As COVID-19 continues to spread at high rates through the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, the region’s tribal health organization is urging all communities in the region to implement a month-long lockdown to curb the spread and prevent a health care crisis.Areleased Monday by the Bethel-based Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. cited “continued exponential transmission” of the virus in the region, increasing hospitalizations — particularly among older patients — and limited ICU bed capacity in Anchorage as reasons for the recommendation and the growing concern.“YKHC asks residents to remain in their homes...…As COVID-19 continues to spread at high rates through the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, the region’s tribal health organization is urging all communities in the region to implement a month-long lockdown to curb the spread and prevent a health care crisis.Areleased Monday by the Bethel-based Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. cited “continued exponential transmission” of the virus in the region, increasing hospitalizations — particularly among older patients — and limited ICU bed capacity in Anchorage as reasons for the recommendation and the growing concern.“YKHC asks residents to remain in their homes...WW…

Both the governor and the mayor have said in press conferences that they need more testing and more assurances that would not trigger a surge in the COVID-19 virus.If only we had some way to test their concern about a surge in cases if we reopen the economy. Well, we have a way. Here it is.Grocery stores, building supply stores, office supply stores, pharmacies and a few other essential stores in Alaska have been open for the duration of the shutdown.These stores are a good way to test a large sample of people (the employees) who have daily contact with many members of the general public....…Both the governor and the mayor have said in press conferences that they need more testing and more assurances that would not trigger a surge in the COVID-19 virus.If only we had some way to test their concern about a surge in cases if we reopen the economy. Well, we have a way. Here it is.Grocery stores, building supply stores, office supply stores, pharmacies and a few other essential stores in Alaska have been open for the duration of the shutdown.These stores are a good way to test a large sample of people (the employees) who have daily contact with many members of the general public....WW…

Congressman Don Young, 86, a world-famous non-epidemiologist, apparently learned all he needed to know about infectious diseases from “Doc” Adams on “Gunsmoke.” So maybe his medical education is sketchy and 150 years out of date. Perhaps that is why, less than three weeks ago on March 13, Young told Alaskans not to worry about the COVID-19 pandemic. He said it was nothing but media “hysteria.”“…They call it a coronavirus,” he said at the Mat-Su Senior Center, openly flouting the CDC rules that he should be self-isolating to prevent infecting others, but “I call it a beer virus.” The...…Congressman Don Young, 86, a world-famous non-epidemiologist, apparently learned all he needed to know about infectious diseases from “Doc” Adams on “Gunsmoke.” So maybe his medical education is sketchy and 150 years out of date. Perhaps that is why, less than three weeks ago on March 13, Young told Alaskans not to worry about the COVID-19 pandemic. He said it was nothing but media “hysteria.”“…They call it a coronavirus,” he said at the Mat-Su Senior Center, openly flouting the CDC rules that he should be self-isolating to prevent infecting others, but “I call it a beer virus.” The...WW…

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

Alaska education officials this week announced a new statewide virtual school, the result of a sole source $525,000 contract with an embattled Florida public online education provider — a move the statewide teachers’ union says it was blindsided by and opposes.The will allow K-12 students kept home by the coronavirus pandemic to take ranging from kindergarten social studies to high school computer programming online, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development said Tuesday."While the world around us is scrambling with uncertainty, I believe our students and teachers can and...…Alaska education officials this week announced a new statewide virtual school, the result of a sole source $525,000 contract with an embattled Florida public online education provider — a move the statewide teachers’ union says it was blindsided by and opposes.The will allow K-12 students kept home by the coronavirus pandemic to take ranging from kindergarten social studies to high school computer programming online, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development said Tuesday."While the world around us is scrambling with uncertainty, I believe our students and teachers can and...WW…

WHITEHORSE, YUKON — A few minutes’ walk from the bank of the aquamarine upper Yukon River in northwestern Canada, thousands of bones of ancient creatures rest in boxes and on shelves.Here in the lab of Yukon government paleontologists are the remains of saber-toothed cats, bears with boxy faces that stood 8 feet tall, woolly mammoths and sloths the size of gorillas.Of all these time-hardened riches of the past, Elizabeth Hall has a cherished piece — the fragment of a horse’s foreleg that fits in the palm of her hand.Hall, a paleontologist for the Yukon, has been digging up, identifying, and...…WHITEHORSE, YUKON — A few minutes’ walk from the bank of the aquamarine upper Yukon River in northwestern Canada, thousands of bones of ancient creatures rest in boxes and on shelves.Here in the lab of Yukon government paleontologists are the remains of saber-toothed cats, bears with boxy faces that stood 8 feet tall, woolly mammoths and sloths the size of gorillas.Of all these time-hardened riches of the past, Elizabeth Hall has a cherished piece — the fragment of a horse’s foreleg that fits in the palm of her hand.Hall, a paleontologist for the Yukon, has been digging up, identifying, and...WW…

