On March 31, the U.S. Forest Service announced plans to move its headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City, Utah. It will also close or repurpose all nine of its regional offices, create 15 state offices, and shutter research and development facilities in more than 30 states. According to a news release, the plan […]

The Alaska Senate on Tuesday unanimously advanced a bill that would clarify state regulators’ authority to oversee pricing for imported natural gas.  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission oversees the construction and location of gas import facilities. Senate Bill 180 clarifies that authority to regulate pricing for imported gas rests with the Regulatory Committee of Alaska, […]

The Alaska Senate on Tuesday advanced a constitutional amendment that would lower the threshold for veto overrides of spending decisions. The Alaska Constitution currently has two thresholds to override a governor’s vetoes: it takes two-thirds of legislators to override a veto of a policy bill and three-quarters of lawmakers to override a budget veto or […]

As someone who was lucky to succeed through foster care, it’s hard to watch a neglected foster care system that allows so much damage to Alaska’s most neglected children. Alarmingly, the state has chosen to violate the most important of the comprehensive foster care reforms the Alaska State Legislature passed, across party lines, in 2018. […]

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is facing a significant overhaul, including further staff cuts, according to a statement from a tribal leader during a congressional hearing on Mar. 18 about federal funding for Indigenous communities for fiscal year 2027. “Just this week, we learned that the Bureau of Indian Affairs is planning on releasing and […]

Instacart reports on Easter and Seder trends in Alaska and across the country.

A legislative resolution urging a continued and better-enforced ban on Russian seafood in the United States is headed to Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Part of a series of actions by Alaska lawmakers to try to shore up the state’s ailing seafood industry, House Joint Resolution 29 won final passage last week and was transferred to the […]

Five Alaska mayors voiced concerns about how a proposed tax break for the Alaska LNG gas line project would impact their communities. Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has proposed eliminating property taxes and other local taxes for the $46 billion megaproject. Instead, his bill would impose a volume-based tax when substantial quantities of gas are […]

Matthew “Bronco” Williams, an Anchorage-based private school teacher, has announced that he is running as an independent for Alaska’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Williams, 28, has not held public office. He ran as a Democrat for the Mississippi state House in 2019 at the age of 21, and the U.S. House […]

Alaska has a loophole big enough to bury a body in. Right now, if someone in Alaska witnesses a murder or another violent crime against an adult and does not report it, the law treats that failure as a violation. Not a misdemeanor. Not a felony. A violation with a $500 fine.  That should alarm […]

A legislative aide to Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and a former candidate for the Alaska House of Representatives, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol on Thursday in Juneau. Forrest Wolfe, 40, was pulled over by Juneau Police at about 10:30 p.m. on Mar. 26, according to court documents, after driving […]

At the Alaska Beacon, we’re constantly trying to figure out where we should put our attention. There’s always more news than there are people to report it. Every Thursday, the Alaska Legislature publishes its committee schedule for the coming week. Public notices alert us to meetings and events. The governor’s office occasionally lets us know […]

HOUSTON — Global energy leaders have convened here this week, spiffed up in dark suits and polished shoes, to discuss the industry’s most pressing issues: war in the Middle East, Venezuela, artificial intelligence. But behind the scenes at this annual conference of industry executives — known formally as CERAWeek by S&P Global but nicknamed the “Super […]

Alaskans across the state came out to protest on Saturday as part of the third No Kings nationwide day of action against the Trump administration. Crowds braved icy weather to demonstrate with signs, songs and speeches to condemn President Donald Trump and foreign wars, and called for protections of equal rights and democracy. In Juneau, […]

Voting results in last week's Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska election of delegates and Community Council members were certified Monday. Seven people ran for five, two-year seats as Sitka chapter delegates, who travel...

Anchorage attorney Gregg Brelsford on Tuesday announced that he is running as an independent for Alaska governor.  Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is in his final year of office. He is prevented by the Alaska Constitution from running for a third consecutive four-year term.  Eighteen candidates have filed paperwork to run for Alaska governor at […]

Marc Ernstoff, a physician who has pioneered immunotherapy research and treatments for cancer patients, said his work as a federal scientist proved untenable under the Trump administration. Philip Stewart, a Rocky Mountain Laboratories researcher focused on tick-borne diseases, said he retired two years earlier than planned because of hurdles that made it too challenging to […]

Residents of the two Western Alaska communities hardest hit by the remnants of Typhoon Halong have reached a consensus about their futures: they want to move their villages entirely. In the Yup’ik village of Kipnuk, where almost all of the approximately 700 residents were airlifted after storm waters swallowed their community last October, tribal members […]

The Alaska Legislature on Wednesday approved a stopgap budget bill amid an ongoing debate among lawmakers around war-driven oil revenues and whether to draw from state savings. The stopgap budget bill contains $449.6 million in state spending including for disaster relief, construction, education, correctional officer overtime and some public assistance programs — expenses accrued since […]

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has proposed eliminating property taxes for the Alaska LNG project to incentivize development of the $46 billion gas line and export facilities.  The bill was introduced to the Legislature on Mar. 20 and would exempt the project from local taxes in Alaska, including property and sales taxes. Instead, a volume-based tax […]