Emily Schwing

In Alaska, warmer days can bring catastrophic flooding as frozen rivers break up

Emily Schwing

Spring comes late to western Alaska and brings a mix of anxiety and anticipation. Citizen scientists use traditional knowledge to predict river breakup and flooding for dozens of remote communities.

Everyone involved in the Iditarod must be fully vaccinated against COVID

Emily Schwing

Alaska's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race gets underway in March. Officials require participants to be vaccinated. Mushers also won't stop at one remote community to avoid possibly spreading the virus.

Chef Lindsay Kucera prepares for dinner service at Jack Sprat, a small restaurant in the Alaska ski resort town of Girdwood. About one-third of the staff left during the pandemic.

A Remote Resort Town Struggles To Find Restaurant Workers For The Summer Season

Emily Schwing

As pandemic restrictions loosen, tourists flock to Jack Sprat, a restaurant in Girdwood, Alaska. But like many businesses in resort towns, it's having trouble hiring servers as the economy rebounds.

Anchorage, Alaska resident Hans Dow built his own sawmill and began milling his own boards after lumber prices skyrocketed over the last year.

As Lumber Prices Climb, DIYers Cut Out The Middle Man And Mill Their Own

Emily Schwing

The price of lumber has more than doubled during the pandemic. Now people are turning to extreme DIY for building projects. Instead of buying boards, they're buying their own sawmills.

JR Bluff donned a wig and a white leisure suit and performed "Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley. He translated the song into his native Salish language for the contest.

An Indigenous Language Is Stayin' Alive In A Karaoke Contest

Emily Schwing

Native American tribal members in the Pacific Northwest host an annual karaoke contest to keep their indigenous language, Salish, alive.

An Oil Rig Arrives In Alaska, On Its Way To The Arctic

Emily Schwing

The rig is scheduled to head into the Arctic later this summer as part of an exploratory offshore drilling operation. That drilling is controversial — at least in the lower 48 states.

The sun sets over a swath of black spruce forest blanketed by a thin layer of snow in Alaska's interior. Unseasonably warm weather has Alaskans worried about the impact of climate change on dog sledding.

Climate Change Puts Alaska's Sled Dog Races On Thin Ice

Emily Schwing

Warm temperatures and dwindling snow have shaken even the toughest mushers. Alaskans are worried about the future of their state sport.

Alaska Must Translate Election Material Into 2 Indigenous Languages

Emily Schwing

Friday's deadline was set after a U.S. District Court judge ruled the state violated the Voting Rights Act by not providing some native speakers with materials in their language.

A Cold, Wet Trip With Spearfishers In Alaska

Emily Schwing

One month each fall, residents of interior Alaska don chest waders and splash through the clear, frigid waters of the Chatanika River. With large homemade lanterns hanging from their necks and spears in hand, the fishermen keep their eyes peeled for whitefish.

Bike shop owner Kevin Breitenbach rides a fat bike in the White Mountains National Recreation Area in Alaska in March.

Welcome To Alaska, Where Winter Is Cold And Bikes Are Fat

Emily Schwing

It takes a lot more than snow to keep Alaskan bikers indoors, especially now that they have fat bikes. Think mountain bike on steroids, with tires wider than most people's arms.

Just You, Your Dogs And The Yukon Sled Race

Emily Schwing

Mushing is a solitary endeavor, especially in the more remote parts of Northern Alaska and the Yukon Territory. That's the stage for 23 dog teams who set out a week ago on a 1,000-mile race from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Whitehorse, Canada. Emily Schwing of member station KUAC reports from the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.