Month: June 2026

The 14 members of Alaska’s Senate coalition majority met behind closed doors twice on Wednesday to decide the fate of a multibillion-dollar tax break for the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline.

The state House voted 34-5 on Friday to approve the break, which also has the approval of Gov. Mike Dunleavy and pipeline developer Glenfarne, but the tax break won’t become law unless it also has the approval of the Senate.

For several days, the Senate’s majority has been stymied by an internal rule that requires 11 of the majority’s 14 members to agree on a bill before it is presented to the full Senate.

As of Wednesday afternoon, there were not 11 majority votes for the bill, which would replace a 2% property tax on the project with a tax on gas pumped through the line.

Under current law, the pipeline would generate $47 billion for the state and boroughs along the route through 2062, according to figures from the Alaska Department of Revenue. 

The House-passed bill would drop that figure to about $31 billion. The $16 billion difference is the result of the switch from a property tax to a gas tax. The state would still collect production taxes, royalties and other fees.

Lawmakers are also interested in lowering natural gas costs for Alaska residents. If built as planned, the pipeline would provide in-state gas to the Railbelt at a rate cheaper than imports.

In a newsletter, Sen. Loki Tobin, D-Anchorage, became the latest lawmaker to voice opposition to the House’s version of the bill.

“A 90% tax cut for Glenfarne raises concerns that our state and local governments may not have enough funds to support essential services such as sanitation, schools, and roads, which directly impact our communities and families,” she wrote in part, referring to the property tax cut.

Glenfarne has said the bill is critical in order to obtain financing for the Alaska LNG project, which would build an 807-mile pipeline from the North Slope to Cook Inlet and major processing plants at either end of the line.

Senators are considering amendments to the House bill that could ease the bill’s passage in the Senate, but Glenfarne has warned the Senate Finance Committee against making big changes.

“We’re encouraged by the House progress and strong outcome and are optimistic the Senate will pass a bill that works for Alaska by helping enable this project,” said Tim Fitzpatrick, a spokesperson for Glenfarne.

Alaska natural gas pipeline dreams stretch over half a century

 

On Wednesday, the Senate majority canceled a scheduled meeting of the full Senate and two scheduled meetings of the Senate Finance Committee, which is considering changes to the bill.

The next meeting of the full Senate is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday.

Lawmakers are in a 30-day special session that ends at 11:59 p.m. Friday. If they don’t pass the tax-break bill by that deadline, the bill will die. 

Dunleavy could call legislators into another special session, and while the governor’s office declined to say whether he is prepared to do so, the six members of the Senate’s all-Republican minority caucus said they have seen a draft special-session proclamation.

In separate interviews, all six said they support the House version of the bill, with only minor technical fixes needed.

Sen. Robb Myers, R-North Pole, said that while the pipeline isn’t guaranteed to happen if the bill passes, it’s guaranteed to not happen if the bill doesn’t pass.

Sen. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, offered a similar position.

“Glenfarne has to have numbers that work, or they can’t build it. We can ask for anything we want — we can demand all the taxes — but in the end, if it isn’t built, we don’t get anything,” he said.

Senate Minority Leader Mike Cronk, R-Tok, called the majority’s 11-vote rule “pathetic.”

“We should all have the ability to cast a yes or no vote on this,” he said, noting that collectively, the minority’s six members represent more than 180,000 Alaskans.

Cronk said he believes the Senate will ultimately vote on the issue.

“I’m hoping we all get our chance to say yes or no. That’s what Alaskans expect. It shouldn’t be dictated by 11 people,” he said.

Cronk and Sen. Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, observed that the Senate Majority already broke its 11-vote rule during the regular session by calling up a pension bill, a medical licensing bill and a bill pertaining to gambling.

Despite Wednesday’s lack of action, Sen. Robert Yundt, R-Wasilla, remained optimistic, saying he believes the Senate will ultimately bring the pipeline issue to a vote.

“A majority of the state depends on natural gas. We’re either going to be using our own or importing, and when all is said and done, I think we’re going to be using our own,” he said.

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A brown bear at the Alaska Zoo attacked a smaller bear in a shared enclosure Saturday in the kind of violent wildlife encounter that’s normally reserved for the Alaskan wilderness.

This one unfolded in front of the public as visitors including children looked on. It also became the subject of a hard-to-watch video that had attracted 741,000 views on TikTok as of Monday afternoon.

The larger of two bears can be seen biting hard and clamping down on the smaller bear’s back repeatedly, tearing its skin and fur. The smaller bear does not appear to fight back. A third bear looks on at times but doesn’t get involved.

One observer said the attack seemed to last for as long as 30 minutes. The video shows a zookeeper administering pepper spray. The cloud hits both bears and they separate.

The smaller bear received “moderate” injuries but is expected to survive and is receiving veterinary care, the Alaska Zoo said in a statement Monday. The brown bear exhibit is temporarily closed to the public.

The smaller bear was a brown bear that was seized from a wildlife center near Haines last year and taken to the zoo, according to a wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The biologist identified the larger bear as Izzy, a brown bear that came to the zoo years ago as an orphaned cub from King Cove.

The third bear is Oreo, a longtime zoo resident that once shared a pen with Ahpun the polar bear.

The zoo has kept brown bears for 57 years and never experienced this kind of attack, according to the zoo statement.

“It’s a hard thing to witness when you are a visitor at the zoo,” Alaska Zoo spokesperson Katie Larson said Monday. “This is not something that has ever occurred at the zoo before.”

The larger bear has lived with other bears for years without incident, according to zoo officials.

The zoo statement described the attack as an “abrupt altercation” that occurred around 4 p.m. Saturday. Visitors alerted staff who responded immediately and “implemented established protocols to safely separate the bears,” officials said. The animals are being housed separately as officials evaluate next steps.

“We care deeply for the animals entrusted to us, and this incident has been difficult for our team,” the zoo said in its statement, adding that the well-being of the bears remains the highest priority. “We recognize that this was upsetting for those who witnessed it, and we share those feelings.”

Zoo officials declined to answer questions or identify the bears involved when asked Monday.

The videos don’t show the entire episode, which had a bloody end, according to a person who said they filmed the attack while a friend reported it to an employee. They said they were furious that zoo employees didn’t do more to stop the encounter sooner.

Other visitors who witnessed the attack, however, credited zoo staff for breaking up the fight and saving the smaller bear.

It’s not unusual for wild brown bears to fight each other, occasionally to the death. Bears fight over resources like food. A sow may strike out at another bear getting too close to her cubs, biologists say. Males get aggressive during mating season.

In this case, the bear that came from the Haines wildlife center had not been around other bears before coming to the zoo last year, according to Stephanie Samaniego, a wildlife biologist with Fish and Game.

The bear was held separately at first and responded well to that setting before being integrated into the main bear habitat in September, Samaniego said.

The zoo responded “promptly and appropriately” to the attack, she said. “There’s always risks when you try to incorporate … animals with other animals. But they had been doing well together since September 2025.”

The two bears will not be housed together again, Samaniego said, but no decisions have been made as to whether the smaller female will be moved from the zoo.

Steve Kroschel, the owner of the Haines wildlife center where the smaller bear originated, could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.

The post Alaska Zoo responds to viral video of attack on former Kroschel brown bear appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

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