Alaska Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, left, talks with House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham independent, before Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s State of the State speech on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at the Alaska State Capitol. (Klas Stolpe/Juneau Empire)

Legislature overrides veto of bill aimed at increased legislative oversight of state oil tax revenue

Lawmakers have said the somewhat obscure policy is significant in the face of missing oil tax information.

Alaska Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, left, talks with House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham independent, before Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s State of the State speech on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at the Alaska State Capitol. (Klas Stolpe/Juneau Empire)
The Alaska Legislature’s vote tally shows 45-14 in favor of overriding Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of education funding in the state budget during a joint session in Juneau, Alaska, on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (Screenshot courtesy Gavel Alaska/KTOO)

Legislature narrowly votes to override education funding veto

The increase in funding from Saturday’s veto override will represent a roughly $3 million increase to the KPBSD.

The Alaska Legislature’s vote tally shows 45-14 in favor of overriding Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of education funding in the state budget during a joint session in Juneau, Alaska, on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (Screenshot courtesy Gavel Alaska/KTOO)
A sign directs the public toward a tsunami shelter in Seldovia, Alaska, on Sept. 27, 2021. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion file)

Tsunami watch issued, canceled for some Alaska communities

The watch followed an 8.7 earthquake that occurred Tuesday afternoon off the coast of Kamchatka, Russia.

A sign directs the public toward a tsunami shelter in Seldovia, Alaska, on Sept. 27, 2021. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion file)
Rep. Andi Story (D-Juneau), Rep. Rebecca Himschoot (I-Sitka), and Rep. Sarah Vance (R-Homer) watch the vote tally during a veto override joint session on an education bill Tuesday, May 20. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

Dunleavy outlines priorities for special session

The Senate and House majority say the Legislature plans to consider two veto overrides.

Rep. Andi Story (D-Juneau), Rep. Rebecca Himschoot (I-Sitka), and Rep. Sarah Vance (R-Homer) watch the vote tally during a veto override joint session on an education bill Tuesday, May 20. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Superintendent Clayton Holland speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, July 7, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Federal education funding to be released after monthlong delay

The missing funds could have led to further cuts to programming and staff on top of deep cuts made by the KPBSD Board of Education this year.

Superintendent Clayton Holland speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, July 7, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A photo provided by NTSB shows a single-engine Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub, that crashed shortly after takeoff in a mountainous area of southwestern Alaska, Sept. 12, 2023. The plane was weighed down by too much moose meat and faced drag from a set of antlers mounted on its right wing strut, federal investigators said on Tuesday.

Crash that killed husband of former congresswoman was overloaded with moose meat and antlers, NTSB says

The plane, a single-engine Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub, crashed shortly after takeoff in a mountainous area of southwestern Alaska on Sept. 12, 2023.

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A photo provided by NTSB shows a single-engine Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub, that crashed shortly after takeoff in a mountainous area of southwestern Alaska, Sept. 12, 2023. The plane was weighed down by too much moose meat and faced drag from a set of antlers mounted on its right wing strut, federal investigators said on Tuesday.
Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks at a town hall meeting in the Moose Pass Sportsman’s Club in Moose Pass, Alaska, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Insurance authorization bill sponsored by Bjorkman, Ruffidge becomes law

The bill requires insurance companies and health care providers to meet new deadlines for authorizing requests for care.

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks at a town hall meeting in the Moose Pass Sportsman’s Club in Moose Pass, Alaska, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic releases report on STI trends on the Kenai Peninsula

The report pulls from data gathered from 2024 to early 2025.

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.

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)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy compares Alaska to Mississippi data on poverty, per-pupil education spending, and the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress 4th 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 vetoes education funding to $500 BSA increase

Per-student funding was increased by $700 in an education bill passed by the Alaska Legislature in May.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy compares Alaska to Mississippi data on poverty, per-pupil education spending, and the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress 4th 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)
The entrance to the Kenai Peninsula Job Center is seen here in Kenai, Alaska on April 15, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)

Minimum wage increases to $13 per hour on July 1

Since 2014, Alaska’s minimum wage has increased from $7.75 to $11.91 through the Alaska Wage and Hour Act.

