News / State Of Alaska

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 By James Brooks    News    March 13, 2024 

Legislative leaders say state cannot afford governor's dividend proposal

Leading Alaska legislators said there is little appetite for spending from savings to pay a super-sized Permanent Fund dividend this year, likely killing a proposal from Gov. Mike Dunleavy. In December, the governor proposed spending almost $2.3 bill... Full story

 
 By Yereth Rosen    News    March 13, 2024 

Legislators look for answers to help beleaguered seafood industry

Russian fish flooding global markets and other economic forces beyond the state’s border have created dire conditions for Alaska’s seafood industry. Now key state legislators are seeking to establish a task force to come up with responses to the... Full story

 
 By Nathaniel Herz    News    March 13, 2024 

Researchers say high pink salmon numbers hurt sockeye returns

A new analysis of nearly 25,000 fish scales offers more evidence that the millions of pink salmon churned out by Alaska fish hatcheries could be harming wild sockeye salmon populations when they meet in the ocean, according to the scientists who... Full story

 
 By Becky Bohrer    News    March 13, 2024 

State Supreme Court says police need warrant for airborne zoom lenses

Alaska law enforcement officers now must obtain a warrant before using aircraft to scope the area around a person’s home with binoculars or cameras with zoom lenses, the state’s highest court ruled in a decision released March 8. The Alaska...

 
 By Juneau Empire    News    March 13, 2024 

Juneau will loan school district $4.1 million to help cover deficit

A $9.7 million bailout package to ensure that the Juneau School District can cover a nearly $8 million deficit this year and help toward resolving a projected deficit of nearly $10 million next year was approved March 4 by the Juneau borough...

 
 By Claire Stremple    News    March 13, 2024 

Legislature wants to direct more money to assist crime victims

Money in a state account that grew out of efforts to aid victims of violent crimes has been going predominantly to the Department of Corrections instead, to cover inmate health care. Meanwhile, the state’s victim services programs are scrambling fo... Full story

 
 By Iris Samuels    News    March 6, 2024

Minimum wage increase and anti-ranked-choice initiatives likely on November ballot

A pair of citizen-backed initiatives will likely appear on the general election ballot in November, including one seeking to repeal Alaska’s voting system, state election officials said Feb. 27. After a monthlong review, the state Division of...

 
 By Yereth Rosen    News    February 28, 2024

Aleutian waters warmest in more than a century; cod most vulnerable

The waters off the Aleutian Islands registered the warmest winter temperatures last year in over a century, part of a decade-long period of warming, according to a report issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The record-high... Full story

 

Senate committee advances measure to reject governor's takeover of ferry advisory board

A state Senate committee has advanced a measure that would block an executive order giving the governor total appointment authority over the entire Alaska Marine Highway Operations Board. State statute currently provides that House and Senate...

 
 By Yereth Rosen    News    February 28, 2024

Feds buy Alaska seafood for national food programs

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will purchase about 50 million pounds of Alaska seafood to use in national food and nutrition-assistance programs, state officials said on Feb. 20. The seafood purchase is to benefit needy children and adults and... Full story

 

Alaska Airlines flight attendants authorize strike, but nothing planned

Flight attendants with Alaska Airlines have voted to authorize a strike for the first time in more than 30 years. News of the vote emerged as more than 60 flight attendants protested for better pay outside the Ted Stevens Anchorage International...

 

Juneau plans consolidation into one high school to save money

Facing a multimillion-dollar budget hole, the Juneau school board has approved a plan to consolidate the district’s two high schools into one, close its two middle schools, close an elementary school and rearrange where sixth, seventh and eighth...

 
 By Julie Watson    News    February 28, 2024

Volunteers smash purple sea urchins to save California kelp forests

CASPAR BEACH, Calif. - A welding hammer strapped to her wrist, Joy Hollenback slipped on blue fins and swam into the churning, chilly Pacific surf one fall morning to do her part to save Northern...

 

Alaska seafood shippers pay $9.5 million penalty for violating federal law

Two Alaska seafood shipping companies agreed to pay a $9.5 million penalty to the federal government for violations related to their use of a tiny rail track in Canada that the federal government said was an illegal attempt to avoid requirements of t...

 
 By James Brooks    News    February 28, 2024

Permanent Fund trustees support investing borrowed money

The leaders of the $77 billion Alaska Permanent Fund have voted unanimously to adopt a strategic plan that calls for borrowing up to $4 billion in order to increase the amount of money available for investments, looking to earn more on the investment... Full story

 

State almost clear of backlogged food stamp applications

As of last week, the backlog of Alaskans waiting for the state to process their food stamp applications was down to just over 500 — a big improvement over the 14,000 unresolved applications of a year ago. The state’s Division of Public Assistance... Full story

 
 By James Brooks    News    February 21, 2024

Legislature starts process to reject governor's change to ferry advisory panel

The Alaska Senate has taken the first formal steps needed to reject some or all of the 12 executive orders Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued at the start of this year’s legislative session, including the order that would take away the Legislature’s... Full story

 
 By Yereth Rosen    News    February 21, 2024

NOAA reports 45 killer whales caught up in fishing gear since 1991

Over the past three decades, 35 killer whales were entangled in fishing gear in Alaska, resulting in 25 deaths, according to a report issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The report from NOAA Fisheries covers documented case... Full story

 

Boss of proposed gas pipeline project is highest-paid state executive

The head of the state corporation in charge of a long-dreamed Alaska North Slope natural gas pipeline is once again Alaska’s top-paid public executive. Frank Richards, president of the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., received $479,588 in... Full story

 
 By Lex Treinen    News    February 21, 2024

Klukwan church given to tribe after century of Presbyterian ownership

The church, originally known as the Klukwan Presbyterian, has been holding regular Sunday services for nearly a century. But one thing about the church has changed: its owner. More than a year ago, a...

 
 By Lex Treinen    News    February 21, 2024

Haines loses appeal of census count that showed 17% population drop

The U.S. Census Bureau has rejected Haines’ appeal of the agency’s 2020 count, which showed the Southeast Alaska community’s population dropping by 17%, or 428 residents. “I’m deeply disappointed. I really thought that our response was...

 

State offers grants for locally grown food efforts

The state is offering an additional $2.2 million in small grants this year for individuals and groups around Alaska to increase the quantity and quality of locally grown food. The grants of up to $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for organizations...

 

Head of troopers says state lacking in rural communities

Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner James Cockrell told lawmakers on Feb. 6 that he doesn’t know how the state can justify the relative lack of resources it has provided to rural Alaska. “Since statehood, the state has followed a... Full story

 

It'll be hard for state to resume ferry service to Prince Rupert

Numerous challenges are stopping the resumption of Alaska Marine Highway service to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, the ferry system’s director said at a conference of Southeast officials last week. During a Southeast Conference transportation...

 

School funding supporters continue work in state Capitol

Supporters of education funding crowded a legislative committee room on Feb. 5, advocating for a permanent increase in the state funding formula for public schools. Though the advocates were unified in their message to a joint meeting of House and Se... Full story

 

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