Economy & Business

Palmer pilot and Michigan passenger killed in eastern Alaska plane crash

Two people died when a Piper Super Cub went down in eastern Alaska on Sept. 17, two days after a separate crash near Aniak killed two men.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 17

Fairbanks rewrites Chena riverfront rules; its own 2019 warning was never acted on

A 2019 letter warned that Chena River homes built to code could lose their ground before the mortgage is paid off. Fairbanks is rewriting the plan now.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Bethel would lease city lots to a fiber contractor without taking bids

Bethel would lease six city lots to a fiber contractor for $201,600 without bids, and nothing in the packet shows how the price was set.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Bethel council to authorize $5,200 culvert easements the city signed months ago

Bethel City Council takes up an ordinance Tuesday authorizing $5,200 in perpetual culvert easements along Ptarmigan Road that the city manager already signed in May and June, with a public hearing Oct. 13.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

AIDEA's board takes six major projects into executive session in Kotzebue

AIDEA's board meets in Kotzebue with Ambler, Red Dog, ANWR and West Susitna on the closed agenda — listed by name, with nothing said about what's up.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min read

Sitka would make second houses easier to build in some zones and ban them in others

Sitka wants second small houses easier to build in some neighborhoods and off limits in others. Shotgun Alley asked for one and was told to wait.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Alaska's $7.74 billion transportation plan is open for public comment

Alaska's four-year, $7.74 billion transportation plan is open for comment until Oct. 29 — and the draft itself says that total isn't complete.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Federal environmental review begins for the Arctic copper mine near Kobuk

The Army Corps is starting its environmental review of the Arctic copper mine near Kobuk, with a final decision targeted for September 2028.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Denali's road work starts the day after the last bus of the season

Denali's last bus of the season ran Sept. 17. The very next morning, a $6.2 million contract to fix the roads those buses depend on began.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Flaggers still at Richardson Highway MP 210 as rock blasting wraps up

Crews blasted the last of an unstable rock outcrop off the Richardson Highway at Milepost 210, a year after the state flagged it. Traffic is still controlled.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

State agencies host Oct. 12-13 Anchorage conference on disability employment

State agencies host an Employment First Conference Oct. 12-13 in Anchorage to address why only 51% of Alaskans with disabilities work, compared to 77% without.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Interior proposes dropping the Arctic relief rig rule and a whaling check

Interior's proposed Arctic drilling rule would drop the standby relief rig and a whaling-ground discharge check, with subsistence losses scored at zero.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago5 min read

Kenai refuge's environmental education building gets exterior repairs

The Kenai refuge's environmental education building is getting a $48,000 exterior fix-up this fall, from a small business based in Colorado.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Juneau's glacial flood bond vote would not reach voters until October 2027

Juneau can't vote on borrowing for permanent flood protection until October 2027, because the Army Corps won't have a cost estimate until then.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Juneau's flood protection should be everyone's bill, three members say

Three virtual hearings this week will take comments on BLM's Arctic fast-track

Three virtual hearings begin Tuesday on a 60-day Arctic permitting rule that BLM says could roughly double development.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 8

Alaska's Coast Guard distress radios have missed calls, and a fix is funded

The Coast Guard's own inspector general found outages in Alaska's distress radio network kept it from hearing some calls for help. A fix is funded.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min read

Ferry programs drew $27.73 million of Alaska's federal awards last week

Alaska took $69.2 million in federal awards last week, most of it for ferries, which already lean on Washington for nearly half their operating budget.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago1 min read

Railroad board to discuss $315 million Port MacKenzie extension Friday

The Alaska Railroad board will discuss a private consortium's Port MacKenzie proposal Friday. Any board action must occur in public session.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

State job fair brings 15 employers to Fairbanks Sept. 24

A state job fair runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Fairbanks Job Center, with 15 employers listed.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

FAA seeks permit for weather station at Coffman Cove seaplane base

The FAA is seeking a 20-year state permit for a weather observation system at Coffman Cove. Comments close Oct. 2.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Anchorage schedules Oct. 6 hearing on transit-corridor plan

