In a Friday hearing, members of the Alaska Senate spoke critically about a proposed new ferry terminal in Juneau, questioning why the project would be worth its multimillion-dollar cost. Earlier this year, state legislators planned to divert $62 million from a variety of transportation projects in order to pay for the state share of federal […]
After letting funding lapse for nearly two years, Congress voted to renew crucial federal funding that rural counties and schools have counted on for a quarter century. The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday evening voted 399-5 to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act through September 2026, and to provide lapsed payments […]
By the end of 2025, thousands of Alaskans may be hit hard by health insurance cost increases. The Enhanced Premium Tax Credit, also called the ePTC, is set to expire, and without renewal, health care costs for users could more than double. The credits have been effective in reducing federal marketplace insurance premiums for self-employed, […]
This story was originally published by ICT, see the original story here. Jerry Laktonen is a fisherman and boatbuilder who began carving in his 40s and has become a leading voice in the revival of Alutiiq carving traditions. His masks and ceremonial paddles are celebrated nationally, and his colorful, powerful works greet visitors at the […]
The state of Alaska has settled lawsuits against Juul and Altria, two nicotine vapor manufacturers, for a combined $7.8 million, the state Department of Law said on Friday. The suits were part of a nationwide pattern: Alaska and other U.S. states had alleged that the companies deliberately targeted children with advertising, something that likely contributed […]
Republican officials in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough have proposed a field of six conservative Alaskans for two vacant seats in the Alaska House of Representatives. On Sunday, local Republican Party officials delivered their suggestions to replace Cathy Tilton and George Rauscher, whom Gov. Mike Dunleavy appointed to fill two vacancies in the Alaska Senate. Those Senate […]
The New Orleans Archdiocese will pay at least $230 million to hundreds of survivors of clergy sexual abuse under a settlement approved by a federal judge on Monday. The settlement follows years of …
American democracy is straining under countless pressures, many of them rooted in structural problems that go back to the nation’s founding. Chief among them is the “pick one” plurality voting system – also called winner-take-all – used to elect nearly all of the 520,000 government officials in the United States. In this system, voters select […]
The Alaska Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s child support system has first priority when a foreclosed property is sold to pay multiple debts. The court issued its opinion on Nov. 28, resolving a long-running lawsuit brought by Global Federal Credit Union (formerly Alaska USA) against the state and several other defendants. “This is […]
A powerful, magnitude-7.0 earthquake has struck in a remote area near the border between Alaska and the Canadian territory of Yukon on Saturday. No tsunami warning has been issued, and there are no …
President Donald Trump has signed a resolution backed by members of Alaska’s Congressional delegation to revoke restrictions on drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve on the North Slope. The White House announced Friday evening that Trump had signed Senate Joint Resolution 80 into law. SJR 80 uses the Congressional Review Act to reverse restrictions enacted […]
Western Alaska, where almost all the residents are Indigenous, used to have the world’s highest rate of childhood liver cancer caused by Hepatitis B. After decades of screenings and vaccinations, that problem has been eliminated; since 1995, only one person under the age of 30 has been diagnosed with hepatitis-caused cancer. Now the Trump administration […]
One of Alaska’s smallest telecommunications companies is about to provide a critical backup for the entire state. On Wednesday, Cordova Telecom Cooperative and GCI announced a partnership to lay an undersea fiber optic cable from Juneau to Cordova and a second cable from Cordova to Seward. When open for service in fall 2027, the two […]
The massive Red Dog mine is grappling with a problem that’s spreading across the Arctic: thawing permafrost. A glimpse of the mine’s challenges emerged in 2020, when its operator said efforts to address thaw-related impacts to wastewater management were costing some $19 million. Five years later, permafrost is still thawing, and Red Dog’s problems appear […]
The Trump administration is touting its $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program as the largest-ever U.S. investment in rural health care. But the government made minimal mention of Native American tribes in sparsely populated areas and in need of significant improvements to health care access. Federally recognized tribes can’t directly apply for a share of […]
The federal government research organization that has been devoted for half a century to renewable energy development has had the word “renewable” stripped from its name. The Trump administration, which broadly opposes renewable energy projects, changed the name of the Colorado-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory to “National Laboratory of the Rockies.” The U.S. Department of […]
The Alaska Court of Appeals has rejected an appeal from a man who received one of the highest prison sentences ever given in Alaska to a juvenile convicted of murder. In an order published Friday, the court concluded that the recantation of a key witness is not enough to warrant a retrial for Brian Hall, […]
On the first Sunday after being named leader of the Catholic Church in May 2025, Pope Leo XIV stood on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and addressed the tens of thousands of people gathered. Invoking tradition, he led the people in noontime prayer. But rather than reciting it, as his predecessors generally […]
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has approved a U.S. Defense Department request for Alaska National Guard service members to assist the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Anchorage with “administrative support,” the guard office announced Tuesday. The Alaska National Guard said five service members will assist with “administrative and logistical” duties at the Anchorage ICE office […]
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many American mothers lost faith in the institutions that once shaped their lives. Into that vacuum stepped conservative Christian women influencers who blend …