Alaska News Nightly: Friday, March 6, 2026

Summary

Alaska News Nightly: Friday, March 6, 2026 – Detailed Episode Summary

Overview

This episode of Alaska News Nightly delivers a sweeping overview of current events and features around Alaska, ranging from major military exercises to community news, public safety initiatives, infrastructure challenges, and cultural storytelling. Among the top stories: the large-scale U.S.-allied Arctic Edge military exercise across Alaska and Greenland; a preview of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and its changing dynamics; the soaring costs and financial uncertainty facing Juneau's Eaglecrest gondola project; a push for snow machine helmet safety in rural Alaska; volcanic monitoring around Sitka; and a Bethel-based photographer's poignant exhibit on home, grief, and resilience after a typhoon.

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Key Stories and Insights

1. Arctic Edge 2026: Major Military Exercise Expands to Greenland

[01:31–05:11]

• Story Summary: U.S. and allied forces have entered the second week of 'Arctic Edge 2026,' a training event designed to prepare for drone and missile attacks on critical infrastructure. For the first time, components of the exercise will extend into Greenland.

• Key Insights:

  • The presence in Greenland is not related to past U.S. political interest in purchasing the island, stresses Air Force spokesperson Lt. Col. John Ross.
    • Quote: “Just making sure that we can actually get our people and our gear up to Greenland so we can respond to whatever crisis we might be looking at someday when, you know, the Kingdom of Denmark asks us for our help in Greenland.” — Lt. Col. John Ross [02:38]
  • Denmark, which governs Greenland, is fully coordinating in the exercise.
  • Troy Buffard, UAF Center for Arctic Security and Resilience, notes military priorities transcend politics:
    • Quote: “When the military is conducting exercises or real world operations, it takes them very seriously, regardless of sort of what's going on, you know, in the political sphere or in the news.” — Troy Buffard [04:14]
  • The exercise incorporates defense from drone and cruise missile attacks at Fort Greely and Eielson Air Force Base, with Canadian and U.S. forces simulating coordinated response via NORAD.
    • Quote: “We have Canadian F18s. They'll be working with American F35s...so that NORAD can practice their Cruise missile defense.” — Captain Chris Dube [05:11]

• Notable Timestamps:

  • Greenland exercise details: [01:31]
  • Military focus over politics: [04:14]
  • Joint U.S.–Canadian NORAD defense: [05:11]

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2. Iditarod 2026: Reduced Field and a New “Expedition Class”

[05:11–11:36]

• Story Summary: The Iditarod—the “Super Bowl of dog mushing”—kicks off with just 37 teams, down from 85 a decade ago. This year introduces an "Expedition Class," featuring wealthy international mushers contributing significantly to the race, though not competing for victory.

• Key Insights:

  • Only 34 of the 37 teams are competitive; three are in the new, supportive Expedition Class, permitted to receive outside support and forgo mandatory rests, but must meet high dog care standards.
    • Quote: “We feel that the fit's right. They're doing this for the right reasons. But one of the key drivers is supporting the race. Again, we're trying to innovate. It's the pilot program. But they're here not to interfere in any way with the race.” — Rob Urbach, Iditarod CEO [07:35]
  • Expedition Class includes Norwegian billionaire Shalinga Roka, 2020 champ Thomas Warner, and Canadian businessman Steve Curtis.
  • The competitive field features familiar names: defending champ Jesse Holmes, past champs Ryan Reddington and Pete Kaiser, multiple rookies, and international mushers.
  • The race returns to its regular route (1,000 miles starting in Willow) after a snowpack-shortened, rerouted race last year—mushers are optimistic for a “mental boost.”
  • The race’s role as a cultural institution, and the controversy involving animal welfare are also discussed. PETA protests are expected at the ceremonial start.
    • Quote: “It’s the super bowl of mushing. It's also the state sport...a long history, hundreds of years of indigenous Alaskans and just their bond to the dogs themselves and just as a means of transportation.” — Ava White [10:52]
  • Rookie Jesse Terry (Ontario) expresses excitement:
    • Quote: “I love traveling with my dogs and I love going to new places and I tend to really like big adventures and so you put all those things together and the Iditarod is a perfect fit.” — Jesse Terry [09:20]

• Notable Timestamps:

  • Expedition Class explanation: [06:53–08:26]
  • Notable competitors: [08:40–09:33]
  • Cultural significance: [10:52]

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3. Juneau’s Eaglecrest Gondola Project: Costs Skyrocket, Future Uncertain

[12:28–17:05]

• Story Summary: Juneau’s plan to transform Eaglecrest Ski Area with a gondola faces major setbacks due to soaring estimates—now three times higher than expected.

