Economy & Business

Alaska towns have a month left to apply for up to $850,000 in federal block grants

Alaska towns have until Dec. 4 to apply for up to $850,000 each in federal block grants, and housing now qualifies. The state's last workshop is Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Anchorage airport noise study to present land use options on Nov. 18

Anchorage's airport noise study shows land use options Nov. 18. In August, the only flight change that cut the homes in its noise zone drew doubts.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read

Alaska starts a statewide network to make walking and biking to school safer

The state is starting a statewide group to help Alaska kids walk and bike to school more safely, winter and all. Parents, teachers and planners are welcome.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read

State moves to finish designing a road to the Akutan harbor built without one in 2012

Akutan's boat harbor was dug in 2012 with no road to the village. The state now wants a firm to finish designing one, with construction going to bid in 2028.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Ketchikan council to vote on $1.9 million to start designing a new water line

Ketchikan's water shares 1926 tunnels with its hydro plant, so fixing them means shutting off the tap. The council votes Thursday on $1.9M toward a bypass.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read

St. Paul Island's new gas station is open 24/7 but no longer takes cash or checks

St. Paul Island's gas station went from five hours on weekday afternoons to open 24/7 on Tuesday. But the new pumps take only debit and credit cards.

by Alaska News1w ago2 min read

BLM cuts more than 5 million acres from Alaska's extra statehood land claims

BLM cut more than 5 million acres of Alaska's extra statehood land claims Tuesday, opening land to the federal subsistence priority and potential mining claims.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Border Patrol adds $1.9 million to Anchorage company's transportation and guard order

CBP added $1.9M to an Anchorage firm's contract, the largest of 28 federal actions for Alaska firms in four days. • Arlluk, Ahtna and Coho each saw additions over $750,000. • Other actions trimmed small orders in Ketchikan and for a VA waste contract.

by Melinda Communities.News1w ago2 min read

North Slope operator gets hearing on nearly $937,000 in proposed gas flaring penalties

Regulators want Mustang Holding to pay nearly $937,000 for burning off gas at its North Slope field without permission. It gets a hearing in January.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Gasline Trail bridge work would bring closures, leash rules to Far North Bicentennial

The feds want to replace the Gasline Trail bridge over Campbell Creek. Plans call for closures near the Tank Trail and leashed dogs in the off-leash zone.

by Melinda Communities.News1w ago1 min read

Juneau planners to decide permit for Guardian Flight hangar already standing

Juneau planners take up a permit Nov. 10 for a Guardian Flight medical jet hangar that's already standing. A city note says a permit was issued by mistake.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Seward planners approve Swan Nest Inn expansion to 12-room hotel

Seward's Swan Nest Inn can grow from five rooms to 12 and become a hotel. Planners also moved the Jesse Lee orphanage cemetery a step toward the tribe.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Nome utility board lacks quorum at City Hall, reschedules for Friday

Nome's utility board met at City Hall instead of the power plant Tuesday but didn't have enough members to do business. It'll try again Friday.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read

AFN delegates send Klukwan tribe's hardrock mining consent resolution to committee

AFN delegates sent Klukwan's resolution on tribal consent over hardrock mining to a committee, at the tribe's own request. They passed the other 49.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readFrom Oct 21

Petersburg Assembly advances pause on some data centers, rejects a wider one

Petersburg's Assembly advanced a pause on some data centers through September 2027. A push to pause all of them, closed-loop or not, failed on a 3-3 tie.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Petersburg Assembly awards $13.5 million Scow Bay haul-out contract to lone bidder

Petersburg Assembly awarded Rock-n-Road Construction up to $13.5 million to build the Scow Bay boat haul-out. Work starts Dec. 7, funded mainly by an $8.9 million federal grant.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Ferry Columbia sidelined in Ketchikan for engine repairs, due back Nov. 8

The ferry Columbia is laid up in Ketchikan, due back Sunday, while a Wärtsilä technician and crew replace a piston and cylinder liner in its port main engine.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Juneau staff seek $3.5 million toward new Glacier Highway water main before road rebuild

Juneau utility staff want $3.5 million to start replacing an old water main under Glacier Highway, so it's in the ground before the state rebuilds the road.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Follows: Juneau Assembly to consider $10 million loan for Glacier Highway water main

Juneau staff seek approval to remove closed Calhoun Avenue pedestrian bridge

Juneau staff asked a committee to approve removing the closed Calhoun Avenue bridge for $150,000. The 1977 structure is unsafe and no replacement is planned.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

