Category: Alaska News

Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola, who is mounting a high-profile challenge to Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, announced on Monday that her campaign raised $8.9 million in the first quarter of the year, a record for any U.S. Senate campaign in Alaska.

The announcement, which followed a Sullivan campaign announcement last week of $2.1 million in first-quarter donations, was a sign that the hotly contested race in Alaska, considered pivotal to Senate control, will be expensive.

Peltola’s statement about the fundraising haul said 95% of the donations were in denominations of $100 or less and that donations came from all parts of Alaska.

“I’m so grateful for the support we’ve received from every single borough and census area across our state, and it’s that support that will bring us to victory this November. It’s going to take all of us, but together we’ll take on the rigged system in DC that’s hurting each and every one of these communities,” Peltola said in the statement.

Peltola, who is Yup’ik and from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, has emphasized her rural roots in her campaign; she is currently on a tour of Western Alaska villages.

Sullivan’s campaign last week said the $2.1 million in the first-quarter fundraising added to previous donations, resulting in $7.5 million on hand for the reelection effort.

In a statement, Sullivan campaign spokesperson Nate Adams said the strong support shows that Alaskans know he delivers for Alaska: “From bolstering our Alaska-based military and Coast Guard, unleashing Alaska’s resource economy, and securing historic investments in Alaska’s healthcare system, Senator Sullivan has a proven record of results.”

Money spent on the Alaska Senate race extends far beyond direct donations to campaign. Political action committees and other groups are also spending heavily in independent efforts.

One of those organizations is the Senate Leadership Fund. That super PAC, which supports Republicans in Senate races, last week announced a $342 million national spending plan. It includes $15 million to support Sullivan.

An example of the national focus on the Peltola-Sullivan race is an online ad recently released by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. It blames Peltola for “men in women’s sports, costs through the roof, open borders,” and it ties her to former President Joe Biden.

Peltola, a former U.S. House and Alaska State Legislature member, is also getting support from outside her campaign as well.

The Senate Majority PAC, a Democratic group, is supporting Peltola and has already spent money on ads attacking Sullivan. The organization characterized Peltola as a top-tier candidate after she announced her campaign in January. Peltola’s entrance into the race in January “completely upends the campaign, putting an already unpopular and weak Dan Sullivan on his heels,” Senate Majority PAC spokesperson Lauren French said in a Jan. 12 statement.

Another group, the Anchorage-based 907 Initiative, has launched an advertising campaign targeting Sullivan. The campaign refers to him as “Yes-Man Dan” and criticizes him for consistently doing “the bidding of national party leaders. . .even when it’s bad for Alaska.” Among the examples cited by the 907 Initiative is last year’s sweeping and controversial budget and tax bill called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Sullivan has championed as an economic boon for Alaska.

SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Inside the shell of Haines’ newest commercial building in early April, above a row of empty coolers, Merrick Bochart is in a scissor lift working on a 30-foot long painted mural. 

She’s putting highlights in the acrylic fur of  a bear that looks out over a panorama of the Upper Lynn Canal. It’s the view someone would take in if they were standing at the top of Geisan/Mount Ripinsky. 

By the time she’s done painting, Bochart estimates she’ll put in about 150 hours of time on this and another mural set to go on the opposite wall. But, she said, it’s the do-over some artists dream of getting. She said she’s learned a lot in the 13 years since she painted the mural this one is replacing on a south-facing wall of the Haines Quick Shop building.  

It’s one of the last things to go up on the walls of the  new building before the shelves are filled and the store opens – owner Mike Ward hopes – by the end of April. 

After it burned down in late 2024, Ward has been pushing to get the commercial complex rebuilt.  Now, he’s somewhat anxious to see it reopen. 

“Between Christmas and New Years, I found out I’m losing out on $2 million [in insurance payouts from the fire],” he said. “I want to get this open because I want the cash flow.” 

But, as he walked through the newly built space in early April, he rattled off a list of all the things that still need to happen.  A point-of-sale system due at mid-month, will sit atop counters that are still being built. A wall nearby waits for t-shirts and merchandise to be hung.  

