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

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Coming up
State Bond Committee Meeting
Telephonic meeting, call-in (907) 202-7104, Conference ID: 633 711 677#
Meeting
Alaska LNG Project Right-of-Way Lease Conversion - In-Person Public Hearing
Hearing
Public Comment Deadline: State Underground Storage Rights Claim
Public notice
Local Government Protest Deadline: Eden Growth Group LLC Marijuana License Renewal
Public notice
Effective: Alaska; Wildlife, Harvest, and Access
Public notice
About 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.

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.

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.

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

Frederick Sound chum stays below average as pink salmon rebound
Chum Slumps. Chum Slumps. Chum Slumps.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

NWS warns of snow, ice risk at Atigun Pass and along Dalton Highway tonight
Surprise Surprise, snow in Atigun Pass

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.

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.

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.

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.
