State of Alaska

Yakutat opened a short sockeye gillnet fishery, with kings still off-limits

Yakutat opened a short sockeye gillnet fishery in mid-August, but king salmon stayed off-limits as the Situk River's king run keeps declining.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A group backing Begich for governor has spent nothing, with a website waiting for the general election

A new outside group backing Tom Begich for governor has spent nothing so far, its only financial trace a $1,116 debt for a website that wasn't even live yet.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Follows: A new group formed to back Tom Begich for governor, days before the primary

Ketchikan's Assembly has fewer candidates than seats, with four days to file

Ketchikan's Borough Assembly has two candidates for three seats with four days left to file. The School Board race has four candidates for two seats.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Two transit funding deadlines are open for Alaska providers this fall

Alaska transit providers have until Sept. 18 to signal intent for state human services transportation grants. A separate federal program closes Oct. 19.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska plans nearly $126 million for rural health projects, its biggest round yet

Alaska plans nearly $126 million for 105 rural health projects — its biggest round yet, though requests topped $2.5 billion for the money available.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Alaska makes its first awards under a $272 million rural health program

A second Southeast area hits its lingcod limit in two weeks

For the second time in two weeks, Southeast longliners must start throwing lingcod back as another area hits its seasonal limit. The state calls it routine.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Palmer jury convicts Robert Hawes on four felony sex abuse counts

A Palmer jury convicted Robert Hawes, 72, on four felony sex abuse counts involving a 4-year-old child in 2021. He faces sentencing November 25.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska ferry system awarded more than $410 million in federal funding

Alaska's ferry system is getting more than $410 million in federal money, both to keep the boats running and to build a new vessel and upgrade terminals.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

If you pulled an Upper Cook Inlet dipnet permit, you have until Aug. 31 to file, even if you never fished

Pulled an Upper Cook Inlet dipnet permit? File your harvest report by Aug. 31, even if you never fished, or you lose personal-use fishing privileges next year.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Catch a pike in an Anchorage lake and you have to kill it

Catch a northern pike in an Anchorage lake and you have to kill it. They are invasive south of the Alaska Range and they eat salmon and trout.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Silvers are slow in Resurrection Bay, but the best coho fishing is just outside it

Silvers are slow in Resurrection Bay with few coho past the weir, but the best coho fishing is just outside it toward Montague Island and Harris Bay.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska's development authority again takes ANWR and Ambler to closed session

Alaska's development authority will again discuss two divisive projects — ANWR oil drilling and the Ambler mining road — in closed session this week.

by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read

Most of Alaska's 2030 health goals are off track, new assessment finds

Most of Alaska's 2030 health goals are off track, according to a new state assessment. Alcohol-induced mortality was one of the few to meet its target.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Subsistence coho fishing closes on the middle and upper Kuskokwim

Subsistence coho fishing closes Friday on the middle Kuskokwim and a week later upriver. Sonar counts are running about a third below average for the date.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska managers open some salmon fisheries and close others as runs diverge

Alaska fishery managers opened some salmon fisheries and closed others the same week, each call turning on how the fish are running in that particular place.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A Kenai man is sentenced to 60 years for sexually assaulting a child in his home

A Kenai man, Darold Greg Love, 67, was sentenced to 60 years in prison for sexually assaulting a child living in his home, with no eligibility for parole.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Alaska lost 2,100 jobs in July, almost all of them government

Alaska lost 2,100 jobs in July from a year earlier, almost all of it government. Federal employment was down 1,300 and state government 1,000.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Alaska is losing federal jobs faster than almost any state

Sand Point salmon fishing extended 48 hours through Sunday night

Sand Point boats get 48 more hours of salmon fishing, through 9 pm Sunday. The state published no catch or escapement figures explaining why.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A Wasilla seatbelt stop turned up meth, a stolen debit card and two warrants

A Wasilla seatbelt stop unspooled into a lot more: troopers reported meth, someone else's debit card, a false name and two warrants, one for stealing a car.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Troopers arrest Wasilla driver on DUI charge after KGB Road crash

A Wasilla driver was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after his truck hit a guardrail and semi-trailer on Knik-Goose Bay Road on August 20.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska State Fair plans $10 million Borealis Theatre rebuild

