Government
RSSAlaska News tracks coverage of Alaska government including state legislature, municipal assemblies, and state agencies addressing public policy and community.
Juneau Assembly amends senior hardship tax test to 300% poverty line
Juneau Assembly raised the income limit for senior and disabled veteran property tax hardship exemptions to 300% of federal poverty guidelines, broadening eligibility for tax relief.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago3 min read
EPA grants Alaska authority to permit hazardous waste facilities
Alaska takes over permitting and enforcement of hazardous waste facilities starting Aug. 6, after EPA approved the state's application despite three requests to delay.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago4 min read
A free hut near Snowbird Glacier could get a new 10-year state lease
A free backcountry hut near Snowbird Glacier — no membership, just get yourself there — could keep going under a new 10-year state lease.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Juneau sets hearing on $1.5M City Hall sale to Sealaska Heritage Institute
Juneau hears testimony Aug. 17 on selling the old City Hall site to Sealaska Heritage Institute for $1.5M for an arts center, or opening it to higher bids.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Six Nome seats are open this fall, with a Sept. 1 filing deadline
Six Nome seats — City Council, Utility Board and School Board — are up this fall. To run, file with the city by 5 p.m. Sept. 1. The election is Oct. 6.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
No heat closes Dillingham's job center counter early
A heating failure closed walk-in service at Dillingham's Bristol Bay Job Center on Tuesday afternoon, sending staff home at noon and cutting counter hours short.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Eielson Air Force Base hiring fair set for Thursday
Eielson Air Force Base holds a hiring fair Thursday, Aug. 6, but the Alaska Department of Labor announcement omits time, venue, employers, and base-access details.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Anchorage advisory committees could lose the ability to write officials on their own
Anchorage's three AMATS citizen advisory committees would need staff and higher-committee sign-off before writing elected or federal officials, under a policy up Thursday.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Utqiagvik weighs a change to how it taxes marijuana
Utqiaġvik might tax your weed. The council won't say how much, and neither will the packet.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago1 min read
A Fairbanks street a sinkhole swallowed could vanish from the map
A Fairbanks street platted in 1975 but never built — and since partly eaten by a permafrost sinkhole — could be erased from the map at an Aug. 19 borough hearing.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Anchorage weighs $1 million for nonprofits feeding and sheltering vulnerable residents
Anchorage votes Tuesday on just over $1 million for nonprofits providing food, emergency shelter and other essential services to the city's most vulnerable residents.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Riding a defense boom, Kodiak looks to send a member to D.C. for funds
Amid a defense boom — icebreakers, a Coast Guard base and missile-defense launches — Kodiak is moving to send a member to D.C. for infrastructure money.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Audit of $11.8M in off-the-books Anchorage spending heads to the Assembly
An audit of at least $11.8 million in Anchorage spending that skipped purchase orders — and the city's public transparency tracker — goes to the Assembly Tuesday.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Tribes objected to a federal rollback of Native welfare rules. HHS did it anyway.
HHS is cutting federal rules governing Native welfare-to-work programs run by Alaska's tribal nonprofits — over objections from tribal organizations that said they weren't properly consulted, and that called it a sovereignty concern.
by Alaska News1mo ago2 min read
Anchorage moves to sell an old Government Hill fire station to Chugach Electric
Anchorage would sell the old Government Hill fire station to Chugach Electric for $470,000, no bidding, since Chugach already leases it for a communications tower.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Alaska State Parks cabin booking faces a gap during 2026 system swap
Alaska State Parks' cabin booking system goes dark Dec. 31, and the replacement isn't due until fall 2026, right when you'd book an early-2027 winter cabin stay.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago1 min read
CourtView goes dark overnight Sunday for maintenance
Alaska's CourtView case lookup goes offline overnight Sunday, 7:30 p.m. to 8 a.m. Monday, for maintenance. It's back Monday morning.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Anchorage historic panel objects to Seward Highway safety review it says skipped the city
Anchorage's historic commission objects to the Safer Seward Highway review, saying the state cut the city out and that a wider, faster road threatens historic sites like Beluga Point.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Juneau neighbors want a homeless camp cleared after a reported bear shooting
Neighbors near Juneau's Governor's Mansion want a homeless camp cleared after a camper reportedly shot a bear — a flashpoint in Alaska's rising camp tension.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
The gas tax special session has stalled, with the bill already dead
Lawmakers were called back for a special session on taxing natural gas. The House already killed the bill, so both chambers are now meeting just to meet.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Anchorage wants a public board to steer its Chugach access money — and set qualifications for who runs it
Anchorage wants to turn the informal group steering its Chugach access tax money into a formal board with defined expertise — one that vets trailhead and road projects in public rather than privately.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
The Anchorage Assembly studied how to remove one of its own. It never has.
