Politics & Government
RSSAlaska News covers state and local politics and government, including elections, ethics investigations, legislative action, and municipal decisions.
Troopers arrest Nikiski man on felony DUI charge after rollover on Nikiski Avenue
Alaska State Troopers arrested a Nikiski man on felony DUI after his pickup rolled on Nikiski Avenue and he fled, tracking him via electronic monitoring for pending domestic violence charges.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago1 min read
Senate panel told it must rewrite the nuclear waste law before disposal sites can proceed
Six states have signed up to host nuclear waste. The $51 billion meant to pay for it may already be spent, the committee chair said out loud.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago2 min read
Tlingit & Haida wins $1.57M to train Southeast Alaska overdose responders
Tlingit & Haida will spend $1.57 million over four years training responders and keeping naloxone stocked across Southeast Alaska communities.
by Maggie AlaskaNews5d ago2 min read
A federal grant funds Tlingit & Haida's plan to hear child protection cases
The Tlingit & Haida Tribal Court is preparing to open its own child protection cases, using authority Alaska courts recognized more than a decade ago.
by Maggie AlaskaNews5d ago3 min read
Pile burning starts Friday at three White Mountains cabin sites
Crews will burn slash piles at three White Mountains cabin sites starting Friday. If you see smoke out there this week, it's supposed to be there.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago1 min read
Man dies entrapped in heavy equipment on Goldridge Drive in Fairbanks
A man died after becoming entrapped in heavy equipment on Goldridge Drive in Fairbanks, Alaska State Troopers said.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago1 min read
Alaska's universities fall outside parts of an advancing college sports bill
A college sports bill is moving in the Senate with both Alaska senators behind it. UAA and UAF play Division II, so only some of it would reach them.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago1 min read
Knik Tribe awarded $199,482 for Palmer fingerprinting site and mobile units
Fostering a child in Mat-Su can mean a long drive to get fingerprinted. Federal money is buying the Knik Tribe a station and two portable units.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
Rob Mathis accepts full-time Whittier fire chief job
Whittier made Rob Mathis its permanent fire chief eight days after he ran the cruise terminal fire response as the interim. That's one way to interview.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago1 min read
Alaska may stop requiring liquor license applicants to buy newspaper ads as required public notice
Alaska liquor license applicants have to buy three weeks of newspaper or radio advertising. A draft rule would end that requirement entirely.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 5d ago1 min read
U.S. signs Greenland security pact; Murkowski says she is encouraged
The U.S. now has permanent basing rights in Greenland, signed at the UN with Denmark and Greenland's leaders. Murkowski's statement came via the White House.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
Hiker injured by bear on Jones Point Trail in Haines
A hiker attacked by a bear on the Jones Point Trail got herself out. It is the second bear attack in Haines in under a month, and both bears are loose.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
The Supreme Court will rule on Dunleavy's agriculture department after he's gone
The Supreme Court will decide after the election whether Dunleavy could create an agriculture department by order. He'll be gone by the time it matters.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
At an industry forum, four candidates for governor made their case on resource development
At an industry forum, Alaska's four candidates for governor all backed more resource development. Where they differed was on what the state should pay for it.
by Alaska News6d ago5 min read
Alaska takes final 2026 public input Wednesday on child care grant rules
Alaska's child care office wraps up its year of public sessions Wednesday with one on the grant program that pays licensed providers.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago1 min read
An outside group has spent $3.77 million on Alaska's Senate race
Americans for Prosperity Action has put $3.77 million into the Alaska Senate race. More than half of it landed in just the last three weeks.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago1 min read
A police drone searched south Anchorage for a brown bear before dawn
Anchorage police flew a drone over a south Anchorage neighborhood before dawn looking for a brown bear. Whether they found it is not public.
