Alaska

Anchorage will pay to steer people toward treatment instead of jail, using opioid-settlement money

Anchorage's Assembly voted 11-0 to pay True North Recovery about $398,000 to steer people toward treatment instead of jail, using opioid-settlement money.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A remote Alaska island is paying $7.55 a gallon to heat its homes

A remote Alaska island is paying $7.55 a gallon for heat, plus an undisclosed city surcharge. The city blames Middle East conflict for the delivered price.

by Alaska News2mo ago2 min read

Golden Valley Electric has rules for community solar and no community solar

Golden Valley Electric now has approved rules for community solar and no community solar. Someone outside the utility has to build it first.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Tatitlek Management Services wins $2.8 million State Department maintenance order

Tatitlek Management Services won a $2.8 million State Department maintenance contract running through August 2027.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska primary: who advanced and what passed, in unofficial results

Peltola and Sullivan head to November, Begich leads the House field, four of 17 governor tickets advance, and donation caps passed with 71%

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage approves a Muldoon Road marijuana store, over a dispute about how close it sits to a playground

Anchorage approved a Muldoon Road marijuana store 8-3, over objections about how close it sits to a playground and whether a stricter state buffer applies.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Fairbanks correctional officer charged with sexually assaulting inmate in transport van

A correctional officer is charged with sexually assaulting a woman in his custody inside a state transport van in 2024, a case that surfaced only this year.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Eight Alaska fishery disaster requests are past the deadline federal law sets

Eight Alaska fishing communities are owed federal disaster relief the law says is already overdue, and until the decisions come, no one gets paid.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska's cruise ship wastewater permit expired in 2019 and is still in force

Twenty-eight cruise ships discharged treated wastewater in Alaska last season under a 2014 permit that expired in 2019. Nine discharges were unauthorized.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A Caterpillar dealer wants to fill nearly 20 acres of south Anchorage wetlands to build a new store

A Caterpillar dealer wants to fill nearly 20 acres of south Anchorage wetlands for a store, proposing no mitigation.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

All-ability play center opens in Midtown Anchorage, partly with marijuana tax money

An outdoor play center built for children with disabilities has opened in Midtown Anchorage. The ribbon-cutting is Wednesday evening, with open play after.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Trump names Kyle Reardon to the Alaska judgeship vacant since 2024

Trump named Kyle Reardon to Alaska's federal judgeship, empty two years. In a 2025 bar poll, three-quarters of respondents couldn't say if he was qualified.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Juneau job seekers can meet several employers in one stop this week

Juneau job seekers can meet several employers in one stop Thursday at a state recruiting event, though details are thin — call the job center to confirm.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage wants to buy three new garbage trucks for about $1.47 million

Anchorage's trash utility wants three new garbage trucks for about $1.47 million, and a bulk-purchasing deal shaved roughly $282,000 off the sticker price.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A sharp cut to West Coast salmon limits lands on fish Alaska shares

Federal managers cut West Coast Chinook troll limits by three-quarters, and because the salmon are shared, mixed stocks, the change reaches Alaska's runs too.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A Sitka Street railroad crossing rebuild will cost Anchorage $91,000 more than agreed

Anchorage's Sitka Street railroad crossing rebuild will cost about $91,000 more than agreed after high bids — a tab that falls on nearby property owners.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Bristol Bay 2027 sockeye forecast to fall below 50 million, ending an 11-year run

Bristol Bay's sockeye run is forecast at 44.2 million for 2027, which would end an eleven-year streak above 50 million. The state still grades that strong.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Hiker flown off Sigugu Shaa mountain near Hoonah after seizure

A hiker had a seizure on a mountain near Hoonah, and a team of volunteers and medics stabilized them and got them off the mountain and to a hospital.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Troopers investigate suspected drugs found at Fairbanks Correctional Center

Alaska State Troopers are investigating suspected drugs found at Fairbanks Correctional Center on August 18, with the substance sent to the crime lab for testing.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

The town of Whittier has had no gas for weeks, and it's only manageable because it's summer

The whole town of Whittier has had no natural gas since Aug. 16 and won't get it back until Sept. 5, and it's manageable mainly because it's still warm out.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage approves $40,000 to update Merrill Field's airport layout plan

