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State of Alaska

Alaska state government's executive branch, headed by the Governor and 15 cabinet departments. Oversees education, public safety, transportation, health, commerce, and natural resource management for the 49th state.

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Monday, Jul 27

Chena Small Tracts Road closed for the season as roundabout goes in

Chena Small Tracts Road is closed for the season while a roundabout goes in. West Fairbanks: your detours are Palo Verde, Amherst and Dartmouth.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Chena Small Tracts Road closed for the season as roundabout goes in

Troopers cite 12 dipnetters on the Kenai in one day

Troopers wrote at least 12 dipnet citations on the Kenai in a single day, mostly for fishing after hours. The reward: $120 bail and a long drive home.

Alaska Newsby Alaska News3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Troopers cite 12 dipnetters on the Kenai in one day

Alaska opens all of Togiak to fishing with the sockeye count far below goal

Alaska is opening the whole Togiak District to commercial fishing with the sockeye count at a fraction of its goal — and no stated reason why.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Alaska opens all of Togiak to fishing with the sockeye count far below goal

It's July, and it's snowing on the road to the Arctic

It's late July and it's snowing on Atigun Pass — the 4,739-foot Brooks Range crossing that's the only road to Alaska's North Slope.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Atigun Pass, Alaska
Cover image for article: It's July, and it's snowing on the road to the Arctic

Cook Inlet drifters get 12 more hours as Kasilof sockeye double the goal

Kasilof sockeye are running at double the escapement goal, so Cook Inlet drifters get 12 hours Monday — still two miles off the beach for the kings.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Cook Inlet drifters get 12 more hours as Kasilof sockeye double the goal

Kenai dipnetting goes 24 hours as sockeye run hits 3 million

Daaaaang! Kenai sockeye are running hot — 3 million projected — so dipnetting goes 24 hours a day through Friday's season close. Residents only, and kings go back.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Kenai dipnetting goes 24 hours as sockeye run hits 3 million

Troopers arrest Fairbanks woman for DUI near Healy after multiple REDDI calls

Alaska State Troopers arrested a Fairbanks woman on a DUI charge after multiple REDDI calls reported dangerous driving on the Parks Highway near Healy on July 26.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Troopers arrest Fairbanks woman for DUI near Healy after multiple REDDI calls

Alaska Senate opens fourth special session with technical session, adjourns to Friday

Alaska Senate opened its fourth special session Monday to tackle natural gas taxation but took no action, adjourning until Friday - signaling the bill may be unable to advance.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Alaska Senate opens fourth special session with technical session, adjourns to Friday

Troopers seek Jacob Wallace, missing from Fairbanks facility since Saturday

Alaska State Troopers are seeking Jacob Wallace, a juvenile who walked away from the Presbyterian House in Fairbanks Saturday night and has not been located.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Troopers seek Jacob Wallace, missing from Fairbanks facility since Saturday

Sunday, Jul 26

A missing Wasilla man was found alive in a car in Delta Junction

A Wasilla man missing since July 21 was found alive in Delta Junction — in a car that had sat parked for nearly a day before anyone checked.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: A missing Wasilla man was found alive in a car in Delta Junction

Whale permit for Ketchikan bridge counts down to the single animal

Federal regulators will let a Ketchikan bridge project disturb up to 63 humpback whales. Last season's number was 62. Nobody filed a comment either way.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Cover image for article: Whale permit for Ketchikan bridge counts down to the single animal

Alaska is auctioning 18 Fairbanks-area timber sales

Alaska is auctioning 18 timber sales near Fairbanks next month — more than double last fall's round — and the cash-up-front rules favor established outfits.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Alaska is auctioning 18 Fairbanks-area timber sales

Alaska Supreme Court: divorce splits must account for who pays the taxes

The Alaska Supreme Court upheld most of a divorce judgment but sent back one question: who pays the capital gains taxes — because that changes the real split.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Alaska Supreme Court: divorce splits must account for who pays the taxes

Wasilla man, 83, arrested after allegedly pulling handgun on EMTs

Wasilla man Frank Bird, 83, was arrested on a warrant charging four counts of third-degree assault after he pulled a handgun on two EMTs and friends who came to help him after a fall on July 18.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Wasilla man, 83, arrested after allegedly pulling handgun on EMTs

Copper River stays closed to commercial fishing as sockeye run under forecast

Copper River stays shut to commercial fishing as sockeye lag forecast; the only opening on the books is a 12-hour subsistence period Monday morning.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Copper River stays closed to commercial fishing as sockeye run under forecast

Kuskokwim mainstem reopens early as six spawning tributaries stay closed to Chinook and chum

Strong sonar counts returned the Kuskokwim mainstem to state management July 13, but six spawning tributaries stay closed to Chinook and chum through July 31.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska
Cover image for article: Kuskokwim mainstem reopens early as six spawning tributaries stay closed to Chinook and chum

About State of Alaska

State of Alaska

Photo by Bernt Rostad, via Flickr · Photo source · CC BY 2.0

alaska.gov ↗Alaska

The State of Alaska is the executive branch of Alaska state government, headed by the Governor and organized into cabinet departments. Those departments oversee education, public safety, transportation, health, commerce and natural resource management across the state.

State agencies issue permits, leases and land decisions, regulate liquor licenses and utilities, plan highway projects and rank school construction requests. Its stories return to public comment on state proposals, from roundabouts and gravel sites to water rights and the statewide transportation plan, and to the work of the Alaska State Troopers.

Boards and authorities attached to the state, such as the Board of Fisheries, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, make many of its decisions. The state also runs statewide elections and works with tribal organizations on village public safety.

