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September 2026
An Ahtna-owned company will demolish buildings at a West Virginia park
An Anchorage company owned by the Ahtna regional corporation will demolish abandoned buildings at New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
Federal orders reach Alaska's beef labeling and processing gaps
Alaska has 19,000 cattle, and just 772 went through federally inspected plants here last year. Two executive orders take up labeling and processing.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read
August 2026
An Anchorage firm maintains nine Florida federal buildings on a $25 million GSA deal
An Anchorage contractor won a $23,553 federal contract to fix a rusted floor and fire alarm at a Jacksonville courthouse, part of a nationwide backlog of $8.3 billion in delinquent repairs.
by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read
Wright and Dunleavy insist the Alaska LNG project is alive
At an Anchorage conference, the U.S. energy secretary and Gov. Dunleavy insisted the stalled Alaska LNG project is alive, pointing at different obstacles.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read
Supreme Court lets Trump's mail-voting order advance, but Alaska's rules are unchanged for now
The Supreme Court let Trump's mail-voting order advance but didn't rule it legal. Alaska's voting is unchanged for now; a separate order blocks the key piece.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read
A small Alutiiq village corporation near Kodiak has built a $200 million federal business
A company owned by Ouzinkie, an Alutiiq village corporation near Kodiak, has built a federal business topping $200 million, its biggest presence in Florida.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
An Anchorage firm runs facilities services for North Dakota's federal buildings
A company owned by Kodiak's Koniag corporation keeps federal buildings running across North Dakota, with the revenue flowing home to Alutiiq shareholders.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read
Northrim to buy Oregon bank, its first branches outside Alaska
Anchorage's Northrim Bank is expanding outside Alaska for the first time, buying an Oregon bank for about $167 million and 11 new branches.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
More from Outside Alaska
Ouzinkie village corporation wins courthouse contracts in Florida
A village corporation from a 110-person Alutiiq island is fixing courthouse restrooms in Florida. One of the five awards bought only a new contract number.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
An Anchorage firm will repair the State Department's headquarters
An Anchorage Alaska Native-owned firm won a federal order for emergency repairs to the State Department's headquarters — one of three out-of-state jobs.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Sullivan joins a national fight to strip California of its power to set tougher emissions rules
Sullivan has joined a national push to strip California of its power to set tougher emissions rules — a fight reaching 17 states, and one courts may decide.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
The Senate failed to advance a national voter photo-ID bill — and Alaska's ID rules are looser than most
The Senate fell short on a federal voter photo-ID bill Saturday, both Alaska senators for it — in a state where a hunting license still lets you vote.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Senate passes Russia sanctions bill 86-11; Murkowski and Sullivan vote yes
Senate passes Russia sanctions bill 86-11 with Murkowski and Sullivan voting yes, clearing the way for tariffs up to 500% on Russian goods and targeting energy sales to China and India.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
A program that lets people with ALS try experimental treatments just got five more years
A federal program that lets people with ALS try experimental treatments when they can't join a clinical trial just got five more years, in a bill Sen. Murkowski led through the Senate.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Sullivan plans to add an ad-transparency bill to kids' safety package
Sullivan plans to attach his ad-transparency bill — platforms would report on public-service ads and promote mental health help — to a kids' safety package.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Murkowski presses Interior on who's paying for Trump's Smithsonian signs
Sens. Murkowski and Merkley are pressing Interior on who's paying for Park Service signs, ordered by Trump, that would criticize a Smithsonian museum's own exhibits.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
About Outside Alaska
Outside Alaska covers places, institutions and events beyond the state's borders, from the Lower 48 to Washington, D.C. and other nations. These are matters that touch Alaska without being anchored in it.
Much of what happens Outside reaches Alaska through Congress, the White House and federal agencies, whose votes, confirmations, rules and funding decisions shape the state. Alaska's members of Congress vote on national questions such as nominations, artificial intelligence and voting rules, and federal agencies set terms for Native housing loans, Indian Health Service leadership and research grants.
Defense decisions made in Washington set the money for bases in Alaska. Global events such as oil price swings filter back into the state budget and household costs.
More from Outside Alaska
Senate bill co-led by Murkowski targets AI chatbot toys' risks to children
AI toys can be sold with no testing of what their chatbots tell kids — and testing found some explaining where to find pills and matches. A bipartisan Senate bill, co-led by Murkowski, targets that gap.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min read
Murkowski and Sullivan vote to advance an African trade bill
The Senate voted 89-4 Monday to advance a bill extending African trade benefits, with Alaska senators Murkowski and Sullivan both supporting it.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Betting apps take bets in Alaska as a Senate panel weighs the fallout
Prediction-market apps are taking sports bets in Alaska, where betting isn't legal. How much you wanna bet that it sticks around?
