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Gov. Mike Dunleavy compares Alaska to Mississippi data on poverty, per-pupil education spending, and the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress fourth grade reading scores during a press conference on Jan. 31, 2025. Alaska is highlighted in yellow, while Mississippi is in red. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

Dunleavy calls special session for August

Lawmakers on Wednesday said they were surprised by the move.

 

A few clouds disrupt the sunlight in downtown Juneau on an otherwise bright day. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)

Alaska ranks 49th, ahead of only Louisiana, in U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best States survey

State drops from 45th a year ago, led by large drops in opportunity and fiscal stability.

 

A map shows projected population changes in Alaska between 2023 and 2050. (Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Research and Analysis Section)

Southeast Alaska’s population expected drop 17% by 2050, by far the most statewide

State expects to lose 15,000 residents, 12,000 of them from Southeast, according to report.

 

The offices of the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development in Juneau are seen on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska demographers predict population drop, a switch from prior forecasts

For decades, state officials have forecast major population rises, but those haven’t come to pass.

The offices of the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development in Juneau are seen on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
In this Sept. 29, 2023, photo at the grave of Lucky Pitka McCormick, her granddaughter Kathleen Carlo, left, and McCormick’s great-great-grandchildren Lucia, center, and Addison Carlo place candles and stones on the grave during a reburial ceremony in Rampart, Alaska. Pitka was one of the Lost Alaskans sent to a mental hospital in the 1930s. Her grave was recently discovered, and family members brought her back to Alaska for a proper burial. (Wally Carlo via AP).

Volunteers uncover fate of thousands of Lost Alaskans sent to Oregon mental hospital a century ago

Lucy Pitka McCormick’s relatives cooked salmon, moose, beaver and muskrat over an earthen firepit on the banks of the Chena River, just outside Fairbanks, as… Continue reading

In this Sept. 29, 2023, photo at the grave of Lucky Pitka McCormick, her granddaughter Kathleen Carlo, left, and McCormick’s great-great-grandchildren Lucia, center, and Addison Carlo place candles and stones on the grave during a reburial ceremony in Rampart, Alaska. Pitka was one of the Lost Alaskans sent to a mental hospital in the 1930s. Her grave was recently discovered, and family members brought her back to Alaska for a proper burial. (Wally Carlo via AP).
Rep. Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, presides over a mostly empty House chamber at the end of an hourslong recess over education legislation on Monday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empure)

Tie vote kills early House debate on education funding

Lawmakers spend much of Monday in closed-door negotiations, plan to take up bill again Tuesday.

Rep. Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, presides over a mostly empty House chamber at the end of an hourslong recess over education legislation on Monday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empure)
A sign for a store that accepts food stamps and exchange benefits transfer cards is seen in this 2019 photo. Alaska has being going through a year-long crisis in processing applications for benefits. (Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images)

Alaska faces new backlog in processing food stamp benefits after clearing older applications

ANCHORAGE — An Alaska state agency faces a new backlog in processing applications for people seeking food stamp benefits, more than a year after it… Continue reading

A sign for a store that accepts food stamps and exchange benefits transfer cards is seen in this 2019 photo. Alaska has being going through a year-long crisis in processing applications for benefits. (Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images)
In this photo provided by the National Park Service is Grazer, the winner of the 2023 Fat Bear Contest, at Katmai National Park on Sept. 14, 2023. The park holds an annual contest in which people logging on to live webcams in park pick the fattest bear of the year. Grazer had 108,321 votes to handily beat Chunk, who has 23,134 votes, in the finals on Tuesday. (F. Jimenez/National Park Service via AP)

Don’t mess with this mama bear: Grazer easily wins popular Fat Bear Contest at Alaska national park

When it comes to packing on the pounds to survive an Alaska winter, this year’s undisputed champ is Grazer. Grazer, also known as Bear 128… Continue reading

In this photo provided by the National Park Service is Grazer, the winner of the 2023 Fat Bear Contest, at Katmai National Park on Sept. 14, 2023. The park holds an annual contest in which people logging on to live webcams in park pick the fattest bear of the year. Grazer had 108,321 votes to handily beat Chunk, who has 23,134 votes, in the finals on Tuesday. (F. Jimenez/National Park Service via AP)
A sign opposing the participation of trans girls in girls sports is propped against a fire hydrant outside of the George A. Navarre Admin Building on Thursday, June 8, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. The Alaska Board of Education met in the building to discuss a resolution that would ban trans girls from girls high school sports. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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

Alaska becomes 24th state to impose such restrictions.

