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. […]
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. It also would limit class sizes and tie funding for homeschooling to students being assessed through a standardized test or portfolio. The Senate Education Committee introduced and quickly voted in favor of its […]
Alaska’s two U.S. senators split Wednesday on a vote against President Donald Trump’s economic tariffs against Canada. The U.S. Senate voted 51-48 to approve a resolution that would end the presidentially declared emergency that allowed Trump to impose tariffs on Canada. The vote was largely symbolic because the resolution has almost no chance of passing […]
The Alaska Legislature has voted to allow teenagers as young as 18 to serve alcohol in the state. On Wednesday, the Alaska House of Representatives voted 32-8 to pass Senate Bill 15, which lowers the minimum alcohol-serving age in restaurants, breweries, wineries, distilleries, resorts and similar businesses. The minimum age to serve alcohol at a […]
There is a path to increasing food security without a Department of Agriculture this legislative session. Gov. Mike Dunleavy could hire an aide in the governor’s office who is knowledgeable in Alaska agriculture to work with the existing staff in the Department of Natural Resources. The goal should be to craft a plan to increase […]
An iconic pet reindeer beloved by many in Alaska's largest city has been euthanized, just weeks after someone tampered with his cage and possibly poisoned him. Albert Whitehead was the caretaker for …
A German shepherd-husky dog has evaded capture for nearly two months after being rescued from a California shelter and running away from her adoptive home in Alaska. The search for the shy and …
Visitors to the state Capitol in Juneau will have to go through a metal detector under a policy adopted on Monday. The Capitol visitor screening policy was approved in a 9-4 vote by the Legislative Council, a body made up of members from both the House and Senate that sets the rules for the Capitol […]
School districts across the state are starting to issue notices to teachers and staff that they may be laid off, in what has become a difficult spring tradition in Alaska, as legislators debate how much the state will allocate to education funding next school year. The Kenai Peninsula School District is among those districts, issuing […]
By CORINNE SMITH Alaska Beacon Alaska school districts that offer early childhood learning programs for children ages 3 to 5, such as programs to help children be ready …
By YERETH ROSEN Alaska Beacon Too many of the weather buoys floating in the waters off Alaska are out of service and the federal government should devote more resources to …
Too many of the weather buoys floating in the waters off Alaska are out of service and the federal government should devote more resources to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the interest of marine safety, according to a resolution pending in the Legislature. The measure, Senate Joint Resolution 12, calls for Congress to […]
Alaska school districts that offer early childhood learning programs for children ages 4 and 5, such as programs to help children be ready for kindergarten, could see a state funding boost under new legislation currently being considered by the Alaska Senate. Senate Bill 93 would boost funding for school districts that are currently enrolled in […]
By YERETH ROSEN Alaska Beacon The Alaska Board of Game on Thursday approved state officials’ request to continue a controversial predator control program in Western …
When Stephanie Russo Carroll, a citizen of the Native Village of Kluti-Kaah in Alaska, set out to earn her doctorate in tribal health 15 years ago, she focused her research on tribal cultural and health programs within six tribes. She needed vital statistics data, such as birth and death rates, for each of them. But […]
House Bill 118, a proposal to solidify the Alaska Governor’s Council on Human and Sex Trafficking into a permanent fixture of the state government, is a deeply concerning one, fraught with potential for continuing abuse and a demonstrated lack of necessity and accountability. A close examination of the council’s track record, its potential for misuse, […]
An airman stationed in Alaska has been charged with child exploitation. Prosecutors say David Ibarra paid a young girl in Long Island, New York, to send him explicit images. Prosecutors say the …
The Alaska Board of Game on Thursday approved state officials’ request to continue a controversial predator control program in Western Alaska, even though a judge ruled two weeks ago that the bear-killing program violated the state constitution. The board granted an Alaska Department of Fish and Game petition for emergency action to carry out a […]