A Huntsville, Alaska man's trip to the gas station became a long and painful one when one of his fingers got stuck into the gas tank's opening as he tried to clear some gunk from around it. The incident took place on Wednesday afternoon when Dwight Clark was in the parking lot of Medical Arts Pharmacy. There were many helpful people who tried freeing him by spraying WD40 and other tactics, but nothing seemed to work.

Concerned over Maggie the elephant's inactive lifestyle, authorities at an Alaska zoo decided to call in firefighters to help stand the pudgy pachyderm back on her feet. The 7,500-pound Maggie had been lying down on the ground for about 12 hours and zookeepers were worried that the elephant may suffer breathing and other problems due to its massive weight and may even die if it stayed inactive for too long. A crew of 17 firefighters from Anchorage Fire Department used straps, a winch and their muscle power to lift Maggie on Sunday. It took several hours before Maggie was up on her feet again.

A careless error of a computer technician reformatting a disc drive at the Alaska Department of Revenue wiped out data containing $38 billion of state funds. With just one stroke on the computer keyboard, the computer technician, doing routine maintenance work, deleted information for applicants on the oil-funded account, one of Alaska residents biggest perks. Worst, the technician also mistakenly reformatted the back-up drive.

In a bid to increase the population in the area, officials from Anderson, Alaska, are distributing free land to people if they promise to build a house there. So far more than 40 people have expressed their desire on Monday for a chance to claim one of 26 large lots offered by the town. The Juneau (Alaska) Empire reported Tuesday that the government however makes it mandatory for people to build a house of at least 1,000 square feet on their plot within two years of obtaining it.

A moose apparently annoyed by being shot with a tranquilizer dart charged the rear rotor of a hovering helicopter, colliding with it and eventually bringing it down to the ground. The pilot and a wildlife biologist aboard the helicopter were not injured in the incident but the moose had to be euthanized. As a part of his study on moose, biologist Kevin White shot the animal with a tranquilizer dart and followed it while the pilot maneuvered the helicopter to keep the animal from slipping into a tight space or collapsing in water and drowning, Doug Larsen, regional supervisor for the Division of Wildlife Conservation told the Anchorage Daily news.