Morning Edition July 30, 2026

According to the CDC, there are now more measles infections in the U.S. in 2026 than in the past 35 years. Now an urgent warning for Alaskans. A state recently issued an alert because the virus was detected in Anchorage Municipal wastewater samples returned from four separate days in the month of July, showed traces of the measles virus, which officials say is an early warning signal. At least one case of measles might be in the community. Joe Algood tells us that While there are zero officially diagnosed to active clinical patients in the last month, there is still cause for concern. While the news that there is measles and Anchorage's wastewater may raise some concern, officials with the State Department of Health say it's exactly why they've been monitoring for it since 2024. This surveillance system is really doing its job, which is sort of an early warning system to give clinicians. health department staff and the general public in early heads up that there's measles activity in the community and to be on the lookout. The last case of measles in Anchorage was a tourist traveling through in October 2025. The last case reported in the state was February of this year, and officials are waiting on more data for the rest of this month. Sequencing that we did see, we saw a clear decline in the amount of reads for the sequencing detections. Gotcha. We can hypothesize about, you know, if there was a tourist or somebody coming in and out of Anchorage. But beyond that, we just know that there was always probably one individual. In response to that information, local officials are hoping to get ahead of any outbreaks, especially ahead of the school year. In some places, it's caused disruptions and school closures. Anchorage has a low vaccination. So we know that to prevent a measles outbreaks, you need coverage with two doses of measles vaccine of 95%. Most recent data from Anchorage show that we are under 80%. So we're vulnerable. Measles can have an incubation period of anywhere from 7 to 21 days before symptoms set in. Fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat, and then red eyes, conjunctivitis. And that usually starts about two to four days before the rash begins. Officials recommend calling your health care provider as soon as possible if you get it, but those who are vaccinated have an incredibly low chance of getting the virus. The measles component alone confers about 97% efficacy against protecting against measles, which is remarkably high. It really is a... highly effective vaccine, and we highly encourage folks to get vaccinated if they haven't already. Joe Allgood, Alaska's news source. To reiterate, measles symptoms appear 7 to 14 days after exposure and typically begin with a runny nose, fever, and cough before the classic rash and high fever develop. If you have symptoms, call your doctor's office before walking in. This allows a facility to isolate you so other patients are not exposed. We're learning more about three people killed in a plane crash in a remote area near McCarthy Monday night. Here's a look at the crash site. The NTSB says the plane was coming in for a landing on an airstrip at Dan Creek, a small community about 20 miles east of McCarthy inside a wrangle St. Elias National Park and Preserve when it banked left and crashed bursting into flames. The plane has been identified as a privately owned Piper PA 22. We now know the name.

of two people on board who died Monday. 23-year-old Anna Deere Elliott is pictured here. This photo shared by his father, Randy Elliott, who confirmed his son died Monday in the crash. Randy also named the pilot who was flying the plane as Jason Lobo, a longtime local to the area. Randy Elliott said his son and his son's partner, who was also on the plane, had just moved to the area to set up a mining operation. We'd like for him to be remembered as someone who came back to the Bush for Alaska. That's rare and we need it. He was pretty well liked. Randy told us Anna Deere graduated from Owasilla High School in 2021. We have not yet confirmed the name of the third person on board who was killed. Randy said his son's significant other was 19 years old and she had moved up with him from Arizona. The remains of all three were taken to the state medical examiner's office for positive ID. Later today, the NTSB is expected to release its final report on what brought down Bering Air Flight 445 near Kristi Noem, killing 10 people. The agency's records already point to serious icing and performance concerns. Can you try to raise bearing air 445? They just dropped off our radar at a high rate of descent. Now they are not responding. Ten lives were lost on Norton Sound that day. That radio traffic is just a fraction of the massive NTSB investigative docket, concluding today. While that docket gave the public unprecedented access to weather reports, maintenance logs, and photos. Regional Chief Clint Johnson says those were all stepping stones toward probable cause. But this gives the chance for the public, the family members, the operator, basically the general public, to review exactly all the work that goes into an NTSB investigation, but most importantly, the tragic circumstances that led up to this tragic accident. According to NTSB facts... reports the Cessna Grand Caravan encountered severe icing. Another pilot flying the same route reported spiky ice accumulations up to an inch and a half thick. Investigators also found the plane was overweight. Nearly a thousand pounds past the safe limit for icing conditions with significantly more fuel on board than the pilot reported. Its speed eventually dropped to 52 knots well below safe speed limits before plummeting to the sea ice. Following the crash, Bering Air has since implemented new pre-departure safety checks. Our investigative team will dig into the final report today with updates on our website and mobile app. The city of Fairbanks is working fast to open an overnight warming center to serve those dealing with homelessness. In March, the nonprofit Fairbanks Hoplink announced its warming center would not reopen this winter, cutting off a service. Officials say it is critical.

