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. […]
Read MoreTag: State News
‘The ball is now very clearly in their court’
The ball is in the House of Representatives’ court when it comes to the future of state funding for K-12 education, Senate leadership said during a Tuesday press conference. The challenge was issued the day after lawmakers fell one vote short of overriding Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s March 14 veto of Senate Bill 140. The comprehensive, […]
Read MoreBy 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 […]
Read MoreHouse 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 […]
Read MoreStudents 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 […]
Read MoreBOEM Alaska office probes renewables development in Cook Inlet
JUNEAU — The new director of the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Alaska Region is rolling out a new model for the future of energy production in Southcentral that prioritizes renewables as much as oil and gas. When Givey Kochanowski took over at BOEM last October, he brought with him 10 years of experience […]
Read MoreLegislature 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 […]
Read MoreIn Juneau, making laws is a group effort
The coffee mug on Bud Sexton’s desk on the second floor of the Alaska Capitol is adorned with a phrase in Latin: proficimus more irretenti. “(It) means ‘we make progress unhindered by custom’,” he said Wednesday. The words are the official motto of the Air Corps Tactical School, which included the phrase on its crest […]
Read MoreBjorkman 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 […]
Read MoreBill 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 […]
Read MorePeltola 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 […]
Read MoreBjorkman 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 […]
Read MoreDismissing 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, […]
Read MoreSenate committee hears setnet buyback bill
JUNEAU — A Senate committee on Monday considered legislation that would give Cook Inlet’s east side setnet fishermen the opportunity to retire their fishing permits through a volunteer, lottery-style buyback program. The bill, which still needs to pass in both the Alaska House and Senate in the next 12 weeks, would create the program, but […]
Read MorePeninsula residents weigh in on school funding debate
Kenai Peninsula teachers and parents were among the voices members of the Alaska House Rules Committee heard during a Saturday hearing on a sweeping education bill that lasted for nearly eight hours. Among other things, the bill would increase the base student allocation by $300, provide lump sum payments for eligible certified teachers and allow […]
Read MoreLawmakers open session with education discussion
KENAI — State funding for education was the top topic among Alaska lawmakers as they gaveled in Tuesday for the first day of their second regular session. A 20-20 vote by the Alaska House of Representatives killed early efforts to overturn a gubernatorial veto of one-time education funds approved by state lawmakers last year and […]
Read MoreLocal 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 […]
Read MoreFee increases for State Park usage rescinded days before going into effect
Fees for parking, cabin rentals and some usage permits at Alaska State Parks were set to be increased on Monday with the start of the new year, but an order by Director Ricky Gease of State Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Parks Outdoor Recreation on Thursday halted the changes only three days before they […]
Read MorePFD 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 […]
Read MoreMinimum 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 […]
Read MoreDepartment 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 […]
Read MoreAlaska’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 […]
Read MoreHomer 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. […]
Read MoreReport: Adverse childhood experiences ‘common’ in Alaska
An epidemiology bulletin published by the State Department of Health on Monday says that adverse childhood experiences, ACEs, are common in Alaska. This is the result of a report compiled by the Division of Public Health’s Section of Women’s, Children’s and Family Health that sought to “describe the epidemiology” of ACEs in the state by […]
Read MoreParking fees at state parks to go up in 2024
By Jake Dye Peninsula Clarion The cost of parking at Alaska State Parks will increase in 2024, with daily rates going from $5 per day to $7. Similarly, annual parking passes will increase from $60 to $75. The increase, according to a media advisory from the State Department of Natural Resources, comes as a result […]
Read MoreDunleavy looks to lower Cook Inlet oil and gas royalties
In response to a pending shortage of natural gas resources in Cook Inlet, Gov. Mike Dunleavy last week announced that he will introduce legislation lowering the state’s royalty rate for oil and gas companies operating in the area. Speaking from the Atwood Building in Anchorage on Oct. 26, Dunleavy said the proposal would reduce Alaska’s […]
Read MoreDOT 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 […]
Read More2022 overdose deaths slightly down from previous year
There were fewer drug overdose deaths in Alaska in 2022 than in 2021, a newly released update by the Department of Health says. The 2022 Drug Overdose Mortality Update was published by the department’s Alaska Health Analytics and Vital Records Section and Office of Substance Misuse and Addiction Prevention. The report is compiled using the […]
Read MoreLife expectancy up; births, deaths trend downward in 2022
Life expectancy is up in Alaska amid a decline in the number of deaths and births in the state, according to the Alaska Vital Statistics 2022 Annual Report, published Monday by the State Department of Health. The annually published report details trends in a variety of “Alaska resident vital events,” the report says. These include […]
Read MoreState 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 […]
Read MoreDunleavy signs lumber bill
It’s about to get easier for Alaska’s mill operators to grade their own lumber. That’s following Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s signing of S.B. 87 last Wednesday, which establishes a free, one-day lumber grade training program through the Alaska Division of Forestry that will train mill operators to grade lumber. At Papoose Milling in Big Lake, Dunleavy, […]
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