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Thursday, Aug 6

Situk River sockeye fishery has all but ended, ADF&G says

Situk River sockeye runs have collapsed to their lowest in five years, forcing ADF&G to tell anglers the sport fishery has ended even though the daily limit stays at three fish.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Situk River sockeye fishery has all but ended, ADF&G says

Kuskokwim coho fishing slow in early August as Bethel sonar counts run low

Coho fishing on the lower Kuskokwim has been very slow in early August amid high water and low Bethel sonar counts, though escapement should still be met.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Kuskokwim coho fishing slow in early August as Bethel sonar counts run low

Landowner gets variance to split land off Wasilla-Fishhook Road

A landowner near Wasilla-Fishhook Road, a route to Hatcher Pass, got a variance to split his land after the state barred new lots from tying directly into the road.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Wasilla, Alaska
Cover image for article: Landowner gets variance to split land off Wasilla-Fishhook Road

Hilcorp says opposing the tax isn't opposing the gas line

Hilcorp told the gas-line caucus that opposing a targeted tax on the company isn't opposing the pipeline, even as that tax deadlocks the bill in Juneau.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read
Cover image for article: Hilcorp says opposing the tax isn't opposing the gas line

Enstar tells Alaska Gas Line Caucus it could be 18 days short of gas this winter

Enstar told lawmakers it could run 18 days short of gas this winter if Cook Inlet supply stays low, but the Alaska LNG pipeline pitched to fix the problem won't arrive in time to help.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read
Southcentral Alaska
Cover image for article: Enstar tells Alaska Gas Line Caucus it could be 18 days short of gas this winter

Heat advisory brings 80 degrees to the Arctic plains near Umiat

The Arctic plains near Umiat could hit 80 degrees Thursday under a heat advisory, a hot spell standing out in Alaska's coldest year since 2012.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Western Arctic Plains, Alaska
Cover image for article: Heat advisory brings 80 degrees to the Arctic plains near Umiat

Alaska's one-boat state crab fishery reopens as offshore quota rises

Alaska's tiny state-waters golden king crab fishery reopens — one boat fished it last year — while the far larger offshore quota climbs 13%.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Cover image for article: Alaska's one-boat state crab fishery reopens as offshore quota rises

Kenai council approves $775,000 for Sixth Street water, sewer, road work

Kenai City Council approved 775000 dollars for Sixth Street infrastructure. The project will serve new senior housing but stop short of future development sites.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Kenai council approves $775,000 for Sixth Street water, sewer, road work

More from Alaska

Alaskans split over ranked choice repeal at state ballot measure hearing

Alaska voters will decide in November whether to repeal ranked choice voting, the top-four primary, and campaign finance disclosure rules approved in 2020.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read
Alaska
Cover image for article: Alaskans split over ranked choice repeal at state ballot measure hearing

Anchorage seeks 50 acres of JBER land for a waste-to-energy plant

Anchorage is asking Congress for about 50 acres of JBER land next to the landfill for a waste-to-energy plant, with the request riding in this year's defense bill.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Anchorage seeks 50 acres of JBER land for a waste-to-energy plant

A plan would move Anchorage's bike route off the highways onto trails

Anchorage's official cross-country bike route runs on highway shoulders. A plan would move it onto the city's trails — the Seward corridor stays contested.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: A plan would move Anchorage's bike route off the highways onto trails

Coast Guard asks Homer to accept transfer of cutter support building

Homer City Council votes Aug. 24 on accepting ownership of a Coast Guard cutter support building. • The ordinance does not specify maintenance costs or operational details the city would assume. • Residents can testify at the 6 p.m. public hearing.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Coast Guard asks Homer to accept transfer of cutter support building

New law ties Anchorage's federal housing grant to how fast it builds

Anchorage's biggest federal housing grant will now rise or fall with how fast the city builds, raising the question of whether it'll be punished for constraints it can't control.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: New law ties Anchorage's federal housing grant to how fast it builds

Bethel weighs buying road salt before the river freezes

Bethel is weighing $55,000 in road salt before freeze-up — in a town with no highway in or out, once the Kuskokwim freezes, the barges bringing it stop.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Bethel weighs buying road salt before the river freezes