Mayor Mindy O'Neill says the Northern Hope Center has agreed to operate the shelter from the 12th Avenue location. Now the city is looking for about $6 to $700,000 to keep it open through the cold season. That includes staffing, a program manager to nightly staff, additional case management and navigation security, and then equipment costs such as like lockers and things that would keep the space safe, the individuals safe as well as provide some area for their things. O'Neill says she's confident the warming center could open by October 1st and stay open until March or April, depending on the weather. Chris Wagle became a U.S. citizen last year, so she was surprised to get a letter asking her to prove it. She's one of thousands, or thousands, rather, of Alaskans, including naturalized citizens who are being asked to prove they belong on the voter registration list. And as well, Courtney explains, lawmakers are pushing back. Weeks ago, thousands in the state received a letter asking them to verify their citizenship. Elections director Carol Beecher said the division deactivated the registration of more than 3,000 voters. We received a large number of individuals had been indicated as non-citizens. But some of them are. They laughed out loud because I thought this was very ridiculous, especially since the letter just had a checkbox. What kind of verification is that? On Wednesday, 20 lawmakers came out against that push, signing a letter calling the move illegal and based on inaccurate data. Beecher told lawmakers weeks ago the high numbers likely came from outdated records. The election division says those who got the letter are still able to vote, but lawmakers say the confusion itself is the problem. So for the most part, there's no reason for people to think their votes won't be counted. Representative Kai Holland helped write that letter, and while he isn't concerned that votes won't count, he is worried it could curb voter turnout. We've already done so much to give people reason to doubt the integrity of our election, to doubt the... quality of the role and their participation. This to me was just adding more doubt into something where we've been sharing what I think are kind of spurious claims and accusations. The elections division said Wednesday they plan to respond to the letter. That, after we filed a public records request on Monday, seeking more documents on the letter. Will Courtney? Alaska's news source. Still ahead today on the morning edition. One question that pops up a lot when people are looking to start a garden or just wanting a healthy natural yard is what to plant and what to pull. We'll show you one great way to answer some questions. We'll join Danny Tompkins at the Campbell Creek Gardens coming up.

Still holding on to a stretch of sunny and warm conditions across the vast majority of the state as we chase some 70s and 80s this week. I'll have more on that. First sunrise 5.27 in Anchorage, 445 in Juneau. Your full forecast is next. Welcome back in. It's been a minute since we checked on the Bears at Catmine National Park. And so wide view there, but we do have a few that are out this morning, Aaron. Looks like we got a skinny one there. He's got a little bit of fattening up to do before October rolls around. Got to catch more of that salmon before Fat Bear Week. Yeah, certainly looking forward to that. And I know many are looking forward to those warmer conditions and the rest of this week certainly going to provide some of that. With that said, this year certainly has been a chilly one across a good portion of the state. Here in Anchorage, we've seen practically every single month with below seasonal conditions. June was an exception as we did in the month, just about a half a degree above what we typically see. But our average temperature this year is just around 34 degrees, which... Year to date is the 11th coldest year on record, and it's the coldest since 1999. And you can see, as we went through the first portion of this year, you can see that most locations or most months certainly did see those below average conditions. March was certainly well below average. And then you can see as we went into this July, we're sitting just about three degrees below where we typically should be for this time of year. And we are tapping into some of those warmer conditions, which will carry. through the rest of this month. We've got 20s along the slope, 40s and 50s elsewhere across the state. So we still got some of those chillier mornings or at least cooler mornings, but we will rebound quite nicely into the afternoon. We've got that frontal system that's dropping south out of the Brooks range. That is keeping some light rain showers with parts of the interior this morning. More so for the Yukon flats in eastern parts of the interior. Fairbanks will largely stay on the dry side. Can't roll out some sprinkles for you, but you'll largely... just stay dry with some passing cloud coverage. for the first part of the morning. So you can see as you head east, northeast of Fairbanks is where we're going to hold on to that better chance of seeing some rain showers as we head through the rest of today. By no means is it's going to be significant rate. It's just going to bring a few hundreds of an inch to around a tenth of an inch as you head through the rest of today. Then our main story as we close out this month is that ridge of high pressure that's going to settle in across the state. Now the ridge itself, the extent of that strongness of the ridge is out over the allusions. But we will see some of it. beginning to infiltrate mainland Alaska, and that is going to continue to lead to some of these quieter conditions as we head through the close of this month. So you can see temperatures today.

