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Eleven Sitka islands lose power for a day as crews swap a channel cable
Eleven islands off Sitka go dark for eight hours on July 31 while crews swap out an aging underwater cable. Charge everything Thursday night.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Sitka moves to fix its late-night ride problem
Sitka has few cabs, no Uber, and a hard time getting anyone to the airport. The city is rewriting its 1990s taxi rules to fix that.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Yakutat's Pacific ocean perch season closes after filling its quota
Yakutat's Pacific ocean perch season closed Wednesday after filling its 1,923-ton quota — the second West Yakutat rockfish fishery to wrap in a week.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Ketchikan Creek opens to dip netting for hatchery king salmon
Kings are closed across much of Alaska, but Ketchikan Creek just opened to dip netting for hatchery Chinook. Wild ones go back. Residents only, net in hand.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Southeast's Dungeness season closes early on a 25-year-low harvest
Southeast's summer Dungeness season closes three weeks early Saturday on the worst harvest estimate in 25 years. Sea otters are part of the long story.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Petersburg pushed back when the state pulled Sullivan off the ballot
Newly released letters show Petersburg residents demanding the state show its evidence for pulling their neighbor off the Senate ballot.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Yakutat's dusky rockfish season closes after filling its 150-ton share
Yakutat's dusky rockfish season is done for the year — 150 metric tons and out, right on the same July schedule as last year. Bycatch retention still allowed.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Whale permit for Juneau's fifth cruise dock issued with no public comment
Juneau has fought over its fifth cruise dock for six years. When the feds asked about letting construction disturb whales and sea lions, nobody said a word.
by Alaska Newsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Three salmon runs are down at once on Prince of Wales
Kings, coho, and pinks are all below average on Prince of Wales, and coho harvest is half last year's. The island needs rain to move fish into the creeks.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Past three miles, Alaskans fish like nonresidents
Alaskans lose resident fishing limits the moment they cross into federal water — and keeping a big lingcod inshore can shut you out of the EEZ entirely.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Hoonah just locked in 15 years of Disney ships
A Tlingit village of under a thousand people just guaranteed itself 15 years of Disney cruise ships — one a week through 2041.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
Too few goats, too easy to reach: South Baranof stays closed
South Baranof stays closed to goat hunting a second year running — too few goats, and too easy to get to, which is exactly the problem.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Juneau Assembly to weigh $1.5M negotiated sale of City Hall to Sealaska Heritage Institute
Juneau Assembly will vote on selling City Hall to Sealaska Heritage Institute for $1.5 million, down from the $2.5 million minimum the borough originally sought.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Heat advisory in effect for Ketchikan, Hyder, and Annette Island until 7 PM
Heat advisory in effect for Ketchikan, Hyder, and Annette Island until 7 PM tonight as temperatures approach 80 degrees, unusual for Southeast Alaska.
by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read
Tlingit artist warns AI hiring tools are already screening out job seekers of color
Tlingit photographer Larry McNeil warned that AI hiring tools already screen out job seekers of color, keeping them unemployed longer. • AI-generated artist statements are appearing in college applications, raising questions about authenticity in creative fields. • AI cannot replicate the precision of formline art, producing cartoonish results instead.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read
No Juneau beach is tested for the toxin in clams
No Juneau-area beach is regularly tested for the toxin in clams that can stop your breathing — and cooking does not destroy it.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A new committee would review how the Permanent Fund measures itself
How the Permanent Fund grades itself is contested — and trustees will weigh a new committee to review the benchmarks that decide the answer.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Sitka crosswalk art project brings morning delays to Lincoln Street starting Thursday
Volunteers paint decorative crosswalk art on Lincoln Street in Sitka Thursday and Friday mornings, expect delays as part of a pedestrian safety project.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
DNR extends geoduck farm lease near Ketchikan; comment period open
Alaska extended Tom Carruth's geoduck farm lease near Ketchikan for two more years, opening a 30-day public comment period that started June 23.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Juneau quarry seeks bigger blasts and longer hours through 2036
Juneau's Planning Commission will decide July 28 whether to let Stabler Point Quarry in Auke Bay blast bigger, run longer hours, and operate through 2036.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Juneau commission to review Chilkat Vistas Phase IV plat for seven Robbie Road lots
