Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media - Anchorage
Wesley Early covers Anchorage life and city politics for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at wearly@alaskapublic.org and follow him on X at @wesley_early. Read more about Wesley here.
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City of Anchorage sets aside more than $800K to pay legal settlements
Mayor Dave Bronson has been accused of wrongful termination by two former employees, and the city faces a lawsuit over work done on a canceled homeless shelter project.
After 5 years of mail-in ballots, Anchorage election officials say voter turnout has gone up
About 28% of registered Anchorage voters cast a ballot in the spring election. It’s the lowest voter turnout since the city moved to by-mail voting. But election officials say it’s still higher than in years before the change.
Anchorage’s former Golden Lion Hotel to open as low-income housing next month
Anchorage Homelessness Coordinator Alexis Johnson says the city plans to begin transitioning people into the Golden Lion as the Sullivan Arena mass shelter starts shutting down.
Anchorage police say they’re moving forward with body cameras, but there’s no specific timeline
“We always thought that the policy and the implementation had to be concurrent,” said APD chief Michael Kerle.
City of Anchorage sued for not having body-worn cameras on police officers
Voters approved the cameras more than two years ago. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Alaska Black Caucus attorneys argue that the city and the police department are “thwarting the process by proffering one excuse after another, with no end in sight.”
Anchorage Assembly heavily limits city use of facial recognition technology
The ordinance doesn’t ban the use of facial recognition technology indefinitely, however, if the city opts to purchase and use the technology, the Assembly must approve it, and there must be a public hearing.
The 5 candidates poised to join the Anchorage Assembly say they want to turn down partisanship
The Assembly is set to keep its mostly progressive supermajority, maintaining its power to override conservative Mayor Bronson’s vetoes.
Kent Kohlhase named permanent Anchorage municipal manager
Kohlhase has been acting municipal manager since December, when Mayor Bronson abruptly fired Amy Demboski.
A week after Anchorage election, most left-of-center Assembly candidates maintain their leads
City officials have counted about 54,000 of the 66,000 ballots they’ve received so far.
Anchorage sets new record for amount of snow on the ground in April
There's 31 inches of snow stacked up in West Anchorage, with more in other parts of town.
Gov. Dunleavy creates task force to address Alaska’s child care crisis
“It’s a real issue that needs to be looked at and scrutinized so that we can come up with some models that can help our folks, our families, our mothers,” said the governor.
Anchorage’s police body camera policy is again delayed, frustrating Assembly and community members
Anchorage Assembly members say they may need to take a more hands-on approach to get the body-worn cameras implemented.
Trombley out as Anchorage Mayor Bronson’s chief of staff
Bronson named Mario Bird as acting chief of staff, effective Wednesday. Bird is a lawyer who had previously been rejected to be the city’s municipal attorney.
Initial results show Anchorage voters approving school bond and using marijuana taxes to fund child care
Almost all other ballot propositions were passing. But, there are still thousands of ballots to count in Anchorage’s by-mail city election.
Anchorage voters to decide on using marijuana taxes to fund early education, child care programs
Proposition 14 would specifically allocate Anchorage marijuana tax revenue to child care and early education initiatives.
As coastal erosion pulls rural Alaska communities into the sea, new research seeks solutions
For years, coastal Alaska communities have contended with erosion. A growing field of research explores ways to address the problem.
How an Alaska oil and gas expert thinks the state could make money by not drilling in ANWR
Larry Persily wants the state to consider selling carbon credits for keeping the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's oil and gas in the ground.
In effort to rein in Bronson spending, Anchorage Assembly makes changes to contracting code
The move comes after the mayor's administration was accused of approving major contracts and work without Assembly approval.
Anchorage Assembly approves parental leave policy for non-union employees
The policy would allow employees to receive four weeks of paid leave after the birth of a child, or an adoption or foster care placement.