Desiree Hagen
News DirectorDesiree Hagen is KOTZ's News Director. She's worked in Alaska public radio for over a decade, previously as a reporter in Homer and Bethel. She is a Report for America corps member. Contact her via email at news@kotz.org.
-
An interview with Mary Peltola with Desiree Hagen at the KOTZ studios in Kotzebue Alaska. -
For families across the region, caribou are a central food source. Dozens of communities depend on the herd, which ranges over an area about the size of California. The herd was last counted in 2025 at about 121,000 animals, the lowest number in nearly 50 years. -
Sightings like this are almost unheard of. The last record Fish and Game has is from 1976, when someone watched an albino calf from the Porcupine Herd through a spotting scope for about two minutes. No photos were taken. -
The city collected water samples from 10 homes during a routine check in August. Two came back above the Environmental Protection Agency’s lead action level of 15 parts per billion, which triggers extra testing, public notice and a review of how the water is treated. -
An Ambler man faces a felony charge after troopers say he walked through the village firing a rifle on Sept. 17.The incident triggered a lockdown and canceled school. -
The comment period began on Sept. 18, when the Corps published a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement for the Arctic Mine, an open-pit copper, zinc and lead project in the foothills of the Brooks Range. -
The federal government wants Teck Alaska, the operator of the Red Dog Mine to pay $21,618 for a spill last year that released mine process water into a nearby creek. -
This year, with 49 total racers, the Cape Blossom Marathon hosted nearly three times more participants than its inaugural race last year. As one of just a few races above the Arctic Circle, it's as unique as Kotzebue – with tundra, beach running and a subsistence food potluck. -
The justices heard oral arguments on Sept. 9 in a lawsuit over a Kotzebue police sergeant’s 2022 nonfatal shooting of an Alaska Native man, Luke Outwater, who was experiencing a mental health crisis. -
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced today that more than $4 million is headed to several Alaska communities through its Public Assistance program.