More from State of Alaska

State maps five years of possible Fairbanks-Delta timber sales

The state has mapped where logging could be proposed near Fairbanks and Delta through 2030 — as cutting on the Tanana Valley State Forest holds a steady pace.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Fairbanks-Delta Area, Alaska
Cover image for article: State maps five years of possible Fairbanks-Delta timber sales

Kuskokwim Bay subsistence fishing closes so commercial boats can fish

Kuskokwim Bay subsistence fishing closes Monday through Friday so the same waters can open to commercial fishing — the latest such swap this month.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Kuskokwim Bay, Alaska
Cover image for article: Kuskokwim Bay subsistence fishing closes so commercial boats can fish

Southeast shrimp fishery closes, and three areas won't reopen

Southeast's commercial shrimp fishery closes in eight areas July 31, and three won't reopen this fall or winter as shrimp numbers keep sliding.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Southeast Alaska
Cover image for article: Southeast shrimp fishery closes, and three areas won't reopen

Saturday, Jul 25

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

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Sterling Highway, Alaska
Cover image for article: Former Anchorage Assembly member Karen Bronga killed in Sterling Highway crash

Motorcyclist killed in left-turn crash at Geist and Loftus in Fairbanks

A motorcyclist died Saturday at the intersection of Geist Road and Loftus Road in Fairbanks after colliding with a vehicle turning left.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Motorcyclist killed in left-turn crash at Geist and Loftus in Fairbanks

Troopers issue Silver Alert for missing 73-year-old near Fairbanks

Alaska State Troopers issued a Silver Alert for 73-year-old Rodney Rutherford, missing since 11:30 p.m. Friday near Murphy Dome Road northwest of Fairbanks. Call 907-451-5100 with information.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Troopers issue Silver Alert for missing 73-year-old near Fairbanks

Driver ran from Fairbanks crash scene, troopers forward charges

A driver fled a two-vehicle crash in Fairbanks on foot Friday, July 24, and troopers forwarded charges after passengers and a witness identified him.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Driver ran from Fairbanks crash scene, troopers forward charges

Missing Craig hunter found alive on Prince of Wales Island

61-year-old Craig hunter who turned back alone on Red Bay Mountain was lost overnight, then found alive early Saturday and flown to Petersburg.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Missing Craig hunter found alive on Prince of Wales Island

A Kodiak king salmon collapse is squeezing everyone who fishes

Just 93 king salmon reached the Karluk to spawn last year, against a goal of 3,000-plus. That collapse is why Kodiak's fleet is fishing on the clock.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: A Kodiak king salmon collapse is squeezing everyone who fishes

Friday, Jul 24

Draft settlement would protect ANWR leasing terms

A draft settlement would bar Washington from shrinking ANWR leasing below what Congress required, a win the state and Kaktovik's drilling backers wanted.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska
Cover image for article: Draft settlement would protect ANWR leasing terms

Mike Rowe helps mark a $250,000 gift to Seward's trade school

Mike Rowe showed up in Homer to help hand Seward's trade school a $250,000 Wells Fargo gift for scholarships and instructors.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Mike Rowe helps mark a $250,000 gift to Seward's trade school

The North Slope's fuel farms sit on thawing ground

The state is renewing spill plans for eight North Slope fuel farms sitting on ground that is thawing and eroding out from under them.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: The North Slope's fuel farms sit on thawing ground

Fatigue blamed in a Parks Highway rollover near Cantwell

A tired Florida driver rolled her vehicle near Cantwell on Thursday, the latest in a summer of crashes and closures on the Parks Highway. Injuries were minor.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Fatigue blamed in a Parks Highway rollover near Cantwell

Troopers waited two months after the traffic stop to make the arrest

Troopers stopped a Wasilla woman in May, took her car, and let the case build. They came back with a search warrant two months later.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Troopers waited two months after the traffic stop to make the arrest

Thursday, Jul 23

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.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Removing an Assembly member takes 94 days and a supermajority

State weighs 30-year lease for St. Michael barge dock

No roads reach St. Michael, so everything arrives by barge. The state is now weighing a 30-year lease for the dock it lands at.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: State weighs 30-year lease for St. Michael barge dock

Woman arrested on DUI charge after driving into a North Pole business

A woman drove through the wall of a North Pole business just after noon Thursday and was arrested on a DUI charge, Alaska State Troopers said.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Woman arrested on DUI charge after driving into a North Pole business

West Petersville Road is washed out, and the creek won't let crews in

West Petersville Road is washed out at Kenny Creek with no reopening date — crews can't start until the water slows down enough to work in.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Petersville, Mat-Su Valley, Alaska
Cover image for article: West Petersville Road is washed out, and the creek won't let crews in

Cook Inlet clammers need a permit, and the east-side beaches stay empty

You now need a permit to dig razor clams on Cook Inlet — though on the Kenai's east-side beaches, closed since 2015, there is almost nothing left to dig.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Cook Inlet clammers need a permit, and the east-side beaches stay empty

Strong escapement at one weir is driving long Alaska Peninsula openings

One weir at Orzinski counts salmon for the whole South Alaska Peninsula. It's running above average, and the openings have gotten long to match.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: Strong escapement at one weir is driving long Alaska Peninsula openings

A dog reported killed in the Bear Valley bear attack turned up alive

The dog reported killed in Saturday's Bear Valley bear attack is alive and unhurt — another hiking party found it and brought it home.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cover image for article: A dog reported killed in the Bear Valley bear attack turned up alive

Two Washington men cited for fishing Bristol Bay while it was closed in Naknek

Two Washington men — one 67, one 21 — got cited for fishing Bristol Bay's Naknek District while it was closed, plus three more counts each.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min readFrom
Cover image for article: Two Washington men cited for fishing Bristol Bay while it was closed in Naknek