot dropped a duffle bag of survival gear near their snow cave on the Football Field. He spotted one of the climbers waving at him, but winds were still too strong to haul them off the mountain.

The weather had improved enough by 6 a.m. Friday, May 31, for the pilot and another ranger to return to the Football Field to haul them out with a rescue basket attached by a rope to the helicopter’s belly, officials said.

As they rescued the surviving climber, he told them his partner had died in their snow cave about two days earlier, officials said.

The surviving climber climbed into the basket, was flown to the Kahiltna Basecamp at 7,200 feet and evacuated to the Talkeetna State Airport, where he was transferred to an air ambulance, officials said.

Officials will release the identity of the climber who died after notifying his family of his death. Rangers plan to recover his body in the next few days.

“Memorial Day weekend is the start of the busiest two weeks of the Denali mountaineering season,” officials said in the May 29 release. “As of Wednesday morning, there are 506 climbers attempting climbs on Denali. So far this season, an additional 117 climbers have come and gone, 17 of whom reached the mountain’s summit, equating to a 15% summit rate.”

Brooke (she/them) is a McClatchy Real-Time reporter who covers LGBTQ+ entertainment news and national parks out west. They studied journalism at the University of Florida, and previously covered LGBTQ+ news for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. When they’re not writing stories, they enjoy hanging out with their cats, riding horses or spending time outdoors.

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May 31, 2024
Shopping Portal Bonuses From Southwest, United, American, Alaska Portals (Up To 6,500 Miles) – Doctor Of Credit
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The Offer
- Alaska Airlines shopping is offering 400 miles when you spend $100+ or 1,000 miles when you spend $400+. This bonus began on 5/1 and ends on 5/8.
- United Airlines shopping is offering 500 miles when you spend $100+ or 2,500 miles when you spend $400+. This bonus begins on 5/6 and ends on 5/13.
- American Airlines shopping is offering 500 miles when you spend $200+ or 2,000 miles when you spend $800+. This bonus begins on 5/6 and ends on 5/13.
- Southwest Airlines shopping is offering 500 miles when you spend $100+ or 1,000 miles when you spend $200+. This bonus begins on 5/6 and ends on 5/20.
Our Verdict

Some nice deals here, especially with the higher tiers. Always be sure to compare portal rates as it might be more worthwhile to use another portal if their rate is much higher.

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Chuck

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May 6, 2024
Trio tried to sell thousands of pounds of infected crab from Alaska in Seattle, feds say

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The trio tried to transport all 7,000 pounds of crab but were thwarted by disease, and then the cops, officials say.

Photo by Jules Thomas via Unsplash

Three boat captains are charged with violating federal and state law after attempting a perilous plot.

In February and March, using two fishing boats, the trio caught 7,000 pounds of crab and illegally transported the lot to Seattle, skipping over the law-mandated step of getting a fish ticket from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, according to an April 22 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Alaska.

Now, one captain faces two charges of unlawful transportation of fish or wildlife, while the others face one count of the same violation.

McClatchy News reached out to one of the captains’ lawyers for comment on April 24. However, the attorney, newly assigned to the case, wasn’t able to offer comment at this time.

Rather than harvest the crab at a port in Alaska, the group headed straight for Seattle, where it planned to sell its catch at a higher price than it could have in Alaska.

Skirting the ticket process became a fatal error. When the captains arrived in Washington, a large portion of the crabs were dead. According to court documents, many of the crabs were infected with Bitter Crab Syndrome (BCS), a parasitic disease that is deadly to crabs.

In fact, as one captain admitted, a portion of the crabs had to be disposed of mid-transit due to the disease.

Court documents say that had the captains’ crab harvest been properly accounted for by the Department of Fish and Game before attempting to be sold, the infected crab would have been identified and disposed of before leaving Alaska.

Although BCS does not harm humans, it can wipe out entire crab populations. When the captains arrived in Washington, their entire catch had to be disposed of.

