ANCHORAGE — The Forks Roadhouse in Petersville, a relic of the gold rush era, burned to the ground sometime on Wednesday night.

The site was established as a supply depot for the gold fields of the Petersville Hills and Susitna Valley in the early 1900s. The building that went up in flames on Wednesday was constructed between 1930 and 1933, according to Talkeetna historian Roberta Sheldon.

A number of historical artifacts in the building were destroyed by the fire, said Talkeetna Fire Department Chief Ken Farina.

PALMER — “Lucy Lu,” a 1,287-pound pumpkin grown by John J.D. Megchelsen of Nikiski, took the title as the biggest pumpkin ever grown in Alaska at the Giant Pumpkin Weigh In at the Alaska State Fair on Wednesday.

A 1,723-pounder grown by Dale Marshall of Anchorage, “Patrick,” was disqualified because of a hole in the bottom that went through to the core of the gourd. It will, however, be placed on view in the farm products display starting today.

ANCHORAGE — A team from the University of Alaska Museum of the North has succeeded in excavating the fossil of a rare, ancient marine reptile from rock that’s usually covered by the tide.

Eugene Primaky, working for the USDA Forest Service Heritage Program out of Petersburg, spotted what he thought might be the bones of a fish or a branch while looking over an intertidal outcropping near Kake in Southeast Alaska in May. He gave it a kick. It didn’t move.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — On your next wilderness excursion to, say, a well-visited glacier, you may encounter another adventurer staring at his iPhone. Don’t imagine that he’s tuning out nature. He’s more likely to be tuning in with a new and free application designed to put a comprehensive guide to Alaska’s wonders in the palm of your hand.