Government
RSSAlaska News tracks coverage of Alaska government including state legislature, municipal assemblies, and state agencies addressing public policy and community.
Alaska seeks new public defender after Terrence Haas resigns from top post
Alaska is looking for a new public defender to lead the agency that represents people who can't afford a lawyer, a month after its last leader resigned.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 8h ago1 min read
Refugee arrivals to Alaska have nearly stopped, with four this year, all from South Africa
Only four refugees have come to Alaska this year, all from South Africa in December. Two years ago, the state took in 155. None has arrived since January.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 21h ago2 min read
Board of Fisheries committee weighs how to let the public weigh in on last-minute rewrites
ishermen say the fish board rewrites proposals after they've testified. A committee chewed on it Friday and changed nothing yet. Round two comes in October.
by Bill AlaskaNews3d ago2 min read
Kodiak school board meets in closed session Monday on a personnel matter for the fifth time since August
Kodiak's school board meets behind closed doors again Monday on a personnel matter. Its online minutes page hasn't caught up with anything since July.
by Walter AlaskaNews3d ago2 min read
Alaska lists 5.7 million acres of land selections it could give back to federal ownership
Alaska may hand about 5.7 million acres of state land selections back to the federal government, where rural residents would get a subsistence priority.
by Walter AlaskaNews3d ago2 min read
Anchorage work session leaves Chugach park access costs unresolved
Anchorage Bowl taxpayers chip in for Hillside park roads. Whether Hillside chips in for Bowl roads is a question the Assembly's slides raised and left hanging.
by Walter AlaskaNews3d ago2 min read
Petersburg paid to advertise one of its two sales tax ballot questions, finance director says
Petersburg is voting on two sales tax questions and bought ads for one. The senior exemption initiative will have to get by on word of mouth.
by Walter AlaskaNews3d ago3 min read
Kodiak Island Borough Assembly cancels work session for lack of a quorum
Kodiak's Assembly couldn't gather enough members Thursday to talk about when it will meet next year. The 2027 meeting calendar will have to wait its turn.
by Walter AlaskaNews4d ago1 min read
Ketchikan planning commission to consider censuring commissioner over remarks about Ketchikan Indian Community
Ketchikan's planning commission will weigh censuring a commissioner over remarks about the Ketchikan Indian Community, a day after a removal law is introduced.
by Walter AlaskaNews4d ago2 min read
State boundary commission revisits a rule that could stop Eaglexit before a full review
A state commission will revisit a rule that could stop Eaglexit early. One commissioner can't take part, and two would sit out the petition itself.
by Cale Green4d ago3 min read
Alaska released 310 acres near Slana to the university over its own agencies' objections
The state released 310 acres near Slana for the university over objections from DOT, two of its own land sections and every commenter. DNR's reply: thanks.
by Alaska News4d ago2 min read
Anchorage's Board of Ethics couldn't meet Wednesday, leaving a March complaint pending
Anchorage's Board of Ethics couldn't get three of five members on a call Wednesday. The complaint on its agenda has been waiting since March.
by Walter AlaskaNews4d ago2 min read
The Greenland defense deal cites Golden Dome, the missile shield already anchored in Alaska
The U.S.-Greenland defense deal cites Golden Dome, a missile shield Congress funded but can't get spending details on. Its Senate sponsor is Dan Sullivan.
by Melinda Communities.News4d ago2 min read
Ken Lancaster, Soldotna's mayor through the 1990s and later a state representative, has died at 83
Ken Lancaster moved to Soldotna at 19, ran the city through most of the 1990s, and then went to Juneau to represent the area. He died at 83.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago1 min read
Utqiagvik's council can pause the sales tax five more years without a vote
Utqiagvik's council can pause the city sales tax five more years on its own. The marijuana tax increase, meanwhile, has to go to the voters.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago2 min read
Unalaska's council cleared the mayor to accept a Trident-hosted trip to a Navy commissioning
Unalaska's council cleared the mayor to take tickets, lodging and a ride from Trident Seafoods for a Navy commissioning. No undue influence, it found.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4d ago1 min read
Knik Tribe awarded $199,482 for Palmer fingerprinting site and mobile units
Fostering a child in Mat-Su can mean a long drive to get fingerprinted. Federal money is buying the Knik Tribe a station and two portable units.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
Alaska may stop requiring liquor license applicants to buy newspaper ads as required public notice
Alaska liquor license applicants have to buy three weeks of newspaper or radio advertising. A draft rule would end that requirement entirely.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 5d ago1 min read
Alaska takes final 2026 public input Wednesday on child care grant rules
Alaska's child care office wraps up its year of public sessions Wednesday with one on the grant program that pays licensed providers.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago1 min read
Alaska lifts 500-day hiring and regulation freeze, no reason given
Alaska's 500-day freeze on state hiring, travel and new regulations is over. The order ending it runs four sentences and gives no reason at all.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago2 min read
North Pole wants its next mayor to work part time, for $2,000 a month
North Pole's council voted to cut the next mayor's pay from about $80,000 a year plus benefits to $2,000 a month, flat. It is not final quite yet.
