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Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, confers with other senators and legislative staff moments before gavelling in the start of this year’s legislative session at the Alaska State Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

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Senate’s draft operating budget includes outstanding KPBSD pandemic relief funds

Public education advocates, students and staff have doggedly lobbied lawmakers for an increase to the state’s K-12 funding…

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, speaks in support of debating an omnibus education bill in the Alaska House Chambers on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Ruffridge discusses allotment program for correspondence students at virtual town hall

The fate of the program is in limbo following a superior court ruling handed down last month

From front left, Connections Homeschool Principal Doug Hayman, Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche and KPBSD Superintendent Clayton Holland listen to families during a community conversation on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Senate committee hears correspondence school allotment bill

A superior court judge ruled earlier this month that the allotments are unconstitutional

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Homer pedestrian pathway project selected for federal funding

The project will create greater nonmotorized transportation access in Homer

Juneau students chant outside the governor’s office on the third floor of the Alaska State Capitol during a statewide protest Thursday morning calling for more public education funding. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

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Juneau students take statewide protest for more education funding into the Capitol

Scores of students march from JDHS to the offices of the governor and other lawmakers.

Alaska Department of Education and Early Development Commissioner Deena Bishop and Gov. Mike Dunleavy discuss his veto of an education bill during a press conference Friday, March 15, 2024, at the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

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State owes KPBSD $9.7 million, federal government says

DEED on Thursday pushed back on the federal government’s statement that it has not complied with requirements

A towering Lutz spruce, center, in the Chugach National Forest is about to be hoisted by a crane Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, for transport to the West Lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to be the 2015 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)

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Tongass National Forest selected to provide 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

Eight to 10 candidate trees will be evaluated, with winner taking “whistlestop tour” to D.C.

A person walks up the steps of the Alaska Capitol, Jan. 16, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

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Some KPBSD schools could benefit from internet bill passed by House

If House Bill 193 becomes law, an additional six KPBSD schools would be eligible for the state’s grant…

Nikiski Republican Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, right, speaks against the Alaska Legislature’s Monday failure to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of a comprehensive education bill during a press conference on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)

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‘The ball is now very clearly in their court’

Senate looks to House on next steps for education funding

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, a Soldotna Republican who co-chairs the House Education Committee, speaks in favor overriding a veto of Senate Bill 140 during floor debate of a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature on Monday. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)

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By 1 vote, lawmakers sustain Dunleavy veto of education bill

The bipartisan bill included $680 increase to per-student funding

Flags flank the entrance to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office on Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Dunleavy vetoes bipartisan education bill

Senate Bill 140 passed the House by a vote of 38-2 and the Senate by a vote of…

The Alaska State Capitol on Friday, March 1, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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House passes bill altering wording of sex crimes against children

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks in opposition to an executive order that would abolish the Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives during a joint legislative session on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Legislature kills most of Dunleavy’s executive orders in rare joint session

All the proposed orders would have shuffled or eliminated the responsibilities of various state boards

Nikiski Middle/High School student Maggie Grenier testifies in favor of a base student allocation increase before the Alaska Senate Education Committee on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Screenshot)

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Students report mixed responses from lawmakers in education discussions

Delegates from the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District lobbied the Alaska Legislature for more state funding and other…

A Bureau of Ocean Energy Management pamphlet rests on a desk in the Alaska State Capitol on Monday, March 11, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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BOEM Alaska office probes renewables development in Cook Inlet

National Renewable Energy Lab estimates that there are 18 gigawatts of tidal power in Cook Inlet

Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion Bud Sexton, chief of staff for Alaska House Rep. Justin Ruffridge, and aide Sabina Braun, left, review amendment language in their office at the Alaska State Capitol building on Wednesday in Juneau.

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In Juneau, making laws is a group effort

Ruffridge chief of staff says team shares commitment to hard work

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, speaks in support of a bill increasing state funds for public education in the Alaska House of Representatives on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Bill seeking to bump use of Alaska Performance Scholarship clears the House with unanimous support

The money is awarded to high-performing high school graduates to help pay for postsecondary education at participating institutions…

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, presents information on a bill establishing a voluntary buyback program for Cook Inlet’s east side setnet fishery on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Bjorkman bill would pay bonuses to nationally certified teachers

The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development estimates that the bonus program would apply to about 215…

Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities Commissioner Ryan Anderson answers questions from state senators during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)

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State officials working to meet Friday deadline for revised transportation plan

The federal government rejected the plan on Feb. 9, citing numerous deficiencies

From left: Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, and Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, speak during an at-ease on debate on education legislation on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Senate concurs on House education bill, Dunleavy is skeptical

The governor’s office announced Dunleavy will hold a press conference Tuesday afternoon in Anchorage to discuss the legislation