Alaska

Alaska would drop its claim to 480 acres for three Native Vietnam veterans

Alaska is giving up its claim to 480 acres near Haines so that three Alaska Native Vietnam veterans can get the allotments they applied for.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

The state's analysis of Alaska's first crab hatchery says it would add little

Alaska's first crab hatchery wants a permit. The state's own analysis says the crab it releases would likely make no measurable difference to the fishery.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago5 min read

Afognak Native Corporation buys majority stake in Weaver Bros. trucking companies

Weaver Bros. has hauled freight in Alaska since 1946. Its new majority owner is a Kodiak village corporation whose people lost their village in 1964.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 11

Anchorage approves a bigger paved lot at the Basher Trailhead

Anchorage approved replacing the Basher Trailhead's 16-space gravel lot with a paved 52-space one, ending a year-long fight over its size.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Anchorage weighs paving and expanding the Basher Trailhead lot

Anchorage weighs making its 49 neighborhood plans advisory only

Anchorage's 49 neighborhood plans carry the force of law today. The Assembly wants to know if they should just be advice — 70% have never been updated.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Falling rock rerouted the Root Glacier trail, and helicopters are coming

Falling rock closed the main Root Glacier trail in July. The reroute is still in place, it runs across talus, and the park wants you in traction devices.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Juneau youth board reviews $3,605 in travel requests from two teen athletes

Two Juneau teenagers earned spots at competitions Outside and are asking the city for airfare. The fund they are asking from ended last year with $1,237 left.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Two Juneau kids qualified, and the youth board's fund is nearly empty

Anchorage named a day for Dolly Parton three weeks after her death

Anchorage kids get more than 73,000 free books a year in the mail. The Assembly named Sept. 25 for the woman behind it, three weeks after her death.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage's new-home tax break would reach pricier houses under a revision

Anchorage's proposed tax break for first-time buyers of new homes would reach pricier houses under a revised version up Tuesday, ending a cutoff at the average.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Students wait for the bus on the shoulder of Rabbit Creek Road

Kids wait for school buses on the shoulder of Rabbit Creek Road, where traffic runs 52 in a 45. The state is studying whether to build them a path.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Jul 1

Juneau Assembly votes 6-2 to table nonprofit sales tax ordinance indefinitely

Juneau Assembly voted 6-2 Monday to table a nonprofit sales tax ordinance indefinitely, blocking a measure that would have narrowed tax exemptions starting January 2027.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Follows: Juneau weighs taxing nonprofit sales to help close its budget gap

Juneau aging commission chair asks Assembly to fix or cancel paratransit contract

Juneau seniors and wheelchair riders are missing paratransit pickups under Ground Transportation Solutions. The aging commission chair asked the Assembly to fix or cancel the contract before winter.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

House passes Begich bill to open treaty talks with Japan over Alaska Native handicrafts made with bird parts

Alaska Native artists can use feathers from 27 bird species in work they sell. A House bill would open the door to more, by way of talks with Japan.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A Wainwright corporation will sweep Energy Department offices for bugs

A Wainwright village corporation's subsidiary will sweep Energy Department offices for hidden microphones and cameras, under a $2.35 million contract.

by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read

BLM Rule Would Cut NPR-A Pad Approvals to 60 Days, Limit Hunting

The BLM's own analysis found a proposed drilling rule would significantly restrict subsistence hunting for three North Slope villages. Hearings begin Monday.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min readFrom Sep 8

Follows: BLM rule would let NPR-A operators waive subsistence conditions without public notice

Wasilla council commits to planning a regional dispatch center outside city limits

Wasilla agreed to help plan moving its emergency dispatch center out of town. The reason for the hurry is a fire station going up on Bogard Road.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Wasilla weighs $569,600 for round-the-clock Fire/EMS dispatch at MatCom

Wasilla council pulls airport master plan from introduction, delays public hearing

Wasilla's council postponed but didn't drop a plan to nearly double its airport runway, from 3,700 feet toward 6,000, at an estimated $279 million.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Wasilla weighs a plan to nearly double its airport runway

Seward council approves five-year lease moving food pantry to senior center

Seward City Council approved a five-year lease moving He Will Provide Food Pantry from City Hall Annex to the senior center starting Jan. 1, 2027, gaining more space and a better kitchen.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska proposes to drop its $190.50 newborn screening fee and set the charge by a formula

