Southcentral

Mat-Su parent asks school board to protect the school nurses her son relies on

A Mat-Su mom told the school board her first-grader needs trained care every two hours and asked it to keep school nurses. A committee is weighing options.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

AIDEA board approves $75 million fiber company, bars partners on restricted lists

AIDEA's board created a $75 million company to buy into undersea fiber, hoping Alaska can stop being what the resolution calls a "data cul-de-sac."

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago3 min read

Follows: AIDEA board to vote on a $75 million company to invest in undersea internet cables

Wasilla council votes Monday on $200,000 contract for a new parks plan

Wasilla may pay $200,000 for a plan to guide its parks for 20 years. A city official already has a question: can sales tax keep paying for them?

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Wasilla council to vote Monday on a plan to fill Mayor Rubeo's old council seat

Wasilla's council votes Monday on how to fill the seat Mayor Alina Rubeo left behind. Applications would open Nov. 9, with interviews after Thanksgiving.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Federal judge convicts Brian Smith, serving time for two murders, of lying to get citizenship

A federal judge in Anchorage convicted Brian Smith, already serving 226 years for murdering two women, of lying on his citizenship bid.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Ermine Skate opens Midtown Anchorage storefront as founder receives legislative citation

Paxson Woelber opened Ermine Skate's new Anchorage shop, got a surprise legislative citation and cut the ribbon with a skate that isn't for sale yet.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago4 min read

Legal group drops deadline claim, asks judge to keep Judicial Council records suit alive

A D.C. legal group dropped the 10-day deadline its records suit against the Alaska Judicial Council leaned on, but told a judge the council still took too long.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Follows: Judicial Council seeks dismissal of DC group's suit over scoring records

Cordova council brings back $2 monthly 911 surcharge to help dispatchers find callers

Cordova is bringing back a $2 monthly charge per phone line to help 911 dispatchers find callers. For some low-income customers, that triples the bill.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago3 min read

Cordova council weighs charging nonprofits for city recreation facilities

Cordova lets nonprofits use about $45,000 a year in city facilities for free. The council talked about charging them Wednesday, then decided to keep thinking.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Cordova asks residents to push state to fully fund two road projects in 2027

Cordova's public works director wants residents to give the state "that little extra nudge" to fully fund two shovel-ready road projects. Comments end Oct. 29.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Cordova council backs carrying $1 million in unexpected revenue into 2027

Cordova got $1.6 million it never budgeted. The council wants to save about $1 million of it for 2027, when fish tax is expected to be "unprecedentedly low."

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Federal regulators give Seward cruise dock contractor another year to finish pile driving

Feds gave Seward's cruise dock contractor another year to finish its last 12 days of pile driving. The lone commenter wanted sound checks. The budget said no.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Kodiak herring food and bait fishery opens Oct. 26 with a 1,280-ton limit

Kodiak's herring food and bait fishery opens Monday with 1,280 tons up for grabs, 130 fewer than last year. Eastside still gets the biggest slice.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Police find no bombs after threats to five Anchorage schools; three campuses evacuated

Bomb threats were called in to five Anchorage schools Wednesday, and three evacuated. Police found no evidence of a bomb and believe the threats are unfounded.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read

Kenai man gets more than 14 years for conspiring to traffic fentanyl into Alaska by mail

A Kenai man who prosecutors called the region's main fentanyl supplier got more than 14 years for conspiring to mail over four kilograms of it to Alaska.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Mat-Su Assembly reverses vote, drops request for school to start after Labor Day

Two weeks after asking for a post-Labor Day school start, the Mat-Su Assembly took it back 1-6. Families picked August in the district's last survey anyway.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Follows: Mat-Su Assembly asks school board to start classes the day after Labor Day

Fish and Game's women's outdoor program offers a Dall sheep and goat hunting clinic Nov. 7

Fish and Game will spend a November Saturday teaching women to hunt Dall sheep and mountain goats, for $55. It's one of BOW's last Anchorage classes of 2026.

by Alaska News3w ago2 min read

Cordova's Bob Korn pool reopens Thursday after boiler repairs

Cordova's pool reopens Thursday after a boiler failure shut it again, about a month after it came back from a 16-month closure. The city thanked swimmers.

by Alaska News3w ago1 min read

Former Anchorage oilfield services manager gets 58 months for wire fraud and tax evasion

A federal judge sentenced former Anchorage oilfield manager James Wohlers to 58 months for wire fraud and tax evasion. He stole over $2.5 million while cutting employee pay.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Willow Commons stays full in its first six months, health department says

Willow Commons' 32 units have stayed full since March, and 27 of 58 residents finished treatment. The city's startup money for the operator ran out in July.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago3 min read