State will drill test holes on Glacier Highway in Juneau for planned lighting

The state will drill 20-foot holes in Glacier Highway's shoulder Nov. 9-20 to test the ground for planned lighting, which has slipped to a 2027 bid date.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Rural Alaska water utilities face Dec. 31 deadline for sanitation funding scores

Rural Alaska water utilities must submit paperwork by Dec. 31 for a score deciding sanitation project funding.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Anchorage builders group says the building code already accounts for quake risk

Anchorage's home builders group wants the city's highest-hazard quake zones kept in a housing overlay, saying codes account for them. Vote's Wednesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Valdez opens applications for $595 energy credit and home tax exemption

Valdez opened sign-ups for a $595 winter energy credit and an expanded homeowner tax break. Neither is automatic. Skip the paperwork, get nothing.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read

Planners urge dropping or rechecking Anchorage's Academy-Vanguard road project

A South Anchorage road project first flagged as a need around 2009 has more than doubled in price. City planners now say drop it or recheck it.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read

Assembly chair drafts ordinance to cut 24 of Anchorage's 51 comprehensive plan documents

Anchorage's comprehensive plan fills a suitcase, and eight parts can't be found. The Assembly chair now wants to repeal 24 of its 51 documents.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read

Equipment arrives at Cascade Point ferry site before construction is authorized

The state has started hauling equipment to its Cascade Point ferry terminal site north of Juneau. It still hasn't cleared anyone to start digging.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Federal regulators propose safety rules for small and mobile LNG plants

Federal regulators propose first safety rules for small and mobile LNG plants, replacing standards unchanged since 2006. Alaska already trucks LNG to Fairbanks, and small-scale sales are growing.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Regulators refuse more time in ENSTAR's gas rate case, with a decision due Jan. 28

ENSTAR customers have paid higher interim rates since July 2025. Regulators just refused five more days for closing arguments. A decision is due Jan. 28.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readFrom Oct 29

Homer draft would limit short-term rentals in 4 zones to operators' homes

Homer's draft rule would let short-term rentals in four residential zones run only where the operator lives. Planning commissioners weigh in Wednesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read

USDA seeks small-business bids for Alaska pollock and catfish for food aid

USDA wants to buy about 1.7 million pounds of Alaska pollock, plus some catfish, for federal food assistance programs. Bids are due Nov. 12.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read

Palmer could lease Apron D for hangars without waiting on master plan, manager says

Palmer's airport chief says the city doesn't have to wait for its master plan to turn Apron D's open aircraft parking into a lease lot, possibly for hangars.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Juneau could sell Indian Village lots to Tlingit & Haida below market value

Tlingit & Haida applied to acquire four city-owned lots in Juneau's Indian Village, and city staff want the Assembly to weigh selling them below market value.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min readFrom Sep 4

Interior tells judge it's reviewing at least one application for ANWR winter work

Interior told a federal judge it's reviewing at least one application for winter work on ANWR's coastal plain, as she aims to rule on leasing by Nov. 20.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readFrom Oct 27

Follows: Federal judge hears bid Thursday to throw out Arctic refuge oil leasing and leases

Anchorage planners seek delays on three hearings, including Tudor interchange

Anchorage planners asked to push three Nov. 9 hearings into December. It would be the second delay for the Seward Highway-Tudor Road interchange review.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read

Kawerak seeks comments on draft Bering Strait regional energy plan

Kawerak wants comments on a draft energy plan for a region where heating oil averaged $6.57 a gallon in a state survey and homes spend about $6,400 a year.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readFrom Oct 27

Kawerak says new buildings in five Bering Strait villages are nearly complete

Kawerak says new multipurpose buildings in Teller, Elim, Shaktoolik, Gambell and Shishmaref are nearly done, paid for with $12 million in COVID relief money.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Alaska Power seeks federal OK for a gate on Gustavus hydro road at center of access dispute

Alaska Power wants federal approval for a road plan with one gate on the Gustavus hydro road, where the town has insisted on unfettered public access.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Palmer airport plans to ask FAA to approve golf course rent of at least $114,000

Palmer's airport chief wants FAA approval to raise the city golf course's rent on airport land from about $15,000 to at least $114,000 a year.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Palmer planners pick four downtown goals from a parking study instead of adopting it

Palmer planners passed on adopting a consultant's parking study and picked four goals instead, from safer walking to a 15 to 20 mph downtown speed limit.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

State moves to add land to pipeline lease for rock piles to guard against the Sag River

The state proposed adding 26 acres along the Sagavanirktok River to the pipeline's lease so Alyeska can place rock piles up to a half-mile long by the line.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read