Joey Klecka
Digital Reporter/Producer
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Joey is a longtime Alaskan with childhood roots in Eagle River. Having grown up exploring the vast wilderness of Alaska, he has a strong grasp of what makes the state unique.
Joey graduated with a bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and spent eight years covering the sports scene on the Kenai Peninsula.
At Alaska's News Source, Joey worked as producer of the Morning Edition, before taking up a role as digital reporter.
Education
Awards
Updated: 15 hours ago
|By Joey Klecka
A soldier with the 11th Airborne Division on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson was killed late Sunday night when the car they were riding in hit another vehicle on base.
Updated: May. 24, 2023 at 4:34 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced Tuesday that sport and personal use razor clam fisheries will open for a four-day period from July 1 to July 4.
Updated: May. 22, 2023 at 12:33 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
A 20-year-old Illinois man died after getting stuck in the mud and becoming submerged in the incoming tide Sunday evening near Hope.
Updated: May. 18, 2023 at 4:04 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
Dan Gensel, a sports radio commentator and championship-winning coach in Soldotna, died Sunday at the age of 66.
Updated: May. 17, 2023 at 10:54 AM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
Police said only one vehicle was involved, and the driver of the vehicle that rolled appeared to have “non-life-threatening” injuries.
Updated: May. 16, 2023 at 5:55 AM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
Anchorage police said that a woman driving a Pontiac G6 was heading south on Minnesota shortly after 11 p.m. when a Chevy Silverado began turning onto Northern Lights while traveling north on Minnesota.
Updated: May. 12, 2023 at 2:31 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
Police said the report said the man was “lying on the ground on the sidewalk at the intersection” of Debarr Road and Hoyt Street. Officers said he was dead when they arrived.
Updated: May. 12, 2023 at 2:29 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
The department alleged that in a seven-year period between 2013 and 2020, GCI “failed to comply with FCC regulations that governed how telecommunications companies must calculate their prices for purposes of claiming subsidy payments.”
Updated: May. 11, 2023 at 2:26 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
In a Thursday update, park officials said search efforts are being scaled back, adding that search managers have “concluded that survival is outside the window of possibility.”
Updated: May. 11, 2023 at 11:13 AM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
The official name of the plane is Xáat Kwáani, which has an English translation of “Salmon People,” something that the artist, Crystal Worl, holds near to her heart.
Updated: May. 10, 2023 at 1:03 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
Alaska State Troopers reported that a 17-year-old Fairbanks resident was driving under the influence of alcohol when he crashed the ATV with a 15-year-old passenger.
Updated: May. 9, 2023 at 3:41 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
Troopers say the woman, who was well known in the Alaska running community, was alone at the time prior to when her body was discovered.
Updated: May. 5, 2023 at 10:39 AM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
A spokesperson said Eric Walter was skiing alone when the avalanche was triggered on a north-facing slope near mile 10 of the park service road.
Updated: May. 2, 2023 at 7:10 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
Stinson said that the usual ward caseload of about 40 has recently been stretched to upwards of 100 wards per public guardian, over twice as many as expected.
Updated: May. 1, 2023 at 2:43 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
Police later said two suspected people that were initially reported with a weapon were “much further away” than the first report disclosed.
Updated: Apr. 27, 2023 at 3:07 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
The original analysis of the Pebble Mine project by the Corps of Engineers came back negative for development when it was released in Aug. 2020, stating that the project would likely result in “significant degradation of the environment.”
Updated: Apr. 18, 2023 at 4:34 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
During that time, the man allegedly used his position to electronically transfer money for the city to a personal bank account, using fictitious entries in accounting software used by the city to make it appear the transfers were legitimate.
Updated: Apr. 18, 2023 at 3:25 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
With education funding and the Permanent Fund Dividend still a work in progress, the state Senate and House are closing the gap — but conceded that there is still some distance to close.
Updated: Apr. 17, 2023 at 3:12 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
The agency said Alaska’s Energy Relief Payment, worth $662, will be tax-exempt and does not need to be included on tax forms.
Updated: Apr. 16, 2023 at 12:06 AM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
The National Weather Service issued advisories related to the ash from Shiveluch Volcano, located on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia.
Updated: Apr. 14, 2023 at 2:39 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
The penalty comes after an EPA inspection in 2019 that found approximately 364,450 tons of waste material in the gold mine that hadn’t been properly treated, as directed by government regulations.
Updated: Apr. 13, 2023 at 11:12 AM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
The department said southbound lanes of Lake Otis were closed and could be expected to stay closed until further notice.
Updated: Apr. 12, 2023 at 1:29 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several other Ukrainian leaders met with Murkowski, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and country music singer Brad Paisley.
Updated: Apr. 12, 2023 at 9:51 AM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
Helzer was the Alaska Public Offices Commission Chair prior to being nominated by Bronson for the role as acting municipal attorney in February.
Updated: Apr. 7, 2023 at 4:01 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
The Assembly said in a statement that Russia’s position in the war against Ukraine compelled them to create and approve of the resolution to temporarily cut ties with Magadan.
