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KNBA WEBCAST: Tuesday, October 6, 2026.

KNBA | By Rhonda McBride

Published October 6, 2026 at 10:43 AM AKDT

Vice President JD Vance speaks at a midterm rally at Fairbanks International Airport on Oct. 5, 2026

KNBA’S Top Stories:

V.P. VISIT. Vice President J.D. Vance comes to Alaska bearing gifts, announcing plans to invest in an energy grid for the Railbelt.

An investigation has commenced into a Haines group that advertised free gifts, like a cup of coffee, to anyone who votes in the Oct. 6 election. The idea was to increase voter turnout. But some are questioning if the gifts violate election law.

VOTING GIFTS. It’s voting day for many communities across the state, and Haines is wrestling with a difficult problem: Is it legal to give free gifts as an incentive to vote?

SOUTHEAST TOURISM. There’s a reason why tourism is booming in Southeast Alaska. When the Panama Canal was widened about a decade ago, it made way for larger ships to visit Alaska. Now local leaders are wrestling with how to balance the additional revenues with the need to manage the rapid growth in the industry.

Evon Waska outside his smoke house in Bethel on Aug. 14, 2026. Kuskokwim fisherman were not allowed to fish for silver salmon this summer, and Waska said his family was already eating salmon they put up for winter.

BYCATCH SERIES, PART 1. Alaska Public Media’s Liz Ruskin begins a two-part series on salmon bycatch and how this has become one of the main issues in this year’s U.S. Senate race. In today’s segment, a visit to Kwethluk. Tomorrow, a trip to Kodiak.