Southcentral

Alaska State Troopers said in a bulletin Monday that Dr. Ryan McDonough died in a weekend fire at his home in Wasilla.

At the time of the fire, McDonough — a cardiologist formerly with Mat-Su Regional Medical Center — was on $50,000 bail after being arrested on Dec. 11 and accused of owning child sexual abuse images.

The alleged crimes, and the bail posted by McDonough’s wife, were reported by the Anchorage Daily News on Friday, a day after the medical center fired him.

The fatal fire at McDonough’s home took place Saturday; McDonough was initially listed as missing after the fire, but firefighters found human remains at the site, and preliminary testing later identified McDonough’s body.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, and the other people who lived at the home were unharmed.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy appointed McDonough to the state medical board in August. That month, he joined other members of the medical board in voting to impose restrictions on medical care for transgender youth in the state and to recommend that Alaska lawmakers end legal access to abortion in the late stages of pregnancy.

McDonough subsequently appeared to drop off the board; he attended its August and September meetings but was absent from its October and November ones, public records show.

Because of absences and unfilled seats, the board — which regulates doctors and other medical professionals in Alaska — has had problems finding a quorum needed to do business.

McDonough’s name was removed from the board’s roster in November. A spokesperson for Dunleavy told the Anchorage Daily News that the governor’s office found out about McDonough’s alleged crimes on Friday and was not aware of any investigations at the time of his appointment.

According to an affidavit submitted in Palmer courts by a Department of Homeland Security officer, the online file storage company Dropbox sent a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on July 31.

That tip led to the investigation of a Dropbox account linked to McDonough that contained a video of a child being sexually abused. A second tip followed another video on Aug. 10.

The Anchorage Police Department, in charge of investigating tips like those received by the National Center, obtained a search warrant for McDonough’s Dropbox, GCI and Google accounts. Subsequent searches found additional suspect videos, and McDonough’s computer was seized during a search warrant on Dec. 11, shortly before his arrest.

The Alaska Beacon typically publishes copies of court affidavits but is not doing so in this case because of their graphic contents and because they describe acts of sexual violence against children.

McDonough’s next court appearance was scheduled for Jan. 31.

A federal grand jury has indicted two Alaska State Troopers shown on body-camera video beating, tasing and pepper-spraying a Kenai man in a case of mistaken identity.

Former Trooper Sgt. Joseph Miller and Jason Woodruff are each charged with violating the man’s civil rights. Neither were arrested following the federal indictment.

In a news release, the U.S. Attorney’s office says 50-year-old Miller had no legal justification for the violent arrest. Prosecutors say 43-year-old Woodruff illegally used his police dog to bite the man when he did not pose a threat. The arrest was captured on body cameras. The state brought charges against Miller and Woodruff last summer after a routine use-of-force review.

State prosecutors say body camera footage shows Woodruff and Miller tasing, pepper-spraying, beating and having their police dog maul Kenai man Ben Tikka during an arrest at Kenai’s Daubenspeck Park. The state charging document says troopers did not ask for Tikka’s name during the arrest, and did not learn until later that the man they’d arrested was Ben, and not his cousin, Garrett.

Garrett had an outstanding warrant for failing to appear for a 10-day jail sentence for driving with a revoked license.

The lawyer representing Ben Tikka in the state case says he underwent more than $40,000 worth of medical procedures as a result of the arrest, which left him with a concussion and a broken clavicle.

Miller is no longer employed by the State of Alaska. Jason Woodruff remains employed by the department but has been on leave since the botched arrest. The union contract that covers public safety employees says employees charged with a crime over professional conduct will be put on unpaid leave. The police dog involved in the arrest was also released from the department.

If convicted in the federal case, Miller and Woodruff each face up to 10 years in prison.

James Cockrell is the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety. He was quick to condemn Miller and Woodruff’s conduct after reviewing the body-worn camera footage last year. In a statement to KDLL, Cockrell called the alleged civil rights violations deeply concerning and contrary to the department’s values.

“While this is an unfortunate day for the Alaska State Troopers, the alleged actions of these two individuals do not reflect the professionalism of the hundreds of State Troopers and DPS employees who serve Alaskans with integrity every day, often in the most challenging conditions in the United States,” he said.

Cockrell said the department continues to cooperate with state and federal prosecutors. A spokesperson for the Alaska U.S. Attorney’s office said she was not aware of any prior instances in which an Alaska State Trooper faced federal charges as a result of their conduct on duty.

Woodruff’s attorney declined to discuss the case. Miller’s did not respond to a request for comment.