East 56 shelter will reach 200 beds by Nov. 30, a month earlier than last year

Anchorage will add East 56 shelter beds every other week to hit 450 citywide by Nov. 30, about a month before it reached 200 at East 56 last winter.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Troopers cite Nikiski man over out-of-season moose and missing harvest ticket

Troopers cited a Nikiski man over a spike bull moose they say he took out of season, without the free harvest ticket the state requires for general hunts.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read

Revised Chugach access board plan would bar CASA from taking over existing road upkeep

Anchorage Assembly leaders rewrote their Chugach access board plan again, barring the park access tax from taking over road upkeep. The hearing got bumped.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Kodiak baby-gear company wins eighth design patent, this time for a bottle warmer

A Kodiak baby-gear company patented the look of its bottle warmer Tuesday. That's eight design patents, after five teethers, a noise machine and a milk warmer.

by Alaska News3w ago2 min read

State and FEMA offer free training for Alaska's local floodplain officials

The state and FEMA will train newer local floodplain officials for free in Anchorage Dec. 1-4. Their rules are what keep federal flood insurance available.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read

Homer Electric bills rise about $8 a month as power cost charge climbs

Homer Electric raised its power cost charge Oct. 1, adding about $8 to an average monthly bill. It expects 117 days off the larger grid in the coming year.

by Melinda Communities.News3w ago2 min read

Anchorage School Board will pick interim superintendent from within ASD, vote in November

Want to be Anchorage's interim superintendent? You'd better already work for ASD. The board is taking internal applicants only, through Oct. 30.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readFrom Oct 16

Follows: ASD Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt says he will leave for Virginia district

Central Peninsula Hospital gets OK for an ear, nose and throat clinic in Soldotna

Central Peninsula Hospital plans an ear, nose and throat clinic, likely in 2027. A doctor warned that once the area's ENT retires, it's Anchorage or bust.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readFrom Oct 6

Anchorage judge refuses to dismiss lawsuit over voter list sent to DOJ

Anchorage judge Adolf Zeman let a lawsuit over Alaska's voter list sent to the DOJ move forward, weeks before the Nov. 3 election.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readFrom Oct 16

Anchorage's water utility could own the rights to most of the city's tap water in 2055

Most of Anchorage's tap water comes from a lake whose water rights belong to the hydro owners. A deal OK'd 12-0 lets the city's water utility own them in 2055.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Follows: Anchorage weighs Eklutna water deals after utilities decline to back its bid for a vote

Anchorage ordinance would make candidates disclose residency dates and tax exemptions

An Anchorage ordinance would make candidates for mayor, Assembly and School Board disclose home move-in dates and tax exemptions claimed.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Anchorage drops landfill injection well plan and turns to an evaporator for leachate

Anchorage's landfill trucks about 118,000 gallons of leachate a day to the sewer. Plan B for a 2028 state deadline: evaporate some of it with landfill gas.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago3 min read

Waterspout spins over Turnagain Arm hours after heavy wet snow hits Eagle River

A waterspout twirled over Turnagain Arm for 10-plus minutes Tuesday, after wet snow piled nearly 6 inches near Eagle River and barely stuck in west Anchorage.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read

Anchorage would give tax-exempt property owners 90 days to recertify instead of March 15

Anchorage wants tax-exempt property owners to recertify within 90 days of a request, not by March 15. A 2026 review of 60 found one that no longer qualified.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Whittier council will discuss culvert lawsuit in closed session before Nov. 17 meeting

Whittier council will discuss its culvert lawsuit against Eric Fleming in closed session before the Nov. 17 meeting. Fleming says the dispute has cost over $100,000.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Whittier council votes to seek federal block grant for a fire tender truck

Whittier's council voted 6-0 to seek up to $850,000 in federal block grant money for a fire tender truck, after a resident asked them to reopen the town poll.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Anchorage Assembly amends proposed police surveillance rules, then runs out of time

The Assembly agreed an administrative warrant isn't enough to share surveillance data the rules bar, made it easier to pause a tool, then ran out of clock.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago4 min read

Follows: Warrant rule for sharing police camera data splits Anchorage Assembly surveillance drafts

Downtown business leaders ask Anchorage Assembly to make police foot patrol permanent

Downtown business groups asked the Assembly to make APD's foot patrol permanent. The bed tax money paying for it is nearly gone, and the 2027 budget has none.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago3 min read

Follows: Anchorage's 2027 budget leaves out money for downtown police foot patrols

Mat-Su manager tallies $386 million in outside grants, led by $249 million rail award

Mat-Su Borough is getting $386 million in outside grants, led by $249 million to finish the Port MacKenzie rail extension.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Anchorage School Board votes to raze Abbott Loop, return Westpark on a nonbinding pledge

The school board will spend $3.96 million to knock down Abbott Loop and hand the city three properties. The Westpark payback is a pledge, not a guarantee.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago4 min read

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