Updated: Apr. 6, 2023 at 3:56 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
Troopers said they were first alerted to the blaze around mile 7.5 of Kalifornsky Beach Road shortly before 5:30 a.m.
Updated: Apr. 6, 2023 at 2:03 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
The municipal street maintenance manager said that the road will be shut down until Saturday to make repairs and further inspect the area.
Updated: Apr. 5, 2023 at 3:31 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka and Mike Mason
Bird previously served as Bronson’s senior policy advisor and was nominated for the city’s municipal attorney role last September, an appointment that was rejected by the Anchorage Assembly.
Updated: Apr. 4, 2023 at 9:41 AM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
The 2023 city election Tuesday will decide a number of seats for Anchorage Assembly and Anchorage School Board, as well as several propositions.
Updated: Apr. 3, 2023 at 4:51 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
Police did not specify what was written on the notes, but described it as a “possible general threat against children.”
Updated: Mar. 31, 2023 at 1:16 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
Firefighters and police found the unconscious man inside the home after arriving, moved him out of the structure and began life-saving measures.
Updated: Mar. 28, 2023 at 10:38 AM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
The conviction stems from an incident that started in April 2018 when Vance Peronto stopped a 16-year-old girl in Kenai for driving without her headlights on and ended with a police sting in an Anchorage hotel room.
Updated: Mar. 27, 2023 at 8:47 AM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
Police said the scene was cleared shortly after 9 a.m.
Updated: Mar. 24, 2023 at 2:52 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
The state charged Jeffrey Fultz with two counts of second-degree sexual assault for offenses that occurred in 2016 and 2017.
Updated: Mar. 23, 2023 at 6:17 AM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
The Federal Emergency Management Agency sent the Municipality of Anchorage almost $25 million last month in emergency response funding, according to Anchorage Assembly leadership, helping the city to recoup the vast majority of the cost of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Updated: Mar. 21, 2023 at 11:47 AM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
Both Clayton Allison and his wife Christiane Joy have maintained his innocence, arguing that their daughter fell down padded stairs and hit a chair.
Updated: Mar. 21, 2023 at 9:35 AM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
After the salary recommendations — submitted on Jan. 24 — that included a raise for the governor were roundly rejected by the legislature, all five members of the commission were replaced.
Updated: Mar. 16, 2023 at 1:31 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
In addition to founding the Kenai Peninsula’s largest nonprofit dedicated to preserving the massive Kenai River watershed, Penney was also the founder of the Anchorage Mayor’s Charity Ball and the Resource Development Council.
Updated: Mar. 15, 2023 at 3:58 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
A Palmer jury convicted Gavin Christiansen on murder charges in connection to an Oct. 2020 hit-and-run that resulted in a chase and shooting on Willow-Fishhook Road.
Updated: Mar. 15, 2023 at 5:44 AM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka
Redington finally put his family name in the history books of the Iditarod, which bears the fingerprints of his famous grandfather.
Updated: Mar. 13, 2023 at 6:09 PM AKDT
|By Joey Klecka and Elena Symmes
The final decision gives ConocoPhillips Alaska the green light to start developing an oil site worth at least $8 billion, but also risks fueling the planet's climate crisis with greenhouse gas emissions.
Updated: Mar. 10, 2023 at 1:25 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka and Georgina Fernandez
No one was injured or inside the building when it collapsed, authorities said. It's the fourth roof collapse in Anchorage this year and fifth overall in Southcentral Alaska.
Updated: Mar. 8, 2023 at 11:57 AM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
The post said that with snow building up, emergency services won’t be able to run and thus threatens the safety of the community on the northwest coast of Alaska.
Updated: Mar. 7, 2023 at 4:36 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
One couple enjoyed a truly Alaskan experience Sunday with a uniquely "Iditarod" twist.
Updated: Mar. 5, 2023 at 8:28 AM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
Police didn’t specify which building suffered the collapse, or whether anyone was inside at the time. It's the second structure collapse in Anchorage in 24 hours.
Updated: Mar. 3, 2023 at 2:47 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
While the excitement has ramped up, the numbers have gone the other way. The 51st edition of the Last Great Race will feature its smallest field ever at 33 teams.
Updated: Feb. 28, 2023 at 7:06 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka and Lex Yelverton
The grant money will go to nonprofit Anchorage Neighborhood Housing Services to help reconstruct the roads and pathways throughout the area to help foster a safer community.
Updated: Feb. 28, 2023 at 4:57 PM AKST
|By Tim Rockey and Joey Klecka
A water line break in the Southwest Alaska community of Tuluksak is impacting most residents in the community, according to two Tuluksak School staff members.
Updated: Feb. 24, 2023 at 12:52 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka and Tim Rockey
The Glenn Highway was closed for over an hour Friday morning north of Eagle River after multiple cars and trucks slid off the roadway due to icy conditions.
Updated: Feb. 23, 2023 at 2:07 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
The district said repairs have taken longer than anticipated but they expect students to be back in class on Monday, although they will confirm that by Sunday night.
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