• Key Insights:

  • The original price was under $10 million; the current estimate is $27 million, causing concern among stakeholders.
    • Quote: “And that price is $27 million. So that's a pretty big gulp factor.” — Jim Calvin, Eaglecrest Board [13:50]
    • Quote: “We expected 10, 15 million. 27 is quite a pill to swallow.” — Jim Calvin [14:08]
  • Deferring the project could render the $11 million already invested unrecoverable.
    • Quote: “We'd have no way to repay the fund balance.” — Jim Calvin [16:20]
  • The city may seek additional investment from Goldbelt Inc. (an Alaska Native corporation and existing partner) or national backers, but Assembly members are cautious:
    • Quote: “I don't have a lot of faith in any of these options...just because of the size of that number.” — Christine Wall, Assembly member [15:57]
  • Timeline pressure: Gondola must operate by May 2028 for revenue-sharing agreements.

• Notable Timestamps:

  • Announcement of new price: [13:41]
  • Stakeholder reactions: [14:08–16:26]
  • Investment search and decision deadline: [16:26]

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4. Snowmachine Safety: Rural Alaska’s Push for Helmets

[17:05–20:31]

• Story Summary: In Nome and other western Alaska communities, organizations are tackling high rates of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among youth by distributing free snowmachine helmets, but demand far outstrips supply.

• Key Insights:

  • Many children lack access to helmets; cost and supply chain issues are significant barriers.
    • Quote: “Nine kids out of 10, like, in the classrooms, raised their hands when I said, do you not have a helmet?...I’m a mom. I have five kids, and I want all my kids to be wearing helmets.” — Katie Hannon, Norton Sound Health Corp. [18:59]
  • Fun fact: Some villages (but not all) have helmet mandates, making community-specific outreach necessary.
  • The Iron Dog snowmachine race, Bering Sea Lions Club, and Norton Sound Health Corp. collaborate on helmet programs, but have only met a quarter of the need so far.
    • Quote: “What I didn't expect was the demand. We thought that that would be enough...It was not even close.” — Jessica Farley [19:53]
  • Safety efforts are gaining urgency as race season continues.

• Notable Timestamps:

  • Data on helmet use rates: [18:44]
  • Distribution challenges and fundraising: [19:53–20:31]

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5. Monitoring Mount Edgecumbe Volcano Near Sitka

[20:31–22:28]

• Story Summary: Technicians from the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) recently maintained GPS and seismic monitoring equipment on Mount Edgecumbe to better detect signs of volcanic unrest.

• Key Insights:

  • Repairs addressed failed GPS antennas crucial for measuring real-time tectonic and magmatic shifts.
  • Data helps determine deflation (less likelihood of imminent eruption) vs. inflation (recharging magma chamber).
    • Quote: “...if they're possibly moving away from each other and up, that would suggest there could be inflation at the magma chamber.” — Ellie Boyce, AVO [21:36]
  • Tlingit oral history and geological evidence show the region has a deep volcanic past, but there’s new urgency since a 2022 swarm of minor earthquakes prompted the volcano’s status change from dormant to active.
  • Summer fieldwork is planned to further enhance monitoring.

• Notable Timestamps:

  • Technical details and volcano history: [21:05–22:28]

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6. Art, Grief, and Home: Jaron Joseph’s Typhoon-Inspired Photo Exhibit

[23:23–25:43]

• Story Summary: After evacuating his home in Kwigillingok due to Typhoon Halong, photographer Jaron Joseph’s poignant images now form the “Sacred” exhibit at the Anchorage Museum—offering fellow displaced residents a sensory and emotional touchstone for home.

