Government
RSSAlaska News tracks coverage of Alaska government including state legislature, municipal assemblies, and state agencies addressing public policy and community.
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
Soldotna council candidate Conner refiles disclosure on the last day to file
Soldotna council candidate Nicholas Conner refiled his financial disclosure Tuesday, the last day of the filing period, after listing the wrong municipality on his original form.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Mat-Su kept the Long Trail sign, and the $300,000 that came with it
Mat-Su took $300,000 and kept the trail sign some members worried would invite federal control. The borough's own attorney said it would not.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Your state parks gift certificate expires during a blackout you can't book in
Your Alaska State Parks gift certificate expires Sept. 30, but you can't book anything after Sept. 27. Those last three days are decorative.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Nome cannot say whether a free shuttle van is a taxi
Nome's code does not say whether free shuttle vans count as taxis. The mayor says nobody has worked it out, and the sales tax turns on the answer.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Mat-Su considers banning plate readers before it has them
Mat-Su votes Tuesday on banning license plate readers it doesn't own — the same night Anchorage debates regulating the ones it already has.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Seventeen foreclosed Fairbanks properties sold, 25 drew no bid
Fairbanks sold 17 tax-foreclosed properties last month. One of them, assessed at $146,019, went for $12,120 — a hundred dollars over the minimum.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min read
Juneau youth board reviews $3,605 in travel requests from two teen athletes
Two Juneau teenagers earned spots at competitions Outside and are asking the city for airfare. The fund they are asking from ended last year with $1,237 left.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Juneau aging commission chair asks Assembly to fix or cancel paratransit contract
Juneau seniors and wheelchair riders are missing paratransit pickups under Ground Transportation Solutions. The aging commission chair asked the Assembly to fix or cancel the contract before winter.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Juneau's city-owned ski area has carried EPA's most urgent water violation for six months
Juneau's city-owned Eaglecrest Ski Area has carried the EPA's most urgent drinking water violation for six months, with no record of it being resolved.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Seward council approves five-year lease moving food pantry to senior center
Seward City Council approved a five-year lease moving He Will Provide Food Pantry from City Hall Annex to the senior center starting Jan. 1, 2027, gaining more space and a better kitchen.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Anchorage seeks ideas for its Darwin sister-city partnership
Anchorage residents can suggest what the city should do with Darwin, Australia, its sister city since 1982. Ideas are due to the commission by Sept. 30.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Anchorage assessment appeals hit a record, and the board filled up to cope
Anchorage owners filed a record 1,990 assessment appeals this year, quadruple last year's, and the board filled every seat for the first time in 20 years.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Anchorage coded most sampled spending to the wrong account, audit finds
Anchorage miscoded 72% of sampled spending, an audit found — because nobody ever wrote down what the city's accounting categories actually mean.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min read
Alaska's new ethics law names the wrong person in a complaint
Alaska's new ethics law tells the committee to meet with the wrong person in a complaint. The ethics committee voted to ask for a fix.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
The Kenai Borough Assembly president wants three votes to carry the assembly
The Kenai Borough Assembly president wants three votes to carry the assembly instead of five. Two of nine members were appointed on his motions.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read
Kodiak Island Borough Assembly to vote on snow contract that drew a single bid
Only one contractor bid on Kodiak's snow removal after the school district opted to plow its own lots — a setup one assembly member calls "ridiculous."
