The Morning Edition Jan. 8, 2026

We're getting to be exhausted in targeting the remediation of caring for public and critical infrastructure. Today on the morning edition, record-breaking snowfall has brought Juno to a standstill, forcing the state capital to declare a local emergency. Why officials are now warning of increased avalanche danger as warmer temperatures and green move in. I am not going to let this rest until I cast them answers. It's been four weeks since the official search was suspended for two men missing at sea off Sitka. We'll hear from their mothers about their frustration with the search efforts and their determination to find answers. And later, remember the must-have toy of the 90s? The Tomogachi is back. The iconic virtual pet is collaborating, or celebrating rather. It's 30th anniversary with new features from color screens to Wi-Fi. The morning edition starts now. Good Thursday morning, everyone. Thanks for waking up with us today. Do you remember the Tomogachi? I used to have it right there with the little belt buckle. Oh, you carried it around on your belt buckle. I did. And I'd be sitting there going. Accessorizing. You know, they always tend to use the restroom at the most odd times, and you had to go clean it. I feel like it was a lot of our first pet to take care of. But looking forward to, I may get that. We shall see 30 years. Wow. I'm sure there's also an app. Probably so. I think there is if you look into the app store. Bitter cold conditions this morning as you get outside. 14 below is what we're sitting at here in Anchorage with those winds fairly light out of the north at 7 miles per hour. That's making it feel even colder with wind chills approaching 30 below in parts of South Central. So it is a first alert weather day for the morning commute due to those bitter cold conditions. So just bundle up as you head outdoors, take the necessary precaution to... to keep those extremities warm and prevent that frostbite and hypothermia. Now, as far as what we are going to begin to see throughout the day, is those temperatures staying well below zero. Check out Saldatna this morning, as well as Taukeetna. They're sitting right around 40 below to start off your Thursday morning. 21 below in Wasilla, 28 below in Kenai, while coastal regions sitting in the single digits. So this is a cold start to your Thursday morning. Now, this is a brief cold snap that we are. seeing starting tomorrow, we will begin to see temperatures gradually warming across South Central with temperatures warming back into the 20s this weekend with snow in the forecast. Now, freezing fog has been with us through the night. It is improving some across South Central, but we are going to continue to favor at least some pockets, have some freezing fog as you get out on those roadways. This is a look out towards the Glen Highway and Palmer. You can see visibility for the most part, not much of an issue. And then as you head out towards the S-curge. you may encounter some patchy areas of some freezing fog. Despite the freezing fog in some areas, those road conditions continue to remain fairly treacherous for parts of South Central, particularly in areas where plows have yet to be out in those neighborhoods. This is along the Stirling Highway, and you can see those road conditions for the most part continue to remain snow-packed. We are going to continue to see temperatures today, staying well below zero across South Central with plenty of sunshine, but snow is back in the forecast. I'll have more on that in that seven-day forecast.

coming out. The record-breaking snowfall has taken a toll on the state capital and Juneau has now declared a local emergency, which will hopefully provide some relief. Joe Allgood reports. I want to acknowledge that... You know, this disaster is unique. Flooding has more often been the cause for disaster declarations in Juneau, but this time water isn't coming from the glacial basin nearby, but the skies above. We've reached the point where our public, where our resources that we were applying to this winter storm event, we're getting to be exhausted and targeting the remediation of... caring for public and critical infrastructure. After record-breaking snow last month, the rooftops of Juno are battling against the weight. Now, that snow will give way to rain. We're anticipating heavy snowfall, heavy rain, and warming temperatures at higher elevations. This will lead to rapid rises and avalanche hazard. The disaster declaration only covers critical infrastructure that's already been damaged. We'll just have to take a look at... if avalanches do occur, what the damages are, and then we can make adjustments if those are needed. And officials urge residents to be prepared just in case, though hopefully it won't come to that. And at this time, we do not believe that there is a reason or a condition to evacuate your homes or be spending the night somewhere else. Joe Allgood, Alaska's News Source. From deadly shootings to dangerous chases, our investigative team is examining a series of crimes over the past 10 weeks in the Fairbanks North Pole area. Officials from the city and police say the eight recent violent crimes impacting the interior since October are not connected or an indication of a larger issue. Mayor Mindy O'Neill, FPD's deputy police chief and state troopers each called the series of crimes unfortunate coincidences. We're talking about seven people shot and four killed, starting with a 15-year-old at a party in October. And you may remember this past week, DPS says two troopers responding to a mental health call fatally shot a man, they say, charged them with a knife. A November 20th case has yet to see an arrest after troopers say someone shot at two trucks driving on the highway. Troopers say some private companies are offering a $20,000 cash reward to help solicit tips. You can read the full investigation. investigative story on our website and mobile app. Another crime not going unnoticed, mail thieves are targeting porches and mailboxes in Fairbanks and even law enforcement has been hit. Now Alaska state troopers are fighting back, teaming up with federal postal inspectors to catch criminals with bait operations. Authorities say the surge is largely driven by the drug crisis as users steal packages to fund addictions. I will tell you that the Alaska State Troopers are working in conjunction with our criminal suppression unit with the U.S. postal inspectors regarding mail theft. We take it pretty seriously, and it's, I mean, it's affected me. Me personally. I've had my mail stolen.

