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Tuesday, Jul 14

The fight to keep Red Dog alive past 2031

A routine nine-acre lease along the Red Dog haul road opens onto a much bigger question: how one of the world's richest zinc mines keeps going after its main pit runs dry around 2031.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska
Cover image for article: The fight to keep Red Dog alive past 2031

Monday, Jul 13

A Nome teacher heads to Stanford to rethink how schools teach

A Nome reading teacher is off to Stanford for a Ph.D. — studying how Inuit knowledge and values can be built into what schools actually teach.

Melinda Communities.Newsby Melinda Communities.News4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: A Nome teacher heads to Stanford to rethink how schools teach

On Alaska's federal job sites, the highest-paid worker is a diver

New federal wage rules for Alaska construction show the pay hierarchy — underwater divers top it at $92.83/hour, earning more the deeper they go. Electricians make about $55.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: On Alaska's federal job sites, the highest-paid worker is a diver

Juneau weighs selling City Hall for top dollar — or for less, to Sealaska

Juneau can auction its old City Hall to the highest bidder or sell it cheaper to Sealaska Heritage for community use. It can't have both, so it's punting the choice to the public.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Juneau weighs selling City Hall for top dollar — or for less, to Sealaska

Why an Arctic fiber company needs 30,000 yards of Dalton gravel

Quintillion wants 30,000 yards of Dalton Highway gravel to build a land backup for the Arctic's only fiber line — the one sea ice has cut twice, knocking whole communities offline.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
North Slope Borough, Alaska
Cover image for article: Why an Arctic fiber company needs 30,000 yards of Dalton gravel

Alaska's newsroom is auditing what AI tells voters — and it keeps changing

An Alaska newsroom is running a daily audit of what AI tells voters — 15 models, 160,000+ answers — and finding the bots flip their pick by the day, and by your hometown.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Alaska's newsroom is auditing what AI tells voters — and it keeps changing

Cordova turns to posted notices after local newspaper closes

Cordova says its newspaper is "no longer in circulation," so it's tacking foreclosure notices on four walls. The Cordova Times is still publishing — just online.

Alaska Newsby Alaska News4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Cordova turns to posted notices after local newspaper closes

Fort Yukon woman faces assault, weapons charges after June disturbance in Circle

A two-hour overnight disturbance across several spots in Circle on June 24 ended with a Fort Yukon woman arrested weeks later, facing assault and other charges.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Fort Yukon woman faces assault, weapons charges after June disturbance in Circle

More from Alaska

DNR proposes free land transfer to Alaska Railroad; comment window open

Alaska is proposing to give state land in the railroad corridor to Alaska Railroad Corporation for free, reigniting concerns about public access to hunting and fishing grounds along the tracks.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: DNR proposes free land transfer to Alaska Railroad; comment window open

More than 200 Alaska watersheds have turned orange

Uh-ohh. More than 200 Brooks Range watersheds have turned orange in a decade as thawing permafrost releases iron and metals — rusting rivers that villages drink from and fish.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Brooks Range, Alaska
Cover image for article: More than 200 Alaska watersheds have turned orange

Two hands-on hunting classes are open in Juneau, and seats are going fast

Juneau's got two hands-on hunting classes this summer — a full-day Basic Rifle and an evening Scope Mounting session — and both are nearly full.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Two hands-on hunting classes are open in Juneau, and seats are going fast

Anchorage relabels a top job, Falsey named city manager

Bill Falsey moved from CAO to municipal manager — less a shakeup than a relabeling, as Anchorage dissolves his old post and shifts a few reporting lines.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Anchorage relabels a top job, Falsey named city manager

A Native org is coaching Yukon harvesters on how to testify effectively

Tanana Chiefs Conference is running a July 24 workshop coaching Yukon harvesters to testify effectively on salmon policy — pressing a bycatch argument that scientists say is only part of the story.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Yukon-Tanana Region, Alaska
Cover image for article: A Native org is coaching Yukon harvesters on how to testify effectively