60s and some 70s as you head across a good portion of the state. Now out west and along the slope, we are going to continue to hold on to some cooler conditions, but beyond today, temperatures do warm. We've got cooler conditions out west, largely due to that cloud coverage as well as that frontal passage. But we will see, again, the return to some 60s for coastal western parts of the Alaska as we head through the next couple of days. You can see four Fairbanks, though, those temperatures met to upper 70s, possibly some 80s as we close out this. month and welcome in the weekend. So get outside and enjoy this warmer weather that we do have heading our way. We will be watching early next week. You can see Monday and Tuesday a chance for some rain showers. As a result of that, we are backing off those temperatures by a few degrees. Still expecting some nice weather, but we will see a chance for some rain showers early next week. We're also going to be watching a chance for some early morning or early week showers for South Central and Anchorage as well. Next week, I'll have more on that for you coming up. in the next full forecast. But hey, the rest of this week, certainly shaping up to be nice. Get outside. July ending on a sunny note. We love that. Thanks, Erin. Well, if you've ever wanted a home garden, it can be intimidating to know where to start. This week, the Alaska Native Plant Society held a wildflower garden workshop for people of all skill levels. Danny Tompkins joins us from Campbell Creek Science Center. Good morning, Danny. Good morning, Kristen. Many of the plants in this garden are actually native to Alaska. You can see they're labeled with these little black plaques around the garden. And volunteers this week are making sure that it stays in those native plants. We'll take a look at what that workshop looked like. We'd like to remove them. Invasive plants are quietly crowding out Alaska's native species. We don't want them. Stealing all the nutrients from the soil. and spreading their seeds in the flower beds. And this week's group leader, Ginger May, is on a mission to stop it. There is a big problem with invasive plants crowding out native plants. And the animals have not evolved with those. plants and so they may not provide the right kind of food or shelter for those animals. For first-time volunteers Serena Williams, that hit close to home. Sometimes I'll go to a nursery. This is controversial, but I'll see something that looks really nice and then somebody will tell me later that's invasive and I'll go, oh, glad I didn't buy it, right? So this kind of information is really helpful. In just minutes, she was already rethinking what grows in her own yard. I've already in just the first 10 minutes I've been here learned a lot about what I should be pulling, what I should be allowing to grow, but not overgrow, and then what things I should allow to flourish. Skills anyone can learn and take home. Serena says that she plans to put what she learned at work in her own garden. And many of these plants you see here are lining those Anchorage, roadways, and trails. Now, there are more workshops coming up. There's one on Friday to learn more about the native grasses here in Anchorage, and that is a free workshop. Now, Kristen, do you have a favorite Alaska wildflower? I love the fireweed. I love seeing it this time of year up against the mountains and the backdrop of just, like, stunning.

sunny skies that we're having right now. But I've never really had a green thumb myself, but maybe I'll check out one of these gardening classes. Thanks, Danny. Thanks for listening to our podcast. Click subscribe so you can get the latest podcasts from Alaska's News Source automatically. And stay out to date with breaking news and in-depth reporting available for free 24-7 with the Alaska's News Source app.