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The Anchorage School District, which is considering the closure of six elementary schools amid a projected $68 million budget shortfall, isn’t the only district facing a major fiscal problem. At the end of the last school year, Fairbanks closed three schools. In Juneau, the school board is considering whether to fire specialists intended to help students recover reading skills lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. In rural Alaska, districts are trying to balance their books while dealing with high transportation and heating costs. Local and s... Full story
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Backers of a proposed copper and gold mine in southwest Alaska “tried to trick regulators by pretending to pursue a smaller project with the intention of expanding” after the project was approved, a report released Friday by a U.S. House panel says. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the report ahead of its release. The report makes several recommendations, including environmental review process changes to “ensure holistic review of cumulative impacts of projects.’’ Mike Heatwole, a spokesperson for the Pebble Limi...
Early in-person voting for the 2022 state general election opened on Monday. Petersburg residents can vote ahead of election day in the community center activity room Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Nov. 7. The election will use ranked choice voting where voters will be able to rank the candidates in each race based on their preference. After the polls close, each voter's first choice vote will be counted. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, the candidate who...
This year’s Alaska general election absentee ballot is a hefty document, weighing in between 1.1 and 1.2 ounces. If it were an ordinary letter, that’s weighty enough to need two stamps. But if voters forget, officials at the Alaska Division of Elections and the U.S. Postal Service say this year’s absentee ballots will still be carried — and counted — with just one stamp. “If a return ballot is nevertheless entered into the mailstream with insufficient or unpaid postage, it is the Postal Service’s policy not to delay the delivery of completed... Full story
Aleutian Airways has announced that it will be launching a scheduled flight service between Dutch Harbor and Anchorage beginning Nov. 16 according to a release from the airline. The new air service will initially offer daily roundtrip flights Monday through Friday. Flights from Anchorage to Dutch Harbor are scheduled to depart at 7:15 a.m. and arrive at 9:45 a.m. while return flights are scheduled to depart Dutch Harbor at 10:45 a.m. and arrive in Anchorage at 1 p.m. Aleutian Airways, powered...
Haines—A couple armed with bug nets wading through roadside fireweed were searching for bumblebees in the Chilkat Valley north of Haines last month as part of a research effort to see if the Western Bumblebee’s range includes Alaska. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists are considering proposing that the species be added to the endangered species list. “It’s disappeared over a big chunk of its former range which stretched from California out to some of the western states and all the way up into British Columbia at about 55 degrees north,...
A Sitka assemblymember and a former Hoonah mayor are competing for the Alaska House of Representatives seat being vacated by five-term Sitka Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins. Though nonpartisan candidate Rebecca Himschoot had an edge over Republican Kenny Skaflestad in last month’s open primary – about 54% to roughly 46% – it’s a difference of 373 votes. Voters in Sitka overwhelmingly favored their assemblymember – 1,059 votes for Himschoot to 552 for Skaflestad. Voters in Hoonah cast more votes for their former mayor and city council m... Full story
At a forum on fishery issues held in the seaport town of Kodiak, two of the leading gubernatorial contenders spent time focusing on a man who was not there: incumbent Gov. Mike Dunleavy. After about an hour of in-depth discussions of fishery issues that included climate change and its effects in the oceans, the role of hatchery fish in the ecosystem and economy, the infrastructure and workforce development needs of the fishing industry and state fiscal policies, former state Rep. Les Gara and former Gov. Bill Walker turned their fire directly... Full story
(AP) - A landslide triggered by record rainfall significantly damaged three homes, prompted the evacuation of about a dozen residents and caused power outages in downtown Juneau, Alaska's capital city. Geological assessment teams determined Tuesday that favorable weather has returned the threat level to pre-slide levels. The city's public works department was preparing to begin removing debris, city spokesperson Meredith Thatcher said. Of the three homes, one was completely destroyed as it came...
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources is preparing a new program that would allow Alaska sawmills to sell lumber for local construction without having that wood graded for quality by an Outside inspector. The program was announced Tuesday at Southeast Conference, a gathering of Southeast Alaska political and business leaders, by Alaska State Forester Helge Eng. Eng said the program, which may take two years to implement, would encourage the growth of Alaska’s lumber industry by making it easier to use locally produced lumber. Many r... Full story
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A U.S. Coast Guard ship on routine patrol in the Bering Sea came across a guided missile cruiser from China, officials said Monday. But it turned out the cruiser wasn’t alone as it sailed about 86 miles (138 kilometers) north of Alaska’s Kiska Island, on Sept. 19. Two other Chinese naval ships and four Russian naval vessels, including a destroyer, were spotted in single formation, the patrol boat, known as a cutter called Kimball, discovered. The Honolulu-based Kimball, a 418-foot (127-meter) vessel, observed as the s...
Alaska officials are asking the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide 100% of the funds necessary for Western Alaska communities to recover from damages inflicted by Typhoon Merbok. That would match the 100% funding that was committed to help Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Fiona in President Joe Biden’s federal disaster declaration. Typically, FEMA covers 75% of disaster-relief costs, leaving the remainder to be matched by state, local or tribal governments. For Western Alaska, “we feel that that’s just not acceptable, parti... Full story
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska residents will receive $3,284 as part of a combined payout that includes the annual dividend from the state’s oil-wealth fund and a special energy relief payment. The amount was announced during a livestream broadcast on Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s Facebook page Thursday. Prior estimates indicated the combined payout would be around $3,200. There is a yearly application process and residency requirements to qualify for a dividend. Dividends traditionally have been paid using earnings from the Alaska Permanent Fund. Lawma...
