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About 20 homes damaged in the Mukluk Fire at Tok, some belonging to the firefighters
About 20 homes have burned in the Mukluk Fire at Tok, some belonging to the firefighters working it. The fire hit 5,533 acres Tuesday afternoon.

The bridge meant to reopen half of Denali is running behind, new permits suggest
The bridge meant to reopen half of Denali is running behind: its federal finish date has passed, but new permits seek staging space through 2028.

Alaskans vote today in a primary narrowing the governor, Senate and House races
Alaskans vote today in a primary narrowing crowded races for governor, Senate and House to four each — 17 governor tickets, two Dan Sullivans on the ballot.

A company wants to rework historic Interior goldfields, mining two creeks for a decade
A company wants to mine gold for a decade from two creeks in Alaska's historic Ruby goldfields, first struck in 1911, disturbing about 35 acres of streambed.

Petersburg ships most of its trash to Washington; its unlined landfill is up for renewal
Petersburg's household trash gets barged to Washington state. What stays behind goes into an unlined landfill where groundwater monitoring was waived.

Sockeye are running so strong in Bristol Bay that anglers can now keep twice as many
Sockeye are running so strong in Bristol Bay's Wood River and Nushagak drainages that the state has doubled the daily bag limit to 10 fish through year's end.

Kodiak fights landfill bears with a second fence and a look at composting
Bears keep breaking into Kodiak's landfill, so the borough is fighting back two ways: a fence to keep them out and composting to cut the waste that draws them.

Juneau weighs $5.5 million more for flood recovery on a river that floods every year
Juneau is putting another $5.5 million toward flood recovery. The city still calls the Mendenhall barriers temporary and hasn't said who pays long term.

FEMA's Mukluk Fire grant pays for firefighting, not for people who lost homes
FEMA declared a fire grant for the Mukluk Fire on Tuesday. It pays for firefighting supplies and crew gear, not for anyone who lost a house.

More Mat-Su families are paying at the door to keep their power on, as their co-op runs ahead of budget
More Mat-Su families are paying at the door to keep their power on — nearly $472,000 this year — even as their co-op runs $4.9 million ahead of budget.

Judge vacates Izembek land exchange for King Cove road
A federal judge vacated the land exchange behind the King Cove road through the Izembek refuge, reopening one of Alaska's longest fights on primary day.

Anchorage Assembly to mark Women's Equality Day tonight
For the first time, the Alaska House is majority woman, with 21 of 40 seats, a milestone an Anchorage resolution marks tonight on Women's Equality Day.

Most political money reported before Alaska's primary is aimed at a November ballot measure
The big independent-spending reports before Alaska's primary are mostly not about Tuesday. Most of the money is for November's ranked-choice repeal fight.

DOT says cameras don't read plates; vendor policy allows video storage
Alaska says new cameras in Palmer, Wasilla and Anchorage count people and cars, not plates — but the vendor's policy sets no limit on storing video.

Alaska's trail grants reopen, with up to $100,000 on the table
Alaska's multi-use trail grants reopen Wednesday — up to $100,000 at a 90% federal match, open to trail groups, tribes and local governments through Oct. 30.

Interior wind event hits highways as the Mukluk Fire burns near Tok
The winds that drove the Mukluk Fire near Tok hit Interior highways too, with gusts to 75 mph at Isabel Pass and a warning about the Tatlanika fire.

Cook Inlet king fishing reopens north of Bluff Point at one fish a day
King fishing reopened north of Bluff Point on Aug. 15, one fish a day through Sept. 15. Every Cook Inlet king run was forecast under its escapement goal.

Pink salmon swamp Kodiak road-system rivers, crowding out sockeye and coho
Pink salmon are crowding Kodiak road-system rivers in unusual numbers, making sockeye and coho harder for anglers to find this week.

Only 1 in 10 pregnant Alaskans who needed substance-use treatment in 2022 got it
Only about 1 in 10 pregnant Alaskans who needed substance-use treatment in 2022 got it, and the state is seeking to fund programs to help close the gap.

The state wants to give away land near Houston for housing, one piece of a statewide push
The state wants to give away 42 acres near Houston, free, for housing — one of several no-cost transfers to the Housing Finance Corporation across Alaska.

