Alaska’s first homicide case built on genetic genealogy is set to go to trial next month.
Public Safety
An Anchorage man’s magic mushroom sales led authorities to swastika stickers, charges say
The stickers, along with a black-and-white swastika flag, were allegedly found in the man’s possession — but so far are not part of the criminal allegations against him.
Lack of law enforcement in rural Alaska led to promises of more police. 2 years later, they haven’t been kept
Reporting by the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica has found the state has mostly failed to follow through on those promises, and a tiny fraction of the federal dollars dedicated to addressing the problem has actually been put to use in villages.
Dunleavy announces wide-ranging ‘People First’ Initiative to address public safety in Alaska
Dunleavy plans to introduce a bill that would increase criminal penalties related to domestic violence and sexual assaults, and to expand the range of offenses defined as domestic violence.
Citizens hide from active shooters as Alaska fails to deliver on 2019 promise of village troopers
It took Alaska State Troopers 110 days to catch one of three people accused of an ambush in Russian Mission on July 28. Neighbors said they slept with rifles under their beds and shotgun shells on the windowsill, ready for anything.
St. Paul gets new police chief after its entire department quit over COVID vaccine mandate
The island community of 355 people has recorded just seven cases of the virus to date.
A new crisis team in Fairbanks is responding to mental health calls and freeing up other emergency resources
The Mobile Crisis Team members are certified in their fields and go through weeks of additional crisis response training to learn how to de-escalate situations, assess suicide risks and more.
State employee in Juneau charged with possessing child pornography, placed on administrative leave
Bradley Waldron faces 14 felony charges and up to 99 years in prison if convicted. After his arrest, he was released on a $5,000 bond.
Authorities identify remains of Juneau man who has been missing since 2017
Authorities have identified human remains found nearly a year ago on a downtown Juneau seawalk near the state Department of Labor building as one of two missing men thought to have drowned four years ago.
Former ‘Deadliest Catch’ captain admits to dealing heroin, court documents say
The charges stem from federal and state investigators searching Neese’s home in December of 2019.