by Alaska News6d ago1 min read
Mat-Su bans license plate readers before the borough owns any
Mat-Su banned borough use of license plate readers before owning any, with the sponsor calling himself a brick wall against Anchorage's surveillance push.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago4 min read
A teen moose hunter was flown to a hospital after a tree stand fall near Fairbanks
A teenage moose hunter fell from a tree stand southeast of Fairbanks and was flown out by trooper helicopter along with his father. Injuries weren't described.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago1 min read
Alaska lifts 500-day hiring and regulation freeze, no reason given
Alaska's 500-day freeze on state hiring, travel and new regulations is over. The order ending it runs four sentences and gives no reason at all.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
A Spokane man gets 25 years for mailing fentanyl that killed two men
A Spokane man was sentenced to 25 years for mailing about 150 fentanyl pills to Skagway, a shipment that killed two men within about a day.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
Spann sues state, governor and PFD director in Anchorage court
The creator of a 37,858-signature PFD petition has sued the state, representing himself. What the lawsuit is actually about is not yet known.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
Ketchikan Gateway Borough gets $347,000 to replace a South Tongass ambulance
South Tongass lost both its ambulances when the station burned in 2024. It has been driving an 18-year-old hand-me-down from Valdez ever since.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
Fairbanks gets $728,000 in congressionally directed funds for a 14-stretcher ambulance bus
Fairbanks is buying a bus that can carry 14 patients on stretchers. The grant covers one year; crewing it after that is the city's problem.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
North Pole wants its next mayor to work part time, for $2,000 a month
North Pole's council voted to cut the next mayor's pay from about $80,000 a year plus benefits to $2,000 a month, flat. It is not final quite yet.
by Alaska News1w ago2 min read
The line that powers Petersburg would leave federal license oversight
Petersburg gets its power over an 80-mile line from Tyee Lake. The agency running it wants that line out of its federal license, the second this year.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Palmer pilot and Michigan passenger killed in eastern Alaska plane crash
Two people died when a Piper Super Cub went down in eastern Alaska on Sept. 17, two days after a separate crash near Aniak killed two men.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 6d ago1 min read
Juneau committee moves board recruitment plan out of resolution and into a letter
Juneau had 33 vacancies across its city boards. The plan to fill them was moved out of the resolution and into an attachment to a cover letter.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Fairbanks trails panel wants tour operators permitted and paying 15% into a trail fund
Fairbanks has over 1,000 miles of trails and no rules for commercial tours on them. A draft would charge operators 15 percent, into a fund that does not exist.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Peltola leads the poll. Sullivan leads the voters most likely to show up.
A bipartisan poll has Peltola ahead of Sullivan 53-47 after ranked choice, but the older voters most likely to actually turn out favor him 54-46.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read
Flags fly at half-staff Tuesday for former Ketchikan Rep. Cheri Davis
Flags fly at half-staff Tuesday for Cheri Davis, who spent a decade on the Ketchikan School Board before she represented the town in Juneau.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
A new poll has Kreiss-Tomkins ahead in the first round and the last
A bipartisan AARP poll has Kreiss-Tomkins at 40 percent and winning a ranked-choice simulation 55-45, but a quarter of voters ranked neither finalist.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Wasilla group reports $93,850 in September spending for six Republican legislative candidates
A group funded entirely by a national Republican committee has spent $93,850 on six Alaska House races, including $50,800 to a Wyoming canvassing firm.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Campfire and fireworks ban north of Fairbanks runs to Oct. 31
Campfires and fireworks stay banned on federal land north of Fairbanks through October 31 to prevent wildfires near homes and the NOAA facility.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Troopers arrest driver on DUI charge after 105 mph stop near Fairbanks
Alaska State Troopers arrested a driver on a DUI charge after stopping them for driving 105 mph with signs of impairment on the Richardson Highway near Fairbanks on September 20th.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Scammers posing as MEA are threatening Mat-Su members with shutoffs
Scammers posing as MEA are calling members, some with their account numbers, threatening to cut the power. MEA says hang up and call 907-761-9300.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min read
Juneau sets aside $4 million against a $12.9 million flood barrier loan
Juneau set aside $4 million Monday toward a $12.9 million state loan for HESCO flood barriers along the Mendenhall River, covering less than a third of the debt.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min read
Troopers arrest a Kenai man on a drug warrant after a Nikiski stop
Troopers arrested a Kenai man on a drug warrant after a Nikiski traffic stop and found 1.30 grams of meth, worth about $130 at state prices.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
The state is still taking comments on a school rule it dropped last year
Alaska's education department is still taking comments on a rule its board killed 11 months ago. The follow-up the board asked for is harder to find.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Fairbanks judge sentences Julian Miranda to 30 years in 2012 sexual assaults
A Fairbanks man got 30 years for two 2012 sexual assaults. The DNA kits that linked him to both women sat untested for years before they were run.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min read