Anchorage Assembly

Downtown Anchorage owners face $1.15 million in assessments for services the city doesn't cover

Downtown Anchorage property owners will pay about $1.15 million this year for their own snow removal, cleaning and security. Objections are heard Sept. 15.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

An Anchorage cannabis grower's license hinges on a $12,761 tax bill, with tonight the deadline

An Anchorage cannabis grower could lose its license over a $12,761 tax bill, with tonight the Assembly's last meeting before the deadline to settle up.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage races a deadline to build a downtown library before a grant expires

Books are books are books are books; what one sees - where one looks. Construction stories have such hooks, but books in nooks are still just books.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

A Muldoon pot shop passed city rules, but a tribal youth program cites stricter state rules

A Muldoon Road pot shop passed city rules, but a tribal council says a stricter state youth-center buffer should block it. No one has settled which controls.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Follows: A Muldoon pot shop clears the park buffer, by measuring to the playground

The Assembly says Anchorage hunger is rising. Its resolution does not say how it knows.

An Anchorage resolution up Tuesday says nearly 40,000 residents, including 12,000 children, face food insecurity — a rate that's climbed since last year.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Anchorage's water-coagulant contract returns with a pricier winner

Anchorage's water-coagulant contract is back before the Assembly with a supplier $855K pricier than the first — and no explanation for the switch.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

A matter the Anchorage Assembly declared closed still draws a request for five minutes

Pastor Leon D. May asked the Anchorage Assembly for five minutes to testify about Assembly Member George Martinez at the Aug. 18 meeting, citing public comment limits at prior sessions.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

The Assembly votes Tuesday on confirming a longtime trustee to run Anchorage's police and fire pension

The Anchorage Assembly votes Tuesday on confirming Glenn Cipriano, a longtime trustee, as director of the city's Police & Fire Retirement System.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

A resident wants Anchorage's Chugach park-access board rewritten to give locals more control

Anchorage's Chugach park-access board would give paying residents a 4-of-7 majority, but one resident wants it tilted even further toward locals.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read

A Muldoon pot shop divides the Assembly, with a former legislator and the chair for it and a council member against

A Muldoon Road pot shop drew a former legislator and the Assembly chair for it and a council member against, at a hearing carried over to Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read

A missing health certification is holding up the Homestead Lounge's liquor license transfer

Anchorage Assembly votes Tuesday on a conditional protest of a liquor license transfer at The Homestead Lounge in Eagle River, held up by a missing health certification.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

A faulting cable under the Loussac Library would cost the city a permanent easement

Anchorage Assembly will vote Tuesday on letting Chugach Electric replace a failing power cable under Loussac Library at no cost to the city.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

A Midtown hotel vacant since a 2019 fire seeks approval to serve alcohol

Anchorage Assembly votes Tuesday on a liquor permit for the Courtyard by Marriott Midtown on A Street, with no public opposition filed so far.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

One rough winter tore up Hillside roads, and self-funded neighborhoods are footing the bill

One rough winter tore up a Hillside neighborhood's roads enough that its self-funded maintenance budget would nearly quintuple, and other areas want the same.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Merrill Field gets nearly $954,000, mostly federal, to plan its future

Merrill Field would get nearly $954,000, mostly federal, to plan how the airport grows and update its layout, under two measures the Assembly takes up Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Anchorage pushes for an emergency boat launch on Turnagain Arm after a drowning

After a drowning where rescuers had no way to launch a boat, Anchorage is pushing for federal money to build an emergency water-access point on Turnagain Arm.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago4 min read

Anchorage Assembly weights resolution would back JBER buildout as base housing nears full

Anchorage weighs committing to planning for a military buildup of up to 1,050 personnel, on a base whose family housing is already 98% full.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Anchorage Assembly meets six finalists for youth representative seat

Assembly Chair Anna Brawley will select one or more youth representatives from six high school finalists to cast non-binding votes on Assembly business from September through April.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Who controls Chugach access spending: trail advocates or the neighborhoods next door?

