Alaska court upholds cut to checks from oil-wealth fund

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) _ The Alaska Supreme Court has ruled that Gov. Bill Walker acted within his authority last year in reducing the amount set aside for checks from Alaska’s oil-wealth fund to state residents.

The decision released Friday sided with the state, as a lower court had, in the dispute over Alaska Permanent Fund dividends.

The case was brought by Democratic state Sen. Bill Wielechowski and two former legislators, who argued that the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. last year was required by law to make available nearly $1.4 billion from the fund’s earnings reserve for dividends, despite...