Anchorage will hear testimony Oct. 6 on plan amendments calling for 25 to 36 homes per acre in designated transit corridors.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

The Dalton closes completely Tuesday morning for culvert work

The Dalton Highway shuts down completely Tuesday morning for about five hours, and there is no detour around the only road to the North Slope.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

BLM bought snowmobiles to get to Alaska's abandoned gold mines

BLM bought a UTV, an ATV and snowmobiles from a Delta Junction dealer this month to reach Alaska's abandoned gold mines. There are a lot of them.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Sitka Assembly favors a half-point summer sales tax for child care, with no vote taken

Sitka's Assembly favored a half-point summer sales tax for child care on Sept. 8.. Staff estimate it would raise about $1.19 million a year against a $1 million package.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 8

Fairbanks diesel hit a record $6.70 a gallon this weekend

Fairbanks diesel hit a record $6.70 a gallon, up from $4.17 a year ago. That's the fuel that hauls everything else up the highway to the Interior.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Permanent Fund has $5.7B uncommitted after reserving next draw, inflation transfer

The Permanent Fund had $5.7B uncommitted July 31 after reserving $4.1B for the next draw and $1.7B for inflation proofing.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 2

Saint Paul's harbor needs $90 million in work, and the city wants input

A 2021 study found Saint Paul's harbor needs over $90 million in work. Residents get two chances in October to shape what actually gets built.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Chugach will charge you less at night, if you actually move your usage

Chugach will sell you cheaper power overnight and pricier power all day long. Sign up and change nothing, and you end up paying a little more.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Alaska LNG updates landowner complaint procedure before construction

Alaska LNG updated its future landowner complaint process. FERC approval remains pending, and construction has not begun.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 14

Juneau invented cruise ship shore power. Doing it again costs $111.5 million

Plugging Juneau's cruise berths into the grid now runs $111.5 million, up from $24.9 million. The city has spare hydropower about a quarter of the time.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Bethel's dock wall is failing and the Port Commission hasn't taken it up

The Corps warned Bethel that its City Dock wall is shifting out of alignment. The Port Commission hasn't managed to discuss it in seven months.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Alaska's unemployment count fell in August as the labor force shrank

Alaska had 900 fewer jobs in August than a year ago, as 1,300 lost federal positions outweighed private-sector hiring. The rate fell anyway.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su asks AIDEA to build at Point MacKenzie, not on 20,000 acres near Houston

The state proposed giving AIDEA 885 acres at Port MacKenzie for free, one day after the borough voted to send AIDEA there instead of Houston.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago4 min read

Two dead in Piper Cub crash near Nabesna, troopers say

Two people died when a Piper Cub crashed shortly after takeoff from a dirt airstrip near Nabesna in Interior Alaska on Thursday evening, Sept. 17.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Ninth Circuit lets King Cove road work continue while appeal runs into November

Construction continues on the first 2.8 miles of the King Cove to Cold Bay road after a federal appeals court denied a motion to halt the work.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Sitka's savings for future repairs has shrunk three years running

Sitka's yearly set-aside for future infrastructure repairs keeps shrinking: $4 million, then $3.2 million, and $3 million proposed for Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Sitka would make backyard apartments easier to build, in fewer places

Sitka wants more backyard apartments and fewer places to put them. The ordinance cuts requirements from 14 to eight and bars them from R-2 lots.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Sitka has been renting dumpsters without a rate in code

Sitka has been running roll-off dumpster service with no rate in city code. The Assembly is fixing that Tuesday, at $3,300 a month per container.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Sullivan bill would have Congress ratify ANWR Coastal Plain permits

Sullivan's bill would have Congress ratify the ANWR leasing permits — a move that would largely put them beyond challenge in federal court.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Draft Southeast plan omits Juneau-Skagway road, comment closes Oct. 19

The road from Juneau to Skagway has been argued about for twenty years. The state's new plan for Southeast does not mention it even one time.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read