Municipality of Anchorage

Anchorage permits more housing than last year, but from a near-record low

Anchorage permitted more housing this year than in 2024 or 2025, the mayor says — but those were near-record lows, still far below its 1,000-a-year target.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage Assembly set to waive protest of Serrano's liquor license renewal

Serrano's Mexican Grill on East Tudor Road is set to renew its liquor license with no objections, as the Anchorage Assembly waives its right to protest.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage moves to clarify its wetlands permitting, though some say it doesn't go far enough

Anchorage is moving to clarify how property owners navigate wetlands permitting after the feds stopped issuing blanket permits, though some say gaps remain.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage's next park would sit on the Knik Arm bridge route it has long fought

A cleaned-up fuel depot above the Port of Alaska could become a park — on the route of a Knik Arm bridge the state wants and Anchorage has long fought.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

A state grant would keep TB screening running at Anchorage homeless shelters

A $2.77 million grant before the Anchorage Assembly would keep public health nurses screening for TB at shelters — the clearance many people need to get in.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

The Anchorage Assembly recognized September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

The Anchorage Assembly recognized September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. The region including Anchorage has Alaska's highest number of suicide deaths.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage set to get $3 million to expand its crisis-response system

Anchorage is set to get about $3 million to expand its mental-health and addiction crisis teams, add assisted-living beds and start mobile opioid treatment.

by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage would drop landscaping buffers for three- and four-unit homes

Anchorage would drop landscaping buffer requirements for three- and four-unit homes. The current rule calls for a 15-foot planting bed with trees and shrubs.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage may have paid the state's traffic-signal power bill for 20 years

For 20 years, Anchorage never tracked the power cost for state-owned traffic signals, so it may have covered the state's share. Auditors flagged it before.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage considers naming Northeast Connector Trail after Karen Bronga

Anchorage's naming commission will weigh renaming a Centennial Park trail for Karen Bronga, a former Assembly member killed last month, at a Sept. 9 hearing.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage Assembly committees would consolidate under a draft from the Rules chair

Anchorage Assembly committees would consolidate and meet less often under the Rules chair's draft. Members have said the current load is too many hours.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

As a crime center vote nears, Anchorage weighs whether its privacy limits should be policy or law

Anchorage votes Sept. 1 on $600K for its police crime center. The chief says it adds no surveillance; a pending ordinance would put its privacy limits into law.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago3 min read

Anchorage wildfire mitigation would be paid for citywide, researchers say

UA researchers will recommend all of Anchorage pay for wildfire mitigation, not just high-risk neighborhoods. Their full report is due in October.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 18

Anchorage keeps blowing past overtime budgets stuck on a 2010 baseline

Anchorage's police, fire and transit overtime again ran over budget, largely because the budgeted amounts still rest on an unadjusted 2010 baseline.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Driver kills Anchorage pedestrian at Seward Highway and Benson Boulevard, flees scene

A woman was killed by a driver who did not stop, at Seward Highway and Benson early Saturday. Her name is being withheld until family is notified.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage holds more property-appeal hearings, as hundreds of over-assessed homes get lower valuations

Anchorage holds six more property-appeal hearings next week, as about 660 over-assessed homes get lower valuations and the appeals board nearly doubles.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage schools will open a new listening effort with a $42 million shortfall

Anchorage School District is launching a listening effort, opening with the $42 million shortfall it projects for 2028. Past rounds drew complaints.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Ordinance would make police ask before buying surveillance tech

Anchorage police would need Assembly approval to buy surveillance technology, and the city could not join outside data-sharing networks, under a new ordinance.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage opens contract talks with one of its unions

Anchorage has opened contract talks with the Teamsters union representing some city workers, whose current deal, with 3.3% annual raises, expires at year's end.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

An Anchorage marijuana grower has to pay its back taxes before it can keep growing

An Anchorage marijuana grower owes the city about $12,761 in back taxes — and until it pays and passes an inspection, it can't fully renew its grow license.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Girdwood petitioner seeks stream setback variance for house and bridge

A Girdwood developer seeks permission to build a house and bridge closer to a salmon stream than borough code allows. The Zoning Board hears the case Oct. 8.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage approves a Muldoon Road marijuana store, over a dispute about how close it sits to a playground

Anchorage approved a Muldoon Road marijuana store 8-3, over objections about how close it sits to a playground and whether a stricter state buffer applies.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage wants to buy three new garbage trucks for about $1.47 million

Anchorage's trash utility wants three new garbage trucks for about $1.47 million, and a bulk-purchasing deal shaved roughly $282,000 off the sticker price.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A Sitka Street railroad crossing rebuild will cost Anchorage $91,000 more than agreed

Anchorage's Sitka Street railroad crossing rebuild will cost about $91,000 more than agreed after high bids — a tab that falls on nearby property owners.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage approves $40,000 to update Merrill Field's airport layout plan

Anchorage approved $40,000, almost all of it federal, to update Merrill Field's airport layout plan after new flight procedures changed what it must show.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage will ship contaminated concrete to Oregon after the state tightened disposal rules, adding $850,000

Anchorage's school board approved $850,000 to ship contaminated school concrete to Oregon after the state tightened its rules on disposing of banned PCBs.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage Assembly to mark Women's Equality Day tonight

For the first time, the Alaska House is majority woman, with 21 of 40 seats, a milestone an Anchorage resolution marks tonight on Women's Equality Day.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Eagle River hillside lot could lose the development limits set in 2002

Eagle River limits set in 2002 on a 34 percent slope would come off Tuesday. A neighbor says the storm drains there already ice over the intersection.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

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

Anchorage water chemical contract returns $855,400 higher with no explanation

Anchorage's water treatment chemical will cost $855,400 more than the bid the administration backed two weeks ago. It sits on tonight's consent agenda.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo 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

Anchorage tore down the Big Timber, a downtown blight a decade in the making

Anchorage tore down the Big Timber Motel last week, ending a decade-plus saga over a vacant downtown building that drew first responders for years.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 11

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

Anchorage's assessment appeal surge reaches hearings next week

Anchorage property owners can appeal their 2026 tax assessments at six Board of Equalization hearings Aug. 18 through 21 at City Hall.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 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