Southcentral
RSSSouthcentral region news
Places
Local organizations and topics
Numbers are stories in the last 30 days.
Have a story from Southcentral? Send a tip
Monday, Jul 27
Anchorage Platting Board to weigh Girdwood plat note removal Aug. 5
Anchorage Platting Board will vote Aug. 5 on removing a vegetation screening requirement from a Girdwood lot, which would free space for multifamily housing at 116 Kami Circle.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Federal awards to Alaska pass $14 billion this fiscal year
Alaska has drawn $14 billion in federal awards this fiscal year — about $19,000 per resident — and added roughly $270 million of it in the past week.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Sunday, Jul 26
Anchorage may let duplex owners sell half the house and its land
Anchorage may let duplex owners in single-family zones sell one unit and its land as its own lot — more housing, plus questions about running a split lot.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
A missing Wasilla man was found alive in a car in Delta Junction
A Wasilla man missing since July 21 was found alive in Delta Junction — in a car that had sat parked for nearly a day before anyone checked.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Whale permit for Ketchikan bridge counts down to the single animal
Federal regulators will let a Ketchikan bridge project disturb up to 63 humpback whales. Last season's number was 62. Nobody filed a comment either way.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Measles turns up in Anchorage wastewater
Measles RNA showed up four times in Anchorage wastewater this month. No case has been confirmed, and clinicians are told to isolate suspected patients on sight.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Federal rule changes loosen protections for Alaska's listed species
New federal rules quietly loosen Endangered Species Act protections just as Alaska's development push accelerates, with belugas, polar bears and eiders in the balance.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Alaska's stacked weekend of BIG EVENTS
Get out of your house. Like, summers gonna be done soon. What're you waiting for?
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
More from Southcentral
Wasilla man, 83, arrested after allegedly pulling handgun on EMTs
Wasilla man Frank Bird, 83, was arrested on a warrant charging four counts of third-degree assault after he pulled a handgun on two EMTs and friends who came to help him after a fall on July 18.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Copper River stays closed to commercial fishing as sockeye run under forecast
Copper River stays shut to commercial fishing as sockeye lag forecast; the only opening on the books is a 12-hour subsistence period Monday morning.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Saturday, Jul 25
Former Anchorage Assembly member Karen Bronga killed in Sterling Highway crash
Former Anchorage Assembly member Karen Bronga passed away in a vehicular accident on July 24
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Small craft advisories hit Kodiak, Barren Islands waters through Sunday
Strong winds, caution to boats
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Talkeetna's erosion fight reaches a new stage: buying people off the riverbank
Talkeetna's erosion fight has reached buyout territory: the borough wants federal money to pay people off the riverbank, if the state covers the match.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
A Kodiak king salmon collapse is squeezing everyone who fishes
Just 93 king salmon reached the Karluk to spawn last year, against a goal of 3,000-plus. That collapse is why Kodiak's fleet is fishing on the clock.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Friday, Jul 24
Kodiak weighs sounding its tsunami sirens the moment a warning hits
Kodiak may set its tsunami sirens to sound the instant a warning hits, and let dispatch trigger them on local signs before any federal alert arrives.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Sitka Assembly reconsiders hatchery lease at Gary Paxton park
Sitka's Assembly takes another swing at leasing a chunk of the Gary Paxton park to a hatchery group, plus two more parcels up for private bids.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 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's senators split on Iran war powers, and Murkowski missed the vote
Murkowski has repeatedly broken with Trump to rein in the Iran war. Thursday she missed the vote, and Sullivan again voted no. The motion failed 47-49.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Mike Rowe helps mark a $250,000 gift to Seward's trade school
Mike Rowe showed up in Homer to help hand Seward's trade school a $250,000 Wells Fargo gift for scholarships and instructors.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Fatigue blamed in a Parks Highway rollover near Cantwell
A tired Florida driver rolled her vehicle near Cantwell on Thursday, the latest in a summer of crashes and closures on the Parks Highway. Injuries were minor.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Troopers waited two months after the traffic stop to make the arrest
