Anchorage
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Anchorage board weighs dropping a shared-driveway rule for two Lake Otis lots
Anchorage Platting Board hears a request Wednesday to let two Lake Otis Parkway lots have separate driveways instead of sharing one.

Anchorage trails plan keeps Muldoon trail but drops JBER from its name
Anchorage kept the Muldoon trail in its revised plan but dropped JBER from the name after the military base cited security concerns during public comment.

Anchorage trails plan adds inland fallback route for stalled Kincaid-to-Potter Marsh trail
Anchorage planners added an inland route option to a stalled coastal trail between Kincaid Park and Potter Marsh, blocked since the 1990s by private land and wildlife refuge concerns.

A $293 million plan would rebuild and narrow Anchorage's downtown couplet
A $293 million rebuild of Fifth and Sixth avenues would narrow the couplet that funnels traffic through downtown Anchorage. No one commented at the meeting.

Anchorage's wetlands plan describes a permit the city cannot issue
Anchorage's wetlands plan still assumes the city issues its own fill permits. It has not since 2021, and a patch goes to the Assembly Tuesday.

Alaska schools warned on parental consent for surveys and student records
Alaska schools could risk federal funding if they survey students on sensitive topics without written parental consent, or withhold records parents can see.

Wasilla man arrested at Anchorage courthouse on sexual abuse warrant
A 59-year-old Wasilla man was arrested Sept. 1 on an outstanding warrant and faces multiple counts of second- and third-degree sexual abuse of a minor.

Anchorage will weigh housing density, not just price, when it sells land
The Anchorage Assembly voted 11-0 to tell the city to weigh housing density and affordability, not just price, when it disposes of municipal land.

Anchorage school district proposes splitting $32 million in one-time state money
Anchorage schools will split $32 million in one-time state money, spending more than half this year and saving the rest to shrink a $40 million deficit expected next summer.

Anchorage band teacher tells school board he now teaches 330 students a day
Anchorage band teacher Dan Whitfield teaches 330 students daily after the district cut a part-time director position, leaving classes of 45 to 83 students with no jazz band or extra help.

Fifteen Anchorage Assembly members will have their spending accounts examined in a 9-2 vote
Fifteen Anchorage Assembly members will have their $24,000 spending accounts examined. Nobody will be required to answer the findings in writing.

Anchorage's surplus school buildings could bring in money, the district says
Anchorage school officials say surplus buildings could generate revenue, among them Campbell STEM, closed in February and the subject of a dismissed lawsuit.

Alaska's labor agency has management and a union teaching bargaining together
A city HR director and an IBEW business agent will teach Alaska public employers and unions how to bargain, together, at a state session this month.

SSA awards Anchorage's Koniag IT Systems $2 million for print work in Durham and Baltimore
A Koniag subsidiary in Anchorage will print and mail Social Security cards for the next year, under two federal contracts worth about $2.06 million.

An Anchorage man will serve 20 years for abusing a 4-year-old relative
Judge Peterson sentenced Jose Dominguez Ballesteros to 20 years in prison Monday for sexually abusing a family member starting at age 4, with lifetime sex offender registration required.

In 1997 Anchorage voters rejected automated camera enforcement. Its new surveillance system needed no vote.
Anchorage voters banned traffic cameras in 1997. A far more powerful police surveillance system just arrived with no vote — and the debate has been telling.

Atlas Air would get five more acres of cargo ramp in Anchorage
Atlas Air would get three more cargo parking pads at Anchorage's airport, a little over five acres of ramp, at a rent of $38,847.47 a month.

ICE is paying an Anchorage company to wire the 11th floor of a building in Washington
ICE is paying an Anchorage company $31,049 to wire the 11th floor of a federal building in Washington, D.C.

Anchorage had no ALS ambulance available about 70 times last year
Anchorage had no advanced life support ambulance available about 70 times in 2024, and no basic life support unit more than 315 times.

Anchorage Assembly takes up a $599,000 crime center purchase and surveillance limits
A $599,000 video wall for Anchorage's crime center returns to the Assembly Tuesday, alongside an ordinance that would write surveillance limits into city code.

