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 Sep 7
Southwest Alaska carried most of the state's tuberculosis cases last year
Southwest Alaska, with about 5% of the state's population, had 46 of Alaska's 77 tuberculosis cases last year — roughly nineteen times Anchorage's rate.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom 
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 AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage grant would keep HIV testing and outreach going through 2027
A $114,470 state grant on the Anchorage Assembly's agenda would keep the city's offsite HIV education, counseling and testing running through June 2027.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Dunleavy proclaims Sept. 9 FASD Awareness Day, citing Alaska's high per capita rate
Gov. Dunleavy proclaimed Sept. 9 FASD Awareness Day, citing Alaska's high rate of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and urging pregnant people to abstain from alcohol.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Two closed Anchorage school buildings head back to municipal hands
Two closed Anchorage schools, Abbott Loop and Campbell STEM, are set to return to the municipality, moving their fate from the School Board to the Assembly.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska proposes letting one marijuana caregiver serve multiple patients
Alaska proposes letting one medical marijuana caregiver serve multiple patients and doubling the ID card term, its first rule update since 1998.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska streamlines the fall round of its $272 million rural health fund
Alaska is streamlining the fall round of its $272 million rural-health fund — one application instead of two, and about 11 weeks to awards, down from 24.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A $16 million award would restructure primary care across the Interior
The biggest award in Alaska's rural health program is $16 million to change how primary care gets delivered and paid for across the Interior.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
More from People & Culture
War-driven oil prices are filling Alaska's treasury while straining its households
The same oil price spike is filling Alaska's treasury and straining its households — and Trump's $2 gas promise would take more than the war ending.
by Alaska News2mo ago5 min read
A federal rule would ease buying Alaska seafood for school meals
More than half of Alaska's districts already serve local seafood, mostly through donations and grants. A federal rule would let them just buy it.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Southcentral Foundation sends visiting providers to Tyonek, Tatitlek and Nanwalek next week
Southcentral Foundation opens four visiting clinics Sept. 14 in Tyonek, Tatitlek and Nanwalek. Tyonek has no resident doctor and sees a primary care provider once every two months.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Rabies is climbing among wildlife across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta
Rabies is rising among Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta wildlife. Foxes come in to den in village landfills in late winter, and rural dogs live outdoors.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Kodiak assembly weighs $3.85 million grant to replace failing hospital chiller
A failing chiller that supports sterilization at Kodiak's hospital is running at 35 percent, and the borough votes Wednesday on a nearly $4 million replacement.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage Assembly schedules Hispanic Heritage Month health fair with Spanish-speaking staff
Anchorage Assembly is scheduling a health fair with Spanish-speaking staff and translation services for Saturday, Oct. 3, as part of Hispanic Heritage Month events starting Sept. 20.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Bristol Bay students can apply for a December leadership forum
Bristol Bay high school students have until Oct. 9 to apply for a youth leadership forum in Anchorage in December.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Some Alaskans on HealthCare.gov are due $500 refund checks in October, but nobody has said how many
About 73,300 Alaskans who buy unsubsidized health coverage on HealthCare.gov will receive $500 checks starting in October, but those without any marketplace coverage won't qualify.