The entrance to the Kenai Peninsula Job Center is seen here in Kenai, Alaska on April 15, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)
National Guard members put on hazmat suits before entering the simulation area on Monday, June 9, 2025. (Natalie Buttner / Juneau Empire)

National Guard begins exercise in Juneau simulating foreign terrorist attacks

Operation ORCA brings 100 personnel to Juneau, disrupts traffic around Capitol.

National Guard members put on hazmat suits before entering the simulation area on Monday, June 9, 2025. (Natalie Buttner / Juneau Empire)
The KBBI Public Radio office and studio is on Kachemak Way, as seen in this photo taken July 2, 2019, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Emergency alerts, Gavel Alaska under threat as Trump seeks to nix public broadcasting funds, officials say

“Alaska is going to be a very tough spot if the federal funding goes away,” PBS CEO Paula Kerger says.

The KBBI Public Radio office and studio is on Kachemak Way, as seen in this photo taken July 2, 2019, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
The Homer Public Library. File photo

Alaska libraries may see federal funding restored

Alaska State Libraries, Archives and Museums department notified Alaska libraries on June 3 that grant funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services may soon be awarded.

The Homer Public Library. File photo
People dance in celebration of the Fishermen’s Totem Pole in Hoonah on Friday, May 30, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

Hoonah’s rich fishing history remembered through totem pole

The story of fishermen carved — “all of us in the past, all of us in the future, and all of us now.”

People dance in celebration of the Fishermen’s Totem Pole in Hoonah on Friday, May 30, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Storis is shown here underway, June 3, 2025, from Pascagoula, Mississippi. The Storis is the Coast Guard’s first new polar icebreaker acquisition in 25 years and will expand U.S. operational presence in the Arctic Ocean. (Photo courtesy of Edison Chouest Offshore)

Coast Guard icebreaker Storis begins maiden voyage, scheduled to be commissioned in Juneau in August

Ship will initially be homeported Seattle until infrastructure upgrades in Juneau are complete.

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Storis is shown here underway, June 3, 2025, from Pascagoula, Mississippi. The Storis is the Coast Guard’s first new polar icebreaker acquisition in 25 years and will expand U.S. operational presence in the Arctic Ocean. (Photo courtesy of Edison Chouest Offshore)
Photo courtesy of Gwen Baluss
An Arctic tern sits at its nesting site at the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area on Sunday, May 18, 2025.

Arctic terns return to their protected nests in Juneau

The birds began their journey to Alaska in March to find safe haven at the Mendenhall Glacier.

Photo courtesy of Gwen Baluss
An Arctic tern sits at its nesting site at the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area on Sunday, May 18, 2025.
The Taku River as seen Monday, May 19, 2025, from an Alaska Wildlife Troopers helicopter carrying U.S. Border Patrol agents during a patrol flight. (U.S. Border Patrol Blaine Sector photo)

Border Patrol, state troopers take patrol flight over Taku River looking for drugs, other illegal activity

Troopers: “No enforcement action was taken”; Border Patrol: “We are just getting started.”

The Taku River as seen Monday, May 19, 2025, from an Alaska Wildlife Troopers helicopter carrying U.S. Border Patrol agents during a patrol flight. (U.S. Border Patrol Blaine Sector photo)
Rep. Andi Story (D-Juneau), Rep. Rebecca Himschoot (I-Sitka), and Rep. Sarah Vance (R-Homer) watch the vote tally during a veto override joint session on an education bill Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Rep. Andi Story (D-Juneau), Rep. Rebecca Himschoot (I-Sitka), and Rep. Sarah Vance (R-Homer) watch the vote tally during a veto override joint session on an education bill Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
State Sen. Lyman Hoffman (D-Bethel) exits the Senate Chambers after the Senate on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, adjourns until next January. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Alaska Legislature adjourns a day early in ‘smoothest ending in 20 years’ following months of budget battles

Lawmakers speed through final votes on veto override on education funding bill, budget with $1,000 PFD.

State Sen. Lyman Hoffman (D-Bethel) exits the Senate Chambers after the Senate on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, adjourns until next January. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)