Alaska

Council advisers back changes to help small Alaska towns fish their halibut and sablefish quota

Small Alaska towns bought halibut and sablefish quota, but over 750,000 pounds went uncaught last year. Council advisers want to make it easier to fish.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Legislative attorneys say Houston land transfer to AIDEA may fail public-purpose test

Legislative attorneys say giving AIDEA 20,000 free acres near Houston may not pass the public-purpose test. AIDEA's director says state law already settles it.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Advisory panel asks scientists to test four more sablefish models before December

New sablefish models would cut the catch ceiling up to 32%. Council advisers want four more options tested before December's catch decision.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Fairbanks has best chance for northern lights early Friday as G2 storm nears

Fairbanks has the best shot at northern lights early Friday morning. The storm's actual peak arrives after sunrise, because of course it does.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

State proposes giving 220 acres near Ester to AHFC for housing, drawing trail concerns

Alaska DNR is giving 220 acres near Ester to a housing corporation for free, but the land is now used for hunting, trapping, and trails, and a Senate committee says locals oppose it.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Federal managers close Central Gulf Pacific cod fishing to pot boats for the rest of 2026

High cod prices helped pull new boats into the Central Gulf pot fishery. Federal managers say the fleet's share is caught or about to be, so it's done for 2026.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage voters could update ballot signatures with the clerk under proposed ordinance

Anchorage voters could soon update the signature their ballot gets checked against, instead of waiting on the state. Fewer newspaper ads, too.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage weighs requiring candidates to gather voter signatures to get on the ballot

Anchorage candidates may soon need 50 to 250 voter signatures to get on the ballot. The clerk says it's the first city she's worked in without them.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Trawl groups ask fishery council to shrink Steller sea lion closures; conservation groups object

Trawlers want the North Pacific council to shrink Steller sea lion fishing closures, citing fuel and safety. Conservation groups and a tribal commission object.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

ASD Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt says he will leave for Virginia district

Anchorage School District Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt will leave for a Virginia superintendent job in early 2027, leaving Alaska's largest district to find new leadership during budget planning.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Trump schedules Wasilla rally before Alaska general election

Trump is due in Wasilla on Tuesday. Ahead of it he again endorsed Sullivan and Begich and said he hopes Alaskans repeal ranked-choice voting.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Bering Sea pollock assessment moves to near-infrared aging, with microscopes as a check

Bering Sea pollock scientists are switching to near-infrared scans that age a fish ear bone in under a minute. Aging staff capacity is down about 40%.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

El Niño Kelvin wave moves up the West Coast; past ones have reached Alaska

An El Niño Kelvin wave is moving up the West Coast. Past ones have reached Alaska, but NOAA hasn't said whether this one will. Two Alaska gauges show no rise.

by Alaska News1mo ago4 min read

Bethel council holds hearing Tuesday on leasing six city lots to Alaska Directional

Bethel City Council holds a public hearing Tuesday on leasing six city lots to a Palmer fiber contractor for $16,800 a month without taking competitive bids.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Labor-backed committee pays $150,000 for Kreiss-Tomkins ticket ads

A labor-backed committee paid $150,000 for digital ads backing the Kreiss-Tomkins and Johnson gubernatorial ticket, with spending set to run through Election Day on Nov. 3.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Dyea Flats Road near Skagway faces two full closures for culvert work

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park will close Dyea Flats Road near Skagway twice between October and November to replace two culverts that reduce flood risk.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Wasilla man gets 20 years in federal prison for child sexual abuse material

Paul Greeno of Wasilla was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison Wednesday for possessing child sexual abuse material depicting infants and toddlers.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage Assembly members question plan to elect School Board by district

An Eagle River Assembly member wants most Anchorage School Board members elected by district. A board member pushed back. Voters could decide in April.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Bethel City Council to certify Oct. 6 election and swear in new members

Bethel City Council will certify the Oct. 6 election results and swear in new members at its Tuesday, Oct. 13 meeting at 6:30 pm, with four council seats running through October 2028.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Appeals board chair says Anchorage cut most appealed values, expects more appeals

Anchorage cut values on most of a record 1,990 property appeals. The appeals board chair says few had good evidence and expects even more appeals next year.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Follows: Appeals board chair says Anchorage cut appealed property values but not neighbors'

