www.alaskabookmarks.com - What's up in Alaska? News and interesting links from The Last Frontier

Surging stock market, Trump policies boost wealth for top 1%

CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk speaks last year at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland. Last week’s SpaceX IPO, which made Musk the world’s first trillionaire, is a vivid illustration of wealth concentration in the United States, which has been accelerating since 2022. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)When SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket and artificial intelligence company, began trading on the stock market last week, he became the world’s first trillionaire.The SpaceX IPO

First cruise ship of the season to arrive this week

By Ariana Crockett O’Harra The Noordam, the season’s first and largest cruise ship, is scheduled to arrive on Thursday in Nome, carrying about 1,600 passengers. The Noordam is the sister ship to the Westerdam, which visited Nome nearly exactly one year ago on June 19. The Noordam plans to anchor offshore and ferry passengers ashore with tenders, coming to land in small groups. Visitors will arrive in town from just after 8 a.m. until around 5 p.m. Robin Johnson with Nome Discovery Tours, who is

Alaska natural gas pipeline dreams stretch over half a century

Flames from burning gas stream into air on Aug. 23, 2018 at a facility within the Greater Prudhoe Bay Unit on Alaska's North Slope. Prudhoe Bay and other fields hold vast amounts of natural gas that is routinely produced with the oil, then reinjected into the reservoirs because there is no ecomically viable way to send those known reserves to major markets. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)The president of the United States urged lawmakers to do everything they can to make the long-desired A

Serena and Venus Williams to make Wimbledon return in women’s doubles

After receiving a wild card invitation into the women’s doubles draw, Serena Williams will return to Wimbledon for the first time since 2022, reuniting with sister Venus Williams on the grass courts of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.The tournament organizers announced the decision Tuesday, setting the stage for the iconic duo to return to the Grand Slam venue where they have historically captured six doubles championships together. The tournament is scheduled to begin on June

Vegas Golden Knights part ways with head coach John Tortorella following Stanley Cup run

The Vegas Golden Knights announced Tuesday that head coach John Tortorella will not return to the bench next season, concluding a brief but dramatic tenure that saw the team advance to the Stanley Cup Final.General manager Kelly McCrimmon disclosed the decision just two days after the Golden Knights were eliminated from the championship series by the Carolina Hurricanes. The 67-year-old veteran coach replaced Bruce Cassidy on an interim basis with just eight regular-season games remaining and qu

Jelly Roll files for divorce from wife Bunnie XO after decade-long marriage

Country star Jelly Roll, 41, and podcast host Bunnie XO, 46, are ending their marriage after nearly 10 years together. Court documents filed in Williamson County, Tennessee, reveal the singer, whose legal name is Jason DeFord, submitted the paperwork on May 18, 2026. According to the legal filings, the artist cited irreconcilable differences as the grounds for the dissolution, stating the couple could no longer successfully live together as husband and wife. Reports indicated the split was a mut

Jelly Roll files for divorce from wife Bunnie XO after decade-long marriage

Warren Zeiders shares the video for his new single “Drinking Game”

Warren Zeiders is back with his latest single, “Drinking Game,” co-written by Zeiders alongside a team that includes Evan Blair, Jesse Fink, Michael Pollack, J Kash, and Elof Loelv.The song follows February’s “Born to Be Yours,” a romantic release centered on a deep, unshakable connection. Together, the two tracks continue to highlight Zeiders’ evolving sound and storytelling.Earlier this year, the rising country artist also dropped his first live project, Live from the 717, featuring 21 songs r

Puscifer expands their ‘Normal Isn’t’ tour with European dates

Puscifer have added more dates to its 2026 “Normal Isn’t” world tour, including a newly announced European leg set for the fall. The run begins October 25 in Stockholm and continues through cities such as Oslo, Berlin, Zurich, and others before concluding in Dublin on November 12. Alongside the headlining shows, the band will also appear with A Perfect Circle on the 2026 Pacific Ring of Fire Tour, which now includes additional stops in Japan and Hawaii.Discussing the expanded itinerary, frontman

Take a listen to Maroon 5’s latest single “Heroine” as they gear up for world tour

