Hannah Flor

Chris Andrews was working the belt at the Anchorage airport last fall, watching international cargo arrive. “An employee said, ‘Hey, this box stinks, Chris,'” Andrews recalled.

Chris Andrews poses for a photo with confiscated goods, June 4, 2026, at his office in the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage. James Daggett/Alaska Public Media via AP

Danny Clift stands by the creek behind his house in East Anchorage. Clift grew up in Aniak Alaska, next to both vast wilderness and an airport and says the sounds of low flying helicopters and live ammunition coming from the base make him feel at home.

Jennifer Pierce and a paramedic talk with a woman who called dispatch with a racing heart and difficulty breathing on June 12, 2026. Pierce said she was likely having an anxiety attack.

Conjoined residential buildings like this one on E Street in Anchorage aren’t currently allowed in some areas with more restrictive zoning code.

In the parking lot of the Anchorage Senior Center, Donna Summer's 'Hot Stuff' thumped from the back of a pickup truck. I want some hot stuff, baby, this evenin'

A handful of the nearly 30 parakeets that Karen Rappe is fostering in her South Anchorage home on June 24. 2026. To apply to adopt a bird, contact the Alaska Bird Club.

The federal government will pay $191.3 million dollars to the Don Young Port of Alaska.

The problem is less visible than in nearby Anchorage because unhoused people are employed, and mostly sleeping in their vehicles.

Chloe Lewis plays with her friend on the school playground in Kwigillingok. (Hillman/KSKA)