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Friday, Jul 3

An Alaska village will own its solar power — and sell it back to the utility

A state grant puts village-owned solar and batteries in Allakaket, letting it sell power to its utility instead of buying diesel. A second grant expands a hydro project.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: An Alaska village will own its solar power — and sell it back to the utility

Rough water off Alaska's Arctic and Northwest coasts, easing by Sunday

Small craft advisories are up for Alaska's Arctic and Northwest coasts through Friday — winds near 25 knots, seas to 7 feet — before things calm down by Sunday.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Arctic and Northwestern Alaska coastal waters
Cover image for article: Rough water off Alaska's Arctic and Northwest coasts, easing by Sunday

Thursday, Jul 2

Juneau isn't changing its cruise caps — it's deciding how to decide

Juneau's tourism task force isn't touching its cruise ship limits yet — it's building the criteria future officials would use to change them, with new docks looming as the pressure point.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Juneau isn't changing its cruise caps — it's deciding how to decide

Anchorage weighs selling a fire-damaged lot below market to a housing nonprofit

Anchorage votes July 7 on a below-market sale of a fire-damaged lot to a housing nonprofit: a blight fix to some, a fairness question to others after the bid failed.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Anchorage weighs selling a fire-damaged lot below market to a housing nonprofit

A new tower roof could eat half of Juneau airport's reserve, as pilots push for more

Juneau's airport board may spend nearly half its small reserve on a new tower roof — as 50+ pilots dispute a master plan that claims no unmet demand for fuel.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: A new tower roof could eat half of Juneau airport's reserve, as pilots push for more

On the roadless North Slope, the villages' winter road is made of snow

On the roadless North Slope, a snow trail is how cut-off villages get winter fuel. A Native-owned company builds it — across fragile tundra and caribou country.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: On the roadless North Slope, the villages' winter road is made of snow

A new power line is proposed through a historic Delta park

A utility wants to run a new power line through Big Delta State Historical Park to reach a nearby boat launch — open for public comment through July 31.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: A new power line is proposed through a historic Delta park

The public can't sit in as the Railbelt reworks your power costs

The body redrawing how Railbelt transmission costs get split is meeting behind closed doors this week — legal under its own bylaws, though the binding decisions still face public review.

Melinda Communities.Newsby Melinda Communities.News4mo ago1 min read
Southcentral Alaska
Cover image for article: The public can't sit in as the Railbelt reworks your power costs

More from Alaska

In Koyuk, old fuel tanks left petroleum in the ground. Now someone will measure it.

Two old fuel tank farms left petroleum in the ground in Koyuk, part of a statewide legacy of thousands of contaminated sites. A federal grant will assess how bad it is.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: In Koyuk, old fuel tanks left petroleum in the ground. Now someone will measure it.

Kodiak is shrinking and greying, even as the rest of Alaska grows

Kodiak has lost about 650 residents in five years, roughly 5%, even as Alaska grew. The island is aging: fewer young kids, more residents in their 70s, men leaving 2 to 1.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Kodiak is shrinking and greying, even as the rest of Alaska grows

Kenai's $9.4M school-cost risk may never actually come due

A gas-tax bill could add up to $9.4 million a year to Kenai's school costs — but the Legislature's analyst says a sunset means none of it would ever be charged.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Kenai's $9.4M school-cost risk may never actually come due

One corner of Homer pays an extra tax to keep the water moving

In one waterside corner of Homer, owners pay an extra 1-mill tax the rest of the city doesn't — to fund their own storm drains. The council just voted to keep charging it.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: One corner of Homer pays an extra tax to keep the water moving

A death reported as a suicide in Atmautluak turned out to be a shooting, troopers say

An Atmautluak death was reported as a suicide, but the scene looked suspicious to troopers. A man now faces manslaughter charges in the fatal shooting of Byron Waska, 28.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: A death reported as a suicide in Atmautluak turned out to be a shooting, troopers say

Wildlife Troopers cited a Bellingham fisherman for allegedly fishing in Bristol Bay