Alaska proposes calculating newborn screening fees by formula instead of a fixed charge, with written comments due by November 2.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Troopers identify driver who left Ester street light crash

Alaska State Troopers identified a driver who knocked down a street light near Chena Ridge Road in Ester and left the scene without reporting the crash.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Talkeetna residents ask Mat-Su commission to oppose Front Street water tank site

Talkeetna's wells have too much arsenic. The borough's fix would clear 1.4 acres of woods with a bear trail through it, and neighbors want another site.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Kipnuk households paid $18 million; no village infrastructure project

Kipnuk families got $18 million in disaster aid after losing 153 homes, but almost none of the money to rebuild roads, water and public buildings has come.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Search resumes on Kasilof River for man missing after boat overturns

A 67-year-old Kasilof man is missing after his boat overturned on the Kasilof River Sunday. The search resumed Monday by air, boat and on foot.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

State moves to permit an antimony ore crusher near Port MacKenzie

The state tentatively approved an air permit for an antimony ore crusher near Port MacKenzie, without publishing any estimate of what it would put into the air.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Ketchikan council to vote Thursday on $30,000 landslide grant

Ketchikan votes Thursday on $30,000 to work out how much rain makes the slopes above town dangerous. The work already started two weeks ago.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Fire at Whittier's new cruise terminal forces ships from the dock

A fire at Whittier's new cruise terminal Monday forced a tour boat and a cruise ship off the dock and closed the only road into town for hours. No one was hurt.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A bill would guarantee vehicle access for the village inside Gates of the Arctic

A national park was drawn around Anaktuvuk Pass in 1980 without asking. A bill would guarantee the village the right to drive out and go hunting.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 8

APD's new drone notice leaves annual-report questions unanswered

APD disclosed a drone at Sunday's standoff, but the five-line notice leaves the warrant and footage questions missing from its annual report

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage can build housing with this grant now. Residents asked for teardowns

Congress just let Anchorage spend block grant money on new housing for the first time in 50 years. The residents who showed up asked for demolitions.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska has $272 million to change rural health care. The requests reached $2.5 billion.

Alaska has 217 preliminary rural health awards worth about $209 million — enough to replace equipment and add services, but not to replace Medicaid coverage.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago4 min read

A dam licensed near Juneau 10 years ago still isn't built, and its deadline just passed

A dam licensed near Juneau a decade ago was never built, its construction deadline just expired, and the local utility says the town doesn't need the power.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 8

Follows: Juneau Hydropower asks FERC for two more years to start Sweetheart Lake dam

Anchorage put $100,000 into five public art projects, Hillside mural among them

Anchorage is putting $100,000 into five public art projects, including a Hillside mural its arts commission ranked first among eight applicants.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage seeks ideas for its Darwin sister-city partnership

Anchorage residents can suggest what the city should do with Darwin, Australia, its sister city since 1982. Ideas are due to the commission by Sept. 30.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Haines voters face five ballot measures, four of them about taxes

Haines voters face five ballot measures Oct. 6, four about taxes, including a new severance tax on gravel, timber and mining.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Jun 9

A Merrill Field WWII memorial crumbles with no one responsible

A WWII memorial at Merrill Field is cracking and dark, repairs run about $100,000, and the only money in sight is a $17,000 grant meant for something else.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage assessment appeals hit a record, and the board filled up to cope

Anchorage owners filed a record 1,990 assessment appeals this year, quadruple last year's, and the board filled every seat for the first time in 20 years.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Follows: Anchorage tax appeal hearings continue into September, past the board's stated season

An Alaska psilocybin initiative faces its signature deadline Monday

An Alaska psilocybin legalization drive spent $150,000 and has $1,354 left. Its signature deadline is Monday, and no count has been made public.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

Haines votes on whether to stop electing its planning commission

Haines voters elect four planning commissioners Oct. 6 and, on the same ballot, decide whether the borough should go back to appointing them instead.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage coded most sampled spending to the wrong account, audit finds

Anchorage miscoded 72% of sampled spending, an audit found — because nobody ever wrote down what the city's accounting categories actually mean.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 13

The court found an obvious error in his commitment and upheld it anyway

Alaska's Supreme Court found an obvious error in a homeless man's commitment and upheld it anyway. The ruling came two and a half years after he was released.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read