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Major education policy changes for Alaska got close to the finish line but fell short in the final hours of this legislative session. A bill to increase broadband access in rural schools and a major school funding bill were combined in the final days of the session, likely leaving neither in a position to pass. The Senate handily passed SB 140, a bill that would increase internet speeds in schools, and it went to the House Finance Committee for consideration before it could move it to the House floor. The bill would use state money and a... Full story
A helicopter from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Sitka rescued a 28-year-old paraglider from a high peak near Haines late Sunday after the man injured his ankle in a “hard landing.” The air station received a call at 10:10 p.m. Sunday and launched a helicopter about a half hour later. The paraglider had used his cell phone to call emergency responders in Haines, saying he had hurt his ankle in the hard landing, and was “cold, wet and dehydrated” in a large snowy area on Mt. Ripinski, the Coast Guard said. The man told the Haines EMS team that he...
Ground deformation beneath the Mt. Edgecumbe volcano continued in 2023, but no eruption is imminent, a team of experts said at a Sitka public meeting Monday night. But the experts, volcanologists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory, said they plan additional research this summer around the Kruzof Island landmark. Activity beneath the volcanic cone came to the observatory’s attention in April 2022 after an earthquake “swarm” was detected there. Follow-up analysis of satellite data showed the mountain deforming at a rate of 8.7 centimeters annua...
Alaska’s coastal communities are home to more than a third of the U.S. wastewater plants that are still allowed to treat their sewage at the lowest and most basic technological level. But six cities in Southeast Alaska may soon have to invest in improvements to better clean their wastewater before discharging it into the ocean. That is the message from draft permits that have been released or are to be released by the Environmental Protection Agency, which has determined that too much bacteria is going from the sites into marine waters. The a... Full story
Legislative leaders focused on the Permanent Fund dividend and taxes as they described the budget choices facing lawmakers trying to find a combination that will win enough political support to balance state spending. “The dividend has been the massive rock in the middle of the road,” making it difficult to find an affordable path to a long-term state fiscal plan, Anchorage Sen. Cathy Giessel, the Senate majority leader, said during an online discussion with Alaska Common Ground last week. “The dividend provides a lot of benefits to Alask...
(Alaska Beacon) The Legislature has passed and is sending to the governor a bill intended to reduce the cost of Alaska-made lumber for housing projects. The state House on Monday overwhelmingly approved Senate Bill 87, sponsored by Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, of Nikiski. The Senate passed the measure without opposition on April 26. After it is signed into law by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, the legislation would set up a quality testing system for lumber produced by Alaska sawmills. Currently, that lumber must be tested and graded by a national standards... Full story
The Alaska Division of Elections improperly removed Al Gross, an independent candidate for U.S. House, from last year’s special election ballot, the Alaska Supreme Court said in a ruling published Friday. Gross withdrew from the race after finishing third among 48 candidates in the special primary election that was the first step in filling the House seat left vacant by the death of Congressman Don Young. Democrat Mary Peltola, who finished fourth behind Gross in the special primary, won both the special election in August and the regular g... Full story
Thousands of new mothers will receive extended Medicaid coverage under legislation proposed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy and passed by the Alaska Legislature on Wednesday. The Alaska House of Representatives voted 35-3 to approve Senate Bill 58, which now returns to the Senate for a procedural vote before being sent to Dunleavy’s desk for final approval. In a separate action, the House also approved a permanent extension to the state’s renewable energy grant fund. House lawmakers had previously approved a 10-year extension, and the Senate changed tha... Full story
Gov. Mike Dunleavy told legislators in a pair of closed-door meetings last week that he will introduce a state sales tax as a component of a budget-balancing, long-term fiscal plan. But with just three weeks left in the legislative session, with no details about the governor’s tax bill as of Monday, and with strong opposition from lawmakers who represent communities with a local sales tax, the odds of passage this year are extremely low. If the governor goes ahead with a sales tax bill, it would join more than a dozen proposals offered by H...
A bill advancing in the Alaska Legislature would dramatically shorten the time needed to approve the logging of some state-owned lands, shrinking approval time from years to days in the most extreme cases. Proponents say the bill will alleviate fire danger and revitalize the state’s dwindling logging industry by expanding the amount of timber that can be sold from public land, but legislative and public critics have noted that the bill’s lack of specificity gives the commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources almost unlimited dis... Full story
The state should change its tax code to increase corporate income tax collections from out-of-state businesses that sell goods or services to Alaskans, particularly digitized services, according to a legislator promoting the revisions. “The world has changed,” said Anchorage Sen. Bill Wielechowski. “We’re no longer bricks and mortar.” His legislation would amend Alaska’s income tax code to ensure that online and digital sales are included in calculating how much of a company’s U.S. profit was made in Alaska and should be subject to corporate...
