In Alaska, a criminal in custody must be presented with charges in court within 48 hours — or be freed. It’s a constitutional due process right. But if you’re an Alaskan with mental illness who has committed no crime? Our courts let the state confine you for weeks with no determination of whether your custody […]

The Alaska Republican Party is moving quickly after Republicans in the Alaska Senate confirmed Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s picks for two vacancies in the Senate on Saturday. Sens. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, and Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, encountered no significant opposition from Republican lawmakers and were sworn in after a secret ballot vote on Saturday morning in Anchorage. […]

This article was reported and published in collaboration between the Chilkat Valley News and the Alaska Beacon. Skagway’s former paramedic is alleging wrongdoing by the Southeast Alaska town, saying in a newly filed lawsuit that she was illegally fired after submitting a grievance against the city’s fire chief and deputy fire chief.  In a lawsuit […]

John Crowther, who stepped in as acting commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources last month after John Boyle, the previous commissioner, resigned abruptly, is the governor’s choice for the more permanent position. Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced Friday he will ask the Legislature to confirm Crowther as the commissioner once the 2026 session gets […]

Developers’ efforts to overturn the cancellation of a vast gold and copper mine planned for southwest Alaska are getting a boost from national mining and pro-business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. On Nov. 24 and Nov. 25, the Chamber and the National Mining Association filed separate friend-of-the-court briefs in the lawsuit brought by […]

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska has unanimously approved a series of requests for financial secrecy filed by attorneys representing John Malone, the telecom billionaire seeking to take a controlling interest in Alaska’s largest internet firm. The approval means Malone will not be required to publish his personal finances and that the financial condition of three […]

The state of Alaska is close to finalizing rules for a program that would allow companies to bury carbon dioxide deep underground, a process known as sequestration. While sequestration can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by heavy industry, it also would be a boon to the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline. Many sources of natural gas […]

Alaska regulators have assessed a $695,900 fine against Hilcorp for violations at two wells in a North Slope oil field that is a satellite of the giant Prudhoe Bay field. Hilcorp violated regulations for up to two years when it injected enriched gas into the reservoir at the Polaris Oil Pool, which is part of […]

Larry Humphreys, a retired Federal Emergency Management Agency worker in Moultrie, Georgia, says he and his wife won’t be traveling much next year after their monthly health insurance premium payment increases more than 40%, to $938. Humphreys, 68, feels betrayed by the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. “As federal employees, we sacrificed good salaries in […]

The U.S. Geological Survey says a 6.0-magnitude earthquake has rocked south central Alaska. The quake struck Thursday morning about 7 miles west-northwest of Susitna, an area northwest of Anchorage, …

Nine in 10 Americans gather around a table to share food on Thanksgiving. At this polarizing moment, anything that promises to bring Americans together warrants our attention. But as a historian of religion, I feel obliged to recount how popular interpretations of Thanksgiving also have pulled us apart. Communal rituals of giving thanks have a […]

Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski denounced the Trump administration’s targeting of Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly on Tuesday, saying on social media that its actions are “reckless and flat-out wrong.” Kelly, a retired astronaut and U.S. Navy officer, was one of six Democratic senators who appeared in a video directed to members of the U.S. […]

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has appointed state Reps. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, and Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, to two vacancies in the Alaska Senate. Each nomination will become effective if at least five of the Senate’s nine other Republicans approve them. Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, said the votes will take place by secret ballot at 10 a.m. […]

Fishery biologists expect another strong year for sockeye salmon in southwestern Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, site of the world’s largest runs of the fish, also known as red salmon. Next year’s run is not expected to equal the magnitude of the huge runs in some recent record-breaking and near-record years, however, according to the Alaska […]

After the remnants of Typhoon Halong devastated communities in Western Alaska last month, you might have been jolted into remembering that forces beyond our immediate control govern the planet. A combination of wind, gravity, planetary rotation and uneven heating of the Earth’s surface can result in destructive storms and, in worst-case scenarios, a tragic loss […]

The state of Alaska is asking a federal appeals court to re-examine a district court decision that denied the state almost 20,000 acres of potentially oil-rich land.  On Monday, the Alaska Department of Law filed a notice of appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an 11-year-old lawsuit that is attempting to […]

America’s farthest-west town, Adak, is being sued by a former employee who alleges he was denied overtime pay and pressured into resigning because of racism by city officials. A city council member named in the lawsuit, Christian Tolliver, declined extensive comment but said the allegation is untrue. A second person named as a defendant, former […]

The chair of Alaska’s human rights commission has sued a political writer for defamation over his description of her work on a failed attempt to preserve a historic building in Seward. Dorene Lorenz of Juneau filed the suit on Friday in Juneau Superior Court, seeking damages from Jeff Landfield and the other owners of the […]

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Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, delivered a vigorous defense on Monday of the Trump administration’s controversial budget and tax bill and its resource development decisions. The bill, called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, is a cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s policies. In a speech to the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, Sullivan said it is so […]