A sign opposing the participation of trans girls in girls sports is propped against a fire hydrant outside of the George A. Navarre Admin Building on Thursday, June 8, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. The Alaska Board of Education met in the building to discuss a resolution that would ban trans girls from girls high school sports. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Matthew Murray, an attorney representing the Alaska State Employees Association, presents the union’s arguments in its lawsuit against the Dunleavy administration to the Alaska Supreme Court on Oct. 13, 2022. (Screenshot from Gavel Alaska livestream)

Dunleavy illegally altered rules for union dues, state supreme court rules

Nearly $450,000 in damages and costs awarded to ASEA as judgement in 2019 lawsuit upheld

Matthew Murray, an attorney representing the Alaska State Employees Association, presents the union’s arguments in its lawsuit against the Dunleavy administration to the Alaska Supreme Court on Oct. 13, 2022. (Screenshot from Gavel Alaska livestream)
Dozens of Juneau teachers, students and residents gather at the steps of the Alaska State Capitol on Jan. 23 in advocacy for an increase in the state’s flat funding via the base student allocation, which hasn’t increased sizeably since 2017 and has failed to keep pace with inflation during the past decade. A one-time funding increase was approved during this year’s legislative session. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

What’s next for the most debated bills pending in the Legislature?

Education funding increase, “parental rights” and other proposals will resurface next year.

Dozens of Juneau teachers, students and residents gather at the steps of the Alaska State Capitol on Jan. 23 in advocacy for an increase in the state’s flat funding via the base student allocation, which hasn’t increased sizeably since 2017 and has failed to keep pace with inflation during the past decade. A one-time funding increase was approved during this year’s legislative session. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
Rep. Josiah Patkotak, I-Utqiagvik, explains the history of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska during an Alaska State House floor session in February. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

America’s farthest-north state representative is planning to leave the Alaska Capitol

Patkotak says he’s running to be the next mayor of the North Slope Borough.

Rep. Josiah Patkotak, I-Utqiagvik, explains the history of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska during an Alaska State House floor session in February. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
This 2019 aerial photo provided by ConocoPhillips shows an exploratory drilling camp at the proposed site of the Willow oil project on Alaska's North Slope. Alaska's push to become a bigger player in the clean energy market is in the spotlight this week at a conference convened by Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, even as the state continues to embrace new fossil fuel production, including the controversial Willow oil project. (ConocoPhillips)

‘Leap of faith:’ Alaska pursues carbon offset market while embracing oil

Alaska’s push to become a bigger player in the clean energy market is in the spotlight this week at a conference convened by its Republican… Continue reading

This 2019 aerial photo provided by ConocoPhillips shows an exploratory drilling camp at the proposed site of the Willow oil project on Alaska's North Slope. Alaska's push to become a bigger player in the clean energy market is in the spotlight this week at a conference convened by Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, even as the state continues to embrace new fossil fuel production, including the controversial Willow oil project. (ConocoPhillips)
A channel flows through the mud flats along the Seward Highway and Turnagain Arm in Alaska on Oct. 25, 2014. Authorities said, a 20-year-old man from Illinois who was walking Sunday evening, May 21, 2023, on tidal mud flats with friends in an Alaska estuary, got stuck up to his waist in the quicksand-like silt and drowned as the tide came in before frantic rescuers could extract him. (Bob Hallinen / Anchorage Daily News)

Illinois man gets stuck waist-deep in Alaska mud flats, drowns as tide comes in

“…It’s Mother Nature, and she has no mercy for humanity.”

