Sorted by date Results 326 - 350 of 420
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Gov. Mike Dunleavy has signed an administrative order he says is needed to protect free speech rights of state employees and whether they want to associate with unions. The order calls for new procedures to allow employees to opt in or out of paying dues and fees. The administration argues these steps are needed to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court decision. This follows a lawsuit initiated by the state that seeks a court order allowing it to stop deducting dues or fees from an employee’s check when the employee no lon...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A coastal Alaska fishing town will soon be cut off from vehicles with the closure of its ferry service because of state budget cuts, officials said. The Alaska Marine Highway System will temporarily end service to Cordova following funding cuts by Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported Monday. The budget cuts approved by the state Legislature are expected to end winter trips to Cordova by the ferry service beginning Friday. There are no roads to the community about 150 miles (237 kilometers) sou...
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — The University of Alaska Board of Regents has voted to consider both single- and multiple-university accreditation models, a report said. New language was added during a board meeting in Anchorage on Friday enabling two options for accrediting the state’s universities, The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Saturday. University President Jim Johnsen has proposed a plan that would consolidate the three separately accredited universities in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau into a single-accredited institution. The consoli...
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) - An Alaska ferry system has released a new schedule that stops service to and from Kodiak Island in the winter, officials said. The Alaska Marine Highway System announced the schedule Thursday, but it does not list ferry operations between Jan. 11 to April 24, The Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Thursday. Each year, transportation stops for a period of time for vessel examination and mechanical maintenance. But this year the ferries are in overhaul simultaneously because of a...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Supporters of an effort to recall Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy submitted signatures to a state elections office Thursday, an early step in their push. The Recall Dunleavy group said it collected 49,006 signatures since launching Aug. 1, more than the 28,501 needed as part of the initial phase of the recall effort. The group has said it gathered additional signatures, in part, to compensate for any that might be disqualified. Supporters gathered in Anchorage in the parking lot...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska lawmakers and a Native corporation have joined the dispute over a Canadian company’s potential investment in a large copper and gold mining project. The Anchorage Daily News reported Monday that Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy wrote a July letter supporting investment in the Pebble Mine by Wheaton Precious Metals. Dunleavy’s letter came after groups opposed to Pebble wrote to Wheaton President Randy Smallwood discouraging its involvement. A group of 20 state lawmakers sent a letter Monday telling Smallwood that...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska’s governor has vetoed additional funding for the state’s ferry service that was placed in the budget by the Legislature, a report said. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed $5 million Monday that was added to the Alaska Marine Highway System budget by the Legislature, CoastAlaska reported Monday. The Legislature previously cut $43 million from the ferry system’s budget. A fiscal note attached by the governor’s office called the budget item “premature” ahead of a $250,000 study commissioned to reshape the ferry sys...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska group has filed an application with the state for a ballot initiative asking voters to increase taxes on the oil industry, a report said. The proposed Fair Share Act would alter the state’s 2014 oil-production tax, The Anchorage Daily News reported Monday. The measure could bring in about $1 billion in additional production taxes, the group said. “Alaskans should receive their fair share from the sale of our oil,” said initiative committee member Robin Brena. The application submitted Friday comes as Republi...
Organizers working towards recalling Gov. Mike Dunleavy have collected over 18,000 signatures statewide, and as of Tuesday, 427 signatures have been gathered in Petersburg. The effort to recall the governor began on August 1, and since then, the Alaskans for Recalling Gov. Mike Dunleavy group has nearly collected three-fourths of the 28,501 needed for the first round of signatures. After the signatures are reviewed, the recall Dunleavy group can move on to the second round of signatures and...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Leaders of two Alaska groups fighting for a full Permanent Fund Dividend are arguing Gov. Mike Dunleavy should not veto the Legislature’s dividend payment, a report said. The Permanent Fund Defenders are asking the Republican governor to view a PFD — or oil wealth check — of roughly $1,600 as a “down payment,” The Anchorage Daily News reported Monday. Mark Fish, director of a newer group called Save the PFD, said Monday he believes it is time for the governor to go with the current dividend and resume the fight for a...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska’s governor is seeking to tighten the rules for food stamp recipients. The Anchorage Daily News reported Sunday that Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration wants to implement federal work requirements for low-income adults who receive food assistance. The change would affect recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in a state that has long had a waiver from work or employment program requirements. The Republican governor’s spokesman says the administration wants the change in order “to com...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Gov. Mike Dunleavy says he will not veto funding for Head Start and other early childhood learning programs from the budget recently sent to him by lawmakers. Dunleavy in June vetoed about $8.8 million for early childhood programs, including about $6.8 million for Head Start. Lawmakers, unable to override those and other vetoes, instead passed legislation restoring much of the vetoed funds. Dunleavy’s office has said he considers much of the budget settled but is willing to look at allowing funding to go forward for cer...
