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Thursday, Jul 16
Copper River stays closed to commercial fishing as Chinook run tracks weak
Copper River commercial salmon fishing stays closed through at least Saturday as Chinook counts track weak, though subsistence fishers get a 12-hour window Thursday morning.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Chugach Electric proposes 3.5% rate hike to cover $11.2 million shortfall
Chugach Electric seeks a 3.5% rate increase to cover an $11.2 million shortfall, adding about $4.55 to typical monthly bills, with a decision expected by November 2026.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Hikers take two days. Crow Pass runners do it in hours
The Crow Pass Crossing sends 150 runners 23.5 miles across glaciers, brush, and a cold river Saturday, with no aid stations. Hikers take two days; the fastest finish in about three hours.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Anchorage's Assembly weighs censure — or removal — of George Martinez
The Anchorage Assembly votes Tuesday on two paths for George Martinez after a state ethics order — censure and close it, or launch removal proceedings. It's never done either in 50 years.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Wednesday, Jul 15
Anchorage weighs $4M in park fencing as it works to hold reclaimed space
Anchorage votes July 21 on up to $4M in park fencing — a routine-looking contract that lands as the city works to hold parks it cleared of homeless camps.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Anchorage's landfill needs $1.9 million in new heavy equipment
Can you believe it equipment gets old! Womp Womp
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
A downtown Anchorage race with trail miles and maybe a Denali view
Anchorage's Skinny Raven Half & 10K hits the Delaney Park Strip Sunday — trail miles, maybe a Denali view, and an easy one to spectate. Sign up before prices jump Thursday night.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
A collapsing salmon season could force Cordova to cut services this winter
Cordova's budget runs on fishing-fleet fuel taxes. With Prince William Sound's pink salmon a no-show, a council member is warning of service cuts this winter.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
More from Southcentral
A tiny Alaska post office runs out of a cabin, and the state wants to keep it
Skwentna's post office runs out of a private cabin at a fly-in airport, and the state just moved to renew the lease keeping it open.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Anchorage tightens the rule on city workers' holiday pay
Anchorage is tightening its holiday-pay rule for city workers: miss any part of the shift before or after a holiday and you forfeit the pay. It hits six city unions, up for a July 21 vote.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
A free Palmer class to turn beginners into bird hunters
Free Fish and Game class in Palmer turns bird-hunting beginners into hunters in a day — guns, ammo, and dogs included. Season's already open.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Kodiak conservation district seeks permit to spray glyphosate in Buskin watershed
Plant plant go away come get another day. Or, you don't have to.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Kodiak Island Borough opens candidate filing for October 6 election
Ever wanted to run for Office now is your chance, sport. Step on. up to the plate! Why even you could be a politician here in the fine town of Kodiak! Ever dreamed of having your name and lights?!
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Anchorage Assembly set to vote July 21 on nearly $3M landfill tipping building contract
Anchorage Assembly votes July 21 on a $2.99 million contract to replace the 40-year-old public tipping building at the Eagle River landfill, with work to finish in 180 days.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
Alaska's worst-ever syphilis outbreak is now reaching newborns
Alaska is in its worst syphilis outbreak ever, up twentyfold since 2016 — and it's now reaching babies. A record 14 newborns were born with it in 2025, though it's preventable with prenatal testing.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Chitina dipnet fishery opens full 168 hours July 20–26 as salmon surplus builds
The Chitina dipnet fishery opens for a full week starting July 20 as salmon counts finally hit targets. King salmon remain off-limits.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo 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
Strong sockeye at China Poot, but clammers now need a permit before heading out
Alright! So China poot this weekend, who's in??!
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Kodiak rockfish rules now cap single-species harvest, push anglers to deeper water
Kodiak sport anglers now face species-specific rockfish caps through year-end, limiting black rockfish to two per day, pushing them to fish deeper water as stocks decline from charter pressure.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Fish Creek sport fishery closes today; dipnet opening possible if counts hold
Fish Creek sport fishery closes today, but Alaska residents could dipnet sockeye starting late July if ADF&G counts exceed 35,000 salmon in coming days.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
U.S. Senate stalls defense bill, freezing $2.6B for Alaska
The Senate blocked its defense bill — and $2.6B in Alaska military work with it — over the Iran war and Pentagon spending. Both AK senators voted yes.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Anchorage trades summer warmth for a cool, wet stretch
Anchorage is trading peak-summer warmth for a cool, wet stretch — near-60 highs, repeated rain into next week, and jacket weather at the low end of July's normal range.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Anchorage has become Russian shorthand for a disputed Ukraine understanding
Russia keeps calling the 2025 Anchorage summit the birthplace of a Ukraine peace deal. The U.S. says it produced a proposal, not an agreement.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Permanent daylight time would push Anchorage's winter sunrise past 11 a.m.
