Anchorage
RSSNews from Anchorage, Alaska
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.

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.

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.

Anchorage pays new ice rink operator $450,000 plus $10 a year
Anchorage Assembly voted unanimously to replace the operator of two city ice rinks after an audit found the previous manager owed $360,000 and missed financial reports.

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.

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.

Alaska justices affirm commitment despite skipped consent inquiry
Alaska Supreme Court upheld forced commitment and medication for an Anchorage man despite the lower court skipping a required check for voluntary treatment.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Anchorage board sets seven property appeal hearings for next week
Anchorage owners filed a record 1,953 assessment appeals. The city had already found about 660 homes over-assessed before the hearings began.

Alaska Democrats ask Anchorage court to strike Tagle from November ballot
Alaska Democrats are back in court to remove Republican Jose Tagle from the ballot, after Dahlstrom certified him over an APOC finding against him.

An ordinance would tighten oversight of Anchorage's staffing overruns
Anchorage's government has run past its budgeted position count five years running. Three Assembly members want future overruns to need the mayor's sign-off.

Alaska marijuana board revisits under-21 rules after Craig, Klawock checks failed
Alaska Marijuana Control Board will revisit rules keeping under-21s out of pot shops after compliance checks in Craig and Klawock found every store violated the ban.

State clears three Anchorage officers in the fatal shooting of Emil McCord
State prosecutors cleared three Anchorage officers of criminal liability in the fatal shooting of Emil McCord, 112 days after it happened.

Anchorage marks Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month, now recognized in state law
Anchorage marks Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month for the third year, and the first under state law. Alaska's Hispanic history runs back to the canneries.

Anchorage Assembly takes up next year's budget priorities
The Anchorage Assembly takes up its budget priorities for the coming year Tuesday, along with two appointments to city commissions.

Free medical, dental and vision care comes to Sullivan Arena Sept. 19-20
Free medical, dental and vision care is available to anyone at Anchorage's Sullivan Arena Sept. 19 and 20 — no ID, insurance or income required. Come early.

Anchorage weighs paving and expanding the Basher Trailhead lot
Anchorage would pave and expand the 16-car Basher Trailhead lot to 52 spaces. Staff back it but warn it could draw more cars if parking isn't priced.

Alaska congenital syphilis cases hit a record in 2025
Alaska recorded 14 cases of congenital syphilis in 2025, the most ever, in a disease preventable with a test and a shot. Native infants were hit hardest.

Three UAA hockey teams become the first teams in the Hall of Fame
Three early-1990s Seawolf hockey teams will be the first teams ever inducted into UAA's Hall of Fame, which has honored only individuals since 2001.

An Anchorage housing ordinance does more than its title says
Anchorage's shop-house ordinance would also shrink the minimum commercial lot to about 2,700 square feet. The city says it outgrew its own title.

Anchorage Assembly has one meeting left before a transit safety deadline
Anchorage has one meeting left before a federal deadline to fix its transit safety plan. Assaults involving security staff rose by half last year.

AT&T's parking lot at the Anchorage port could stay until 2041
AT&T's parking and storage yard at the Anchorage port could stay through 2041, though rent has only been set for the first five of those 15 years.

A third of Anchorage's buses are past their federal life span
A third of Anchorage's full-size bus fleet is past its federal useful life. The Assembly votes Sept. 15 on replacing six of the 26 aging buses.

Anchorage weighs $2.8M state payment, most of it for winter shelter
Anchorage cut $1 million in contracted surge shelter beds when alcohol tax revenue fell short. State money would put them back ahead of winter.

Anchorage candidates would need signatures to get on the city ballot
Anchorage candidates would need voter signatures to make the ballot. It would take 63 in one Assembly district and 162 in another about the same size.

Anchorage Assembly ordinance restores parking permit rule its planning commission voted 8-0 to cut
Anchorage's planning commission voted unanimously to drop a parking lot restriction. The Assembly sponsors put it back in and will take it up Oct. 20.

Anchorage weighs who decides when cold-weather shelter opens
An Anchorage ordinance up Sept. 15 would let the health director decide when emergency shelter opens, replacing the current 45-degree trigger.

A conservative group sues Alaska's judicial council for diversity records
A national conservative group founded by Stephen Miller is suing the Alaska Judicial Council for records on how it weighs diversity in picking judges.

Anchorage company wins patent for adjustable pipeline support
Two Anchorage inventors have patented a pipeline support you can raise or lower with a hand crank — a simple fix for supports that shift as permafrost thaws.

Anchorage could shrink its minimum lot size by two-thirds under a pending ordinance
Anchorage could cut its minimum single-family lot to a third of current size and let buildings cover 70 percent of it. The hearing is Sept. 15.

State tax office flagged seller of Anchorage cannabis concentrate license as non-compliant
Alaska flagged a marijuana license seller as non-compliant on taxes. Her sworn statement listed no debts. What the board did is not on the record.

Wells Fargo keeps shrinking in Alaska, where it's the only bank in six towns
Wells Fargo keeps closing Alaska branches — nine since 2019, the latest in Anchorage. In six Alaska towns it's the only bank, and could leave them with none.

Bering Sea pollock companies are hiring at an Anchorage event
Companies that catch and process Bering Sea pollock are hiring at an Anchorage job event Oct. 29, for jobs that pay a share of the catch.
