By JAMES HALPIN, Anchorage Daily News

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- In the early days of World War II, while most of the world's attention was focused on Europe and the South Pacific, a small band of scouts began patrolling the reaches of the far-flung Aleutian Islands to spy on invading Japanese forces.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Two drunken bootleggers who were intercepted on the Kuskokwim River repeatedly tried to ram an Alaska State Troopers vessel as they led officers on a high-speed, 25-mile boat chase that ended with them in handcuffs, according to troopers.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Investigators and prosecutors worked seven months building their case.

Once they found the victim's remains, they returned to the scene six times to collect evidence. They interviewed witnesses and scoured the crime scene by land and air. They measured tire tracks. They collected samples for DNA testing.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska --

When a 300-pound yearling moose stumbled into Calvin Hay's yard and died this month, he called the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, expecting the carcass would get hauled away.

Instead, he found out he was on his own.

NIKOLSKI, Alaska -- For nearly five months, dangerously stormy weather in the Aleutians has held bulk-fuel barges at bay from Nikolski, where officials have been forced to fly in small, pricey batches for heat and power.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A study of the spread of avian influenza has the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention seeking the blood of 200 Anchorage-area sport hunters who have handled wild fowl in the past two years.