Community & Regional Affairs
RSSBoroughs, cities, unincorporated communities, local government finance, regional planning, and rural infrastructure.
Kenai Peninsula planning commission to hear Cohoe road vacation Sept. 14
Kenai Peninsula planning commission will hear a petition Sept. 14 to vacate Keyros Avenue in Cohoe, with the borough assembly retaining veto power over any approval.
by Alaska News2d ago1 min readAI
The lone applicant for a Kenai Peninsula Assembly seat could be seated Sept. 1
Nathan Berga is the only applicant for Kenai Peninsula Borough's vacant District 7 seat and could be appointed Tuesday, Sept. 1, restoring the assembly to nine members.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min readAI
Anchorage considers naming Northeast Connector Trail after Karen Bronga
Anchorage's naming commission will weigh renaming a Centennial Park trail for Karen Bronga, a former Assembly member killed last month, at a Sept. 9 hearing.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
The Kenai Assembly will fill the vacant Kalifornsky seat Tuesday
The Kenai Assembly will appoint someone to the vacant Kalifornsky seat Tuesday from three applicants — voters decide who finishes the term in November.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min readAI
Anchorage's Women's Commission is building a survey to ask women what matters most
Anchorage's Women's Commission is building a survey to ask women citywide what issues it should tackle, partly to measure unreported abuse.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readAI
Kodiak is projected to lose about 1,200 residents by 2045 as young adults leave
Kodiak is projected to lose about 1,200 people by 2045, shrinking every census since 2000 as young adults leave — numbers one business owner called "scary."
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readAI
Mat-Su voters will decide whether the borough can tax valley-wide for big road projects
Mat-Su voters will decide Nov. 3 whether the borough can use borough-wide taxes to build big road projects no single service area can afford — with debate over whether it shifts money from urban to rural areas.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago2 min readAI
Juneau aging commission chair tells Assembly paratransit has failed seniors for nine months
Juneau concerned that folks aren't getting rides.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Free daily meals and pantries available across Anchorage in August
A free hot meal is available somewhere in Anchorage every day this month, plus two dozen food pantries citywide. Call 211 or check anchoragefood.org for the schedule.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Bethel's safety and taxi commission is down to two of six members
Bethel's commission overseeing public safety and its huge taxi fleet is down to two of six seats — with a taxi fare hike on its agenda in a busy hub town.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Sterling residents want to tax themselves for recreation
Sterling residents want to tax themselves for recreation. On Aug. 4 the borough sets the date for a public meeting where they can back or fight the plan.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
State tells Alaska communities: check for unclaimed assistance payments
The state says some Alaska communities have unclaimed Community Assistance payments waiting — and FY27 awards start landing July 29. Paperwork required.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Sitka Assembly reconsiders hatchery lease at Gary Paxton park
Sitka's Assembly takes another swing at leasing a chunk of the Gary Paxton park to a hatchery group, plus two more parcels up for private bids.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Anchorage police oversight proposal dies without a second
Anchorage has had no police oversight body since 2024. A proposal to create one — with no power to investigate — died Tuesday for lack of a second.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Anchorage Assembly members frame Fairview grant as a civil-rights question
Two Anchorage Assembly members are opposing a $750,000 behavioral health grant for Fairview, arguing it repeats a pattern of concentrating services in neighborhoods already burdened by discrimination.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readAI
Fairbanks trails commission to weigh commercial vehicle rules Monday
Fairbanks trails commission meets Monday to weigh rules on commercial vehicles on borough recreational trails, part of a larger dispute over who uses the system and how.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Kodiak weighs selling four parcels, including its ballfields
Kodiak's Lands Committee will consider selling four borough parcels July 20, including Killarney Hills, a 16-acre site with two shared baseball fields that faces wetland and sewer obstacles.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Bethel's free bulky-item pickup ends this month
Bethel's one free bulky-item pickup of the year ends in July — last call to haul off the busted four-wheeler before it's your job to get it to the landfill.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Where thousands of seabirds flew, a Kodiak commissioner counted 30
A Native Kodiak commissioner counted 30 seabirds where thousands once flew, and says the borough's new 20-year plan must reckon with that — and with 7,000 years of Indigenous knowledge.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
AML resolution calls for protecting bypass mail to remote Alaska communities
Alaska Municipal League urged federal officials to protect bypass mail, which lets remote communities buy cheaper goods through the postal system.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
A village on Alaska's biggest lake gets land for a community hub
Kokhanok, a village of about 150 on Alaska's largest lake, is set to gain state land for a community building — handed to the tribe, since the village has no city government.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readAI
North Slope mayor: 'Nothing about us without us'
The North Slope mayor used a Founders' Day message to demand the region get a real voice in federal and state decisions about its land — a bid for leverage it doesn't formally hold.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Kodiak is shrinking and greying, even as the rest of Alaska grows
Kodiak has lost about 650 residents in five years, roughly 5%, even as Alaska grew. The island is aging: fewer young kids, more residents in their 70s, men leaving 2 to 1.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
A Russian Old Believer village fights to keep its school
Nikolaevsk — a Russian Old Believer village on the Kenai — may hand its shrinking school to a local nonprofit, a bid to keep education in the community as families drift away.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
A Sitka Assembly seat just opened — and the window's short
A Sitka Assembly seat opened when Tim Pike resigned — and residents have only until July 8 to apply for the appointment before October's election decides it for good.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readAI
Seward pays to save the pool that made an Olympian
Seward is putting $200K a year toward keeping its community pool open — the same water that once trained a hometown Olympian. Small town, big save.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min readAI
Juneau fills its airport, harbor and ski-area boards
Juneau, the only U.S. capital you can't drive to, just appointed 11 unpaid volunteers to oversee its airport, harbors and ski hill — all without a single objection.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Anchorage approved three ice-arena contracts. The office that oversees them has one employee.
Anchorage approved three ice-arena contracts — then admitted the office overseeing them has one employee and no finalized policy. Audits had flagged the gap before.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Mat-Su Planning Commission to schedule Eagle River annexation presentation
Mat-Su Planning Commission scheduled a presentation on annexing Chugiak and Eagle River from Anchorage, a preliminary step that does not endorse the idea or require a vote by the Borough Assembly.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Cordova Harbor Commission sends harbor-mouth tideland sale back for engineering review
Cordova Harbor Commission blocked a proposal to sell tidelands for a dock near the small boat harbor entrance, citing navigation hazards from constriction at the mouth where 727 vessels operate in strong currents.
by Alaska News2mo ago2 min readAI
Sitka seeks crosswalk design ideas for Lincoln Street
Sitka is asking residents of all ages to submit designs for painted crosswalk patterns on downtown Lincoln Street by June 24, with selected designs to be painted this summer as part of a pedestrian safety project.
by Alaska News2mo ago2 min readAI
Alaska proposes timber sales in Haines State Forest habitat areas
Alaska's Division of Forestry and Fire Protection is proposing to allow timber sales in wildlife habitat and recreation areas of the 260,000-acre Haines State Forest, reversing a 2002 policy ban, with public comment due June 5.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min readAI
Alaska proposes timber harvest in all Haines State Forest areas
Alaska's Division of Forestry proposes opening all 286,000 acres of Haines State Forest to timber sales to enable carbon-offset projects, despite 78 percent opposition from a local survey.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min readAI
DNR grants 4.55-acre public easement through state land in Trapper Creek
Alaska DNR approved a public easement across state land in Trapper Creek, giving landowner Troy Church legal road and utility access to his property while keeping the half-mile corridor open to the general public.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI
