Southcentral
RSSSouthcentral region news
Cities & Areas
UAA trains rural school workers to become teachers without leaving home
A UAA apprenticeship lets rural school workers become licensed teachers without leaving home, one answer to out-migration, though results aren't yet shown.

Senate majority to regulators: reconsider the rejected gas storage project, and make BlueCrest produce
Senate majority members want a rejected gas storage project revisited and an idle Cook Inlet lease produced — amid a fight over who fixes the gas crunch.

The Blue Angels headlined JBER's Arctic Thunder, their first Anchorage show since 2016
The Blue Angels headlined JBER's Arctic Thunder this weekend — their first Anchorage show since 2016 — with free thrills, big crowds and days of jet noise.

A pilot survives an upside-down plane crash in the Kenai refuge
A pilot survived a crash that flipped his plane upside down in the trees of the Kenai refuge Sunday, then texted 911 himself to say he wasn't seriously hurt.

Cordova faces a thin ferry winter with four vessels in overhaul
Cordova, with no road out, faces a thin ferry winter as four Alaska Marine Highway vessels go into overhaul, one of them out for most of the season.

Anchorage's camping ordinance produces plenty of compliance — but few people taking services, and homelessness still visible
Anchorage police contacted 1,085 people under the camping ban since August 2025, but only 72 accepted services, raising questions about enforcement paired with outreach.

Anchorage's Women's Commission is building a survey to ask women what matters most
Anchorage's Women's Commission is building a survey to ask women citywide what issues it should tackle, partly to measure unreported abuse.

Alaska Senate Majority sets Anchorage press availability on stalled gas session
Alaska's fourth special session on the gas pipeline tax has gone two weeks without a vote, as a looming Cook Inlet supply cliff raises the stakes.

Anchorage pushes for an emergency boat launch on Turnagain Arm after a drowning
After a drowning where rescuers had no way to launch a boat, Anchorage is pushing for federal money to build an emergency water-access point on Turnagain Arm.

Prince William Sound's purse seine fleet stays closed, waiting on weather
Prince William Sound's seine fleet stays closed, grounded because the weather's too poor to fly the aerial surveys Fish and Game needs before it will open.

Heavy military flying returns over Anchorage as Red Flag-Alaska war games resume
Multinational war games return over Anchorage through Aug. 28 — expect concentrated jet noise on flying days. The last drew 2,100 troops and 75 aircraft.

Heat advisory covers Lower Matanuska Valley through Monday
I'm gonna be hot if you in the Matsu, don't be surprised if heat stroke finds you.

A hiker was carried off a Hatcher Pass trail, the second rescue there this summer
An incapacitated hiker was carried off a Hatcher Pass trail Thursday by four agencies — the second rescue on the same demanding route this summer.

ADF&G closes Northern District set gillnet fishing for 12 hours Monday
Alaska closes Northern District set gillnet fishing for 12 hours Monday to protect coho salmon escapement into Cook Inlet streams.

Palmer man arrested on DUI, refusal and 2021 warrant after Palmer-Wasilla Highway report
State Troopers arrested a Palmer man on DUI and refusal charges after a swerving report on Palmer-Wasilla Highway, and also served a 2021 warrant for DUI and weapons misconduct.

Anchorage Assembly weights resolution would back JBER buildout as base housing nears full
Anchorage weighs committing to planning for a military buildup of up to 1,050 personnel, on a base whose family housing is already 98% full.

A sockeye surge doubles the Fish Creek salmon limit for a week
A strong sockeye run means Fish Creek anglers can keep six salmon a day through Aug. 15 — double the usual limit — before it drops back to three.

Kodiak posts a 7% sales tax. Businesses effectively pay less than 3%
Kodiak advertises a 7% sales tax, but so much is exempt that businesses effectively pay under 3%, and the shrinking taxable base can't keep up with city costs.

Kodiak fish waste hauler is only applicant for former cannery site
A fish waste hauler is the only applicant for Kodiak's deteriorating former cannery site, and the city council must decide whether to sell.

A Kodiak homeowner takes his flooded yard to the borough board
A Kodiak homeowner is fed up with a too-small, often-clogged borough pipe flooding his yard, and he's taking his complaint to the service-area board Tuesday.