• Key Insights:

  • Joseph’s photos, themed around the Yup’ik concept of Qpoch (humanity’s experience within the world’s vastness), address displacement and the acceptance of grief.
    • Quote: “That grief was a way of accepting that concept and being able to go through those tough emotions.” — Jaron Joseph [24:58]
  • The images are intended to help others find comfort and connection to place:
    • Quote: “...as a way for me and my fellow natives to be able to experience that beauty and that feeling of home that I'm sure a lot of us are missing, because I am certainly missing it.” — Jaron Joseph [24:18]
  • The exhibit opens March 6 and runs through early October at the Anchorage Museum.

• Notable Timestamps:

  • On the role of the exhibit: [24:18]
  • On grief and Qpoch: [24:58, 25:19]

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Memorable Quotes (with Speakers and Timestamps)

• “Just making sure that we can actually get our people and our gear up to Greenland so we can respond to whatever crisis we might be looking at someday when, you know, the Kingdom of Denmark asks us for our help in Greenland.”
  — Lt. Col. John Ross, USAF [02:38]

• “When the military is conducting exercises or real world operations, it takes them very seriously, regardless of sort of what's going on, you know, in the political sphere or in the news.”
  — Troy Buffard, UAF [04:14]

• “We feel that the fit's right. They're doing this for the right reasons...Again, we're trying to innovate. It's the pilot program. But they're here not to interfere in any way with the race.” — Rob Urbach, Iditarod CEO [07:35]

• “I love traveling with my dogs and I love going to new places and I tend to really like big adventures and so you put all those things together and the Iditarod is a perfect fit.”
  — Jesse Terry, rookie musher [09:20]

• “It’s the super bowl of mushing. It's also the state sport...a long history, hundreds of years of indigenous Alaskans and just their bond to the dogs themselves and just as a means of transportation.”
  — Ava White, reporter [10:52]

• “And that price is $27 million. So that's a pretty big gulp factor.”
  — Jim Calvin, Eaglecrest Board [13:50]

• “What I didn't expect was the demand. We thought that that would be enough...It was not even close.”
  — Jessica Farley, Bering Sea Lions Club [19:53]

• “That grief was a way of accepting that concept and being able to go through those tough emotions.”
  — Jaron Joseph, photographer [24:58]

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Segment Timestamps Overview

• Arctic Edge military exercise: [01:31–05:11]
• Iditarod preview and discussion: [05:11–11:36]
• Eaglecrest gondola cost crisis: [12:28–17:05]
• Snowmachine helmet safety: [17:05–20:31]
• Mount Edgecumbe volcano monitoring: [20:31–22:28]
• Jaron Joseph photo exhibit/Sacred: [23:23–25:43]

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Conclusion

This episode offers essential context and firsthand perspectives on issues shaping Alaska today, blending hard news—defense, public safety, infrastructure—with human stories about place, tradition, and resilience. The reporting’s tone is factual yet empathetic, often featuring local experts and voices from the impacted communities. Whether you care about national security, community health, local sports tradition, or the evolving narrative of what it means to call Alaska home, this episode is both informative and compelling.

Transcript

[A]

Support for Alaska Public Media on Demand comes from alyeska Pipeline Service Company maintaining and operating the 800 mile Trans Alaska Pipeline since 1977. Learn more at alyescapipeline.com. I love traveling with my dogs and I love going to new places. And I tend to really like big adventures. And so you put all those things together and the Iditarod is a perfect fit. Rookies and veteran mushers alike are looking, looking forward to the Iditarod starting this weekend. From Alaska Public Media, this is statewide news on Alaska News nightly for Friday, March 6th. Good evening. I'm Casey Grove. Also tonight, the new price tag for the controversial gondola at Juno's ski area is much higher than expected. And that price is $27 million. So that's a pretty big gulp factor. Those stories and more tonight on Alaska News Nightly.

[B]

I'm Shelby Herbert, a reporter with the Alaska Desk. That's a joint reporting effort from Alaska Public Media and kuac, where I work in Fairbanks, and other public radio stations in Anchorage, Haines and the allusions. It allows us to connect to the issues happening in communities all across the state. You can hear our stories during the morning News Alaska News Nightly or [e-mail] the Alaska Desk is only possible with the support of grants and listeners like you. Thank you.

