Photo provided by CBJ following the installation of the HESCO barrier project
Photo provided by CBJ following the installation of the HESCO barrier project
NOTN- Deputy Mayor Greg Smith joined KINY’s morning show on Thursday to recap Wednesday’s joint flood initiative meeting, discussing long-term solutions for flooding caused by the Mendenhall Glacier’s Suicide Basin.
In the short term, HESCO barriers remain the primary line of defense for vulnerable neighborhoods.
“We’re approaching historical release times” said Smith, “I mean, of course, everyone is crossing their fingers and just hoping for the best possible outcome.”
The Army Corps emphasized that a more permanent solution—such as a levee around Mendenhall Lake, is likely necessary. But planning and engineering such infrastructure takes time.
“they’re doing studies, but they need to know, you know, what is the risk from Suicide basin, in 5 years, what’s the risk in 50 years? There are more basins back up behind the glacier, and they need to know what those situations could be.” He said, “There’s a lot of factors that go into it. So for them to engineer a viable, long-term solution that will not fail, it does take time. We’ve heard them say it’s probably the top issue for the Army Corps in the state of Alaska.”
A federally funded technical study is underway, and officials hope that data from current modeling and previous floods will help shorten the usual multi-year timeline.
Still, even an expedited timeline might take seven years or more, but Smith says he’s optimistic about that timeline.
“The fact that we just got federal money to do this technical study is tremendous.” Said Smith.
With the Alaska Legislature back in town for the special session, Smith urged residents to take the opportunity to raise the issue with state lawmakers.
“I think some of the takeaways for people, is letting our congressional staff or congressional delegation know the importance.”
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a news conference on Friday, March 15, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a news conference on Friday, March 15, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
NOTN- The Alaska Legislature will reconvene in Juneau on Saturday for a special session called by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, with two major items on the agenda: education reform and the creation of a new Department of Agriculture. But lawmakers are also preparing to challenge some of the governor’s recent vetoes, including cuts to public school funding.
Under Alaska’s constitution, when the governor calls a special session, he sets the subjects lawmakers may address.
“He has, apparently, a new education bill. Most of it is stuff that we have seen before, that he’s proposed before, and that has not had a lot of support.” Said Juneau Senator Jessie Kiehl, “And the other thing he wants to take another crack at is creating an Alaska Department of Agriculture. We have a Division of Agriculture. He wants it to be its own State Department.”
But overriding vetoes may take center stage during the first five days of the session, a constitutionally limited window for legislators to reverse the governor’s decisions.
At the top of the list: restoring approximately $51 million in statewide public school funding that Dunleavy vetoed.
That override will require a three-quarters majority, or 45 votes.
“It is the highest, toughest veto override threshold in all 50 states or any of the territories.” Said Senator Kiehl, “I have talked to colleagues all over this state, Republicans, Democrats, rural, urban and the agreement is our schools are hurting, and they need that money.”
Lawmakers are also considering overriding a veto of a bipartisan bill that would empower the Legislative Auditor to review oil tax enforcement practices
That override will require two-thirds of the Legislature, or 40 votes.
In addition to the override votes, lawmakers may consider a commercial fishing bill and discuss items in the governor’s education package through the new legislative Education Task Force.
A recent report suggested that Dunleavy had asked some minority Republicans to stay home in an effort to block override votes. Kiehl said he believes most lawmakers plan to attend.
“My understanding is that in the last week or so, the governor has come the other way and said, everybody, go ahead and be there.” He said, “The Constitution has some rules for how you do your job when you raise your right hand as a legislator elected by the people and take on this duty, I don’t believe in cutting work when I’m on the job, I think the vast majority of my colleagues feel the same way.”
Bill introductions are scheduled for the session’s opening day, August 2, with hearings requested to begin Sunday, Aug. 3.
KCAW in Sitka is one of more than two dozen public radio stations broadcasting across Alaska. (Photo by Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)
On July 17, Congress voted to eliminate federal funding for public media across the United States.
The cuts, called a “rescission” in Congress-speak, are huge: They will take away some $1 billion that the federal government had previously allocated for the next two years to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides funding for national outlets like NPR and PBS as well as local radio and television stations with much smaller budgets.
That funding is essential to many of Alaska’s local news outlets. It’s no exaggeration to say that losing that money — which was slated to be delivered starting September 30 — threatens the very existence of some stations that provide news coverage and other programming, like emergency alerts, around the state.
