State of Alaska

Injured hiker flown off Deer Mountain in Ketchikan

A 26-year-old hiker was flown off Deer Mountain near Ketchikan on Saturday after becoming unable to walk, the second rescue on that trail in months.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska draft rule would end in-house marijuana testing by growers, manufacturers and stores

Alaska's marijuana regulator is drafting a rule to ban in-house testing by growers and manufacturers, forcing all products to third-party labs instead.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A small wildfire was reported near Wrangell on Friday night

A small wildfire was reported near Sandy Beach outside Wrangell on Friday. The state has not said whether it is contained or threatens any homes.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

The money gap in Alaska's ranked choice fight is growing

The campaign to keep ranked choice voting spent $1.37 million in one period. The campaign to repeal it has $89,673 and owes more than that.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Kamishak Bay pink and chum escapement runs preliminarily below goals

Pink and chum escapement in Kamishak Bay finished below their spawning targets as the Lower Cook Inlet commercial salmon season closed.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Kamishak District closed to seining after survey found fewer pinks

Scott Robb won the state fair cabbage title with 122.7 pounds

Palmer grower Scott Robb won the Alaska State Fair's giant cabbage weigh-off on Sept. 4 with a 122.7-pound entry, but the fair's official records page does not list that weight.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska Supreme Court bars Nome from taxing hospital staff housing

The Alaska Supreme Court says Nome cannot tax the building where its hospital houses doctors and nurses, a ruling that reaches every borough in the state.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago4 min readFrom Aug 7

Hilcorp says the North Slope is running short of gravel and wants a new mine

Hilcorp is seeking state approval for a 64-acre gravel mine seven miles northwest of Deadhorse, with public comment due Sept. 28, as the company's existing North Slope gravel sources run low.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 28

Troopers recover stolen property in Wasilla, arrest 24-year-old man

Troopers arrest 24yo man in Wasilla

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

ConocoPhillips drilled in the NPR-A this winter and has not said what it found

ConocoPhillips drilled multiple wells in the NPR-A this winter and added $104 million to costs it has not resolved. It has not said what it found.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 31

Doyon says the Rig 26 tundra cleanup is in its final phase

Doyon says cleanup where its Rig 26 toppled near Nuiqsut has reached its final phase, though the state hasn't independently confirmed the company's account.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Ekwok's airport would host FAA weather and navigation equipment for 20 years, with comments due Sept. 11

Ekwok's airport would host FAA weather and navigation equipment for 20 years at no cost to the state, with public comments due Sept. 11.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Dahlstrom reverses course, will certify Taylor for the November ballot

Division of elections reversed decision and Treg Taylor is back on the ballot.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Dahlstrom will not certify Treg Taylor's nomination for governor

Southeast pink seining closes at 19.8 million fish; hatchery areas stay open

Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed Southeast pink salmon seining Friday after the fleet caught 18.7 million fish at the best prices in years.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

ENSTAR wants to raise most gas hookup charges in Southcentral Alaska in 2027

ENSTAR wants to raise most natural gas hookup charges in Southcentral Alaska in 2027, with the basic service-line fee up about $46 and higher meter costs.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Former mayor Harry Brower Jr. files to run against Patkotak for North Slope Borough mayor

Harry Brower Jr. ran the North Slope Borough for seven years and wants it back. He and the incumbent are both from Utqiagvik, in a borough of eight villages.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Aug 31

Missing 11-year-old located safe in Wasilla

Troopers found an 11-year-old Wasilla boy safe Friday afternoon, hours after he went missing on his bicycle.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska adopts Medicaid rules for specialized group home and family home habilitation

Alaska adopted Medicaid rules for group and family home habilitation services. Disability providers say the new rates may still be too low to sustain services.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska prosecutors must prove a voter knew a registration form was false

Alaska's appeals court held that a first-degree voter-misconduct charge based on a false oath requires proof the voter understood the act was wrong.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

State opens four-permit muskox hunt in Unit 26B as herd falls to 220

Alaska will issue four bull muskox permits in Unit 26B starting Oct. 1, even though the herd has crashed to 220 animals, well below the 300-animal management target.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

