Alaska

Planners urge dropping or rechecking Anchorage's Academy-Vanguard road project

A South Anchorage road project first flagged as a need around 2009 has more than doubled in price. City planners now say drop it or recheck it.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read

Assembly chair drafts ordinance to cut 24 of Anchorage's 51 comprehensive plan documents

Anchorage's comprehensive plan fills a suitcase, and eight parts can't be found. The Assembly chair now wants to repeal 24 of its 51 documents.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read

Anchorage School Board approves $7.5 million transfer to cover student nutrition deficit

Anchorage schools served more meals, but meal revenue fell nearly $8.9 million short. The School Board moved $7.5 million from the general fund to cover it.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Arctic sea ice ends October seventh lowest, with Atlantic side especially low

Arctic sea ice ended October seventh lowest on record, with the Barents Sea nearly empty. Rick Thoman: "October really is the new September."

by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Anchorage teacher tells school board two behavior staff have quit since September

A Tyson Elementary teacher told the Anchorage School Board two behavior support staffers quit since she testified in September, and asked what's changed.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Equipment arrives at Cascade Point ferry site before construction is authorized

The state has started hauling equipment to its Cascade Point ferry terminal site north of Juneau. It still hasn't cleared anyone to start digging.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

North Pole council gives utility workers an hour of leave for each on-call day

North Pole's on-call utility workers will get an hour of leave for each day on call. The mayor wanted half that. The council, Santa Claus included, said no.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read

Follows: North Pole council delays vote on on-call compensation for city utility workers

North Pole raises resident ambulance discount to 25% for calls inside city limits

North Pole raised its resident ambulance discount to 25% so city residents won't feel last month's fee hike. The sponsor: Council member Santa Claus.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Independent groups report spending more than the candidates raised in Kodiak's House race

A retired teacher and a young fisherman want Kodiak's open House seat. Groups backed by unions and national party money have spent more than the two raised.

by Alaska News1w ago3 min read

Alaska's 2026 races have drawn at least $210 million, mostly in the Senate race

Alaska's 2026 races have drawn at least $210 million. If turnout matches 2022, that's about $790 per voter. Three-quarters is in the Senate race.

by Alaska News1w ago8 min read

Tanana Chiefs' public safety manager named state VPSO coordinator of the year

Tanana Chiefs Conference's public safety manager was named the state's VPSO program coordinator of the year, and three TCC colleagues were commended.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Federal regulators propose safety rules for small and mobile LNG plants

Federal regulators propose first safety rules for small and mobile LNG plants, replacing standards unchanged since 2006. Alaska already trucks LNG to Fairbanks, and small-scale sales are growing.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Skagway clinic projects $394,000 overrun tied to a doctor's contract

Skagway's Dahl Memorial Clinic expects a $394,000 budget overrun from a costly doctor contract. The clinic faces a larger deficit if pending grants fail to arrive.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readFrom Oct 29

Regulators refuse more time in ENSTAR's gas rate case, with a decision due Jan. 28

ENSTAR customers have paid higher interim rates since July 2025. Regulators just refused five more days for closing arguments. A decision is due Jan. 28.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readFrom Oct 29

Homer draft would limit short-term rentals in 4 zones to operators' homes

Homer's draft rule would let short-term rentals in four residential zones run only where the operator lives. Planning commissioners weigh in Wednesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read

Juneau's last budget year ended $8.6 million better than forecast, city slides show

Juneau ended its budget year with $8.6 million more in savings than the Assembly expected. It still spent $13 million more than it took in, new slides show.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Aleutians East posts form to help fishermen tally fuel costs for USDA relief

Aleutians East posted a form so fishermen can tally fuel costs for USDA's $8B relief. The catch: anything sent now must be resubmitted when applications open.

by Bill AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Police find 9-year-old boy who was reported missing Monday in Eagle River

Anchorage police say Malik Muhammad, a 9-year-old boy reported missing Monday evening in Eagle River, has been found. Police had asked the public for help.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read

USDA seeks small-business bids for Alaska pollock and catfish for food aid

USDA wants to buy about 1.7 million pounds of Alaska pollock, plus some catfish, for federal food assistance programs. Bids are due Nov. 12.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read

Judge cancels hearing as Democrats and state report fixes for five rural voting sites

A judge canceled Monday's hearing in the Democrats' rural voting suit after the party and the state said they'd found fixes for the last five absentee sites.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Follows: Five rural Alaska early voting sites are closed less than a week before Election Day

Palmer could lease Apron D for hangars without waiting on master plan, manager says

