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Good afternoon. It’s Wednesday, Nov. 19.

In today's newsletter:

A 46-year-old man recently became the 15th person on foot killed by a vehicle in Anchorage so far this year amid what some are calling a pedestrian safety crisis that began in 2024 and has not abated since.
Anchorage School Board members voted late last night to reject proposals to close two elementary schools — one in Anchorage and the other in Eagle River.
An Anchorage medical doctor and her husband this week entered guilty pleas to federal charges accusing them of $12.5 million in health care fraud and more than $4 million in tax evasion.

For readers who prefer thrillers, danger, it turns out, lurks everywhere. The year’s best thrillers whisk readers to vast wildernesses and haunted houses, small-town Virginia and the tony Hamptons. Check out the best of the genre from 2025 here.

Anchorage weather

After a foggy morning, it's sunny today with a high near 30 degrees. We should expect a mix of precipitation for the rest of this week, and daytime highs will range from the low to high 30s.

Here’s what else is making headlines in Alaska today.

— Megan Pacer, mpacer@adn.com

‘He was not invisible’: A brother remembered as Anchorage’s pedestrian death toll rises to 15 →

The number of pedestrian deaths this year has now risen to the same level as last year, when a total of 15 people died, which appears to be the most pedestrian deaths in Anchorage over a year’s time since at least 1988. The high tally has sparked calls for action, especially on state-owned arterial roads where most fatal crashes occur.

Anchorage School Board rejects closing two more elementary schools →

The two schools had been slated for closure as part of a proposal to “right-size” the district by shrinking the number of school buildings it operates, which district officials said would more efficiently serve a steadily declining number of students.

Anchorage doctor and husband plead guilty to more than $12 million in health care fraud →

The couple deceived patients about injections administered in the office, underdosing them or lying about the type of medication in the shot, according to a plea agreement signed by the rheumatologist last month.

A Civil War veteran was buried in an unmarked grave in Seward. Now his identity is revealed. →

Union Army Sgt. Joseph H. White, interred in a now-abandoned cemetery in 1916, will have a permanent headstone placed at his burial site this summer.

State plow operator training removes snow from a popular Hatcher Pass ski area →

The clearing operation is likely to push Independence Mine trail grooming back at least a month, Mat-Su Ski Club officials said. (via Mat-Su Sentinel)