Politics & Government
RSSAlaska News covers state and local politics and government, including elections, ethics investigations, legislative action, and municipal decisions.
Two Dan Sullivans, and a ballot solution the state wrote itself
The court put the second Dan Sullivan on the ballot but left the labeling to the state — and the state's fix leaves him the only candidate of 16 with no party listed.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska asks 3,500 voters to confirm citizenship weeks before the primary
Alaska flagged 3,500 voters as possible noncitizens and made them inactive weeks before the primary. A phone call fixes it — if the letter arrived in time.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read
Aleutians East newsletter flags fisheries as defining issue in 2026 Alaska races
Aleutians East Borough won a legal fight over salmon fishing rules in May and is now directing voters to check where candidates stand on fisheries in the 2026 governor, Senate, and House races.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska shakes the most and gets the least warning
California gets seconds of warning before the shaking starts. Alaska, which has more big quakes than any state, gets none — but that's being built.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage VA seeks bids for pain-management imaging table, deadline August 3
The Anchorage VA is shopping for a C-Arm imaging table used in guided pain injections for veterans. Bids close Aug. 3.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
Two women reported overdue near Glennallen were, per troopers, 'just out enjoying Alaska'
Two women reported overdue near Glennallen turned out to be perfectly fine — or as the trooper dispatch put it, they "were just out enjoying Alaska."
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
VA research is losing staff and trials as Senate panel presses on $43M cut
No state has more veterans per capita than Alaska, which makes a Senate fight over VA research cuts a fight about roughly 1 in 10 Alaskans.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Petersburg pushed back when the state pulled Sullivan off the ballot
Newly released letters show Petersburg residents demanding the state show its evidence for pulling their neighbor off the Senate ballot.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Alaska elections hearing reveals FBI contact, no precedent for 'good faith' test
State election officials admit they used a new good-faith test only on one candidate. They still refuse to explain why the FBI called.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Senate confirms Westercamp to trade court; both Alaska senators vote yes
Both Alaska senators voted to put a White House lawyer on the court that hears tariff challenges — a court that matters a lot in a state shipping 70% of its fish abroad.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Nine years of one-year permits in the waters where the North Slope hunts
Federal regulators are weighing a ninth straight one-year permit letting Navy research disturb whales and seals in the Beaufort and Chukchi — the waters where North Slope communities hunt.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
An $858 million trust will discuss its audit behind closed doors
The board managing $858 million and a million acres for Alaskans with mental illness and disabilities will take up a legislative audit next week — possibly behind closed doors.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Alaska veterans fly to Seattle for cancer care. The Senate is arguing over why.
Alaska has more veterans per capita than any state and no VA cancer center. A Senate fight over precision oncology money decides who gets care close to home.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage police oversight proposal dies without a second
Anchorage has had no police oversight body since 2024. A proposal to create one — with no power to investigate — died Tuesday for lack of a second.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
85 mph on a stretch of road marked for its fatal crashes
Troopers say a Sterling man ran his dirtbike 85 in a 45 — on a stretch of the Sterling Highway flagged for its fatal crashes — then briefly declined to pull over.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Peltola out-raises Sullivan, who still has more cash banked
Peltola is out-raising Sullivan roughly four to one this year. Sullivan still has more money in the bank. Both facts are true at once.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
A permitting bill could open the federal fast lane to Alaska projects
A bill would drop the federal fast-track permitting threshold to $50 million — opening the program to Alaska projects too small to qualify until now.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
A cattle parasite Alaska will never see could still cost Alaskans
Screwworm can't survive an Alaska winter, but Alaskans buy beef from the herds it threatens — and we're last in line on price.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage day cares say a grant cut could force them to close
Anchorage voters dedicated marijuana taxes to child care. Now providers say a nearly 70 percent cut to operating grants could force them to close their doors.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
The Army's last airborne cavalry squadron made its final jump at JBER
The Army's last active airborne cavalry squadron made its final jump at JBER, then handed its colors to a regiment inactive since 1957.
