The federal government of the United States: the three branches (legislative, executive, judicial) and the agencies, commissions, and departments that report into them.
Senate Veterans' Affairs (Sullivan): Hearings to examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2027 and 2028 advance appropriations requests for the Department of Veterans Affairs. · May 20, 2026
Alaska's North Slope recorded its coolest June since 2018 and western Alaska ran well below normal on precipitation, even as the Arctic overall logged its warmest June since 1950, a split with direct consequences for subsistence communities and fire conditions.
Senate Veterans' Affairs (Sullivan): Hearings to examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2027 and 2028 advance appropriations requests for the Department of Veterans Affairs. · May 20, 2026
The National Weather Service in Fairbanks issued three simultaneous Red Flag Warnings Wednesday covering the Upper Koyukuk, Middle Yukon, Upper Kobuk, and Lower Koyukuk valleys, as NWS confirmed more than 7,000 lightning strikes have ignited 11 new wildfires across Alaska in the past two days. The Upper Kobuk and Lower Koyukuk warning runs through midnight July 9.
A peer-reviewed NOAA Fisheries study published Tuesday in Ecological Applications identifies heatwave-linked natural mortality as a primary driver of the lowest Yukon River Chinook adult run sizes ever recorded, with findings suggesting harvest restrictions alone cannot restore the fishery.
A helicopter crashed into Chelatna Lake near Skwentna on Sunday and submerged, but both occupants escaped and were pulled from the water by a neighbor in a boat before being flown to Talkeetna with minor injuries. The NTSB has been notified.
ABC and NBC report federal and state investigators are examining Alaska's two-Dan-Sullivans Senate race — an inquiry into a candidacy the Alaska Supreme Court just ruled lawful.
NWS Fairbanks issued simultaneous Red Flag Warnings for five regions of western and interior Alaska on Tuesday, with Fire Weather Watches extending the threat into Wednesday and forecasters uncertain how far north thunderstorms will travel.
vA juvenile humpback whale was freed from entanglement at Endicott Arm in Southeast Alaska by a NOAA crew using knife-tipped poles, as large-whale entanglements rise nationwide.
Kawerak has identified two petroleum-contaminated tank farms in Koyuk for federal Brownfields assessment, part of a statewide legacy of contaminated fuel sites on and near Alaska villages.
NWS Fairbanks issued a Fire Weather Watch for the Lower Kobuk Valley running Wednesday morning through Wednesday evening, with temperatures forecast near 80 degrees and lightning-sparked ignitions the primary concern in dry fuels. Red Flag Warnings and a Heat Advisory are also in effect across western and interior Alaska.
A proposed FAA rule would override state meal and rest break laws for airline crews, including Alaska Airlines flight attendants, in favor of a single federal standard.
The FAA has proposed ending the 1973 ban on civil supersonic flight over the U.S., allowing boomless supersonic jets — a change with real relevance for vast, aviation-heavy Alaska.
A federal interim final rule creates an exception to a decades-long prohibition on landing dogs on the Pribilof Islands, allowing independently certified rodent detection dogs to pre-emptively inspect vessels and cargo. The rule takes effect August 6, 2026, the same day public comments close.
The Area 2A Pacific halibut fishery off Washington, Oregon, and California used just 27% of its quota in the June opener, leaving about 191,000 pounds for the July 7 reopening.
A proposed EPA rule (UCMR6) would test public water systems for 30 contaminants, including PFAS, in 2028-2030. Here's what it means for rural Alaska's small water systems.
NWS Juneau has issued a Wind Advisory for Prince of Wales Island, Sitka, Wrangell, and Ketchikan through 7 p.m. Monday, with gusts to 45 mph. A separate special weather statement warns of up to 2 to 3 inches of rain for the southern panhandle, a direct concern for commercial fishers and mariners heading into the work week.
The Bureau of Land Management's Arctic Refuge lease sale drew $3.7 million in winning bids Friday from two bidders on five tracts. The result marks a shift from last year's zero-bid sale but falls short of broad industry interest.
Brianna Lapp was sentenced to 17 years for a DUI crash that killed Pfc. Arturo Gomez, a soldier on duty at Fort Wainwright's main gate in July 2024. Her BAC was 0.299.