[A]

U.S. and allied military service members have begun the second week of a major training exercise in Alaska. The exercise, called Arctic Edge 2026, focuses on training for drone and missile attacks on military installations and key infrastructure. And as KUAC's Tim Ellis reports, the exercise will extend into Greenland. Staging Arctic Edge training exercises in Greenland may have raised some eyebrows because of recent controversy over President Trump's often stated desire to acquire the enormous island. But air Force spokesperson Lt. Col. John Ross says that didn't factor into the decision to conduct the exercise there. It's a Special Forces mobility exercise.

[B]

So, yes, before we can do any

[A]

training, we need to be in the country first. Ross is assigned to the U.S. special Operations Command, and he says Arctic Edge will give Special Forces personnel experience in moving troops, equipment and supplies into and around Greenland. He says that would be important experience if it ever came under threat. Just making sure that we can actually get our people and our gear up

[B]

to Greenland so we can respond to whatever crisis we might be looking at

[A]

someday when, you know, the Kingdom of

[B]

Denmark asks us for our help in Greenland.

[A]

Greenland is part of Denmark, but it's an autonomous territory that's mainly ruled by its own government. Leaders of both countries declined Trump's offer to buy Greenland and rebuffed his threats to acquire it. Denmark is participating in Arctic Edge. A news release from the US Northern Command, which is overseeing the Greenland component of the exercise, says all training activities in Greenland are conducted in full coordination with the Kingdom of Denmark and end quote. Troy Buffard is a military affairs expert at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He says mobility training is essential for any military operation, especially one conducted in difficult conditions like the Arctic. Greenland is one of those areas where we may have to operate, and that means being able to test our ability to mobilize, deploy and function. Buffard directs the UAF center for Arctic Security and Resilience, and he's a retired army veteran and adjunct professor with the U.S. army Army War College and a research fellow at the Modern Army Institute at West Point. He says, based on his experience and conversations with other observers, that U S and allied service members probably were not as agitated about Trump's pronouncements on Greenland because they focus on the mission regardless of the politics. When the military is conducting exercises or real world operations, it takes them very seriously, regardless of sort of what's going on, you know, in the political sphere or in the news. Buffard says the Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or norad, probably have been working on arrangements for Arctic Edge long before the flap arose over Trump's designs on Greenland. Back on this side of the Arctic, several scenarios for exercises are playing out around Alaska. Those include the Alaska Army National Guard's 49th Missile Battalion at Fort Greely training to defend the missile defense defense base there from drone attacks. Canadian air Force spokesperson Captain Chris Dube says U.S. and Canadian personnel will operate out of Eielson Air Force Base for training that simulates a cruise missile attack against the base. Dube says the exercise also will include aircraft from both nations that jointly operate NORAD, a binational military command.

[B]

We have Canadian F18s.

[A]

They'll be working with American F35s and they're providing simulations so that NORAD can practice their Cruise missile defense. U.S. navy and Coast Guard personnel wrapped up an Arctic Edge training exercise around Kodiak last week that simulated evacuating casualties from a ship at sea to medical facilities on land. Training also is being conducted around northwest Alaska in Kotzebue, Noatak and and the Red Dog Mine. NORAD and NORTHCOM officials say that's part of the training for protecting infrastructure like oil refineries and electrical grids. And Arctic Edge operations are being managed from Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson in Anchorage this year's Training involved about 1200 U.S. and allied service members, as well as state and local officials. Organizers say it's the largest Arctic Edge exercise since the first one in 2018. In Delta Junction, I'm Tim Ellis, Alaska's super bowl of dog mushing. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race kicks off tomorrow with a parade like ceremonial start in Anchorage. The race clock actually starts ticking with the restart in willow on Sunday. 37 teams comprise this year's race field, although with a new twist. Alaska Public Media's Ava White is covering this year's race and joins us now. Hi, Ava.

[B]

Hi, Casey.

