Politics & Government
RSSAlaska News covers state and local politics and government, including elections, ethics investigations, legislative action, and municipal decisions.
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 AlaskaNews1w ago2 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 News1w ago1 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 AlaskaNews1w ago2 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 AlaskaNews1w 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Wasilla's road plan expired, its parent comprehensive plan was repealed in 2011, and it assumed 3,700 more residents than the city actually has.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 AlaskaNews1w 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 AlaskaNews1w 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 AlaskaNews1w ago1 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 AlaskaNews1w 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 AlaskaNews1w 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 AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago3 min read
A jury convicted a former employee in a Trapper Creek killing
A Palmer jury convicted a former restaurant employee of first-degree murder in the 2023 killing of a 21-year-old server at a Trapper Creek lodge.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min read
Cordova council votes 4-0 to negotiate hillside lot sale instead of taking bids
Cordova City Council voted 4-0 to negotiate directly with one interested buyer for a hillside lot instead of seeking sealed bids, overriding the Planning Commission's recommendation
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Cordova's code says give the dog back if the owner is standing there
Cordova's code tells an officer to hand the dog back if the owner is standing right there. The council thinks that may be a liability problem.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Chugiak fire chief to ask voters this spring for first mill rate increase since 2005
Chugiak's fire calls are up 27 percent, and the chief says it is not fires driving it. It is people without a doctor calling an ambulance instead.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Kaktovik's do-not-drink notice stays until sharper lab results arrive
Kaktovik's do-not-drink order is still in place. The North Tank starts refilling Friday, and new samples with finer detection limits are at the lab.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
State will bring free heavy equipment training to Cordova crews
Cordova's public works crews will train on heavy equipment at no cost through state-run courses held in town, filling a gap left by last year's travel budget cuts.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
After the tow trucks left, one family could reach their own land
Fifty vehicles came off a half-mile of road in Big Lake. One family could finally drive to their own property. It took $42,000 and eleven dumpsters.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Sullivan diesel-derate bill advances Senate committee 10-9
A Senate panel advanced Sullivan's diesel-derate bill 10-9. It mandates cold-weather relief while EPA separately considers broader changes.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Alaska towns can build housing with this grant now, up to a point
Alaska communities can finally use block grant money to build housing. The most any one of them could put toward construction is about $170,000.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Two missing after boat overturns near Bethel
Two people are missing after a boat overturned near Bethel on Tuesday afternoon. Search and rescue efforts are ongoing.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
ConocoPhillips' Disclosed Alaska Royalties Fell 58% in Two Years
ConocoPhillips paid $37.97 million in royalties on its federal Alaska leases last year, down 58 percent from 2023, partly on lower oil prices.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Anchorage delays surveillance rules as sponsors and mayor remain divided
Anchorage delayed its surveillance ordinance to Oct. 20. The crime center keeps operating under police policy while lawmakers reconcile rival rules.
by Alaska News1w ago2 min read
Anchorage confirms drone deployment was omitted and checks for others
APD's manual drone log lost at least one deployment. Anchorage is checking for more omissions and owes the Assembly a revised report Oct. 6.
by Alaska News1w ago2 min read
Three students share the Anchorage Assembly's youth representative seat
Anchorage Assembly Chair Anna Brawley appointed three high school students to share the youth representative seat through April 2027, a nonbinding advisory role open to residents ages 16 to 19.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Kodiak Island Borough warns of wire transfer scam targeting zoning applicants
Scammers are posing as Kodiak zoning officials and demanding wire transfers. Nobody in history has ever been this eager to collect a permit fee.
by Alaska News1w ago1 min read
Alaska joins the EMS compact Sunday, with several steps still required
Alaska joins the EMS compact on Sunday, but nobody can just show up and start working. The state is not in the national database yet either.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
The Senate questions Alaska's nominee for a long-empty federal judgeship
The Senate questioned Anchorage magistrate judge Kyle Reardon for Alaska's federal trial court, a seat empty since 2022.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Soldotna council candidate Conner refiles disclosure on the last day to file
Soldotna council candidate Nicholas Conner refiled his financial disclosure Tuesday, the last day of the filing period, after listing the wrong municipality on his original form.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Both Alaska senators back advancing a federal NIL bill
Murkowski and Sullivan both voted to advance a federal college athlete pay bill. Alaska has no NIL law of its own, so federal rules would apply directly.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Anchorage School Board spends $3 million on classrooms, deepening next year's deficit
Anchorage's school board voted to spend the $3 million on students this year. Next year's hole grew to $9 million and 20 fewer teaching jobs survive.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Mat-Su kept the Long Trail sign, and the $300,000 that came with it
Mat-Su took $300,000 and kept the trail sign some members worried would invite federal control. The borough's own attorney said it would not.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
A Big Lake man was killed in Houston. A 72-year-old faces murder charges.
A 43-year-old Big Lake man was shot and killed in Houston on Monday night. A 72-year-old Houston man was arrested on murder and assault charges.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
The Senate blocked federal crypto rules. Alaska already wrote its own
The Senate blocked the first federal crypto rules, with both Alaska senators voting to advance them. Alaska wrote its own kiosk law in July anyway.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Anchorage teachers say losing building subs cost them prep time and safety
Anchorage teachers told the school board what losing building subs cost them. The board restored $3.7 million — without promising the subs come back.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Dillingham forum puts two open Southwest Alaska legislative seats on one stage
Two senior rural lawmakers are leaving, eight candidates want their seats, and seven are listed for a Dillingham forum.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read
Kodiak may close an elementary school its building plan still invests in
Kodiak may close East Elementary in 2027. Three weeks before that was proposed, the board was handed a plan with $5.75 million of work for the building.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Your state parks gift certificate expires during a blackout you can't book in
Your Alaska State Parks gift certificate expires Sept. 30, but you can't book anything after Sept. 27. Those last three days are decorative.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Spend $3 million on students now, or save it for next year's hole
Anchorage's school board is deciding whether to spend $3 million on tutoring and staff this year or bank it against a deficit projected above $45 million.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Appeals court orders dismissal of family's suit over Anchorage police shooting of Kristopher Handy
A federal appeals court ordered dismissal of the Handy family's lawsuit, ruling the four Anchorage police officers who killed Kristopher Handy in May 2024 are protected by qualified immunity.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read
The program mapping Alaska's subsurface runs out at the end of the year
The federal program that nearly doubled Alaska's public geologic data expires this year. The bill to extend it is one of 25 in a committee with no vote set.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read