Three years after adopting a pricing plan that adds a surcharge for passenger, vehicle and stateroom fares on popular sailings, the Alaska Marine Highway System has decided to suspend the program for its fall/winter schedule. The ferry system's "dynamic pricing" added 5% to 50% to ticket prices, depending on the percentage of a ship's capacity already booked - similar to airlines raising prices as flights fill up. The Alaska Department of Transportation announced the decision last Friday to...
A complaint filed Tuesday to the Alaska Public Offices Commission accuses Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who is running for reelection, of engaging in a “scheme to subsidize and coordinate” the activities between his official campaign and an independent expenditure group working on his reelection, and scheming “to improperly subsidize his campaign with public resources.” The complaint asserts that Dunleavy’s campaign spent a “laughable” sum on staffing while key positions were filled on a “volunteer” basis by people paid tens of thousands of d...
A statewide coalition of fisheries and economic development organizations, led by the Southeast Conference, has won a $49 million federal grant to help build up Alaska’s mariculture industry. “This is a moon shot,” Robert Venables, executive director of the Southeast Conference, said of the challenges ahead and the potential rewards of growing the industry to raise and harvest shellfish and seaweed in larger commercial quantities. “It’s a big deal,” said Wrangell’s Julie Decker, executive director of the Alaska Fisheries Development F...
The Alaska Division of Elections on Friday certified the state’s Aug. 16 special general election for U.S. House, confirming Democrat Mary Peltola as the winner. Peltola will be sworn in as Alaska’s lone U.S. representative later this month after defeating Republican candidates Sarah Palin and Nick Begich III. Though elections officials are still compiling statistics from the vote, political advisers, pollers and independent observers say there are five early lessons from Alaska’s first ranked choice election: Ranked choice voting mostly worke...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is extending until Dec. 2 the timeline to decide whether to proceed with proposed restrictions that would block plans for a copper and gold mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region. The agency, in a recent notice, said this would “help ensure full consideration of the extensive administrative record, including all public comments.” The public comment period ended Tuesday. EPA rules call for a decision on next steps within 30 days after public hearings though not before the end of a co...
WASILLA, Alaska (AP) — Alaska U.S. House candidate Sarah Palin called on fellow Republican Nick Begich to drop out of the race Monday, holding a news conference in the same place where on a holiday weekend more than a decade ago she announced plans to resign as Alaska’s governor. “He keeps calling me a quitter,” she told reporters, adding later: “And now he wants me, the one who is clearly the only true conservative in this race who can win, he wants me to quit! Now that’s the real joke. Sorry, Nick. I never retreat, I reload.” Monday was th...
WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Thursday signed off on the approval from the agency’s independent vaccine advisers that recommended an updated coronavirus vaccine booster this fall. The CDC recommended boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech for those who are 12 years old and older and from Moderna for those who are 18 and older. These are known as “bivalent” vaccines because they are formulated to protect against the original coronavirus strain as well as the omicron variant, which is highly contagious. “Updated COVID-19...
Democrat Mary Peltola will become Alaska’s first congresswoman and the first Alaska Native in the U.S. House of Representatives. Peltola defeated Republican candidates Sarah Palin and Nick Begich in ranked-choice voting results announced Wednesday. All three candidates were vying to serve the last four months of the term left unfinished when Congressman Don Young died in March. A special primary election in June narrowed a field of 48 candidates to four, and the withdrawal of nonpartisan c... Full story
Alaska has special opportunities for developing a thriving aquaculture industry, but also special challenges that stand in the way of such ambitions, according to a new strategic science plan issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The plan is intended to guide aquaculture-related research conducted over the next five years by NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center. It considers ways that science can help achieve the ambitions championed by a state panel seeking to expand the industry. The Governor’s Mariculture Task For... Full story
Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s reelection campaign is responding to a pending news story about improperly using official staff for campaign purposes by challenging the reporter’s credibility because of his marriage to a Juneau Assembly member who supports one of the governor’s opponents. Sean Maguire, who recently joined the Anchorage Daily News after working at KTUU since 2017, has since last November been married to Juneau assembly member Carole Triem, who is actively campaigning for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Les Gara. Maguire’s story reporte...
Haines — While thousands danced and dined at the Southeast Alaska State Fair last month, Drew Robertson of Sedalia, Colorado was rescuing a half dozen local puppies that might be part wolf. The state suspects at least 10 dogs born at 35 Mile Haines Highway in February could be wolf hybrids, which are illegal to breed or possess in Alaska. The owner of the litter — “Seandog” Brownell — said he suspects the mother, Inja, a lab, could’ve mated with a wild wolf last December on or near his property. Robertson, who runs an organization with wolfdo...
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he will cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for Pell Grant borrowers and up to $10,000 for all other borrowers with an income of less than $125,000 for an individual and $250,000 for a household. Biden also announced his administration is extending a pause on student loan repayments until Dec. 31. The decision comes one week before the expiration of a pause of student loan repayments put in place at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. “Here’s the deal, the cost... Full story