Tuesday’s announcement comes as Woodruff and Miller await trial in their respective state criminal cases. They are each facing first-degree assault charges. In September, a judge declined a request from Miller to dismiss the state’s case against him. Miller and Woodruff are scheduled to go to trial next year.

One of Alaska’s smallest telecommunications companies is about to provide a critical backup for the entire state.

On Wednesday, Cordova Telecom Cooperative and GCI announced a partnership to lay an undersea fiber optic cable from Juneau to Cordova and a second cable from Cordova to Seward.

When open for service in fall 2027, the two cables will provide high-speed internet to small communities in Prince William Sound and northern Southeast Alaska.

The development matters to the rest of the state as well, because when combined, they will provide a route for internet traffic between the Railbelt and Outside. Currently, four undersea cables through the Gulf of Alaska are the principal routes for internet and phone traffic between Alaska and the rest of the world.

Matanuska Telecom Association opened the state’s first overland fiber connection in 2020 as an alternative, and the new route will give the state another redundant option, said Cordova Telecom CEO Jeremiah Beckett.

“With what we’ve built out, scalability wise, we could put all the current Alaska traffic on our network if needed,” Beckett said.

While satellite internet services like Starlink have transformed life in rural Alaska, ground-based fiber internet remains the backbone of worldwide telecommunications, delivering service faster and in volumes that satellites can’t provide.

“It’s kind of like rural communities that don’t have the ferry,” Beckett said. “Places without fiber don’t have the same access that folks with fiber do. So this is really to help connect those rural areas and give them the same access to the digital economy and marketplace as the rest of the world.”

Despite their advantages, fiber-optic cables can be vulnerable.

“Up north, it’s ice scouring … and in our area, it’s typically ship anchors and earthquakes,” Beckett said.

Alaskans have become intimately familiar with the consequences of broken cables in recent years.

Northern and northwest Alaska are particularly familiar: Quintillion’s fiber-optic cable has been severed three times in two years. The latest break wasn’t fixed for more than seven months because sea ice precluded repairs. That caused widespread problems in areas served by the cable.

In March, a break in a subsea cable left the Alaska Legislature to do business on paper for a day and knocked out both cellphone and internet service for much of Juneau. Juneau had alternatives; a temporary fix was in place within days.

When the cable leading to Sitka broke in 2024, it took weeks to repair. People canceled surgeries and businesses went cash-only until internet service was restored.

Adding a backup fiber route reduces the odds of blackouts like those. Currently, Cordova is served by a single undersea fiber line through Prince William Sound to Valdez.

When the project is complete, internet and phone traffic will have three possible routes: north, west, and east.

The two cables will cost roughly $88 million combined, according to figures provided by Beckett, and the project is principally funded through two federal grants. Cordova Telecom is paying for part of the project, as is GCI, which will be what Beckett calls an “anchor tenant and partner.”

“It was a good matchup for both of our long-term goals,” he said.

In a prepared statement, GCI senior vice president Billy Wailand praised the plan, which is formally known as Fiber Internet Serving Homes in Southeast Alaska, or FISH in SEAK.

“Critical state services require network diversity,” he said. “GCI turned up the first subsea cable to Alaska in 1999 and landed a second diverse fiber in 2008. We are thrilled to partner with CTC on its FISH in SEAK project, which includes a next-generation cable that ensures Alaska and its capital city continue to benefit from the newest technologies and adds another crucial layer of redundancy to the network.”

Communities along the cable route will see huge changes, Beckett said. Residents of Pelican on Chichagof Island in Southeast Alaska, who use boardwalks instead of roads and four-wheelers instead of cars, will be able to get fiber internet access directly to their homes.

The island village of Chenega in Prince William Sound, which has about 50 year-round residents, likewise will have new access to fiber internet.

Alaska’s Lost Coast, between Glacier Bay and Yakutat, could be dotted with cellphone towers.

Beckett, who grew up in Cordova, returned to the town with his spouse 12 years ago, “basically when Cordova got its subsea fiber,” he said. “We were both teleworkers, and that created the opportunity for us to move back to Alaska, essentially.”

Since then, he’s seen internet service improve and has become head of his local telecom, which has just 20 employees.

Because it’s a cooperative, it’s run as a nonprofit, he said. That means the telecom’s goal is to deliver faster service and low rates, not necessarily generate a profit.

In Yakutat, “a few years ago, you couldn’t get cell service anywhere,” Beckett said.

“We’ve upgraded the cell service there to 4G and outside of the fishermen complaining because their wives can get hold of them, it was a huge boost for the community,” he said.