Police urge residents to report suspicious vehicles and use the USPS tracking app to monitor their deliveries. Officials have stopped searching, but family has not. Two men who worked and lived in Sitka remain missing at sea. As Cassandra Mansel reports, it's been four weeks since the search was suspended, but family members are still clinging to hope. He has one of the biggest hearts of anybody I know. Josiah Bracken was described by his mother as a loud outdoors lover who made knives and swords and was fiercely loyal to his family. He's one of two men who went missing last month off the coast of Sitka. The other was Quinn Whitten. Quinn was my oldest son. Quinn was a professional snowboarder from the age of 12 on. Family members say Josiah and Quinn were out remodeling a float house at Camp Coogan and spent a lot of time on the water. Alaska State Troopers say they were last heard from on December 13th when they left Back Beach in a 14-foot lund skiff. Four days later, December 17th, Coast Guard officials suspended the active search. And both mothers say they were frustrated. Well, the Coast Guard was very forthcoming. They were fine. They did look hard for a couple days. But, you know, they didn't start until the next day. And then they gave up after just two days. They have not communicated to me in any way that there's any continued search. Sika is a small island, and I have become aware that, you know, There's not a lot of manpower here. Their mothers say Josiah and Quinn were roommates, two friends who worked together, planned projects and shared dreams. I am not going to let this rest until I have some answers. He said, if I die tonight, Mom, I want you to know I never sold out. I'm ready to meet my maker. Cassandra Mansell, Alaska's news source. Alaska Airlines announcing a historic purchase Wednesday of more than 100 new Boeing aircraft. It's the largest single order in the carrier's history. It includes 105 yet to be certified Boeing 737 Max 10 jets and 57710 Dreamliners. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was on hand in Seattle for the announcement. During remarks, he emphasized the need for more Made in America manufacturing as well as called for more congressional. to implement his air modernization plans. We are going to deliver on the promise we made to do our part to make sure more people can fly even more safely with this new system. Over 100 airplanes shows the confidence that Alaska has in Boeing, that America has in Boeing, that DOT has in Alaska. This launches us. to really go after this exciting vision about being the fourth global carrier and providing this competition right here out of Seattle. We believe Seattle's our hometown. We have the largest domestic network here. We have a large domestic footman on the West Coast. We believe if anybody has the right to fly internationally out of Seattle, it is Alaska Airlines. Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minnacucci added the new planes will provide access to more destinations across the globe.