A Washington fisherman was cited for allegedly fishing across a closed boundary in Bristol Bay — the invisible lines that keep the world's biggest sockeye run from being overfished.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago1 min read
Egegik District, Bristol Bay, Alaska
Cover image for article: Wildlife Troopers cited a Bellingham fisherman for allegedly fishing in Bristol Bay

Fairbanks homeowners can cut their property taxes — and many who qualify don't

Fairbanks homeowners can knock up to $50,000 off their taxable home value, and seniors and disabled vets much more — but many who qualify never file. Deadline Feb 14.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska
Cover image for article: Fairbanks homeowners can cut their property taxes — and many who qualify don't

The FAA wants to end the 50-year ban on supersonic flight — and Alaska has the sky for it

Supersonic flight over the U.S. has been banned since 1973. The FAA wants to lift it — and few states have more empty sky for boomless supersonic jets than Alaska.

Alaska Newsby Alaska News4mo ago2 min read
United States
Cover image for article: The FAA wants to end the 50-year ban on supersonic flight — and Alaska has the sky for it

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

A washout severs a Delta Junction road — again

A washout closed Cummings Road in Delta Junction, cutting off a stretch residents partly maintain themselves — the kind of weather hit Interior roads keep taking.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: A washout severs a Delta Junction road — again

Alaska's high court reversed a decision to end a Native mother's parental rights — over how the state made its case

The Alaska Supreme Court reversed a Native mother's parental-rights termination, finding the state's ICWA cultural testimony too vague to meet the law's high bar.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Alaska's high court reversed a decision to end a Native mother's parental rights — over how the state made its case

Alaska appeals court identifies DUI jury instruction tension in Homer case

Alaska's appeals court upheld a Homer man's DUI conviction but flagged a gap in jury instructions that could reshape how DUI cases are tried statewide when defendants claim they drank after driving.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Alaska
Cover image for article: Alaska appeals court identifies DUI jury instruction tension in Homer case

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson visits UAF on July 14 to take questions

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — the Court's first Black woman and first former public defender — visits UAF on July 14 to take Alaskans' questions.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson visits UAF on July 14 to take questions

Job and training help for western Alaska's storm-displaced residents

Months after last October's storms displaced western Alaska residents, the state has gathered job and training help for them, part of a still-growing recovery effort.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Job and training help for western Alaska's storm-displaced residents

Weak Copper River runs bring king closures and a Chitina dipnet shutdown

Copper River salmon are running weak, so kings are now off-limits in Upper Copper sport fishing from July 6, and the Chitina dipnet closes July 6–12.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Weak Copper River runs bring king closures and a Chitina dipnet shutdown

Interior Alaska's fire season is easing — but watch for the ones still smoldering

Interior Alaska's wildfires are winding down and crews are heading home — but managers are watching for holdovers, lightning strikes that smolder for days before flaring up.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Interior Alaska
Cover image for article: Interior Alaska's fire season is easing — but watch for the ones still smoldering

A river dropped just in time to save the cabins near Chicken

The Polly Fire smoldered near Chicken for a week — but the real obstacle was the river. When the Fortymile finally dropped, crews rushed in to wrap the cabins in sprinklers.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Fortymile Mining District, Interior Alaska
Cover image for article: A river dropped just in time to save the cabins near Chicken

Anchorage planners count 21 stalled projects as Assembly weighs housing overlay

Anchorage votes July 7 on a zoning change to let "missing middle" housing — duplexes, townhomes, smaller-lot homes — rise along its transit corridors.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Anchorage planners count 21 stalled projects as Assembly weighs housing overlay

A Ketchikan-area geoduck farm wins a 20-year lease renewal

Geoducks are giant, long-necked clams that can live past 100 and sell for a fortune. A Ketchikan-area farm that grows them just locked in 20 more years.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: A Ketchikan-area geoduck farm wins a 20-year lease renewal

Alaska's best shot at a new federal fertilizer grant is an idle Nikiski plant — if it can get the gas

A new $500M federal program funds fertilizer plants. Alaska's one real candidate — the idled Nikiski plant — is stuck on Cook Inlet's gas shortage, not on money.

