Alaska
RSSAll news from Alaska
Regions
Local organizations and topics
Numbers are stories in the last 30 days.
Have a story from Alaska? Send a tip
Wednesday, Aug 5
Who controls Chugach access spending: trail advocates or the neighborhoods next door?
Anchorage delayed creating a board to steer Chugach park-access spending, as neighborhoods and trail advocates split over who should control it. The Assembly decides Oct. 6.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Anchorage Assembly rejects investigation into member Martinez's travel, 5-6
Anchorage Assembly rejected an investigation into Assembly Member George Martinez's travel Tuesday, 5-6, after Vice Chair Daniel Volland switched his vote citing flaws in the accusation.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
An Anchorage board member proposes a one-year pause on school closures
An Anchorage School Board member proposed pausing school closures for a year, barring emergencies. The board hasn't voted, and a $40M shortfall remains.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Can a bacterium pull rare earths out of coal waste? Alaska researchers just got $4.7M to find out
Can a microbe mine coal waste for rare earths? Alaska researchers got $4.7M to find out — chasing a domestic source for minerals the U.S. mostly imports.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago2 min read
Regulators shift unused halibut allowance to Bering Sea trawlers
Regulators shifted unused halibut bycatch to Bering Sea trawlers' cod season, reviving the bycatch fight as halibut stocks sit near record lows.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
A new Nome dredge application enters the pipeline that just rejected a fiercely fought gold mine
A new suction-dredge application near Nome enters the same regulatory pipeline that just rejected IPOP's massive Bonanza Channel gold mine
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Senate panel advances Crow coal land swap 6-5, rejects four amendments
Senate panel voted 6-5 to advance a Montana coal land swap giving the Crow Tribe mineral rights in exchange for federal parcels, but skipping environmental review.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Troopers arrest Sterling driver on DUI charge after head-on crash at mile 84
A Sterling man faces a DUI charge after his Impala pulled into the path of a northbound pickup on the Sterling Highway at mile 84 on Tuesday evening, injuring the other driver.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
More from Alaska
Cook Inlet drift fleet limited to Area 3 for a single 12-hour opener Thursday
Cook Inlet drift gillnetters get just one 12-hour opener in Area 3 Thursday, driven by coho conservation — a federal EEZ closure and state limits are squeezing the fleet's access as coho harvest runs over its cap.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Yukon fall salmon subsistence fishing closes as the run falls short
Fall chum and coho subsistence fishing is closing across the upper Yukon as the run falls short, the last in a season of closures that moved steadily up the river.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Injured hiker rescued by boat along George Inlet near Ketchikan
A hiker injured in a fall near Ketchikan called for help Tuesday afternoon, and Alaska Wildlife Troopers and the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad reached him by boat and took him to a hospital.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A one-word change to Alaska's voting law could foreclose a path for American Samoan residents
Measure 3 would add "only" to Alaska's voter law — a narrow safeguard, its sponsor says. Opponents note noncitizen voting is already illegal and say it would foreclose a path for American Samoan residents, U.S. nationals who aren't automatically citizens.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Anchorage salary commission drafts a 26% raise for its next elected mayor
Anchorage's salary commission drafted a resolution to raise the next elected mayor's pay to $183,019, a 26% increase that would take effect only after the 2027 election.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Two former colleagues split over whether Ballot Measure 1 curbs big money or just reroutes it
Two former legislative colleagues split over Ballot Measure 1: Schrage says restoring donation caps curbs big money, Carpenter says it caps small money while leaving unlimited outside spending untouched. Voters decide Aug. 18.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Kaktovik residents press North Slope Borough on cracked homes
Kaktovik and Nuiqsut residents told the North Slope Borough Assembly that homes are cracking and settling, and asked for repairs and new programs to address the damage.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago4 min read
Pacific halibut hit a 40-year low as Alaska absorbs the deepest cuts
Pacific halibut are at a 40-year low, and Alaska's waters took the deepest 2025 cuts, including 22% in the Central Gulf, hitting commercial, charter and subsistence fishing alike.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Coming up
Interior Department and Marine Minerals Administration Regional Tribal Meeting
Alaska
Meeting
Alaska LNG ROW Lease Conversion Public Hearing (Virtual)
Hearing
2027 Statewide Summer Reading Program Registration Deadline
Public notice
GMU 2 Wolf Trapping Season Opens
Public notice
Alaska Mental Health Trust Land Office Sealed Bid Deadline
Public notice
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
HESCO barrier repair was a week from done, Juneau committee told
Juneau's HESCO flood barriers were nearly complete in early July, with the Army Corps finishing Phase 2 of temporary defenses protecting nearly 1,900 homes under evacuation advisory.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readFrom 
Troopers detain 49 people at one Wasilla house during a drug-warrant search
49 people, one Wasilla house, one very eventful drug warrant: an arrest on scene, a runner nabbed on a federal warrant, and more charges on the way.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
The NRA gives Begich an F and three Republican tickets A+
The NRA's political arm gave the ticket of leading Alaska governor candidate Tom Begich an F and three Republican tickets A+ in its new primary grades.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
