Snow was laid through the streets the night before from downtown Anchorage to the Sullivan Arena for the Ceremonial Start of the 53rd Iditarod on Saturday, March 1.

Out of the 33 teams, an astounding 16 of them are rookies this year. Spectators followed the race down the Chena River along the road system to the town of Nenana, where the racers took their first rest before jumping onto the Tanana River.

“The Last Great Race” is officially into the Alaskan wilderness and on the trails. 

A large group of protestors assembled outside the Fairbanks office of the University of Alaska President Pat Pitney on Wednesday, Feb. 26, in a show of opposition to the university’s decision to scrub all references to diversity, equity, and inclusion on the university’s website and other publications.

A Bering Air flight from Unalakleet to Nome with ten onboard, including the pilot, went missing on Thursday, February 6. The last contact with the plane was at 3:18 pm. Bering Air’s David Olson said the plane is considered missing. The Nome Volunteer Fire Department said they are in active search.

The 34th Alaska State Legislature kicked off on January 21 in Juneau. Downtown Fairbanks Representative Maxine Dibert is a Koyukon Athabascan born and raised in District 31, which she now represents. Representative Dibert spoke with The Sun Star to discuss her hopes and aspirations for the session. “We are at this historic spot in our Alaska state legislature…” Dibert began.

The Associated Students of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, or ASUAF, has been advocating for UAF students for the past 102 years. Fernando Escobar, Director of Student Public Relations and Advocacy, recently sat down with The Sun Star to share updates on the organization’s achievements, ongoing projects, and how students can get involved in UAF’s student government.

The celebration of Indigenous People’s Day at UAF kicked off at 9:30 a.m. in the Wood Center Ballroom. Round tables were still being filled up as Teisha Simmons, Interim Dean of the College of Indigenous Studies, officially welcomed everyone.

On Friday, October 25, at around 7 p.m., a vehicle fire inside the garage bay of the Wood Center was reported to the UAF 911 line. The University Fire Department arrived and found that a sprinkler in the garage bay had suppressed the fire.

On October 2, leaders of rural communities, industry and education descended upon the Westmark Conference Center in Fairbanks for the Alaska Rural Energy Conference. One of the featured discussion panels was: “Successful Projects Require Specific Skills: Cultivating An Energy Workforce.”

The University of Alaska Fairbanks closed the showers in two of its buildings, Akasofu and Usibelli, on October 17, 2024, after the water tested positive for Legionella bacteria.

Forget about conferences as boring, staid, too technical or uncool and welcome to the Alaska Federation of Native Conference 2024. The Alaska Federation of Natives, or AFN, includes 177 federally recognized tribes, 154 village corporations, 9 regional corporations, and 9 regional nonprofit and tribal consortiums. Their yearly conference is the gathering of political, social, and subsistence happenings for Natives in the state of Alaska. From October 17 to 19 it took over the Dena’ina Convention Center in Anchorage, and pretty much the entire city along with it. 

Breast cancer accounts for nearly 30 percent of all new cancer cases each year.  If you think of eight women that you know, on average, one of them will develop invasive breast cancer during their lifetime. It remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in the U.S., second only to lung cancer.

On September 17, with over a month to go until her re-election vote, Alaska’s incumbent U.S. Representative Mary Peltola took a break from her job in D.C. to chat via phone with The Sun Star. We discussed explaining Alaska to outsiders and solutions to our state’s unique problems, such as outmigration and aviation needs, the Presidential election, hyperpolarization, and the younger generation. 

The Summer 2024 Paris Olympics started with a bang when the locals found out the Major was going to clean the Seine River after years of asking. One of the first concerns was when President Emmanuel Macron declared that he would have the Seine River cleaned in time for the Olympics, where the triathlon and marathon swimming races were scheduled to occur.

Workers also enter their first full semester under the new labor contract between UAF and the Alaska Graduate Workers’ Association. The contract, which came into effect on July 1, includes pay increases for all Graduate Workers, just-cause employment measures, and other benefits that help guarantee a fair and secure working environment for UA graduate students.

Over the summer, a team of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researchers arrived in Nome to launch the third year of a study that seeks to study sea ice retreat and chart phytoplankton in the northern Bering Sea. The Arctic Airborne Investigations and Research mission, AIR for short, aims to collect data that, among other research objectives, will help predict harmful algal blooms (HABs for short).

This past month, two long-awaited renovation projects have been completed at UAF: the new Student Success Center on the top floor of the Rasmuson Library and Bartlett Residence Hall. These building updates provide significant improvements for students on campus. I was lucky enough to get a tour of both new spaces, and I’m here to share the details!

On March 29th, the recently established labor union of UA graduate workers, AGWA-UAW, concluded its Strike Authorization Vote. Of 296 votes, 95% voted “yes” to authorize a potential graduate worker strike.