Anchorage delayed creating a board to steer Chugach park-access spending, as neighborhoods and trail advocates split over who should control it. The Assembly decides Oct. 6.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Anchorage Assembly rejects investigation into member Martinez's travel, 5-6

Anchorage Assembly rejected an investigation into Assembly Member George Martinez's travel Tuesday, 5-6, after Vice Chair Daniel Volland switched his vote citing flaws in the accusation.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

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

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

Anchorage weighs $1 million for nonprofits feeding and sheltering vulnerable residents

Anchorage votes Tuesday on just over $1 million for nonprofits providing food, emergency shelter and other essential services to the city's most vulnerable residents.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Anchorage moves to sell an old Government Hill fire station to Chugach Electric

Anchorage would sell the old Government Hill fire station to Chugach Electric for $470,000, no bidding, since Chugach already leases it for a communications tower.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Anchorage is considering expanding its surveillance network. The privacy rules are still a draft.

Anchorage votes Tuesday on $1.4M for police, including a surveillance center that logs cars, faces and movement — paid for with seized cash and federal money that never reaches the public budget, in the rare state whose constitution promises a right to privacy.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read

Anchorage Assembly recognizes four Eklutna youth interns for Elders meal program

Anchorage Assembly recognized four Eklutna youth interns who spent the summer harvesting salmon and moose for an Elders Freezer Meal program, then delivered meals to tribal Elders' homes.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

A year in, Anchorage's camping ordinance mostly moves people along, not into services

A year of Anchorage's camping ordinance: 89% of contacts end without arrest, but 890 of 962 people who complied left with no referral to services. The Assembly reviews it Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

A Muldoon pot shop clears the park buffer, by measuring to the playground

A Muldoon Road pot shop clears the park buffer because the city measures to the playground, not the park line, 734 feet. Neighbors object; the Assembly votes Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Anchorage police oversight proposal dies without a second

Anchorage's police oversight proposal, already stripped of any power to investigate, died Tuesday for lack of a second, leaving the city with no oversight body since 2024.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Anchorage wants a public board to steer its Chugach access money — and set qualifications for who runs it

Anchorage wants to turn the informal group steering its Chugach access tax money into a formal board with defined expertise — one that vets trailhead and road projects in public rather than privately.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

The Anchorage Assembly studied how to remove one of its own. It never has.

The Anchorage Assembly studied how to remove one of its own members, a power it has never used and, on a coalition body, likely won't. The member in question sat in on the session.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Girdwood's park plans would move to Anchorage's standard public review

Girdwood loves its trails and ski runs, and an ordinance up Tuesday would run the town's park plans through the same public review the rest of Anchorage uses.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

A substitute would swap Martinez's removal for a travel investigation

A substitute before the Anchorage Assembly would drop the effort to remove George Martinez and instead investigate his travel since 2023. Members vote Aug. 4.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Anchorage Assembly weighs new police SUVs and an off-market firehouse sale

The Anchorage Assembly weighs two property calls Aug. 4: $1.88M for 27 new police SUVs, and a no-bid sale of an old Government Hill firehouse to its current tenant.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read

Anchorage clarifies what a records request keeps, and for how long

Anchorage is spelling out what a public records request keeps, logs, request and records, and setting the clock at two years. Short enough to notice, if a request ever gets contested.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Anchorage takes another run at its missing-middle housing rules

Anchorage takes a second swing at missing-middle housing, letting corridor owners opt into duplexes-to-townhomes. Last year's version stalled on neighborhood pushback.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readFrom Jun 9

UAA wants to pour wine at the gallery opening — under a 'sporting' license

UAA wants to serve beer and wine at its arts venues — under a liquor license category called "sporting activity." The string quartet counts, apparently. Assembly votes Aug. 4.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

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

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

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 Jul 17