And then there’s the matter of filling the new building with stock; it’s much larger than the old one and there are rows and rows of empty shelves. 

“I bought $24,000 worth of booze. Came here and put it on the shelves and was like ‘Oh my god, I didn’t even hardly dent it,” he said. 

The inside is structured differently as well. The old building had a row of apartments at the top and contained Haines Quick Shop, Outfitter Liquor, Outfitter Sporting Goods and Mike’s Bikes & Boards. 

At least nine people were living in those apartments when the building burned down in a late night fire that started on Oct. 5.  At first, local officials suspected that it had been an intentional fire and that, coupled with the size of the commercial loss, estimated at $3.5 million, triggered a deputy fire marshall to travel from Fairbanks and investigate. 

He wasn’t able to determine an exact cause, and eventually classified it as undetermined, according to his report. 

But, one thing that was clear is that the fire started in the back bedroom of one of the apartments. And at this point, Ward said, he’s gotten out of the residential rental business and the new building is strictly a commercial space. Gone too is the bike and board shop, though he said the sporting goods shop will likely have a few longboards and some supplies.

But there’s a lot of stock to replace: guns, ammunition, fishing gear, outdoor supplies and groceries.  A lot of stock from Caroline’s Closet, which has been a convenience store back up on Main Street still has to be moved over. And, there are some new things. 

In a far corner of the sporting goods shop, a pile of furniture waits to be stripped of packing material and catalogued. Cowhide rugs sit in a box along a nearly empty row of shelves. 

“We’ve got a bunch of weird little new vendors,” Ward said. 

And, in addition to Bochart’s murals – she plans to paint a second on north-facing wall of the building, there’s other artistic touches to put up. Ward points to a metal slat wall, painted like an American Flag, waiting to be unpacked from boxes and hung on the wall overlooking the sport shop. 

He also has plans to replace some of the more than a dozen hunting trophies that burned in the fire. He said he has thousands of dollars worth of fiberglass fish on order. A few locals have volunteered their bear trophies for display, including a brown bear that was taken by John Katzeek and another from Ron Martin. He also has a collection of animals that were hunted in Africa, and plans for a spot for them overlooking the sports shop. 

And, inside one of the coolers on a pair of sawhorses, the distinct wooden statue colloquially known as the “angry salmon” to some locally. It, along with an eagle that stood on the roof of the old store for years will go back up too, just in time for tourism season. 

Though, Ward said, he relies more on local customers. 

“The community is the backbone of the business. The summertime is the icing. The locals are the cake,” he said. 

The post A year and a half after it burned down, Quickshop owner prepares to reopen appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

The Alaska Senate unanimously passed a bill Monday that would grant back Permanent Fund dividends to Alaskans whose convictions are vacated, reversed or dismissed.

Under current Alaska law, people who were sentenced or incarcerated as a result of a felony conviction or certain combinations of multiple misdemeanors forfeit their dividends that year and any following years of incarceration. An amount equivalent to the incarcerated person’s dividend is deposited into a restorative justice account.

Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks, the sponsor of Senate Bill 167, said Monday, “The state has a duty and obligation to rectify harm done to those who might have been wrongfully convicted and to those who have been exonerated of a crime.”

The bill would grant past dividends to people whose charges were later dismissed or if their conviction was vacated, their case was retried and they were acquitted. Individuals who qualify would have one year after their charges were reversed or dismissed to apply. Individuals whose charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement in another criminal case would not qualify for back payment of dividends.

When Kawasaki served in the House of Representatives, he sponsored a similar bill in 2017 that passed in that chamber 38-1.

Kawasaki told the Senate that this change would impact “very few people annually,” and would provide a “modest, essential source of income.”

The Department of Revenue was not able to determine the fiscal impact of the proposed legislation since the Permanent Fund Dividend Division does not know how many Alaskans with past vacated sentences will apply for a past year’s dividends. Funding for past PFDs comes from a reserve for prior years’ dividends in the budget.