Juneau airport's low-visibility approaches stay down as FAA cites trees

Two low-visibility approaches to Juneau's airport have been out for over a year, and the airport manager says the FAA blames trees scattering the signal and is weighing whether to cut them or raise the equipment.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Two Juneau airport approaches are down, with no FAA timeline to fix them

Alaska Supreme Court hears Valdez redistricting fee dispute

Alaska Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday on whether Valdez and a resident can recover attorney's fees from their challenge to the state's 2021 redistricting plan.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

White House restates $150 million for Beluga-Healy line; source of $268 million share unclear

The White House says DOE "will invest $150 million" in the Beluga-Healy line; DOE said "up to." Who covers the other $268 million is still unclear.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago1 min read

Seaplanes objects as Juneau airport moves to rework cost split with airlines

Juneau's airport is hiring a consultant to rethink how big airlines and small carriers split its costs. Alaska Seaplanes wants a say before anything changes.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Fairbanks borough commission to hear appeal for German shepherd ordered euthanized after bite

Shadow, a German shepherd ordered euthanized after biting a tow-truck worker, gets an appeal hearing Oct. 14. The bitten worker doesn't want him put down.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Appeals board chair says Anchorage cut appealed property values but not neighbors'

Anchorage owners who appealed saw values cut about $93,000 on average. Neighbors who didn't appeal got no such cut, the appeals board chair says.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Women's Commission leader plans resolution seeking data on who staffs city boards

An Anchorage Women's Commission leader wants the city to count who staffs its boards and commissions. She suspects it's mostly women, without extra pay.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Utqiagvik voters approve 10% marijuana tax in unofficial count

Utqiagvik voters approved a marijuana tax increase from 8% to 10% on Tuesday, 433 to 272, pending final canvass in October.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Utqiagvik's council can pause the sales tax five more years without a vote

Coastal flood advisory warns of water 4 to 6 feet above high tide near Hooper Bay

Water could run 4 to 6 feet above the normal high tide line near Hooper Bay, reaching beach property and possibly threatening access to the airstrip.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Dense fog advisories issued for Copper and Susitna valleys, with black ice risk

Fog and freezing temps raised black ice risk along the Richardson and Parks highways this week. It's Winter Weather Preparedness Week, fittingly.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Truck crash closes left outbound lane of Glenn Highway near mile 26 Thursday morning

A truck crash closed the left outbound lane of Glenn Highway near mile 26 early Thursday, Oct. 8, with closure expected to end by noon.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Interior lets BLM skip environmental assessments for qualifying NPR-A winter exploration

Starting Friday, qualifying winter oil exploration in the petroleum reserve can skip a separate environmental assessment, barring extraordinary circumstances.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

NRA's political arm grades Alaska governor field, with A's for Bronson and Taylor

The NRA Political Victory Fund gave A grades to Republicans Dave Bronson and Treg Taylor, a C to Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, and an AQ to Republican Bernadette Wilson in Alaska's governor race.

by Alaska News1mo ago2 min read

Connecticut museum plans to return Klukwan-woven Chilkat robe to Tlingit & Haida

A Connecticut museum plans to return a Chilkat robe woven by a Klukwan weaver to Tlingit & Haida. The transfer could happen as soon as Nov. 9.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Federal civil rights panel takes testimony on Alaska's ranked-choice voting before repeal vote

A federal civil rights panel is studying whether Alaska's ranked-choice voting dilutes voting rights. It takes public testimony days before the repeal vote.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Alaska commercial drivers get another year of paper medical certificates as states go electronic

Alaska commercial drivers can keep using paper medical certificates for 60 days after issue through October 2027, while all other states switch to electronic records this month.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Federal records list a $1.1 million State Department staffing order under two Juneau-based firms

The State Department listed a $1.14 million staff support order under both CP Marine LLC and HunaTek System Solutions, two Juneau firms, without saying which entry is correct.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

FAA keeps plowing roads to Alaska navigation beacons as it retires others

The FAA pays local crews to plow roads to Alaska's radio navigation beacons each winter, even as it retires more than a dozen others in favor of GPS.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min read

Alaska DNR tightens rules for stream water reservations

Alaska's new water reservation rules require five years of data first, and tribes and nonprofits won't hold their own certificates anymore. DNR will.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Anchorage Assembly postpones missing middle housing vote to Nov. 4

Anchorage Assembly delayed a vote on Missing Middle Housing rules to Nov. 4 to review amendments that would allow duplexes and triplexes on about 28,000 residential parcels across the city.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read