People & Culture
RSSPeople & Culture in Alaska is a topic covering the institutions and programs that shape health, education and community life. It takes in schools, public health, Medicaid and EMS policy, rural hospitals, and tribal organizations serving Alaska Native communities.
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Week of Aug 17
Tanana Chiefs wins federal grant for suicide prevention in 15 villages
Of 122 youth referred to Tanana Chiefs behavioral health last year, 76 were admitted. A new federal grant funds suicide prevention in 15 Interior villages.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Most of Alaska's 2030 health goals are off track, new assessment finds
Most of Alaska's 2030 health goals are off track, according to a new state assessment. Alcohol-induced mortality was one of the few to meet its target.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Alaska students will spend the year researching the veterans buried at Fort Richardson
Alaska students will spend the year researching the veterans buried at Fort Richardson National Cemetery, building a campus memorial and a walking tour.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read
A new federal tax credit will let Alaskans fund K-12 scholarships, and nonprofits can start signing up now
A new federal tax credit will let Alaskans fund K-12 scholarships for a tax break — and the state is signing up the nonprofits to award the money.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
All-ability play center opens in Midtown Anchorage, partly with marijuana tax money
An outdoor play center built for children with disabilities has opened in Midtown Anchorage. The ribbon-cutting is Wednesday evening, with open play after.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Anchorage will ship contaminated concrete to Oregon after the state tightened disposal rules, adding $850,000
Anchorage's school board approved $850,000 to ship contaminated school concrete to Oregon after the state tightened its rules on disposing of banned PCBs.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Anchorage School District adopts a single English curriculum for grades 6 through 10
Anchorage adopted one English curriculum for grades 6-10 on a 6-1 vote. The selection committee itself split 6-5, and one board member questioned the process.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska tribes get their yearly say on Head Start funding, against a backdrop of documented shortfalls
Alaska tribes running Head Start get their annual say next month on how the program's money is divided, amid research finding tribal programs underfunded.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
More from People & Culture
Only 1 in 10 pregnant Alaskans who needed substance-use treatment in 2022 got it
Only about 1 in 10 pregnant Alaskans who needed substance-use treatment in 2022 got it, and the state is seeking to fund programs to help close the gap.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Money for Alaska Native education keeps flowing, but no new competition has opened in nearly two years
Money for Alaska Native education keeps reaching current grantees, but no new competition has opened since late 2023, leaving no clear door for new applicants.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
In five remote Chugach villages, health aides work without an X-ray, and new funding aims to change that
In five remote Chugach-region villages, health aides assess injuries without an X-ray. New funding through a tribal health organization aims to finally put imaging in their clinics.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read
Bethel health fair screens 48 for diabetes and promotes same-day services
Forty-eight people got diabetes screening at a three-hour Bethel health fair aimed at showing what YKHC can offer the same day a patient walks in.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
A $60,580 project, half of it federal, will update Kodiak's history book
Kodiak Historical Society got $30,290 to revise its museum history book covering Alaska's oldest building and the Russian era through today.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska takes input on extra child-care help for kids with disabilities
Alaska pays extra child-care help for kids with disabilities and is taking families' input this week, as it separately moves to widen who qualifies for aid.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A Kodiak Native corporation's federal-contracting arm wins medical-billing work in Oklahoma
A subsidiary of Kodiak's Koniag corporation won a $1.26 million federal contract for medical-billing work in Oklahoma — the kind of business that funds dividends and scholarships for 4,300 Alutiiq shareholders.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read
Week of Aug 10
Free school supplies offered in Nome on Aug. 26
Nome families can get free school supplies, snacks, and crafts at the Recreation Center on Aug. 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., as the school district faces budget cuts.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
About People & Culture
People and Culture in Alaska takes in schools, health care, social services and community life across the state. It covers the public institutions people rely on day to day, from school boards and clinics to water systems and food assistance.
Schools are a large part of it: school boards decide budgets, charter schools and building closures, and building schools in rural villages carries high construction costs. Public health agencies deal with drinking water safety, tuberculosis and overdose response, while the state manages Medicaid billing and SNAP administration.
Tribal health and service organizations, such as Maniilaq Association and Tanana Chiefs Conference, deliver care and aid in rural regions. Alaska Native language programs, from reading screeners to college certificates, and arts and cultural projects round out the subject.
More from People & Culture
Seward Museum gets $10,000 to make World War II exhibit accessible
A $10,000 federal grant will add reader rails, videos and a mural to Seward Museum's WWII exhibit — including Fort McGilvray, whose guns never fired.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
The Assembly says Anchorage hunger is rising. Its resolution does not say how it knows.