Crabs affected with BCS “have a very bitter or astringent aftertaste, and the meat is chalky when cooked, making them unmarketable resulting in serious economic losses when prevalences are high,” according to a 2022 article from Science Direct.

Law enforcement executed a search warrant on the captains and the boats. At the time, the trio was not on the same boat. The first captain to be searched alerted the other two. By the time the authorities got to the others, the duo had deleted all text messages pertaining to their plot.

Although this is also a violation of the law, obstruction of justice is not one of the charges in the court documents.

The first hearing is scheduled for May 2.

Julia Daye is a national real-time reporter for McClatchy. She has written for numerous local and national outlets and holds a degree from Columbia Journalism School.

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April 24, 2024
Douglas C-54 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska

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A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane carrying two people crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday and burst into flames, authorities said. No survivors have been found.The plane took off in the morning from Fairbanks International Airport. It crashed about 7 miles from there and “slid into a steep hill on the bank of the river where it caught fire,” according to Alaska State Troopers.Clint Johnson, chief of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska regional office, said it remained unclear what happened in the time between the takeoff and the crash but the tower operator “saw a large plume of smoke.”Michaela Matherne was flying from the village of Galena to Fairbanks to catch a flight to New Orleans when her small plane was diverted to verify the coordinates of the crash site.“When we were in the air there was speculation that it was a cabin that caught fire, maybe a fish camp,” she told The Associated Press via Facebook Messenger.“We actually didn’t know what we were looking at until after we landed a few minutes later,” she said. “We were shocked and saddened to hear that.”The C-54 is a military version of the Douglas DC-4, which was a World War II-era airplane. The website www.airlines.net said standard passenger seating for a DC-4 was 44 during its heyday, but most have been converted to freighters.The Federal Aviation Administration described the plane as a Douglas C-54. Troopers identified it as a DC-4.The NTSB was sending investigators to the site, Johnson said.Further information such as the flight’s purpose and destination was not immediately available.

FAIRBANKS, Alaska —

A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane carrying two people crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday and burst into flames, authorities said. No survivors have been found.

The plane took off in the morning from Fairbanks International Airport. It crashed about 7 miles from there and “slid into a steep hill on the bank of the river where it caught fire,” according to Alaska State Troopers.

Clint Johnson, chief of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska regional office, said it remained unclear what happened in the time between the takeoff and the crash but the tower operator “saw a large plume of smoke.”

Michaela Matherne was flying from the village of Galena to Fairbanks to catch a flight to New Orleans when her small plane was diverted to verify the coordinates of the crash site.

“When we were in the air there was speculation that it was a cabin that caught fire, maybe a fish camp,” she told The Associated Press via Facebook Messenger.

“We actually didn’t know what we were looking at until after we landed a few minutes later,” she said. “We were shocked and saddened to hear that.”

The C-54 is a military version of the Douglas DC-4, which was a World War II-era airplane. The website www.airlines.net said standard passenger seating for a DC-4 was 44 during its heyday, but most have been converted to freighters.

The Federal Aviation Administration described the plane as a Douglas C-54. Troopers identified it as a DC-4.

The NTSB was sending investigators to the site, Johnson said.

Further information such as the flight’s purpose and destination was not immediately available.

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April 23, 2024
Biden Administration Restricts Oil And Gas Leasing In 13 Million Acres Of Alaska’s Petroleum Reserve – KXL

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This July 8, 2004, photo provided by the United States Geological Survey shows Fish Creek through the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, managed by the Bureau of Land Management on Alaska’s North Slope. (David W. Houseknecht/United States Geological Survey via AP)

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. oil industry’s top lobbying group says Biden administration rules restricting oil and gas leasing in 13 million acres of Alaska’s petroleum reserve are “misguided.”

The American Petroleum Institute says the rules limit development in a region “intended by Congress to bolster America’s energy security.”

The Biden administration Friday finalized rules that would restrict new oil and gas leasing and development in portions of the federal petroleum reserve in Alaska that are considered particularly sensitive as the Arctic continues to warm.

