For property owners, the beetles present a vexing scenario, as some scramble to keep their trees alive while others mourn the loss and embark on the oftentimes costly removal process.

The Matanuska Experiment Farm in Palmer says they got 1 1/8" of rain on Saturday. I think we got more than that, but based on their measurements I would revise my estimate down to 1 1/2 to 2 inches on Saturday.

The bear tunneled under the zoo’s perimeter fence and broke through the cedar split rail fence around the alpaca enclosure before killing Caesar, according to the zoo’s executive director, Pat Lampi. Another alpaca -- Fuzzy Charlie -- was found unhurt though wide-eyed and skittish.

Residents note significant changes in the Christiansen Lake ecosystem since 2019. This includes fewer nesting birds, fish, and mammals around the lake, while the leech population has increased along with the occurrence of algal blooms.

"The spruce bark beetle epidemic currently ravaging Southcentral AK's spruce trees is well-known, but I haven't heard mention of other pests occurring in conjunction."

Both sides of Cook Inlet are eroding near Tyonek. The erosion is reaching old and new growth trees, and causing more debris to fall in to the Inlet, which easily get caught in set nets.

Avalanche monitors say danger remains high in Turnagain Pass, Girdwood and Portage.

Seismologists called the quake the most significant in the state’s largest city since 1964, in terms of how strong the ground itself shook.

Fishing businesses in Mat-Su warned that the rules could hurt the state's tourism economy.

The storm that walloped Southcentral Alaska also left about 32 inches of snow in Moose Pass and 30 in Seward.

Persistent warm temperatures the last few weeks have melted much of the snow, including stockpiles the city tried to set aside.