Anchorage

Anchorage Assembly approves standard hiring rules for clerk and ombudsman

Anchorage Assembly voted 12-0 to set one hiring process for the municipal clerk and ombudsman, requiring a selection committee for both offices.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage Assembly approves $2.8M in state money and more winter shelter beds

Anchorage spent most of its state check on shelter beds, some of them from last winter. Without it, the health director said, shelters could have closed.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Anchorage police say missing 13-year-old Isaac Allbritton has been located

Anchorage police located missing 13-year-old Isaac Allbritton on Wednesday, ending a public search that began earlier that day.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Anchorage Assembly member Zachary Johnson amends disclosure to adopt APOC staff recommendations

Anchorage Assembly member Zac Johnson amended his 2025 financial disclosure on Oct. 7 to name the Wiest Trust and change his Wild Air Farm role from partner to power of attorney, adopting recommendations from an APOC staff report.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Former Anchorage defense attorney Justin Facey sentenced to 20 years for drug trafficking

A former Anchorage defense attorney got 20 years for drug trafficking, the full term prosecutors sought, after they detailed how he exploited clients.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Auditors link Anchorage's $25 million cash misstatement to how SAP closes the books

Anchorage's 2024 cash was misstated by $25 million. The city pays millions for SAP, and until it's fixed, the correction lives in an Excel workbook.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Council advisers back Bering Sea crab ceilings after the state already set its catches

Federal advisers signed off on Bering Sea crab ceilings a day after the state set its catches. The unsettled part: what to do about hybrid crab.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Port tops Anchorage's draft 2027 list of state and federal requests

Anchorage's 2027 wish list for Juneau and D.C. starts where it always does: the port. Housing near JBER and Cook Inlet gas come close behind.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Follows: None of Anchorage's district projects got state money this year, city tells Assembly committee

LaFrance sends Anchorage Assembly transit board's call for more AnchorRIDES and bus driver money

Anchorage's transit board asked the Assembly for more 2027 money to cover rising AnchorRIDES costs and hire five bus operators, but the mayor's budget includes no new transit funding.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage mayor asks Assembly to move Christensen Drive lot to street crews

Mayor LaFrance asked the Anchorage Assembly to move a steep Christensen Drive lot to the Street Maintenance Section to set up utility easements, with a public hearing set for October 20.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

State proposes 50-year Anchorage airport lease to Northstar Holdings

Alaska DOT posted two conflicting notices for a 50-year airport lease to Northstar Holdings, listing annual rent as either $30,771 or $44,447 and describing different permitted uses.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Anchorage Assembly members draft an ordinance to restrict concentrated kratom products

Three Assembly members want concentrated kratom off Anchorage shelves and the tea left alone. Nothing's introduced yet, and the city has no local data.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage opioid overdose calls down 10%, fire department says

Anchorage fire crews are answering about 10% fewer opioid overdose calls this year. The department can't say why yet, and the numbers miss many deaths.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Alaska Regional Hospital appeals state denial of its proposed South Anchorage emergency room

Alaska Regional Hospital appealed the state health commissioner's denial of a five-bed South Anchorage emergency department on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage Assembly approves $511,190 grant to replace police patrol car computers

Anchorage police are getting 80-some new patrol car computers on the federal dime. The Assembly OK'd the $511,190 grant on its consent agenda.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Anchorage Assembly approves $3 million rural health grant for crisis care

Anchorage accepted $3 million in federal rural health money meant to link health, police and fire records and pilot opioid treatment and mobile care.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Army sets up new units at JBER and Fort Wainwright to receive soldiers moving to Alaska

The Army now has a welcome crew for soldiers moving to Alaska. The pitch: not just check-in paperwork and cold-weather gear, but how to live with the cold.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Anchorage School Board backs public school scholarship groups under new tax credit

The Anchorage School Board voted 7-0 to back scholarship groups for public school students under the new federal tax credit, with guardrails against vouchers.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage mayor's office wants closed Abbott Loop Elementary demolished, school officials say

Anchorage's mayor wants closed Abbott Loop Elementary demolished for housing redevelopment, and the school district would need to authorize $4 million in demolition costs from a prior bond.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage schools list nearly $18 million in urgent repairs ahead of April bond

Anchorage schools have nearly $18 million in urgent repairs, from failing boilers to a Wendler roof that won't hold a shingle. A bond list comes Oct. 20.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Board of Fisheries committee to take up remote testimony and process changes Oct. 21

