Julie Bonney is a longtime, Kodiak Island-based representative of some of Alaska’s trawlers — a type of fishing boat that’s drawn increasing criticism over the years for accidental “bycatch” of salmon, halibut and other species. Last week, Bonney was returning from a trip off the island when Alaska state troopers seized her mobile phone and […]
State and local law enforcement officials announced a breakthrough on a more than 25 year old cold case in Juneau this summer, thanks in part to a DNA analysis tool at the Alaska Scientific Crime Detection Lab. Darryl Bruce Fawcett, an Alaska Native man, was 28 years old when he went missing in 1999. His […]
Ever since serving on Governor Palin’s Mitigation Advisory Group back in 2007, almost twenty years ago, I’ve been engaged in the pressing challenge of addressing climate change. I knew back then as I watched the Mendenhall Glacier rapidly retreat, that climate change was very real and that the trajectory for devastating impacts only went in […]
The Trump administration on Monday outlined its plans to auction 1 million acres of federal offshore territory in what it has called the “Big Beautiful Cook Inlet Oil and Gas Lease Sale.” The lease sale, to be held early next year under terms detailed in a notice published Monday in the Federal Register, is to […]
Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed an extension of the state’s disaster declaration on Saturday to continue emergency response and recovery efforts following the Western Alaska storms, including the remnants of Typhoon Halong. The original disaster declaration signed on Oct. 9 was set to expire on Sunday. “The 30-day extension will enable recovery efforts to continue unencumbered […]
There are now 14 candidates vying to become Alaska’s next governor. State Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, announced his candidacy on Monday. He is the second Democrat in the race, after former Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich, also of Anchorage. The other 12 declared candidates are Republicans. Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, is term-limited and not […]
Conservation groups are suing over a program that authorizes killing brown and black bears as a way to help grow the size of a southwest Alaska caribou herd. The groups allege the state program lacks …
Content warning: The following story contains references to violence and sexual assault. Date rape drugging, or roofying, is the use of any sedative, usually mixed with alcohol, to incapacitate a victim and facilitate a sexual assault. While anecdotal stories of suspected roofying circulate around Alaska, cases and culprits are difficult to confirm. Alaska Chief Medical […]
State elections officials have begun reviewing signatures gathered by people opposed to Alaska’s system of open primary elections and ranked-choice general elections to determine whether a repeal ballot measure will appear before voters in 2026. Alaskans enacted the state’s existing elections system via a ballot measure in 2020, and a repeal measure last year failed […]
After a remnant typhoon hammered Indigenous communities in Western Alaska last month, the state’s elected leaders have been fielding questions about how to protect the region that faces growing threats from storms as the climate warms. At a news conference last week, Gov. Mike Dunleavy answered the question with one of his own. “It’s a […]
The Alaska Supreme Court has disbarred former U.S. District Court Judge Josh Kindred, banning him from practicing law in the state, “effective immediately.” The court’s decision was announced Friday, a little over three months after the Alaska Bar Association recommended the action. Kindred, recommended by Alaska Republican Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, was appointed […]
The number of people approved for discretionary parole by the Alaska State Board of Parole has dropped significantly in recent years, and advocates are asking the board for explanations. Last year, the board denied 59% of applicants for discretionary parole. In 2023, it denied 58% of applicants. In 2022, it denied 70%. An analysis by […]
On a Sunday morning last month, James Taq’ac Amik was huddled on a small bridge with his girlfriend. At 4 a.m., they had scrambled into an 18-foot aluminum motor boat, fleeing floodwaters from a massive storm surge that inundated Kipnuk, a village of 700 in the heart of western Alaska’s sprawling Kuskokwim river delta. “I […]
Alaska’s six-person judge-nominating board has picked a state prosecutor and a Fairbanks Superior Court judge for possible appointment to the Alaska Court of Appeals. Following Wednesday’s vote by the Alaska Judicial Council, Gov. Mike Dunleavy will have 45 days to make the final choice between prosecutor RuthAnne Beach and Judge Patricia Haines. The council’s members […]
Crews are working to repair remote Alaska Native villages that were devastated by the remnants of a typhoon last month. But it's unclear how many of the 1,600 displaced residents will return. Some …
KWIGILLINGOK, Alaska (AP) — Uncertainty looms over the future of remote Alaska Native villages devastated by the remnants of Typhoon Halong last month. Some evacuees express doubts about ever …
Alaska’s two U.S. senators split on a vote that would have allowed the U.S. Senate to take up a resolution that sought to prevent President Donald Trump from unilaterally ordering the bombing of Venezuela. Fifty votes were needed in the Senate to take up the resolution, but only 49 senators — all the Senate’s Democrats, […]
Marine heatwaves, fisheries declines and coastal erosion show Alaskans how changes to our climate can threaten our ways of life. Governor Mike Dunleavy and others have proposed that we should welcome new industries that seek to capture and store carbon away from the atmosphere, including marine carbon dioxide removal, to boost our economy and reduce […]
The number of people working in Alaska’s famed seafood industry has set a new record low, surpassing last year’s record low, according to figures published this month by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development in its magazine, Alaska Economic Trends. In 2024, an average of 5,393 people were employed as fishers, processors or […]
As masked and costumed protesters demonstrate outside federal immigration facilities nationwide, the federal government has sped up the start of a new rule that may expose those protesters to fines and additional penalties. Under the new rule, which took effect Wednesday, those fines can apply to people who commit crimes near federal property as well […]