Politics & Government
RSSAlaska News covers state and local politics and government, including elections, ethics investigations, legislative action, and municipal decisions.
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
Senate panel will take up Native housing bill co-sponsored by both Alaska senators
The law that funds housing in Alaska Native villages is up for renewal. Overcrowding there runs about double the rate on tribal lands nationally.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Sullivan's bycatch bill reaches its first Senate committee test
Sullivan's bycatch bill gets its first committee test Wednesday. It mandates gear changes and monitoring, but doesn't ban trawling or set catch caps.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Alaska's mail ballots will not need barcodes after a Supreme Court denial
Alaskans mailing a ballot in November will not need a barcode on the envelope. The Supreme Court left the rule blocked, and the state never took a side.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Nome cannot say whether a free shuttle van is a taxi
Nome's code does not say whether free shuttle vans count as taxis. The mayor says nobody has worked it out, and the sales tax turns on the answer.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Haines voters face five ballot measures, four of them about taxes
Haines voters face five ballot measures Oct. 6, four about taxes, including a new severance tax on gravel, timber and mining.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Fairbanks woman, 68, fell from horse into Wood River and died; cause under investigation
Debra Waugaman Curnow, 68, of Fairbanks died Monday after falling from her horse while crossing the Wood River near Snow Mountain Gulch.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Mat-Su considers banning plate readers before it has them
Mat-Su votes Tuesday on banning license plate readers it doesn't own — the same night Anchorage debates regulating the ones it already has.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Former Ketchikan church elder pleads guilty to federal child sexual abuse material charge
A 74-year-old former Ketchikan church elder pleaded guilty to possessing over 1,000 images of child sexual abuse material and faces at least 10 years in federal prison
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Seventeen foreclosed Fairbanks properties sold, 25 drew no bid
Fairbanks sold 17 tax-foreclosed properties last month. One of them, assessed at $146,019, went for $12,120 — a hundred dollars over the minimum.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min read
Park Service warns of ice collapse and tsunami waves at Aialik Glacier
National Park Service warns that unstable ice at Aialik Glacier terminus in Kenai Fjords can collapse without warning and trigger tsunami waves capable of causing severe injury or death.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Alaska would drop its claim to 480 acres for three Native Vietnam veterans
Alaska is giving up its claim to 480 acres near Haines so that three Alaska Native Vietnam veterans can get the allotments they applied for.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Juneau youth board reviews $3,605 in travel requests from two teen athletes
Two Juneau teenagers earned spots at competitions Outside and are asking the city for airfare. The fund they are asking from ended last year with $1,237 left.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Juneau Assembly votes 6-2 to table nonprofit sales tax ordinance indefinitely
Juneau Assembly voted 6-2 Monday to table a nonprofit sales tax ordinance indefinitely, blocking a measure that would have narrowed tax exemptions starting January 2027.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Juneau aging commission chair asks Assembly to fix or cancel paratransit contract
Juneau seniors and wheelchair riders are missing paratransit pickups under Ground Transportation Solutions. The aging commission chair asked the Assembly to fix or cancel the contract before winter.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Juneau's city-owned ski area has carried EPA's most urgent water violation for six months
Juneau's city-owned Eaglecrest Ski Area has carried the EPA's most urgent drinking water violation for six months, with no record of it being resolved.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Seward council approves five-year lease moving food pantry to senior center
Seward City Council approved a five-year lease moving He Will Provide Food Pantry from City Hall Annex to the senior center starting Jan. 1, 2027, gaining more space and a better kitchen.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Troopers identify driver who left Ester street light crash
Alaska State Troopers identified a driver who knocked down a street light near Chena Ridge Road in Ester and left the scene without reporting the crash.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
A bill would guarantee vehicle access for the village inside Gates of the Arctic
A national park was drawn around Anaktuvuk Pass in 1980 without asking. A bill would guarantee the village the right to drive out and go hunting.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min read
APD's new drone notice leaves annual-report questions unanswered
APD disclosed a drone at Sunday's standoff, but the five-line notice leaves the warrant and footage questions missing from its annual report
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min read
