State of Alaska

Fish and Game sets Prince William Sound fall herring quota at 749 tons, citing weak spring spawn

Prince William Sound's fall herring quota came in 633 tons under what the plan allows, and the spawn number behind that call was never published.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su asks AIDEA to build at Point MacKenzie, not on 20,000 acres near Houston

The state proposed giving AIDEA 885 acres at Port MacKenzie for free, one day after the borough voted to send AIDEA there instead of Houston.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago4 min read

Ninth Circuit lets King Cove road work continue while appeal runs into November

Construction continues on the first 2.8 miles of the King Cove to Cold Bay road after a federal appeals court denied a motion to halt the work.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Alaska rural health notices pass $239 million with $30 million round

Alaska sent out $30 million more in rural health awards this week, funding a Girdwood telepharmacy, a Norton Sound scheduling hub and rural X-ray machines.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago1 min read

Follows: Alaska adds $16.8 million in rural health awards without naming who gets the money

Troopers say Fairbanks driver hit 90 mph before DUI arrest

Troopers arrested a driver who ran lights through Fairbanks above 90 mph. City police, meanwhile, spent $593 of a $278,000 DUI enforcement budget.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Alaska leads the country in elder fraud complaints

Alaska led the country per capita in elder fraud complaints in 2024. Older Alaskans lost $8.17 million, most of it to fake tech support calls.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Kenai Assembly asks state to ban cloud seeding, on consent agenda

A company seeded clouds over the Kenai Peninsula and the borough learned about it from a press release. Nobody has the authority to require otherwise.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Draft Southeast plan omits Juneau-Skagway road, comment closes Oct. 19

The road from Juneau to Skagway has been argued about for twenty years. The state's new plan for Southeast does not mention it even one time.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Alaska counts 900 fewer jobs in August as federal payrolls shed 1,300

Alaska lost 900 jobs in the year to August, with 800 private-sector gains offset by 1,700 public-sector losses, 1,300 of them federal. The federal shortfall has narrowed from 1,900 in April and has held at 1,300 since June. Unemployment was 4.3 percent.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

A hydro plant sat on state land five years after its easement expired

A hydro plant east of Palmer has sat on state land for five years with no authorization to be there. The state now proposes to lease it the ground.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 14

Petition would vacate Eek Street; comment by Oct. 20 or lose the right to object

A public street in Eek would become private property of the city and AVEC, no one has said why, and anyone who wants to object later has to speak up by Oct. 20.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Kotzebue's chum run beat the forecast; the state will not say by how much

Kotzebue's chum harvest beat the forecast, and the state will not say by how much. Nobody counted the fish upriver for the second year running.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Troopers find missing hunter near Tanana after weather grounded search a day

Alaska Wildlife Troopers found a missing hunter near Tanana on Wednesday after weather grounded the search a day earlier. He declined medical treatment and returned to camp.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 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

Seward Highway and Tudor Road interchange design study goes to Anchorage hearing Nov. 2

The state wants to rebuild the Seward Highway interchange at Tudor Road. It goes to a public hearing Nov. 2, with most of the funding still unbuilt.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Alaska DNR issues four land decisions for University of Alaska land grants

Alaska issued four land-transfer decisions in four days ahead of a December deadline, over unanimous opposition. At Medicine Lake, the opposition won.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Alaska's population holds steady to 2055. Kodiak loses a quarter of its people.

Alaska's population barely changes by 2055. Kodiak's drops 26 percent. A flat statewide average hides what happens to individual communities.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

A free crisis intervention course in Wasilla has 30 seats next month

Thirty free seats in a crisis intervention course in Wasilla next month, and Mat-Su officers and first responders get first crack at all of them.

by Walter 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

Eshamy District salmon season closes Friday night

Eshamy closes Friday night on a season in which nobody reported catching anything for two weeks, under a fishing cap set by an allocation formula.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Copper River coho periods stretch to 36 hours next week

Copper River gillnetters get 36-hour openings Monday and Thursday, up from 24-hour periods, after a delta survey counted 40,780 coho above the expected range, following a difficult summer.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

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

A jury convicted a former employee in a Trapper Creek killing

A Palmer jury convicted a former restaurant employee of first-degree murder in the 2023 killing of a 21-year-old server at a Trapper Creek lodge.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Kaktovik's do-not-drink notice stays until sharper lab results arrive

Kaktovik's do-not-drink order is still in place. The North Tank starts refilling Friday, and new samples with finer detection limits are at the lab.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Kaktovik flushes millions of gallons of glycol-tainted water after plant mistake

Cordova's winter ferry hope hinges on a Whittier dock question

Cordova Mayor Kristin Smith plans to meet with Alaska's transportation commissioner Tuesday to discuss winter ferry service and road safety issues.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 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

Two missing after boat overturns near Bethel

Two people are missing after a boat overturned near Bethel on Tuesday afternoon. Search and rescue efforts are ongoing.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Two men die in a plane crash near Aniak, Troopers say

Two men were killed when a small plane crashed after taking off from a moose camp near Aniak, Alaska State Troopers said.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Low water slows Seward's youth coho fishery, open through Oct. 5

Kids have four more weeks to catch a silver at Seward Lagoon, where low water has been holding the fish outside waiting on enough rain to get in.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Fish and Game suspends ice house registration in the Copper Basin

Ice anglers in the Copper Basin won't have to register their fishing shelters this winter, after the state found there's no way to do it online.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Prince William Sound noncommercial shrimp fishery will not reopen in 2026

Prince William Sound shrimpers got about five weeks this year and the commercial fleet got none. The state hasn't published a reason for the closure.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

NOAA funds Alaska work on what stranded marine mammals ate

A stranded Alaska killer whale died of sepsis after swallowing three kinds of fishing hooks. NOAA is paying the state to keep examining these animals.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Migratory students lose ground moving between Alaska districts; the state's new alert is an email

Alaska says a new in-state alert tells districts when migratory students move between them. Its own 2026-27 district manuals describe no such alert.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Soldotna council candidate Conner refiles disclosure on the last day to file

Soldotna council candidate Nicholas Conner refiled his financial disclosure Tuesday, the last day of the filing period, after listing the wrong municipality on his original form.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 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

Alaska will clear Tok's fire debris free

Alaska will clear fire debris in Tok for free, but owners must sign a packet whose terms are final — and the form isn't posted where the state says it is.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Van Horn Road is closed at University Avenue with no detour posted

an Horn Road is closed at University Avenue in Fairbanks for paving, with no detour and no reopening time. The state's alert can't decide which road is shut.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

A Big Lake man was killed in Houston. A 72-year-old faces murder charges.

A 43-year-old Big Lake man was shot and killed in Houston on Monday night. A 72-year-old Houston man was arrested on murder and assault charges.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Rezanof Drive closes nightly in downtown Kodiak through September

Rezanof Drive closes nightly through the end of September in downtown Kodiak, and the state hasn't said what construction the closure is for.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

State-backed Alyeschem plant reaches construction milestone

Alyeschem has finished driving foundation piles for its Prudhoe Bay chemical plant. Alaska's backing is a repayable loan, not a $70 million grant.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min read