Politics & Government
RSSPolitics & Government in Alaska is the activity of state and local elections, lawmaking and public administration. It covers campaigns, ballot measures, ethics and campaign finance, legislative and executive action, and municipal and borough council decisions across Alaska communities.
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Sunday, Sep 20
Anchorage officials fail to agree on shared school-closure committee
The Assembly and School Board could not agree on giving both bodies votes on a school-closure committee. The existing board-led panel remains.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago5 min read
DCCC adds independent Bill Hill to Red to Blue program; FEC reports no national party contributions
National Democrats added independent Bill Hill to a support program, but his FEC filings report no contributions from national party committees.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom 
Anchorage service-area debate exposes unanswered questions about taxes and emergency coverage
Anchorage Assembly members questioned how service-area taxes match actual fire, emergency and parks coverage. Several answers remain unresolved.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Teamsters, former Republican senator endorse Kreiss-Tomkins
Teamsters Local 959 and former Republican state Sen. Lesil McGuire endorsed Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins for governor.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Sullivan's bycatch bill advances from Senate committee
A Senate committee advanced Sullivan's bycatch bill, which would set trawl-gear standards, expand monitoring and fund bycatch research.
by Alaska News1mo ago1 min readFrom 
Homer man arrested on 11 felony counts in $8,000 Anchor Point theft
Homer man Wyatt Stollar arrested on 11 felony counts after roughly $8,000 in tools, jewelry, an ATV and firearms stolen from an Anchor Point property turned up at a pawn shop.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Troopers arrest man on second DUI charge after .240 breath test
Troopers pulled a driver over in Fairbanks for drifting out of his lane. He blew three times the legal limit, and it was his second DUI charge.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Troopers arrest North Pole man found inside vacant Fairbanks apartment
Troopers arrested a North Pole man found hiding in the bathroom of a vacant Fairbanks rental, where they also found a makeshift sleeping area.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
More from Politics & Government
Alaska reroutes Region IV absentee ballots after 75 arrived too late to count
Alaska will route Region IV absentee-in-person ballots through Anchorage after 75 primary ballots arrived after certification.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom 
Search continues for missing Akiachak boater Jonathan Lomack
Jonathan Lomack, 59, of Akiachak, has been missing on the Kuskokwim River since Tuesday night, with his boat found empty and search crews from three communities now in their third day looking for him.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Saturday, Sep 19
Marijuana Board Drafts Would Strip Ad Warnings; Filing Fix Scores Highest
Dropping every health warning from Alaska marijuana ads scores 7 points on the state's deregulation scale. Reshuffling packaging rules scores 135.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readFrom 
PFD pays Oct. 1 by direct deposit, Oct. 22 for paper filers
The state still hasn't posted what this year's dividend is worth, and the first payments go out Oct. 1. Paper filers wait until Oct. 22 for theirs.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Troopers call Kenny Lake church fire suspicious
Alaska State Troopers are investigating a fire at Mountain View Baptist Church in Kenny Lake early Tuesday as suspicious.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom 
Alaska governor candidates agree on Permanent Fund, split on taxes
Taylor and Bronson opposed broad new taxes; Kreiss-Tomkins backed targeted revenue as three candidates compared fiscal, energy and workforce plans
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago4 min read
Alaska's new judicial ethics code changes reporting of incapacity and misconduct
Alaska's revised judicial ethics code takes effect Oct. 15 and clarifies when assistance-program confidentiality yields to reporting duties.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom 
Permanent Fund has $5.7B uncommitted after reserving next draw, inflation transfer
The Permanent Fund had $5.7B uncommitted July 31 after reserving $4.1B for the next draw and $1.7B for inflation proofing.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom 
About Politics & Government
Politics and government in Alaska takes in state and local elections, lawmaking and public administration. It covers campaigns, ballot measures, campaign finance, legislative and executive action, and decisions by municipal assemblies and borough and city councils.
Recurring questions include how campaigns are funded and who pays for outside spending and political messages, which candidates qualify for the ballot, and how state agencies write and repeal regulations. Local governments such as the Anchorage Assembly and the Ketchikan assembly weigh spending on roads, water systems and police programs.
The subject reaches across the Legislature, state agencies and municipal governments. Advisory boards and councils that take public comment on matters such as state parks and disability policy are part of it as well.