A Ketchikan man is jailed on burglary and assault charges

A Ketchikan man is held without bail on five charges, including burglary and assault, after allegedly forcing his way into a home and blocking a report to police.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: A Ketchikan man is jailed on burglary and assault charges

Wind Advisory: gusts to 65 mph forecast for Anchorage Tuesday

Wind Advisory in effect for Anchorage Tuesday, July 14, 4 AM to 10 PM, with gusts to 65 mph. Secure outdoor objects and expect difficult driving and possible power outages.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Wind Advisory: gusts to 65 mph forecast for Anchorage Tuesday

Alaska LNG's cheap-gas promise hinges on exports — and on costs staying in line

New state numbers on Alaska LNG: exports are what make gas cheap for Alaskans (about $5/mcf vs. $12.65 without them), but a cost overrun could push the export price above what buyers pay.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Alaska LNG's cheap-gas promise hinges on exports — and on costs staying in line

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

Alaska wants out of a diesel rule that shuts trucks down in the cold

A pollution-cutting fluid that freezes at 12°F can force Alaska diesels to shut down in deep cold — and the state wants an exemption before the federal rule tightens in 2027.

Melinda Communities.Newsby Melinda Communities.Newsadded 4mo ago2 min readFrom
Cover image for article: Alaska wants out of a diesel rule that shuts trucks down in the cold

Too many young fish shut Sand Point's seiners out of the Shumagins

Sand Point's seine fleet is shut out of the Shumagin Islands — test nets found immature sockeye at triple the closure threshold — as a lawsuit over the rules plays out.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Too many young fish shut Sand Point's seiners out of the Shumagins

Higher-than-normal tides along western Alaska's coast through Tuesday

Higher-than-normal tides hit western Alaska's coast through Tuesday, up to 3 feet over the high tide line in Eastern Norton Sound. Move gear off the beach.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Eastern Norton Sound, Alaska
Cover image for article: Higher-than-normal tides along western Alaska's coast through Tuesday

A copper wire theft in Delta Junction, and the metal-price math behind it

Troopers arrested a Delta Junction woman over copper wire thefts and are hunting an accomplice — the kind of theft that spikes whenever copper prices do, for scrap-yard cash.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: A copper wire theft in Delta Junction, and the metal-price math behind it

Mat-Su moves to clean up 'forever chemicals' in its groundwater

The Mat-Su Borough wants $400K to clean up "forever chemicals" in its groundwater — traced to old firefighting foam and found this spring near a Wasilla elementary school.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Mat-Su moves to clean up 'forever chemicals' in its groundwater

Wasilla man dies after fleeing troopers at 100 mph following domestic assault

A Wasilla man died Saturday after fleeing state troopers at 100 mph following a domestic assault call.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Wasilla man dies after fleeing troopers at 100 mph following domestic assault

Sunday, Jul 12

A salmon hatchery wants to grow at Sitka's old pulp mill site

Sitka may lease a second lot at its old pulp mill site to the nonprofit behind much of Southeast's salmon hatchery production — room for the fish supply to grow.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: A salmon hatchery wants to grow at Sitka's old pulp mill site

Kenai council grants Tidewater LLC 10-year first right of refusal on Denina Point Estate

Kenai City Council unanimously gave developer Tidewater LLC a 10-year first right to buy the city-owned Dena'ina Point Estates parcel and committed $54,219 toward subdivision costs.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min readFrom
Cover image for article: Kenai council grants Tidewater LLC 10-year first right of refusal on Denina Point Estate

Sitka wades into an unsettled frontier of environmental law

Sitka may sue over PFAS, 1,4-dioxane and microplastics in its water — and the microplastics part is a legal frontier no other Alaska town appears to have tested.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Sitka wades into an unsettled frontier of environmental law

Juneau property owners challenge $1.1M gap in Glacier Highway assessment

Juneau property owners challenge a $2.97 million city assessment of their Glacier Highway building, valuing it at $1.84 million instead. The Board of Equalization hears their appeal July 16.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Juneau property owners challenge $1.1M gap in Glacier Highway assessment

