Anchorage

Wind gusts to 50 mph are coming, and the trees still have their leaves

Wind gusts to 50 mph hit Anchorage from Tuesday morning through Wednesday. The trees still have their leaves, which is how the outages happen.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage police report eighth officer-involved shooting of 2026 in two sentences

An Anchorage officer was in a shooting on East 37th Avenue, and the department's entire account is two sentences that don't say whether anyone was hit.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A Seattle union gave its Alaska committee $500,000. It's spent $8,000 of it in cash.

A Seattle union gave its Alaska committee $500,000 to back Kreiss-Tomkins and six House candidates — and it's spent just $8,000 of it in cash.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Dunleavy proclaims Sept. 13-19 Suicide Prevention Week in Alaska

Alaska has marked this week for suicide prevention. The message is simple: if you are worried about someone, ask them directly, and stay with them.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Mayor's substitute puts Anchorage's surveillance network before the Assembly Tuesday

Anchorage assembled cameras, drones, plate readers and commercial-data tools before writing enforceable rules for how police may use them.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago9 min readFrom Sep 9

Koniag subsidiaries now staff federal offices in Virginia and Oklahoma

Koniag subsidiaries are staffing federal back offices in Virginia and Oklahoma, including the office that processes Native patients' outside medical bills.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Landmine publisher takes copyright-strike complaint against APD to Assembly Tuesday

Alaska Landmine publisher Jeff Landfield asked the Anchorage Assembly to address an APD copyright strike that temporarily removed a video critical of Police Chief Sean Case from Facebook.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 7

A new Wasilla group spent $43,000 on six House candidates with D.C. money

A Wasilla group registered Sept. 1, took $250,000 from a national Republican committee Sept. 9, and spent $43,000 on six House candidates Sept. 10.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Assembly members seek equal vote on joint school rightsizing panel

Three Anchorage Assembly members want a real vote on how the city closes schools, not the non-voting seat the School Board offered, as consolidation looms.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage commission weighs 12.5 acres of heavy-industrial rezoning

Anchorage's planning commission will consider recommending that the Assembly rezone 12.5 acres to heavy industrial.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

The hockey association runs Anchorage's city rinks now, for $10 a year

The hockey association took over Anchorage's two city rinks in June for $10 a year. The old operator owed $360,000. The first big repair bill is Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

The Port of Alaska's terminal design contract is up 50 percent and rising again

The Port of Alaska's Terminal 1 design contract is up 50 percent from 2023. Every year I got to come back for more, the port director says.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Southwest Alaska carried most of the state's tuberculosis cases last year

Southwest Alaska, with about 5% of the state's population, had 46 of Alaska's 77 tuberculosis cases last year — roughly nineteen times Anchorage's rate.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 9

An Anchorage officer killed a woman downtown, by the department's account

An Anchorage officer shot and killed a woman at a downtown apartment Aug. 18. The account comes almost entirely from the police chief.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 18

Sacred Acre electronic music festival runs through Sunday in Ninilchik

Sacred Acre, an electronic music festival in Ninilchik produced by Cosmic Ayre Productions, runs through Sunday, Sept. 13. Three-day general-admission tickets were listed at $215 plus taxes and fees, with shuttle service available from Anchorage. The festival's website publishes no lineup for this year.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Fairbanks would require union labor agreements on big borough projects

Fairbanks wants union-negotiated labor agreements on borough projects over $3.5 million, using an ordinance copied almost word for word from Anchorage.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage grant would keep HIV testing and outreach going through 2027

A $114,470 state grant on the Anchorage Assembly's agenda would keep the city's offsite HIV education, counseling and testing running through June 2027.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage's Assembly voted to review fewer contracts. August shows what that means

Anchorage's Assembly voted last year to stop reviewing most city contracts. August shows what that means: 24 awards, a $450,000 paving job among them, no votes.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage owns an aging arts center, and repairs keep outpacing the budget

A heating repair at Anchorage's city-owned performing arts center is running 71 percent over the budget the Assembly set for it back in May.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

An inspector cited Anchorage's ice rinks for safety valves a decade old

Safety valves at Anchorage's two city ice rinks were due for replacement five years ago. An inspector noticed. The fix is inside a $936,000 repair bill.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage's port cargo surcharge nearly triples to fund a rebuild

