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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.
by Melinda Communities.News3w ago1 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Mat-Su explores building the troopers a new home and leasing it back
Mat-Su is exploring building troopers a $13 million facility and leasing it back. Troopers now work from six buildings never designed for police work.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Kodiak Assembly takes up its vacancy rewrite Thursday, with the public hearing Sept. 17
Kodiak Island Borough Assembly will introduce Thursday an ordinance that would start the clock for filling vacant seats the day a resignation is accepted and allow electronic applications.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Two candidates file on the last day for Kenai Peninsula Borough offices
Two more candidates filed on the last day for Kenai Peninsula Borough offices, including one seeking an Assembly seat that has been sitting vacant.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Hilcorp wants to plug five Cook Inlet wells for good
Hilcorp asked the state to dissolve a Cook Inlet unit and permanently plug five of nine wells at an offshore platform, as the basin runs short of gas.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago2 min read
A barge of secondhand equipment is bringing a military antimony refinery to Port MacKenzie
A barge of secondhand refining gear is headed for Port MacKenzie to start a $43.4 million military project for a metal the US stopped mining in the 1990s.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago3 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Purse seining is finished for the year in Lower Cook Inlet
Purse seining ended for the year in Lower Cook Inlet. The Outer and Eastern districts closed at 10 pm Monday, and the advisory gives no reason.
by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Motorcyclist critically injured in Kalifornsky Beach Road crash near Kasilof
A motorcyclist struck a turning pickup truck on Kalifornsky Beach Road near Kasilof on Monday and was flown to Seattle with life-threatening injuries.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
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.
by Melinda Communities.News3w ago1 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago4 min read
Matanuska Electric's next CEO inherits a gas contract that expires in 2029 and years of rising bills
Clay Koplin takes over as Matanuska Electric CEO on Jan. 7, 2027, as the cooperative braces for rising natural gas costs that could push member bills up 5% yearly for three years.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago2 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago1 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago1 min read
Kenai Elks Lodge RV spaces get a city permit after years without one
Kenai Planning and Zoning Commission approved a conditional use permit for six RV spaces at the Elks Lodge that operated without one for years.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago1 min read
Kelp that washes up on Cook Inlet beaches can now be harvested and sold
Kelp that washes up on Cook Inlet beaches can now be harvested and sold, up to 86,000 pounds. Beachcombers are still capped at 10 gallons a day.
by Alaska News4w ago1 min read
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.
by Alaska News4w ago2 min read
Mat-Su assembly member puts possible school closures on Sept. 8 joint agenda
Mat-Su Assembly and School Board will discuss possible school closures Sept. 8 after enrollment dropped 2,153 students since 2018.
by Alaska News4w ago1 min read
Kenai Peninsula planning commission to hear Cohoe road vacation Sept. 14
Kenai Peninsula planning commission will hear a petition Sept. 14 to vacate Keyros Avenue in Cohoe, with the borough assembly retaining veto power over any approval.
by Alaska News4w ago1 min read
Assembly candidate Berga discloses North Slope job, Kenai Fish stake
Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly candidate Nathan Berga disclosed North Slope oilfield income and ownership of a Soldotna fishing business in a financial filing Monday.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago1 min read
ENSTAR raised its gas line relocation estimates and Mat-Su road budgets absorb the cost
ENSTAR nearly doubled its estimates on eight Mat-Su road projects. The borough has to absorb it, and there is no other gas utility it could call.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago1 min read
Mat-Su Assembly rejects lowering its property tax cap to 7 mills
Mat-Su's Assembly rejected lowering its tax cap to 7 mills after the borough warned it would force $22 million in cuts — schools and ambulances included.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago1 min read
Mat-Su sets aside Zero Lake Road land for a future shooting range
Mat-Su set aside land for a shooting range over a year of neighbor objections. One cabin owner's structure sits about 1,000 feet downrange.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago1 min read
Kenai will pay a high school pool's utility bills to keep it open another year
Kenai will pay $46,400 of a high school pool's utility bill to keep it open one more year. The swim club's hourly rate more than doubles.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago2 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago1 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago1 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago2 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago1 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago1 min read
Homer Spit seafood plant lease passes to Silver Bay at unchanged $69,877 rent
Homer City Council approved a lease transfer of the seafood processing plant on the Homer Spit to Silver Bay Seafoods-Valdez, LLC, keeping the annual rent at $69,877 through 2036.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4w ago1 min read
Circle man arrested on first-degree murder charge in shotgun death
Alaska State Troopers arrested a Circle man on a first-degree murder charge after a fatal shotgun shooting at a residence Friday evening.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4w ago1 min read