Alaska.com: Alaska's Travel Website

State says it's keeping close eye on gas line project

State officials said Tuesday that they are closely monitoring a major pipeline company's progress on a North Slope gas line to ensure the state's multimillion-dollar stake in the project is well-spent.

PDF: State report on AGIA pipeline project

Two-wheeled light for days of darkness

Most Southcentral bikers who pedal through winter for transportation or recreation know that during the Dark Season, their very survival is linked to the lights and reflective tape that signal their presence.

RUNNING

Fairbanks marathoner tops among Alaskans in New York

Kevin Brinegar of Fairbanks paced 30 Alaskans who finished the New York City Marathon on, zipping through New York's boroughs in 2 hours, 45 minutes, 23 seconds.

AFN convention to touch on village issues

The Alaska Federation of Natives convention launches this morning in Anchorage, promising a complex look at the law and politics surrounding basic village needs.

Photos: Last day of First Alaskans Elders & Youth Conference

Photos: Portraits from the AFN convention

MARKET FRESH

Long autumn means more choices

The trees are mostly bare, the days are considerably shorter, but autumn just isn't ready to go away this year. For farmers, that means more work in the fields. For shoppers, that means more choices at the markets.

Barrow 9-year-old may be youngest to harvest a whale

A fourth-grader delivered the killing blow to a 32-foot bowhead whale in Barrow recently in a singular, hands-on hunting lesson from the boy's Inupiat uncles.

ANWR debate will heat up as caribou herds dwindle

On the endlessly rolling and tussocky terrain of northwest Canada, where man has hunted caribou since the Stone Age, the vast antlered herds are fast growing thin. And it's not just here.

Dead beluga aground on Inlet mud near downtown Anchorage

Wildlife officials are investigating the death of a beluga whale that stranded or washed up onto Knik Arm mud flats Thursday night or early Friday.

Heavy flatfish nets hefty purse

The wait for Tom Youngblood was long -- and lucrative. Youngblood, the Homer resident who caught a 354.6-pound halibut more than three months ago, on Wednesday night was declared the winner of the 24th annual Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby and earned $40,400.

City unveils plan to reduce winter natural gas use

Cold showers, chilly living rooms and microwaved cuisine could be in store for Southcentral residents this winter as local utilities and government leaders search for ways to conserve natural gas.

New Yakutat gold claims raise concern for rivers

A Web site devoted to Yakutat claims the Southeast Alaska village is "more than just fishing." But fishing remains important enough that concern greeted an out-of-state company's announcement that it has staked more than 500 new mining claims that could yield billions of dollars of gold.

Juneau gets protection for slide-threatened power lines

Alaska Electric Light & Power is building a $1.5 million to $2 million avalanche "diverter" to protect its most vulnerable transmission tower.

Redoubt volcano will continue to be calm, scientists say

The Alaska Volcano Observatory downgraded Redoubt's alert code and says the chance of the volcano returning to its prior eruptive behavior is unlikely.

Alaska Samoans unite to aid tsunami victims

Masae Fanene, a 29-year-old who grew up in Anchorage, lost nine extended family members in the tsunami that pounded Samoa and American Samoa last week.

Dipping for red gold

The Kasilof beach is cool and calm at 10 a.m. on Monday as Yolanda Thomas emerges from her family-sized tent for a morning of dipnetting on the shore of the Kasilof River.