Anchorage seeks ideas for its Darwin sister-city partnership
Anchorage residents can suggest what the city should do with Darwin, Australia, its sister city since 1982. Ideas are due to the commission by Sept. 30.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
A Merrill Field WWII memorial crumbles with no one responsible
A WWII memorial at Merrill Field is cracking and dark, repairs run about $100,000, and the only money in sight is a $17,000 grant meant for something else.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Anchorage assessment appeals hit a record, and the board filled up to cope
Anchorage owners filed a record 1,990 assessment appeals this year, quadruple last year's, and the board filled every seat for the first time in 20 years.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
An Alaska psilocybin initiative faces its signature deadline Monday
An Alaska psilocybin legalization drive spent $150,000 and has $1,354 left. Its signature deadline is Monday, and no count has been made public.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read
Haines votes on whether to stop electing its planning commission
Haines voters elect four planning commissioners Oct. 6 and, on the same ballot, decide whether the borough should go back to appointing them instead.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
The Permanent Fund earned a record $8.2 billion the Legislature can appropriate
The Permanent Fund earned a record $8.2 billion that lawmakers can spend. Nothing has been appropriated for inflation-proofing in three years.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
The court found an obvious error in his commitment and upheld it anyway
Alaska's Supreme Court found an obvious error in a homeless man's commitment and upheld it anyway. The ruling came two and a half years after he was released.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read
Parents warn Mat-Su that cutting school nurses puts children at risk
Parents and staff told the Mat-Su school board that cutting nurses puts children at risk, as a Teeland Middle School nurse prepares to leave.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Anchorage police shoot carjacking suspect after East 37th Avenue standoff
Anchorage police say the man officers shot on East 37th Avenue had, hours earlier, pistol-whipped an older man unconscious and stolen his truck.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Anchorage coded most sampled spending to the wrong account, audit finds
Anchorage miscoded 72% of sampled spending, an audit found — because nobody ever wrote down what the city's accounting categories actually mean.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min read
Fairbanks votes Oct. 6 on capping taxes, moving elections and hand counts
Fairbanks voters decide Oct. 6 whether to cap borough taxes, move elections to November and count ballots by hand. Any of it locks for two years.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Unalaska votes Oct. 6, at the one polling place in town
Unalaska votes for city and school board seats Oct. 6 at City Hall, the town's only polling place, open 8 am to 8 pm. Six people will run it.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Alaska's new ethics law names the wrong person in a complaint
Alaska's new ethics law tells the committee to meet with the wrong person in a complaint. The ethics committee voted to ask for a fix.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Search resumes on Kasilof River for man missing after boat overturns
A 67-year-old Kasilof man is missing after his boat overturned on the Kasilof River Sunday. The search resumed Monday by air, boat and on foot.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
South Anchorage council asks state and city for interim school-route safety projects
Fifteen pedestrians were killed on Alaska roads last year, the highest rate in a decade. One Anchorage council is asking for whatever can be done fast.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min read
Troopers find two asleep in sedan towing stacked logs, cocaine in driver's lap
Troopers pulled alongside a log-hauling sedan in Soldotna and found the driver and passenger asleep, cocaine in his lap, they say. He's presumed innocent.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Coast Guard awards $315 million for Kodiak fuel pier, and comment on the review closes Sept. 16
The Coast Guard has awarded $315 million to Tutor Perini for a new fuel pier and major cutter mooring at Base Kodiak, competed with four offers and running to 2030. The draft environmental review of the project, including demolition of the existing pier, takes public comment only through Sept. 16.
by Alaska News2w ago2 min read
Anchorage police report eighth officer-involved shooting of 2026 in two sentences
An Anchorage officer was in a shooting on East 37th Avenue, and the department's entire account is two sentences that don't say whether anyone was hit.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
A stolen pickup went through the doors of three Tongass Avenue businesses
A stolen pickup went through the doors of McDonald's, Madison Lumber and Tongass Marine in one night. The damage estimate runs near $100,000.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Juneau's Fourth of July parade committee disbands after free-speech flap
Juneau's July 4th parade has no organizer for 2027 — the committee disbanded weeks after barring a veteran's anti-war banner. The record doesn't say why.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read