The bill received support from Tanana Chiefs Conference and the nonprofit After Innocence.

Kawasaki estimated last year that Marvin Roberts, Eugene Vent, George Frese and Kevin Pease, known as the Fairbanks Four, would receive approximately $103,450 in back PFDs after they were wrongfully incarcerated in connection with the 1997 death of John Hartman.

SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE

A conservation group sued federal fisheries managers over catch limits in the pollock trawl fishery, arguing that their regulations do not adequately protect northern fur seals in the Bering Sea. 

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Alaska on Wednesday, centers on the fur seal population on St. Paul Island, home to nursing females that rely on pollock to feed their pups.

The Center for Biological Diversity, an Arizona-based conservation group, alleges that NOAA Fisheries violated federal conservation laws by not including stronger protections for fur seals in its annual harvest limits for pollock by trawlers.

The group cites data that northern fur seals have declined by 70% on St. Paul Island since the 1970s. 

“The federal government is legally required to make sure industrial fishing doesn’t devastate this vulnerable population of seals, but it’s failed to act for decades,” said Cooper Freeman, Alaska director at the Center for Biological Diversity, through a prepared statement. 

NOAA Fisheries, also called the National Marine Fisheries Service, is responsible for ensuring fish stocks are sustainable and conserving marine life. The agency wrote in March that there is “not sufficient information” to determine if the pollock trawl fishery is disrupting fur seal populations on St. Paul Island in violation of federal law. 

Similar long-running legal battles have been fought over trawl fishing and its impacts on Steller sea lion populations in Western Alaska.

Trawl fishing for pollock in the Bering Sea is divisive in Alaska. Supporters point to billions of dollars in economic activity and thousands of jobs created by the fishery. Opponents argue that trawling for pollock is leading to environmental damage and salmon bycatch. 

The fur seal challenge has been assigned to Judge H. Russell Holland, a senior U.S. District court judge. 

SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE

Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed off on a supplemental budget bill that authorizes nearly $450 million in additional state spending this year. 

The budget bill covers additional costs incurred by the state this fiscal year ending in June, including funds for disaster relief, education, corrections and transportation. 

The bill was approved by the Alaska State Legislature two weeks ago. Dunleavy signed the budget on Apr. 2, and transmitted it back to the Legislature on Thursday. 

“I appreciate the Legislature’s support of these proposals,” Dunleavy said in a letter announcing his signature on the bill. “The supplemental budget I have signed into law today enables the State to meet current fiscal year responsibilities and represents prudent and fiscally responsible investments in emergency and fire response, public safety and statewide transportation needs.”

The budget includes $75 million for disaster relief to address the response to the Western Alaska storms last fall, and nearly $100 million for fire suppression, particularly in Interior Alaska. It includes $20 million for the Alaska Department of Corrections overtime expenses, as well as $70 million in time-sensitive funding for transportation — sought by the construction industry to unlock a federal match of $630 million for state construction projects.

It also includes $130 million for the Alaska Higher Education Fund which provides grants and scholarships for students, as well as $34.4 million for Medicaid and $12.8 million for other public assistance programs through the Alaska Department of Health. 

The governor’s office submitted an additional $11.6 million request, but it was submitted too late to include in the budget bill, and will be rolled into the proposal for next year’s budget. 

Additionally, the state is waiting on an appeal decision after failing a federal disparity test for education funding, and could potentially be liable for $72 million in K-12 funding for next year, according to officials with the Legislative Finance Division. 

Oil revenues still uncertain

In the Legislature, the bill was delayed this year amid ongoing debate in the House of Representatives on whether to pay for the larger than usual budget bill out of state savings — an act that requires the approval of three-quarters of legislators.

Members of the House Republican minority caucus objected to spending from a state savings account, the Constitutional Budget Reserve. After the Alaska Department of Revenue projected the state would see an additional $500 million in oil revenue due to a surge in oil prices driven by the Iran war, they argued the state would not need to pull from savings to pay its bills. 