“If someone gets hurt, they can call the paramedics and not have to drive 20 miles before they get to service. … It’s giving people reasons to think about moving home, because it’s one less inhibitor to be back in Alaska,” Beckett said.

“Yakutat actually got a new clinic a couple years ago, and then with this, I think they’re going to see some good growth. Everyone likes core services, right?”

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has approved a U.S. Defense Department request for Alaska National Guard service members to assist the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Anchorage with “administrative support,” the guard office announced Tuesday.

The Alaska National Guard said five service members will assist with “administrative and logistical” duties at the Anchorage ICE office for up to a year.

“The Alaska National Guard members are administratively supporting the Enforcement & Removal Operations section and Homeland Security Investigations section, ensuring seamless operations at the Anchorage ICE office. Their mission includes a wide range of duties, from vehicle fleet management and safety compliance to office support and processing purchase orders,” the Guard statement said.

The announcement included a list of clerical duties, including data entry and creating reports, answering phones, managing fleet vehicles and checking fire extinguishers. Officials said the partnership is authorized by Title 32 Section 502(f) of the U.S. Code, which enables National Guard members to perform additional duties under the direction of the President or Secretary of Defense.

Grant Robinson, Dunleavy’s deputy press secretary, confirmed the governor approved the request.

“The Alaska National Guard members joined the guard to serve our nation. This support they are providing the Anchorage ICE office is in service of the nation,” he said by email Tuesday.

Grant did not say whether the National Guard would provide further assistance with immigration enforcement actions.

“Any future requests for administrative and logistical support will be considered on a case by case basis,” he said.

The Trump administration has continued to accelerate immigration enforcement operations, and officials have promised to “limit legal and illegal immigration,” after the shooting of two National Guard service members in Washington, D.C. last week. The Trump administration has also continued to roll back humanitarian programs for immigrants, including ending the temporary protected status of 330,000 nationals from Haiti last week.

While ICE has been conducting mass raids, court house arrests and large-scale detentions and deportation operations across the United States, in Alaska ICE has focused enforcement efforts on specific individuals identified through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or having interactions with law enforcement, according to the ACLU of Alaska. 

Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage is the co-chair of the Alaska Joint Armed Services Committee and has been outspoken about his concerns about the Alaska National Guard being deployed domestically for “civil disturbance operations.”

“I see it’s a long list of boring, banal administrative tasks that are in no way controversial or concerning in and of themselves,” he said of the National Guard announcement. “What’s concerning is that Alaska ICE is requesting additional support, and the assumption that I make is that it’s because Alaska ICE intends to be doing more detainments, and intends to be doing more field operations in which they’re going to need this administrative support behind them. So that’s my concern.”

Gray was reached by phone Tuesday leaving a meeting with U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan in Washington, D.C. Gray said he expressed his concerns at the meeting about the leadership of U.S. Department of Defense, which the Trump administration has renamed the “Department of War,” and Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Gray said he’s also concerned about a wider chilling effect of ICE activity and increased immigration enforcement in Alaska.

“It’s going to increase fear, not only in the undocumented folks that might be in Anchorage and the rest of Alaska, but also fear in people who are here legally, and even U.S. citizens who might be mistaken for someone who might be undocumented,” he said.

An October investigation by ProPublica found that more than 170 U.S. citizens were detained by ICE in raids and at protests, and the government does not track how many citizens are held by immigration agents.

Dunleavy’s office did not respond to requests for comment on the concern around ICE overreaching its authority, and arresting and detaining U.S. citizens.

“It seems that Alaska’s notorious SNAP backlog caused by a lack of workforce doing many of the tasks in this memo would be much better use of our Guard,” Gray added. “Why not deploy Guard members to feed Alaskans instead of deploying them to earn brownie points with the Trump administration?”

Cindy Woods, senior staff attorney on immigration rights with the ACLU of Alaska, said they have tracked at least 70 ICE arrests this year, as reported in the custody of the Alaska Department of Corrections. That’s an almost 500% increase from last year.

“We have been seeing a growing ICE presence in the state and a growing trend of ICE enforcement,” she said. The ICE activity has been largely in Anchorage, she said.

“We are very concerned about what this signals in relation to our state government’s willingness to cooperate with federal law enforcement, specifically in relation to ICE enforcement operations,” she said of the National Guard announcement. “I think it can’t be overstated the negative impact that increased enforcement has had across the country and Alaska, unfortunately, is not immune to that.”