Matanuska Electric goes on taproom tour as members absorb rising rates and a looming gas cliff
MEA's CEO is hitting the taprooms to meet members — right as they absorb a rate hike, brace for 5%-a-year increases, and face a 2029 gas cliff.

Big Lake man charged with 21 theft counts after Mat-Su traffic stop
Big Lake man Jonathan Meeks faces 25 criminal counts after troopers found stolen credit cards, IDs, checks and prescription drugs in his impounded vehicle.

Yentna River crest ties to flood risk for Lake Creek lodges
Yentna River crested at 22.52 feet Thursday near Lake Creek, two feet above flood stage and high enough to push water into cabins at seven fishing lodges along the Western Susitna Valley.

Wasilla woman charged in storage-unit burglary that netted stolen firearms
A Wasilla woman faces 14 counts in a December storage-unit burglary that took multiple firearms, troopers say — with an accomplice still at large.

Father and daughter rescued by boat from Kenai River island at mile 73
A father and daughter stranded on a Kenai River island at mile 73 on July 27 when rising water cut off their return were rescued by boat the same day.

Kodiak will homeport the Coast Guard's first Arctic Security Cutters
Kodiak will homeport the Coast Guard's first two Arctic Security Cutters, part of a multibillion-dollar Arctic buildup, with a third headed to Seward.

A proposed cap would limit how high Mat-Su can set its property tax rate
A proposed ordinance would cap Mat-Su's areawide property tax rate at 7 mills, or $700 a year per $100,000 of value, capping what future assemblies could set.

The Legislature let local voters decide school board term lengths — and Mat-Su is first in line
Mat-Su asked the Legislature to let it extend school board terms, and got it: SB 143 becomes law by Aug. 12 unless vetoed, just before a borough vote to use it.

Lower Cook Inlet seiners are shut down while set netters keep fishing, days before the season ends
Lower Cook Inlet's purse seiners are shut down while set netters in the same district keep fishing, right as the salmon season closes out Aug. 15.

Upper Cook Inlet reopens to a one-king limit after a spring closure
Upper Cook Inlet anglers north of Bluff Point can keep one king salmon from Aug. 16 through Sept. 15, after a closure meant to protect declining king stocks.

Fewer than one in twenty Palmer voters turned out, the city's own packet shows
Fewer than one in twenty Palmer voters turned out in either phase of a municipal election, the city's own packet shows, though the figures are preliminary.

A Chugach substation rebuild draws a neighbor's concern over transformers near a home
A Chugach substation rebuild in south Anchorage draws a neighbor's concern over two nearby transformers, with a hearing before the planning commission Monday.

Magnitude 5.6 quake northwest of Skwentna felt across Anchorage and Mat-Su
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake near Skwentna was felt across Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley on Saturday night, with no damage reported so far.

Cook Inlet's oil and gas discharge rules expired in 2021, and EPA is finally rewriting them
The rules for what oil and gas exploration can discharge into federal Cook Inlet waters expired in 2021 and have run on an extension. EPA is rewriting them.

Potter Drive designs test Anchorage guidance on in-street bike lanes
Anchorage planners will review four design options for Potter Drive that would add its first sidewalks and bike lanes, though two conflict with a city plan recommending a separated bikeway.

A Larsen Bay spillway is 'nearing failure' and unfunded in Kodiak's list
A spillway supplying Larsen Bay's water and power is "nearing failure," but the $1.2 million fix isn't funded and ranks sixth, in Kodiak's out-year pile.

The state is drilling test holes for a Seward Highway fix, as a bigger $1.5 billion plan draws fire
The state is rebidding a routine Seward Highway drilling job, but the real fight is a $1.5 billion rebuild up the road that critics call oversized.

Bethel man arrested for DUI near Cooper Landing after a REDDI report
A driver reported swerving into oncoming traffic near Cooper Landing was arrested on a DUI charge Friday night, flagged through the state's REDDI line.

Kodiak is projected to lose about 1,200 residents by 2045 as young adults leave
Kodiak is projected to lose about 1,200 people by 2045, shrinking every census since 2000 as young adults leave — numbers one business owner called "scary."

Kodiak moves to bump standby pay for police as staffing runs tight
Kodiak would raise police standby pay from two hours to three, citing tight staffing and heavy reliance on officers staying on call. The council votes Thursday.