A channel flows through the mud flats along the Seward Highway and Turnagain Arm in Alaska on Oct. 25, 2014. Authorities said, a 20-year-old man from Illinois who was walking Sunday evening, May 21, 2023, on tidal mud flats with friends in an Alaska estuary, got stuck up to his waist in the quicksand-like silt and drowned as the tide came in before frantic rescuers could extract him. (Bob Hallinen / Anchorage Daily News)
NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer at sea during the 2022 Caribbean Mapping expedition. The ship will be in Alaska waters for much of this year. (Anna Sagatov / NOAA)

New mapping efforts seek to expand knowledge of Alaska’s waters

Around 70% of Alaska’s waters are unmapped…

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer at sea during the 2022 Caribbean Mapping expedition. The ship will be in Alaska waters for much of this year. (Anna Sagatov / NOAA)
State Sen. Bert Stedman, a Sitka Republican who co-chairs the Senate Finance Committee, details a list of 24 projects costing about $34 million that were added to the state budget during negotiations with House members Thursday. Behind Stedman in the audience section is nearly the entire 16-member House minority caucus, which voted in favor of the budget along with 10 members of the Republican-led House majority. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Unusual House coalition OKs budget to end special session on first day

10 members of Republican-led majority join minority after $34M in targeted capital projects added

State Sen. Bert Stedman, a Sitka Republican who co-chairs the Senate Finance Committee, details a list of 24 projects costing about $34 million that were added to the state budget during negotiations with House members Thursday. Behind Stedman in the audience section is nearly the entire 16-member House minority caucus, which voted in favor of the budget along with 10 members of the Republican-led House majority. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
U.S. first lady Jill Biden, left, and first lady of Alaska Rose Dunleavy watch a performance by Ayaprun Elitnaurvik students during an event at Bethel Regional High School in Bethel, Alaska on Wednesday, May 17, 2023. Ayaprun Elitnaurvik is a Yugtun immersion school in Bethel. Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland traveled to Bethel to highlight the Biden-Harris administration's investments to expand broadband internet connectivity in Native American communities, including Alaska's Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. (Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News via AP)

Digital divide: Jill Biden visit touts efforts to connect Alaska Native villages to outside world

Jill Biden visited Bethel on a stopover to Japan to highlight internet-access progress.

U.S. first lady Jill Biden, left, and first lady of Alaska Rose Dunleavy watch a performance by Ayaprun Elitnaurvik students during an event at Bethel Regional High School in Bethel, Alaska on Wednesday, May 17, 2023. Ayaprun Elitnaurvik is a Yugtun immersion school in Bethel. Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland traveled to Bethel to highlight the Biden-Harris administration's investments to expand broadband internet connectivity in Native American communities, including Alaska's Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. (Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News via AP)
In this aerial photo chunks of ice follow flooding from an ice jam in Crooked Creek, Alaska, May 15, 2023. Ice jams along two Alaska rivers unleashed major flooding over the weekend. (Jennifer Wallace / Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management)

Surging Alaska rivers leave behind huge chunks of ice, damaged homes

ANCHORAGE — Ice jams that blocked two Alaska rivers broke loose over the weekend, unleashing a surge of ice and water that caused major floods,… Continue reading

In this aerial photo chunks of ice follow flooding from an ice jam in Crooked Creek, Alaska, May 15, 2023. Ice jams along two Alaska rivers unleashed major flooding over the weekend. (Jennifer Wallace / Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management)
Rep. Craig Johnson, an Anchorage Republican and sponsor of the a bill to reject the 67% pay raise slated for legislators and around a 20% raise for the governor, speaks to House Representatives Tuesday afternoon. The bill passed in a 29-11 vote but the efforts are likely too late to stop the increases from going into effect. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

House passes bill to reject raise for lawmakers — but pay hike still likely

“I can’t even imagine what working-class people are thinking.”

Rep. Craig Johnson, an Anchorage Republican and sponsor of the a bill to reject the 67% pay raise slated for legislators and around a 20% raise for the governor, speaks to House Representatives Tuesday afternoon. The bill passed in a 29-11 vote but the efforts are likely too late to stop the increases from going into effect. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, tells reporters why the bill for next year’s budget was held over Tuesday until the final day of the session on Wednesday. The Senate floor session is scheduled to start at 11 a.m., giving the Senate and House 13 hours to resolve their differences before the 121-day session deadline. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Senate stalls budget for suspenseful final day

Legislature will have 13 hours to solve differences over PFD, other issues to avoid special session

Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, tells reporters why the bill for next year’s budget was held over Tuesday until the final day of the session on Wednesday. The Senate floor session is scheduled to start at 11 a.m., giving the Senate and House 13 hours to resolve their differences before the 121-day session deadline. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)