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: 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.
Updated: Feb. 23, 2023 at 8:50 AM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
His term will expire this October, filling out the remainder of former borough mayor Charlie Pierce, who resigned last August and was later accused of sexually harassing a former assistant.
Updated: Feb. 21, 2023 at 7:58 AM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
The National Tsunami Warning Center said in a social post that no tsunami was expected after the shaker.
Updated: Feb. 20, 2023 at 2:02 PM AKST
|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: Feb. 17, 2023 at 5:12 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
The judge gave consecutive life sentences to 36-year-old John Pearl Smith II, who is responsible for the shooting deaths of Ben Gross and Crystal Denardi.
Updated: Feb. 16, 2023 at 11:05 AM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
This year’s fair, which runs Aug. 18 to Sept. 4 at the Alaska State Fairgrounds in Palmer, will feature musical acts ranging from punk to metal to country.
Updated: Feb. 14, 2023 at 5:52 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka and Elena Symmes
A new administrative order by Gov. Dunleavy would open up the potential field of candidates by looking more closely at practical experience, instead of holding them to a four-year degree requirement.
Updated: Feb. 10, 2023 at 10:25 AM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
Troopers said they were first notified of the body shortly before midnight Wednesday night, which was discovered in a tote bag in a town dump.
Updated: Feb. 9, 2023 at 2:50 PM AKST
|By Joe Kinneen and Joey Klecka
The resolution asks Assembly counsel to pursue litigation to compel the release of the requested subpoenaed records withheld by the Bronson administration.
Updated: Feb. 8, 2023 at 4:56 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
Supporters say Holtan Hills would help alleviate a housing shortage in Girdwood, but detractors say the new houses would be unaffordable and potentially used as vacation homes.
Updated: Feb. 6, 2023 at 10:19 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka and Carly Schreck
Gary Sotherden’s story begins when he went alone into the Alaskan wilderness in the fall of 1976 on a hunting trip. It was the last time he was seen alive.
Updated: Feb. 3, 2023 at 8:24 AM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
No one was hurt in the blaze, according to a Bering Strait School District administrator, who told Alaska’s News Source that the building was a vacant teacher housing unit.
Updated: Feb. 2, 2023 at 8:10 AM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
The earthquake centered about 78 miles west of Anchorage, according to the Alaska Earthquake Center, and hit closest to the community of Tyonek on Cook Inlet’s western shore.
Updated: Feb. 1, 2023 at 2:13 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
It’s part of President Joe Biden’s massive 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that allocated $550 billion in new spending for the country’s roads, bridges and transit infrastructure.
Updated: Feb. 1, 2023 at 9:18 AM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
The statement tweaked previous proposed reports on the sustainability and legality of the project, which would produce hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil per day and billions of dollars in state revenue.
Updated: Jan. 31, 2023 at 8:15 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka, Elena Symmes and Georgina Fernandez
The Environmental Protection Agency issued its final determination under the Clean Water Act. It’s a victory for conservation groups and a blow to advocacy groups for Pebble Mine, the proposed project in Southwest Alaska.
Updated: Jan. 31, 2023 at 7:04 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka, Shannon Cole and Carly Schreck
The union representing the drivers, Alaska Teamsters Union - Local 959, announced that all students in the district — a student population of over 18,000 — were dropped off Tuesday morning at their respective schools before the bus drivers went on strike.
Updated: Jan. 30, 2023 at 7:11 AM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
Police said they found a man in an alleyway with a “gunshot wound in his lower body.” Police said he was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive.
Updated: Jan. 27, 2023 at 12:05 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka and Nolin Ainsworth
The man used a stolen handgun to fire at a police officer after being pinned in his Jeep against a snowbank in a Klatt neighborhood, according to police. The officer did not fire back and was not injured.
Updated: Jan. 26, 2023 at 7:50 AM AKST
|By The Associated Press, Joey Klecka and Lex Yelverton
The new rule will take effect once it is published in the Federal Register, which is expected to happen Friday, said agency spokesperson Larry Moore.
Updated: Jan. 24, 2023 at 5:46 AM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
The district wrote in an online social post that all classes will be canceled in lieu of online learning, with the exception of Glacier View School.
Updated: Jan. 18, 2023 at 6:10 PM AKST
|By Tim Rockey, Joey Klecka and Lauren Maxwell
A polar bear attacked and killed a St. Michael mother and her young son Tuesday in Wales, according to troopers, on the western tip of the Seward Peninsula.
Updated: Jan. 17, 2023 at 6:27 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka and Carly Schreck
While it’s yet unknown when the avalanche itself came down, Hopp said the train hit the snow field around 2 a.m. derailing the first two locomotive cars and partially derailing a third along the 3,144-foot train.
Updated: Jan. 13, 2023 at 12:43 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
Troopers found the remains of two individuals in a house burned the day before New Year's Eve, which they reported as being a total loss. Two people were arrested with one of them receiving nine felony counts.
Updated: Jan. 12, 2023 at 10:25 AM AKST
|By Nolin Ainsworth and Joey Klecka
Anchorage police arrested the suspect after nearly six hours, following a situation with the SWAT and Crisis Negotiation Team in a west Spenard neighborhood.
Updated: Jan. 10, 2023 at 7:04 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka and Elena Symmes
The department confirmed that Shawnda O’Brien is no longer working as the Division of Public Assistance director effective Jan. 9.
Updated: Jan. 6, 2023 at 8:09 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
The governor’s decision follows the banning of the popular social media app, which allows users to upload short edited videos, on a federal level.
Updated: Jan. 4, 2023 at 3:20 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka and Paul Choate
The crash and subsequent investigation closed all lanes of Arctic for hours. A police spokesperson said Monday morning that the road has been reopened.
Updated: Jan. 3, 2023 at 3:32 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
Alaska's first documented baby of 2023 arrived precisely 12 minutes past midnight on Jan. 1, giving an Anchorage couple the title of first baby of the new year.
Updated: Dec. 29, 2022 at 3:24 PM AKST
|By Joey Klecka and Lex Yelverton
The city’s current alert system, Everbridge Nixle, has provided emergency alerts and safety notifications to residents with updates on traffic accidents, criminal activity and severe weather situations.
Updated: Dec. 23, 2022 at 12:54 PM AKST
|By Melissa Frey, Joey Klecka, Paul Choate, Nolin Ainsworth and Joe Bartosik
Although the wind gusts are not as strong, roads in Anchorage and the Mat-Su remain dangerous with icy conditions.
Updated: Dec. 23, 2022 at 8:12 AM AKST
|By Joey Klecka
The airlines said unsafe runway conditions caused by wintry weather is to blame for the cancelations and closure of the runways at Seattle’s airport.
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