The Peninsula caribou hunt opens Dec. 1 without a quota set

Alaska residents can take two caribou in the Northern Alaska Peninsula hunt opening Dec. 1, though the quota will not be set until fall surveys finish.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Razor clam permit still required on Cook Inlet as September digging season runs on

Cook Inlet razor clam diggers need a subsistence permit, not the new household permit, to harvest legally this season, and east side beaches stay closed through 2027.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

One Democrat, three Republicans, and two months to go

The left consolidated behind Kreiss-Tomkins. The right split three ways. That is the shape of Alaska's governor race with two months to go.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

Alaska kids can draw their way into the health department's bookmark contest

Alaska's health department wants kids 3 to 18 to draw what being a "Health Hero" means to them — winning bookmark art gets printed. Entries are due Oct. 9.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Norton Sound's health corporation is in line for $7.2 million

Norton Sound Health Corporation would get about $7.2 million in federal rural health money, most of it replacing end-of-life computers in 15 village clinics.

by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read

Registration opens for Oct. 12-13 Employment First Conference in Anchorage

Alaska's Employment First Conference opens registration for Oct. 12-13 in Anchorage, with scholarship tickets available for those needing reduced rates.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Two bulls close the bow-only moose hunt at Eklutna Lake, with hunters still out

Two bulls came out of the Eklutna Lake country and the bow hunt is over. That is roughly half a ton of meat taken off a herd of about seventy.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

West Tudor Road down a lane each way through Sunday for asphalt patching

West Tudor Road near Cambridge Way loses a left lane each way through Sunday for asphalt patching — the latest closure on a road with bigger safety problems.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Kaktovik leaders back 1002 Area development and press AIDEA to weigh local knowledge

Kaktovik leaders told AIDEA board members that oil and gas decisions in the Arctic refuge's 1002 Area must include local residents and traditional knowledge, not just outside voices.

by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Alaska put a price on crisis beds the Legislature created in 2022

Alaska proposed Medicaid rates for crisis mental health facilities: $1,833 a day for adults and $2,197 for adolescents, the highest on the state's chart.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Kodiak salmon fishing extended into Sunday across multiple districts

Alaska Department of Fish and Game extended Kodiak commercial salmon fishing into Sunday across multiple districts, with closing times varying by area between 6 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday.

by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Kodiak salmon fishing extended again, running through Wednesday evening

DOT&PF opens bidding to resurface Glacier Highway from Juneau's ferry terminal to South Lena

Alaska DOT&PF opened bidding to resurface 2.4 miles of Glacier Highway between Juneau's ferry terminal and South Lena, with $8.8 million in federal funding and work planned to start in August.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Driver unidentified after crash at Old Murphy Dome Road and Elliot Highway near Fairbanks

Driver unidentified after crash at Old Murphy Dome Road and Elliot Highway near Fairbanks

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska's missing Indigenous list drops to 355, with suspicious cases unchanged

Alaska's count of missing Alaska Native and American Indian people fell by eight. None of the drop came from the cases nobody can explain.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

Koyukon elder ties Galena swallow decline to Air Force mosquito spraying in TCC bird booklet

Elder Benedict Jones links Galena's 89 percent swallow decline since 1970 to Air Force pesticide spraying, documented in a Koyukon bird knowledge booklet published by the Tanana Chiefs Conference.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

The Permanent Fund wants $215 million to run itself

The Permanent Fund wants $215.4 million to run itself next year, three-quarters of it going to the outside firms that manage the money.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska weighs dropping the required training course for marijuana handlers

Alaska may drop the required training course for marijuana handler permits, swapping a class and test for a background check — saving workers up to $500.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

One donor has supplied two-fifths of what a progressive Alaska fund raised this year

One Anchorage physician has supplied two-fifths of a progressive independent expenditure fund's money this year. Alaska caps no such gift.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Trump says he will campaign in Alaska for Sen. Dan Sullivan

Trump says he is coming to Alaska to campaign for Dan Sullivan. Mary Peltola outpolled Sullivan by more than 13,000 votes in the August primary.

by Alaska News2mo ago2 min read

Nonresident lingcod retention reopens at Prince of Wales; yelloweye stays closed

Nonresident anglers around Prince of Wales Island can keep lingcod again starting September 1, but yelloweye rockfish stays closed to them through year-end under federal harvest limits.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read