Anchorage
RSSNews from Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage takes another run at its missing-middle housing rules
Anchorage takes a second swing at missing-middle housing, letting corridor owners opt into duplexes-to-townhomes. Last year's version stalled on neighborhood pushback.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A board steering Anchorage's biggest project met nine times. The public heard about one.
A board advising Anchorage's $2.7B port rebuild met nine times and told the public about one — voting on design questions with almost no public notice.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
TPS holders in Alaska: check your work permit — don't assume it was extended
TPS holders in Alaska should check their work permit expiration date and not assume it was extended — automatic extensions have been cut, and an expired card can cost a job.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Green card seekers in Alaska face a wider benefits review starting Sept. 18
A federal rule effective Sept. 18 broadens the public charge review for green card applicants in Alaska; advocates warn families may drop Medicaid or food aid out of fear.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Anchorage clarifies what a records request keeps, and for how long
Anchorage is spelling out what a public records request keeps, logs, request and records, and setting the clock at two years. Short enough to notice, if a request ever gets contested.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
New perks for Anchorage firefighters and Teamsters head to the Assembly
Anchorage firefighters and Teamsters would gain parental leave and easier holiday pay under two contract deals. The Assembly's "no significant economic effects" is doing some work.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
UAA wants to pour wine at the gallery opening — under a 'sporting' license
UAA wants to serve beer and wine at its arts venues — under a liquor license category called "sporting activity." The string quartet counts, apparently. Assembly votes Aug. 4.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage Assembly weighs new police SUVs and an off-market firehouse sale
The Anchorage Assembly weighs two property calls Aug. 4: $1.88M for 27 new police SUVs, and a no-bid sale of an old Government Hill firehouse to its current tenant.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Anchorage let $11.8 million skip the books it promised to check
Anchorage could have policed $11.8 million in off-the-books spending starting in early 2024. It waited nearly two years, and none of it showed on the public tracker.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
State would lease airport land at 18 cents a foot until 2076
Alaska wants to rent two acres at its busiest cargo airport for 18 cents a foot until 2076. A bargain for Anchorage, or a 50-year giveaway?
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Woman killed, two juveniles critically hurt in crash at Northern Lights and UAA Drive
A woman died and two juveniles were critically injured in a crash at East Northern Lights Boulevard and UAA Drive in Anchorage early Tuesday.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
On Aurora Street, water mains are in but the sewer stops short
A new lot split on Aurora Street marks the edge of Anchorage's grid: water mains are in, public sewer isn't, and getting sewer means paying to extend the main.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Free two-day medical, dental and vision clinic set for Sullivan Arena in September
Remote Area Medical runs a free two-day clinic Sept. 19-20 at Sullivan Arena offering dental, vision and medical care with no ID or insurance required.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
South Anchorage rezone would allow industrial use in a residential area
A 3.8-acre South Anchorage lot could be rezoned from homes to heavy industrial. No project's been named yet — and that's what neighbors will want to know. Hearing Aug. 3.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Chugach wants to trade a planned greenway for heavy industrial zoning
Chugach Electric wants to erase a planned greenway near downtown Anchorage and rezone the land heavy-industrial. City planners say yes; the Assembly decides.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Ballot Measure 3 turns on a single word
Ballot Measure 3 would add "only" to Alaska's voter law. Sponsors call it a gap worth closing before a court does it for them; opponents call it a doubt nobody needed.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Anchorage may let duplex owners sell half the house and its land
Anchorage may let duplex owners in single-family zones sell one unit and its land as its own lot — more housing, plus questions about running a split lot.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Measles turns up in Anchorage wastewater
Measles RNA showed up four times in Anchorage wastewater this month. No case has been confirmed, and clinicians are told to isolate suspected patients on sight.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Alaska's senators split on Iran war powers, and Murkowski missed the vote
Murkowski has repeatedly broken with Trump to rein in the Iran war. Thursday she missed the vote, and Sullivan again voted no. The motion failed 47-49.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Removing an Assembly member takes 94 days and a supermajority