[A]

Eva. The number of Iditarod teams this year is the second smallest after last year's smallest ever field. And of course it's a fraction of the 85 teams that competed a decade ago. Of the 37 teams this year, only 34 are actually competing to win. Is that right?

[B]

Yeah, that's right. So last summer the Iditarod announced a new Expedition class of mushers that would run the Iditarod alongside other teams. At the time, we only knew about one person in that class, a Norwegian billionaire by the name of Shalinga Roka. And now we know that fellow Norwegian 2020 champ Thomas Warner is joining him in this non competitive race. And then actually just a few days ago, we learned that another international businessman, Canadian Steve Curtis, is mushing in the Expedition class as well. So both Rocca and Curtis have made what the Iditarod described as significant financial contributions to the race. Here's what Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach had to say about it at a media briefing earlier this week.

[A]

We feel that the fit's right. They're doing this for the right reasons. But one of the key drivers is supporting the race. Again, we're trying to innovate. It's the pilot program. But they're here not to interfere in any way with the race.

[B]

So we know that the expedition mushers will be allowed outside support, which to be very clear, is not allowed for those that are actually racing. They also don't have to take mandatory rests along the trail. Usually mushers have to take one 24 hour break and then two eight hours. Officials did say though that all dogs would be held to the same care standards. And officials said those on the Expedition will receive support from veteran mushers, including Jeff King, Andy Pol and Jessica Klayka, who will all be driving snow machines. But we don't really know what that'll look like in action. Anyway, that's how we got from 37 teams to 34 competitive teams.

[A]

Gotcha. It sounds like from what the Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach said, it's a pilot program. So we're going to kind of stay tuned to see what that looks like. Okay, we got that out of the way. Who is in this actual like competitive class of mushers then?

[B]

Yeah, so there's actually a lot of familiar faces, including three past champions. Defending champ Jesse Holmes is aiming to repeat, which few mushers have done before. There's also Ryan Reddington and Pete Kaiser. And there's also more than a dozen rookies, some of whom are racing veteran mushers dogs. There are also some mushers coming to the race from other countries. There's Norwegian Hannah Lyric, she was the 2022 rookie of the year. And also Uconnor Michelle Phillips. And she's finished the race 13 times. Rookie musher Jesse Terry drove quite a bit farther than Phillips though. Nearly 4,000 miles from Su Lookout, Ontario. And it's going to be his first race in Alaska.

[A]

I love traveling with my dogs and

[B]

I love going to new places and

[A]

I, I tend to really like big adventures and so you put all those things together and the Iditarod is a perfect fit.

[B]

He told me he's eyeing Rookie of the Year which as you would probably guess goes to the top finishing rookie, right?

[A]

Yes. Well, that's all interesting. It sounds like a somewhat competitive field, even if it's a bit small, historically speaking. Now turning to the trail itself. Didn't mushers go out of Fairbanks last year?

[B]

They did, but we're back on the regular route this year out of Willow. Last year our snowpack was just so low that officials had to move the start to Fairbanks and they made that change less than two weeks before the race started. Teams did not have to go up and over over the Alaska range, but the Iditarod tacked on an extra 130 miles or so and that made it the longest trail in race history. And mushers expect being back on that normal 1000 mile course will give them and their sled dogs a mental boost while they're out there. This being an even year, the race is on its northern route. And based on previous years and barring any major setbacks like storms or run ins with wildlife, we're expecting the first mushroom gnome sometime Tuesday, March 17th.

[A]

Gotcha. Well, I mean we should mention there have been dogs that have died in this race in the past. It's a controversial thing for the Iditarod PETA The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals is planning protests at the ceremonial start. Those are things that we know about we'll be tracking as the race progresses. All that aside, Eva, why should people care about the Ididron?

[B]

I mean, you said it at the top. It's the super bowl of mushing. It's also the state sport crosses a thousand miles of the ties together, all of these communities along the way. And I mean culturally, it has a really long history, hundreds of years of indigenous Alaskans and just their bond to the dogs themselves and just as a means of transportation. That still happens today. But I also think it's really important to recognize that these dogs themselves are athletes.