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
July 2026
For Alaska's rural broadband, federal permits are the bottleneck
Alaska has over $1B to build rural broadband. In a state 60% federal land, industry says the real holdup isn't money — it's getting permits to build.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago2 min read
Alaska science runs on NSF money, and the money has slowed
NSF has awarded 55% fewer grants than at this point in 2024 — a problem for a state whose Arctic research, and its new $160 million minerals engine, run on NSF money.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago2 min read
The CDC director vote is waiting on Lisa Murkowski
The Senate health committee couldn't vote on the next CDC director Thursday — Lisa Murkowski was out on a family emergency, and without her the votes weren't there.
by Alaska News3mo ago1 min read
Rural birth and nursing bills clear a Senate panel
A Senate panel advanced rural nursing and obstetrics bills — the kind that matter in a state where women fly to Anchorage a month before giving birth.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
VA research is losing staff and trials as Senate panel presses on $43M cut
No state has more veterans per capita than Alaska, which makes a Senate fight over VA research cuts a fight about roughly 1 in 10 Alaskans.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Senate confirms Westercamp to trade court; both Alaska senators vote yes
Both Alaska senators voted to put a White House lawyer on the court that hears tariff challenges — a court that matters a lot in a state shipping 70% of its fish abroad.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Alaska veterans fly to Seattle for cancer care. The Senate is arguing over why.
Alaska has more veterans per capita than any state and no VA cancer center. A Senate fight over precision oncology money decides who gets care close to home.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A cattle parasite Alaska will never see could still cost Alaskans
Screwworm can't survive an Alaska winter, but Alaskans buy beef from the herds it threatens — and we're last in line on price.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
The sea lions in Congress's salmon bill breed in Southeast Alaska
A House bill would expand sea lion removals to protect Columbia River salmon. The Steller sea lions involved breed on rookeries in Southeast Alaska.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Alaska's senators voted to let a Medicare AI pilot keep running
Alaska's senators voted last week to let an AI-driven Medicare prior-authorization pilot keep running, and backed a defense bill that stalled anyway.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Space Force nominee warns China's counter-space buildup is moving at 'breathtakingly fast' pace
A Space Force nominee told senators China is building anti-satellite weapons at alarming speed, justifying a proposed $71.1 billion budget that would nearly double the service's spending.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Democrats challenge Sonderling on overtime rollbacks, education transfers at HELP hearing
Senate Democrats challenged Keith Sonderling's nomination as Labor secretary over his rollback of overtime protections for millions of workers and his transfer of education programs to his department.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
A Washington pharmacy fight could hit Alaska's military families hardest
Alaska is full of military families on TRICARE — and a D.C. fight over its pharmacy contract could hit here hardest, where losing a local pharmacy means a plane ride or unreliable mail-order meds.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Begich votes to prohibit separate credit-card codes for gun stores
Begich helped pass a bill barring card networks from tagging gun-store purchases with a firearms-only code. In gun-heavy Alaska, that's a lot of receipts.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Permanent daylight time would push Anchorage's winter sunrise past 11 a.m.
If daylight saving goes permanent, Anchorage's winter sunrise slides to 11:14 a.m. and Fairbanks nearly to noon. Darker mornings, later afternoons — pick your clock.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
The federal unit handling Alaska's MMIP cases can't return a family's calls
The federal unit handling Alaska's missing and murdered Indigenous cases hasn't returned one family's calls in 10 months, a Crow Nation professor told Congress.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Sullivan backs a contested Trump border judge; Murkowski doesn't vote
Sullivan voted to confirm a Trump judge for a Texas border court — one who wouldn't say under oath that Biden won 2020. Murkowski didn't vote, and hasn't said why.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Sen. Lindsey Graham dies; Alaska's senators mourn a colleague
Sen. Lindsey Graham has died suddenly, and Alaska's Murkowski and Sullivan — who served alongside him for years — are among those mourning a prominent Senate Republican.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Trump declares Iran ceasefire over after U.S. strikes on Iranian targets
Trump declared a ceasefire with Iran over after U.S. strikes on Iranian targets overnight, saying he no longer wants to negotiate with the country.
by Alaska News4mo ago2 min read
The FAA wants to end the 50-year ban on supersonic flight — and Alaska has the sky for it
Supersonic flight over the U.S. has been banned since 1973. The FAA wants to lift it — and few states have more empty sky for boomless supersonic jets than Alaska.
by Alaska News4mo ago2 min read
Alaska's best shot at a new federal fertilizer grant is an idle Nikiski plant — if it can get the gas
A new $500M federal program funds fertilizer plants. Alaska's one real candidate — the idled Nikiski plant — is stuck on Cook Inlet's gas shortage, not on money.
by Melinda Communities.News4mo ago2 min read
