Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 122
During a lengthy, meandering series of remarks last week, President Donald Trump offered another hint that his administration may seek to disrupt Alaska’s U.S. Senate election. Fairbanks political writer Dermot Cole first noted Trump’s remarks. On Aug. 18, NBC News — relying on unnamed sources — reported that the U.S. Department of Justice had issued grand jury subpoenas as it sought to investigate the campaign of Republican candidate Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg. The Alaska Beacon has been unable to verify that reporting, but on Sept. 2... Full story
A Republican-aligned group on Tuesday filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission against Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan J. Sullivan. Sullivan, who shares the same first and last name as incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, is one of four candidates in the general election. Dan J. Sullivan had 2.5% of the vote in the August primary. Dan S. Sullivan had more than 41%. Democratic candidate Mary Peltola finished first, with 49.5% of the vote. The complaint by Virginia-based Americans for Public Trust accuses Dan J. Sul... Full story
Alaska Department of Health officials announced a fifth round of federal Rural Health Transformation Program funding awards on Friday. The latest awards for $25.8 million bring the total to more than $207 million to date. The funding is aimed at bolstering Alaska’s rural health system. The latest round of awards will go to 32 projects focused on improving health access, nutrition, telehealth services, healthcare infrastructure, workforce development and more. Alaska was awarded $272 million in federal funding under the program this year, w... Full story
On Alaska’s primary election day, NBC News — citing unidentified sources — reported that the U.S. Department of Justice has issued grand jury subpoenas as it investigates whether Petersburg candidate Dan J. Sullivan may have somehow violated federal law. If that’s true, subpoenas haven’t reached Sullivan, currently running third in this week’s election and the person that incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan has accused of running a sham campaign. Subpoenas also haven’t reached anyone in the campaign of Democratic candidate Mary Peltola...
Democratic governor candidates Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and Tom Begich, and Republican candidates Bernadette Wilson and Dave Bronson led in early vote counting for Alaska's Tuesday primary election for governor. Seventeen people, including two Democrats, 12 Republicans and three independents, are seeking to replace Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who is term-limited and unable to run again this year. As of 2 a.m. Wednesday, with 378 of 402 precincts reporting results from election day, Kreiss-Tomkins had 21.... Full story
Early vote counting in Alaska’s statewide, top-four primary election showed no surprises in the state’s two federal races. For U.S. Senate, Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan and Democratic challenger Mary Peltola led a 16-candidate field with 378 of 403 precincts reporting results as of 2 a.m. Wednesday morning. Peltola had 48% of the votes counted to that point, while Sullivan had 42.8%. Republican challenger Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg was in third with 2.4%, and Democratic candidate David Leslie was in fourth with 1.1%, only sli... Full story
Early tallies from Tuesday’s statewide primary election showed overwhelming support for a ballot measure that will restrict the amount of money that political candidates can accept from groups and individuals. With 377 of 402 precincts reporting by 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, Ballot Measure 1 had the support of 71.5% of participating voters. That’s only slightly less than the 73% margin that a similar ballot measure received in 2006. The limits imposed by that 2006 measure remained in place until 2021, when a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S... Full story
A high-stakes quid pro quo deal fell apart in the Alaska Capitol on Monday as legislators failed to approve a tax break for the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline and Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a bill that would have restored public pensions in the state. The failure leaves public employees with a 401(k)-like retirement system and legislators likely to head into a special session for further work on a gas pipeline bill. Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage and the Legislature’s lead negotiator on the planned deal, said on Monday night that ... Full story
The federal government has rejected a request to list three populations of Gulf of Alaska king salmon as endangered, according to a public notice scheduled for publication on Thursday. The listing was requested in 2024 by a Washington state conservation group amid long-term declines in king salmon numbers in Alaska. If the listing had been approved, it could have resulted in new limits on development in Alaska as well as major restrictions on commercial, sport and personal-use fishing in the state. State officials opposed the listing, and in a... Full story
A federal judge in Alaska has rejected a lawsuit that sought to reinstate a management plan that would allow heavier logging in the world’s largest temperate old-growth rainforest. The result leaves an Obama-era management plan in place, but it could be short-lived: The administration of President Donald Trump is already at work on a new plan that could allow more logging in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. In an order published Friday, Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed the lawsuit filed by Viking Lumber, Alcan Timber and the Alaska Forest Ass... Full story
The head of the Alaska Division of Elections will not share legal advice that led to the state’s decision to send an extended voter list to the U.S. Department of Justice. Director Carol Beecher told state senators last Wednesday that she will not waive attorney-client privilege as state lawmakers examine last year’s decision to give the Trump administration a detailed list of Alaska voters. Alaska is one of 12 states that have either turned over their voter lists or have said they plan to comply with a nationwide request, according to rec... Full story
Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins - former state legislator who represented Petersburg and much of Southeast for a decade - is running for governor, he said Tuesday. Kreiss-Tomkins, frequently known as "JKT," served in the Alaska House of Representatives between 2013 and 2023. He becomes the 16th candidate and third Democrat to enter this year's gubernatorial election. Incumbent Gov. Mike Dunleavy is term-limited and unable to run for a third term. In Alaska, the top four vote-getters, regardless of... Full story
