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3-year-old Alaskan boy with leukemia heads to Seattle for his hockey-related ‘wish’

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3-year-old Alaskan boy with leukemia heads to Seattle for his hockey-related ‘wish’


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Ever since his 2024 diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, much of three-year-old Caleb Seidl’s life has been rooted in uncertainty.

“We’ve been through some really intense treatments,” Caleb’s father Reuben Seidl said. “It’s amazing, his resilience and his energy and just the fight that he’s shown, not even realizing that he’s been fighting, but just trying to be a kid and be himself.”

One way Caleb and his family have found to help him be himself has been embracing his love of hockey.

“As anyone that has a toddler knows, it’s hard to get them to sit on one idea or one want,” Reuben Seidl said. “But Caleb has always loved sports. He’s always loved watching hockey games even before his diagnosis.”

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He’s joined a Alaska All-Stars Hockey Association team that’s usually meant for kids six and older. But it made an exception to accommodate the fast-learning Caleb.

“It’s a real privilege to get to support a kid like Caleb that’s out here fighting a battle you don’t wish on your worst enemies,” All-Stars coach Nic Cohen said. “The kid started off with a pusher and now he’s flying around out there having a blast every night.”

That’s why, when the Make-A-Wish Foundation approached the Seidl family with news that Caleb qualified for a wish, he made himself abundantly clear.

“He always landed on wanting to be a hockey team,” his dad remembered. “So we passed that on and we worked with the wish coordinators, and they were like, ‘Man, it’s pretty unusual for a three-year-old to want to be a hockey team.’ But it’s amazing. They’re making it work.”

All it took was slightly adjusting the syntax of Caleb’s wish – and enlisting the help of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken – to put a plan together.

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“We got to meet [mascot] Buoy from the Kraken in June,” Reuben Seidl recalled. “And we got to meet John Hayden, who played with the Kraken last season.”

The second phase of that wish gets going Monday when the Seidl’s head to Seattle to watch the Kraken take on the Pittsburgh Penguins with a group of family and friends tagging along.

“The Kraken and Make-a-Wish were so blown away by the support,” Reuben Seidl said. “They ended up helping everybody find an amazing seat.”

Caleb will also get to participate in a Kraken practice the next day.

“Every single person we’ve talked to has just been incredibly generous, and kind, and supportive,” Reuben Seidl said. “Just making sure that the family, and Caleb especially, feel special.”

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Alaska

Alaska Supreme Court to take up case on Dan J. Sullivan, decision expected by Tuesday

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Alaska Supreme Court to take up case on Dan J. Sullivan, decision expected by Tuesday


JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) – The Supreme Court of Alaska will be taking up the case of the State of Alaska, Division of Elections v. Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.

The oral arguments will be held Monday at 10 a.m. via Zoom, according to an order and opening notice.

The document also specifies that a decision is expected to be made before noon on Tuesday.

According to documents from the Division of Elections, the state must start printing ballots at noon on the same day.

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This comes after an Anchorage Superior Court Judge ordered Dan J. Sullivan on to the ballot Friday.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

Copyright 2026 KTUU. All rights reserved.



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Mat-Su Initial Attack Responding to Fire in Flat Lake

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Mat-Su Initial Attack Responding to Fire in Flat Lake


An engine and firefighters from the Division of Forestry & Fire Protection’s Mat-Su Area are responding to a fire near Flat Lake.

A caller reported a fire on an island in Flat Lake, with 2 foot flame lengths and structures near by.

The engine crew responding will be shuttled by boat to the fire. The fire is currently reported as .1 acre, creeping and smoldering.

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Additional updates will be shared as they become available.

‹ Pioneer Peak Hotshots, Gannett Glacier Crew Join Fight Against 2 Fires Near Ruby

Categories: Active Wildland Fire

Tags: #FireYear2026 #2026AKFIRESEASON, 2026 Alaska Fire Season



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Opinion: Alaska’s $10,000 question: Leave or stay?

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Opinion: Alaska’s ,000 question: Leave or stay?


A new home under construction in Potter Valley in Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

This June, two very different offers reach Alaska families, and both amount to the same thing: $10,000. The difference is everything.

Bill Walker, running for governor, would hand every eligible Alaskan a one-time $10,000 check and then end the Permanent Fund dividend for good. Ask one question: Where does his $10,000 come from?

It comes from the Permanent Fund, the people’s own money and the savings Alaskans built for their children. Walker would spend that endowment once to pay Alaskans to give up the yearly dividend forever.

Think about what that does. It cancels the annual check that gives a family a reason to keep an Alaska address and replaces it with a single payout. You hand people their own savings, call it a gift and cut the tie that held them here in the same motion. It is the oldest mistake in governing money: raid what you have saved to buy a moment’s applause and call the spending generosity.

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A plan that spends the people’s savings to send the people away is not bold. It is foolish.

Now consider the other $10,000. Through Alaska Housing Finance Corp., the state offers families up to $10,000 to build a new, energy-efficient home. AHFC raids nothing. It earns its own way. Over the years, it has returned more than $2 billion to the state treasury, and it spends some of that income the way any good business does: to win a customer.

Here, the customer is an Alaskan who wants to own a home, put down roots and stay.

That is the oldest sound move in business: Invest a little of what you earn to bring in someone who stays. The homeowner remains, the community gains a family and the corporation keeps earning. The money spent comes back. A plan that puts earnings to work to bring people home is not charity. It is clever.

Same amount. Opposite source. Opposite wisdom. One spends savings; the other spends earnings. One pays Alaskans to leave; the other pays them to stay. One empties the state; the other fills it.

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This Homeownership Month, the choice is the size of a single check, and the whole question is where the check comes from and what it asks of you. Ten thousand dollars of your own fund, to wave you goodbye. Or $10,000, earned and reinvested, to help you stay and build.

Evan Swensen is the publisher of Publication Consultants in Anchorage and the author of “What’s the Money For: A Permanent Fund Mortgage Proposal.”

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The Anchorage Daily News welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.





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