An early voting station is set up in the atrium of the State Office Building in Juneau, Alaska on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, the first day of early voting for the 2024 Alaska primary election. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
An early voting station is set up in the atrium of the State Office Building in Juneau, Alaska on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, the first day of early voting for the 2024 Alaska primary election. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
NOTN- Juneau voters are set to approve two tax-cutting measures according to unofficial results from the City and Borough of Juneau’s municipal election released Friday.
Early results show challenger Nathaniel “Nano” Brooks leading incumbent Wade Bryson 4,652 votes to 4,242 in the city’s only contested Assembly race.
Greg Smith and Ella Adkison, both running unopposed, secured their seats for District 1 and the areawide Assembly positions, respectively.
In the race for the Board of Education, Steve Whitney leads, followed by Melissa Cullum, Jenny Thomas, Jeremy “JJJ” Johnson and Deedie Sorensen.
Speaking Wednesday morning, Weldon said due to high voter turnout, preliminary numbers for Ballot propositions 1 through 3 won’t likely change.
“Ballot Proposition 2, taking the sales tax off food, that’s not going to change. The seasonal sales tax is not going to change. Proposition 1 has a possibility of changing, but is likely going to stay that way.” Weldon Said.
Proposition 1, which would lower the city’s property tax cap from 12 to 9 mills, is ahead with 5,002 votes in favor and 4,807 opposed.
Proposition 2, which exempts food and residential utilities from sales tax, passed by a wide margin 6,842 votes to 2,995 .
Proposition 3, which would have created a seasonal sales tax aimed at shifting more of the burden to tourists, was rejected 5,681 to 4,174.
The updated totals include all ballots received and verified through Thursday. Additional mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day are still being processed, with final certification expected on Oct. 21.
“We’ll just evaluate and figure out where we can fill the hole with cutting services a bit and other things, the biggest hit to the budget was taking sales tax off food without filling that hole. So that’s, you know, somewhere around $8 million.” Weldon said, “It’s easy to cut $8 million one time, but it’s a little more difficult to cut it year after year after year. But we’ll just go back to work and our finance means will be pretty interesting.” She said.
The Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, where the Ambler Road project would pass through, is visible from Ambler, Alaska, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)
Senators voted 50-46 Thursday to repeal a land management plan for a large swath of Alaska that was adopted in the final weeks of Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration. Lawmakers voted to roll back similar plans for land in Montana and North Dakota earlier this week.
The timing of Biden’s actions made the plans vulnerable to the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to terminate rules that are finalized near the end of a president’s term. The resolutions require a simple majority in each chamber and take effect upon the president’s signature.
Trump ordered approval of the Ambler Road project earlier this week, saying it will unlock access to copper, cobalt and other critical minerals that the United States needs to compete with China on artificial intelligence and other resource development. Copper is used in the production of cars, electronics and even renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines.
The road was approved in Trump’s first term, but was later blocked by Biden after an analysis determined the project would threaten caribou and other wildlife and harm Alaska Native tribes that rely on hunting and fishing.
The Biden-era restrictions also included a block on new mining leases in the nation’s most productive coal-producing region, the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming. On Monday, the Trump administration held the biggest coal sale in that area in more than a decade, drawing a single bid of $186,000 for 167.5 million tons of coal, or about a tenth of a penny per ton.
Trump has largely cast aside Biden’s goal to reduce climate-warming emissions from the burning of coal and other fossil fuels extracted from federal land. Instead, he and congressional Republicans have moved to open more taxpayer-owned land to fossil fuel development, hoping to create more jobs and revenue. The Republican administration also has pushed to develop critical minerals, including copper, cobalt, gold and zinc.
A decision on whether to accept the recent bid from the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. is pending, and the lease cannot be issued until the Montana land plan is altered. The dirt-cheap value reflects dampened industry interest in coal despite Trump’s efforts. Many utilities have switched to cheaper natural gas or renewables such as wind and solar power.
Administration officials expressed disappointment that they did not receive “stronger participation” in the Montana sale. In a statement, Interior Department spokesperson Aubrie Spady blamed a “decades long war on coal” by Biden and former Democratic President Barack Obama.
Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy of Montana said the repeal of the land-management plan in his state was “putting an end to disastrous Biden-era regulations that put our resource economy on life support.”
Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska called the Biden-era plan for 13 million acres in the central Yukon region “a clear case of federal overreach that locks up Alaska’s lands, ignores Alaska Native voices … and blocks access to critical energy, gravel & mineral resources.”
The GOP legislation “restores balance, strengthens U.S. energy & mineral security and upholds the law,” Sullivan said in a statement.
Democrats urged rejection of the repeals, arguing that Trump’s fossil fuel-friendly agenda is driving up energy prices because renewable sources are being sidelined even as the tech industry’s power demands soar for data centers and other projects.
“We are seeing dramatic increases in the price of energy for American consumers and businesses and the slashing of American jobs, so that Donald Trump can give an easy pass to the fossil fuel industry,” Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said Wednesday on the Senate floor.
Last week, the administration canceled almost $8 billion in grants for clean energy projects in 16 states that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris won in the 2024 election.
Ashley Nunes, public lands specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group, said Republicans were unleashing “a wholesale assault on America’s public lands.” Using the Congressional Review Act to erase land management plans “will sow chaos across the country and turn our most cherished places into playgrounds for coal barons and industry polluters,” she said.
In a complaint filed Friday and a motion for summaryjudgment on Monday, the Legislature’s contracted attorney asks a Juneau Superior Court judge to decide whether or not a governor may issue an executive order during a special legislative session.
The lawsuit had been expected for months.
In August, Dunleavy issued an order seeking to create an Alaska Department of Agriculture, shortly before lawmakers convened for a special session called by the governor. Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, and Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, rejected the validity of the order.
Representatives for the governor’s office said they believed the order was valid and that it would take effect unless lawmakers voted it down.
The leaders of the House and Senate said they did not want to take up the order, because doing so risked setting a precedent, effectively declaring that executive orders could be issued during a special session.
The question that could be decided in court is whether issuing an order in a special session is legal. And does it matter if the order is identical to one that’s already been issued and voted upon?
Alaska is one of two states without a cabinet-level Department of Agriculture, and creating one is seen as a key first step for boosting food production in Alaska.
“The parties require the court’s prompt assistance to resolve this legal dispute before January 1, 2026,” wrote attorney Kevin Cuddy. “Otherwise, there is a risk that the state will move forward with a Department of Agriculture that may have been unconstitutionally created, and thus without legal authority to act.”
The Alaska Department of Law, which will represent the governor in the case, has been served with the lawsuit but has not yet filed its reply.
Patty Sullivan, a spokeswoman for the Department of Law, said by email, “We are working on a briefing schedule with the counsel for the Legislature and the court. Our goal is to expedite the case and ensure that a decision is made before the legislative session begins.”
Alaska’s constitution forbids lawsuits by the executive branch against the legislative branch; the inverse is not true. Lawmakers have now sued Dunleavy four times since he took office in 2018.
UAS- Starting Fall 2026, the University of Alaska Southeast will offer in-state tuition to all undergraduate students–enabling more learners to access an education.
The new Alaska Unlocked initiative makes UAS financially accessible to students who currently don’t live in the state but want hands-on experience in fields such as marine biology, Indigenous arts and languages, aquaculture, outdoor studies, marine transportation, and environmental sciences.
“For students who dream of a once-in-a-lifetime adventure in Alaska, this is an unparalleled opportunity. We are thrilled to invite students from all over the country to bring their unique backgrounds to UAS and add to the remarkable communities we have in Southeast Alaska,” said Chancellor Aparna Palmer.
The university is known for its immersive learning opportunities that go beyond the classroom. With Alaska Unlocked, these can take place in person, online, or in a hybrid format. In-state tuition applies to all undergraduate courses of study, including bachelor’s, associate’s, certificate, and technical programs.
The application period for the Fall 2026 semester is now open. Prospective students interested in receiving in-state tuition through this program can find out more at Alaska Unlocked.
NOTN- The Juneau School District has launched a “Buy a Brick” campaign to help fund playground equipment at the Dzantik’i Heeni campus, where several of the city’s programs were relocated after school consolidation.
“Through the consolidation the year before last at the Juneau School District, our optional programs were moved to the Dzantik’i Heeni campus, which had previously been a middle school.” Said Juneau school district Director of Operations Kristy Germain, so we now have Montessori Borealis, which has pre-K and kindergarten through eighth grade, and we also have the Juneau Community Charter School, which is kindergarten through eighth grade, and additionally our Yaakoosge Daakahidi alternative high school, but the playground is primarily for our elementary program.”