Melinda Communities.Newsby Melinda Communities.News4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Alaska's best shot at a new federal fertilizer grant is an idle Nikiski plant — if it can get the gas

Cook Political Report shifts Alaska Senate race to toss-up

A nonpartisan forecaster moved Alaska's Senate race to toss-up — real, independent polling behind it, though the state's Republican lean means "toss-up" isn't the same as an upset.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Cook Political Report shifts Alaska Senate race to toss-up

SHI book documents the fraught origins of three Juneau totem poles

Sealaska Heritage Institute released a book on Juneau totem poles. It details how the Forest Service commissioned Native art while seizing Native land.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: SHI book documents the fraught origins of three Juneau totem poles

What "Lake No Lake" is, and why the Taku is running cold and full of debris

Lake No Lake is exactly that — a basin behind a glacier that fills, then drains all at once. It just did, sending cold water and debris down the Taku. No flooding expected.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: What "Lake No Lake" is, and why the Taku is running cold and full of debris

Kipnuk is being pieced back together, one boardwalk at a time

Alaska closes its federal disaster recovery updates as Typhoon Halong rebuilding continues in Kipnuk, with over 12,000 feet of boardwalk restored but federal funding delays still slowing the work.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Kipnuk is being pieced back together, one boardwalk at a time

A landslide has closed the Dalton Highway, the main road to the North Slope

A rain-triggered landslide closed the Dalton Highway north of Coldfoot on Monday — blocking the main road to the North Slope and the freight bound for the oil fields.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Dalton Highway, Central Brooks Range, Alaska
Cover image for article: A landslide has closed the Dalton Highway, the main road to the North Slope

Fishing Prince of Wales for kings? The nonresident limit just dropped.

Nonresident king limits on Prince of Wales tightened July 1. Two ADF&G documents disagree — the annual cap may be as low as one fish — so confirm the number before you keep one.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Fishing Prince of Wales for kings? The nonresident limit just dropped.

When the Coast Guard searches, Sitka's sky can close

A Coast Guard search shut a patch of low airspace over Sitka for two days — a small disruption elsewhere, but real in a roadbound town that flies for a living.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: When the Coast Guard searches, Sitka's sky can close

A vacant Fairbanks school's fall reopening hinges on a vote — and an unsigned charter

A vacant Fairbanks school could reopen as a charter this fall — if the Assembly says yes Wednesday and the charter group finally signs a district contract.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: A vacant Fairbanks school's fall reopening hinges on a vote — and an unsigned charter

Alaska's abuse-reporting system is down July 10–11; use the paper form

Alaska's system for reporting abuse or neglect of seniors and people with disabilities is down July 10–11. You can still report on paper — download the form first.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Alaska's abuse-reporting system is down July 10–11; use the paper form

One place near Anchorage where you can still keep a king

ings are closed across the Mat-Su and Northern Cook Inlet — except Eklutna Tailrace, a stocked fishery where you can still take one home while the wild runs stay shut.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: One place near Anchorage where you can still keep a king

Juneau man Oscar Griffin found dead after two-day search

Oscar Griffin, a Juneau man missing since Monday, was found dead Thursday by SEADOGS volunteer searchers — the morning after fireworks paused the K-9 search.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Juneau man Oscar Griffin found dead after two-day search

After decades, King Cove's road may finally be coming

Decades of fighting for a road to Cold Bay's all-weather airport — a lifeline in emergencies. Now $18 million in construction money puts it closer than ever.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: After decades, King Cove's road may finally be coming

At The Aleut Corporation, a promotion is a window into how a Native corporation works

The Aleut Corporation promoted Theresa Cross to oversee operations across four subsidiaries — a look at how an ANCSA regional corporation works for its Unangax̂ shareholders.

Melinda Communities.Newsby Melinda Communities.News4mo ago3 min read
Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Cover image for article: At The Aleut Corporation, a promotion is a window into how a Native corporation works