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More than 600,000 Alaskans are scheduled to get $1,200 payments starting Oct. 1 through the Alaska Permanent Fund Division. The payout includes a $1,000 PFD plus a $200 energy dividend approved by the Alaska Legislature this spring. The PFD amount is the same as a year ago — which was the lowest adjusted for inflation since dividends have been issued in 1982 — with the extra $200 due to extra revenue the state got from oil prices that were far higher than predicted due to the Iran war. Residents filing online applications and selecting dir...
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
HAINES — With Canadian tariffs set to take effect Sept. 8, Chilkat Valley businesses are waiting to see how much of an impact they’ll have. A trade war between the U.S. and Canada has escalated with the U.S. on Aug. 22, imposing steep tariffs, up to 50%, on certain goods from Canada. Canada is retaliating with equal tariffs on products from the United States, including some that are likely to impact the Chilkat Valley economy. Haines Packing Company owner Harry Rietze said he was preparing to bring a “bunch of products up” to the company...
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
Former state Senate Majority Leader Tom Begich, who finished second in the primary election for governor, said Friday night he is suspending his campaign and endorsing fellow Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, who got the most votes in an unofficial tally released earlier during the evening. “What matters most is making sure Alaska gets a governor who will move us forward,” Begich said in a prepared statement. “We believe the best way to do that now is to bring together the people, energy and momentum we have created and put our strength behind... Full story
The Alaska Department of Revenue announced on Monday that Alaska’s K-12 public schools will receive an additional $115 million in state funding this year, prompted by a boost in oil revenues driven by the U.S. war on Iran. Legislators earmarked the additional oil revenue for schools as part of the state budget approved by Gov. Mike Dunleavy in June. The additional funding is a relief to school districts statewide. Many districts have faced severe budget shortfalls in recent years due to funding not keeping pace with rising costs. This year, a... Full story
Skagway will be indefinitely without state ferry service after cracks were discovered in its ferry terminal last month. Engineers first discovered cracks in concrete supports under the vehicle and passenger transfer bridges Thursday before last. The dock was closed two days later, after the M/V Hubbard completed its Saturday docking at the facility, the state’s Department of Transportation said in a Sunday press release. A barge and crane from Haines and a team of divers is headed to Skagway to assess the current damage, Marine Highway s...
As the sunsets creep earlier and earlier, hinting at shorter days to come, it’s only a matter of time until winter cold sets in. Alaskans know well that you don’t wait for the cold to arrive to figure out how you’re heating your home, and with rising fuel oil prices it may be time to consider a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly option. A pair of nonprofits, the Southeast Conference and Alaska Heat Smart, are encouraging Alaskans warming their homes with oil, propane or wood to take advantage of their heat-pump rebate progr...
The U.S. Forest Service filed a proposal to rescind the national 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule last Tuesday. The agency is seeking public comment on the rescission and draft of an environmental impact statement until Sept. 21. More information is available on the Forest Service Roadless Areas webpage. The 2001 Roadless Rule includes 45 million acres of the 193-million-acre National Forest System — about 9.3 million acres of which is the Tongass National Forest. The rule established broad prohibitions on road construction, road reconstruc...