Juneau Planning Commission will review a proposal July 28 to create seven single-family lots on Robbie Road, completing a development cap set by a 2018 settlement agreement.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Southeast Alaska pink salmon counts fall far below average for fourth straight week
Pink salmon catches in Southeast Alaska have plummeted to 5 to 10 percent of normal for four weeks, prompting Fish and Game to consider cutting commercial fishing openings.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Pioneer Park main shelter closes mornings July 23-24 for volunteer work
Pioneer Park's main shelter closes 9 a.m. to noon Thursday and Friday, July 23-24, while volunteers including Outer Coast do maintenance work. The park itself stays open.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Juneau candidate filing closes July 27 for five Assembly and school board seats
Juneau candidates have until 4:30 p.m. Monday, July 27, to file for five Assembly and school board seats in the October 6 election.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Southeast troll Chinook season stretches into mid-July with half the quota still in the water
Southeast Alaska's commercial Chinook troll season is running longer than expected because fewer boats are fishing and catch rates are slow, leaving about half the quota still available in mid-July.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Juneau Assembly to take up ordinance making 5-ship cruise limit enforceable law
Juneau Assembly will introduce an ordinance July 27 to make the five-large-cruise-ship-per-day limit a binding municipal law instead of a voluntary agreement.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Senate bill would fast-track Army Corps engineering for Juneau's glacial flooding
A Senate bill would let the Army Corps of Engineers skip study steps and move straight to designing a permanent fix for Juneau's glacial lake flooding, which threatens nearly 1,900 homes each summer.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read
IHS picks Sitka and Bethel tribal health groups for first-ever elder care construction program
Indian Health Service picked Sitka and Bethel tribal health groups to build and expand skilled nursing facilities, the first time the federal program has funded long-term elder care in Alaska.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Sitka names sole finalist for municipal administrator, schedules public receptions
Sitka named Jenny Alber as sole finalist for municipal administrator and scheduled two public receptions July 26 and 27 before the Assembly votes on hiring.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Petersburg's Blind Slough opens fully to king salmon as hatchery return surpasses forecast
Petersburg's Blind Slough opens fully to king salmon fishing starting Saturday after Crystal Lake Hatchery's return beat forecasts and broodstock needs were met.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Sitka police tag 27 vehicles in abandoned-car crackdown since May
Sitka police have tagged 27 abandoned vehicles since May, removing 15 and giving owners up to 60 days to move or fix them before the city disposes of the car at their expense.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Glacier Bay cuts eastern Lower Bay speed limit to 13 knots to protect feeding humpbacks
Glacier Bay National Park cut the speed limit to 13 knots on the eastern Lower Bay starting Friday to protect humpback whales actively feeding there.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Sitka Assembly schedules child care work session for July 21
Sitka Assembly meets July 21 to tackle child care shortages that parents say are expensive and understaffed, and that hurt nearly two-thirds of local employers.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Alaska Senate passes HB 381 oil and gas tax bill 11-8, with dissenters signaling more work ahead
Alaska Senate passed HB 381, the main bill enabling AK LNG, 11-8 Thursday, but dissenters flagged unresolved questions about a new income tax on oil and gas pass-through entities.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Senate committee advances bill to give land to five landless SE Alaska Native communities
A Senate committee advanced a bill granting 115,000 acres to five landless Southeast Alaska Native communities. The wait is fifty years.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Salmon River near Hyder still rising; road to Canada at risk
A glacial outburst flood is pushing the Salmon River higher near Hyder, threatening the community's only overland road out. Crest timing remains uncertain.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Ketchikan's fishing fleet is stuck without showers in peak season
A collapsed drain pipe left Ketchikan's fishing fleet without public showers during peak season — and nobody's even opened the floor yet. One fisherman gave the harbor board an earful.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Tlingit & Haida leaders ask tourists to stop using totem poles as social media props
Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian leaders are asking tourists to stop using totem poles as social media backdrops, saying the carved poles hold sacred stories and ancestors, not Instagram props.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Two teenagers die in head-on dirt bike collision on Prince of Wales Island
Two teenagers, Greyer Schwegel, 18, and Paul Lingley IV, 17, died in a head-on dirt bike collision on the Hollis Highway on Prince of Wales Island Tuesday evening.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
USDA moves to rescind the roadless rule on the Tongass
USDA is moving to lift the roadless rule on the Tongass, reviving a 25-year fight over roads, logging, and energy in the nation's largest forest. A decision is due later in 2026.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
