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Wednesday, Aug 5
Two former colleagues split over whether Ballot Measure 1 curbs big money or just reroutes it
Two former legislative colleagues split over Ballot Measure 1: Schrage says restoring donation caps curbs big money, Carpenter says it caps small money while leaving unlimited outside spending untouched. Voters decide Aug. 18.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Troopers detain 49 people at one Wasilla house during a drug-warrant search
49 people, one Wasilla house, one very eventful drug warrant: an arrest on scene, a runner nabbed on a federal warrant, and more charges on the way.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
The road to Bear Valley Elementary would narrow, and won't fix the jam
The road to Bear Valley Elementary already backs up at pickup, so the plan is to make it narrower — which, the project admits, won't fix the jam.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Winter ferry bookings open on the system that's the only road many Alaska towns have
Winter ferry bookings are open on the Alaska Marine Highway — the federally funded "road" for the four-in-five Alaska towns with no highway — even as some communities say this winter's schedule is still too thin.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Alaska will cover district travel to a school safety summit
Alaska will cover districts' travel to a September school safety summit in Anchorage — even as many face budget deficits and a staffing crisis.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Alaska's freight system was built to ship oil out. Now it's about getting packages in.
Alaska's freight network is shifting from moving oil out to bringing online-shopping deliveries in, as pipeline throughput slides and e-commerce surges through Anchorage.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Homer electric members get a small break while Interior faces a big spike
Homer electric members are paying about $3.30 less since July 1 — a rare bit of good news, while Interior members brace for a 62% cost-of-power spike.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A separated path toward Hatcher Pass would get walkers and cyclists off Palmer-Fishhook Road's dangerous shoulders
A planned 8.5-mile path would finally get walkers and cyclists off Palmer-Fishhook Road's white-knuckle shoulders — if the Mat-Su Borough can pull together the $4.5 million to build it.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
More from Southcentral
A Northwest think tank has ideas for Anchorage housing
A Seattle think tank that advocates for denser housing is recommending Anchorage zoning changes, one of which the city already adopted in 2025.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Tuesday, Aug 4
A protected Potter Marsh hillside faces access questions at an Aug. 10 hearing
A 303-acre hillside feeding Potter Marsh is permanently protected, so the debate now is over access — where trails and parking go, and which neighborhood streets take the traffic. A 20-year plan gets a hearing Aug. 10.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Wasilla resident gets gas station to study sidewalk on school bus route
A Wasilla resident got a new gas station to study building a sidewalk on a street where kids walk to the bus. The commission also OK'd a youth mental health facility.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Juneau Assembly amends senior hardship tax test to 300% poverty line
Juneau Assembly raised the income limit for senior and disabled veteran property tax hardship exemptions to 300% of federal poverty guidelines, broadening eligibility for tax relief.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago3 min read
70 homes, one way out: Wasilla weighs fixing a risky railroad crossing on Lucille Lake
Over 70 Lucille Lake homes share one risky way out — a steep rail crossing that's also the only path for fire and ambulance. Wasilla eyes $5.25M to fix it.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Mat-Su voters will decide whether the borough can tax valley-wide for big road projects
Mat-Su voters will decide Nov. 3 whether the borough can use borough-wide taxes to build big road projects no single service area can afford — with debate over whether it shifts money from urban to rural areas.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Federal money, not oil, drove half of Alaska's growth — and now it's shrinking
Turns out the oil state runs on Washington's checkbook: federal money, not crude, drove half of Alaska's growth — and it's now shrinking.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Alaska lost 15.8% of its federal civilian workers in two years, ISER economist reports
Alaska lost 15.8% of its federal civilian workers in two years, more than the national rate, mostly through buyouts rather than firings, hitting rangers and field staff hardest.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
About Southcentral
Southcentral Alaska is the region of the state centered on Anchorage, its population center and transportation hub. It spans the Kenai Peninsula, the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet, and reaches communities such as Kenai, Soldotna, Homer, Seward, Cordova, Palmer, Wasilla and Eagle River.
Much of the region's civic life runs through the Anchorage Assembly, the Kenai Peninsula and Matanuska-Susitna borough assemblies, and city councils. Questions of housing and zoning come up often, along with who pays to extend water and sewer lines to building sites. School budgets, road safety on its highways and oil and gas operations in Cook Inlet also return.
The Kenai River and Cook Inlet tie the region to fishing, and the Parks Highway and Seward Highway link its communities. Windstorms that cut power and trooper reports from the Matanuska-Susitna area are common subjects as well.