Palmer's airport chief says the city doesn't have to wait for its master plan to turn Apron D's open aircraft parking into a lease lot, possibly for hangars.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

University of Alaska regents vote Thursday on one tuition rate per degree program

University of Alaska regents vote Nov. 5 on program-based tuition starting fall 2027, folding in surcharges and ending higher nonresident rates at UAA, UAF and UAS.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read

Howling Dog Saloon owner asks state to waive license fees, citing crash injuries

The owner of Fox's Howling Dog Saloon, hurt in a 2020 motorcycle crash, wants the state to waive fees on the idle bar's license. He plans to sell next spring.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Troopers issue Silver Alert for Karen Igo, 65, missing from her Naukati Bay home

Troopers issued a Silver Alert Monday for Karen Igo, 65, a vulnerable adult reported missing from her home in Naukati Bay on Prince of Wales Island.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read

Juneau could sell Indian Village lots to Tlingit & Haida below market value

Tlingit & Haida applied to acquire four city-owned lots in Juneau's Indian Village, and city staff want the Assembly to weigh selling them below market value.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min readFrom Sep 4

Interior tells judge it's reviewing at least one application for ANWR winter work

Interior told a federal judge it's reviewing at least one application for winter work on ANWR's coastal plain, as she aims to rule on leasing by Nov. 20.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readFrom Oct 27

Follows: Federal judge hears bid Thursday to throw out Arctic refuge oil leasing and leases

Anchorage planners seek delays on three hearings, including Tudor interchange

Anchorage planners asked to push three Nov. 9 hearings into December. It would be the second delay for the Seward Highway-Tudor Road interchange review.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read

Fairbanks borough to show Growden and Kiwanis park renovation concepts Nov. 5

Fairbanks gets a first look Thursday at new playgrounds for Growden and Kiwanis parks, part of a $2.25 million fix-up borough budgets have carried for years.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read

Brice seeks Corps permit for an 8-acre gravel pit along the Inmachuk River near Deering

A Fairbanks company wants to dig a gravel pit along the Inmachuk River for Deering's airport work and other projects. The Army Corps is taking comment.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

State skips Kuskokwim subsistence salmon survey after grant request goes unfunded

Fish and Game skipped its door-to-door count of Kuskokwim subsistence salmon harvests this year after its federal grant request went unfunded.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readFrom Oct 27

Alaska Power seeks federal OK for a gate on Gustavus hydro road at center of access dispute

Alaska Power wants federal approval for a road plan with one gate on the Gustavus hydro road, where the town has insisted on unfettered public access.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Juneau draft resolution would round cash payments to the city to the nearest nickel

Juneau's bank quit supplying rolled pennies, so city staff want cash payments rounded to the nearest nickel. Pay by card and you still owe every cent.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Palmer airport plans to ask FAA to approve golf course rent of at least $114,000

Palmer's airport chief wants FAA approval to raise the city golf course's rent on airport land from about $15,000 to at least $114,000 a year.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Palmer planners pick four downtown goals from a parking study instead of adopting it

Palmer planners passed on adopting a consultant's parking study and picked four goals instead, from safer walking to a 15 to 20 mph downtown speed limit.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

State asks Board of Game to restore wolf removal for Mulchatna caribou after court ruling

Fish and Game wants wolves back in the Mulchatna predator control program after a court struck them out. The Board of Game decides Dec. 2 whether to take it up.

by Bill AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

North Pole mayor's 2027 budget would hold tax rates and add $801,685 in spending

North Pole Mayor Larry Terch III's 2027 budget keeps tax rates flat but adds $801,685 in spending, mostly for police. Council introduces it Monday, but a gap still looms in the sewer fund.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Alaska fishing jobs grew in 2025 after five straight years of losses

Alaska's fishing jobs grew in 2025 after five straight years of losses, up about 216. That's a sliver of the 2,300 lost since 2019, but salmon helped.

by Bill AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read

Alaska’s Senate race has another kind of influence: what AI chatbots tell voters

Alaska’s nearly $150 million Senate race leaves a paper trail. The advice AI chatbots give voters doesn’t. Alaska News tracked it daily: the picks lean Sullivan, but mostly hinge on the voter’s top issue.

by Alaska News1w ago6 min read

State moves to add land to pipeline lease for rock piles to guard against the Sag River

The state proposed adding 26 acres along the Sagavanirktok River to the pipeline's lease so Alyeska can place rock piles up to a half-mile long by the line.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

State gives final OK to dropping two public easements on a Harding Lake lot

DNR finalized the Sampsons' bid to vacate two public easements on their Harding Lake lot. A 50-foot utility strip stays, and a final survey plat is due in two years.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read