Politics & Government
RSSAlaska News covers state and local politics and government, including elections, ethics investigations, legislative action, and municipal decisions.
Federal and state cuts erase Alaska private-sector job gains in June
Federal and state government cuts eliminated 1,900 jobs in June, nearly wiping out 1,000 private-sector gains and leaving Alaska with fewer jobs than a year ago.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska ballot measure to restore campaign contribution limits heads to August 18 primary
Alaska voters will decide August 18 whether to restore campaign contribution limits for state and local races, but voter registration closes July 19.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Anchorage tax-exempt property audit won't finish until 2031 or 2032 under current staffing
Anchorage will not finish auditing 570 flagged tax-exempt properties until 2031 or 2032 without more staff, though the work could recover roughly $811,000 in annual tax revenue.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read
DNR proposes lower easement fees for long utility corridors; comment deadline Aug. 17
DNR is cutting easement fees for long utility corridors on state land, dropping to 10 cents per linear foot after 100 miles. Comments due August 17.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Comment deadline looms on basecamp permit near Denali Highway milepost 86.5
Public comment deadline is July 27 on a five-year commercial basecamp permit for big game guiding and trapping near Denali Highway milepost 86.5.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Alaska Senate passes HB 381 oil and gas tax bill 11-8, with dissenters signaling more work ahead
Alaska Senate passed HB 381, the main bill enabling AK LNG, 11-8 Thursday, but dissenters flagged unresolved questions about a new income tax on oil and gas pass-through entities.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Kodiak Borough holds public hearing on Ouzinkie tsunami shelter rezone
Kodiak Island Borough Assembly held a public hearing July 16 on rezoning an Ouzinkie parcel to house the community's tsunami shelter and tribal offices.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
North Slope Borough to seek $300K for second underwater rescue drone after Nuvuk response exposed gaps
North Slope Borough mayor seeks $300,000 for a second underwater rescue drone after a recent response left a volunteer behind due to equipment weight limits.
by Lucas Brown2mo ago2 min read
Alaska lawmakers order audit of Board of Fisheries process
Alaska lawmakers voted unanimously to audit the Board of Fisheries' process after the Attorney General overturned five regulations citing ethics violations.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska legislative auditor resigns after 34 years, replacement process underway
Alaska's legislative auditor Chris Curtis is resigning after 34 years, effective Aug. 30. The Legislature is hiring her replacement through a process that aims to seat a new auditor by August.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Anchorage Assembly to hear third version of public safety commission ordinance July 21
Anchorage Assembly will hear a third version of a public safety commission ordinance July 21, restoring an advisory forum vacant since January 2024.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks rally targets data centers as Air Force pursues Eielson lease
Air Force is exploring AI data center leases at Eielson while a community group rallies Saturday against 15 proposed statewide data centers over power grid and revenue concerns.
by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Anchorage police and fire overtime budgets built on 2010 math, OMB says
Anchorage police and fire overtime budgets are running millions over approved limits because the city has not updated the math since roughly 2010, OMB told the Assembly on Thursday.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Space Force nominee warns China's counter-space buildup is moving at 'breathtakingly fast' pace
A Space Force nominee told senators China is building anti-satellite weapons at alarming speed, justifying a proposed $71.1 billion budget that would nearly double the service's spending.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Democrats challenge Sonderling on overtime rollbacks, education transfers at HELP hearing
Senate Democrats challenged Keith Sonderling's nomination as Labor secretary over his rollback of overtime protections for millions of workers and his transfer of education programs to his department.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
BLM opens comment window on Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans land allotment data collection
BLM is taking public comment by August 17 on renewing approval to process Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans' land allotment claims affecting over 1,000 eligible veterans and heirs.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Peltola campaign opens grant program for Alaska artists
Mary Peltola's Senate campaign is offering grants to Alaska artists for new work, with applications due August 7 and selected pieces shown in an October 9 auction.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Conference draft keeps oil-and-gas pass-through tax, delays it to 2029
A House-Senate conference committee draft of HB 381 keeps a proposed income tax on oil-and-gas pass-through entities but delays collections to 2029.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago4 min read
DNR proposes mandatory back-fees for unauthorized use of state land
DNR is making back-fees mandatory for unauthorized installations on state land, eliminating discretion to waive them and creating potential costs for utilities and pipeline operators.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage's Assembly weighs censure — or removal — of George Martinez