Members of the multipartisan House majority caucus objected to the uncertainty of revenue forecasts and future oil prices, and argued for a draw from state savings to fund the budget bill immediately.

If oil-driven state revenues from now until the end of the fiscal year are not sufficient to cover the $450 million supplemental budget, then lawmakers agreed to draw from state savings. That means oil prices must average approximately $82 per barrel of oil through June for state revenue to cover spending, according to officials with the Legislative Finance Division. 

House Speaker Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, was among legislators who supported the draw from savings several weeks ago, instead of banking on uncertain future oil revenues. On Friday, he said it seems revenues will cover the budget bill. 

“As appears now, oil prices are continuing to move in an upward trajectory, which means that the bill at the very end could be fully funded,” Edgmon said. “But there’s still a fair amount of time in front of us for oil prices to, you know, continue to be volatile.”

Edgmon said barring a dive in oil prices, he doesn’t expect another vote on drawing from the state savings this session.

“That’s pending a dramatic drop in oil prices, of course, which doesn’t seem to be on the horizon.”

The post Alaska Gov. Dunleavy signs nearly $450M supplemental budget to cover state expenses this year appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

President Donald Trump on Friday called on Alaska voters to repeal ranked choice voting at the November election.

“The Wonderful People of Alaska desperately want to restore Free, Fair, and Honest Elections in their Great State, and get rid of their disastrous, and very fraudulent, “Ranked-Choice Voting,” Trump said on Truth Social.

An effort to repeal ranked choice voting in 2024 failed by just 737 votes. A separate repeal initiative, sponsored by figures aligned with the Alaska Republican Party, is set to appear on the 2026 general election ballot. 

Trump gave his “complete and total support” to supporters of the repeal effort, including U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and Congressman Nick Begich, both Alaska Republicans running for reelection in November. 

The president’s post was seized on by Republican candidates for Alaska statewide office who echoed his calls to strike down the voting system.

Alaska voters narrowly approved a ballot measure in 2020 that implemented ranked choice voting for state and congressional elections, alongside open primary elections and tougher campaign finance disclosure requirements. 

Ranked-choice voting in Alaska lets voters pick candidates in order of preference rather than choosing just one. If no candidate wins a majority of first-choice votes, the lowest-ranked candidate is eliminated and those votes are redistributed until someone surpasses 50% of votes.

However, the new election system has been controversial. Opponents argue that ranked choice voting is unnecessarily complicated, while supporters say it has led to more moderate and consensus candidates elected.

Ranked voting, open primaries and the tougher campaign finance disclosure requirements would all be struck down if the 2026 ballot measure is approved by a majority of voters.

Alaska for Better Elections is a group running voter education campaigns in support of retaining ranked choice voting and open primaries. Executive Director Juli Lucky said Alaska’s election system has allowed policymakers across the political spectrum to work together without fear of challengers in partisan primaries. 

“I think Alaskans will reflect on the results we’ve seen to decide whether our system of open primaries, ranked choice voting, and the strictest campaign finance laws in the country works for them,” Lucky said by text message after Trump’s post. “Ultimately, Alaskans created and enacted this system, and Alaskans will decide whether we keep it.”

The post President Donald Trump calls for repeal of ranked choice voting in Alaska appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

If you’ve ever wanted to subsidize a sneaky stowaway’s blended drink habit, you’re in luck. The Alaska Zoo is seeking symbolic adoptive parents for Meatball, a juvenile opossum found and captured in a Juneau machine shop near the airport late last month.

“We’ve made him these smoothies he really likes out of his vegetables,” said Sam Levin, curator at the Alaska Zoo. “He’s pretty much eating anything we give him right now.”

His bottomless appetite inspired zookeepers to name him Meatball. Levin said he’s currently on the lighter side with some parasites he’s overcoming, so the zoo is hoping his appearance will match his namesake soon.

“We kind of threw a couple names around, and Meatball seemed like it fit him, what we were seeing of his personality so far,” Levin said. “We are hoping to put some weight on him and some muscle.”