More from Southcentral
Alaska moves to hand four more land tracts to a housing agency, no bidding required
Alaska is proposing to transfer four more state land tracts to its housing agency without competitive bidding — part of an ongoing push to turn public land into housing development.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Anchorage school board bets its emergency reserve on money that may not come
The Anchorage School Board will vote Tuesday on spending nearly all its emergency reserve to reopen 45 positions, betting on state money that isn't guaranteed until Aug. 31.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Weak coho run cuts Little Susitna limit to one fish, bans bait
A weak coho run cut the Little Susitna limit to one fish and banned bait through Sept. 30, with just 438 fish counted against a goal of over 9,200.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
FAA retires two Alaska flight routes in a satellite-navigation shift
The FAA will retire two Alaska flight routes Oct. 29 and extend a third, part of a shift from ground-based to satellite navigation over non-radar terrain.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Kodiak has until Oct. 2 to weigh in on Terror Lake relicensing
Kodiak residents have until Oct. 2 to tell FERC what to study as Terror Lake Hydro seeks relicensing — a review touching power costs and the river.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
A free hut near Snowbird Glacier could get a new 10-year state lease
A free backcountry hut near Snowbird Glacier — no membership, just get yourself there — could keep going under a new 10-year state lease.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Barrow man faces a meth charge after 14 grams found in impounded SUV
A driver stopped near Girdwood faces a new felony meth charge after troopers found just over 14 grams of methamphetamine in his impounded SUV.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Legislators to hear the case for a gas line as the effort stalls
A minority caucus will host an Anchorage gasline listening session with only supporters, as the effort sits stalled in a third special session with no bill.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Anchorage Assembly weighs 10-year tax break for condos above shops and offices
Anchorage weighs a 10-year property-tax break for buyers of new condos above shops to spur housing, but critics ask whether the price cap lets it build much.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Troopers and corrections officers recruit at the Mat-Su Job Center
Two Alaska public-safety agencies are recruiting at the Mat-Su Job Center in Wasilla — State Troopers on Wednesday, corrections officers every Friday.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Chugach seeks industrial zoning for its campus, dropping a buffer
Chugach wants to rezone its Anchorage North Campus to heavy industrial to match its use, dropping a green buffer meant for a highway that likely won't come.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Rerouted trail restores hiker access to Root Glacier in Wrangell-St. Elias
Root Glacier is reachable again in Wrangell-St. Elias on a rerouted trail, longer and steeper than the old one, after landslide hazards closed the original approach.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Filing deadline nears for Kodiak's October election, with an Assembly seat already open
Kodiak Island Borough residents have until 3 p.m. Aug. 17 to file for the Oct. 6 election — with seats open on the Assembly, School Board and service area boards, including one already-vacant Assembly seat.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Gold-exploration filings cluster in a historic Interior district
Three gold-exploration applications landed within six days in the historic Valdez Creek district, a small rush in an area that's produced gold since 1903.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Governor's disaster declaration unlocks state aid for Talkeetna flooding
Talkeetna flooding washed away a home and damaged others, and residents want a permanent fix, not another study. The state has authorized disaster assistance for the immediate response.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Troopers arrest nine on drug charges during Salmonfest in Ninilchik
Troopers arrested nine at Salmonfest, eight on felony drug distribution charges, though the dispatch names no one and gives no drug quantities.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readFrom 
Anchorage advisory committees could lose the ability to write officials on their own
Anchorage's three AMATS citizen advisory committees would need staff and higher-committee sign-off before writing elected or federal officials, under a policy up Thursday.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Utqiagvik weighs a change to how it taxes marijuana
Utqiaġvik might tax your weed. The council won't say how much, and neither will the packet.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Anchorage may let buyers own a detached home outright where condos are now the norm
Anchorage may let buyers own detached houses outright in more residential zones — a change aimed at helping people dodge the financing hurdles of buying a condo. The Assembly decides.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Interior Alaska's spring-thaw weight limits lift Wednesday for haulers
Spring-thaw weight limits are lifting on Interior Alaska roads Wednesday — haulers can apply for overweight permits again, but full loads aren't automatic.
by Alaska News3mo ago1 min read
Parks Highway delays ease on one stretch, but not the next
Parks Highway traffic control is gone between MP 322 and 325 after a haul-truck crossing opened, but the next stretch south still has speed limits and diversions until 2028.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
The little Kachemak Bay lab watching Alaska's ocean for 70 years
A NOAA-UAF marine lab has studied Kachemak Bay for nearly 70 years — acidification, algal blooms, shellfish. A seawater permit keeps its tanks running.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Monday, Aug 3
Mat-Su commission backs the $9 million road route over the $30 million one
Mat-Su's planning commission backed a $9 million southern road route over a northern one pegged at up to $31 million, overruling a staff recommendation. The assembly decides next.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Utility warns of rolling blackouts in Southcentral as soon as this winter
At a Municipality of Anchorage press conference last week, MEA's CEO warned that Southcentral could see rolling blackouts as soon as November if Cook Inlet gas falls short — the first time in 45 years he says he can't guarantee power.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