UTQIAĠVIK ― Observing how bowhead whales move underwater is a tricky task.You need to place a tag on the smooth skin of a massive animal that only briefly rises to the surface. Attach it too low, and the satellite connection is weak. Approach it too conspicuously, and the whale will startle and disappear into the sea.Scientists once used airguns, often with inefficient results. But things improved dramatically, they said, when they asked for help from people whose knowledge of bowhead whales spans generations: the hunters of Alaska’s north.“You have to be able to learn how to chase that...…UTQIAĠVIK ― Observing how bowhead whales move underwater is a tricky task.You need to place a tag on the smooth skin of a massive animal that only briefly rises to the surface. Attach it too low, and the satellite connection is weak. Approach it too conspicuously, and the whale will startle and disappear into the sea.Scientists once used airguns, often with inefficient results. But things improved dramatically, they said, when they asked for help from people whose knowledge of bowhead whales spans generations: the hunters of Alaska’s north.“You have to be able to learn how to chase that...WW…

The Anchorage Daily News was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service on Monday for “,” a yearlong examination of the failures of the criminal-justice system in communities across Alaska. The series was reported in partnership with ProPublica.It’s the third Pulitzer Prize for the Daily News in the newspaper’s history — all in the public service category.Reporting for “Lawless” was led by Kyle Hopkins, and included contributions from many ADN staff members as well as those from , an independent nonprofit newsroom with a focus on investigative reporting. The collaboration was part of...…The Anchorage Daily News was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service on Monday for “,” a yearlong examination of the failures of the criminal-justice system in communities across Alaska. The series was reported in partnership with ProPublica.It’s the third Pulitzer Prize for the Daily News in the newspaper’s history — all in the public service category.Reporting for “Lawless” was led by Kyle Hopkins, and included contributions from many ADN staff members as well as those from , an independent nonprofit newsroom with a focus on investigative reporting. The collaboration was part of...WW…

Many of Alaska’s most popular musical artists performed Tuesday at the Ship Creek small-boat launch, though no large crowd gathered to see them.Videos captured there will become the AK4AK virtual music festival, which will debut online starting at 6 p.m. May 1.Organizers, including Showdown Productions and Anchorage Assembly member Christopher Constant, say the event was inspired by the sacrifices Alaskans made to flatten the curve of new COVID-19 cases and to thank shipping and port workers who keep food and supplies coming into the state.For musicians it was a welcome chance to play since...…Many of Alaska’s most popular musical artists performed Tuesday at the Ship Creek small-boat launch, though no large crowd gathered to see them.Videos captured there will become the AK4AK virtual music festival, which will debut online starting at 6 p.m. May 1.Organizers, including Showdown Productions and Anchorage Assembly member Christopher Constant, say the event was inspired by the sacrifices Alaskans made to flatten the curve of new COVID-19 cases and to thank shipping and port workers who keep food and supplies coming into the state.For musicians it was a welcome chance to play since...WW…

The COVID-19 virus has threatened Alaskans’ health and ravaged our economy. While taking the necessary steps to control the virus, we now also must begin expanding the foundation for a clean and sustainable industry, an industry that will support both immediate and long-term Alaska jobs and Alaskan-owned businesses.That’s why Alaska Trails, a well-known and respected advocate of public trails throughout Alaska, adopted the idea of a trail connecting Fairbanks and Seward as The Alaska Long Trail. Ultimately, this could become a 2,000-plus mile trail extending north from Fairbanks to the...…The COVID-19 virus has threatened Alaskans’ health and ravaged our economy. While taking the necessary steps to control the virus, we now also must begin expanding the foundation for a clean and sustainable industry, an industry that will support both immediate and long-term Alaska jobs and Alaskan-owned businesses.That’s why Alaska Trails, a well-known and respected advocate of public trails throughout Alaska, adopted the idea of a trail connecting Fairbanks and Seward as The Alaska Long Trail. Ultimately, this could become a 2,000-plus mile trail extending north from Fairbanks to the...WW…