Tim Travis, who originally discovered the opossum at Juneau’s N C Machinery and aided in his capture, was happy to hear Meatball had found a home. Travis and his coworkers originally dubbed him Chester.

“The name Chester just popped up in my co-worker Chad’s head, and we all agreed it seemed like a fitting name for a grungy little lost opossum,” he explained in a message. “I have been following the story with the zoo and we are glad they were able to take him in but were disappointed to hear about the name change.”

Levin said the zoo named Meatball before seeing Travis’s post with the original name.

According to Levin, Meatball likely followed in the footsteps of Grubby, a legendary opossum who hitchhiked to Homer in a shipping container. After evading capture for a month and inspiring an online #FreeGrubby movement, she was finally taken into custody by the Homer Police Department in 2023–but not without a fight. She bit an officer on the hand during the course of her “arrest.” 

“Officer Crowder, without any fear or hesitation, attempted to apprehend the suspect, who then let out a little hiss and growl and bit our officer in the hand,” a 2023 Facebook post from the Homer Police Department read. “After some very effective de-escalation, the suspect was contained and taken into custody without further incident.  It was transported to the Homer Jail via a very comfortable Rubbermaid trash can.”

Like Meatball, she found a home at the zoo, where her notoriety continued. Last year, she passed away due to natural complications of age. Grubby was estimated to be 3.5 years old at the time of her death, much longer than opossums usually survive in the wild.

“The way that she had gotten here was by stowaway and she’s an invasive species, and so she didn’t have a lot of options here in Alaska, and it just happened that it happened again in Juneau,” Levin said. “It was brought to animal control, they picked him up and asked if we would like another one. They knew that we had lost Grubby and we liked her very much and she was very popular at the zoo, so we had the space and the timing was fortuitous.”

In Meatball’s case, the opossum arrest was a little smoother. Animal control and Travis’s coworkers wrangled him into a cat trap with cardboard flaps and a broom, and no injuries were reported.

“While Juneau Animal Rescue’s Animal Control team typically responds to domestic animals, this unusual situation called for extra coordination and we were glad to assist,” a newsletter from Juneau Animal Rescue read.

Meatball was shipped north to Anchorage on Alaska Air Cargo and Levin picked him up from the airport. She said that it’s possible he came from Washington state where they’re also considered invasive, but it’s hard to say for sure.

“They’re actually really good at spreading. Since they’re really good at adapting to where people live, they tend to just follow the people,” she said. “Even though we don’t see that a lot in Alaska, you can certainly apply those same principles to things like coyotes. They’re also really good at following where people go and thriving in areas where people are. So, it’s the same lesson, and you can see what they’ve done in the ecosystem, and how important it is to kind of just be good stewards of the land and watch for things like invasive species.”

While he definitely has some iconic shoes to fill, Meatball’s origin story is a little different than his spunkier predecessor. 

“Grubby I think was maybe a little bit older than he was and she had been on the lam for a while, so she was very wary of humans,” Levin said. “She was, unfortunately, doing fine out in the wild in Homer, whereas Meatball, I think, is a little hungrier. He wasn’t really thriving the way she was. But he went through, I think, a lot less stress.” 

That puts him in a better spot to help with the zoo’s goal of educating the public about invasive species while being in a safe haven for animals that find themselves where they’re not supposed to be. He’s still in quarantine recovering from parasites and some superficial injuries, but is on display and already a popular critter.

People can help with the zoo’s goal by charitably adopting Meatball. Different donation levels fund equipment and food for the adopted animal, like the new food processor required for Meatball’s specialized diet, and correspond to benefits like photos, plush toys, stickers, or even private tours. Details about adoption can be found on the Alaska Zoo’s website.

“We hear all sides of the spectrum of people with opossums,” Levin said. “They either love them or hate them. We’re hoping to turn some more haters into lovers.”

This story was originally published by the Juneau Independent.

The post Marsupial on the run gets shot at the good life appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.