Tag: State News

Some KPBSD schools could benefit from internet bill passed by House

The Alaska House of Representatives on March 21 passed legislation that allows school districts to apply for more federal money to improve internet quality and speed in Alaska’s rural schools. House Bill 193 contains parts of a previous bill lawmakers loaded down with a conglomerate education package, which was vetoed earlier this month by Gov. […]

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By 1 vote, lawmakers sustain Dunleavy veto of education bill

Alaska lawmakers Monday fell one vote short of the 40 votes needed to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of a comprehensive education bill that would have increased per-student state funding for K-12 schools by $174 million. Forty votes were needed to override the veto, handed down three days earlier, across all 60 lawmakers. After almost […]

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House passes bill altering wording of sex crimes against children

JUNEAU — The Alaska House of Representatives last week passed a bill changing the way sex crimes against children are worded in state law. The bill replaces uses of the term “child pornography” with “child sexual abuse material” in all instances it appears in Alaska Statute. It’s sponsored by Rep. Sarah Vance, a Republican from […]

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Students report mixed responses from lawmakers in education discussions

JUNEAU — Delegates sent to Juneau by the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District to lobby the Alaska Legislature for more state funding and other education priorities voiced mixed thoughts when reporting on the trip to the school board last week. Some members of KPBSD’s six-person cohort said their advocacy was met with resistance by some […]

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Legislature kills most of Dunleavy’s executive orders in rare joint session

JUNEAU — State lawmakers rejected eight of the 12 executive orders handed down this session by Gov. Mike Dunleavy in a rare joint meeting of the Alaska Senate and House of Representatives. All the proposed orders would have shuffled or eliminated the responsibilities of various state boards. The Alaska Constitution gives the governor the power […]

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Bjorkman bill would pay bonuses to nationally certified teachers

JUNEAU — Alaska’s K-12 teachers who are certified with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards would be eligible for an annual $5,000 bonus under legislation voted out of the Senate Education Committee last week. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, would add Alaska to the list of states that compensate teachers in […]

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Bill seeking to bump use of Alaska Performance Scholarship clears the House with unanimous support

JUNEAU — Alaska’s graduating high school seniors could receive more state scholarship money and would be told more often about the opportunity to apply under a bill passed in the House that makes significant changes to the Alaska Performance Scholarship. That money is awarded to high-performing high school graduates to help pay for postsecondary education […]

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Peltola celebrates federal intervention in Albertsons, Kroger merger in legislative address

Teamwork makes the dream work. That was the theme of U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola’s annual address to the Alaska Legislature, delivered Monday in Juneau. The one-term lawmaker — who is up for reelection this year — said collaboration between stakeholders has helped produce wins for Alaska’s fisheries and the state’s economy, and is the way […]

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Bjorkman game seizure bill received warmly in Senate committee

A bill sponsored by Nikiski Republican Sen. Jesse Bjorkman would require the state to financially compensate Alaska hunters for game wrongfully seized by the Department of Fish and Game, to include bison, caribou, deer, elk, goat, moose, mountain sheep, Dall sheep and musk ox. It’s not often that the state seizes game from a hunter […]

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Dismissing critics, Sullivan touts LNG project

Tune out the naysayers is U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan’s philosophy when it comes to the proposed Alaska LNG project. Sullivan during his annual address to the Alaska Legislature last week touted the project, headed up by the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., as one that will “transform” Alaska while supplying “generations” of Alaskans with “affordable, abundant, […]

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Local Dena’ina linguist named DEED deputy commissioner

A local linguist was named deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development on Friday. Joel Isaak, who teaches Dena’ina at Kenai Peninsula College and also works as a linguist for the Kenaitze Indian Tribe, assumed the role effective immediately. He previously served as DEED’s director of tribal affairs, through which he […]

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PFD applications open for 2024

Filing for the 2024 Alaska Permanent Fund dividend opened Monday, and residents can submit their applications online until midnight on March 31. Applications can be filed online through myAlaska, or by visiting pfd.alaska.gov. Paper applications can be found and filed at distribution centers around the Kenai Peninsula. Legislative Information Offices in Kenai, Homer and Seward […]

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Minimum wage increased by $0.88

Alaska’s minimum wage was raised on Monday to $11.73 per hour, up from $10.85. The change is the result of a 2014 ballot initiative — the Alaska Wage and Hour Act — that established Alaska Statute raising the State’s minimum wage from $7.75 by a dollar each in 2015 and 2016 and then requiring annual […]

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Department of Health urges flu, COVID-19 and RSV vaccines

An Alaska Public Health Alert delivered by the State Department of Health on Monday “urges” an increase in vaccination against the flu, COVID-19 and RSV, citing low coverage rates nationwide and below average rates in Alaska. According to information included with the release, only 18.5% of Alaskans have received a flu vaccine as of last […]

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Alaska’s adjusted school spending trails national average, UAA researchers say

Alaska spends less on K-12 education than the national average when adjustments for Alaska’s rural and urban communities are made. That was the thesis of a presentation given by Dr. Dayna DeFeo, the director of the Center for Alaska Education Policy Research, during a public forum on school spending hosted by the University of Alaska […]

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Homer chamber board head enters race for state House

The head of the Homer Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors over the weekend entered the race for the southern Kenai Peninsula’s seat in the Alaska House of Representatives. Michael Daniel, a Republican, on Sunday registered to run as a candidate for House District 6, which includes the communities of Homer, Seldovia, Ninilchik and Kasilof. […]

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DOT commissioner: New road maintenance strategy could reduce brine use by 40%

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is exploring maintenance strategies that could reduce the use of brine on state roads by about 40% this winter. That’s what Ryan Anderson, commissioner of the department, told attendees during a community discussion on road brine held on Oct. 11 in Soldotna. The event, facilitated by Kenai […]

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State Board of Education bars trans girls from girls high school sports teams

Alaska last Thursday became the 24th state to restrict the participation of transgender students in school sports after members of the State Board of Education voted unanimously to limit membership of girls teams to students who were assigned female at birth. The policy approved Aug. 31 updates the section of Alaska Administrative Code that governs […]

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