Anchorage approved $40,000, almost all of it federal, to update Merrill Field's airport layout plan after new flight procedures changed what it must show.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Woman injured by brown bear sow near Bells Flats in Kodiak

A woman was hurt by a brown bear sow while walking her dog near Bells Flats on Kodiak, but her dog's barking distracted the bear long enough for her to escape.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A second person has been hurt in an Anchorage otter attack in three weeks

A second Anchorage resident in three weeks has been hurt by a river otter, and Fish and Game is telling paddleboarders and dog walkers to carry bear spray.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage firm has held FBI maintenance contract without competition since 2022

An Anchorage company owned by an Alaska Native corporation has kept the FBI's Washington Field Office running since 2022. This month: drains and roof hatches.

by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read

A Juneau company turning idle fishing boats into tidal power just cracked a deep-fjord problem

A Juneau company turning idle fishing boats into tidal-power platforms won a patent for stopping the cable-twisting that hobbles deep-fjord generators.

by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read

Tok DMV closed Wednesday as Mukluk Fire evacuation continues

The Tok DMV and every state office at 1314 Alaska Highway are closed Wednesday under the Mukluk Fire evacuation, with no reopening date given

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Tok evacuation order still stands after phone alert expired Tuesday

The phone alert telling parts of Tok to evacuate expired Tuesday and was not reissued. The order still stands, and the fire has crossed Red Fox Drive.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Level 3 GO evacuations ordered north of the Alaska Highway as the Mukluk Fire spreads near Tok

Alaska has spent a fifth of its open federal disaster money, with six weeks on the clock

Alaska holds $357.7 million in open federal disaster grants and has spent about a fifth. One 2015 North Slope grant has paid out $6,176 in eleven years.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Overnight drilling comes to Ketchikan's aging viaducts, part of a plan to repair them now and replace them later

Overnight drilling comes to Ketchikan's two 1950s viaducts, which carry 14,000-plus vehicles a day, as the state plans to repair them and replace them later.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

A cable across the Koyukuk, a camp for a mining crew, and no named mine

A Wasilla man wants to hang a 25,000-pound cable across the Koyukuk and camp a mining crew beside it. The state's form never asks which mine.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

Alaska may let unlicensed eye-clinic staff do routine eye care, with no set training standard

Alaska may let unlicensed eye-clinic staff do routine eye care with no set training standard — an idea that drew patient-safety objections as the law passed.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage Planning and Zoning bumped its entire August docket to September

Every land-use case on the Planning and Zoning Commission's August docket got bumped to September, a month's delay for anyone waiting on a rezoning or permit.

by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read

A routine Anchorage roads vote this week would also fund cameras at 82 more intersections

A routine Anchorage roads-money vote this week also quietly funds 82 more intersection cameras, in the middle of a public fight over police surveillance.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago4 min read

Juneau's harbor fund is near its lowest point ever, and charter boats may be asked to help fill the gap

Juneau's harbor fund is near its lowest ever after the city cut $450,000 a year, and the port may charge charter boats more per passenger to fill the gap.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage will ship contaminated concrete to Oregon after the state tightened disposal rules, adding $850,000

Anchorage's school board approved $850,000 to ship contaminated school concrete to Oregon after the state tightened its rules on disposing of banned PCBs.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

The Anchorage School Board pledges no more closures next year, but one member says the last three were never explained

The Anchorage School Board pledged no closures next year as an olive branch to a grieving community, though one member says the last three went unexplained.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: An Anchorage board member proposes a one-year pause on school closures

Anchorage School District adopts a single English curriculum for grades 6 through 10

Anchorage adopted one English curriculum for grades 6-10 on a 6-1 vote. The selection committee itself split 6-5, and one board member questioned the process.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage is weighing a trade of land it just bought for $2.35 million for four downtown parking lots

Anchorage is weighing a trade of land it just bought for $2.35 million for four downtown parking lots, over a state objection and around competitive bidding.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

Mukluk Fire households can apply for up to $44,800 in state grants through Oct. 19

Households hit by the Mukluk Fire can apply for up to $44,800 in state grants through Oct. 19. The state's own paperwork lists two different hotlines.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

ENSTAR seeks a Southcentral gas rate hike as two landlords move to dismiss the case

ENSTAR wants to raise Southcentral gas bills by about $9 a month, and two landlords are moving to get the rate case thrown out before its September hearing.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read