A Board of Fisheries committee meets Oct. 21 on remote testimony and process recommendations. Its chair has "struggled with" virtual participation.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Ethics board finds one line in school district bond video violated city code

The city ethics board says one line in a school district bond video was political activity. It recommended no further action; the bond failed in April.

by Alaska News1mo ago4 min readFrom Sep 23

Anchorage police fly to Shaktoolik as the Kelly Hunt death investigation continues

Anchorage police flew to Shaktoolik to interview people who knew Kelly Hunt, 19, who died of hypothermia. APD is still piecing together her final months.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 24

Anchorage Assembly weighs Girdwood road contract that drew one bid

Western Construction & Equipment, the only bidder, would maintain Girdwood Valley roads for up to nine years under a contract worth as much as $10.8 million.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

APOC sets Tuesday hearings on four disclosure complaints against statewide candidates

The Alaska Public Offices Commission holds hearings Tuesday on campaign disclosure complaints against three statewide candidates.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage Assembly to hear proposal capping city department staffing Tuesday

Anchorage departments have topped their budgeted staffing five years running. An Assembly proposal would make them get permission first. Hearing Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Air Guard helicopter rescues pilot after crash 35 miles north of JBER

A pilot had minor injuries after his single-engine plane crashed north of JBER on Oct. 1. A Guard helicopter crew flew him to an Anchorage hospital.

by Alaska News1mo ago1 min read

Doctoral student from Wales and Nome wins BSNC's Tim Towarak Memorial Scholarship

Aapiaq Cheryl Ongtowasruk, who grew up in Wales and Nome, won BSNC's $10,000 Tim Towarak scholarship for her doctoral work on intergenerational learning.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Anchorage judge sentences Mario Jackson to 198 years for 2025 double murder

Anchorage Superior Court Judge Jack R. McKenna sentenced Mario Jackson to 198 years, the maximum possible term, for the October 2025 shooting deaths of two people in Anchorage.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

North Pacific council's SSC keeps snow crab buffer at 40%, not 50%

Alaska's Bering Sea snow crab catch ceiling rises to 12.73 kilotons after the North Pacific council's science committee kept a 40 percent safety buffer instead of increasing it to 50 percent.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Alaska proposes Medicaid coverage of traditional healing through Tribal health programs

Alaska seeks federal approval to cover traditional healing through Tribal health programs under Medicaid starting in 2028, with public comment due Nov. 4.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

State tentatively approves Pitkas Point cemetery lease

The state tentatively approved a no-rent, 55-year lease of 1.15 acres to Pitka's Point's tribal council for a public cemetery. Comments are due Oct. 28.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 28

Ship Creek moose permits available online only starting Tuesday

Fish and Game opens 100 Ship Creek moose permits online Tuesday at 8 am. Last year the hunt closed after 12 days; in 2015, after four. Bring your legs.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

State presents $5.63 billion transportation plan Tuesday, seeks public comment

Alaska's draft four-year transportation plan commits $5.63 billion, $130 million more than it counts on. Anchorage planners have notes. Comments due Oct. 29.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Bering Sea Interior Tribal Commission tribes sign agreement forming a USDA conservation district

Tribes of the Bering Sea Interior Tribal Commission signed an agreement Oct. 1 forming a USDA tribal conservation district to set local conservation priorities.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Oct 1

Bridge inspections close a lane on West Dimond Boulevard in Anchorage

The right lane of westbound W Dimond Boulevard near Carnelian Street is closed until 6 pm Monday, Oct. 5 for bridge inspections.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Two drivers hospitalized after four-vehicle crash at Seward Highway mile 74

Two drivers were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after a four-vehicle crash at Seward Highway mile 74 on Thursday when rain and snow caused a Prius to lose control.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Oct 1

Planners urge dropping Seward Highway and 5th and 6th rebuilds unless state's numbers add up

Anchorage planners want the Seward Highway rebuild and the 5th and 6th rebuild cut from the long-range plan unless the state's numbers add up. Vote Oct. 15.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readFrom Oct 1

LaFrance names Lynn McNamara to Anchorage library board seat

Mayor LaFrance appointed former school librarian Lynn McNamara to the Anchorage Library Advisory Board, with Assembly confirmation set for Tuesday, Oct. 6.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Anchorage Assembly weighs selling Westpark school site for housing

Anchorage may sell the 53.8-acre Westpark school site in Southwest Anchorage for housing and give the money to the school district.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read