[A]

No doubt there'll be hundreds of dogs in this race, definitely at the ceremonial start here in Anchorage. Again, that's Saturday. Tomorrow, Eva, as you head out on the trail, good luck. We'll be following your coverage [e-mail] and thanks for being here.

[B]

Thanks, Casey.

[A]

Still to come in Alaska News Nightly, a new photo exhibit explores grief and the concept of home after typhoon halong. That grief was a way of accepting that concept and being able to go through those tough emotions.

[B]

I'm Shelby Herbert, a reporter with the Alaska Desk. That's a joint reporting effort from Alaska Public Media and kuac, where I work in Fairbanks, and other public radio stations in Anchorage, Haines and the illusions. It allows us to connect to the issues happening in communities all across the state. You can hear our stories during the Morning News Alaska News Nightly or [e-mail] the Alaska Desk is only possible with the support of grants and listeners like you. Thank you.

[A]

A pilot and five passengers aboard a Grant Aviation airplane have not reported any injuries after the plane lost its rear door while flying from EEC to Bethel last weekend. The left passenger door of the Gippsland GA8 became unlatched and separated from the airplane roughly five minutes from Bethel, according to a statement shared by the company on Tuesday. The flight from EEC to Bethel takes around 30 minutes. In the statement, Grant Aviation's vice president of commercial operations, Dan Kanisik, confirmed that the plane was able to safely land in Bethel and that the company was still investigating what caused the accident. National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson Clint Johnson said that the agency is monitoring the situation and has not gotten reports of injuries or other damage to the aircraft. A new preliminary cost estimate to install the controversial gondola project at Eagle Crest ski area in Juneau is a staggering $27 million. As KTOO's Clarice Larson reports that number is more than three times higher than originally expected and far more than the city has to pay for the project.

[B]

Eaglecrest Ski area's controversial gondola project is expected to cost much, much more than the city estimated when it purchased the used gondola four years ago.

[A]

And that price is $27 million. So that's a pretty big Gulp factor.

[B]

That's Eaglecrest board member Jim Calvin breaking the news of the installation cost estimate for the project at a joint meeting with the Juneau Assembly Wednesday night. The board gave the Assembly a financial overview of the city owned ski area

[A]

at the meeting and we expected 10, 15 million. 27 is quite a pill to swallow.

[B]

That number is a preliminary estimate and it's just for installation. A final estimate will be shared with the assembly on April 1. The eagle crest board got the contractor estimate just a day before the board met with the assembly on Wednesday. Over the years, Eaglecrest has faced criticism for its growing reliance on city funding to build and maintain infrastructure and pay its staff. Kelvin says deferred repairs and maintenance for its aging infrastructure have built up over decades of use. The ski area's plan to become self sustainable is heavily reliant on the success of the gondola.

[A]

We are attempting to join the rest of the mountain recreation world in having getting to a position where our summer revenues support winter operations. It's a long path. It's a hard path to get there, but that's what the gondola is about.

[B]

When the city purchased the gondola in 2022, the project was estimated to cost under $10 million. But that number has skyrocketed over the past four years due to the need for additional parts, high construction costs and tariffs on imports. And now, with that new $27 million installation price tag, Ski Area board and the city face the task of deciding whether to move forward with the project or scrap it altogether. Both come with their own set of hurdles. One option is to ask investors for more money. Goldbelt Incorporated, a local Alaska Native Corporation, invested $10 million in the gondola in 2022 in exchange for a revenue sharing agreement. At the meeting on Wednesday, most Assembly members like Maureen hall, supported the idea of asking for more money. I'm in favor of starting local and reaching to Gold Belt and starting the conversation. The assembly was less excited about another option brought to the table, which was asking larger national investors to step in. Assembly member Christine Wall says she doesn't think the options are realistic. I don't have a lot of faith in any of these options not not that I don't want them investigated, but just because of the size of that number, it's hard to imagine a scenario where we can get on a sustainability track. Another option is to abandon the project altogether, But Kelvin says $11 million have already been sunk into the project.

[A]

That would leave Eaglecrest with little chance of becoming self supporting in the near future. We'd have no way to repay the fund balance.