Anchorage published the map for removing an Assembly member: 94 days, a two-thirds vote, and the city pays the accused member's legal bills either way.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Four wind advisories cover Alaska through Thursday with gusts to 60 mph
Four wind advisories are up across Alaska — and in Anchorage, weeks of rain have left the ground soft enough that 50 mph gusts could bring trees down.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Alaska makers can claim a free booth at November's holiday market
Alaska makers can grab a free booth at Anchorage's holiday market in November. Applications close Sept. 18, and spots go first-come.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A dog reported killed in the Bear Valley bear attack turned up alive
The dog reported killed in Saturday's Bear Valley bear attack is alive and unhurt — another hiking party found it and brought it home.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage faces federal funding freeze if transportation plan misses December deadline
Anchorage could lose the ability to start new road, trail, and transit projects in December — because the agency funding them can't agree on its border.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage Assembly weighs how hard to investigate Martinez's travel
The Anchorage Assembly must pick between a quiet look at George Martinez's travel and a subpoena-backed investigation that could end in his removal.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A power outage closed Anchorage state offices, public assistance included
A power outage closed the Ingra Street state offices in Anchorage at 1 p.m. Thursday, public assistance included, for the rest of the day.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A sinkhole swallowed a Seward Highway lane, and that lane is closed for a month
A sinkhole ate a northbound lane of the Seward Highway at Potter Marsh. Crews are on it around the clock — and it stays closed until August 24.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Alaska asks 3,500 voters to confirm citizenship weeks before the primary
Alaska flagged 3,500 voters as possible noncitizens and made them inactive weeks before the primary. A phone call fixes it — if the letter arrived in time.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read
Alaska shakes the most and gets the least warning
California gets seconds of warning before the shaking starts. Alaska, which has more big quakes than any state, gets none — but that's being built.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage VA seeks bids for pain-management imaging table, deadline August 3
The Anchorage VA is shopping for a C-Arm imaging table used in guided pain injections for veterans. Bids close Aug. 3.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
An $858 million trust will discuss its audit behind closed doors
The board managing $858 million and a million acres for Alaskans with mental illness and disabilities will take up a legislative audit next week — possibly behind closed doors.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Cook Inlet Tribal Council wants input on next winter's heating help
Cook Inlet Tribal Council is taking comment through Aug. 24 on how it'll run heating assistance next year — the help that covers fuel bills through an Alaska winter.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage police oversight proposal dies without a second
Anchorage has had no police oversight body since 2024. A proposal to create one — with no power to investigate — died Tuesday for lack of a second.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage day cares say a grant cut could force them to close
Anchorage voters dedicated marijuana taxes to child care. Now providers say a nearly 70 percent cut to operating grants could force them to close their doors.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
The Army's last airborne cavalry squadron made its final jump at JBER
The Army's last active airborne cavalry squadron made its final jump at JBER, then handed its colors to a regiment inactive since 1957.
by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage Assembly resolution seeks school-funding scenarios and deferred maintenance analysis
Anchorage Assembly ordered the administration to show by Aug. 31 how much it would cost to fully fund schools and which city services would be cut to pay for it, ahead of the October budget deadline.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read
Anchorage Assembly members frame Fairview grant as a civil-rights question
Two Anchorage Assembly members are opposing a $750,000 behavioral health grant for Fairview, arguing it repeats a pattern of concentrating services in neighborhoods already burdened by discrimination.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read
Alaska Democrats hold a volunteer picnic ahead of primary election
Alaska Democrats are gathering at an Anchorage park Thursday evening to sign up volunteers, four weeks out from a primary with a Senate seat on it.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Alaska's unemployment map tracks one thing: the road system
Alaska unemployment ran 2.5% in Denali and 16.1% in Kusilvak this May. The split tracks one thing almost perfectly: whether a road reaches you.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Crews are cutting firebreaks in the woods at the center of Anchorage
Three Campbell Tract trail segments are closed through July 25 while crews trim the firebreaks keeping a wildfire out of Anchorage's neighborhoods.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read