The road to Bear Valley Elementary would narrow, and won't fix the jam
The road to Bear Valley Elementary already backs up at pickup, so the plan is to make it narrower — which, the project admits, won't fix the jam.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
NWS forecast calls for 1 to 2 more inches of rain in Southwest Alaska
A Bering Sea storm will drop 1 to 2 more inches of rain across Southwest Alaska through Tuesday, with sustained winds pushing water levels up to 1 foot above normal along the Bristol Bay coast.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Doyon opens a descendant registry with hiring preference and training
Doyon opens a Descendant Registry this fall, giving shareholders' descendants a path to hiring preference, training and internships. Gather birth records early.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Winter ferry bookings open on the system that's the only road many Alaska towns have
Winter ferry bookings are open on the Alaska Marine Highway — the federally funded "road" for the four-in-five Alaska towns with no highway — even as some communities say this winter's schedule is still too thin.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
A UAF mathematician is building better tools for understanding networks
A UAF mathematician won a $150,000 NSF grant to build better tools for understanding complex networks, from how they're structured to faster ways to solve problems on them.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago1 min read
Alaska will cover district travel to a school safety summit
Alaska will cover districts' travel to a September school safety summit in Anchorage — even as many face budget deficits and a staffing crisis.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
A Hilcorp gravel-mine permit reflects the North Slope's expanding oil footprint
Hilcorp wants a new North Slope gravel mine — one small permit amid a gravel-demand surge as Arctic oil development expands and converts wetlands, one project at a time.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Alaska's freight system was built to ship oil out. Now it's about getting packages in.
Alaska's freight network is shifting from moving oil out to bringing online-shopping deliveries in, as pipeline throughput slides and e-commerce surges through Anchorage.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Sitka Coast Guard dock switches from steel to plastic fender piles
Sitka's new Coast Guard dock is switching from steel to plastic piles, a change that both speeds up the work and shrinks the zones where pile-driving noise could disturb marine mammals.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Homer electric members get a small break while Interior faces a big spike
Homer electric members are paying about $3.30 less since July 1 — a rare bit of good news, while Interior members brace for a 62% cost-of-power spike.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A separated path toward Hatcher Pass would get walkers and cyclists off Palmer-Fishhook Road's dangerous shoulders
A planned 8.5-mile path would finally get walkers and cyclists off Palmer-Fishhook Road's white-knuckle shoulders — if the Mat-Su Borough can pull together the $4.5 million to build it.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
State weighs 19-year rent-free FAA lease at Hooper Bay Airport
Alaska is considering a 19-year rent-free lease for the FAA to install navigation and weather equipment at Hooper Bay Airport, one of six rural airports where the agency seeks similar no-cost deals.
by Alaska News3mo ago1 min read
A decade after a plan promised lower energy costs, Bering Strait villages are still studying the problem
A decade after a regional plan promised lower energy costs, Bering Strait villages are still studying the problem — as Kawerak seeks contractors to assess the diesel infrastructure keeping 20 communities running.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min read
A Northwest think tank has ideas for Anchorage housing
A Seattle think tank that advocates for denser housing is recommending Anchorage zoning changes, one of which the city already adopted in 2025.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Tuesday, Aug 4
A protected Potter Marsh hillside faces access questions at an Aug. 10 hearing
A 303-acre hillside feeding Potter Marsh is permanently protected, so the debate now is over access — where trails and parking go, and which neighborhood streets take the traffic. A 20-year plan gets a hearing Aug. 10.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Wasilla resident gets gas station to study sidewalk on school bus route
A Wasilla resident got a new gas station to study building a sidewalk on a street where kids walk to the bus. The commission also OK'd a youth mental health facility.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Juneau Assembly amends senior hardship tax test to 300% poverty line
Juneau Assembly raised the income limit for senior and disabled veteran property tax hardship exemptions to 300% of federal poverty guidelines, broadening eligibility for tax relief.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago3 min read
70 homes, one way out: Wasilla weighs fixing a risky railroad crossing on Lucille Lake
Over 70 Lucille Lake homes share one risky way out — a steep rail crossing that's also the only path for fire and ambulance. Wasilla eyes $5.25M to fix it.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Doyon shareholders must update their address or miss a distribution
Several hundred Doyon shareholders won't get a distribution until they update their mailing address. Check the Undeliverable Mail List at doyon.com.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Mat-Su voters will decide whether the borough can tax valley-wide for big road projects
Mat-Su voters will decide Nov. 3 whether the borough can use borough-wide taxes to build big road projects no single service area can afford — with debate over whether it shifts money from urban to rural areas.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Federal money, not oil, drove half of Alaska's growth — and now it's shrinking
Turns out the oil state runs on Washington's checkbook: federal money, not crude, drove half of Alaska's growth — and it's now shrinking.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
