Latest Alaska state government News
Alaska lawmakers pass budget, ending special session in one day
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska lawmakers have passed a state spending package, which includes a dividend of about $1,300 each to residents this year, and ended their special session after one day. The special session began and ended Thursday, one day after the 121-day regular session...
Alaska lawmakers open special session after failing to reach budget deal
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska lawmakers began a special session Thursday after failing to reach agreement on a state spending package during their four-month regular session. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy called the special session after the House failed to take up a budget plan...
Alaska lawmakers pass bill to keep gun shops open during disasters if other businesses are
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska lawmakers on Wednesday passed legislation that seeks to block state and local officials from closing gun stores during disasters declared by the governor, unless such closures apply to all other businesses. The bill, HB61, is a response to business...
Supreme Court on ethics issues: Not broken, no fix needed
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is speaking with one voice in response to recent criticism of the justices' ethical practices: No need to fix what isn't broken. The justices' response on Tuesday struck some critics and ethics experts as tone deaf at a time of heightened...
Alaska oil plan opponents lose 1st fight over Willow project
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Environmentalists lost the first round of their legal battle over a major oil project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope on Monday as a judge rejected their requests to halt immediate construction work related to the Willow project, but they vowed not to give up. ...
Sex abuse case against ex-Alaska attorney general thrown out
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A judge dismissed a sex abuse case against former acting Alaska Attorney General Clyde “Ed” Sniffen, citing the statute of limitations in place when the alleged abuse happened over 30 years ago. The case, thrown out on Friday, involved allegations that...
Alaska Native Scouts feted 67 years after rescuing Navy crew
GAMBELL, Alaska (AP) — Bruce Boolowon, then a lean 20-year-old, and a group of friends were hunting for murre eggs in a walrus skin boat on a remote Alaska island in the Bering Strait when they saw a crippled airplane flying low. “Something was wrong,” Boolowon, now 87,...
Official: Willow oil project holds promise, faces obstacles
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Willow oil project on Alaska's petroleum-rich North Slope is part of a “new era” of large-scale development in the region but it isn't a sure thing, with litigation and costs among the factors that stand as potential impediments, a state official told lawmakers...
Biden creates national monuments in Nevada, Texas mountains
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday he is establishing national monuments on more than half a million acres in Nevada and Texas and creating a marine sanctuary in U.S. waters near the Pacific Remote Islands southwest of Hawaii. The conservation measures are “protecting the heart...
Alaska education board asks state for transgender sports ban
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska board of education has unanimously approved a resolution that urges the state to limit the participation of transgender girls in girls school sports. The resolution passed Thursday urges the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development...