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — The newly appointed director of Kodiak College has resigned due to budget cuts to Alaska’s public universities, officials said. Jessica Paugh informed the college pn July 31 that she would not fill the post because of the state funding reduction, The Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Wednesday. Paugh was selected in May after a months-long search and was scheduled to begin her appointment Aug. 12 at the college, which is an extension of the University of Alaska Anchorage. “I have spent days agonizing over this decision and,...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The special Alaska legislative session that began cloaked in drama is ending quietly. Tuesday marks the 30-day session limit. No floor sessions were planned to mark the official end, which comes more than a week after lawmakers finished their work on issues Gov. Mike Dunleavy asked them to consider. The Legislature approved restoring much of the operating budget money Dunleavy vetoed. The level of support needed for that was far less than what was needed to override the vetoes, which lawmakers failed to do amid a d... Full story
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - A program that monitors Alaska's cruise ships could be restructured by the governor's administration, officials said. The future remains uncertain for the Ocean Rangers program, CoastAlaska reported Thursday. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed line items equaling $444 million in reductions to Alaska's operating budget in June. The cuts included the Ocean Rangers budget. The state Legislature restored the program's $3.4 million in passenger fee funding, but another veto...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska has extended a no-bid contract awarded to a relative of a major financial supporter of the governor. The Anchorage Daily News reported Saturday that the one-year contract extension was given July 1 to Clark Penney for economic development consulting services for the administration of Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy. The 34-year-old owns Penney Capital Inc., which the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority pays $8,000 monthly, with a monthly travel allowance. Clark Penney’s grandfather, Bob Penney, con...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) —State health department officials want to take another look at options for running Alaska’s state-owned psychiatric facility, including privatization. The request for proposals was released Monday, the same day Gov. Mike Dunleavy and department officials touted progress at the Alaska Psychiatric Institute. The state Department of Health and Social Services has been under contract with Wellpath Recovery Solutions to stabilize the facility and take steps to bring it to full operation. The contract is set to run through 201...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The governor of Alaska is moving ahead with a plan to increase in prices at assisted living homes, a report said. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy proposed increasing Alaska Pioneer Home rates between 40% and 140% by Sept. 1, The Anchorage Daily News reported Friday. The Dunleavy administration submitted the proposal to offset the state budget’s $12.3 million cut to funding for the homes, state officials said. There are currently three levels of service ranging from about $2,500 a month to $6,800 a month depending on the lev...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The first strike by Alaska ferry workers in over 40 years has snarled travel plans for thousands of people during the busy tourist and fishing season, leaving some stranded and catching the attention of a Democratic presidential candidate. Members of the Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific went on strike Wednesday after failing to reach agreement with the state on contract terms, bringing Alaska's ferry system to a halt. State transportation Commissioner John MacKinnon...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Legislature on Monday approved a roughly $1,600 oil-wealth fund dividend to residents this year as part of a measure that also seeks to reverse many of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s operating budget vetoes. The legislation now goes to Dunleavy, who called it “a dark day for the PFD and for Alaskans who support the PFD and for those that are looking at a sustainable budget. These add-backs take us in the other direction.” PFD refers to the Permanent Fund dividend, which is traditionally paid annually with earnings of the...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The University of Alaska has taken its first steps toward consolidating its three accredited campuses into a single entity. Facing severe budget cuts as a result of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto pen, the UA Board of Regents voted Tuesday to authorize President Jim Johnsen to immediately reduce administrative costs and prepare a plan for a transition to a single institution. Johnsen painted a dire financial picture for the university and said delaying a decision would compound the size of the cuts to be made later this yea...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) —Alaska’s Head Start early childhood education program is preparing to close pre-K classrooms and cut jobs after budget vetoes, officials said. The program lost its $6.8 million in state funding, which is used to unlock federal funds, when Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy last month vetoed line items equaling $444 million in cuts to the state operating budget, The Anchorage Daily News reported Friday. The federal program is Alaska’s largest provider of early childhood services, offering free pre-K, meals, medical care and o...
Juneau, Alaska (AP) - A spokesman for a union representing workers for the Alaska ferry system says the union has gone on strike. Hundreds of ferry workers went on strike Wednesday after failing to reach agreement on a contract with state negotiators. Robb Arnold, a spokesman for Alaska's Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific, said the strike began Wednesday afternoon after a meeting with state officials did not yield an agreement. He said the union remains open to a deal. "Unfortunately, we had...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska House failed by one vote Monday to win sufficient support to use reserve funds to help pay for a state infrastructure budget. The vote came on reconsideration, after a similar vote failed Sunday. Lawmakers still could try to revive the measure for another vote later. The measure previously passed the Senate. “We are not giving up hope,” House Speaker Bryce Edgmon said in a statement. “We thank everyone who voted for the capital budget and for the growing commitment to find compromise on this issue and the man...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — State budget cuts have University of Alaska officials anticipating the possibility of program and staff reductions, while Anchorage’s largest homeless shelter will cut its hours and services, reports said. The university Board of Regents will decide Monday whether to take the uncommon step of declaring “financial exigency,” The Anchorage Daily News reported Saturday. The declaration will allow university officials to more quickly discontinue programs and academic units and remove tenured faculty across the system....