Early Monday morning, passengers in Seattle sat awaiting their flight to Ketchikan where their plane, a Boeing 737 with an enormous salmon painted on the side, would make its final run as Alaska's most well-known flight. The iconic Salmon Thirty Salmon was ready to board passengers for the final flight of its 18-year tenure serving as Alaska's famous flying fish. Kaitlyn Lynch, a software engineer for Alaska Airlines showed up at the gate wearing a sweatshirt featuring a large salmon on it. The... Full story
In a pair of closed-door meetings with members of the Alaska Legislature on Tuesday, Gov. Mike Dunleavy said he is prepared to introduce a statewide sales tax as part of a long-term budget plan for the state. In his first term, the governor said he would not approve new taxes without a statewide vote — he didn’t include that caveat Tuesday. Legislators said the governor also did not immediately dismiss an income tax as he has in the past, but a spokesman for the governor denied that the governor would support one. “He said that every... Full story
The Alaska House of Representatives on Monday approved a $6.4 billion state operating budget for the 12 months that begin July 1, passing by a 23-17 vote a major hurdle needed for final acceptance of the state’s annual operating plan. “This bill is far from perfect … but it is a good-faith, collaborative effort, with strong input from the governor,” said Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer and co-chair of the House Finance Committee. The proposal passed by the House now goes to the Senate, which is preparing an alternative proposal whose first d... Full story
Prince of Wales Island Post — The Alaska Department of Natural Resource has approved the 292-acre Whale Pass Timber Sale. The sale, in the community of Whale Pass, population about 60, requires a 100-foot buffer between the harvest area and residential property. A request for reconsideration of the commissioner’s decision is due no later than April 26. Whale Pass considers tourism and recreation as its major economic industries, according to James Greeley and Katie Bode, who are Whale Pass residents and representatives of Friends of Whale Pas...
The Petersburg School District would receive another injection of one-year additional state money under a budget headed toward approval in the Alaska House, falling short of a permanent increase in the education funding formula sought by school districts statewide. Under the House budget, state funding for K-12 public education would increase by about 14% for the 2023-2024 school year. The state’s foundation funding, based on enrollment, covers about 65% of the Petersburg district’s total general fund budget. The Republican-led House maj...
Pointing to high credit card balances, growing student loan debts and inadequate savings for many U.S. households, Anchorage Sen. Bill Wielechowski believes it is important to teach students “to avoid common financial pitfalls and manage their money successfully.” He has proposed legislation that would require Alaska high schools to teach a financial literacy course. His bill also would require that students complete the course to earn their diploma. The course would have to cover managing a bank account, setting a budget, credit card deb...
HAINES — The Southeast Alaska State Fair board canceled a meeting scheduled for Wednesday to take public input about the scheduling of Juneau Drag for this summer’s fair citing perceived threats from some residents. The scheduling of the event prompted opposition from some who expressed concerns that drag was inherently sexual and inappropriate for a public setting. About 100 people wrote emails to the fair board and staff both in support and in opposition to the act. “We received several concerns from community members about people using...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy said he does not support a request to add millions of dollars to the state budget to help child care providers, instead announcing the formation of a task force to examine the issue and provide policy recommendations by the end of the year. Child care, expensive and in short supply in Alaska, has benefited from more than $50 million in federal pandemic aid paid as grants to providers since 2020. With the end of federal funding, child care advocates have asked legislators to add $15 million to the state budget to boost...
The Alaska House of Representatives voted Monday to increase the amount of money the state pays K-12 schools per student in the 2023-2024 school year. The vote came as legislators opened floor debate on the state’s operating budget for the 12 months that begin July 1. That debate is expected to continue Tuesday. In addition to boosting school funding, the House on Monday voted to restore funding for a proposal that would have the state take over a federal program that regulates construction permits in wetland areas, and it confirmed House l... Full story
A 2% statewide sales tax proposed by Rep. Ben Carpenter, R-Nikiski, received its first legislative hearing last Wednesday night, with its sponsor saying he envisions it as a component of a long-term plan to bring state spending and revenue into balance. Other components of that plan, including a tougher state spending cap and a new formula for the Permanent Fund dividend, are also under discussion in the House Ways and Means Committee, which heard Carpenter’s bill. “I don’t take this lightly, of instituting or bringing forward a bill that would... Full story
A state senator wants to direct a larger share of filing fees paid to the court system toward a nonprofit legal aid organization that helps several thousand Alaskans a year with their domestic violence, family law, housing, elder advocacy and other cases. The 56-year-old Alaska Legal Services Corp. “is part of our social safety net,” helping the most vulnerable community members, particularly survivors of domestic violence, said Anchorage Sen. Forrest Dunbar, sponsor of the legislation. Senate Bill 104 would amend state law to direct up to 25%...
In a 2-1 decision, the Alaska Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of the Estate of Molly Parks' wrongful death claim against the Petersburg Borough and William "Chris" Allen last month. The estate had appealed the case to the Alaska Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments on Feb. 8, 2022, in an effort to overturn the Petersburg Superior Court's decision to dismiss the case and to reopen the lawsuit against the borough and Allen. On July 4, 2016, Molly Parks and Marie Giesbrecht were killed...
Similar pieces of legislation to increase state funding for public schools are awaiting hearings in the House and Senate finance committees as lawmakers face a mid-May adjournment deadline and school districts make spending plans for the 2023-2024 school year. The House bill, which was amended and moved out of the Education Committee on March 22, would increase the funding formula by a little over 11% in the first year and 2% in the second year, about half of the bill sponsor’s original proposal. The Senate version, which moved out of its E...
JUNEAU (AP) — Two southeast Alaska men face charges in the beating death of a man who was attacked because of a social media post, according to an investigator’s affidavit. Moses S. Blanchard, 22, and Blaise A. Dilts, 21, of Klawock, face charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter and burglary in the death of 80-year-old Lincoln Peratrovich, according to the state’s online court records system. An attorney listed for Dilts did not return a message seeking comment. An attorney was not listed online for Blanchard. The investigation was being c...
