Southeast

A Southeast power agency seeks to free a line from federal terms

SEAPA wants to pull a 30-mile transmission line out of its Swan Lake hydro license before a 40-year relicensing, keeping the line but shedding the terms.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

An order would presume hunting is allowed on Alaska's federal land

An executive order would presume hunting is allowed across some 92 million federal acres in Alaska. The subsistence priority is statutory and stays put.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Juneau's hatchery waters reopen six weeks ahead of schedule

Fishing reopens near Juneau's Macaulay hatchery six weeks early, six coho a day. The closure traced back to fish lost in a landslide in 2020.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Follows: Juneau loses two months of fishing to a 2020 landslide

Congress weighs $500 million in tribal water money Alaska can't reach

Congress is moving $500 million for one California tribe's water rights, a kind of federal money that Alaska's tribes, by their legal status, can barely reach.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Unalaska student wins national naval history award for Angoon bombardment project

Unalaska student River Zaochney won a national Naval History Award for a project on the 1882 Navy bombardment of Angoon, a Tlingit village the Navy formally apologized for in 2024.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Bait allowed again on lower Klawock River as fall coho move in

Bait fishing reopened on lower Klawock River from September 15 through October 15 as fall coho arrive, though upstream areas remain lure-only year round.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Juneau taxpayers at large would carry $4.7 million of the Mendenhall barrier bill as a quarter of the district objects

Juneau Assembly appropriated about $1 million in tribal and FEMA grants for additional phases of Mendenhall River flood barriers and 2024 flood response after an August 2024 glacial outburst flood damaged roughly 290 residences.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Juneau would shift $4.5 million from barrier construction to repairs and debt

Nonresident rockfish retention stays closed in Ketchikan waters

Nonresident anglers in Ketchikan cannot keep yelloweye, quillback, canary, China, copper, tiger or rosethorn rockfish through year-end, though Alaska residents may keep one a day.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Fish board committee to review Traditional Knowledge report process Sept. 25

Fish board members will review how Traditional Knowledge reports are handled Sept. 25. The notice proposes no change to Traditional Knowledge's place in regulation.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Federal library grants open to qualifying Alaska Native tribes and corporations

Qualifying Alaska Native entities offering library or archival services can seek $6,000 to $150,000 from IMLS by Nov. 13.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Remains of at least 10 and an 1895 mortuary pole can return to Sitka Tribe after Oct. 16

Tongass National Forest cleared remains of at least 10 Native individuals for return to Sitka Tribe of Alaska starting October 16, including a mortuary pole held since 1895.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

State approves 183-acre Heceta Island clearcut with 300-foot beach buffer

Alaska approved clear-cutting 183 acres on Heceta Island with a 300-foot beach buffer, rejecting the state's own habitat biologist's recommendation for 1,000 feet to protect winter deer habitat.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Air taxi operators said they overpaid. Juneau is redoing its fees.

Juneau's airport would cut fuel fees by two-thirds and raise landing fees, after air taxi operators said a 2019 error had them overpaying for years.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Dense fog cuts Annette Island visibility to a quarter mile

Dense fog has visibility down to a quarter mile on Annette Island through Wednesday morning, the third such advisory in the southern panhandle in a day.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Four miles of Skagway's only road out have no money in the state's plan

Four miles of Skagway's only road out carry no money in Alaska's draft transportation plan. The stages on either side of them carry $78 million.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Bear Mountain goat zone on Baranof closes Sept. 18 after quota fills

Bear Mountain is the fourth Baranof goat zone closed this season — on quotas built from surveys the state hasn't flown island-wide since 2023.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Former Ketchikan church elder pleads guilty to federal child sexual abuse material charge

A 74-year-old former Ketchikan church elder pleaded guilty to possessing over 1,000 images of child sexual abuse material and faces at least 10 years in federal prison

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Juneau commission to weigh second tenant on Clinton Drive Domino's lot with no added parking

A second business wants into the Domino's building on Clinton Drive with no new parking, and the neighbors who fought the 2024 permit are back.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Sitka's sales tax drops a point Oct. 1, the one that funds schools

Sitka's sales tax drops from 6 percent to 5 on Oct. 1 through March. The summer point that comes off is the one dedicated to funding school buildings.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Suicide Basin levels drop, signaling a possible new release above Mendenhall

