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Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire Rep. Justin Ruffridge works in the Alaska State Capitol building on March 28 in Juneau. Rep. Justin Ruffridge works in the Alaska State Capitol building on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire) Rep. Justin Ruffridge works in the Alaska State Capitol building on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)

House bill aims to boost Alaska Performance Scholarship use

The scholarship is awarded to support education after high school graduation

Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire Rep. Justin Ruffridge works in the Alaska State Capitol building on March 28 in Juneau. Rep. Justin Ruffridge works in the Alaska State Capitol building on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire) Rep. Justin Ruffridge works in the Alaska State Capitol building on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)
This photo shows the Alaska State Capitol. (Clarise Larson/Juneau Empire File)

School staff eye retirement reform

S.B. 88, sponsored by Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, would establish a new defined benefit system

This photo shows the Alaska State Capitol. (Clarise Larson/Juneau Empire File)
Jonathan Parducho, a pharmacist, removes a tray of vials of of the Jynneos vaccine for monkeypox from a box containing 20 doses, in the vaccine hub at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital on Friday, July 29, 2022, in San Francisco. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Only 5 cases of mpox detected in Alaska

An epidemiology bulletin released by the State Department of Health on Wednesday provides a summary of Alaska’s public health response to the 2022 outbreak of… Continue reading

Jonathan Parducho, a pharmacist, removes a tray of vials of of the Jynneos vaccine for monkeypox from a box containing 20 doses, in the vaccine hub at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital on Friday, July 29, 2022, in San Francisco. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Rep. Ben Carpenter, R-Nikiski, speaks during a meeting of the House State Affairs committee on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)

Carpenter, Ruffridge target state finances

The central Kenai Peninsula’s representatives in the Alaska House of Representatives have their eyes on state finances this week. Reps. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, and Ben… Continue reading

Rep. Ben Carpenter, R-Nikiski, speaks during a meeting of the House State Affairs committee on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)
State representatives Tom McKay, R-Anchorage, and Andi Story, D-Juneau, offering competing amendments to a bill increasing the per-student funding formula for public schools by $1,250 during a House Education Committee meeting Wednesday morning. McKay’s proposal to lower the increase to $150 was defeated. Story’s proposal to implement an increase during the next two years was approved, after her proposed amounts totalling about $1,500 were reduced to $800.

Borough, Soldotna call on Legislature to increase school funding

The City of Soldotna last week became the latest entity to call on the Alaska Legislature to increase school funding when it passed a resolution… Continue reading

State representatives Tom McKay, R-Anchorage, and Andi Story, D-Juneau, offering competing amendments to a bill increasing the per-student funding formula for public schools by $1,250 during a House Education Committee meeting Wednesday morning. McKay’s proposal to lower the increase to $150 was defeated. Story’s proposal to implement an increase during the next two years was approved, after her proposed amounts totalling about $1,500 were reduced to $800.
Legislative fiscal analysts Alexei Painter, right, and Conor Bell explain the state’s financial outlook during the next decade to the Senate Finance Committee on Friday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Legislators eye oil and sales taxes due to fiscal woes

Bills to collect more from North Slope producers, enact new sales taxes get hearings next week.

Legislative fiscal analysts Alexei Painter, right, and Conor Bell explain the state’s financial outlook during the next decade to the Senate Finance Committee on Friday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Expert skateboarder Di’Orr Greenwood, an artist born and raised in the Navajo Nation in Arizona and whose work is featured on the new U.S. stamps, rides her skateboard next to her artworks in the Venice Beach neighborhood in Los Angeles Monday, March 20, 2023. On Friday, March 24, the U.S. Postal Service is debuting the “Art of the Skateboard,” four stamps that will be the first to pay tribute to skateboarding. The stamps underscore how prevalent skateboarding has become, especially in Indian Country, where the demand for designated skate spots has only grown in recent years. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Indigenous artists help skateboarding earn stamp of approval

