Alaska News

Quinhagak officers are on call 24/7, yet they’re only paid for 40 hours a week at $15 an hour. When asked how rural Alaska can increase law enforcement, each officer had the same answer: Pay us more.

Until recently, Gwich’in tribes were on the winning side of the battle over drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Then, in late 2017, Congress opened the coastal plain to oil development.

Al Gross, an orthopedic surgeon from Petersburg, announced Tuesday that he’s running as an independent against incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan.

Following direction from the State Fire Marshal’s office, all fireworks are prohibited from sale and use in the Juneau area. But Wednesday night’s big public fireworks show is still scheduled to start at 11:59 p.m.

Many of the Alaska Native residents of Kaktovik, the one small village inside the refuge, see oil development as an opportunity, though some remain deeply skeptical.

Officers responding to a 911 call in mid-Juneau found 61-year-old Gregory Wade Bowen bleeding from a stab wound in his abdomen. He was taken to Bartlett Regional Hospital and later medevaced to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for treatment.

Anchorage homeless shelters and services are bracing for cutbacks and closures after Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced hundreds of millions of dollars in line-item state budget vetoes Friday.

“We just had a continuous northerly flow from that direction and the smoke just finally permeated into the northern part of the panhandle at the higher altitudes,” Brian Bezenek of the Juneau office of the National Weather Service.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr declared a law enforcement emergency in Alaska on June 28. The announcement follows a visit to the state where he saw firsthand how many rural communities have little-to-no public safety presence.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed half of the state’s contribution towards debt service for school projects. Local governments will likely dip into reserves, or raise taxes, to make up for the nearly $49 million shortfall.

Republican Congressman Don Young, the longest currently serving member of the House of Representatives and the longest-serving Republican in House history, on Friday filed for re-election.

For years, the Alaska Supreme Court has stymied conservatives’ efforts to limit state-funded abortion. On Friday, GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy employed a new tactic: He vetoed $335,000 from the Supreme Court’s budget, in a move that critics say threatens the judiciary’s independence.

On Sunday, just after midnight, the Fairbanks North Star Borough Department of Emergency Management raised the evacuation alert for the Martin and Perfect Perch subdivisions

It’s well known that traumatic experiences can have lifelong impacts on health and well-being. But it’s possible that those effects can last longer than a single lifetime. A new study asks whether the effects of trauma have been passed down genetically in Tlingit families in Hoonah.

Juneau’s lawmakers and city manager all expressed disappointment with Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s line-item budget vetoes.

A Bartlett Regional Hospital spokesperson says a climber who fell at Mendenhall Towers has died.

The chemical was found in both soil and water samples, but because most nearby residents appear to use the city water supply, the city says there is no known risk to Juneau residents’ drinking water. 

Gov. Mike Dunleavy unveiled line-item vetoes the administration says amounts to another $391 million in cuts beyond the Legislature’s budget.

At 9:45 a.m. Thursday, a floatplane crashed in the water near Pacific Air in Ketchikan. Ketchikan Police Department Deputy Chief Eric Mattson says a pilot and four passengers were aboard. They all were removed from the plane safely.

The state Division of Air Quality is warning of the smoke’s potential health effects, with advisories in effect until Friday evening, pending any extensions.