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Unalaska raises nonprofit grant audit threshold to $300,000
Unalaska's small nonprofits no longer need a costly annual audit to keep their city grants — one group said audits ate about 13% of its award.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago2 min read
Kodiak council moves toward leasing historic Griffin building to two museums
Kodiak City Council rejected a church's bid to buy the historic Griffin building and will instead lease it to two museums for storage and exhibits, though lease terms remain unsigned.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago2 min read
The hockey association runs Anchorage's city rinks now, for $10 a year
The hockey association took over Anchorage's two city rinks in June for $10 a year. The old operator owed $360,000. The first big repair bill is Tuesday.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Alaska would swap dated national manuals for an undated state guidebook
Alaska hospitals would follow a state guidebook instead of two national manuals for data reporting. The guidebook has no edition date. The manuals do.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Landmine publisher takes copyright-strike complaint against APD to Assembly Tuesday
Alaska Landmine publisher Jeff Landfield asked the Anchorage Assembly to address an APD copyright strike that temporarily removed a video critical of Police Chief Sean Case from Facebook.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago2 min read
Anchorage's Assembly voted to review fewer contracts. August shows what that means
Anchorage's Assembly voted last year to stop reviewing most city contracts. August shows what that means: 24 awards, a $450,000 paving job among them, no votes.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Alaska approves three land releases for University of Alaska
Alaska is transferring hundreds of thousands of acres to the University of Alaska under its federal land grant, led by a 220,000-acre Ray Mountains selection.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read
An inspector cited Anchorage's ice rinks for safety valves a decade old
Safety valves at Anchorage's two city ice rinks were due for replacement five years ago. An inspector noticed. The fix is inside a $936,000 repair bill.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Fairbanks weighs broader authority to take ownership of abused animals
Fairbanks animal control lacks a direct forfeiture process for abused or neglected animals. A proposed borough rule would add one.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
The mayor wants two more members on a naming commission that cannot meet
Anchorage's naming commission has five members and needs five to meet, so it hasn't. The mayor wants two more confirmed before it expires next month.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Kenai weighs more money for the Senior Center canopy roof project
Kenai's council votes Wednesday on yet more money for the Senior Center canopy roof, a job that a 2024 plan had put at $50,000 on its own.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Anchorage pays new ice rink operator $450,000 plus $10 a year
Anchorage Assembly voted unanimously to replace the operator of two city ice rinks after an audit found the previous manager owed $360,000 and missed financial reports.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago1 min read
Alaska's labor board needs a public member, a job of 15 to 20 days a year
Alaska's labor relations board is accepting applications to fill one vacant public seat, requiring labor relations background and about two hours monthly.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Anchorage weighs a five-year road-sweeping contract for Eagle River
The Anchorage Assembly decides Tuesday whether to hire Big Bear to sweep road shoulders in the Eagle River area, at up to $2.97 million over five years.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Alaska's federal obligations are down 1.7% this year, and September has barely started
Federal obligations in Alaska are down 1.7 percent through August. Federal spending drove more than half the state's GDP growth since 2015.
by Melinda Communities.News2w ago1 min read
Resident accuses Kodiak Island Borough Assembly of illegal poll on remote-meeting rules
A Kodiak resident challenged the borough assembly's survey on remote-meeting rules as violating the Open Meetings Act, though the borough attorney cleared it as preparation for public discussion.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Flooding closes state vocational rehabilitation office in downtown Fairbanks
Flooding closed the state Department of Labor office in downtown Fairbanks on Friday, Sept. 11, halting walk-in service for vocational rehabilitation and disability employment support.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Anchorage board sets seven property appeal hearings for next week
Anchorage owners filed a record 1,953 assessment appeals. The city had already found about 660 homes over-assessed before the hearings began.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Three quarters of Alaska's planned college-rule cuts fall on student aid
Alaska's student aid agency plans to cut 205 of its rules, most governing financial aid, under a statewide order to shrink regulation.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
DNR gives records denial power to two job titles, no named employees
DNR Commissioner John Crowther gave records-denial power to two job titles instead of named staff. The change makes it unclear who can now refuse public records requests.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Alaska proposes new limits on what insurers pay to treat injured workers
Alaska is proposing caps on what insurers pay to treat injured workers, including limits on creams, patches and compounds. Comment closes Oct. 9.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Alaska marijuana board revisits under-21 rules after Craig, Klawock checks failed
Alaska Marijuana Control Board will revisit rules keeping under-21s out of pot shops after compliance checks in Craig and Klawock found every store violated the ban.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Gubernatorial candidates split on Board of Fisheries overhaul
Proposals range from expanding the board to nine or eleven members to stricter recusal rules and industry-conflict guidelines.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