While the playground will primarily serve elementary students, it will also be open to children in the surrounding Lemon Creek and Switzer neighborhoods, Germain says the school district partnered with the city engineering department for public design and safety concerns.
“The cost is substantial,” Germain said “We have received funding from the City Assembly, they authorized an ordinance to put $735,000 specifically toward the site preparation and the concrete base and the safety surfacing for the playground, and that’s just the safety surfacing. So the equipment is an additional cost. So the Juneau school district is taking the lead on fundraising for the actual playground equipment.”
The Buy a Brick fundraiser allows residents and businesses to purchase engraved bricks that will be installed at the site.
“We are partnering with Brick Markers, and they’re a company that has worked with other organizations in Juneau, I think notably, Rotary Park and the 911 Memorial use the same company.” Germain said, “Those bricks are holding up, so that’s a good testament to them. But we have established various levels so that individuals and community members are able to purchase a brick, and we’re also looking to our business community to support this endeavor.”
Proceeds will go toward the cost of equipment, which Germain said could push the project’s total cost beyond $1 million once installation, shipping, and materials are factored in.
The district plans to launch an online portal for the fundraiser within the week, with brick sales running through December. Officials hope to purchase and receive equipment in time for installation next summer.
“We are running into some timelines for purchasing the equipment in time for it to arrive to be installed this summer. So that is why we have a tight timeline.” Said Germain.
Community support has already begun. Juneau’s Rotary clubs recently donated $30,000 toward musical play equipment and are organizing volunteer work parties to help install it.
For those unable to buy a brick, Germain said there will be other ways to contribute, including volunteering at fundraising booths or helping with community outreach.
Alaska pollock, shown here from a harvest, make up the nation’s top-volume single-species commercial seafood catch. Alaska pollock, harvested mostly in the Bering Sea but also in the Gulf of Alaska, are processed into fish sticks, fish burgers, imitation crab meat and other common fish products. (Photo provided by NOAA)
For the organization that oversees commercial fisheries in federal waters off Alaska, the most significant impact of the federal government shutdown might materialize in December.
That is when the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is scheduled to issue harvest limits for Alaska pollock – the nation’s top-volume commercial harvested species – and other types of groundfish harvested in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, such as Pacific cod and sablefish.
The Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska pollock harvests start in January.
To set the groundfish harvest levels, the council relies on federal scientists’ analysis of fish stocks in the ocean, work that is based in large part on scientific surveys conducted over the summer.
But during the shutdown, most National Marine Fisheries Service employees, including the scientists who analyze survey data to assess the conditions of commercially targeted fish stocks, are furloughed.
On Wednesday, the last day of the council’s October meeting, the members considered how to deal with scientific uncertainty if the government shutdown prevents completion of the detailed analysis that is usually provided in time for the December meeting.
Council member Nicole Kimball referred to a warning issued eight days prior by Bob Foy, director of the NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center, the organization that does the stock assessments. Foy said then that a shutdown lasting more than five days would compromise the ability to complete stock assessments and that a shutdown beyond 15 working days would “dramatically impact” those assessments.
The 15-day threshold is not too far away, Kimball said.
“How does the council and the public understand what to expect in December, in between the October and December meeting, relative to stock assessments?” she asked.
Diana Evans, the council’s deputy director, said impacts are yet to be determined, but the public will be notified of them as soon as possible.
“We don’t think we can answer that until we have a better sense of exactly where we land and how many days of work are remaining between the time that government workers are back and able to resume that work and the meeting,” she said.
Advocates with environmental organizations said they worry about shutdown effects on scientific information needed for harvest decisions, which would add to the effects of mass firings and retirements at NMFS and other agencies.
“I’m terrified at the prospect of flying blind into the next fishing season, especially as the Trump administration has decimated the ranks of scientists who monitor the health of our oceans,” Cooper Freeman, Alaska director of the Center for Biological DIversity, said by email. “I’m especially worried about fisheries like the massive pollock trawl fleet that has been harvesting millions of tons annually at the expense of the larger ecosystem.”
