Alaska

Seward requires wider paved streets and bans cul-de-sacs in new subdivisions

New Seward subdivisions need wider paved streets, a place to walk and buried power lines, but no cul-de-sacs. Developers pay; one critic says buyers will too.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

State seeks bids to expand the Upper Stiles Creek shooting range near Fairbanks

A busy public gun range near Fairbanks has no berms behind its targets. The state is taking bids to build some, paid mostly by taxes on guns and ammo.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 22

Troopers arrest Fairbanks man, 25, after reported robbery at Beaver Sports

Troopers arrested a 25 year old Fairbanks man Monday after a reported robbery at Beaver Sports. He faces first degree robbery, weapons and assault charges.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Wasilla adopts airport plan that charts a path to a 6,000-foot runway

Wasilla adopted a 20-year airport plan that points toward a runway more than half again as long. Nobody testified, and nobody on the council objected.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Follows: Wasilla sets Oct. 12 hearing on airport master plan that recommends higher lease rates

Anchorage Assembly chair proposes conditional protest of Circle K liquor license transfers

Anchorage Assembly Chair Anna Brawley proposes protesting Circle K's transfer of four package store liquor licenses. A public hearing is set for Oct. 20 at Loussac Library.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Oct 8

State closes Unit 14A Chugach goat registration hunts Tuesday night, weeks early

Fish and Game is closing Chugach goat registration hunts in Unit 14A at 11:59pm Tuesday, cutting short a season set to run through Oct. 31.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Wasilla streets close Tuesday for Trump rally; expect highway delays

The president is in Wasilla Tuesday, so streets around the Menard Center close 8 am to 6 pm and Glenn and Parks trips could run up to 30 minutes longer.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Fish and Game offers women's concealed carry course in Fairbanks Oct. 24-25

Fish and Game's Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program holds a concealed carry course Oct. 24-25 in Fairbanks for $215.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Follows: Registration opens Oct. 1 for women's wilderness first aid class in Fairbanks

Outside groups report nearly $13 million in Alaska Senate spending in one week

Outside groups reported nearly $13 million in spending on Sullivan vs. Peltola last week, the most yet. Some still haven't had to say who's footing the bill.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Follows: Super PAC reports $815,000 more against Peltola as outside spending grows on both sides of Alaska Senate race

Alaska has $27 million to get PFAS and other contaminants out of drinking water

Alaska has $27 million in federal money to get PFAS out of drinking water. Most of the projects lined up for it are about a different problem: manganese.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Petersburg asks the state for two more tsunami sirens and an updated inundation study

Petersburg wants two more tsunami sirens for its harbors and Papke's Landing. The state would supply them; the borough just pays shipping and upkeep.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Oct 9

Petersburg moves toward a nine-month pause on some data centers; broader ban fails 3-3

Petersburg wants a nine-month pause on off-grid and non-closed-loop data centers. It isn't in effect yet, and a permit application could still get in first.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Oct 9

Follows: Petersburg assembly deadlocks 3-3, rejecting one-year data center moratorium

Petersburg Assembly overturns denial of land division for tribe's wireless tower

Petersburg's assembly overturned the planning commission's denial of a land division Tlingit & Haida needs for a wireless tower beside the borough's fire hall.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Oct 9

Atmospheric river could drop 3 to 5 inches of rain on southern Southeast in a day

Southern Southeast could get 3 to 5 inches of rain in a day starting Thursday. Rivers may hit the tops of their banks. Mariners: check those bilge pumps.

by Alaska News1mo ago2 min read

Glenn Highway northbound left lane closed near mile 26 Monday for guardrail repairs

One northbound lane of the Glenn near Eklutna is closed until 4:30 pm for guardrail work. This stretch has seen the same repair closures before.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Both dirt bikes stolen in North Pole on Sunday recovered, troopers say

Two dirt bikes were stolen in North Pole early Sunday. Both are back, one found on the same street and one recovered by city police after a traffic stop.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

State to hold veteran career expo in Anchorage the day before Veterans Day

Alaska has more veterans per capita than any other state. The day before Veterans Day, the state labor department wants to help some of them land jobs.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

State expects seismic retrofit of Tanana River Bridge at Big Delta to start in mid-October

Alaska is the most seismically active state, and DOT says earthquake work on the Big Delta bridge starts this month. Seven more bridges are in line.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

State plans to sell Homer contractor 5,000 cubic yards from Ohlson Mountain site

The state intends to sell a Homer contractor 5,000 cubic yards of material from atop Ohlson Mountain. That's roughly 400 to 500 dump-truck loads.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Oct 7

Alaska leads the nation in TB, and its immunization system will stop tracking TB tests