To get a sense of how local radio and television stations are responding — and what their leaders expect in the months ahead — Northern Journal correspondent Max Graham sent some questions to two longtime public media employees in rural Alaska: Sage Smiley, news director at KYUK in Bethel; and Lauren Adams, general manager at KUCB in Unalaska.
Below are their responses, lightly edited for brevity.
What have the last few days been like for you and your colleagues? How are you feeling?
Sage Smiley: We’ve spent seven months facing – and trying to publicly push back on – an increasingly likely existential threat to public broadcasting. It’s been exhausting, and demoralizing.
Beyond the threat to our jobs, or even to this station we care so much about and where we’re trying to serve the communities of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, it’s incredibly concerning and challenging to see the attack on journalism and on that pillar of democracy that this and other actions by the Trump administration represent.
In a way, though, rescission of funds has been deeply motivating to the news staff. We may be in the unique position of defining the end of a chapter of KYUK’s newsroom history, and want to do the best job we can, for as long as we can, serving the mission of KYUK and its newsroom.
Lauren Adams: On the day that the vote took place, KUCB’s entire staff was working to inform our community about a tsunami evacuation following a large earthquake in the region. Our entire community, including the fishing industry workers, were evacuated to high ground. Our emergency response went off without a hitch, and we worked in tandem with our community’s public safety department. It was a huge affirmation of our connection to the community and our important mission.
That night, I was very happy to hear U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski speak about KUCB on the Senate floor in defense of Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding. It was incredibly disappointing that her colleagues didn’t hear the message and that they voted in favor of the rescission.
The following days were really low! There was a sadness and a heaviness in the office that I haven’t experienced before. I know my staff was concerned about the future of their jobs and we met as a group the following day to talk through their concerns.
I told them that we will have to make changes in the future but for now we will use reserves to keep our essential services up and running and those services depend on having people on the payroll. In short, we aren’t cutting staff right now.
In my case, I am beyond frustrated and dismayed looking at a budget that’s just not going to balance this year without severe cuts. The federal funding cut comes on the heels of already lean years, given the lack of funding from the state of Alaska, which was eliminated under Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
One silver lining has been seeing donations come in every day from people all across the country expressing their support for the work we do. While the funds won’t fill the gap made by the elimination of federal funding, the sentiment and the comments have been a real morale boost for all of us.
Could you help readers understand how significant federal funding is for your station? What proportion of your budget does it account for, and what does it pay for?
Smiley: KYUK is both a radio and a television station, called a dual licensee, so we receive two community service grants each year from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Together, those grants represent about 70% of KYUK’s operating funds – over $1 million. That money pays for everything from salaries to equipment to travel on bush planes for reporting.
Adams: Federal funding last fiscal year was over $280,000, over 40% of our total budget. We had it budgeted at $289,602 for this fiscal year, which started on July 1. That was 45% of this year’s projected budget. There is no replacement for these funds. Our community is small but residents support us in substantial ways already. We estimate that about 8% of people in Unalaska are KUCB donors and also support us through daily non-monetary acts of generosity. We have consistently done well with local fundraising allowing us to match federal funds with local income. But we can’t expect community members to fill this gap: It’s just not possible.
Funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting supports KUCB’s local news content, a comprehensive community calendar, emergency alerts, health and safety information and government accountability through live broadcasts and streaming of municipal meetings.
What are your expectations for your station moving forward?
Smiley: KYUK has been a community institution broadcasting to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta for over 50 years, committed from the beginning to uplifting Yup’ik voices. Our call letters, Y-U-K, were picked because Yuk means “real person” in Yugtun, the Yup’ik language. Our ultimate goal is to stay on the air, which we have to do to keep our licenses. KYUK is unique and incredible – the only station I’m aware of in the state broadcasting news and public affairs that provides shows bilingually on a daily basis – and we want to preserve that legacy of support for Yup’ik language and culture, however possible.
The entrance to KYUK in Bethel. (Photo by Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)
Adams: We had a reporter leave the station in June to fill a Report for America position in Texas. Because I was concerned about funding, I chose not to post that position until we had a better sense of federal dollars. That means we started the fiscal year with a little financial breathing room, but also with a newsroom that was down by a quarter of our former reporting capacity. Thankfully, we have a summer news intern funded by Alaska organizations promoting journalism and community development. When she leaves next month, our community will start to notice the reduction in news coverage, which is unavoidable.