“The first challenge with this shutdown is the instant level of uncertainty it creates. Normal processes face delays that can easily impact or inhibit active fisheries. Potential staff losses will exacerbate that,” Michelle Stratton, executive director of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, said by email.
“But beyond the concern for continuing day to day services, are those major efforts — like stock assessments and (total allowable catch) setting — that rely on substantial NMFS staff input, data processing and expert analysis. If this continues to the point where we are unable to set catch limits for the start of the 2026 seasons, we’ll be in seriously uncharted territory, and could well see massive economic impacts to our fishing communities and fleets,” she said.
The shutdown forced the council to rearrange its October meeting because federal representatives were unavailable to present information.
One major agenda item was postponed: review of a work plan for assessing essential fish habitat. Other items on the agenda were abbreviated.
The shutdown has already affected fishery management operations to some degree, said council member Jon Kurland. As Alaska regional director for NMFS, Kurland is one of a small group of agency employees remaining at work during the shutdown.
Kurland, in comments last week at the start of the meeting, said some services have been unavailable during the shutdown, such as the processing of harvest quota transfers.
NMFS is still doing basic management of ongoing fisheries, monitoring and closing them as needed, and is supported by contractors, he said. But that level of work has its limits, he said.
“If there are significant unforeseen problems, we will have limited ability to address those. Fingers crossed,” he said then.
Election materials are seen at the Alaska Division of Elections headquarters in Juneau. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
NOTN- Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon says city officials are already preparing for possible spending cuts following Tuesday’s municipal election, where early results show voters favoring two tax-limiting propositions that could significantly reduce city revenue and potentially the cost of living for residents.
“If you’re looking at our website to see the election results, just hit the tab the button that says election, and then you’ll see preliminary results.” Said Weldon, “Up at the top it says 21% Well, that’s 21% of our registered voters. So typically we end up with somewhere between 9 to 10%, this is a little bit of a bigger ballot, so we might get as much as 12,000 votes. So it’s not 21% of the vote. I would say it’s somewhere between 40 to 50%.”
Speaking Wednesday morning, Weldon said due to high voter turnout, preliminary numbers for Ballot propositions 1 through 3 won’t likely change.
“Ballot Proposition 2, taking the sales tax off food, that’s not going to change. The seasonal sales tax is not going to change. Proposition 1 has a possibility of changing, but is likely going to stay that way.” Weldon Said.
She noted that while full election results won’t be certified until mid-October, most races appear decided. Only the tight Assembly District 2 race between incumbent Wade Bryson and challenger Nathaniel “Nano” Brooks, separated by three votes in preliminary results on Wednesday remains too close to call.
Weldon said the city had anticipated either outcome and began planning for both scenarios before the election. “We’ll just evaluate and figure out where we can fill the hole with cutting services a bit and other things, the biggest hit to the budget was taking sales tax off food without filling that hole. So that’s, you know, somewhere around $8 million.” Weldon said, “It’s easy to cut $8 million one time, but it’s a little more difficult to cut it year after year after year. But we’ll just go back to work and our finance means will be pretty interesting.”She said.
The City and Borough of Juneau’s next update on unofficial election results is expected Friday. Certification is scheduled later this month.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks to the Alaska Legislature on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
The FBI searched the cellphone records of Republican Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan and seven other U.S. senators and a member of the U.S. House as part of its investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, a newly released document shows.
The call logs cover several days during and around the insurrection, when rioters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to support then-incumbent President Donald Trump, who falsely claimed to have won reelection in 2020.
The logs do not show that the FBI obtained phone call recordings, only that an investigating agent was interested in who the senators were talking to, when they talked, how long they talked, and where the callers were. The document, released this week by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, does not say why those senators were identified in particular and it does not say whether any investigative leads resulted from the records.
According to a news release from the committee, the FBI sought and obtained data about the senators’ phone use in the days before, on and after the Jan. 6 insurrection, from Jan. 4 through Jan. 7, 2021.
The U.S. Department of Justice indicted Trump in 2023 for allegedly conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, but the special prosecutor in charge of the investigation abandoned that case after Trump was re-elected in 2024. Department policy says that sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution, and after the 2021 insurrection, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision limiting a president’s liability for conduct while in office.
Asked whether Sullivan had any contact with people who participated in or organized the riot at the U.S. Capitol, Devyn Shea, a spokesperson for Sullivan, said, “absolutely not.”