The postal agency ceremoniously unveiled the “Art of the Skateboard” stamps in a Phoenix skate park

Expert skateboarder Di’Orr Greenwood, an artist born and raised in the Navajo Nation in Arizona and whose work is featured on the new U.S. stamps, rides her skateboard next to her artworks in the Venice Beach neighborhood in Los Angeles Monday, March 20, 2023. On Friday, March 24, the U.S. Postal Service is debuting the “Art of the Skateboard,” four stamps that will be the first to pay tribute to skateboarding. The stamps underscore how prevalent skateboarding has become, especially in Indian Country, where the demand for designated skate spots has only grown in recent years. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Alaska state Sen. Bert Stedman, center, a co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, listens to a presentation on the major North Slope oil project known as the Willow project on Thursday, March 23, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. The committee heard an update on the project from the state Department of Natural Resources and the state Department of Revenue. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

Official: Willow oil project holds promise, faces obstacles

State tax officials on Thursday provided lawmakers an analysis of potential revenue impacts and benefits from the project

Alaska state Sen. Bert Stedman, center, a co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, listens to a presentation on the major North Slope oil project known as the Willow project on Thursday, March 23, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. The committee heard an update on the project from the state Department of Natural Resources and the state Department of Revenue. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)
The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation building is seen in Juneau, Alaska, in March 2022. The deadline for the permanent fund dividend is coming up fast, landing on March 31, 2023. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

PFD application deadline is next week; state revenue forecasts lower than expected

Alaska North Slope crude oil was estimated to be about $71.62 per barrel on Monday

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation building is seen in Juneau, Alaska, in March 2022. The deadline for the permanent fund dividend is coming up fast, landing on March 31, 2023. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

COVID-19: Cases jump in Kenai Peninsula Borough

No hospitalizations were reported in the Gulf Coast region

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
Bob Schroeder takes an electric chainsaw to a mock credit card during a protest outside the Wells Fargo in downtown Juneau at midday Tuesday. Schroeder cut up three mock credit cards representing three banks in Juneau protesters say are leading funders of fossil fuel development projects. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Protesters object to banks financing fossil fuel projects

Demonstrators used chain saw to cut up giant credit cards

Bob Schroeder takes an electric chainsaw to a mock credit card during a protest outside the Wells Fargo in downtown Juneau at midday Tuesday. Schroeder cut up three mock credit cards representing three banks in Juneau protesters say are leading funders of fossil fuel development projects. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
The cover of the March 20 State of Alaska Epidemiology Bulletin, “AKVDRS Homicide Victims Update — Alaska, 2011-2020” (Screenshot)

Department of Health: Homicides increased last decade

Homicides accounted for 19% of the violent deaths in Alaska from 2011-2020

The cover of the March 20 State of Alaska Epidemiology Bulletin, “AKVDRS Homicide Victims Update — Alaska, 2011-2020” (Screenshot)
This photo provided by the Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey shows the Tanaga Volcano near Adak, Alaska, on May 23, 2021. Diminished earthquake activity led authorities Thursday, March 16, 2023, to reduce the warning level at two volcanoes, including the Tanaga Volcano, on an uninhabited island in Alaska’s Aleutian chain because of the decreased potential for eruptions. (Matt Loewen/Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey via AP, File)

Alaska volcanoes now pose lower threat, after quakes slow

The Alaska Volcano Observatory lowered the warning level to “Advisory” status from “Watch”

This photo provided by the Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey shows the Tanaga Volcano near Adak, Alaska, on May 23, 2021. Diminished earthquake activity led authorities Thursday, March 16, 2023, to reduce the warning level at two volcanoes, including the Tanaga Volcano, on an uninhabited island in Alaska’s Aleutian chain because of the decreased potential for eruptions. (Matt Loewen/Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey via AP, File)
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. (ConocoPhillips via AP)

Willow oil project approval intensifies Alaska Natives’ rift

Two lawsuits filed almost immediately by environmentalists and one Alaska Native group are likely to exacerbate tensions

