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Alaska honors Susan Sullivan — who at 28 became the youngest woman ever elected to its Legislature and helped lay the groundwork for the Permanent Fund that still pays every resident.

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Kenai budgets $1.55 million for street work and 2 percent pay raises for all staff. • Paramedic and police certification pay increases to match neighboring departments. • City allocates $300,000 for public safety building design ahead of November 2027 bond vote. • Water and sewer rates rise 4 percent to cover inflation and future plant upgrades.

U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman warned that violence against Alaska officers is rising and often unreported, citing a recent shooting where an officer was struck in the knee.

Anchorage Assembly votes May 26 on second round of child care licensing cuts to remove rules that duplicate state standards. Changes include dropping annual physicals for children, eliminating nutrition rules already covered by state and USDA, and allowing more online training. City oversees 92 licensed homes and 98 centers with no new revenue impact expected.

Kenai proposes 4% water and sewer rate hike starting July 2026 to fund wastewater plant overhaul planned for 2029. • City losing 340,000 dollars annual revenue and facing higher chemical and staffing costs. • Rates remain among Alaska's lowest. Last increase was in fiscal year 2025. • Council will hold public hearing before final budget vote in May.

Petersburg Assembly voted 6-1 Monday to put a sales tax cap increase on the October 6 ballot, raising the single-purchase limit from $1,200 to $5,000 and the maximum tax owed from $72 to $300.

Assembly votes to require Planning Commission approval for new cell towers in Petersburg. Companies must first try mounting antennas on existing structures before building new towers. Public hearing set for June 1 with comment deadline May 25. Ordinance needs two more readings before final adoption.

Alaska Oil and Gas Commission seeks EPA approval by May to regulate carbon storage wells in the state instead of federal oversight. Approval expected by late 2026 or early 2027. State completed 110-page regulations covering site selection, monitoring, and 50-year operator responsibility. Alaska's deep gas reservoirs offer storage space for carbon dioxide from LNG export and oil operations.

Seward City Council meets Tuesday to decide if it will fund the high school pool, which trained Olympic gold medalist Lydia Jacoby. • The school district plans to close all its pools without new money or a city takeover. • Community swimmers are urging residents to speak at the meeting to keep the facility open.

Cordova City Council voted on its Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, required by FEMA to keep federal disaster and resilience funding. Without approval, the coastal city risks losing money for seawalls and flood protection.

Ice flows are delaying Miles Lake sonar equipment, pushing the Chitina dipnet season opening to a tentative June 10 noon start pending sonar data on salmon passage.

EPA tentatively approved Alaska taking over hazardous waste oversight from federal control by August 2026. • Public comment period runs through July 2, 2026 on the shift. • Rural communities and tribes worry state agency may not enforce rules as strictly as EPA did. • Businesses may see faster permitting but face uncertainty during transition to state standards.

The state proposes a 55-year lease for Lake Hood Air Harbor at 12 cents per square foot. Public comments are due by June 18.
Alaska manufacturers have until May 29 to nominate themselves for the 2025 Manufacturer of the Year award, which includes state marketing and an Alaska Manufacturing Association membership.

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson plans a 7-mile barbed-wire fence along Anchorage neighborhoods, drawing concerns from residents about wildlife and trail access.

Alaska's Department of Natural Resources is reviewing 24 placer mining applications for Interior gold districts, part of the typical 100 to 200 statewide applications the agency processes each year.
Anchorage's naming commission scheduled a June 10 hearing to name the new downtown library after the city's original townsite, honoring a $12.5 million gift from Janet Goetz's estate.

Sitka voters will decide in October whether to change how the city handles citizen initiatives and referendums, after the Assembly advanced the charter amendment on May 12.
Donlin Gold plans to decide by mid-2027 whether to build a $10 billion gold mine near Crooked Creek, with construction running 2028-2031 and creating 2,000 to 3,000 jobs.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game meets with Ketchikan charter operators May 21 at 6 p.m. to discuss new sport fishing rules for 2026.
Cordova is seeking contractors to extract rock from city land and prepare it for a new Public Safety Building to replace the current facility in the tsunami zone. Proposals due June 8.
Unalaska City Council will hear a business appeal involving TSYS on May 12 at 6 p.m. at City Hall, with details available on the city website.
The House Finance Committee is considering a bill to raise the tobacco age to 21 and add a 25 percent tax on vaping products.
True North Recovery wants $750,000 in city funds for a Fairview health center. Neighbors oppose the site due to service density.

DOT&PF meets June 3 in Palmer to gather public input on Glenn Highway safety improvements, with comments accepted through July 3.
Alaska bill would charge the state 10.5 percent interest on late payments to nonprofits, municipalities, and tribal organizations, extending a rule that has applied to private contractors since 1990.

A House panel is considering raising the tobacco age to 21. The change would align state law with federal standards and unlock millions in prevention funding.

A Senate panel reviewed a bill to cut the psychiatric hospital review window for foster youth from 30 days to 7 days.

Alaska bill would require a human operator in commercial freight trucks over 10,000 pounds, effectively blocking fully driverless rigs from the state.

Three Board of Fisheries nominees pledged Tuesday to restore public trust after the board made an out-of-cycle Cook Inlet salmon gear decision despite 280 opposing comments.
Attorney General nominee Stephen Cox faced criticism Monday for blocking Alaskans from bringing complaints directly to grand juries, contradicting research he himself commissioned.

Senate Bill 257 would double state funding for Alaska residential schools to cover rising costs. The bill aims to fix a funding gap that has remained stagnant since 2014.

Alaska Attorney General nominee Stephen Cox declined to commit to defending same-sex marriage if challenged in court, drawing concern from LGBTQ lawmakers during a confirmation hearing Monday.

Juneau School District is seeking $10 million in bonds to fix leaking roofs, upgrade heating systems, and install security cameras after state funding for school maintenance dried up.

Alaska Senate panel heard testimony on a bill to create a Welcoming Alaska Office to help immigrants and foreign-born teachers settle in state communities and schools.

Attorney General-designee Stephen Cox defended his rapid pace of joining national legal briefs as senators questioned his focus on Alaska priorities.

Anchorage is transferring the vacant Nordstrom building to a development authority to redevelop it as mixed-use housing and commercial space downtown, with a public hearing set for March 24.

The House State Affairs Committee advanced a bill requiring police to release body camera footage within 30 days of serious incidents.

Alaska Senate panel heard testimony on a proposal to create a commission that would redesign the state seal, unchanged since 1913, to better represent Alaska Native people and modern values.

Denali Borough's mayor opposes SB 280's requirement that pipeline tax payments flow through the legislature, urging direct payments to municipalities before construction starts in 2026.

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Thu, Oct 22Alaska News Daily Brief9 min · 14 stories