If daylight saving goes permanent, Anchorage's winter sunrise slides to 11:14 a.m. and Fairbanks nearly to noon. Darker mornings, later afternoons — pick your clock.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Yentna River forecast to crest above flood stage tonight
The Yentna River near Lake Creek is set to crest above flood stage Wednesday night, sending water into several cabins — in a roadless area reachable only by bush plane and boat.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Kodiak developer's conservation rezone draws a refuge objection
A Kodiak developer wants to rezone 20 lots into six under a Conservation District; the neighboring wildlife refuge is raising objections. But what don't the feds raise objections about?
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Tuesday, Jul 14
Anchorage weighs $528,000 for addiction, homelessness, and disability care
Anchorage is set to accept ~$528,000 in grants for opioid treatment, homeless outreach, and disability services — the last one patching three years of state funding cuts.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Anchorage Assembly to consider beer and wine permit for golf simulator on Old Seward Highway
Anchorage Assembly votes Tuesday on beer and wine sales at Mulligan's golf simulator on Old Seward Highway, with the administration recommending approval.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Kodiak weighs selling four parcels, including its ballfields
Kodiak's Lands Committee will consider selling four borough parcels July 20, including Killarney Hills, a 16-acre site with two shared baseball fields that faces wetland and sewer obstacles.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
BLM's Campbell Tract replanting job is open only to women-owned firms
Want to grow 1,710 plants to heal a retired Campbell Tract trail? You'll need a women-owned firm — it's a federal set-aside. Quotes due July 24.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Environmental groups rally against a wave of proposed Alaska data centers
Two Alaska environmental groups are rallying in Fairbanks against a wave of proposed data centers — and the lack of any statewide rules for them.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Alaska won up to $160M to hunt critical minerals with AI and microbes
UAF will lead a new NSF innovation engine — up to $160M over 10 years — using AI and microbes to find Alaska's critical minerals. SCIENCE!!
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Wasilla's mayor is termed out, and the first candidate to replace her just filed
Wasilla's mayor is term-limited, so the seat's open this fall — and Stu Graham is first to signal a run, filing before the July 20–31 window even opens.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Ship Creek reopens to fishing Tuesday, but ADF&G bans king retention for rest of season
Ship Creek is back open after 11 days — just don't expect to keep a king, because retention's banned for the rest of the season.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Yentna and Skwentna rivers headed for high water
Rain's about to shove the Yentna and Skwentna to bankfull — so if your camp is on a gravel bar this week, it's about to become a sandbar with a view of the bottom.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Four Kodiak residents vie for an open Assembly seat
Four Kodiak residents are up for an open Assembly seat, and the Assembly picks one Thursday night — winner sworn in on the spot, serving until October's election.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
As federal wetland protections recede, Anchorage rewrites its own rules
After the Supreme Court pulled federal protection off more than half the nation's wetlands, their fate now falls to states and cities — and no state has more wetlands than Alaska.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Anchorage moves to allow homes on commercial land
Anchorage wants to let you build a house on commercial strip-mall land — the latest zoning tweak in its long slog toward 10,000 new homes.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Manokotak man arrested on murder charge after fishing-site death
A Manokotak man died after being struck in the head with an anchor during a fishing-site altercation on June 26. Another Manokotak man faces murder and manslaughter charges.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago1 min read
Juneau's new casino, and the land the city can't reach
Juneau's first casino opened on sovereign Native allotment land, through a legal door ANCSA was built to close and the courts haven't settled. The city can't even regulate it.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
The $100 million question inside Alaska's gas-line bill
Should Hilcorp pay the oil tax ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips already do? It's worth $100M-plus a year — but critics warn taxing Cook Inlet's gas supplier could backfire.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