The surcharge on cargo through Anchorage's port nearly triples Jan. 1, the first step in paying for a $2 billion rebuild, and could hit $70 a ton by 2033.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

18 condo units draw 46 percent of Anchorage's housing tax exemptions, report says

Eighteen single condominium units took 46 percent of Anchorage's housing tax exemptions this year, qualifying for a four-or-more-unit incentive through common ownership of one parent parcel.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

The mayor wants two more members on a naming commission that cannot meet

Anchorage's naming commission has five members and needs five to meet, so it hasn't. The mayor wants two more confirmed before it expires next month.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Two closed Anchorage school buildings head back to municipal hands

Two closed Anchorage schools, Abbott Loop and Campbell STEM, are set to return to the municipality, moving their fate from the School Board to the Assembly.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska streamlines the fall round of its $272 million rural health fund

Alaska is streamlining the fall round of its $272 million rural-health fund — one application instead of two, and about 11 weeks to awards, down from 24.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage wants 10,000 homes. Its zoning fight is over where they can fit.

Anchorage wants 10,000 homes in 10 years. Tuesday's zoning fight is over where they can go — because adding homes means letting familiar blocks change.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago7 min read

Troopers arrest Anchorage man after 85 mph pursuit ends in Wasilla crash

Alaska State Troopers arrested Luke Debaere, 23, after he fled a traffic stop on the Parks Highway and crashed into trees in Wasilla, reaching 85 mph through residential areas.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Housing projects can compete for Alaska CDBG grants, with applications due Dec. 4

Alaska's Community Development Block Grant applications are due Friday, Dec. 4, with about $2.5 million available and a maximum of $850,000 per community. Any Alaska municipal government except Anchorage may apply.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Ninth Circuit says tribal law cannot shield employees from federal civil rights suits

A federal appeals court ruled tribal governments cannot shield their own employees from civil rights lawsuits by writing immunity into tribal code.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

Alaska's federal obligations are down 1.7% this year, and September has barely started

Federal obligations in Alaska are down 1.7 percent through August. Federal spending drove more than half the state's GDP growth since 2015.

by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read

Follows: Alaska has drawn $15.7 billion in federal money this year

Anchorage weighs a five-year road-sweeping contract for Eagle River

The Anchorage Assembly decides Tuesday whether to hire Big Bear to sweep road shoulders in the Eagle River area, at up to $2.97 million over five years.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A mobile home lot near Abbott Road could become business-zoned

A mobile home lot near Abbott Road would become business-zoned. Nobody objected, and a planner noted such changes can displace mobile-home residents.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage zoning board approves setback variance for Chandalar Drive home

Anchorage zoning board unanimously approved a variance allowing a Chandalar Drive home to keep an addition that has encroached 1.3 feet into the required setback since 1998

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Anchorage weighs a variance for a 1998 setback encroachment

Anchorage zoning board backs letting director approve bigger setback fixes without a hearing

An Anchorage board voted to let the planning director approve building encroachments up to 15 percent without a hearing, tripling the current threshold.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

APOC denies expedited review of disclosure complaint against Johnson

Regulators denied both of Joel Borgquist's requests to fast-track disclosure complaints against candidates. Johnson's goes to a normal investigation.

by Lucas Brown2mo ago2 min read

New independent expenditure group registers in Anchorage to back Nellie Jimmie's re-election

A new group will spend without limits to re-elect Rep. Nellie Jimmie. Its chair is general counsel of the Native corporation for her region.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

APOC denies fast-track review of disclosure complaint against Wilson

State regulators will not fast-track a disclosure complaint against Bernadette Wilson. It goes to a normal investigation, with a hearing by Oct. 8.

by Lucas Brown2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage Assembly schedules Hispanic Heritage Month health fair with Spanish-speaking staff

Anchorage Assembly is scheduling a health fair with Spanish-speaking staff and translation services for Saturday, Oct. 3, as part of Hispanic Heritage Month events starting Sept. 20.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage police seek help finding Allison Wilson, 41, missing since Thursday morning

Anchorage police are asking for help finding Allison Wilson, 41, who didn't return from her shift Thursday. She drives a maroon Subaru with front-end damage.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage keeps funding a $5 million median barrier on 5th Avenue

An Anchorage committee kept funding a $5 million median barrier on 5th Avenue, over an objection that the decade-old crash data doesn't justify it.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read