As a daughter and niece of sawmill owners raised in Southeast Alaska, I disagree with Hunter McIntoch’s March 20 article, “The Tongass National Forest is a national treasure worth more than timber.” Trees from the Tongass provide the music of the world. Viking Lumber in Klawock, Alaska, is the sole supplier of soundboards for the […]
Alaska Head Start programs are reeling after the regional federal office was suddenly closed last week, leaving programs uncertain about grant administration and future funding. Trump-appointed U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the closure of five of the nation’s 12 regional offices, as part of an agency-wide consolidation […]
As Alaska faces economic shocks from a tumbling stock market and an unstable oil market, leaders of the state House of Representatives are appealing to minority-caucus members and Gov. Mike Dunleavy to help balance the budget. “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re all in a pickle,” House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham said in a news conference on […]
Later this spring, barges of heavy equipment will pull away from a launch on Alaska’s road system and begin a journey up the Yukon River. More than 100 miles upstream, a tributary, Birch Creek, branches off. The equipment’s destination is along that creek, on remote property owned by Alaska Native corporations in a huge basin […]
An Anchorage senator has proposed expanding the Alaska Board of Parole, and widening the range of experiences of its members, citing the board’s workload and importance of fairness and accountability in its work. The parole board has granted far fewer people parole from state prisons in recent years. Since 2021, the board granted parole on […]
The Alaska Permanent Fund, the No. 1 source of general-purpose revenue for state services and the Permanent Fund dividend, suffered a multibillion-dollar loss during last week’s stock market crash. According to preliminary figures published by the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp., which manages the fund, the fund’s assets declined from $81.7 billion on Tuesday to $79.7 […]
The record-low snow conditions south of the Alaska Range have had big impacts across the state, especially around wildfire potential. In early March, the Iditarod had to move the race to the northern route, while the Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection, or DOF, declared an early wildland fire season in its Coastal Region, […]
With more than half of Alaska’s regular legislative session over, attention in the state Capitol is focusing on a limited set of topics. Before their scheduled adjournment in mid-May, leading legislators say they intend to pass a public school funding increase, enact one or more bills that would increase corporate taxes, and set the budget […]
Hundreds of people rallied at the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau on Saturday, part of a “Hands Off!” day of action protesting the Trump administration’s agenda. “We face an epic struggle for democracy, for justice, for equality, for the very future of our country!” said Claire Richardson, one of the event organizers with the group […]
Thousands of demonstrators from New York to Alaska protested against President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk. Protesters criticized the administration’s actions on government downsizing, …
Some already threatened cold-water fish species in the Northwest will not only face shrinking habitat from climate change but will face growing pressure from invasive fish species fleeing their own warming and dwindling waters, according to modeling from researchers at Oregon State University. The findings were part of a study published in the journal Global […]
By JAMES BROOKS Alaska Beacon The Alaska Department of Health abruptly laid off 30 public health employees this week after the federal government canceled a series of …
By CORINNE SMITH Alaska Beacon Alaska will recognize March as Women’s History Month, under a new law signed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Thursday. “This legislation encourages schools, communities, …
The Alaska Department of Health abruptly laid off 30 public health employees this week after the federal government canceled a series of grants unexpectedly early. “Their last day of employment is today, and they found out — I believe — earlier this week. So it is very abrupt,” said Heidi Drygas, director of the Alaska […]
The Alaska House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill that seeks to solve a nearly $200 million state budget deficit, but legislators failed to approve spending from a state savings account, something needed to fix the deficit. House Bill 56, which passed on a 21-19 vote, is a “fast-track supplemental” budget bill designed to […]
Alaska will recognize March as Women’s History Month, under a new law signed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Thursday. “This legislation encourages schools, communities, and organizations to honor the contributions of women who have shaped our state and nation,” Dunleavy said in a statement on social media. He shared a photo of signing Senate Bill […]
By JAMES BROOKS Alaska Beacon Alaska’s two U.S. senators split Wednesday on a vote against President Donald Trump’s economic tariffs against Canada. The U.S. …
By CORINNE SMITH Alaska Beacon A bill that advanced in the Alaska Senate on Wednesday would provide a $1,000 per-student boost to the state’s school funding formula. …
Rather than target Alaska in its response to a new round of tariffs levied by President Donald Trump, the Yukon government plans to pick on Trump adviser Elon Musk. The action stands in contrast to moves taken by other provinces, such as British Columbia, which is considering a bill that could result in tolls on […]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has long struggled to compete with corporate America to recruit tech workers to maintain the complicated computer systems that track the federal seafood harvests off Alaska. These chronic staffing shortages at NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Region have been greatly exacerbated by the Trump administration’s efforts to cut the federal workforce. […]