by Alaska News2mo ago2 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
Alaska pauses weekly rural health awards with $207 million of $272 million announced
Alaska has announced $207 million of a $272 million rural health award across 217 projects, pausing its weekly announcement schedule as it processes the remaining awards by an Oct. 30 deadline.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
SEARHC is hiring for 21 Juneau-area jobs, half of them in dentistry
SEARHC is hiring for 21 jobs in the Juneau area this week, nearly half of them in dentistry, with signing bonuses on some clinical roles.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A new state program is lifting Alaska's worst-in-the-nation aid filing rate
Alaska seniors who worked with a new state advising program filed for federal aid at 60 percent, well above the state's last-in-the-nation rate of 35 percent.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska starts spending its $272 million in rural health money
Alaska is spending the $272 million it won from a new federal rural health program, and adjusting the promises it made to get it as the money goes out.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage marks Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month, now recognized in state law
Anchorage marks Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month for the third year, and the first under state law. Alaska's Hispanic history runs back to the canneries.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Free medical, dental and vision care comes to Sullivan Arena Sept. 19-20
Free medical, dental and vision care is available to anyone at Anchorage's Sullivan Arena Sept. 19 and 20 — no ID, insurance or income required. Come early.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Alaska congenital syphilis cases hit a record in 2025
Alaska recorded 14 cases of congenital syphilis in 2025, the most ever, in a disease preventable with a test and a shot. Native infants were hit hardest.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Ninety-two Alaska water systems are listed as serious violators
Ninety-two Alaska water systems are federal serious violators, close to three times the national rate. The state has not brought a formal action since 2020.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read
Parent tells Mat-Su officials bus cancellations fall to parents
A parent told Mat-Su officials that repeated bus cancellations are forcing families to arrange their own rides, calling it unacceptable after five years of a Durham contract.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
State review of Mt. Edgecumbe wraps up, recommendations to come
A state review of Mt. Edgecumbe High School, prompted by safety complaints, wraps up Wednesday, but families won't see its recommendations until later.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Tribal consortium takes ownership of Alaska Native Medical Center
The Indian Health Service transferred ownership of the Alaska Native Medical Center to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium on Aug. 24, 2026, opening access to uncapped federal lease payments while the legal authority for the conveyance remains undocumented.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom 
Alaska takes public input Wednesday on child care facility operating rules
Alaska's child care office takes public input Wednesday on operating rules for licensed facilities, seeking feedback from providers and families on what works and what needs to change.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Week of Aug 31
Kaktovik under a do-not-drink notice after ethylene glycol found
Kaktovik residents can't drink the village tap water after testing found ethylene glycol, the toxic compound in antifreeze, in the system. Boiling won't help.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A tiny Bering Sea tribe runs its own healing court, from the island to Anchorage
A tiny tribe in the Bering Sea runs its own healing court for people facing addiction, and a federal grant will extend it to members who've moved to Anchorage.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Kodiak district asks school board to weigh closing East Elementary in 2027
Kodiak may close East Elementary in 2027. Five weeks before proposing that, the district asked the state for $5.75 million to renovate the building.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Grants target Medicare aid Alaska seniors often leave unclaimed
Federal grants of about $271,814 will help low-income Alaska seniors sign up for Medicare programs many never claim, as the state's older population grows.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
The Knik Tribe has $1 million to design youth mental health care
The Knik Tribe has nearly $1 million to design a mental health system for Alaska Native young people in the Mat-Su. The money cannot pay for treatment.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Kodiak hospital chiller running at a third of capacity; borough moves to accept $3.85 million to replace it
Kodiak Island Borough Assembly votes Thursday to accept $3.85 million in state funding to replace a failing hospital chiller that is limiting emergency and surgical care on the island.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Federal money will put naloxone and first aid training on remote Alaska fishing boats
A nurse whose son died of an overdose at sea started mailing naloxone to fishing boats. Federal money will now expand it across remote Alaska.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
BBNC offers CDL training in Kenai for shareholders this fall
BBNC is offering commercial driver's license training in Kenai this fall for its Alaska-resident shareholders, spouses and descendants. Enrollment is open now.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Recover Alaska wins $349,809 to put a peer recovery specialist on the lower Kenai Peninsula
Recover Alaska won $349,809 to place a peer recovery specialist across five lower Kenai Peninsula communities for three years, serving 225 adults with substance use disorders.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Nine Southeast Alaska communities are getting naloxone vending machines
Naloxone is going into vending machines in nine Southeast Alaska communities you can reach only by boat or plane. None of the sites exist yet.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Tanana Chiefs say up to 45% of dementia may be prevented or delayed
Tanana Chiefs Conference says 45% of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by addressing 14 risk factors, from hearing loss to exercise and vaccines.
by Alaska News2mo ago1 min readFrom 
Bids open for flights to seven roadless Alaska communities
The federal government is taking bids for subsidized air service to seven Alaska communities, with deadlines ranging from October through early 2027, as the per-passenger subsidy cap drops to $850.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
