Economy & Business

FedEx is holding a walk-in hiring event in Juneau this week

FedEx holds a walk-in hiring event in Juneau Aug. 25 to 27, with courier and service agent roles paying $25 to $39 an hour.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska ferry system awarded more than $410 million in federal funding

Alaska's ferry system is getting more than $410 million in federal money, both to keep the boats running and to build a new vessel and upgrade terminals.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska's development authority again takes ANWR and Ambler to closed session

Alaska's development authority will again discuss two divisive projects — ANWR oil drilling and the Ambler mining road — in closed session this week.

by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read

Alaska lost 2,100 jobs in July, almost all of them government

Alaska lost 2,100 jobs in July from a year earlier, almost all of it government. Federal employment was down 1,300 and state government 1,000.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Alaska is losing federal jobs faster than almost any state

Heating help is going up this winter for remote Aleut communities, after a proposed cut was reversed

Heating help is rising about 40 percent this winter for 10 Aleut communities, after their tribal organization won more state funding and reversed a cut.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Kodiak rezone would raise Cliff Point lot minimums to five acres

Kodiak Island Borough Assembly opened a hearing on rezoning twenty Cliff Point lots to require five-acre minimum sizes, reducing how many homes can be built there.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska State Fair plans $10 million Borealis Theatre rebuild

The Alaska State Fair is rebuilding its Borealis Theatre, growing the concert venue from 5,200 to 6,500 with a bigger stage, better sound and a steeper lawn.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage will decide whether two Eagle River properties can drop old development limits

Anchorage decides in September whether two Eagle River properties can drop decades-old limits, one to allow apartments, one to free up a business lot.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Three Cook Inlet gas storage plans pending for winter demand

Cook Inlet's gas problem isn't only supply, it's winter. Alaska is weighing three plans to bank gas underground and draw it down in the cold months.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska tells BlueCrest to produce Cook Inlet gas by 2027 or give up the lease

Alaska ordered BlueCrest Energy to begin producing gas from its Cook Inlet lease by March 2027 or forfeit it, as the region's gas supply shrinks and the company has sat idle for years.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A $400 million expansion of Bradley Lake hydro would power about 30,000 homes and cut Southcentral's gas use

A $400 million Bradley Lake hydro expansion would power about 30,000 homes and offset 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas a year, easing Southcentral's gas crunch.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A $413 million cable would give Kenai and Anchorage a second power link

One transmission path links Kenai to Anchorage. A $413 million subsea cable would add a second, if AEA can raise the half that isn't federal.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Peterson Avenue closes this weekend for a utility line, detour in place

Peterson Avenue near Halibut Point Road closes this weekend for a utility line across both lanes. There's no set detour, so follow the signs and flaggers.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage may move a national bike route off its highways and onto the coastal trails

Anchorage may reroute a national bike route off its highways onto the Coastal and Ship Creek trails, part of a push to move cyclists onto lower-stress paths.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

The Permanent Fund's dividend account is running about $400 million ahead

The account that pays the Permanent Fund dividend held about $400 million more than it needs, a 7% cushion. No inflation proofing was appropriated for 2026.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Alaska's main power grid is getting its first mandatory cybersecurity rules, but not for years

Alaska's main power grid is finally getting mandatory cybersecurity rules, but none takes effect until 2027 at the earliest, phasing in slowly through 2029.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Homer Electric members will be able to buy into shared solar starting in February

Homer Electric members can buy into shared solar or wind starting around mid-February. Subscribers will pay a monthly fee nobody has put a number on yet.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Record cold pushed Anchorage's gas demand to an all-time high, just as the supply is running out

Record cold drove Anchorage-area gas demand to a record as Cook Inlet supply shrinks, and the utility projects a 3 billion cubic foot shortfall next winter.

by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Girdwood petitioner seeks stream setback variance for house and bridge

A Girdwood developer seeks permission to build a house and bridge closer to a salmon stream than borough code allows. The Zoning Board hears the case Oct. 8.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Three years and three permits later, Ketchikan's airport ferry still has no backup berths

Ketchikan's airport ferry docks at one set of berths with no backup. Three years and three federal permits later, the state hasn't driven a pile.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A remote Alaska island is paying $7.55 a gallon to heat its homes