by Alaska News6d ago2 min read
The line that powers Petersburg would leave federal license oversight
Petersburg gets its power over an 80-mile line from Tyee Lake. The agency running it wants that line out of its federal license, the second this year.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago1 min read
Fairbanks trails panel wants tour operators permitted and paying 15% into a trail fund
Fairbanks has over 1,000 miles of trails and no rules for commercial tours on them. A draft would charge operators 15 percent, into a fund that does not exist.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Flags fly at half-staff Tuesday for former Ketchikan Rep. Cheri Davis
Flags fly at half-staff Tuesday for Cheri Davis, who spent a decade on the Ketchikan School Board before she represented the town in Juneau.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Unalaska council appoints election judges for Oct. 6 vote
Unalaska City Council appointed election judges and clerks for the Oct. 6 municipal election, with nonemployee staff paid $20 an hour from the city budget.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago1 min read
Anchorage officials fail to agree on shared school-closure committee
The Assembly and School Board could not agree on giving both bodies votes on a school-closure committee. The existing board-led panel remains.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago5 min read
Marijuana Board Drafts Would Strip Ad Warnings; Filing Fix Scores Highest
Dropping every health warning from Alaska marijuana ads scores 7 points on the state's deregulation scale. Reshuffling packaging rules scores 135.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago3 min read
Alaska pot shops would have to balance their inventory every single day
Alaska pot shops would have to reconcile their whole inventory against the state system every night, under a rule the board takes up Monday.
by Melinda Communities.News1w 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 AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Anchorage appeals board sets five more property hearings for Sept. 22-25
Anchorage was supposed to have finished hearing property assessment appeals by June 1. It is still hearing them, nearly four months later.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Most of Sitka's administrator search has happened in executive session
Sitka's sole finalist for city administrator dropped out in July. The Assembly decides Tuesday on a different candidate, possibly in closed session.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Fairbanks weighs union labor agreements on its big construction projects
Fairbanks would require union-negotiated labor agreements on borough construction over $3.5 million, copying an Anchorage rule that warned it could raise costs.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Alaska DNR issues four land decisions for University of Alaska land grants
Alaska issued four land-transfer decisions in four days ahead of a December deadline, over unanimous opposition. At Medicine Lake, the opposition won.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Alaska's population holds steady to 2055. Kodiak loses a quarter of its people.
Alaska's population barely changes by 2055. Kodiak's drops 26 percent. A flat statewide average hides what happens to individual communities.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Kenai Assembly asks state to ban cloud seeding, on consent agenda
A company seeded clouds over the Kenai Peninsula and the borough learned about it from a press release. Nobody has the authority to require otherwise.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago3 min read
Cordova council votes 4-0 to negotiate hillside lot sale instead of taking bids
Cordova City Council voted 4-0 to negotiate directly with one interested buyer for a hillside lot instead of seeking sealed bids, overriding the Planning Commission's recommendation
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Cordova's code says give the dog back if the owner is standing there
Cordova's code tells an officer to hand the dog back if the owner is standing right there. The council thinks that may be a liability problem.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
State will bring free heavy equipment training to Cordova crews
Cordova's public works crews will train on heavy equipment at no cost through state-run courses held in town, filling a gap left by last year's travel budget cuts.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Anchorage confirms drone deployment was omitted and checks for others
APD's manual drone log lost at least one deployment. Anchorage is checking for more omissions and owes the Assembly a revised report Oct. 6.
by Alaska News1w ago2 min read
Three students share the Anchorage Assembly's youth representative seat
Anchorage Assembly Chair Anna Brawley appointed three high school students to share the youth representative seat through April 2027, a nonbinding advisory role open to residents ages 16 to 19.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
