Briefs
Project to increase access to justice in rural Alaska receives $1M boost from National Science Foundation
Alaska Legal Services Corp. was awarded a million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation to expand a program that aims to increase access to legal services for people who live in remote areas. The group has been training nonlawyers, called “community justice workers,” to represent Alaskans in court for some lower level legal issues. […]
Alaska relaxes rules for marijuana ads, allows free samples
Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom has signed new regulations that allow the state’s legal marijuana businesses to advertise more widely and to distribute free samples of marijuana at retail stores. The regulations, signed Sept. 8, go into effect Oct. 8, and are part of a broad wave of regulatory changes affecting the state’s marijuana industry. […]
U.S. Department of Labor asks federal judge to force inspections of Fairbanks-area gold mine
The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration is asking a U.S. District Court judge for an unusual court order requiring a Fairbanks gold mine to open its gates for inspectors. On Sept. 8, attorneys representing the Department of Labor asked Judge Josh Kindred for speedy consideration of their request. According to court documents, mine operator […]
Alaskans will receive a $1,312 Permanent Fund Dividend payment this year, near legislators’ estimate
This year’s Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend will be $1,312. The Alaska Department of Revenue announced the figure Thursday, two weeks before the annual cash payments will be delivered by direct deposit. PFD applications that were filed electronically, slated for direct deposit and have been deemed eligible will be paid out Oct. 5. The Department of […]
Alaska regulations drop some COVID-19 reporting requirements, add requirement for RSV reports
Alaska medical providers no longer need to report patients’ COVID-19 cases to the states, but there are some new requirements for reporting other diseases and emerging health concerns, under new regulations that went into effect earlier in the month. COVID-19 slips out of the reporting requirements for two main reasons, said Louisa Castrodale, an epidemiologist […]
Gov. Dunleavy appoints Bethel judge to be top public defender and Anchorage judge to Superior Court
A judge who has served at the Bethel Superior Court has been named by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to lead the state Public Defender Agency. Judge Terrence Haas worked as a public defender in Bethel for more than a decade before he was appointed as a Superior Court judge in the city in 2018. Haas replaces […]
Alaska schools stay open after bomb threat email
Alaska schools are not closing their doors after multiple districts received a bomb threat by email on Tuesday. Authorities have determined the threat is not credible, but its source is under investigation. Austin McDaniel, communications director for the state’s Department of Public Safety, said Alaska State Troopers and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Anchorage field […]
Alaska DMV considers eliminating license plate stickers
The Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles is considering whether to eliminate the month and date registration stickers that adorn state license plates here. In a request for information published earlier this month, the division put out an open call for answers, asking about the pros and cons of the idea. The agency, through a spokesperson, […]
Alaska gains jobs during summer peak but is still below pre-pandemic figures
Buoyed by a record tourist season, Alaska employers hired thousands more workers this year than they did during last year’s summer peak, but state employment remains stubbornly below what it was in 2019, figures from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development show. “We’re not there yet, and the reasons are a little murky,” […]
Alaska begins process of examining workers’ pay for competitiveness
The state of Alaska has begun a sweeping analysis of state employees’ salaries to determine whether poor pay is contributing to ongoing hiring woes in the executive branch. On Thursday, the Alaska Department of Administration published a request for proposals, seeking a contractor to perform a comparison between state pay in Alaska, pay in the […]
Study: Alaska is failing to keep most Alaska-born residents
More than half of Alaskans born within the state have moved away, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. A state’s ability to retain native-born residents is an indicator of its economic health and attractiveness, and Alaska ranked near the bottom of the analysis conducted […]
Alaska flu cases increased last year, spiking in early winter, while vaccine rates lagged
After a period when COVID-19 restrictions halted the spread of other respiratory diseases, Alaska had a big increase in influenza cases, state data shows. The overall influenza case load during the 2022-23 season was much higher than in prior years, reports a new bulletin issued by the epidemiology section of the Alaska Division of Public […]