Alaska News Daily Brief, Sunday, November 15

Alaska News for Sunday, November fifteenth. A quieter Sunday brief, with a few things you would not usually hear about, among them a seabird tally from the Western Aleutians and a job only one firm wanted.

0:14Skagway planners recommend claiming state land near border station, Long Bay

Skagway's planning commission wants the borough to claim the last of the state land it's owed, including 55 acres right next to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection station. The commission voted 5 to 0 last Thursday. There was no discussion and no public comment. Skagway is entitled to 7,977 acres of state land in all. Nearly all of it has already been handed over, which leaves 118 acres still to pick. The 55 acres by the border station already have conditional approval. The state Department of Natural Resources set them aside to be drawn on last, so the borough wouldn't go over its allotment. The borough manager gave commissioners a choice. They could keep those 55 acres and pick 63 more, or give them up and find all 118 somewhere else. They kept them. They also added land at Long Bay and between Upper Dewey and Devil's Punchbowl. The reason is mostly recreation. Commissioners said most of what's left is steep, hard to reach, or has no utilities. Chair Laura Mabee said recreational space "is about all I see on here." Commissioners called Long Bay a natural recreation area, and noted the Devil's Punchbowl trail crosses one of the parcels up top. The Dewey piece would connect the borough's land there into one continuous stretch. The commission's memo doesn't say how many acres those two picks add, or whether they use up the full 118. It goes to the Assembly this Thursday, November nineteenth, as a report, not a vote.

1:46Juneau ordinance would spend $2.5 million in general funds to clear Eaglecrest deficit

In Juneau, the Assembly takes up a plan Monday to pay off Eaglecrest Ski Area's two point five million dollar deficit with regular city money instead of its savings. Monday is just the introduction. The public hearing would come at the Assembly's next regular meeting. The city accepted that deficit expecting a gondola to boost the city-owned ski area's revenue. The gondola was supposed to start running in May of twenty twenty-eight. In April, the Assembly's finance committee moved to stop the gondola as a city project. Finance Director Angie Flick said that's when the shortfall was recognized as a deficit. For now, money to cover it is set aside in the city's restricted reserve fund. That reserve is already short. Flick told the Assembly it holds about seventeen point six million dollars and "should have twenty-four million dollars." About three point two million dollars of it went to glacial outburst flood costs. Paying Eaglecrest from general funds instead would release the money set aside, leaving the reserve larger, at about nineteen point five million dollars. Last fiscal year, Eaglecrest spent about four point eight million dollars. The ski area brought in about two point one million dollars on its own, got nine hundred thirty thousand dollars from the city, and lost about one point eight million dollars. This year the city nearly doubled its support, to one point six eight million dollars. By late October, Eaglecrest had brought in about two point seven seven million dollars of its four point two six million dollar budget.

3:30Prudhoe Bay blizzard warning extended as advisories cover the Dalton Highway

Up on the North Slope, the blizzard warning for Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay runs until noon today. The National Weather Service in Fairbanks extended it on Saturday. It was originally set to end at 7 this morning. Forecasters expect gusts up to 60 miles an hour and up to 2 more inches of snow. The weather service says travel there should be for emergencies only. Farther south, winter weather advisories covered most of the Dalton Highway through Saturday. Forecasters warned blowing snow could cut visibility to a half-mile at times. The longest advisory, for the Central Brooks Range, ran until 3 this morning. It covered Atigun Pass and the highway from Mile 232 to Mile 322. Gusts there were forecast to 40 miles an hour. Coldfoot and Wiseman had their own advisory, calling for 1 to 3 inches of snow. Out in the Yukon Flats, forecasters called for 2 to 5 inches through Saturday night. Atigun Pass has already been shut once this month. On November 7th, high winds and heavy snow closed the Dalton between Mile 239 and Mile 250. The weather service is telling drivers to slow down. The state's road conditions service has the latest on the highway.

4:45Skagway weighs hiring KPFF, the only firm to apply, to design its new industrial dock

Around the state, briefly. Skagway's Assembly votes Thursday on hiring the engineering firm KPFF to design its industrial dock redevelopment. KPFF was the only company that bid on the job.

4:59Juneau Assembly to vote on negotiating sales of West Juneau lot and downtown parking strip

The Juneau Assembly decides Monday whether to let the city manager negotiate selling two pieces of city land. One is a lot in West Juneau that could add 10 housing units. City staff support that sale. The other is a downtown strip that would cost 2 public parking spaces. Staff oppose that one.

5:18Juneau Assembly to hear plan to borrow up to $24.7 million for Seawalk extension

Juneau's Assembly also holds a hearing Monday on borrowing up to twenty-four point seven million dollars to extend the downtown Seawalk, the waterfront walkway. Fees on cruise passengers would pay the loan back over 20 years.

5:33Draft federal report estimates Western Aleutian seabird bycatch rose 128% in 2025

In the Western Aleutians, a draft report from the federal ocean agency, NOAA, estimates fisheries there caught 741 seabirds this year. That's up 128 percent from the 2016 to 2024 average. Every one of those birds was a shearwater, a type of seabird. Federal fishery managers use the report in setting fishing limits.

5:54Haines budget amendment would accept $7 million in grants, $3 million for cruise dock

The Haines Assembly will introduce a budget change Wednesday to accept seven million dollars in grants. That includes three million dollars for the Port Chilkoot cruise dock.

6:05Fairbanks council votes down room tax waiver cutting Explore Fairbanks' share

Fairbanks' city council voted 4 to 1 against a hotel room tax waiver. It would have cut the share going to Explore Fairbanks, the tourism bureau, by about seven hundred twenty-five thousand dollars. A revised version puts two hundred thousand dollars back. It goes to the council on Tuesday.

6:22Wrap-up

There's more this morning than the brief had room for, including a possible bike park and roller-ski trails at Kincaid Park, and a Tuesday school board vote on Anchorage's interim superintendent. That's all for this edition of the Alaska News daily brief. The full stories, and more, are at Alaska News dot com. And that's the way it is, Sunday, November fifteenth, twenty twenty-six.