Troopers stopped a Wasilla woman in May, took her car, and let the case build. They came back with a search warrant two months later.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Thursday, Jul 23
Removing an Assembly member takes 94 days and a supermajority
Anchorage published the map for removing an Assembly member: 94 days, a two-thirds vote, and the city pays the accused member's legal bills either way.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
West Petersville Road is washed out, and the creek won't let crews in
West Petersville Road is washed out at Kenny Creek with no reopening date — crews can't start until the water slows down enough to work in.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Wind Advisory keeps Isabel Pass dangerous through Thursday evening
Big wins through Isabel Pass, careful on the roads
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Four wind advisories cover Alaska through Thursday with gusts to 60 mph
Four wind advisories are up across Alaska — and in Anchorage, weeks of rain have left the ground soft enough that 50 mph gusts could bring trees down.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cook Inlet clammers need a permit, and the east-side beaches stay empty
You now need a permit to dig razor clams on Cook Inlet — though on the Kenai's east-side beaches, closed since 2015, there is almost nothing left to dig.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Alaska makers can claim a free booth at November's holiday market
Alaska makers can grab a free booth at Anchorage's holiday market in November. Applications close Sept. 18, and spots go first-come.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A dog reported killed in the Bear Valley bear attack turned up alive
The dog reported killed in Saturday's Bear Valley bear attack is alive and unhurt — another hiking party found it and brought it home.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
More than 100 land deals stand between Alaska and a safer KGB Road
Alaska can't fix KGB Road until it buys land from 100-plus owners. Elsewhere a Gustavus generator waits on a signature. Everything's sliding to 2027.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Anchorage faces federal funding freeze if transportation plan misses December deadline
Anchorage could lose the ability to start new road, trail, and transit projects in December — because the agency funding them can't agree on its border.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min readFrom 
Anchorage Assembly weighs how hard to investigate Martinez's travel
The Anchorage Assembly must pick between a quiet look at George Martinez's travel and a subpoena-backed investigation that could end in his removal.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min readFrom 
Fish Creek dipnet fishery opens Sunday for Alaska resident dipnetters
More fishing more fish
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min readFrom 
Alaska Senate passes LNG bill as Republicans warn it kills financing
Alaska's Senate passed its LNG bill 11-8, and Senate Republicans immediately said the added taxes and labor rules make the pipeline unfinanceable.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readFrom 
Alaska's interlibrary loan service moves to Juneau, with its funding uncertain
The 800 number rural Alaska libraries have called for 20 years is moving to Juneau — and if federal grant money dries up, it may not survive the move.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Water is over roads in the Lower Matanuska Valley
Heavy rain has the Little Susitna up and water over roads near North Sushana Drive, with a flood advisory for the Lower Matanuska Valley until Friday morning.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
The AI money came first. The data center moratorium came Thursday.
Days after AI money turned up in his filings, Kreiss-Tomkins called for a data center moratorium — one a governor has no power to directly impose.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
High water has Southcentral anglers waiting it out
Flooding has Southcentral anglers mostly sidelined — weirs underwater, creeks blown out, and 12-foot waves hitting the Kenai dipnet beaches.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
A power outage closed Anchorage state offices, public assistance included
A power outage closed the Ingra Street state offices in Anchorage at 1 p.m. Thursday, public assistance included, for the rest of the day.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A sinkhole swallowed a Seward Highway lane, and that lane is closed for a month
A sinkhole ate a northbound lane of the Seward Highway at Potter Marsh. Crews are on it around the clock — and it stays closed until August 24.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A 100 mph chase ended with a Palmer driver pinned against a tree
A 100 mph chase near Palmer ended with the driver upside down in a ditch, pinned against a tree. He was already wanted on four warrants.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Blanche brought Alaska $180 million. He may need Murkowski's vote.
Todd Blanche handed Anchorage the biggest settlement in its history this month. Now he needs Senate votes, and Murkowski hasn't said where she stands.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
