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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Saturday, Jul 25
Troopers issue Silver Alert for missing 73-year-old near Fairbanks
Alaska State Troopers issued a Silver Alert for 73-year-old Rodney Rutherford, missing since 11:30 p.m. Friday near Murphy Dome Road northwest of Fairbanks. Call 907-451-5100 with information.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
One new rural Alaska prosecutor, against deep tribal-justice cuts
The DOJ is adding one rural Alaska prosecutor while proposing to cut the budgets that fund tribal police and victim services by roughly a quarter.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Driver ran from Fairbanks crash scene, troopers forward charges
A driver fled a two-vehicle crash in Fairbanks on foot Friday, July 24, and troopers forwarded charges after passengers and a witness identified him.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Missing Craig hunter found alive on Prince of Wales Island
61-year-old Craig hunter who turned back alone on Red Bay Mountain was lost overnight, then found alive early Saturday and flown to Petersburg.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Friday, Jul 24
Kodiak weighs sounding its tsunami sirens the moment a warning hits
Kodiak may set its tsunami sirens to sound the instant a warning hits, and let dispatch trigger them on local signs before any federal alert arrives.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Sitka Assembly reconsiders hatchery lease at Gary Paxton park
Sitka's Assembly takes another swing at leasing a chunk of the Gary Paxton park to a hatchery group, plus two more parcels up for private bids.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Alaska's senators split on Iran war powers, and Murkowski missed the vote
Murkowski has repeatedly broken with Trump to rein in the Iran war. Thursday she missed the vote, and Sullivan again voted no. The motion failed 47-49.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Fatigue blamed in a Parks Highway rollover near Cantwell
A tired Florida driver rolled her vehicle near Cantwell on Thursday, the latest in a summer of crashes and closures on the Parks Highway. Injuries were minor.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
More from Politics & Government
Peltola campaign launches salmon video game attacking Sullivan over trawling
Mary Peltola's campaign built a browser game where you play a salmon dodging trawler nets. Subtle it is not.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Troopers waited two months after the traffic stop to make the arrest
Troopers stopped a Wasilla woman in May, took her car, and let the case build. They came back with a search warrant two months later.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Thursday, Jul 23
Removing an Assembly member takes 94 days and a supermajority
Anchorage published the map for removing an Assembly member: 94 days, a two-thirds vote, and the city pays the accused member's legal bills either way.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
North Slope Police shooting in Utqiagvik under state investigation
North Slope Borough police shot and killed a 25-year-old Utqiagvik man early Thursday. State investigators say he pointed a rifle at officers.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Woman arrested on DUI charge after driving into a North Pole business
A woman drove through the wall of a North Pole business just after noon Thursday and was arrested on a DUI charge, Alaska State Troopers said.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Five Aleutians East Borough seats are up, and filing opens Aug. 24
Want to run for office in the Aleutians East Borough? You've got 12 days — Aug. 24 to Sept. 4 — for five seats, mayor included.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Sitka opens candidate filing for municipal election
Sitka has six seats up in October and the filing window closes Aug. 7 — including a School Board seat you only need 30 days' residency for.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Anchorage Assembly weighs how hard to investigate Martinez's travel
The Anchorage Assembly must pick between a quiet look at George Martinez's travel and a subpoena-backed investigation that could end in his removal.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo 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
Alaska's interlibrary loan service moves to Juneau, with its funding uncertain
The 800 number rural Alaska libraries have called for 20 years is moving to Juneau — and if federal grant money dries up, it may not survive the move.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
The AI money came first. The data center moratorium came Thursday.
Days after AI money turned up in his filings, Kreiss-Tomkins called for a data center moratorium — one a governor has no power to directly impose.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
A power outage closed Anchorage state offices, public assistance included
A power outage closed the Ingra Street state offices in Anchorage at 1 p.m. Thursday, public assistance included, for the rest of the day.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A 100 mph chase ended with a Palmer driver pinned against a tree
A 100 mph chase near Palmer ended with the driver upside down in a ditch, pinned against a tree. He was already wanted on four warrants.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Alaska science runs on NSF money, and the money has slowed
NSF has awarded 55% fewer grants than at this point in 2024 — a problem for a state whose Arctic research, and its new $160 million minerals engine, run on NSF money.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago2 min read
The CDC director vote is waiting on Lisa Murkowski
The Senate health committee couldn't vote on the next CDC director Thursday — Lisa Murkowski was out on a family emergency, and without her the votes weren't there.
by Alaska News3mo ago1 min read
Blanche brought Alaska $180 million. He may need Murkowski's vote.
Todd Blanche handed Anchorage the biggest settlement in its history this month. Now he needs Senate votes, and Murkowski hasn't said where she stands.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Oil is beating the forecast, and it still won't cover a dividend
Oil is running $11 a barrel above what the state budgeted. Sounds like a windfall — it wouldn't cover a single $1,000 dividend.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
State plans a gravel sale on the Parks Highway near Denali
Alaska is set to sell gravel from a Parks Highway site near Denali — under a system an ombudsman faulted in 2019 and the state declined to change.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Rural birth and nursing bills clear a Senate panel
A Senate panel advanced rural nursing and obstetrics bills — the kind that matter in a state where women fly to Anchorage a month before giving birth.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Wednesday, Jul 22
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.News3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
