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Juneau gets clean audit despite control gaps, three-month delay
Juneau's audit passed but arrived three months late due to hospital delays and staff turnover, with auditors flagging two control gaps in debt review and harbor leases that finance staff have begun fixing.

Kenai adopts $42.1M budget with swim team grant, airport upgrade
Kenai City Council adopted a $42.1 million budget for fiscal year 2027, approving $296,402 in amendments for a swim team grant, airport billing automation expected to recover $130,000 in missed revenue, and council chambers technology upgrades.

Kenai limits tent camping to 2 tents per property, defines 3+ as campground
Kenai allows up to two tents on private property indefinitely, but three or more tents now require conditional-use approval and are classified as a campground.

Cordova holds property tax rate flat at 11.44 mills for 2026
Cordova City Council voted 7-0 to keep the property tax mill rate at 11.44 mills for 2026, holding steady despite rising city costs after residents warned that higher taxes would force fishing families out of town.

Wasilla woman faces fentanyl, heroin charges after traffic stop
Alaska State Troopers arrested Wasilla resident Kristena Bannon, 42, on May 28 after finding fentanyl and heroin during a traffic stop, charging her with two counts of controlled-substance possession.

Alaska keeps veto power over LNG project despite 25% stake
Alaska keeps veto power over major Alaska LNG decisions despite owning only 25 percent of the joint venture with Glenfarne Group, including approval rights over contracts, capital requests, and rate structures that prioritize in-state gas use.

Juneau arts council offers $2,000 for new logo design
Juneau Arts and Humanities Council is offering $2,000 for a new logo design, with submissions due July 1, 2026.

Southcentral Foundation offers cultural education classes in June
Southcentral Foundation's Traditional Healing Clinic offers Alaska Native cultural classes in late May and early June, including Ahtna language, traditional food prep, and craft skills like kuspuk sewing in Anchorage.

Alaska LNG tax bill ties $26.5B in revenue to volume, not value
Senate bill would tax Alaska LNG by volume instead of property value, generating $26.5 billion in state and local revenue. • The shift trades potentially higher property tax income for tax certainty to attract the project developer. • Mayors oppose the bill, saying municipalities would lose hundreds of millions in annual property tax revenue.

Second Dan Sullivan files for Alaska U.S. Senate race
A Petersburg resident named Dan Sullivan filed to run for U.S. Senate in 2026 as an undeclared candidate against incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, who has raised $7.5 million and secured endorsements from Murkowski and Begich.
Sullivan raises $2.1M in Q1, lands labor and Native-corporation endorsements
Senator Dan Sullivan raised 2.1 million dollars in the first quarter of 2026 and won endorsements from Alaska Teamsters, laborers unions, fishermen, and Alaska Native regional corporations representing 145,000 workers and shareholders.

Federal highway chief commits to King Cove Road action
Federal Highway Administrator committed to finalize the Road, an 11-mile project connecting the community to Cold Bay's airport, and will visit Alaska in late June.

Alaska fire agencies open 11 wildfire investigations statewide
Alaska fire agencies opened 11 wildfire investigations across the state between June 2 and 4 as the National Weather Service issued Red Flag Warnings for critical fire conditions.

Haida fashion designer Dorothy Grant to sign career monograph at Alaska State Museum Friday
Haida fashion designer Dorothy Grant signs her career monograph at Alaska State Museum Friday from 4 to 5 pm during First Friday, with free museum admission from 4 to 7 pm.

ConocoPhillips files amended Meltwater easement application
ConocoPhillips filed an amended application to renew a state easement for surface access to Meltwater infrastructure on the North Slope, with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources accepting public comment through its Permitting Section.

Aniak River closed to all king salmon fishing, including catch-and-release
Alaska closed the Aniak River to all king salmon fishing, including catch-and-release, from June 5 to July 25 to protect spawning numbers despite overall Kuskokwim escapement meeting targets.

Alaska Earth Sciences ask DNR for fuel cache permit in western Alaska Range
Alaska Earth Sciences seeks a permit to place 11 fuel caches in the western Alaska Range this summer, storing up to 55 gallons of jet fuel at each site. Public comments are due June 3 to DNR.

Kawerak offers CDL scholarships for Bering Strait Tribal members
Kawerak is offering scholarships covering meals, travel, and lodging for Bering Strait Tribal members to complete a four-week Class A CDL program in Palmer from July 13 to August 6, with applications due June 24.

Supreme Court leaves federal subsistence authority intact
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Alaska's challenge to federal subsistence protections, leaving federal authority intact over hunting and fishing on federal lands statewide.

Alaska Native Heritage Center collects traditional foods for typhoon relief
The Alaska Native Heritage Center is collecting traditional Native food donations for about 1,600 people displaced by Typhoon Halong in Western Alaska, with drop-off instructions available at its Anchorage campus.