A remote Alaska island is paying $7.55 a gallon for heat, plus an undisclosed city surcharge. The city blames Middle East conflict for the delivered price.

by Alaska News2mo ago2 min read

Golden Valley Electric has rules for community solar and no community solar

Golden Valley Electric now has approved rules for community solar and no community solar. Someone outside the utility has to build it first.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Tatitlek Management Services wins $2.8 million State Department maintenance order

Tatitlek Management Services won a $2.8 million State Department maintenance contract running through August 2027.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Skagway's ferry terminal is closed indefinitely for work the state planned as a one-week job

Skagway's ferry terminal is closed indefinitely for emergency anchor-chain repairs. A February notice had planned the same work as a one-week closure.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage approves a Muldoon Road marijuana store, over a dispute about how close it sits to a playground

Anchorage approved a Muldoon Road marijuana store 8-3, over objections about how close it sits to a playground and whether a stricter state buffer applies.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Eight Alaska fishery disaster requests are past the deadline federal law sets

Eight Alaska fishing communities are owed federal disaster relief the law says is already overdue, and until the decisions come, no one gets paid.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska's cruise ship wastewater permit expired in 2019 and is still in force

Twenty-eight cruise ships discharged treated wastewater in Alaska last season under a 2014 permit that expired in 2019. Nine discharges were unauthorized.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Juneau job seekers can meet several employers in one stop this week

Juneau job seekers can meet several employers in one stop Thursday at a state recruiting event, though details are thin — call the job center to confirm.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage wants to buy three new garbage trucks for about $1.47 million

Anchorage's trash utility wants three new garbage trucks for about $1.47 million, and a bulk-purchasing deal shaved roughly $282,000 off the sticker price.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A Sitka Street railroad crossing rebuild will cost Anchorage $91,000 more than agreed

Anchorage's Sitka Street railroad crossing rebuild will cost about $91,000 more than agreed after high bids — a tab that falls on nearby property owners.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

The town of Whittier has had no gas for weeks, and it's only manageable because it's summer

The whole town of Whittier has had no natural gas since Aug. 16 and won't get it back until Sept. 5, and it's manageable mainly because it's still warm out.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A Hillside road area may spend far more than planned after erosion damage

A small Hillside neighborhood that maintains its own roads may spend nearly $99,000 this year — up from about $21,000 — after ice and spring runoff caused heavy road erosion.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage approves $40,000 to update Merrill Field's airport layout plan

Anchorage approved $40,000, almost all of it federal, to update Merrill Field's airport layout plan after new flight procedures changed what it must show.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage firm has held FBI maintenance contract without competition since 2022

An Anchorage company owned by an Alaska Native corporation has kept the FBI's Washington Field Office running since 2022. This month: drains and roof hatches.

by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read

A Juneau company turning idle fishing boats into tidal power just cracked a deep-fjord problem

A Juneau company turning idle fishing boats into tidal-power platforms won a patent for stopping the cable-twisting that hobbles deep-fjord generators.

by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read

Overnight drilling comes to Ketchikan's aging viaducts, part of a plan to repair them now and replace them later

Overnight drilling comes to Ketchikan's two 1950s viaducts, which carry 14,000-plus vehicles a day, as the state plans to repair them and replace them later.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

A cable across the Koyukuk, a camp for a mining crew, and no named mine

A Wasilla man wants to hang a 25,000-pound cable across the Koyukuk and camp a mining crew beside it. The state's form never asks which mine.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage Planning and Zoning bumped its entire August docket to September

Every land-use case on the Planning and Zoning Commission's August docket got bumped to September, a month's delay for anyone waiting on a rezoning or permit.

by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read

A routine Anchorage roads vote this week would also fund cameras at 82 more intersections

A routine Anchorage roads-money vote this week also quietly funds 82 more intersection cameras, in the middle of a public fight over police surveillance.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago4 min read

Anchorage is weighing a trade of land it just bought for $2.35 million for four downtown parking lots

Anchorage is weighing a trade of land it just bought for $2.35 million for four downtown parking lots, over a state objection and around competitive bidding.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read