[B]

As it stands, the revenue sharing agreement with Goldbelt stipulates that the gondola must be up and running by May of 2028. However, Kelvin says the project following that timeline is unlikely given the current financial uncertainty. At the meeting, the board and the assembly agreed to move forward with initiating conversations with Goldbelt about seeking a larger investment, along with looking for other ways to pay project. In a message to KTOO on Thursday, Goldbelt's president and CEO, McCu Pierre, said he did not have a comment about the corporation's stance at this time. The assembly and Eaglecrest board will meet again to decide on the path forward at a meeting scheduled for April 1st in Juneau. I'm Clarice Larsen.

[A]

Snow machining is an integral part of life in western Alaska, but of course there are risks. In Nome, local and state groups are working together to make it safer with free helmets for kids. KOM's Margaret Sutherland found out they're in high demand in rural Alaska. Our main source of transportation in the villages are four wheelers and snow machines.

[B]

That's Katie Hannon, injury prevention coordinator and health educator at the Norton Sound Health Corporation. Part of her job is providing helmets to communities in the region to prevent traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs, a head injury caused by a blow or jolt or often during a crash, which can range from concussion to fatal brain trauma.

[A]

Like not everybody has cars there. Everybody has a four wheeler and a snow machine there. And they're more at risk of getting a TBI on the four wheelers and snow machines because they're not. They don't have helmets on.

[B]

According to the Indian Health Service, motor vehicle accidents, which include snow machines, account for nearly half of all unintentional injury deaths in American Indian and Alaska Native populations, and child mortality rates in that demographic are roughly two and a half times higher than all other US Racial groups combined. Hannon studied helmet use during a fellowship with the Indian health service in 2024, focused on attitudes, knowledge and overall use in her home village, the Norton Sound community of Koyuk.

[A]

There was no data for Koyuk. There was no data for rural Alaska or If there was there, it was very little. So it was very challenging trying to compare, like, places because they are very different.

[B]

Koyak has just over 400 residents. During her research, she found only about 1 in 7 ATV and snow machine riders were wearing a helmet. Anecdotally, kids seem to be strapping on a helmet at even lower rates.

[A]

Nine kids out of 10, like, in the classrooms, raised their hands when I said, do you not have a helmet? So it was important to me. You know, I'm a mom. I have five kids, and I want all my kids to be wearing helmets. I don't want no TBIs, and for me or for anybody.

[B]

Some communities in the Norton Sound region mandate helmet use. The city of Nome requires one for riders under 18. But Koyak doesn't have a helmet law. And with helmets costing between 150 and $700 a piece, simply owning one is a challenge.

[A]

It's hard to get helmets there. They're expensive, like, it's hard to get anything there. There's no local stores in the villages that sell helmets.

[B]

The annual Iron Dog snowmachine race donates helmets to communities along its race route through its helmet safety program. Jessica Farley Sundays this year, 35 were sent to Nome and handed out at Nome public schools.

[A]

What I didn't expect was the demand. We thought that that would be enough.

[B]

You know, that's.

[A]

It was not even close.

[B]

Farley, along with the Bering Sea Lions Club, Norton Sound Health Corporation, and Iron Dog, are working together to raise money for the additional helmets. She says they've raised a few thousand dollars so far, but it's only a quarter of what is needed. With race season in full swing, Farley says the focus is keeping riders safe on course, but. But once races wrap up, fundraising will take center stage in Nome. I'm Margaret Sutherland.

[A]

A team of specialists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory stopped by Sitka last week to do some station maintenance work on Mount Edgecumbe, a volcano on nearby Kruzof Island. Ellie Boyce is a field engineer with the AVO. She and a coworker were joined by four technical team members from the U.S. geological Survey in Anchorage to repair two of four stations surrounding the historically active volcano.

[B]

We had a failed component in the

[A]

GPS system, so we needed to go

[B]

out and replace the antenna that received the signals from the satellite. And that's a pretty straightforward fix, and it only took us one day.

[A]

The GPS system in question involves four metal tripods stationed around Mount Edgcumbe since 2023. The system provides data in real time about tectonic shifts happening at the volcano rather than waiting for a satellite to pass overhead, which happens only once every 12 days and produces less accurate results when it's snowing.

