ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – An ice storm warning in effect for the Yukon Kuskokwim delta could impact travel, schools and power, as well as recovery efforts after Typhoon Halong.

An ice storm of this size is not unusual for the region, but with three quarters of an inch of ice expected, certain preparation and safety measures may be necessary. The storm could also change school schedules, according to Director of Operations for the Lower Kuskokwim School District.

“One of the most recent ice storms we had, an ice event that happened last December, took out a transformer by our district office, and we had a heck of a time, keeping schools warm, because it was also very, very cold,” Sweet said.

Sweet said in that 2024 storm, maintenance mechanics in Bethel worked 4 hours on and 4 hours off to ensure that glycol was circulating through the heating system in order to keep schools warm.

“So, when it’s cold and when it’s icy, of course, things break, generators can go down, anything that was fragile before sometimes decides it isn’t going to work,” Sweet said. “Of course, there’s a lot of damage that can happen to people. Slipping and falling is a huge risk. Most people wear ice cleats when it’s this icy. Most elders stay home.”

While ice presents the obvious falling risk, Sweet mentioned several other reminders to keep in mind, like not pouring water on vehicles to clear ice, let someone know if you’re going out of the house, and clear stairs and walkways to prevent falling hazards.

The Lower Kuskokwim School District covers a large area, roughly the size of the state of West Virginia. So, weather conditions can be dramatically different in Bethel and outer lying villages, so decisions on school closures or delays are made on a local basis.

“They might say school’s canceled, or school’s delayed an hour, school’s canceled,” Sweet said. “Whatever the message is, they put it on Facebook, they put it out VHF, they might have a phone tree that they call. It’s very grassroots, right?”

“One thing that’s really important to note, though, is that it’s a local decision.”

The storm also has the potential to slow rebuilding efforts in the wake of Typhoon Halong.

The ice itself can make outdoor tasks challenging, or even dangerous, but Sweet said one of the broadest impacts will be travel delays. Residents are familiar with weather delays, but during the recovery process, every delayed flight impacts the recovery effort.

“In Kwig, we need to have a power supply on a plane to help with our water plant there, and there’s no way we can get that on the plane,” Sweet said. “So, folks in Kwig who are at the school trying to rebuild the community are facing a water situation there at the school that we have no way of fixing right this second. So, the real impact to this storm is that the efforts to rebuild are put on hold for a minute while people are just trying to survive, and it’s really challenging.”

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A new Alaska Airlines poster reminding employees to verify law-enforcement requests with a subpoena or warrant has touched off political outrage online, particularly among Trump-aligned commentators who view it as an act of resistance against police or federal officers.

A poster photographed inside an Alaska Airlines workspace has gone viral for its explicit instruction to employees: “If a law enforcement officer or government official asks you for guest information, don’t comply. Ask for a subpoena or warrant to verify.”

The poster, which features branding for Alaska, Hawaiian, and Horizon, emphasizes that front-line staff should not release customer data without proper legal authority, and should immediately notify a supervisor if approached. It also provides an email address for directing non-urgent government inquiries to Alaska’s legal department.

The policy itself is not new. Airlines routinely instruct employees to require legal process before turning over passenger records; in fact, this mirrors standard privacy practices across the aviation and hospitality industries. What is new is the political reaction.

The image was circulated widely by accounts supportive of President Trump, including retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Buzz Patterson, who suggested the poster represented an anti-law enforcement stance and was an example of woke corporate behavior. Commenters echoed that sentiment, accusing Alaska Airlines of “interfering with police,” “coddling criminals,” and “undermining authorities.” Some went further, suggesting the airline was preparing to obstruct possible immigration-related enforcement in a direct attack against the Trump administration.

That framing ignores the underlying reality: airlines do not have discretion to hand over passenger information when asked verbally by an officer. Without a subpoena or warrant, such disclosure is generally prohibited by the carrier’s own data privacy polices. Still, the optics of a cartoon police officer being told “ask why” before complying struck a nerve among social-media users predisposed to perceive corporate privacy protocols as political virtue signaling.

Sadly, even routine legal-compliance signage can become a partisan lightning rod in today’s environment.

Why This Policy Is Actually Aligned With Longstanding Conservative Principles

The criticism from some conservative commentators is ironic, because the principle behind Alaska’s poster…skepticism of government intrusion without due process…is traditionally a hallmark of the American political right.

Conservatives have historically championed:

• Limiting government power
• Requiring warrants for searches and data seizures
• Protecting private property and personal information
• Resisting unlawful or extrajudicial demands from bureaucrats or federal agencies

In that light, Alaska’s policy is not anti-police but pro-rule-of-law: if the government wants access to passenger records, it must obtain a warrant or subpoena, which is precisely how the legal system is designed to function. The alternative (handing over passenger data whenever asked) would be far more troubling to anyone concerned about surveillance, political targeting, or abuse of authority.

Put differently, the procedure that some have framed as “insubordination” is actually a safeguard that conservatives have defended for decades. It protects passengers from overreach, protects employees from liability, and protects law enforcement by ensuring evidence is gathered through proper channels.

In a polarized climate, even basic privacy compliance is easily misunderstood. But Alaska’s stance is neither radical nor new. It is simply the lawful, time-tested requirement that government power be exercised transparently and with judicial oversight.

CONCLUSION

In the end, Alaska Airlines’ poster is less a political statement than a reminder that customer data cannot be handed over on demand. Insisting on subpoenas and warrants aligns with long-standing conservative concerns about government overreach and due process. Whatever one’s politics, requiring proper legal authority before disclosing passenger information should be seen as a common-sense protection for both travelers and front-line employees.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Avalanches have been reported in the Turnagain Pass area as avalanche danger Sunday is high in the that area and considerable in the Summit Lake area, according to the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center.

North American Public Avalanche Danger scale has five levels: low, moderate, considerable, high and extreme.

Andrew Schauer, the center’s lead forecaster, said there were multiple avalanches in Turnagain Pass between Friday and Saturday.

“This included large natural and human-triggered avalanches on the motorized and non-motorized zones at Turnagain Pass. Some avalanches were over 1,000′ wide. One skier was caught and carried in one of these, but luckily nobody was buried or injured. We’re concerned that we’ll see similar activity following this storm,” he said.

He said the snowpack has “multiple, buried weak layers deeper in the snowpack,” which causes a weak foundation for the snow above.

“Right now, it’s stormy, there’s a lot of wind, it’s raining and snowing. And it’s pretty obvious that the avalanche danger is elevated. But what catches people off guard is that, even in the breaks between storms right now, because we have that weak foundation, it’s still going to be dangerous avalanche conditions,” Schauer said Sunday morning.

He said the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center recommends when the danger is high like it is right now, people stay out of the mountains.

He said it’s tricky when the concern is moderate or considerable, levels two and three on the five-part scale.

“The clues are a lot less subtle. It’s also when the snowpack is a little bit more stubborn. So, a bunch of people can get away with getting into steep avalanche terrain without having anything bad happen. And then, one person just pulls the unlucky card and ends up triggering an avalanche,” he said.

He said that’s when those who choose to be in the field need to rely on assessments of the snowpack in front of you.

“We can give people some clues to where the most dangerous conditions might be. But ultimately, that’s a really hard assessment to make. And so, the one thing that people can always do to avoid avalanche danger is to just avoid those steep slopes and run out zones,” Schauer said.

He said he urges people to check the conditions before going out because they change quickly.

And he recommends anyone who does go into any kind of avalanche terrain in the winter to carry a basic rescue kit with an avalanche beacon, rescue shovel and probe, and that you know how to use them.

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