An Anchorage resolution up Tuesday says nearly 40,000 residents, including 12,000 children, face food insecurity — a rate that's climbed since last year.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
School boards move to retire a call to expand a dormant loan program
Alaska's teacher loan program has been dormant since 2018 — so the state school boards association is retiring its resolution that urged expanding it.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Alaska issues intent to award $30 million to 37 rural health projects
Alaska issued notices of intent Friday to award $30 million to 37 rural health projects, with recipients required to spend funds by June 30, 2027.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Most of Alaska's $272M rural health award remains unawarded
Alaska won a $272.2 million federal health award and nearly 1,800 applied, but most is still unawarded — and unspent funds risk being clawed back.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago2 min read
In Ouzinkie, one lake is water and power, so the village is building solar
In Ouzinkie, the same lake is both drinking water and power — so the island village is building solar and batteries to stop rationing one against the other.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
UAA students to train inside ANTHC facilities under new workforce partnership
UAA students will train at Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium facilities under a new partnership, routing graduates toward one of Alaska's largest employers.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago2 min read
Federal funds for gender-transition care for Alaska minors on Medicaid end in October
A federal rule ends Medicaid matching funds for Alaska minors' gender-transition care Oct. 13. It's not a ban; whether the state keeps covering it is unknown.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Sealaska Heritage honors four Southeast educators at Juneau conference
Sealaska Heritage Institute awarded four Southeast Alaska educators for weaving Indigenous knowledge into classrooms at its annual conference in Juneau.
by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Federal money can now put a homeless family in a motel room to keep a kid in school
Federal guidance now lets Alaska schools use homeless-education money for a motel room when no shelter's available — a last resort to keep a child in school.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Medicare claws back money from Petersburg's hospital as the island's new MRI takes off
Medicare cut Petersburg's hospital outpatient rate and clawed back funds — but the island's brand-new MRI is already beating projections and driving revenue.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Alaska's Medicaid home-care waivers renewed, but a waitlist persists
Federal regulators renewed four of Alaska's Medicaid home-care waivers, which keep people out of the nation's priciest nursing homes — but 512 wait to get in.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Alaska tells school kitchens cooking produce is safest Cyclospora step
Alaska school kitchens are told cooking produce to 158 degrees is the safest way to kill Cyclospora, as washing alone cannot remove the parasite amid a national surge in cases.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
A UAF fix for the battery-and-generator clash in village grids
When villages add batteries to diesel plants, the two can 'fight' and destabilize the grid — a UAF researcher is testing a fix to cut rural diesel use.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago2 min read
Artists with disabilities sell their work at the Embracing AK Disabilities Expo in Palmer
Artists with disabilities sell their work Aug. 24 at the Embracing AK Disabilities Expo in Palmer, where families can also meet service agencies all in one room.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Sealaska Heritage publishes fifth graders' documentary on Walter Soboleff
Auke Bay Elementary students produced a documentary on Dr. Walter Soboleff. The film fills a gap in classroom history materials.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
UAA trains rural school workers to become teachers without leaving home
A UAA apprenticeship lets rural school workers become licensed teachers without leaving home, one answer to out-migration, though results aren't yet shown.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago1 min read
Alaska takes public input Wednesday on child care facility safety rules
The state holds a session Wednesday to hear from providers and families on child care safety rules, one of several as Alaska revisits its regulations.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Week of Aug 3
State proposes five-year lease extension for Noatak school site at airport
Alaska is proposing a five-year lease extension for Noatak's school and fuel tank farm on airport land, even though the airport itself is scheduled to close once a replacement facility opens.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A program that lets people with ALS try experimental treatments just got five more years
A federal program that lets people with ALS try experimental treatments when they can't join a clinical trial just got five more years, in a bill Sen. Murkowski led through the Senate.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Alaska schools could face a choice between internet and teachers if a federal subsidy is cut
A federal review could cut E-Rate, the subsidy that sent $203.5M to Alaska schools and libraries last year — and school boards warn it's internet or teachers.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Alaska makes its first awards under a $272 million rural health program
Alaska is making its first awards under a $272 million federal rural health program, $4.5 million to 19 projects, with more coming each Friday. Demand hit $2.5 billion.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Alaska's arts council is between directors as grant deadlines roll on
Alaska's arts council is hunting for a new executive director while its fiscal 2027 grant deadlines and free application workshops roll on this month.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Six graduate a Tanana Chiefs apprenticeship built to staff Interior clinics
Six apprentices finished Tanana Chiefs Conference's yearlong clinical training in Fairbanks — the first cohort where everyone who started made it through.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
