Politics & Government
RSSAlaska News covers state and local politics and government, including elections, ethics investigations, legislative action, and municipal decisions.
Planned Parenthood PAC registers for Fairbanks and Juneau municipal races
Planned Parenthood's Alaska political committee registered to spend in the Fairbanks and Juneau races. It named no candidates and reported no spending.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Alaska's marijuana board will decide whether to erase a violation against its chair's own store
The Marijuana Control Board chair's own store is on its September agenda, and the agency's director wants her $100 violation wiped off the record.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min read
Juneau arts council refuses to sign FY27 grant over how $202,000 can be spent
Juneau Arts and Humanities Council rejected its $202,000 city grant over spending rules, wanting to shift money from pass-through grants to staff and youth programming instead.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Juneau would shift $4.5 million from barrier construction to repairs and debt
Juneau would move $4.5 million out of flood barrier construction into two reserves, one for riverbank repairs and one to start repaying the state loan.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Juneau Crime Count Falls Again as Assaults Rise a Third Year
Reported crime in Juneau fell for a second straight year. Aggravated assault rose for a third, driven by assaults with weapons other than knives.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min read
Sitka's Planning Office will be closed for a full week in September
Sitka Planning Office closes Sept. 8-11 for internal work on code updates and land management, with no walk-in, phone, or email service during those four days.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Troopers rule Akiak house fire non-criminal
A home burned in Akiak in July with no injuries reported. State investigators have closed the case, finding the cause undetermined but not criminal.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago1 min read
Alcohol board denies a second bar at a Wasilla wedding venue
A Wasilla wedding venue was denied a second plumbed bar because state law requires fixed counters in the same building. The owner plans a rolling bar.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Undercover investigation found some Craig and Klawock establishmentssold to underage buyers
Every bar and marijuana shop checked around Craig and Klawock sold to underage buyers, and the office running the checks is short three investigators.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
A Fairbanks man's fourth liquor license reaches the state board Tuesday, with no store attached
Michael Rasmussen applied to take over a Fairbanks package store liquor license, adding it to three other Alaska alcohol businesses he already owns.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago1 min read
Kodiak Island Borough clerk drafts ordinance to tighten Assembly vacancy rules
Kodiak Island Borough Clerk Nova Javier drafted an ordinance requiring Assembly vacancy applicants to certify voter registration, residency, and willingness to file financial disclosures upfront.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Unalaska paid for library internet for three years before the council approved it
Unalaska ran a library internet contract for three years without the council vote its code required. The council approved it this month, going back to 2023.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min read
Mukluk Fire evacuation order shrinks to properties inside the burn near Tok
Residents outside the Mukluk Fire's burn near Tok can return home, but 44 destroyed homes and hazard trees keep the evacuation order in place for properties inside the fire's 7,333-acre footprint.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks borough weighs a $303,346 replacement ambulance
Fairbanks North Star Borough Finance Committee votes Sept. 3 on a $303,346 ambulance for the non-areawide medical service covering areas outside city limits.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks would spend $1.2 million more to defend the pipeline's value in court
Fairbanks would pour another $1.2 million into defending the pipeline's assessed value in court — a decades-old fight over a tax base that funds its schools.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Short on officers, Bethel police look to grow their own with a cadet program
Bethel's police, the hub much of the Y-K Delta relies on, are short officers and dispatchers and are looking to grow their own through a cadet program.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Alaska extends fire season to Sept. 14 in Delta, Tok and Copper River areas
Burn permits will stay required two extra weeks, through Sept. 14, in the Delta, Tok and Copper River areas, after a dry summer left fuels parched at depth.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
A Fairbanks homeowner interrupted a burglary. Troopers made an arrest eight days later.
