Briefs

an Alaska license plate in frame, with many overlapping renewal stickers in the upper right corner

Alaska DMV considers eliminating license plate stickers

BY: - September 18, 2023

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

BY: - September 18, 2023

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

BY: - September 16, 2023

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

BY: - September 14, 2023

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 […]

A sign alerting customers to the availability of flu vaccines is seen on Sept. 10, 2023, at an an Anchorage Fred Meyer grocery store. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska flu cases increased last year, spiking in early winter, while vaccine rates lagged

BY: - September 13, 2023

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 […]

Fruit is displayed at an Anchorage grocery store. Overall consumer prices in Alaska's largest city were up by an annual rate of 7.5% as of April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Food prices were up by 11.3%. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska’s Health Department works through one food stamp backlog only to confront another

BY: - September 12, 2023

Officials from Alaska’s Division of Public Assistance said its staff worked through the backlog of applications for food aid that stressed Alaska families for more than a year. But that success came at the cost of what officials are calling a “new” backlog. Division Director Deb Etheridge took over leadership in the midst of the […]

Unalakleet, a fishing dependent community in Norton Sound, is seen from the air in 2019. (Photo provided by Alaska Division of Community and Regional Affairs)

Traditional practices blended with modern life jacket technology seen as boosting fishing safety in Alaska

BY: - September 10, 2023

Even as safety has improved vastly in the Alaska fishing industry overall, harvesters who operate from small, open skiffs continue to face risks. Among those who continue to contend with mortal dangers are those who use set nets in Western Alaska’s Norton Sound, a group of largely Native fishers whose families have been working on […]

The entrance to the Anchorage Correctional Complex is seen on Aug. 29, 2022. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Anchorage inmate dies after two days in custody in 7th Alaska inmate death this year

BY: - September 7, 2023

An Anchorage inmate died after two days in custody, the Alaska Department of Corrections reported Thursday. It is the seventh inmate death the department has reported this year. Tristan Andrews was housed at the Anchorage Correctional Complex when he was pronounced dead on August 29th. He was 29 years old. The cause of death has […]

The Graphite Creek Deposit about 37 miles north of Nome on Alaska's Seward Peninsula, is revealed at Graphite Creek in this undated photo. A Graphite One Inc. exploration site is seen in the distance on the far left. Small-scale mining in this area occurred in the early 20th century. Graphite One's plans to develop a large-scale mine got a boost in July from a Department of Defense grant aimed at encouraging domestic production of critical minerals. The Graphite Creek deposit is the largest identified in the United States. (Photo by George Case/U.S. Geological Survey)

Native corporation invests in graphite mining project on Alaska’s Seward Peninsula

BY: - September 7, 2023

An Alaska Native corporation said Tuesday it is investing in a project that could result in the first graphite production in the United States in decades. Bering Straits Native Corp., the corporation for the Inupiat and Yup’ik people of the Bering Strait region, will put $2 million into the Graphite One project being explored about […]

A statue of Charles Bunnell, the first president of the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, as the University of Alaska Fairbanks was once known, is seen on Sept. 18 on the UAF campus. An administrative order issued by Gov. Mike Dunleavy removes college-degree requirements for most state jobs. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Gov. Dunleavy appoints new regent to University of Alaska board 

BY: - September 6, 2023

Gov. Mike Dunleavy appointed Stephen Colligan to the board that guides policy and appoints the president of the state’s university system on Tuesday. Colligan is the governor’s third attempt to fill the seat on the state university system’s board of regents. His appointment comes a month after the governor’s last pick, his former chief of […]

A sign at the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus, seen on Sept. 20. 2022, uses the Lower Tanana name Troth Yeddha'. The name translates roughly to "potato ridge" and refers to the tradition of harvesting wild potatoes on the Fairbanks ridge that now holds the heart of the campus. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Fundraising effort for Alaska Indigenous studies center OK’d by UA board 

BY: - September 5, 2023

The state board of regents unanimously approved a fundraising effort at University of Alaska Fairbanks to raise $53 million over three years to build the Troth Yeddha’ Indigenous Studies Center. The goal is to create the first university space in the nation that is designed with Indigenous education models in mind, Samara Taber, who leads […]

The University of Alaska Anchorage sign, seen on May 29, stands at the eastern edge of campus. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

University of Alaska system boasts overall enrollment growth after financial challenges

BY: - September 2, 2023

Student enrollment is up at University of Alaska campuses overall, chancellors told the board of regents at their meeting Thursday. The news of overall 4.7% growth systemwide comes after a five-year downward trend in student enrollment. College enrollment has declined nationally over the last decade, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regent Karen Purdue said the […]