New EU paperwork could slow Alaska seafood shipments starting in September

New EU paperwork starting Sept. 3 could slow Alaska seafood shipments to Europe, though the strictest new rules hit farmed fish, not the wild-caught catch that is most of Alaska's harvest.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: New EU paperwork could slow Alaska seafood shipments starting in September

Ship Creek jumps to six salmon a day as coho pour in

Ship Creek jumps to six salmon a day starting Friday as more than 1,100 coho pour in, though kings still can't be kept for the rest of the year.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Ship Creek, Alaska
Cover image for article: Ship Creek jumps to six salmon a day as coho pour in

About Alaska

Alaska is a United States state spanning Arctic, subarctic and coastal regions. Its communities range from Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau to Kodiak, the North Slope and villages such as McGrath and Adak that sit off the road system.

The Legislature, the governor's office and state agencies set policy on oil and gas, fisheries, transportation and public lands, and state boards such as the Board of Fisheries and the AIDEA board decide on catch rules, loans and investments. Cities and boroughs keep their own budgets, taxes, liquor licenses and planning decisions.

Questions that recur across the state include local budgets and tax rates, fishery catch limits, air service and ports for remote communities, and decisions on state land. Federal agencies and courts also shape life in Alaska, from air service contracts for rural towns to the certification of statewide election results.

More from Alaska

King salmon retention at Blind Slough ends Aug. 15

King salmon retention in Blind Slough near Petersburg closes at 11:59 p.m. Aug. 15, ending a summer window that opened after hatchery returns exceeded projections.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: King salmon retention at Blind Slough ends Aug. 15

Senate confirms CDC director; Alaska's vaccine question stays open

Senate confirmed Erica Schwartz as CDC director 51-44, with Murkowski and Sullivan voting yes, ending a nearly year-long vacancy while vaccine policy remains uncertain.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Senate confirms CDC director; Alaska's vaccine question stays open

Murkowski cosponsors Senate bill to pay providers for breast cancer risk assessments

Sen. Lisa Murkowski cosponsored a bill to pay doctors for breast cancer risk assessments, addressing cost barriers that delay detection in rural Alaska.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Murkowski cosponsors Senate bill to pay providers for breast cancer risk assessments

Twenty ptarmigan a day, most of the year, across the Interior

Interior ptarmigan hunters get 20 birds a day from August through February across Units 12, 20 and 25C, with big stretches of lightly hunted country to work.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Arctic Alaska
Cover image for article: Twenty ptarmigan a day, most of the year, across the Interior

Bartlett hospital recruiting four directors at once among 29 openings

Bartlett Regional Hospital is recruiting four directors at once and 29 positions total, the most of any Juneau employer on the state's weekly job list.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Bartlett hospital recruiting four directors at once among 29 openings

Four dipnet openings left at Chitina in August

Chitina dipnetters have four 48-hour openings left in August and can't keep any kings, after a below-average sockeye run and a weak Copper River king return.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Upper Copper River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Four dipnet openings left at Chitina in August

Super PACs report nearly $1 million in Alaska Senate spending on a single day

Three super PACs spent nearly $1 million in a single day on Alaska's U.S. Senate race, with groups backing Sullivan and opposing Peltola dominating the spending 12 days before the Aug. 18 primary.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Super PACs report nearly $1 million in Alaska Senate spending on a single day

Alaska seeks outside attorneys for ethics complaints against top officials

Alaska is hiring private attorneys to investigate ethics complaints against the governor, lieutenant governor, or attorney general, with bids due Aug. 24.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Alaska seeks outside attorneys for ethics complaints against top officials

Anchorage ties its wettest July on record as Southcentral soaks

Anchorage tied its wettest July on record and Talkeetna saw its wettest since 1922, part of a cool, soggy stretch and a recent run of unusually wet Julys.

Melinda Communities.Newsby Melinda Communities.News3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Anchorage ties its wettest July on record as Southcentral soaks

A landslide cut rail service to Denali after record Talkeetna rain

A landslide from record July rain cut off Alaska Railroad service to Denali north of Talkeetna, in a corridor already under a flood-and-erosion emergency.