Fairbanks troopers arrested Arthur Chesley on Aug. 27 after he burglarized a home while the owner was there; he faced a $15,000 cash bond on felony burglary and theft charges.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Wright and Dunleavy insist the Alaska LNG project is alive
At an Anchorage conference, the U.S. energy secretary and Gov. Dunleavy insisted the stalled Alaska LNG project is alive, pointing at different obstacles.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read
Ketchikan's city filing window has closed, and voter registration ends Sept. 6
Ketchikan's candidate filing window closed Monday and the city hasn't published who is running for council. Three filings are on the record so far.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
AIDEA's board will sign off on refreshing its due diligence fund
AIDEA's board took back authority over a $4.5 million planning fund. The same meeting ran about four hours in executive session on ANWR and Ambler.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Sullivan and Peltola clash in a combative first forum, previewing a bitter Senate race
Sullivan and Peltola clashed sharply in their first post-primary forum, trading shots over Willow, their records and who's really on Alaska's side.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago4 min read
State to train home care providers on the record-keeping rules behind recoupment
Alaska is holding an online training for home care providers on record-keeping — the paperwork rules that, done wrong, let the state claw back payments.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Anchorage's new emergency plan still has no chapter for disease outbreaks
Anchorage's new emergency plan has no communicable disease appendix. The plan lists 34 changes; the memo to the Assembly itemizes none of them.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
In Anchorage, SNAP recipients now face work requirements
Anchorage SNAP recipients now have to meet federal work requirements, while the rest of Alaska is covered by a waiver through October 2026.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Federal Judge threw out Trump's offshore drilling without deciding the question
A judge dismissed the challenge to Trump's offshore reopening on standing, without ruling on whether he had the authority. The groups can refile.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min read
Bronson takes the last spot on Alaska's four-way November governor ballot
Dave Bronson, the former Anchorage mayor, advanced from Alaska's August governor primary to the November ranked-choice general election, joining three other candidates in the top-four system.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Anchorage's drone report leaves out the one thing the code requires
Anchorage police have flown drones hundreds of times since 2022. City code says the report must note search warrants. The report has no warrant column.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read
Utqiagvik council weighs finance and executive director appointments
The Utqiagvik City Council will vote Thursday on new appointments for two top administrative offices, a finance director and an executive director, with no explanation given in the agenda for the changes.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
The Anchorage Assembly may audit every member's spending
The Anchorage Assembly votes Tuesday on auditing every member spending account back to 2023. The review seeks to identify potential inconsistencies in how members use their annual budgets.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Utqiaġvik hears a marijuana tax rise from 8% to 10% tonight, and voters decide Oct. 6
Utqiaġvik City Council hears a proposal tonight to raise the marijuana sales tax from 8% to 10%, with voters deciding Oct. 6.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Troopers arrest driver after semitrailer collapses onto pickup on Parks Highway
Alaska State Troopers arrested a Wasilla man after a stolen semitrailer he was towing on a makeshift rig collapsed onto his pickup truck on the Parks Highway, crushing the truck bed.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Two arrested in North Pole burglary involving stolen firearms
Alaska State Troopers arrested William Clatterbuck and Briana Perry on Wednesday for a North Pole burglary in which firearms, a snow machine, and a generator were stolen.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Anchorage's school board says closures won't fix the budget; residents aren't so sure
Anchorage's school board says closing schools won't fix its budget — even as most residents, by the district's own survey, favor consolidation.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
A man was found dead with injuries in East Anchorage, and police are investigating
Anchorage police found a man dead with injuries to his upper body early Wednesday in East Anchorage, and investigators are handling the case.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Coast Guard cutter Stratton changes command at anchor off Kotzebue
A change of command aboard the cutter Stratton took place at anchor off Kotzebue. The Coast Guard keeps no permanent presence north of the Bering Strait.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago1 min read
Sitka will test its ballot machines in public before the October election
Sitka residents can watch the ballot-counting machines get tested Sept. 3. The city's pages don't say whether its equipment matches the state's.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Ketchikan voters decide who owns the library and who pays for it
Ketchikan voters decide Oct. 6 whether the borough takes over the public library and whether people outside city limits pay twice as much for it.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Anchorage Assembly set to waive protest of Serrano's liquor license renewal
Serrano's Mexican Grill on East Tudor Road is set to renew its liquor license with no objections, as the Anchorage Assembly waives its right to protest.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Ninth Circuit upholds federal Cook Inlet salmon management against drift fleet challenge
Cook Inlet drift fishermen lost again in federal court. The fight over who actually gets the fish moves back to the Alaska Board of Fisheries.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min read