Jirdes Winther Baxter, last survivor of 1925 Nome serum run, dies in Juneau at 101

image from: https://www.juneauindependent.com/post/jirdes-winther-baxter-last-survivor-of-1925-nome-serum-run-dies-in-juneau-at-101

Jirdes Winther Baxter, the last living survivor of the 1925 serum run credited with inspiring the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, died Monday at Bartlett Regional Hospital at the age of 101.

"This is kind of an end of an era for that period of time," Fred Baxter, one of her sons, said in an interview Tuesday.

His mother, born Jirdes Winther on Feb. 25, 1924, to parents who had moved from Norway to Nome, was hospitalized with diphtheria on Jan. 31, 1925, in the midst of an epidemic of the disease that winter. Only a few days earlier, Nome’s only doctor, Curtis Welch, sent an emergency telegraph to the U.S. Public Health Service requesting 1 million units of diphtheria antitoxin.

(READ MORE - juneauindependent.com)

Nome-Beltz student in custody after bringing firearm to school

image from: https://knom.org/2026/01/06/nome-beltz-student-in-custody-after-bringing-firearm-to-school/

A male student at Nome-Beltz Middle High School was taken into custody Tuesday morning after bringing an unloaded firearm to campus, according to Nome Public Schools Superintendent Jamie Burgess.

In a letter addressed to the community of Nome, Burgess said the incident occurred at approximately 9:30 a.m. after students alerted school administrators that another student had brought a firearm to school. The Nome Police Department was contacted immediately and two officers responded to the scene.

(READ MORE - knom.org)

Why This Tiny Town in Alaska Has a Dark History of Disappearances

For me, the most compelling stories are the ones with no answers, and the true story of Nome, Alaska, proves that truth can be stranger than fiction. Over the years, roughly two dozen people from Nome and nearby villages went missing between the 1960s and 2004, sparking curiosity and concern far beyond this remote, tiny town in Alaska. The intrigue was so intense that Universal Pictures released a major motion picture about these mysterious disappearances in 2009. Rumors swirled-from UFO involvement and alien abductions to theories about a serial killer-but the community was left searching for answers. Let's take a closer look at the mystery of the Nome disappearances.

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Jan 6, 2026 Regional Links

Empty shelves at Nome’s grocery stores last week bore witness to a severe backlog of freight that didn’t make it to Nome for the holidays.

Starting last week, Alaska Air Cargo has stopped accepting new freight in Anchorage until their cargo backlog is cleared. Last week, Alaska Airlines cancelled two passenger flights: one due to a mechanical issue and the other because of crew. Freighter cancellations during the same week were caused by unexpected mechanical problems, while the previous week’s freighter cancellations were due to weather, Alaska Airlines spokesperson Tim Thompson told the Nugget. He said that two out of the five freighters are out of service due to mechanical issues. (READ MORE - nomenugget.com)