Maroon 5 is back with fresh music with the release of their latest single, “Heroine.” The track is their first new offering since the expanded edition of their album Love Is Like dropped last year.With “Heroine,” the band leans into the style that originally made them stand out—tight, energetic pop-rock layered with polished production. Frontman Adam Levine’s signature voice leads the charge, bringing intensity to a song centered on the thrill of a powerful connection.The new music comes

Take a listen to Maroon 5’s latest single “Heroine” as they gear up for world tour

Time capsule: How to win the ice pool

By J.M. Miller and T.N. DavisNote: This Alaska Science Forum “time capsule” article was originally published on May 1, 1976. While employed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, John M. Miller was the Alaska SAR Facility’s technical director, and T. Neil Davis, professor of geophysics, founded the Alaska Science Forum 50 years ago. This time capsule is typical of the early columns, which were always tied to newsworthy events and often lighthearted, if not gently self-depre

Air carriers lobby to reopen FAA stations in Nome and Kotzebue

The recent unexplained and abrupt closure of flight service stations leave a significant gap in flight efficiency in western Alaska By: Ariana Crockett O’Harra and Diana HaeckerThe Federal Aviation Administration’s Flight Service Stations in Nome and Kotzebue have been closed for several weeks now with no clear timeframe if or when the offices will reopen, causing alarm in the aviation industry serving western Alaska. The Alaska Air Carriers Association, keenly aware of the issue, sent a

Natural gas pipeline tax break lacks needed Senate votes, Alaska lawmakers say

Members of the Alaska Senate's bipartisan majority talk during a break in the Senate Finance Committee meeting on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)Members of the Alaska Senate’s majority coalition said on Tuesday that a tax break for the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline currently lacks the votes to advance in the Senate. Because lawmakers are meeting in a special session that ends on Friday, even a short delay could kill the bill containing the

Special ed, civil rights to be shifted out of Trump’s shrinking Department of Education

Officials with the U.S. Department of Education announced plans for its further dismantling on Tuesday, June 16, 2026.  (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education announced sweeping efforts Tuesday to outsource its special education programs and civil rights enforcement to other agencies, in another major step by President Donald Trump’s administration to dismantle the department.The Department of Health and Human Services will administer progra

Hilcorp owner benefits from Trump rollback of emissions rules

The story below by reporter Alex Cuadros, published today by ProPublica, is the best investigation any journalist has made of Alaska’s most important oil man—secretive Texas tycoon Jeff Hildebrand.Hildebrand, the billionaire owner of Hilcorp and a major Trump donor, is set to become a major beneficiary of a Trump plan to allow major amounts of methane to be emitted from wells that produce minor amounts of oil and gas.In January, Hildebrand promised at a Trump performance in the White House to ma

Protected: Mary Peltola Rolls Out Her Plan to Fight for Alaska Fisheries

This content is password-protected. To view it, please enter the password below.Password: The post Protected: Mary Peltola Rolls Out Her Plan to Fight for Alaska Fisheries appeared first on Fish Alaska Magazine.

Alaska’s Murkowski among Congress members seeking to save ocean science network

Workers retrieve a data-recording instrument in the Gulf of Alaska. The instruments have been deployed through the Ocean Observatories Initiative, which began operating in 2016 and was to continue for three decades. The National Science Foundation, under the Trump administration, plans to dismantle portions of the ssystem, including instruments in Alaska that are used to monitor weather events and help manage seafood harvests. (Photo by Dee Emrich/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution/provided by

Anchorage connector trail will cost how much?

Two people walk on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail on Sept. 23, 2023, with the downtown Anchorage skyline and snowcapped peaks in the background. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)Alaska media coverage of a highly touted and long anticipated “connector trail” in downtown Anchorage has produced a series of “feel good” stories that sing the praises of a project widely considered to be a dream come true—at least by its backers. Those include a high-powered coalition of local recreational trail ad

State ignored law with secret Pearl Creek decision

Opening the Pearl Creek charter school would probably lead to the closure of another neighborhood school in the Fairbanks area with Woodriver, University Park and Anne Wien the most likely to be reviewed.That’s one of the key reasons why the Fairbanks North Star Borough School Board voted unanimously against the Pearl Creek charter plan.Gov. Mike Dunleavy is determined to override the local government, which is a key thing to know about why the state education department and Dunleavy’s appointee