Tim Ellis
reporter/producerTim has worked in the news business for over three decades as a newspaper reporter and editor and as a radio news reporter/producer. He grew up in a military family and lived in Utah, Hawaii and Kentucky before his family moved to Alaska in 1967, settling in Delta Junction. In 1977, Tim journeyed to the Lower 48 in 1977 to get a college education and see the world. He graduated from Seattle University in 1983 with a degree in journalism and relocated to southern Arizona, where he spent most of the next 25 years working as a print, broadcast and online journalist. He returned to Alaska in 2010 and joined the KUAC news staff, where he has since worked as a reporter and producer covering energy and the environment, agriculture/sustainability, transportation, military affairs and rural Interior communities. He lives in Delta Junction with his wife, Mary, and enjoys reading, hiking, fishing and carpentry.
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Fighter jets from Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson intercepted Russian reconnaissance planes three times last week in airspace around Alaska. That’s happened often in recent years, but a Fairbanks-based military expert says it’s noteworthy that this time, it occurred while the United States is helping Ukraine defend itself from Russian invaders. -
Ten electric vehicles set out Friday from Fairbanks on a thousand-mile journey up the Dalton Highway and back. The Arctic Road Rally is intended to demonstrate the ability of electric vehicles, or EVs, to operate in the far north.
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Work is under way on the first electric-vehicle fast-charging station on the Richardson Highway. The fast charger in Delta Junction will make it possible for electric-vehicle owners to travel more easily along the Richardson -- and eventually, statewide.
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Eielson Air Force Base will resume offering tours of the installation starting next month. Base officials suspended the tours more than two years ago, early-on in the pandemic.
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Alaska State Troopers are investigating the killing and mutilation of a cow near Delta Junction. The rancher who owned the animal is offering a $2,500 reward for information about its death and the disappearance of two other cows over the past week.
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The University of Alaska Fairbanks runs one of the nation’s top research programs on remotely piloted drone aircraft. The Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration pioneers development of drone aircraft for research, industry and other applications. And it’s helping teach the next generation of drone pilots through an outreach program it offers schools around the state.
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The cool, rainy weather that set in last week over much of Alaska has dampened this year’s fire season, which was shaping up to be one of the worst in recorded history. And although state and federal agencies are sending some crews home, officials warn that the fires could come roaring back after a day or two of dry, warm weather.
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Traffic will be slowed later this week along a portion of the Richardson Highway through Salcha, where the state Department of Transportation will be working on a pavement-improvement project. It also will improve the safety of mailboxes along that stretch of the highway.
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A stretch of the Richardson Highway south of Black Rapids remains closed today after heavy rain over the eastern Alaska Range Monday triggered mudslides and flash-flooding that washed-out one bridge and damaged six others. The flooding also damaged a fiber-optic cable, limiting cellphone and internet service throughout the region.
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The Castner Glacier ice cave off the Richardson Highway near Black Rapids attracts some says 8,000 people annually. But federal officials and a University of Alaska professor are advising hikers to be careful around the ice cave, because it’s gushing meltwater and slowly collapsing.