Dahlstrom will not certify Treg Taylor's nomination for governor
Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom will not certify Treg Taylor's nomination for governor, after APOC found his financial disclosure was not timely.

Anchorage tax appeal hearings continue into September, past the board's stated season
Anchorage property owners appealing their 2026 assessments face a backlog that could stretch to mid-November, with the Board of Equalization handling a record 1,953 appeals.

Anchorage's rewritten emergency plan adds six annexes, voids all earlier versions
Mayor LaFrance signed a rewritten emergency operations plan that replaces all earlier versions and meets national standards. The Assembly reviews it Tuesday.

Cook Inlet Housing Authority chief backs Anchorage housing code changes his projects use
Cook Inlet Housing Authority's chief backed Anchorage's housing code changes Tuesday, crediting them for enabling his organization's Nest project.

Alaska seniors get free Summit on Aging seats, but must register in advance
Seniors 65+ and Alaskans with intellectual or developmental disabilities get free registration at the Oct. 15-17 Statewide Summit on Aging in Anchorage if they sign up in advance.

Right lane closes on E Tudor Road eastbound Monday for drainage work
The westbound Tudor lane closed since July reopens Monday. Savor it. A bigger dig near Lake Otis starts Sept. 12 and closes lanes in all directions.

Man shot and killed in East Anchorage, the third death investigation there since July
A man was shot and killed late Saturday in East Anchorage, the third death investigation in the area since July. Police say no one is being sought.

Marijuana board chair's own store violation goes before the board they chair Sept. 2
Marijuana board chair Bailey Stuart faces a violation notice on their own retail store at the meeting they chair Wednesday, raising questions about whether they will step aside.

A grower denied renewal in June is still listed as active, owing $664,440
An Anchorage marijuana grower owes $664,440 in unpaid excise taxes and still appears active on state records months after the Marijuana Control Board denied its license renewal in December.

Frost advisory for Anchorage and the Mat-Su early Tuesday
Cover your plants Monday night. Frost is expected early Tuesday in colder pockets of Anchorage and the Mat-Su, a few days ahead of the usual first chill.

An Anchorage firm will guard a federal satellite archive in South Dakota
An Anchorage company owned by Ahtna Athabascan shareholders will guard a federal satellite data archive in South Dakota for five years.

Alaska's youth suicide rate reached a 10-year high in 2025, state data show
Alaska's youth suicide rate reached a 10-year high in 2025. The Anchorage Assembly takes up a resolution Tuesday marking Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.

Anchorage Assembly weighs $305,000 more for South Goldenview road repairs
South Goldenview wants $305,000 for erosion repairs, the largest request yet from the Hillside neighborhoods that pay for their own roads.

Auditors found no central list of Anchorage's state agreements
Anchorage has taken on $17.2 million in state work over five years without a central list of the agreements, its internal auditors found.

Anchorage marks preparedness month after housing 655 evacuees
Anchorage took in 655 evacuees from Western Alaska after Typhoon Halong. The Assembly recognizes September as National Preparedness Month on Tuesday.

Bristol Bay corporation's Anchorage arm takes $2.7 million Interior repair order
Anchorage contractor CCI Facility Contractors won a $2.7 million contract to repair water leaks at a former Interior Department building in Washington, D.C.

Anchorage weighs $470,000 no-bid sale of Government Hill lot
Anchorage would sell Chugach a Government Hill lot for $470,000 without taking bids, about $49,000 under what a broker valued it at in June.

Anchorage fills a watershed commission seat before its sunset date
Mayor LaFrance appointed wetland delineator Kara Dunham to Anchorage's Watershed Commission, with Assembly confirmation set for Sept. 1.

Anchorage Assembly to vote Tuesday on $6.7 million wastewater bleach contract with lone bidder
Anchorage Assembly votes Tuesday on a $6.7 million bleach contract with the only bidder, raising the price from $7.96 to $9.96 per gallon for wastewater disinfection.

Mental Health Trust weighs a below-market lease for a youth treatment provider
The Mental Health Trust may lease an Anchorage office to a youth behavioral health nonprofit for $3,266 a year, against market rent near $327,000.
