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New Medicaid work-reporting rule puts Alaska's paperwork system in the middle of health coverage
Alaska must implement a federal Medicaid work-reporting rule by January 2027, requiring most adults 19 to 64 to prove 80 hours monthly of work or qualifying activity.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI
Federal SNAP changes could put Alaska food aid and state budget under new pressure
Federal rules will expand work requirements for Alaska SNAP recipients and tie state costs to payment errors, potentially costing Alaska $42 million to $53 million annually starting in late 2027.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI
Alaska's legal cannabis growers say tax-free synthetic THC is sinking them
Alaska's legal weed growers pay the nation's highest pot tax, then get undercut by tax-free THC from the mailbox. They'd like a word.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI
Alaska's LNG tax break now hinges on a gas line to Fairbanks
Alaska's LNG tax break now has a price: $80M, a labor deal, and a Fairbanks spur line before Glenfarne sees any relief.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min readAI
What the Senate Changed in the Gas-Line Deal
The Senate's gas-line rewrite caps your gas price, leashes the state's pipeline agency, and lets the boroughs pocket most of the tax money for decades before the state takes its cut.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min readAI
Scammers Are Posing as Alaska's Liquor Regulators
Scammers are mailing fake invoices dressed up as Alaska liquor regulators — but the giveaway is easy: the real ones only ever email from @alaska.gov.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min readAI
Lab tests found alcohol in O.P.M.S. kratom drinks, and unlicensed Alaska stores are being told to stop selling them
State lab tests found O.P.M.S. kratom drinks contain enough alcohol to be regulated like beer, and unlicensed retailers across Alaska are being told to stop selling them.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min readAI
Alaska's liquor-license office is buried — and says it's worse than the numbers show
Alaska's liquor-license office has a 59-deep backlog, a 1,200-renewal pile, and a memo basically saying it's worse than that. Cheers.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min readAI
Homer Holds Ocean Drive Loop Tax Steady at 1 Mill
Homer's Ocean Drive Loop district keeps its tax rate exactly where it was — a rare local-government act of leaving well enough alone.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min readAI
Anchorage Assembly set to award $1.35M in homeless housing grants to five nonprofits
Anchorage Assembly votes June 23 on $1.35 million in housing grants to five nonprofits serving homeless people and domestic violence survivors.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min readAI
APD awards $1.66M opioid settlement contract for deflection program
Anchorage Police Department recommends a $1.66 million four-year contract with True North Recovery to hire a navigator who steers people in substance use crises toward treatment instead of arrest.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI
NOAA says dead pregnant fin whale arrived in Seward on cruise ship bow
NOAA confirmed the Seward whale was a 61-foot pregnant fin whale found on a cruise ship's bow. A necropsy is underway, and federal law enforcement is investigating.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI
GVEA seats new District 2 director, adopts nine bylaw changes
Philip Wight won a Golden Valley Electric Association board seat with 76% of the vote, and members approved nine bylaw changes, both taking effect at the June 23 board meeting.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min readAI
Alaska Municipal League wants federal government to withdraw proposed grant overhaul
Alaska gets $11 billion in federal grants. Proposed federal rules would let agencies cancel them at will. AML wants the rule withdrawn.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI
NMFS issues renewal IHA to HEX Operating for Cook Inlet natural gas activities
Federal regulators renewed a permit letting HEX Operating produce natural gas in Cook Inlet while monitoring disturbance to beluga whales and other marine mammals that share the inlet.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI
A union-labor fight is breaking out over who builds Alaska's gas line
Alaska's forever-promised gas line finally has a fight worth watching — a union-labor mandate, a governor hopeful crying foul, and no one's seen the actual text.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI
AIDEA authorized $190 million for ANWR — backed by Kaktovik, the residents
AIDEA put $190M behind ANWR seismic and lease bidding. Kaktovik — the only community inside the refuge — strongly supported it.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI
Beluga Fire reaches 65 acres in Mat-Su, 25% contained
Beluga Fire west of Susitna has grown to 65 acres and is 25 percent contained as of Saturday, with hot, dry conditions and evening lightning expected to keep fire danger high through the weekend.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min readAI
Anderson residents ordered to evacuate as Star Fire hits 100 acres
Anderson residents evacuated Saturday as the Star Fire burned 100 acres south of town, with two smaller fires igniting nearby under a Red Flag Warning through Sunday.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI
Two separate Wasilla shootings Saturday — one suspect was a felon with three warrants
State Troopers arrested Christian Schaffer, 25, after a shooting in Wasilla early Saturday; he was a convicted felon with three active warrants found with a 9mm handgun and faces felony assault and weapons charges. • In a separate incident, Michael Melland, 46, was arrested after his brother was shot in the head; Melland faces assault charges.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min readAI
Anchorage Assembly to consider AMEA-ASEA merger recognition June 23