Coming up, don't just toss that Christmas tree. Find out where you can drop off your tree to be repressed into wood chips. And what else you can recycle while you're at it? Coming up. Bitter cold conditions remain with us across South Central. First alert this morning to that extreme cold. But we were also first alerting for your Friday across southeast. I'll have more on that. The first sunrise, 10.06 in Anchorage, 840 in Juneau. Your full forecast is next. If you're looking for a green way to dispose of your dry holiday decorations, here's a solution that helps the environment and the community. Real Christmas trees can be dropped off at various cars locations throughout Anchorage. Alaskans for litter prevention and recycling collects up to 10,000 trees each year and they're repurposed into wood chips. What we found is we've got stats to go back as far as 2007, and since that time, over 100,000 trees have been repurposed and used as wood chips throughout the municipality of Anchorage. Trees can be dropped off at the following cars locations on your screen right now in Anchorage. That's Greg Abbott, Huffman, or Jewel Lake. Reminder, trees must be completely bare. Donations are also being accepted at both the Eagle River and Palmer Cars locations. You can also recycle holiday stringlights at the Anchorage Recycling Center or during certain hours at Total Reclaim. Reiths are not accepted. Aaron, I still have my Christmas tree up, but I have a fake tree, and I usually keep it up way long. than I should. Well, I was telling you yesterday, it's carnival season, so just take the Christmas decorations off and just decorated for something else. Yeah. I do love the tree. You can even do it for Easter. I know a lot of people who just change it through the holiday seasons. I don't know if I'd be able to keep that up. Sounds fun in theory. Well, we are waking up to some bitter cold conditions across South Central. We've got a first alert weather day to that extreme cold. We've got temperatures this morning as low as 40 below across parts of South Central from Talkeetna out towards Saldatna this morning. That is why we are first alerting you to that extreme cold. Now, into our Friday, we do have a first alert weather day for southeast. This is where we're going to see snow turning to rain beginning later this evening on into the weekend. And that's going to arrive from south to north. with the ongoing snow that we've already seen for southeast. This is going to lead to increasing risk for flooding, of which we've already seen for parts of southeast, more avalanche concerns and landslides as we see a push of warmer air building back in across southeast. Tempters this morning, 51 below in McGrath, 37 below in Fairbanks. You can see out towards Bethel, we've got those temperatures around 30 below, warmer conditions through the allusions where those morning lows are sitting in the upper 30s. But we are still holding on to several areas of the... the state where we've got a multitude of weather alerts in place. We've got that area of low pressure pushing east of Prince William Sound that will keep some additional light snowfall in the forecast for the panhandle today. But notice from extreme cold warnings out towards southwest, we've got some blizzard conditions, winter storm watches through the Alaska Range, and also as you head out towards the allusions with this next incoming storm. That's going to lead to some gusty winds as well as some additional snowfall and arranged snowmix for the

as well as the Alaska Peninsula. We are dry today, April South Central. Temperatures for many areas will stay well below zero today. And then we'll begin to see a slow but gradual warming trend into our Friday. Now, most of the day Friday, we are going to spend with those sub-zero values. But as we welcome in the latter portion of the day tomorrow and into the evening hours, those temperatures will begin to climb back above zero and into the teens. And this is where we'll begin to see some snow building back in. across South Central. So fairly dry today, and then there's that snow building in as we welcome in the tell end of this week. And you can see waves of snowfall will stay with us across South Central from Friday night on into Sunday. And now, depending on where we're going to see, that heaviest snowfall set up, will greatly depict how much snowfall we are going to see. And we'll continue to watch this trend. But right now, you can see that as that snow builds in Friday on into Saturday morning, there is signs that we could see a couple of... of inches of snowfall accumulation. Now, this is just taken into account what will fall through the overnight hours into early Saturday morning. So we could be talking about several more inches of snowfall accumulation from Friday night on into early next week. So we'll continue to watch that trend. And we have recovered when it comes to our snowfall deficit across South Central. Here at Anchorage, we have seen that recovery quite nicely with only about a three inch snowfall deficit with us. Our snow depth is currently sitting at 25. inches. A seven-day forecast showing that cold weather staying with us today. We'll make it to about 12 degrees into your Friday, and that warm stretch for Friday comes tomorrow evening. And then you can see a stretch of 20 stay with us. And yes, we're going to be talking about a period of some snow sticking around in South Central. Not every day is going to bring widespread snowfall, but we will keep that snow in the forecast for the foreseeable future. Abloved Fairbanks New Year's Eve tradition, a fireworks event that was postponed won't be happening at all now. The annual fireworks display postponed due to extreme cold has now been completely canceled for the first time in its 36-year history. It was scheduled to take place on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. It was postponed only once before in the year 2000. According to coordinator Mike Thomas, after this year's event was put off, the pyrotechnic became unavailable. the truck carrying the materials to Fairbanks experienced difficulties. I'm looking out over the, over the lookout there, and I just see hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of cars waiting for the show to start. It's very gratifying. And then after the show, honks and honks and jays and all that stuff, it's, you know, it's worth all the work. It's worth the money. Despite the setback, Thomas plans to continue the event next year. Thanks for listening to our podcast. Click subscribe so you can get the latest podcast from Alaska's News Source automatically and stay up to date with breaking news and in-depth reporting available for free 24-7 with the Alaska's News Source app.