[B]

And so we're really interested in whether two stations on opposite sides of the volcano may be moving toward each other and down, which would suggest deflation of a magma body.

[A]

Or if they're possibly moving away from

[B]

each other and up, that would suggest there could be inflation at the magma

[A]

chamber, Boyce says deflation generally suggests that a volcano is less likely to erupt in the near future, whereas inflation refers to a recharge of a magma reservoir that could feed a future eruption. While there are no written observations of it erupting, Tlingit oral history describes small eruptions around 800 years ago, and geologic evidence points to a major eruption around 13,000 years ago. The status of the 3,000 foot volcano was changed from dormant to historically active in 2022 following a swarm of small earthquakes. Since then, Boyce says, the AVO has installed local seismometers alongside the antennas which are able to provide more accurate information.

[B]

So we have local seismometers that we can use to more precisely locate where

[A]

earthquakes are happening, at what depth, and if they're sort of centering on a location under the volcano versus perhaps out towards a fault or something that may be more tectonic in origin. Two antennas at the site began to fail back in December. Boyce says. It wasn't until February that the AVO team found a good weather window to swing by and fix them. She says her team is planning more fieldwork this summer to keep the equipment working smoothly. Before typhoon halong brought flood damage to his home village, one Kogilingok photographer captured the unique sensory details that made up his hometown, now far from the village. Those photographs are featured in their own exhibit in the Anchorage Museum and have taken on new meaning. KYUK's Samantha Watson reports.

[B]

When Jaron Joseph evacuated his home community of Kwigalingok after ex typhoon halong, he sheltered with family in Anchorage. When looking at resources in the Egan center, he showed his photographs of home to some members of the group Earthjustice who were there. Summer cotton in the tundra, sunset figures bundled in fur, parkas gathered at a cemetery. They were pieces of what made up a place that faces an uncertain future.

[A]

And so we got to exchanging some emails and eventually they landed, you know, within the sight of the chief curator of the Anchorage Museum.

[B]

Now those photographs are getting a bigger stage. An Anchorage Museum exhibit that features Joseph's work in a display called Sacred. The exhibit's images are rooted in the sensory feelings of a place that many people are still displaced from.

[A]

What the function of the exhibit would be. Something additional to that would be as a way for me and my fellow natives to be able to experience that beauty and that feeling of home that I'm sure a lot of us are missing, because I am certainly missing it.

[B]

Joseph says the photographs evoke other senses, senses of home and the feeling of being out on the open tundra. The work is rooted in the Yupik concept of Qpoch, which frames the human experience within the vastness of the world. Joseph says it's a way he's framed his displacement since the typhoon.

[A]

Going through that process of grief, it was certainly not a denial of happiness or any future happiness. That grief was a way of accepting that concept and being able to go through those tough emotions.

[B]

He says that in his understanding of Chochpah, humans are inhabitants of the world and not beings in control of it.

[A]

I do believe it is necessary for both sides of the coin to exist not just as a Native but also just someone who is one person of many who also exists in the world.

[B]

Joseph says the photographs were taken over a five year span and that he didn't set out to create an exhibition or even a body of work. He's primarily a composer of music and simply wanted to capture what he found to be striking about his home. Now Joseph and much of his career community are displaced from those familiar subjects and those undeniable features of home. The softness of the summer sun, the layered greens of the tundra capture a feeling he says has been hard to find. Sacred Ground is on exhibition at the Anchorage Museum through early October. It opens March 6 during the museum's first Friday event in Bethel. I'm Samantha Watson.

[A]

And that's all for this edition of Alaska News Nightly. If you missed any of tonight's stories, we're [e-mail] and wherever you get your podcasts. We had reports tonight from Tim Ellis in Delta Junction, Ava White in Anchorage, Evan Erickson and Samantha Watson in Bethel, Clarice Larson in Juneau, Margaret Sutherland in Nome and Ryan Cotter in Sitka. Our audio engineer is Crystal Hyde, Kirsten Dobroth is our producer and I'm Casey Grove. Have a great weekend. This is statewide news on Alaska Public Media.