Anchorage Assembly votes June 23 on recognizing ASEA as the bargaining representative for municipal employees after a union merger took effect in April.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI
Kodiak held its tax rate down — and split over what it means for schools
Kodiak's assembly held the line on taxes for squeezed residents. Whether that quietly cost the schools $500K depends on which member you ask.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min readAI
Kodiak Set Its Taxes — Now It Has to Send the Bills
Kodiak Island Borough must send property tax bills by July 1 but its new Tyler Technologies system may not be ready, leaving staff ready to fall back to the old one.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min readAI
Alaska's Mental Health Trust will log old-growth near Hollis to fund care
Alaska's Mental Health Trust is logging old-growth near Hollis to fund care for vulnerable Alaskans. Good cause, complicated trees.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min readAI
Alaska DFFP battles 4 wildfires across Interior, Southcentral, Southwest
Twin Bear Fire near Fairbanks drew 23 firefighters and helitack crews to a lightning-caused blaze in black spruce with cabins nearby. • Joaquin Fire southwest of McGrath and Vanderpool Fire east of McGrath prompted aerial response due to native allotment and private property. • Matanuska Fire on Glenn Highway was contained within two hours at under half an acre. • Red Flag Warning through Sunday evening cited 30 percent humidity and 40 mph wind gusts near thunderstorms across Central Interior.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min readAI
Alaska Senate digs in on gas tax bill, sends it to conference
Alaska Senate refused to back down on HB 381, sending the natural gas pipeline tax bill to a conference committee to resolve how to tax the Alaska LNG Project and fund municipalities and schools.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI
Fairbanks man arrested for DUI after crash injures three passengers
A 20-year-old Fairbanks man was arrested for DUI after a crash near Steese Highway injured three passengers early Saturday, with a breath test showing more than twice the legal alcohol limit.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min readAI
Alaska House recesses 10 days as gas line conference committee begins
We all know they're trying, but they very well may be intending for different outcomes when it comes to Alaska's LNG.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago4 min readAI
Coeur Alaska's Berners Bay dock got federal approval for pile driving
Coeur Alaska got federal approval to disturb marine mammals during dock repairs at Berners Bay — one of Southeast Alaska's richest bays.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI
Girdwood pot shop, Bird Creek grow op seek Anchorage license renewals
Two marijuana licenses in Girdwood and Bird Creek are up for renewal, with Anchorage having until early July to formally object.
by Alaska Newsadded 3mo ago1 min readAI
Anchorage Assembly to vote on downtown sidewalk and ADA repairs
Anchorage Assembly votes Monday on a $1.77 million contract to repair crumbling downtown sidewalks and fix curb ramps that don't meet federal accessibility rules.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min readAI
Kodiak Island artifacts set to leave Maine museum under NAGPRA
Ten Alaska Native cultural objects held at a Maine museum must be claimed by July 4, 2026, or transfer to Alaska tribes may proceed under federal repatriation law.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min readAI
Anchorage Assembly considers $1.75M federal grant to replace port's 1960s electrical system
Anchorage Assembly considered a $1.75 million federal grant to replace the Port of Alaska's 1960s electrical system, but the port must find $33.25 million more for the $35 million project.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI
Pilot killed in Piper Pacer crash 40 miles southeast of Cordova
A pilot flying solo between Yakutat and Fairbanks was found dead Friday after an Alaska Air National Guard helicopter located the crashed Piper Pacer near Kanak Island, about 40 miles southeast of Cordova.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min readAI
Alaska Senate passes S-corp LNG tax with 2028 effective date
Alaska Senate passed a tax on oil and gas pass-through entities, effective 2028, after rejecting an immediate start date. The state estimates the tax will recover more than $400 million annually once the LNG project reaches full production.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min readAI
Silver Bay applies for a dock right in front of competitor Snug Harbor
Silver Bay is putting a dock right in front of Snug Harbor's waterfront on the Kasilof. Competition is the substance.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI
Heat and fire risk converge across Interior Alaska for solstice weekend
Interior Alaska's longest weekend brings heat its houses can't handle and lightning that could light the woods. Hydrate, and go check on grandma.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min readAI
Senate passes gas-line bill; Dunleavy immediately calls lawmakers back to rewrite it
Special session concludes without passage of a gasline bill, and now the question is if this is an end to negotiations or if they'll continue tomorrow. The Governor thinks they're close.
by Cale Green3mo ago3 min readAI
Anchorage Assembly votes Tuesday on an $859K Eklutna River study
The Anchorage Assembly's $859K Eklutna study isn't a small procurement — it's part of a decades-long fight over fish, hydropower, and tribal claims.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI
AI is becoming Alaska's front page. It only knows the Alaska that's online.
The first AI answer most Alaskans see now appears inside an ordinary Google search, above the links. It summarizes what the web already covers well. For much of Alaska, the web covers almost nothing.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago4 min readAI