Dunleavy administration pick for $94,000-a-year labor relations manager comes without labor relations experience
Jared Goecker started as the state’s labor relations manager last month – a job that includes helping to supervise negotiation of union contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. His boss said she interviewed several candidates for the job and that Goecker was the best fit.
An international airplane feud could crimp one of Alaska’s most lucrative fisheries
A new twist in a decade-long trade war over airplanes could crimp one of Alaska's most lucrative fisheries: The European Union is threatening new import taxes on Alaska pollock.
Murkowski asks for longer Pebble comment period
The current 90-day public comment period ends on May 30. The senator wants the Army Corps of Engineers to give the public an additional 30 days to weigh in.
As Capitol reporters dwindle, Alaska lawmakers grapple with rise of political blogs
The newest member of the Alaska Capitol press corps isn't your average reporter -- he once made the news for posing for photos in a Speedo. But he's one of a growing number of political bloggers who are trying to fill in gaps left by Alaska's shrinking mainstream media.
As his crime bills languish, Gov. Dunleavy renews the idea of a special session
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, at a news conference Monday, again suggested he could order Alaska lawmakers into a special session unless they start advancing his batch of criminal justice bills.
The special ingredient inside these new gluten-free noodles? Fish, from Alaska.
The featured ingredient in the new gluten-free “protein noodles” stocked at Costco might surprise you: It’s pollock, the unassuming whitefish caught by the millions in the Bering Sea, off Alaska’s coast.
Donlin Gold to begin drilling program
It’s going to be a busy year for Donlin Gold. The company is gearing up for another round of geotechnical drilling, its first in two years.
Murkowski calls for many ‘silver bullets’ to tackle climate change
Sen. Lisa Murkowski stopped in Bethel to celebrate the breakup of the Kuskokwim River. She says climate change “is a reality that we are seeing.”
Murkowski mostly neutral on Dunleavy budget, but urges full education funding
Sen. Lisa Murkowski is keeping mostly neutral on Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budget cuts. She spoke about his budget on a visit to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta this past weekend.
Candidate Dunleavy said he had no plans to cut ferries, schools, university. Then Gov. Dunleavy proposed deep reductions.
Dunleavy’s shifting positions on state spending and budget cuts have left critics fuming; they argue that the governor was able to make dubious claims on the campaign trail that were never debunked by a weakened mainstream media, and that that might have changed the election's outcome.
Melting ice is disrupting daily life in the Y-K Delta in the worst possible way
This spring has seen record-breaking warm temperatures across Alaska. In the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, the Kuskokwim River is melting early — with devastating consequences.
Dunleavy says money set aside for Alaska schools is subject to veto. Lawmakers disagree.
A new fight is erupting in Juneau about spending on Alaska's public schools. It centers on whether Gov. Mike Dunleavy has the power to veto money state lawmakers set aside for schools last year, for the upcoming school year – a practice called "forward funding."
Caring for Alaska’s seniors during tense budget talks
Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s budget proposes eliminating more than a third of the state’s funding for Medicaid. To achieve that, some hospitals and nursing homes could be paid less to provide skilled labor.
Alaska Gov. Dunleavy’s red veto pen looms over this year’s budget debate
In Alaska, the governor wields line-item veto power stronger than in all 49 other states. And the high bar to override such vetoes, combined with Mike Dunleavy’s desire for spending cuts, is drawing new attention this year to the constitutional power.
State petitions federal government to delist Arctic ringed seals under Endangered Species Act
In the latest chapter of an ongoing debate over the status of Arctic ringed seals, the state of Alaska has petitioned the federal government to take them off the list of threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
New York Times reporter discusses story revealing ANWR oil test well was ‘worthless’
This week, the New York Times published a story uncovering a long-held Alaska secret: it revealed that the only exploratory oil well ever drilled in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was "worthess." Alaska's Energy Desk reporter Elizabeth Harball talked to Henry Fountain, one of the New York Times reporters who broke the story.
Pebble backs lawsuit to halt Bristol Bay seafood association’s funding for anti-mine groups
Six Bristol Bay commercial fishermen are suing a regional seafood association they belong to, challenging over $250,000 in contracts it made with groups that advocate against the proposed Pebble Mine.
Southeast Alaska researchers get rare opportunity to study a sperm whale
The species has been spotted in the Inside Passage before. But sightings are infrequent. A whale found recently near Juneau is thought to have died from a vessel strike.
Former Gov. Bill Walker lands at political ally’s law firm
Former Alaska Gov. Bill Walker has a new job. Walker, an attorney, has joined the law office formerly known as Brena, Bell and Clarkson -- now known as Brena, Bell and Walker, according to a document filed Friday in a federal case.
For one petroleum engineering student, oil prices change but the dream stays the same
“I saw it as: I’m in a cyclic industry,” said Sydney Deering, who will be graduating this year with a B.S. in petroleum engineering. “I’m coming in in the trough. Hopefully it’s only up from here.”