The families of four of the 10 people who died in the February 2025 crash of a Bering Air flight near Nome have filed three separate wrongful death lawsuits against the airline, alleging its actions are to blame for the crash. The suits were filed separately in Nome Superior Court on Feb. 5 and 6, […]
The University of Alaska may soon be legally required to provide itemized bills to students and give them more notice of fee increases. The Alaska House of Representatives voted 36-3 on Friday to pass House Bill 176 and send it to the Senate for further consideration. Rep. Ashley Carrick, D-Fairbanks, introduced the bill in the […]
A federal oil and gas lease sale in Alaska that was to have been held in early March has now been postponed for nine days because of public notice mistakes. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said Tuesday it has rescheduled its planned lease sale for 5.5 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve in […]
The Alaska Legislature is expected to declare this week that parts of Western Alaska are still in a state of disaster following a major storm in October. On Monday, the Alaska Senate voted 19-0 to extend a state of disaster until early March, retroactively extending a disaster declaration that expired Feb. 6. “While there has […]
The state of Alaska has a bridge to give away. In a public notice last week, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities said it is willing to give away seven spans of the Gerstle River Bridge near Delta Junction, built in World War II for the Alaska Highway. Interested parties have until March […]
In a decision that was delayed by the prolonged federal government shutdown last fall, federal fishery regulators have increased this year’s allowable harvest of Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska. The approximately 37.5% increase in total allowable catch was approved by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the panel that oversees commercial seafood harvests […]
During the 2026 Winter Olympics, athletes will leap off ramps, slide across ice and spin through the air. These performances will look different to my students who have studied physics through sports. These feats will be something the students have already measured, modeled or felt. As a physicist, I help my students see the games […]
Leading members of the Alaska House of Representatives said Friday that Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s ambitious long-term state fiscal plan has almost no support among legislators and is almost certainly dead on arrival. House leaders spoke with reporters Friday morning, a day after members of the House Finance Committee heard two hours of public testimony on […]
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 […]
Even after the Ambler Road got a green light from the Trump administration last year, the contentious state-proposed mining haul route across northern Alaska hasn’t been a sure bet. For one thing, the 211-mile road still needs substantial financing — to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more than $1 billion. It […]
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved additional regions to be included in Alaska’s disaster declaration following the Western Alaska storm disaster last year, and more communities will be eligible for federal disaster assistance. The agency announced that two school districts — the Kashunamiut Regional Educational Attendance Area and the Yupiit Regional Educational Attendance Area […]
The number of out-of-state workers in Alaska is continuing to rise and is near an all-time high, according to a new report published this week by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. In 2024, almost 23% of non-federal jobs in Alaska were held by someone who did not live in the state. Nonresidents […]
Rep. Nellie Jimmie, a Democrat from Toksook Bay, broke down in tears recounting her experience there the night ex-Typhoon Halong made landfall on the west coast of Alaska in October. “We didn’t sleep the whole night, and this was the first time I’ve ever felt so helpless, where I knew I couldn’t protect my own […]
The Trump administration is offering 5.5 million acres in Arctic Alaska for exploration in an oil and gas lease sale to be held next month. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Thursday announced the lease sale in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, the 23-million-acre land unit on the western North Slope. Bids are […]
This commentary was originally published by The Conversation. Medical marijuana could soon be reclassified into a medical category that includes prescription drugs like Tylenol with codeine, ketamine and anabolic steroids. That’s because in December 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to reschedule marijuana to a less restricted category, continuing a process initiated by […]
The independent federal agency that provides Alaska with utilities, infrastructure and economic support is considering a number of new environmental hazards as it updates its statewide threat assessment. In 2019, the Denali Commission published a detailed listing of climate change-related threats to communities around the state. The document, written for the commission by experts from […]
How do you build a new airport in Arctic Alaska? First, lay down an ice road. Actually, three of them. As the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities prepares to build a new airport for the Northwest Alaska town of Noatak, the agency says it will need to build a 67-mile ice road for […]
This article was updated at 7:35 p.m. Wednesday with comment from the plaintiff. Two of Alaska’s largest news organizations and two top reporters did not commit defamation when they described a former state employee’s statements about rape, a state judge ruled on Tuesday in Anchorage. Jeremy Cubas, a former aide to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, sued […]
Alaska lawmakers advanced a bill on Friday that would create new state felony charges for the crime of using artificial intelligence to generate child sexual abuse material. The House Judiciary Committee unanimously passed House Bill 47, sponsored by Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer on Friday. CSAM, formerly referred to as child pornography, is any material that […]
Former state legislator Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a Democrat from Sitka, is running for governor, he said Tuesday. Kreiss-Tomkins, frequently known as “JKT,” served in the Alaska House of Representatives between 2013 and 2023. He becomes the 16th candidate and third Democrat to enter this year’s gubernatorial election. Incumbent Gov. Mike Dunleavy is term-limited and unable to […]