Suicide Basin's water level dropped sharply Tuesday, possibly signaling another release. Nothing is flooding, and secondary releases run far smaller.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Two Southeast geoduck beds stay closed until biomass recovers past 30% threshold

Two Southeast geoduck beds stay closed after surveys found less than a third of the clams left. Sea otters are eating them, and the quota fell 40 percent.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Juneau's city-owned ski area has carried EPA's most urgent water violation for six months

Juneau's city-owned Eaglecrest Ski Area has carried the EPA's most urgent drinking water violation for six months, with no record of it being resolved.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska would drop its claim to 480 acres for three Native Vietnam veterans

Alaska is giving up its claim to 480 acres near Haines so that three Alaska Native Vietnam veterans can get the allotments they applied for.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Juneau youth board reviews $3,605 in travel requests from two teen athletes

Two Juneau teenagers earned spots at competitions Outside and are asking the city for airfare. The fund they are asking from ended last year with $1,237 left.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Two Juneau kids qualified, and the youth board's fund is nearly empty

Juneau Assembly votes 6-2 to table nonprofit sales tax ordinance indefinitely

Juneau Assembly voted 6-2 Monday to table a nonprofit sales tax ordinance indefinitely, blocking a measure that would have narrowed tax exemptions starting January 2027.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Follows: Juneau weighs taxing nonprofit sales to help close its budget gap

Juneau aging commission chair asks Assembly to fix or cancel paratransit contract

Juneau seniors and wheelchair riders are missing paratransit pickups under Ground Transportation Solutions. The aging commission chair asked the Assembly to fix or cancel the contract before winter.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Ketchikan council to vote Thursday on $30,000 landslide grant

Ketchikan votes Thursday on $30,000 to work out how much rain makes the slopes above town dangerous. The work already started two weeks ago.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska has $272 million to change rural health care. The requests reached $2.5 billion.

Alaska has 217 preliminary rural health awards worth about $209 million — enough to replace equipment and add services, but not to replace Medicaid coverage.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago4 min read

A dam licensed near Juneau 10 years ago still isn't built, and its deadline just passed

A dam licensed near Juneau a decade ago was never built, its construction deadline just expired, and the local utility says the town doesn't need the power.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 8

Follows: Juneau Hydropower asks FERC for two more years to start Sweetheart Lake dam

Haines voters face five ballot measures, four of them about taxes

Haines voters face five ballot measures Oct. 6, four about taxes, including a new severance tax on gravel, timber and mining.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Jun 9

Haines votes on whether to stop electing its planning commission

Haines voters elect four planning commissioners Oct. 6 and, on the same ballot, decide whether the borough should go back to appointing them instead.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska's new ethics law names the wrong person in a complaint

Alaska's new ethics law tells the committee to meet with the wrong person in a complaint. The ethics committee voted to ask for a fix.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska proposes a new payment formula for its 24-hour behavioral health clinics

Alaska wants to change how it pays two clinics providing 24-hour behavioral health care, setting rates in advance. Public comment is open through Oct. 30.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A free Juneau talk on how a manuscript becomes a book

Two editors from the press that publishes the University of Alaska's books will explain how a manuscript becomes a book, at a free Juneau talk Saturday.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska could lose $80 million in school money over a two-point miss

Alaska could lose $80 million in federal school money over a funding-equity failure it missed by less than two points, and partly triggered itself.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

Museums have cleared 46 Alaska Native ancestors to come home

At least 46 Alaska Native ancestors and 14 belongings have been cleared to come home. Twelve of the dates they could have left have already passed.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

A stolen pickup went through the doors of three Tongass Avenue businesses

A stolen pickup went through the doors of McDonald's, Madison Lumber and Tongass Marine in one night. The damage estimate runs near $100,000.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Juneau's Fourth of July parade committee disbands after free-speech flap

Juneau's July 4th parade has no organizer for 2027 — the committee disbanded weeks after barring a veteran's anti-war banner. The record doesn't say why.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Four Southeast shrimp areas open Oct. 1, including one the department had ruled out

Fish and Game told District 15-East in July that its shrimp season was over. It opens Oct. 1 after all. Two areas it said might reopen will not.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Jul 31

Test flash flood warning to air in Juneau Sept. 23 for Salmon Creek Dam

Juneau's weather radios and broadcasts will sound a "Flash Flood Warning" on Sept. 23 — but it's only a test of the Salmon Creek Dam alert system.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read