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
The University of Alaska Board of Regents unanimously approved a cut in the tuition rate for out-of-state students to create a standard tuition rate for all resident and nonresident students across campuses and degree types, beginning in fall 2027. The board preliminarily approved the change at a special meeting on Tuesday. A final vote is expected in November. University officials said the goal is to simplify students’ billing and attract more students to the University of Alaska. “It really moves steps forward in our goal to student rec... Full story
Alaska lost a higher percentage of its federal workforce last year than almost all U.S. states to sweeping Trump administration cuts, according to a newly published analysis by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. By the end of 2025, Alaska’s federal workforce was 10.5% smaller than it had been at the end of the prior year, according to the analysis, published in Alaska Economic Trends, the monthly magazine of the department’s research section. In the fourth quarter of 2025, after many workers accepted buyouts or early ret... Full story
On one of Petersburg's rare warm, sunny days, Dan Sullivan was sitting in a little folding chair in his home workshop. All around him were shelves full of various tools and parts. "I play music down here with friends sometimes, and make lots of sawdust and clean my fishing gear," Sullivan said, looking around. The candidate for U.S. Senate had recently finished up the paperwork for accepting campaign donations, a process he described as "excruciating." He said that originally, he hadn't planned... Full story
Alaskans will decide whether to overhaul the state’s elections system with a ballot measure that would repeal ranked choice voting, reinstate closed primaries and repeal campaign disclosure rules established in 2020. Ballot Measure 2, which will appear on the ballots as 24ESEG, is one of two ballot measures that will appear on the general election ballot in November. Ballot Measure 1, which would impose campaign contribution limits, will be on the primary ballot on Aug. 18. Officials with the Alaska Division of Elections held the first of t... Full story
Alaska U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski announced last week that her bill allowing five Alaska Native communities in Southeast Alaska to receive land entitlements passed out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The legislation, called the Alaska Native Landless Equity Act, would allow Haines, Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, and Tenakee to form Alaska Native corporations and receive 23,040 acres each — or one township — of federal land. Those communities were excluded from the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, or ANCSA, when it... Full story
Southeast would go a week without mainline ferry service at the end of November as the Alaska Marine Highway System transitions between ships for its winter schedule. But seven days without the weekly northbound and southbound return voyage between Bellingham, Washington, and Southeast is painless when compared to much longer service gaps in Prince William Sound and Southwest Alaska under the draft fall and winter schedule. Cordova and Valdez would be left without any ferry service for five months Oct. 1 through March 5 while the Aurora is in...
An agreement between the Canadian and British Columbia governments to boost resource development in the province includes a $500 million federal pledge (about US$350 million) to expand the capacity of a power line to the Red Chris Mine in the Stikine River watershed. The mine operator and 70% owner, Denver-based Newmont, along with its joint-venture partner, Vancouver-based Imperial Metals, are studying the feasibility of expanding the open-pit copper and gold mine to recover additional ore and extend its life. British Columbia regulators appro...
The Alaska Supreme Court on Monday ordered the Alaska Division of Elections to include Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg on the primary ballot as a candidate for U.S. Senate. The ruling upholding a lower court’s decision came just hours after oral arguments in a fast-tracked case ahead of the division’s deadline to certify and print primary election ballots at noon on Tuesday. A full opinion on the case will be issued at a later date, the court said. The decision ends a weekslong saga between the state and the challenger with the same name Republic...
JAG Ketchikan LLC, which began operating the state-owned Ketchikan Shipyard in September, has secured a nearly $100 million contract for a service-life extension project involving a federal research vessel. The $99.6 million contract from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for its Rhode Island based fisheries survey ship Henry B. Bigelow has a start time of June 6 for procurement of long lead-time materials and an estimated completion date of April 14, 2029, according to information from NOAA and the Alaska Industrial...
An Anchorage Superior Court judge on Tuesday agreed to expedite a lawsuit whose outcome will determine whether the namesake challenger of U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan will appear on the state’s Aug. 18 primary ballot. Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews, in a status hearing Tuesday, said the case was moving at a “very, very fast pace.” “I can make every effort that I can to get a decision out as quickly as possible,” he said. The challenger, Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg, filed an appeal to the court Monday after Carol Beecher, head of the Alask...
Alaska lawmakers, meeting in a special session, advanced a bill intended to spur construction of a long-desired pipeline carrying natural gas from the North Slope to markets. The legislature’s House Finance Committee approved the bill, House Bill 381, which would largely eliminate state and municipal property taxes on project-related infrastructure, replacing those revenues with money from gas flowing through the system. The bill now heads to the House floor for consideration. For the bill to become law, it must be approved by the House and t... Full story
