Published Jan 8, 2024 by Rick Thoman

While Alaska didn’t have an ex-typhoon Merbok style widespread high impact event in 2023, there was still lots to contend with. Here’s a selection, in chronological order.

• March: Northwest Alaska storminess
• May: Spring break-up flooding
• August: Mendenhall River glacier dam outburst flooding
• July-August: Wildfire
• November: Wrangell area landslide
• November-December snow

Published Jan 7, 2024 by David James

“It’s fascinating the things that language will lead you to doing,” poet Christopher Miles said. “If you just pay attention to the sound, the syllable, and then of course the imagination and how central that is to everything we do as human beings, to find a medium like poetry where that is celebrated and explored, I cherish that.”

Miles will be one of roughly 30 poets taking part in the first Solstice Poetry Cycle on Jan. 19 at the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

“I’m billing it as a live anthology of Fairbanks area poets,” organizer Joseph Holt said. “So many of the poets around town know one another but here we can get everyone together in one place.”

Holt, a professor of English at UAF and director of the Midnight Sun Visiting Writers Series, got the idea after being asked to read at an event called One Poet, One Poem hosted by the literary journal Rock and Sling. “The event ran much like we’ll be running the Solstice Poetry Cycle where maybe 20 or 25 poets were in attendance and they each read a single poem. They were asked not to introduce the poem but just give the title, read it, introduce the next reader, and cycle through like that.”

The Solstice Poetry Cycle will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 19, in Schaible Auditorium on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. Thirty poets will read one poem each. Admission is free. The event will also be streamed on Zoom (alaska.zoom.us/j/83537399273) and the UAF College of Liberal Arts Facebook page (www.facebook.com/uaf.cla). Further information will be available on the CLA News and Events page (www.uaf.edu/cla/news/index.php).

Published Jan 7, 2024 by Gavin Struve

In a Saturday night battle between a pair of teams with “Alaska” emblazoned across their chests, the program from the Cook Inlet prevailed for a 64-58 win in overtime in the Patty Center.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks’ defense stifled the visiting Seawolves throughout the first half and held them without any made shots in the final five minutes of regulation. But in overtime, Alaska Anchorage found offense late in the shot clock on multiple occasions, and that proved enough to leave Fairbanks with a win.

The win was the first for UAA (11-3 overall, 1-2 GNAC) in conference play this season. UAF (3-8, 1-2 GNAC) has two home games ahead next week, against Northwest Nazarene on Thursday and Central Washington on Saturday. Prior to Saturday, they hadn’t played at home since Nov. 11.

Published Jan 7, 2024 by Josh Reed

In early March, Vishe’ Rabb had to be carried off the court after suffering a torn ACL in the University of Alaska Anchorage women’s basketball team’s loss to Seattle Pacific University in the first round of the 2023 GNAC championships.

Nine months later, she made her season debut on Thursday night at the Alaska Airlines Center and carried the Seawolves to their biggest win of the season in a thrilling 61-54 upset of reigning GNAC champion Western Washington.

The win extended the Seawolves’ winning streak to five in a row. It marks not only their first conference win of the season but also their first time besting the Vikings since February 2020.



Published Jan 7, 2024 by Gavin Struve

Once No. 14 Western Washington seemingly eschewed some jet lag, it mostly cruised to an 86-45 win over the University of Alaska Fairbanks women’s basketball team in Fairbanks.

“They’ve got size, they’ve got depth, and on top of it they have shooting, which is always a really tough combination to plan for,” UAF head coach Amy Donovan said postgame.

UAF struggled to find the requisite offense to keep up over the course of the game, producing as many turnovers (four) as field goal attempts in the opening five minutes.

The loss dropped the Nanooks to 2-12 overall and 0-4 in GNAC play and improved the Vikings to 10-3 (2-1). The Nanooks return to action next Saturday, Jan. 13, at Alaska Anchorage and don’t have another home game until the end of the month.