VacTrAK will stop tracking TB tests in 2027. Alaska has the nation's highest TB rate, and most of last year's cases were in Southwest Alaska.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago5 min read

Commercial vehicle crash closed Tok Cutoff near Slana on Monday morning

A commercial vehicle crash closed the Tok Cutoff in both directions near Slana early Monday. By late morning, Alaska 511 no longer showed the closure.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Kenai commission weighs ending newspaper publication of land notices

Kenai's Planning and Zoning Commission meets Wednesday to weigh recommending an end to newspaper publication of zoning and land notices, shifting them to a city webpage instead.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Kodiak Assembly to weigh $300,000 for landfill fence after state says bears are getting in

Kodiak's landfill bear fence is no longer effective, state wildlife officials told the borough. The Assembly takes up $300,000 for a perimeter fence Thursday.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Kodiak waste board passes bear resolution after softening its wording

Anchorage Assembly takes up surveillance rules again as sponsors flag Axon contract data terms

Sponsors say the Axon contract lets the company keep police metadata indefinitely. The city attorney says Axon can't see plate data. Round two is Wednesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 25

Follows: Warrant rule for sharing police camera data splits Anchorage Assembly surveillance drafts

DEC plans to cut 20% of its discretionary rules by year's end under Dunleavy order

DEC plans to trim about 2,600 of its roughly 13,000 discretionary rules by year's end, including laser standards for a program it says it doesn't have.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Kenai will seek up to $250,000 in federal money to replace Old Town Park's playground

Kenai wants up to $250,000 in federal money for a new Old Town Park playground. The catch: grant-funded park land has to stay a park, more or less forever.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Kenai library rules move out of city code Friday and into staff-approved policy

Kenai's library rules leave city code Friday, and the sleeping ban goes with them: seated "quiet rest" will be fine, but lying down still won't.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Homer council to hear ordinance letting residents live-trap feral rabbits

Homer may finally let residents trap the feral rabbits damaging their homes. The catch: the shelter mostly can't take them, and you can't let them go.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

North Pacific fishery council will consider new proposals at only two meetings a year

The council that shapes Alaska's federal fishery rules will consider new proposals only twice a year, saying it's short on staff. One critic called it a muzzle.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Murkowski joins bipartisan call for Trump to reverse decision allowing Russian diesel imports

Trump says Putin agreed to send diesel. Murkowski and six other senators say letting it in runs counter to a ban Congress passed 100-0 in 2022.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Alaska repeals its 1971 laser safety rules, which still listed asbestos as a beam stop

Alaska is scrapping its 1971 laser safety rules, including one that lists asbestos as a beam stop. Nobody sent in a comment. They're gone Nov. 8.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readFrom Oct 7

Sullivan and Peltola trade Epstein donor attacks that outrun the record

Sullivan and Peltola each accuse the other of taking money from Epstein's associates. The records back parts of both attacks and undercut the rest.

by Cale Green1mo ago10 min read

Homer commission backs limiting residential short-term rentals to operators' homes

A Homer commission wants short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods limited to the operator's own home. It finalizes that advice Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

State plans to allow logging on habitat and recreation lands in Haines State Forest

The state plans to allow logging on Haines State Forest habitat and recreation lands, despite objections from conservation groups and other commenters.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readFrom Oct 1

Alaska labor agency scraps its rules for religious objectors to public unions

Alaska's labor agency is scrapping its rules for religious objectors to unions, calling them moot after Janus. The law requiring the exemption stays.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Oct 5

Federal judge moves to restrict filings by plaintiff who brought 71 lawsuits in a year

A federal judge says one plaintiff filed 71 lawsuits in a year and moved to make her get court approval before filing anything else in Alaska federal court.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Alaska House members ask FCC to preserve E-Rate school internet discounts

Twenty-one Alaska House members asked the FCC to preserve E-Rate, which discounts school internet. Alaska's own school broadband grant depends on it.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Oct 7

Follows: The FCC review that could end E-Rate is filed under children and screens

State proposes five snowmachine trails near Wiseman after Dalton corridor transfer

The state proposes five snowmachine trails near Wiseman, part of its promise after subsistence users lost their federal priority in the Dalton corridor.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Oct 7

Corps seeks state water quality OK for $402 million Homer harbor to end five-deep rafting

Homer's boats tie up as many as five deep. The Corps wants a $402 million fix, Homer would owe about $170 million, and the math says 77 cents back per dollar.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readFrom Sep 24

Doyon takes applications to fill board seat Geri Simon left to lead the Doyon Foundation

Doyon is taking applications through Nov. 9 from voting shareholders who want the board seat Geri Simon left in September to lead the Doyon Foundation.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Follows: A Doyon director steps off the board to lead its scholarship foundation