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. (ConocoPhillips via AP)
Nurse Tracy Silta draws a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the walk-in clinic at the intersection of the Kenai Spur and Sterling Highways in Soldotna, Alaska on Wednesday, June 9, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)

State officials say influenza and RSV in decline, COVID-19 still around

Though cases are dropping, weekly nationwide COVID deaths reported by the CDC remain around 2,000

Nurse Tracy Silta draws a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the walk-in clinic at the intersection of the Kenai Spur and Sterling Highways in Soldotna, Alaska on Wednesday, June 9, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)
Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire An employee leaves the Alaska State Capitol on Wednesday, where the 60 members of the Alaska State Legislature are slated to get a 67% pay increase to $84,000 annually following the unanimous vote by the five new members of the Alaska State Officers Compensation Commission, who were appointed during the past week to replace commission members whose majority voted to rejected the raises.

Sudden 67% pay hike OK’d for legislators

Salary commission that rejected raises is replaced by new members who recommend salaries of $84K.

Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire An employee leaves the Alaska State Capitol on Wednesday, where the 60 members of the Alaska State Legislature are slated to get a 67% pay increase to $84,000 annually following the unanimous vote by the five new members of the Alaska State Officers Compensation Commission, who were appointed during the past week to replace commission members whose majority voted to rejected the raises.
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

COVID-19: Cases and hospitalizations drop

The state reported no new resident deaths from COVID-19 this week

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
Ryan Redington mushes down Front Street to win the 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Tuesday, March 14, 2023 in Nome, Alaska. Redington, 40, is the grandson of Joe Redington Sr., who helped co-found the arduous race across Alaska that was first held in 1973 and is known as the “Father of the Iditarod.” (Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News via AP)

Ryan Redington wins Iditarod

He’s the grandson of Iditarod co-founder

Ryan Redington mushes down Front Street to win the 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Tuesday, March 14, 2023 in Nome, Alaska. Redington, 40, is the grandson of Joe Redington Sr., who helped co-found the arduous race across Alaska that was first held in 1973 and is known as the “Father of the Iditarod.” (Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News via AP)
This 2019 photo provided by ConocoPhillips shows an exploratory drilling camp at the proposed site of the Willow oil project on Alaska’s North Slope. The Biden administration’s approval of the massive oil development in northern Alaska on Monday, March 13, 2023, commits the U.S. to yet another decades-long crude project even as scientists urgently warn that only a halt to more fossil fuel emissions can stem climate change. ConocoPhillips’ Willow project was approved Monday and would result in at least 263 million tons of planet-warming gases over 30 years. (ConocoPhillips via AP)

Willow approval adds yet another climate concern

ConocoPhillips’ Willow project would produce 180,000 barrels of oil a day at its peak

This 2019 photo provided by ConocoPhillips shows an exploratory drilling camp at the proposed site of the Willow oil project on Alaska’s North Slope. The Biden administration’s approval of the massive oil development in northern Alaska on Monday, March 13, 2023, commits the U.S. to yet another decades-long crude project even as scientists urgently warn that only a halt to more fossil fuel emissions can stem climate change. ConocoPhillips’ Willow project was approved Monday and would result in at least 263 million tons of planet-warming gases over 30 years. (ConocoPhillips via AP)
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland gestures while addressing reporters during a news conference, April 21, 2022, in Anchorage, Alaska. Haaland on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, withdrew a 2019 exchange agreement finalized during the Trump administration that has been the subject of ongoing litigation, citing a lack of public participation and environmental review. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

Haaland wades into thorny Izembek land exchange fight

On Tuesday, she withdrew a 2019 agreement finalized during the Trump administration

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland gestures while addressing reporters during a news conference, April 21, 2022, in Anchorage, Alaska. Haaland on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, withdrew a 2019 exchange agreement finalized during the Trump administration that has been the subject of ongoing litigation, citing a lack of public participation and environmental review. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)