More from Politics & Government
Juneau cut its museum hours by two-thirds and lost half its visitors
Juneau cut its city museum from 56 hours a week down to 22. Visitors and sales fell by about half, which is roughly what you would expect.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Alaska pot shops would have to balance their inventory every single day
Alaska pot shops would have to reconcile their whole inventory against the state system every night, under a rule the board takes up Monday.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min read
Friday, Sep 18
Bethel's dock wall is failing and the Port Commission hasn't taken it up
The Corps warned Bethel that its City Dock wall is shifting out of alignment. The Port Commission hasn't managed to discuss it in seven months.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Anchorage appeals board sets five more property hearings for Sept. 22-25
Anchorage was supposed to have finished hearing property assessment appeals by June 1. It is still hearing them, nearly four months later.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
An appeals court reopens a McLaughlin Youth Center abuse conviction
An appeals court withdrew its decision upholding a former McLaughlin Youth Center officer's abuse conviction, sending it back over withheld records.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Two dead in Piper Cub crash near Nabesna, troopers say
Two people died when a Piper Cub crashed shortly after takeoff from a dirt airstrip near Nabesna in Interior Alaska on Thursday evening, Sept. 17.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Anchorage's school funding gap has shrunk to about $6 million
Anchorage's school funding gap for next year has halved to about $6 million, after the Legislature capped how much the local contribution can grow.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Most of Sitka's administrator search has happened in executive session
Sitka's sole finalist for city administrator dropped out in July. The Assembly decides Tuesday on a different candidate, possibly in closed session.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Anchorage's required 2027 school contribution rises to about $138 million
Anchorage owes its schools $138 million next year and may give up to $108 million more. The board says no school closes for money either way.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Anchorage's property tax cap rises $18.5 million for next year
Anchorage's property tax cap rises $18.5 million next year to $381.7 million. Last year the city collected everything it was allowed, minus $325.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Troopers say Fairbanks driver hit 90 mph before DUI arrest
Troopers arrested a driver who ran lights through Fairbanks above 90 mph. City police, meanwhile, spent $593 of a $278,000 DUI enforcement budget.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Alaska leads the country in elder fraud complaints
Alaska led the country per capita in elder fraud complaints in 2024. Older Alaskans lost $8.17 million, most of it to fake tech support calls.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Kenai Assembly asks state to ban cloud seeding, on consent agenda
A company seeded clouds over the Kenai Peninsula and the borough learned about it from a press release. Nobody has the authority to require otherwise.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read
Thursday, Sep 17
Two Fairbanks ordinances would loosen the cap on school district reserves
Fairbanks wants to loosen the cap on what its school district can bank. One ordinance would trim the rule, the other would kill it outright.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks weighs union labor agreements on its big construction projects
Fairbanks would require union-negotiated labor agreements on borough construction over $3.5 million, copying an Anchorage rule that warned it could raise costs.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Murkowski cosponsors Senate resolution backing Russian democracy advocates
The Senate wants to back Russian democracy activists. Russian law gives those very activists up to six years in prison for accepting the help.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
A woman was killed at East 3rd and Orca, where the state mapped a cluster
A woman was killed by a driver who left the scene at East 3rd and Orca, on the edge of an area the state mapped as a pedestrian death cluster.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Alaskans with Credit Acceptance car loans may get debt cancelled under a $709.5 million settlement
Some Alaskans with subprime car loans are about to have the balance erased. The state cannot say how many, because other states run the payout.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Troopers find missing hunter near Tanana after weather grounded search a day
Alaska Wildlife Troopers found a missing hunter near Tanana on Wednesday after weather grounded the search a day earlier. He declined medical treatment and returned to camp.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
A jet fuel truck at JBER is out until at least the end of December
A truck that pumps 600 gallons of jet fuel a minute is sitting dead on the JBER flightline. The replacement engine is not due until late December.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Wasilla's road plan expired on a population forecast 38 percent too high
Wasilla's road plan expired, its parent comprehensive plan was repealed in 2011, and it assumed 3,700 more residents than the city actually has.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Alaska DNR issues four land decisions for University of Alaska land grants
Alaska issued four land-transfer decisions in four days ahead of a December deadline, over unanimous opposition. At Medicine Lake, the opposition won.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Alaska's population holds steady to 2055. Kodiak loses a quarter of its people.
Alaska's population barely changes by 2055. Kodiak's drops 26 percent. A flat statewide average hides what happens to individual communities.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
A free crisis intervention course in Wasilla has 30 seats next month
Thirty free seats in a crisis intervention course in Wasilla next month, and Mat-Su officers and first responders get first crack at all of them.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