Kodiak's seiners can fish — but not for a single king

Kodiak's seine grounds keep opening, but every king that hits the net has to go back — a quiet measure of how far Alaska's king runs have fallen.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Kodiak's seiners can fish — but not for a single king

On the North Slope, the oil field grows a few thousand cubic yards at a time

ConocoPhillips wants to lay gravel for two small Kuparuk expansions — the kind of routine, acre-at-a-time growth critics say is exactly how the North Slope's footprint quietly spreads.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: On the North Slope, the oil field grows a few thousand cubic yards at a time

A company wants to test amphibious rigs on the North Slope tundra

An Anchorage dealer wants a five-year permit to test-drive amphibious Swamp Rider vehicles across the North Slope — on tundra that's both their ideal terrain and state-protected ground.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: A company wants to test amphibious rigs on the North Slope tundra

BBNC kicks off shareholder season with a salmon-day picnic

BBNC's shareholder season kicks off Aug. 8 with a salmon-day picnic in Anchorage, tours eight communities, and builds to the Oct. 3 board vote in Naknek.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: BBNC kicks off shareholder season with a salmon-day picnic

Air Force opens bidding to lease 4,400 acres at Eielson for private development

Air Force is leasing 4,400 acres at Eielson to a private developer for up to 50 years, with proposals due August 10. The developer covers all costs and environmental cleanup on contaminated sites.

Melinda Communities.Newsby Melinda Communities.News4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Air Force opens bidding to lease 4,400 acres at Eielson for private development

At a remote Interior camp, sobriety is celebrated the Athabascan way

Old Minto, a remote Interior camp that roots addiction recovery in Athabascan tradition, holds its Annual Sobriety Potlatch July 23 — celebrating sobriety the way the culture always has.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Interior Alaska
Cover image for article: At a remote Interior camp, sobriety is celebrated the Athabascan way

Wasilla weighs retail on land that partly floods

Wasilla may rezone 8 acres along Cottonwood Creek for retail — despite part of it sitting in a flood zone, no water or sewer, and the city's own plan calling it residential.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Wasilla weighs retail on land that partly floods

A snagged salmon is a released salmon: a Kasilof reminder

On the Kasilof, a salmon hooked anywhere but the mouth has to go back — no matter how it got there. A visiting teen found out the hard way this week.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Kasilof River, Alaska
Cover image for article: A snagged salmon is a released salmon: a Kasilof reminder

A reserve cap just cost Fairbanks schools $11.4M. Now officials are fighting it.

Fairbanks officials are taking on the reserve cap that clawed back $11.4M from schools this year — a fight between planning flexibility and keeping money in taxpayers' pockets.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: A reserve cap just cost Fairbanks schools $11.4M. Now officials are fighting it.

Dunleavy vetoes six bills, including invasive species and polystyrene measures

Gov. Dunleavy vetoed six bills June 24, including a statewide polystyrene ban and an invasive species management plan, citing implementation costs and concerns about state agency authority.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min readFrom
Cover image for article: Dunleavy vetoes six bills, including invasive species and polystyrene measures

Bering Straits bets big on federal contracting, just as the business gets harder

Bering Straits Native Corp. bought nine federal contractors, doubling down on government work just as awards to Native-owned firms drop and the 8(a) program comes under fire.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Bering Strait region, Alaska
Cover image for article: Bering Straits bets big on federal contracting, just as the business gets harder

The only applicant for Kodiak's open seat is making it about representation

Only one person applied to fill Kodiak's vacant Assembly seat, and Mark Vizcocho is making his case about Filipino representation on an island his community has long helped build.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: The only applicant for Kodiak's open seat is making it about representation

Who pays when the state underfunds school construction debt?

Alaska's cities want the state to stop shortchanging school-construction debt payments and stick locals with the bill. But it's a request, and the money's far from guaranteed.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Who pays when the state underfunds school construction debt?

Alaska home and health care providers accused of Medicaid fraud

Alaska's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit charged 15 defendants in five cases across Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula, alleging about 1.83 million dollars in fraudulent home and health care billing.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Alaska home and health care providers accused of Medicaid fraud