The Alaska State Fair is rebuilding its Borealis Theatre, growing the concert venue from 5,200 to 6,500 with a bigger stage, better sound and a steeper lawn.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Three Cook Inlet gas storage plans pending for winter demand

Cook Inlet's gas problem isn't only supply, it's winter. Alaska is weighing three plans to bank gas underground and draw it down in the cold months.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska tells BlueCrest to produce Cook Inlet gas by 2027 or give up the lease

Alaska ordered BlueCrest Energy to begin producing gas from its Cook Inlet lease by March 2027 or forfeit it, as the region's gas supply shrinks and the company has sat idle for years.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A $400 million expansion of Bradley Lake hydro would power about 30,000 homes and cut Southcentral's gas use

A $400 million Bradley Lake hydro expansion would power about 30,000 homes and offset 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas a year, easing Southcentral's gas crunch.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A $413 million cable would give Kenai and Anchorage a second power link

One transmission path links Kenai to Anchorage. A $413 million subsea cable would add a second, if AEA can raise the half that isn't federal.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

USDA proposes lifting roadless rule protections on Tongass and Chugach

USDA proposes ending the 2001 Roadless Rule on Alaska's Tongass and Chugach forests, opening 9.3 million acres to potential road building and logging under local forest plans. Comments due Sept. 21.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Kotzebue chum fishermen got a second buyer for the season's last week

Kotzebue chum fishermen had two buyers for the season's final six openings, after weeks with one. The regulatory season closes Aug. 31.

by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Follows: Kotzebue chum fishermen get a better price but have just one buyer left

Peterson Avenue closes this weekend for a utility line, detour in place

Peterson Avenue near Halibut Point Road closes this weekend for a utility line across both lanes. There's no set detour, so follow the signs and flaggers.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

There's a narrow window to ask Alaska's fish board to take up new topics

A narrow window closes Aug. 28 to ask Alaska's fish board to take up new topics, but the bar is high: it accepted just two of nine such requests last year.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage may move a national bike route off its highways and onto the coastal trails

Anchorage may reroute a national bike route off its highways onto the Coastal and Ship Creek trails, part of a push to move cyclists onto lower-stress paths.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A fight over Alaska's elections, including over outside money, is itself funded almost entirely from outside Alaska

The fight over Alaska's ranked choice voting — including over outside dark money — is itself funded almost entirely from outside Alaska, on both sides.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

The Permanent Fund's dividend account is running about $400 million ahead

The account that pays the Permanent Fund dividend held about $400 million more than it needs, a 7% cushion. No inflation proofing was appropriated for 2026.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

A decade after Alaskans legalized weed, the industry is thinning out

A decade after Alaska legalized weed, the industry is thinning out, with growers folding under a decade-old tax. License renewals are due at month's end.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

An advocacy group argues that cutting the dividend is a hidden tax. Whether it is depends on a question Alaska has never settled.

An advocacy group calls dividend cuts a hidden tax, but whether that's the right word turns on an unsettled question of what the PFD fundamentally is.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

Bethel weighs letting its manager file lawsuits without council approval

Bethel is weighing whether to let its manager file routine lawsuits without a council vote, moving some legal authority from the elected body to city staff.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Troopers recover stolen Durango sold for parts at Fairbanks home

A stolen Dodge Durango turned up in pieces at a Fairbanks home after its parts were listed for sale online, and troopers matched the VIN and made an arrest.

by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read

Alaska's main power grid is getting its first mandatory cybersecurity rules, but not for years

Alaska's main power grid is finally getting mandatory cybersecurity rules, but none takes effect until 2027 at the earliest, phasing in slowly through 2029.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Homer Electric members will be able to buy into shared solar starting in February

Homer Electric members can buy into shared solar or wind starting around mid-February. Subscribers will pay a monthly fee nobody has put a number on yet.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

NOAA is still testing groundwater in the Pribilofs, decades after it left

NOAA is paying $186,644 to keep sampling groundwater in the Pribilofs, cleanup left over from 116 years of federal control of the fur seal harvest.

by Alaska News2mo ago2 min read

King salmon fishing is over for the year in the Upper Copper River drainages

King salmon fishing in the Upper Copper River drainages is done for 2026. Permit holders must report online by Aug. 31 even if they never fished.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read