The Anchorage Assembly studied how to remove one of its own members, a power it has never used and, on a coalition body, likely won't. The member in question sat in on the session.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Should every Kodiak nonprofit get the same grant? One assembly member says yes
A Kodiak assembly member wants every nonprofit in a category to get the same grant to avoid favoritism; others prefer need-based amounts. The Humane Society, currently zeroed out, is the flashpoint. Vote Aug. 6.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Kodiak Assembly splits over what a marijuana tax should pay for
Kodiak's Assembly is fighting over what a proposed 3% marijuana tax should fund before deciding whether to even put it to voters in October.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
31 acres near Ester may go to an unnamed applicant without an auction
The state may convey 31 acres near Ester to an applicant without an auction under a public-use provision — but the notice won't say who gets the land.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A sacred Athabascan site stranded inside Denali for 47 years moves closer to return
A sacred Athabascan rock formation stranded inside Denali National Park since 1980 cleared its first Senate hurdle Wednesday, moving closer to return to Doyon after a 47-year wait.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska moves to return 40 acres it wrongly took from a Native allotment
Alaska is moving to return nearly 40 acres near Tok that it says was wrongly conveyed to the state, so the federal government can complete a Native allotment claim in Emma Northway's name.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Fairbanks has 1,000 miles of trails and no rules for tour operators
Fairbanks trails host skiers, mushers, fatbikers and berry pickers — and now tour operators driving through neighborhoods to reach them, with no rules yet.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A substitute would swap Martinez's removal for a travel investigation
A substitute before the Anchorage Assembly would drop the effort to remove George Martinez and instead investigate his travel since 2023. Members vote Aug. 4.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
The state may give 20,000 acres near Houston to a development authority
The state may give a development authority nearly 20,000 acres north of Houston for data centers and industry. DNR sees jobs — but also reduced trail access.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A board steering Anchorage's biggest project met nine times. The public heard about one.
A board advising Anchorage's $2.7B port rebuild met nine times and told the public about one — voting on design questions with almost no public notice.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
TPS holders in Alaska: check your work permit — don't assume it was extended
TPS holders in Alaska should check their work permit expiration date and not assume it was extended — automatic extensions have been cut, and an expired card can cost a job.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Green card seekers in Alaska face a wider benefits review starting Sept. 18
A federal rule effective Sept. 18 broadens the public charge review for green card applicants in Alaska; advocates warn families may drop Medicaid or food aid out of fear.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska stands up a new office to coordinate military affairs
Alaska has a new office to coordinate military affairs and chase federal defense money. Its cost and staffing weren't disclosed Thursday.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska takes over hazardous waste rules, with enforcement in question
Alaska just took over hazardous waste regulation from the feds — the first state in 25 years. The open question: can it enforce the rules in remote Alaska?
by Lucas Brown2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage clarifies what a records request keeps, and for how long
Anchorage is spelling out what a public records request keeps, logs, request and records, and setting the clock at two years. Short enough to notice, if a request ever gets contested.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Kenai assembly weighs putting school board term limits to voters
Kenai's assembly weighs term limits for school board members — but can't impose them alone, so a yes vote just puts the question to borough voters. Hearing Sept. 1.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage let $11.8 million skip the books it promised to check
Anchorage could have policed $11.8 million in off-the-books spending starting in early 2024. It waited nearly two years, and none of it showed on the public tracker.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
A 20-acre parcel near Homer is headed to public hands — but for what?
Twenty acres near Homer could be sold to a public or charitable group with no auction — though the state's notice doesn't say who wants it or why. Comment by Aug. 31.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Kodiak weighs a 3% marijuana tax, and a dispensary owner cries foul
Kodiak may tax marijuana 3% for a community well-being fund — but a dispensary owner says pot keeps getting singled out as the island's sin of choice.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
