Alaska

Opinion: Alaska’s children deserve better and the data proves it

Published

2 months ago

December 27, 2025

Opinion: Alaska’s children deserve better and the data proves it

Children play in a bouncy house during the Inlet View Elementary School Salmon Run carnival in Anchorage’s South Addition neighborhood in 2023. (Emily Mesner / ADN archive)

As a parent and researcher, I am seeing an alarming trend. Children born just five years ago are expected to face between two- and seven-fold more extreme climate events, such as heatwaves, than their parents or grandparents. Unlike past generations, today’s young people are inheriting not only the planet as we left it but also a mounting burden of climate stressors that can shape their lifelong health and future.

It’s not rocket science that children deserve clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, nourishing food to eat, and communities that protect — not threaten — their developing bodies and brains. Yet new findings from the Children’s Environmental Health Network’s Alaska Profile for Children’s Environmental Health make one thing painfully clear: In Alaska, children face environmental risks significantly above the national average, and the consequences are profound.

A snapshot of risk: The story the indicators tell

Children’s Environmental Health Indicators, or CEHIs, help us understand three things: environmental hazards, children’s exposure to those hazards and the health outcomes that follow. For Alaska, the data should spark urgent action.

• Alaskan children are more likely to face unsafe drinking water.

In 2023, 43.6% of Alaska’s public water utilities had drinking water violations far higher than the U.S. national rate of 27.6%. Clean water should never depend on geography.

• Toxic releases are massive.

In 2023, Alaska industries disposed of or released 899 million pounds of toxic chemicals a staggering number, even when compared with the U.S. total of 3.3 billion pounds. Many of these chemicals, such as mercury, arsenic and lead, are known developmental and neurological toxicants.

• Children’s bodies are showing the consequences.

Between 2017 and 2021, 2% to 4.7% of Alaska children under age 6 who were tested had blood lead levels at or above the level the CDC considers elevated, compared with 1.3% nationwide. Because many at-risk children are never tested, this is almost certainly an undercount.

There is no safe level of lead for children. Even low exposures can weaken and alter health in ways that shape a child’s entire future. What’s more, neurodevelopmental disorders are more common than the national norm. Alaska reports that 12.6% of children ages 3–17 have ADHD, compared with 10.5% nationally.

Why this matters: The cost of inaction

Infants and children are not “small adults.” Pound for pound, they breathe more air, drink more water and eat more food. Their bodies and brains are still rapidly developing, making them especially vulnerable to harmful exposures. A toxic insult in early life, not just a major one, but an everyday one, can lead to both immediate symptoms and lifelong consequences.

Add to this the accelerating realities of climate change. Alaska is warming faster than any other U.S. state, and children are more vulnerable to the cascading health effects of heatwaves, wildfire smoke, flooding and extreme weather. Environmental threats are compounding, not isolated.

There is good news, and it shows what’s possible

In the past five years, Alaska has taken meaningful steps to strengthen children’s environmental health protections. The state secured CDC funding for lead-poisoning prevention and an Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry cooperative agreement to improve surveillance and response. And in 2024, Alaska passed S.B. 67, banning firefighting foams containing PFAS “forever chemicals” linked to cancer, immune dysfunction and developmental harm.

These actions deserve recognition. They also prove that Alaska can act decisively when children’s health is at stake. When we protect children’s environments, we improve every aspect of their futures and you don’t have to be a policymaker or scientist to help protect Alaska’s kids.

What you can do

• Stay informed and speak up.

Public comment periods on environmental regulations, water quality standards and industrial permits matter. Showing up matters more.

• Support statewide investment in children’s environmental health.

Advocate for expanding lead testing, improving drinking water infrastructure and strengthening monitoring of toxic releases.

• Back policies that reduce exposures before they occur and vote with children’s health in mind.

Prevention is cheaper — and far more effective — than responding to harm after the fact.

The data in this new Children’s Environmental Health Profile is not a forecast; it’s a diagnosis. The question now is whether we act on it. Alaska’s children need clean water, clean air and a future free from preventable toxic exposures. We have the knowledge, we have examples of progress and we have a responsibility to ensure that every child grows up in an environment that helps them reach their full potential.

The health of Alaska’s children is not just a policy issue, it is a moral one. And it demands our action now.

Dr. Mariah Seater is a resident of Anchorage, a parent and an engaged public health practitioner focused on environmental justice and human health.