An estimated 7.7% of the population, or more than 57,000 people, in Alaska are foreign-born, Woods pointed out, and the Trump administration’s continued restrictions on paths to legal immigration and citizenship, as well as humanitarian and refugee resettlement programs are impacting Alaskans.

“It’s kind of an assault from both sides, and so we’re really concerned about that as well,” she said.

Woods said the ACLU is not aware of any U.S. citizens being detained by ICE in Alaska, but there is heightened scrutiny.

“One case that we have heard of recently is of a longtime Anchorage resident who has been happily married and was going to their interview for their green card based on that marriage, and being arrested with basically accusations of marriage fraud,” she said. “And so we’re seeing folks who are in affirmative applications, who are not in any sort of civil enforcement proceedings, who are also being subject to heightened scrutiny and enforcement actions.”

Kenai Aviation announced Monday that it was ceasing all flight operations. The company said in a Facebook post it was “financially insolvent” after accruing debt during the pandemic, and would stop flying by the end of the day.

Since 2022, the airline has offered more than a dozen daily flights between Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula, including to Kenai, Homer and Seward. Before Monday, it was one of three airlines serving the Kenai Municipal Airport, alongside Grant Aviation and Aleutian Airways, after Ravn pulled out of the region.

Joel Caldwell and his brother, Jacob Caldwell, purchased Kenai Aviation in 2018. Neither immediately responded to requests for comment Monday.

On Facebook, Joel Caldwell said he was “devastated,” writing: “We need capital, we need partners, we need a lifeline. That investor is out there, we just need to find them.”

Kenai Aviation serviced eight communities across Alaska with its mixed fleet of Beechcraft Super King Air and Tecnam Traveller P2012 aircraft.

Earlier this year, the federal Department of Transportation picked Kenai Aviation to run its essential air service route to Seward. That contract was expected to run through 2027. Around the same time, it also picked up the federal route between Anchorage and Unalakleet, near Nome. It was the only regularly-scheduled passenger airline serving the route. But in August, Kenai suspended flights after its only King Air plane was down for maintenance.

The company’s Facebook post said the grounded King Air compounded its financial troubles.

Interim Airport Manager Mary Bondurant said the the City of Kenai will collaborate with its remaining airlines to meet passenger demand and explore other airlines that may be interested in offering passenger flights to Kenai.

The proposed Alaska natural gas pipeline project picked up another nonbinding agreement last week. This time, the letter of support comes from Tokyo Gas Company, one of Japan’s largest energy utilities. It’s the fifth acquired for the project since Glenfarne, a private energy asset developer, took over majority project ownership earlier this year.

If it’s built, the Alaska LNG Project will move natural gas from the North Slope through a roughly 800-mile pipeline to Nikiski to be liquefied and shipped overseas.

Adam Prestidge is the project president with Glenfarne. He told KDLL last month that preliminary agreements, though nonbinding, are a necessary first step toward agreements that are binding. But he says that can take a while.

“Typically, an LNG contract like this, can take, you know, 12, 18, 24 months to go from initial concept to being a binding agreement,” he said.

Glenfarne celebrated the preliminary Tokyo Gas agreement in a press release for pushing the project over the halfway mark of its LNG export capacity.

Glenfarne Communications Director Tim Fitzpatrick said the project’s annual capacity boils down to two separate numbers.

The first is the natural gas capacity of the pipeline, measured as a volume in billion cubic feet. The second is the liquid volume of natural gas for export, measured as a weight in million tons.

Fitzpatrick says the pipeline has an estimated capacity of 3.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. Of that, 15.2%, or 500 million cubic feet, is earmarked for in-state use by Alaska residents as natural gas. According to a report commissioned by the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, that’s roughly double what Alaskans in the Anchorage, Matanuska-Susitna and Kenai Peninsula regions actually use each year – between 180 and 200 million cubic feet.

The remaining project output will be converted to 20 million tons of liquefied natural gas for export, Fitzpatrick said. Of that, 11 million tons already have tentative customers through the handful of preliminary agreements reached this year.

Glenfarne estimates it needs binding commitments for five million more tons of liquified natural gas to fund the full $44 billion project.

The Tokyo Gas announcement comes on the heels of a town hall Glenfarne held in Nikiski earlier this month to promote the project.

This week, the head of the International Energy Agency predicted a forthcoming increase in liquefied natural gas supply could change global markets. Reuters reports the shift is creating a buyer’s market, pushing prices down for importers in places like Asia.

Glenfarne is eyeing the end of this year to decide whether to move forward with project development or not.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the annual natural gas capacity of the pipeline.