Railbelt ratepayers will repay up to $100M for a Bradley Lake expansion built around federal tax credits
Railbelt electric customers will repay up to $100M to expand the Bradley Lake hydro plant, its dam sized to chase up to $200M in federal tax credits.

Kodiak wants your best shot of the biggest bears on Earth for its visitor guide
Kodiak's visitor-guide photo contest is open, led by the Kodiak brown bear — the biggest bear on Earth. Seven categories, $200 each, through Oct. 1.

Troopers fly three stranded hikers out of Hatcher Pass
Alaska Wildlife Troopers helicoptered three hikers out of Hatcher Pass on Monday after high water and weather blocked their exit, the third rescue in the area this summer.

Eagle River hillside lot could lose the development limits set in 2002
Eagle River limits set in 2002 on a 34 percent slope would come off Tuesday. A neighbor says the storm drains there already ice over the intersection.

Bethel wants a Louisiana firm to audit local businesses for unpaid sales tax, without bidding
Bethel wants a Louisiana firm to audit local businesses for unpaid sales tax, with no bidding. The $19,999 cap covers only part of the work.

Emmonak man charged with murder in fatal stabbing of Anita Hootch
Christopher Horn, 38, of Emmonak, was arrested and charged with murder in the stabbing death of Anita Hootch, 37, found dead at an abandoned steam house on August 14.

Ketchikan's long rebuild of the road toward Saxman inches ahead, with a waterside path and a tangle over land
Ketchikan's rebuild of the highway toward Saxman, adding a waterside path for walkers and bikers, drew more federal money as cost estimates keep swinging.

Juneau-area gillnetters get another opener, but directed king fishing stays closed on low abundance
Juneau-area gillnetters get another opener through Wednesday, but directed king fishing stays closed across four Southeast districts on low king numbers.

Fire activity slows eastbound Alaska Highway traffic near Tok
A wildfire is affecting eastbound traffic on the Alaska Highway near Tok Tuesday morning. The road is open, with minor delays and emergency vehicles expected.

Overnight drilling comes to Ketchikan's aging viaducts, part of a plan to repair them now and replace them later
Overnight drilling comes to Ketchikan's two 1950s viaducts, which carry 14,000-plus vehicles a day, as the state plans to repair them and replace them later.

Auke Bay quarry wins bigger blasts and Saturday hours through 2036
An Auke Bay rock quarry can now blast 60 percent bigger, start earlier and work Saturdays, through 2036. No residents showed up to the hearing.

Juneau Assembly votes 6-3 to sell old City Hall to Sealaska Heritage Institute for $1.5 million
Juneau voted to sell its old City Hall to Sealaska Heritage for $1.5 million — for a planned $40 million Northwest Coast art-glass building downtown.

A progressive firm's Alaska poll: two-thirds worry about the basics, and a simulated Senate race favors Peltola
A progressive firm's Alaska poll finds two-thirds of voters worried about affording the basics, and a modeled Senate race favoring Peltola over Sullivan.

Juneau denies Chilkat Vistas hillside plat after approval falls a vote short
Juneau's planning commission denied a hillside subdivision over landslide risk, two years after the Assembly struck landslide rules from the land use code.

Money for Alaska Native education keeps flowing, but no new competition has opened in nearly two years
Money for Alaska Native education keeps reaching current grantees, but no new competition has opened since late 2023, leaving no clear door for new applicants.

EPA proposes $5,859 UniSea settlement over Dutch Harbor stormwater
EPA says UniSea's Dutch Harbor plant went years with a stale pollution plan and unpermitted flows toward Iliuliuk Harbor. The proposed penalty is $5,859

Where to watch spawning salmon around Ketchikan this month
Want to watch Fish, it's like watching paint dry but consequences… Cool ones!

Downtown Anchorage owners face $1.15 million in assessments for services the city doesn't cover
Downtown Anchorage property owners will pay about $1.15 million this year for their own snow removal, cleaning and security. Objections are heard Sept. 15.

In five remote Chugach villages, health aides work without an X-ray, and new funding aims to change that
In five remote Chugach-region villages, health aides assess injuries without an X-ray. New funding through a tribal health organization aims to finally put imaging in their clinics.

Bethel health fair screens 48 for diabetes and promotes same-day services
Forty-eight people got diabetes screening at a three-hour Bethel health fair aimed at showing what YKHC can offer the same day a patient walks in.