The decision finalizes protections for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska first proposed last year.

Environmentalists are elated. But Senate Republicans says the Democratic president’s action will lead to energy insecurity.

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Grant McHill

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April 19, 2024
Iditarod Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here’s a look at the Iditarod dogsled race. The event is named after the Iditarod Trail, an old mail and supply route, traveled by dogsleds from Seward and Knik to Nome, Alaska.

March 12, 2024 – Dallas Seavey wins his sixth Iditarod, breaking the record for most wins.

March 14, 2023 – Ryan Redington wins his first Iditarod.

The race traditionally begins on the first Saturday in March, starting in Anchorage and ending in Nome.

The race ranges from 975 to 998 miles long, depending on whether the southern or northern route is being run. The length can also vary from year to year based on course conditions.

The beginning of the race in Anchorage is considered a ceremonial start. The competitive part of the race usually begins the next day in Willow, but depends on weather conditions.

There may be only one musher (person who drives the sled) per team.

There are 12-14 dogs on each team. At least five dogs must be in harness (pulling the sled) at the finish line.

The most commonly used sled dogs are the Samoyed, Alaskan Malamute, Siberian Husky, Alaskan Husky and Chinook. The animals get tested for strength and endurance before being selected.

The musher must make a mandatory 24 hour stop at some point during the race.

The route alternates every other year, one year going north through Cripple, Ruby, and Galena, the next year going south through Iditarod, Shageluk, and Anvik.

Most Consecutive Wins – Lance Mackey won four consecutive times from 2007-2010.

Most Wins – Dallas Seavey won six times, in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2021 and 2024. Rick Swenson won five times, in 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1991.

Fastest winning time – Mitch Seavey finished the 2017 race in eight days, 3 hours, 40 minutes, 13 seconds.

Winner by a [dog’s] nose – Dick Mackey finished the 1978 race one second ahead of Rick Swenson. The winner is decided by the nose of the first dog across the finish line.

First female winner – Libby Riddles in 1985.

Youngest winner – Dallas Seavey, 25, in 2012.

Oldest winner – Mitch Seavey, 57, in 2017.

1925 – A diphtheria outbreak in Nome, Alaska, creates an emergency need for medical supplies to be delivered, and dogsledders make the journey. The current race commemorates this mission and partially follows the same route.

1966 – Dorothy Page, President of the Wasilla-Knik Centennial Committee, decides to organize a dogsled race to celebrate Alaska’s centennial in 1967. Page and Joe Redington Sr., a local musher, work together to launch the first event.

1967 – The first Iditarod is held, with 58 mushers competing along a 50-mile trail.

March 1973 – After shorter races in 1967 and 1969, the first full-length race takes place. The course is approximately 1,100 miles long. The first winner is Dick Wilmarth, with a time of 20 days and 49 minutes.

March 12, 2016 – A man on a snowmobile hits two teams competing in the Iditarod, killing one dog and injuring several other dogs. Alaska state troopers arrest Arnold Demoski, 26, of Nulato. Later, Demoski is sentenced to six months and three days in jail and ordered to pay restitution totaling $36,697.15.

October 6, 2017 – The Iditarod Trail Committee revises Rule 39 after a musher’s team of dogs test positive for an opioid drug called Tramadol. Before the rule is revised, the ITC determines that intent of the alleged musher could not be proven. The revised rule holds a musher liable for any positive canine drug test, unless they can prove that they are not at fault. The ITC later reveals four-time champion Dallas Seavey as the musher. Seavey denies the allegations.

December 4, 2018 – The Iditarod Trail Committee clears Seavey of any wrongdoing and releases a statement saying, “After several meetings with Dallas Seavey, and review of all relevant information and evidence, the board does not believe that Dallas had any involvement with, or knowledge of, the events that led to the positive test in his team.”

2021 – The 2021 ceremonial Mushers’ Banquet is canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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March 13, 2024