A party of eight abandoned their Gulkana River float on July 3 after high water made the river unrunnable. One member, Ben Degraw, 49, suffered chest pains on the Haggard Creek Trail overland exit and required a multi-agency rescue after Lifemed could not land.
A glacial lake outburst flood is underway on Juneau's Taku River, with a city alert until 11 p.m., bringing rapid water rises and debris to the river and Taku Inlet.
A U.S. Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk crashed on Harbor Mountain above Sitka Monday morning. Harbor Mountain Road is closed and the cause is under investigation.
Ketchikan and Annette Island may see up to 2.75 inches of rain Monday as a series of fronts moves through Southeast Alaska over the holiday weekend, forecasters say.
Alaska's 11th Airborne held Angel Ascent, a Shark Tank-style innovation contest; WO1 Brian Raab's "Wardrive" enemy-signal-detecting drone payload won top prize.
A Gulf of Alaska storm will bring sustained winds of 35-45 mph and gusts to 60 mph in Portage and the Anchorage Hillside from late Sunday morning through evening, with lighter winds in the Anchorage Bowl and blowing dust expected along the Glenn Highway near Palmer.
University of Alaska draws $184.6M in federal research money as the False Claims Act hits record recoveries; Rep. Nick Begich sits on the House panel probing research fraud.
The half-acre Ready Bullion Fire burned to within one mile of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline on Saturday before eight smokejumpers and aircraft fully contained it; crews return Sunday for a final hotspot search before declaring it out.
A new channel that opened in 2025 just upstream of the Borealis-LeFevre Cabin on Beaver Creek Wild and Scenic River is filled with logs and debris, and BLM warns the strong current may pull watercraft into it, a serious risk for anyone launching the remote 100-mile float over the holiday weekend.
Sen. Dan Sullivan's new bycatch bill and challenger Mary Peltola's fisheries plan put trawling and salmon bycatch at the center of Alaska's 2026 U.S. Senate race.
A federal requirement that took effect with the 2026 season requires charter anglers to purchase a $20 stamp for each day they plan to keep halibut in Southeast and Southcentral Alaska.
Denali Borough ordered all Anderson residents to evacuate Saturday as the Star Fire grew to 100 acres, with seven aircraft and two ground crews fighting the blaze and two additional fires burning north of town.
President Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing federal agencies to accelerate agricultural innovations, and separately called on Congress to pass $11 billion in supplemental relief for specialty crop and livestock producers hurt by Biden-era regulations.
President floats taking government stakes in AI companies and distributing returns to households, citing Intel deal as precedent. Concept mirrors Alaska's Permanent Fund model.
Sen. Sullivan introduced a sweeping trawl bycatch bill amid Western Alaska salmon collapses — though NOAA science attributes the river declines mainly to ocean warming.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was among the Republicans who questioned Qatar's gift of a Boeing 747 to serve as Air Force One, which President Trump flew for the first time this week.
NOAA Fisheries published a final rule Tuesday setting the 2026 non-Tribal directed commercial Pacific halibut season for Area 2A, with 261,211 pounds allocated across two confirmed fishing windows starting June 23 and vessel catch limits tied to boat length.
All four crew members aboard a U.S. Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk were rescued Monday after the helicopter crashed near Sitka, the Coast Guard confirmed in an updated press release.
Alaska's June 27 withdrawal deadline matters: in the top-four primary, a split Republican field could win fewer of the four slots than its support warrants.
A National Park Service mountaineering ranger died Thursday after falling into a crevasse on Denali. The ranger was on a climbing patrol when the fall occurred.
Federal forecasters favor warmer-than-normal temperatures for most of Alaska this summer, but the El Niño outlook does not support claims of extreme heat or statewide drought.
Smoke from the Starry Fire near Anderson has brought the Interior's first major wildfire smoke of 2026 and is drifting toward Fairbanks; here's how to protect your health.
Because roughly 60% of Alaska is federal land, the Trump administration's NEPA permitting overhaul carries outsized weight for projects like the Ambler road, NPR-A, and ANWR.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1h ago2 min readAI