In a written statement, Sullivan called the FBI investigation “an absolute outrage.”
“We’ve just learned the Biden FBI was engaged in what appears to be an unprecedented fishing expedition against at least nine sitting Republican members of Congress — none of whom were under any type of investigation — surveilling our personal cell phone calls with family members, staff and colleagues. This is a new low in the political weaponization of the Justice Department,” Sullivan’s statement said.
The other seven senators were Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.). Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) was also on the FBI list.
Some senators, including Hawley and Tuberville, voted to object to the certification of the electoral results of the 2020 election.
Sullivan voted to support the certification of the election, and in a statement the day after the Jan. 6 violence at the Capitol, he called the event “sad” and “dispiriting.”
All have been supporters of Trump and his policies; in office, Sullivan has been a reliable vote for the president and his agenda.
The interior of the borough’s ballot processing center.
NOTN- Juneau voters appear poised to approve two cost-cutting tax measures while rejecting the third that would have shifted more of the city’s tax burden onto tourists, according to preliminary results from Tuesday’s municipal election.
Early results show Proposition 2 , which would exempt food and residential utilities from city sales tax, passing by a wide margin, with roughly 70% of voters in favor.
Proposition 1, which would reduce the city’s mill rate cap from 12 to 9 mills, is also leading narrowly with 3,104 yes votes to 2,920 no’s. Proposition 3, a proposed seasonal sales tax that would have raised summer rates while lowering winter ones, is trailing with 2,534 no votes to 2,514 yes.
Both Propositions 1 and 2 were placed on the ballot through signature drives by the Affordable Juneau Coalition.
City officials have warned that the two propositions could reduce annual revenue by as much as $10 million to $12 million, potentially forcing budget cuts or limits on the city’s ability to respond to emergencies.
The seasonal sales tax proposal, which the Assembly placed on the ballot, was intended to offset those losses by collecting more from visitors during the summer tourism season.
In the Assembly races, Greg Smith secured the District 1 seat with 4,092 votes, while Ella Adkison ran unopposed for the areawide seat.
The tightest contest came in District 2, where Nathaniel “Nano” Brooks led incumbent Wade Bryson by just three votes, 2,743 to 2,740.
Steve Whitney leads in the race for the Board of Education with 3,197 votes, followed by Melissa Cullum with 2,428, Jeremy “JJJ” Johnson with 2,366, and Jenny Thomas with 2,302. Board President Deedie Sorensen, received 1,317 votes.
A total of 6,073 ballots were tallied as of late Tuesday night about 21.7% of the 28,017 mailed to registered voters.
The City and Borough of Juneau said additional ballots cast at vote centers, drop boxes, or mailed by Election Day are still being processed.
Updated unofficial results are expected Friday, Oct. 10. The election is scheduled to be certified Oct. 21.
City & Borough of Juneau Municipal Clerk Breckan Hendricks at the borough’s ballot processing center near Thane Road. (Photos by Greg Knight/News of the North)
Before and after the polls closed at eight o’clock Tuesday night, city officials worked to ensure the ballot count was accurate and complied with election integrity regulations put in place by the CBJ.
Ballots from Juneau’s five drop boxes and two vote centers were securely delivered to the city’s Ballot Processing Center on Thane Road. That center has been in operation since 2022.
Once ballots were inside, teams of two verified voter signatures, separated secrecy sleeves, and fed the ballots into high-speed scanners, all under strict chain-of-custody rules. Each envelope and unique barcodes were cross-checked to prevent double counting.
CBJ Municipal Clerk Breckan Hendricks says that election integrity is taken seriously by the borough.
“We need to make sure that we’re transparent, that everybody has faith in our system,” Hendricks said. “A lot of people don’t understand it. We have our election rules and procedures online now, on our juneau.org elections page, and we’re trying to get more PSAs out there, trying to make people hopefully understand the process a little better to give them more faith in our system. I know that there’s a lot of hesitancy with by-mail ballots, and we really are following all the rules and regulations to make sure that there’s no gaps.”
The interior of the borough’s ballot processing center.
One thing to note is that mailed ballots postmarked on Tuesday and those needing signature fixes can be counted through October 21.
In the end, Hendricks told News of the North that patience is key, and that accuracy comes before speed in Juneau’s current vote-by-mail system.