by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage Assembly resolution seeks school-funding scenarios and deferred maintenance analysis
Anchorage Assembly ordered the administration to show by Aug. 31 how much it would cost to fully fund schools and which city services would be cut to pay for it, ahead of the October budget deadline.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read
Juneau Assembly to weigh $1.5M negotiated sale of City Hall to Sealaska Heritage Institute
Juneau Assembly will vote on selling City Hall to Sealaska Heritage Institute for $1.5 million, down from the $2.5 million minimum the borough originally sought.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Anchorage Assembly members frame Fairview grant as a civil-rights question
Two Anchorage Assembly members are opposing a $750,000 behavioral health grant for Fairview, arguing it repeats a pattern of concentrating services in neighborhoods already burdened by discrimination.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read
A $700 property tax break, paid for by a 1% sales tax
Mat-Su voters will decide in November whether to shave about $700 off homeowners' property taxes and pay for it with a 1% sales tax on everyone.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Wheel Dog PAC spent about $500,000 supporting Hill as Alaska primary nears
A political action committee spent about $500,000 backing independent congressional candidate Bill Hill ahead of Alaska's August 18 primary.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Seth Whiteman, 22, dead after going overboard near Egegik Bay
Seth Whiteman, 22, of Eagle River went overboard near Egegik Bay on June 29 and was not wearing a life jacket. His body was recovered from a nearby beach on July 11.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Rocket Lab wins $266 million DoD contract for suborbital launches from Kodiak spaceport
Rocket Lab won a $266 million Defense Department contract for at least 12 suborbital launches from Kodiak's state-owned spaceport by end of 2028.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read
Alaska Democrats hold a volunteer picnic ahead of primary election
Alaska Democrats are gathering at an Anchorage park Thursday evening to sign up volunteers, four weeks out from a primary with a Senate seat on it.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
He listed two Alaska move-in dates. Then he quit the race.
A Kenai-area candidate filed two different Alaska move-in dates on two candidacy forms. Asked to prove one, he withdrew the next morning.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Alaska's unemployment map tracks one thing: the road system
Alaska unemployment ran 2.5% in Denali and 16.1% in Kusilvak this May. The split tracks one thing almost perfectly: whether a road reaches you.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Crews are cutting firebreaks in the woods at the center of Anchorage
Three Campbell Tract trail segments are closed through July 25 while crews trim the firebreaks keeping a wildfire out of Anchorage's neighborhoods.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Wrangell-St. Elias closes section of Root Glacier Trail after landslide risk found
Wrangell-St. Elias closed part of Root Glacier Trail after geologists found landslide risk on the moraine, blocking access during peak summer season with no alternate route yet available.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Two men found shot dead inside east Anchorage home; police not seeking more suspects
Two men were found shot dead in an east Anchorage home early Tuesday, and police say no suspect remains at large.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Sterling man shoots neighbor's generator, returns armed and drunk, threatens troopers' children
A Sterling man wanted his neighbor's generator. The neighbor said no. Troopers say the generator ended up full of bullet holes.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A new committee would review how the Permanent Fund measures itself
How the Permanent Fund grades itself is contested — and trustees will weigh a new committee to review the benchmarks that decide the answer.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Sitka crosswalk art project brings morning delays to Lincoln Street starting Thursday
Volunteers paint decorative crosswalk art on Lincoln Street in Sitka Thursday and Friday mornings, expect delays as part of a pedestrian safety project.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Alaska courts require TrueFiling for CINA cases starting August 17
Alaska courts require all lawyers to file Child in Need of Aid cases through TrueFiling starting August 17, replacing email and fax. Training dates have not been announced.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Alaska public libraries face Sept. 1 deadline to file annual report or risk grant eligibility
Alaska public libraries must file their annual report by September 1 or lose eligibility for state grants.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Supreme Court to hear Alaska bush pilot's fight over $95,000 plane seized for a six-pack
Supreme Court will hear whether Alaska can seize a bush pilot's $95,000 plane because a passenger carried beer to a dry village.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
United Fishermen of Alaska launches 'I Vote Fish' campaign ahead of August 18 primary
United Fishermen of Alaska launched its I Vote Fish campaign Tuesday to push fishers toward early and absentee voting before the August 18 primary.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read