Alaska’s state ferry system is at risk of a partial or total shutdown this summer due to the failure of the federal government to issue a key annual grant. “Currently right now, we have a shortfall in our budget,” said Dom Pannone, director of program administration and management for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, to members of the Senate Finance Committee during a Monday morning hearing. Money from the Federal Transit Administration’s rural ferry program pays for almost half of the Alaska Marine Highway... Full story
Alaska lawmakers opened the second year of their regular legislative session on Tuesday with an ambitious agenda but low expectations amid a tight budget that appears likely to draw the lion’s share of legislators’ attention. “It’s one big log jam,” said Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka. The Alaska Legislature operates on a two-year cycle between elections; bills are carried over from the first year to the second, but if they don’t pass the Legislature by the end of the second year, they expire and must start all over again. Speaking Tuesday, me... Full story
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the state of Alaska’s latest attempt to alter Alaska’s decades-old system of subsistence fishing management. In a one-sentence order Monday, the court said it will not review a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in August that Alaska cannot manage fishing on a stretch of the Kuskokwim River that flows through the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. If the Supreme Court had taken up the case, it could have redefined Alaska’s unique system of hunting and fishing management, which... Full story
Former U.S. House Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat, has announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate, challenging Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan. Republicans control the U.S. Senate by a 53-47 margin, including two independents who caucus with Democrats. If Peltola were to defeat Sullivan, it would contribute to Democrats' efforts to retake the chamber. While Alaska voted for President Donald Trump by a 13-point margin, an indication Sullivan is favored, public opinion polling has shown Peltola i... Full story
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 GCI-related subsidiaries will also remain secret. The finances of GCI Liberty, the parent company, are already public due to required filings with the U.S. Securities and E... Full story
Every morning, Alaska’s court system publishes an updated list of new civil lawsuits filed across the state during the past week. And every morning, that list is dominated by debt collection cases, newly filed by credit card companies, debt collection firms or businesses seeking repayment. On Tuesday, of the 115 listed cases, 84 were for debt collections. In the first nine months of 2022, the court system saw 1,869 debt collection cases filed. Every year since then, the number has risen. Through the first nine months of this year, there were 3,... Full story
Alaska’s largest residential internet provider may soon come under the control of billionaire businessman John Malone, one of America’s biggest private landowners and wealthiest people. On Oct. 3, Malone filed paperwork with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska asking for permission to take majority ownership of GCI Liberty Inc., the parent company of GCI Communications, Alaska’s largest internet company. Malone already owns a majority of GCI Liberty’s voting shares, according to RCA filings, but until now has been limited by agreements that ho... Full story
If the federal government shutdown continues, more than 66,000 Alaskans will lose federal food aid within weeks, the state of Alaska is warning. On Monday, the Division of Public Assistance within the Alaska Department of Health said that the federal government “has directed states to stop the issuance of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for the month of November due to insufficient federal funds. This means that Alaskans may not receive SNAP benefits for November, even if they are authorized to receive them.” The div... Full story
Reporters and editors at the Homer News and Peninsula Clarion announced their resignations on Monday, citing a decision by the papers’ corporate owners to bow to political pressure to amend an article about a vigil for the slain far-right activist Charlie Kirk. The resignations, which include two editors and two reporters based in Homer and Kenai, were scheduled to take effect in two weeks, but managers at Carpenter Media Group fired all four immediately. Carpenter Media Group, an international chain, owns the News, Clarion and the Juneau Empir... Full story
Alaska residents can expect to receive their 2025 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend of $1,000 beginning in early October, according the Alaska Department of Revenue. The 2025 dividend amount of $1,000 per recipient was set by the Alaska Legislature in House Bill 53, and is a sharp decrease from the 2024 PFD amount of $1,702 allotted to each eligible resident. More than 600,000 Alaskans, according to the Department of Revenue, will begin receiving their dividends early next next month. Depending on how applications were filed, the DOR states,... Full story
More than 25,000 Alaskans who buy health insurance through the federal marketplace will face massive and possibly unaffordable cost increases if federal subsidies expire at the end of the year. “I do think it’s important to recognize that we should be seeing thousands of people likely lose coverage from this,” said Jared Kosin, president and CEO of the Alaska Hospital and Healthcare Association. In a panel discussion last month, local experts in Juneau laid out the stark reality for Alaska, which has the highest health care costs in the natio... Full story
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, parent agency of the U.S. Forest Service, announced Wednesday that it is moving ahead with plans to rescind a rule that has restricted logging and construction on millions of acres of federal lands in the American West for more than two decades. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a written statement that the agency intends to open public comments Friday on its proposal to end the so-called “Roadless Rule,” an act that will affect as much as 45 million acres of federal land as well as mil... Full story
The Alaska Legislature, meeting in special session, has overridden Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of more than $50 million in public school funding. The vote was 45-14. At least 45 of 60 legislators are needed to override an Alaska governor’s budget veto. The override eliminates a 5.6% year-over-year cut to public school funding, leaving districts with a small funding increase. Since July 1, the start of the state’s fiscal year, oil prices have significantly exceeded the state’s spring forecast, and if that trend continues, the state would have mo... Full story