RTO schedules closed subcommittee meetings for June 10–11
The Railbelt Transmission Organization will hold three closed subcommittee meetings June 10 and 11 to discuss technical standards, transmission tariffs, and financing for Alaska's 700-mile electric grid serving two-thirds of the state's population.

Four Alaska co-ops file community solar tariffs in two-day span
Four Alaska electric cooperatives filed community solar programs this week, letting members buy shares in shared arrays instead of installing rooftop panels.

Alaska Native Medical Center offers free mass-casualty triage training
Alaska Native Medical Center is offering free online mass-casualty triage training through the end of the year to pre-hospital and in-hospital workers across Alaska. Register at [email protected].

Alaska offers fast-track fall training for substance-abuse counselors
Alaska is offering fast-track fall certification courses for substance-abuse counselors to address critical shortages in rural communities hit hard by overdose deaths and fentanyl spread.

Petersburg Medical Center loses bids for facility, equipment grants
Petersburg Medical Center's two largest grant proposals for a new facility and medical equipment were deferred by the state Rural Health Transformation Program on Wednesday, though five smaller projects advanced to a second funding round.

Petersburg Medical Center employee satisfaction hits 91%
Petersburg Medical Center employee satisfaction rose to 91% in 2026 from 84% in 2024, exceeding national healthcare averages across all measured areas.

Anchorage veteran preference splits on eligibility, contract scope
Anchorage Assembly weighs two veteran business preference plans with different eligibility and scope. • S-1: 5 percent preference up to $50,000 for any honorably discharged veteran, applies to all contracts. • S-2: limits to Alaska residents separated within five years, sliding scale, bids only, $500,000 lifetime cap. • Effective July 1, 2026 if passed.

Rural students double FAFSA completion with one-on-one advising
Eight rural Alaska school districts reached 60 percent FAFSA completion this year through the Career Guide Initiative, more than double the statewide rate, by pairing students with advisors who help them plan college, training, or workforce paths.

Dunleavy becomes permanent Arctic security chair under DOD agreement
Governor Mike Dunleavy signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Defense's Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies, making him the permanent Arctic Chair and formalizing Alaska's role in federal Arctic security discussions.

Alaska fire agencies open 11 wildfire investigations in four days
Alaska fire agencies opened investigations at 11 wildfire locations between June 1 and June 4, spanning the Kenai Peninsula to Interior and Western Alaska, as the National Weather Service issued Red Flag warnings for critical fire weather conditions.

Challenger named Dan Sullivan files against Senator Dan Sullivan
A candidate named Dan Sullivan filed to challenge incumbent U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan in Alaska's 2026 race, creating a ballot naming problem the state elections division must solve.

Red Flag Warning covers Southwest Alaska through Wednesday
Red Flag Warning covers Southwest Alaska through Wednesday evening due to warm, dry, windy conditions that could spread fires rapidly. Residents must avoid open burning and spark-producing work like chainsaws and lawnmowers.

Mat-Su, Kenai burn permits suspended as fire activity surges
Alaska Division of Forestry suspended burn permits across Mat-Su and Kenai-Kodiak starting Monday, June 1, after a surge in human-caused fires sparked by escaped debris burns and unattended campfires during hot, dry, windy conditions.

Consultant warns Senate Finance that Alaska LNG faces megaproject risks
Consultant warns Senate Finance that Alaska LNG faces megaproject risks, citing data showing 67% of LNG projects exceed budgets by 70% on average.

The Mat-Su Valley's king salmon fisheries are closed — Anchorage's closest king water joins the Kenai on the bench
Alaska closed all king salmon fishing in Mat-Su Valley drainages, shutting down Anchorage's closest king fishery as the first fish arrived. • The closures follow four years of declining runs and emergency restrictions nearly every season since 2022. • Mat-Su and Kenai rivers, Southcentral's two main king fisheries, are now both closed for 2026.

The Kenai's kings are closed again — another summer without Alaska's most iconic salmon
Another year with King closures and no easy answer in sight

ADF&G extends yelloweye rockfish closure in Resurrection Bay through June
Second year in a row Yelloweye Rockfish are down. Don't catch em

Prince William Sound's spot shrimp are in decline — and harvesters have until Monday to pull gear
Small shrimp, small drop, quick pull, one stop

Bristol Bay's ice is starting to break — and it's about to set off a cascade of fish and fishermen
Lake Aleknagik's ice is breaking in southwest Alaska, triggering young salmon migration and opening the first fishing window of the season at stream outlets where trout and char gather to feed.

ADF&G closes Eagle River to king salmon fishing
Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed king salmon sport fishing in Eagle River from May 1 through July 13 to protect returning fish, part of a broader pattern of emergency closures across Southcentral Alaska as king runs decline.