The Anchorage Assembly votes Tuesday on two paths for George Martinez after a state ethics order — censure and close it, or launch removal proceedings. It's never done either in 50 years.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska senators cast deciding votes to advance trade court nominee, 49-48
Alaska senators advanced a Trump trade-court nominee whose rulings could affect seafood exporters and the $90 million CDQ program supporting fishing communities.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
A Washington pharmacy fight could hit Alaska's military families hardest
Alaska is full of military families on TRICARE — and a D.C. fight over its pharmacy contract could hit here hardest, where losing a local pharmacy means a plane ride or unreliable mail-order meds.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks man wanted on kidnapping, assault charges caught after foot chase
Alaska State Troopers caught Fairbanks man Kyle Curtin after a monthlong search and foot chase Wednesday, ending a manhunt for kidnapping and sexual assault charges.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
He overturned his termination but still lost his daughter
An Alaska dad proved the state wrongly terminated his rights — but still lost his daughter for good, because he missed a one-year deadline to challenge her adoption.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Akiachak man faces 7 felony charges in Bethel sexual abuse case
Alaska State Troopers arrested Akiachak man Lewis Lomack, 47, on seven felony charges tied to sexual abuse of a minor, and believe more victims exist. He is presumed innocent.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Bethel's lifeline dock is shifting — and its port commission can't get quorum
The dock that supplies the roadless Y-K Delta with fuel and freight is shifting and eroding — and its oversight commission hasn't reached quorum in 11 straight months.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Kodiak Island Borough opens candidate filing for October 6 election
Ever wanted to run for Office now is your chance, sport. Step on. up to the plate! Why even you could be a politician here in the fine town of Kodiak! Ever dreamed of having your name and lights?!
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Two teenagers die in head-on dirt bike collision on Prince of Wales Island
Two teenagers, Greyer Schwegel, 18, and Paul Lingley IV, 17, died in a head-on dirt bike collision on the Hollis Highway on Prince of Wales Island Tuesday evening.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Denali proposes a daily vehicle cap on its previously restricted road
Denali wants to swap its seasonal vehicle cap for a daily one — 160 a day on the restricted road. Comment by Friday if you've got thoughts.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Alaska runs on federal money, and a proposed rule change has people worried
Alaska leans on federal money for basics — water plants, shelters, emergency response — and nonprofits, cities, and Tribes warn a proposed federal rule change could make that funding less reliable.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
U.S. Senate stalls defense bill, freezing $2.6B for Alaska
The Senate blocked its defense bill — and $2.6B in Alaska military work with it — over the Iran war and Pentagon spending. Both AK senators voted yes.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Begich votes to prohibit separate credit-card codes for gun stores
Begich helped pass a bill barring card networks from tagging gun-store purchases with a firearms-only code. In gun-heavy Alaska, that's a lot of receipts.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
EPA moves to stop Alaska's cold from shutting down diesel engines
Alaska cold can freeze a diesel's emissions fluid and cut its power mid-job. EPA wants to stop the shutdowns before someone's stranded at 40 below.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage has become Russian shorthand for a disputed Ukraine understanding
Russia keeps calling the 2025 Anchorage summit the birthplace of a Ukraine peace deal. The U.S. says it produced a proposal, not an agreement.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Permanent daylight time would push Anchorage's winter sunrise past 11 a.m.
If daylight saving goes permanent, Anchorage's winter sunrise slides to 11:14 a.m. and Fairbanks nearly to noon. Darker mornings, later afternoons — pick your clock.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Interior Alaska breaks ground on the nation's northernmost veterans cemetery
Interior Alaska is getting its first state-owned veterans cemetery — the northernmost in the U.S. — built by UIC-owned HC Contractors near Fairbanks.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Anchorage weighs $528,000 for addiction, homelessness, and disability care
Anchorage is set to accept ~$528,000 in grants for opioid treatment, homeless outreach, and disability services — the last one patching three years of state funding cuts.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
The federal unit handling Alaska's MMIP cases can't return a family's calls
The federal unit handling Alaska's missing and murdered Indigenous cases hasn't returned one family's calls in 10 months, a Crow Nation professor told Congress.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Wasilla's mayor is termed out, and the first candidate to replace her just filed
Wasilla's mayor is term-limited, so the seat's open this fall — and Stu Graham is first to signal a run, filing before the July 20–31 window even opens.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A fall at a remote Alaska lighthouse turned an injury into a helicopter rescue
A tourist badly hurt her hip at the historic Sentinel Island lighthouse near Juneau and got a helicopter flight out. Kinda a two birds with one stone thing
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read