Melinda Communities.Newsby Melinda Communities.News3mo ago1 min read
Talkeetna to Denali, Alaska
Cover image for article: A landslide cut rail service to Denali after record Talkeetna rain

20 Alaska Native students are training to bring health care home to rural communities

Twenty Alaska Native students are training as nurses, midwives and doctors on tribal scholarships — many aiming to bring care home to rural communities.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: 20 Alaska Native students are training to bring health care home to rural communities

Yentna flood warning runs to Friday after forecast crest above 22 feet

Yentna River flood warning stays in effect until Friday afternoon as water threatens lodges near Lake Creek, with debris including trees flowing downriver.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read
Western Susitna Valley, Alaska
Cover image for article: Yentna flood warning runs to Friday after forecast crest above 22 feet

Troopers: Fairbanks man, 79, injured in Old Nenana Highway motorcycle crash

A 79-year-old Fairbanks man was injured Wednesday in a motorcycle crash on Old Nenana Highway and taken to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Troopers: Fairbanks man, 79, injured in Old Nenana Highway motorcycle crash

A Homer seafood plant would pass to Silver Bay amid an OBI takeover

A Homer Spit seafood plant would pass to Silver Bay as it absorbs OBI statewide — a deal some fishermen and workers fear could erode local wages.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: A Homer seafood plant would pass to Silver Bay amid an OBI takeover

Wednesday, Aug 5

Anchorage picks up the tab for building repairs the state used to help fund

Anchorage would spend $476,000 of its own money on repairs to aging city buildings after state grants were cut, and it's on the hook for that much a year through 2031.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Anchorage picks up the tab for building repairs the state used to help fund

Anchorage union deals would sweeten benefits amid a labor shortage

Two union contracts before the Anchorage Assembly would sweeten benefits — rehire leave credit, easier holiday pay, master's tuition — for a labor shortage.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Anchorage union deals would sweeten benefits amid a labor shortage

A Hillside road district taps its own savings to fix its own roads

A self-funded Hillside road district would draw $150,000 from its own reserve to fix its roads rather than raise assessments, one of two doing so this summer.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: A Hillside road district taps its own savings to fix its own roads

AEDC report: Anchorage strained, the military its bright spot

A new AEDC report says Anchorage is getting squeezed: shrinking job share, high costs, low confidence. The military's the bright spot, but housing's the catch.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: AEDC report: Anchorage strained, the military its bright spot

A rule meant to reveal where 'forever chemicals' are used stays delayed

Forever chemicals, forever unreported: the Senate left a PFAS disclosure rule on hold as contamination spreads at Eielson and across Alaska.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: A rule meant to reveal where 'forever chemicals' are used stays delayed

41.3 million for Alaska Native education is freed up after a month's delay

Fifteen Alaska organizations will share $41.3 million in Native education grants that came a month late, freed up after Sen. Murkowski pressed the education secretary directly.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: 41.3 million for Alaska Native education is freed up after a month's delay

Alaska Native-serving schools vie for $10 million in training money

Alaska Native-serving colleges and trade schools have until Aug. 24 to compete for up to $10 million in federal money to train skilled workers.

Melinda Communities.Newsby Melinda Communities.News3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Alaska Native-serving schools vie for $10 million in training money

Cordova advances a tax increase on rentals and visitors to 14%

Cordova advanced a tax hike on rentals, tobacco, alcohol and marijuana, from 13% to 14%, aimed mostly at visitors, as sales tax collections run $250,000 behind last year.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Cordova advances a tax increase on rentals and visitors to 14%

Bears have made Cordova's landfill unsafe for workers, and the fence is stuck

Bears have made Cordova's landfill unsafe for workers, and the electrified fence meant to stop them is stalled after the city's engineer request drew zero responses.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Bears have made Cordova's landfill unsafe for workers, and the fence is stuck

Kenai mayor moves to shield home value from city property tax

Kenai's mayor directed the city manager to draft a residential property tax exemption after residents said assessments are climbing faster than relief.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Kenai mayor moves to shield home value from city property tax