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Alaska

Musician performs under the aurora in Nenana — without gloves, in 17 degrees

Published

7 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Musician performs under the aurora in Nenana — without gloves, in 17 degrees

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A musician with Alaska Native roots recorded an hour-long live set in Interior Alaska beneath the aurora.

Chastity Ashley, a drummer, vocalist and DJ who performs under the name Neon Pony, celebrated a year since she traveled to Nenana to record a live music set beneath the northern lights for her series Beats and Hidden Retreats.

Ashley, who has Indigenous roots in New Mexico, said she was drawn to Alaska in part because of the role drums play in Alaska Native culture. A handmade Alaskan hand drum, brought to her by a man from just outside Anchorage, was incorporated into the performance in February 2025.

Recording in the cold

The team spent eight days in Nenana waiting for the aurora to appear. Ashley said the lights did not come out until around 4 a.m., and she performed a continuous, uninterrupted hour-long set in 17-degree weather without gloves.

“It was freezing. I couldn’t wear gloves because I’m actually playing, yeah, hand drums and holding drumsticks. And there was ice underneath my feet,” Ashley said.

“So, I had to really utilize my balance and my willpower and my ability to just really immerse in the music and let go and make it about the celebration of what I was doing as opposed to worrying about all the other elements or what could go wrong.”

She said she performed in a leotard to allow full range of motion while drumming, DJing and singing.

Filming on Nenana tribal land

Ashley said she did not initially know the filming location was on indigenous land. After local authorities told her the decision was not theirs to make, she contacted the Nenana tribe directly for permission.

“I went into it kind of starting to tell them who I was and that I too was a part of a native background,” Ashley said. “And they just did not even care. They’re like, listen, we’re about to have a party for one of our friends here. Go and do what you like.”

Ashley said the tribe gave her full permission to film on the reservation, and that the aurora footage seen in the episode was captured there.

Seeing the aurora for the first time

Ashley said the Nenana performance marked her first time seeing the northern lights in person.

“It felt as if I were awake in a dream,” she said. “It really doesn’t seem real.”

She said she felt humbled and blessed to perform beneath the aurora and to celebrate its beauty and grandeur through her music.

“I feel incredibly humbled and blessed that not only did I get to take part in seeing something like that, but to play underneath it and celebrate its beauty and its grandeur.”

The Alaska episode is the second installment of Beats and Hidden Retreats, which is available on YouTube at @NeonPony. Ashley said two additional episodes are in production and she hopes to make it back up to Alaska in the future.

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Alaska

Over $150K worth of drugs seized from man in Juneau, police say

Published

19 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Over 0K worth of drugs seized from man in Juneau, police say

JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) – An Alaska drug task force seized roughly $162,000 worth of controlled substances during an operation in Juneau Thursday, according to the Juneau Police Department.

Around 3 p.m. Thursday, investigators with the Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs (SEACAD) approached 50-year-old Juneau resident Jermiah Pond in the Nugget Mall parking lot while he was sitting in his car, according to JPD.

A probation search of the car revealed a container holding about 7.3 gross grams of a substance that tested presumptively positive for methamphetamine, as well as about 1.21 gross grams of a substance that tested presumptively positive for fentanyl.

As part of the investigation, investigators executed a search warrant at Pond’s residence, during which they found about 46.63 gross grams of ketamine, 293.56 gross grams of fentanyl, 25.84 gross grams of methamphetamine and 25.5 gross grams of MDMA.

In all, it amounted to just less than a pound of drugs worth $162,500.

Investigators also seized $102,640 in cash and multiple recreational vehicles believed to be associated with the investigation.

Pond was lodged on charges of second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, two counts of third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, five counts of fourth-degree misconduct involving a substance and an outstanding felony probation warrant.

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Alaska

Sand Point teen found 3 days after going missing in lake

Published

1 day ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Sand Point teen found 3 days after going missing in lake

SAND POINT, Alaska (KTUU) – A teenage boy who was last seen Monday when the canoe he was in tipped over has been found by a dive team in a lake near Sand Point, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Alaska’s News Source confirmed with the person, who is close to the search efforts, that the dive team found 15-year-old Kaipo Kaminanga deceased Thursday in Red Cove Lake, located a short drive from the town of Sand Point on the Aleutian Island chain.

Kaminanga was last seen canoeing with three other friends on Monday when the boat tipped over.

A search and rescue operation ensued shortly after.

Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team posted on Facebook Thursday night that they were able to “locate and recover” Kaminanga at around 5 p.m. Thursday.

“We are glad we could bring closure to his family, friends and community,” the post said.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated when more details become available.

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