At this point, I don’t know exactly what we will sound like. We will have to meet with our board of directors and with community leaders to make changes under their guidance. I imagine that we will have to sacrifice some of our daily news coverage during times when we have a lot going on.
For instance, we are going into our municipal election season and this is a mayoral election year. I am confident that we will hold our usual forums and we will produce a voter guide as we do every year. This is an important responsibility for us because we employ the only reporters in the community. But if our staff is doing this work, we will have to give up the other stories and newscasts in order to prepare for the forums. We need to be mindful of not burning out staff by just piling more work on the two remaining members of the news team.
We are lucky because our studio is located in a municipal building and the rent is free. We also receive an operations grant from the City of Unalaska. Because of this, I don’t fear that our station will go dark. My bigger concern is that we will be more of a repeater station, playing statewide content instead of local content, and that we won’t have the staff to cover the region’s news and events and we won’t be as effective during an emergency.
I imagine news of the lost funding has brought up, or will bring up, some pretty tough conversations at your station about programming cuts and layoffs. Could you shine some light on those discussions if you’ve already had them? Or are you still waiting and seeing what the full impacts will be?
Smiley: There’s a lot that’s still unclear, and I would say that at this point, KYUK’s future is also unclear. Seventy percent of our funding will cease to exist at the end of the federal fiscal year on September 30. That’s catastrophic. We may have to make drastic cuts to staff in order to keep providing basic broadcasting to the communities we serve.
Adams: We are hoping to hold off on layoffs for at least six months using reserves. In the meantime, we will strip our station budget down as much as possible while maintaining as much of our essential content – local news and information – as possible.
Places where we can cut immediately include syndicated programming, interconnection costs, travel, training, dues and subscriptions, computer hardware and software purchases, internet and phone, and potentially utilities. In the future we might turn off broadcast television and focus on our radio operations, but this is a hard choice that requires giving up a broadcast license that we have held locally for 50 years.
I’ve heard some talk that potential funding from philanthropists could make up for the lost federal spending. Is that really a possibility? Or are there other funding alternatives that are giving you hope?
Smiley: Our fall fundraiser usually brings in around $50,000, and our federal grants are 20 times that. As an ardent lover of the public broadcasting system, I would be overjoyed if a philanthropist decided to fund the network in perpetuity. But I don’t think that’s realistic, or a real solution. The whole point of the public broadcasting system is the system, and the commitment of the United States government to supporting that egalitarian, deeply democratic, equal-access system. It’s the fact that public broadcasting reaches 99% of Americans. It’s that it’s free, and available practically everywhere. A patchwork solution, one that doesn’t preserve the entirety of the system, isn’t going to address what will be lost more broadly.
Adams: I am in one of the most remote corners of the state and I might not be the one to ask about major philanthropy donors and the advocacy efforts. We have a small staff and all of us are working daily to keep our systems up and running and to provide the services that our community relies on. I don’t have the resources to go after major donors. At the statewide level, I think we are all doing our best to try to envision a future where there’s increased funding from philanthropists and donors. I don’t know how quickly this could come together or how sustainable the model would be.
I think that federal funding filled a need, and we were a great fit for the funds because we brought crucial health and safety services to our remote community. I am not aware of a viable long term substitute for Corporation for Public Broadcasting funds.
With that said, I would love to see restoration of public media funding in our state budget. We’ve always received bipartisan support for state funding until the line gets vetoed by the governor. Maybe given the new funding circumstances, and the real need for the services that public broadcasters provide in Alaska, we could see restoration of some state funding.
I also know from years of experience at KUCB that building a station’s relationship with a community, and establishing an award-winning news team, takes a lot of time and effort. I also know that while it’s slow to build, it’s very quick to erode. With reduced news staff, fewer editors, reduced equipment maintenance, and cuts to our services, we will see a spiral of reduced local income.
Could you highlight recent work at your station — whether news reporting or other programming — that wouldn’t have been possible without federal funding and that illustrates the importance of your station to your community?
Smiley: Everything you see on KYUK’s website is supported by federal funding. Our calendar of fisheries openers. The local newscasts in Yugtun and English. Yup’ik Word of the Week. Decades-worth of archival television material from throughout the Delta. Our call-in shows: Fish Talk, River Watch, Talkline, Yuk to Yuk, the Birthday Line. Live coverage of high school basketball games. City Council meetings.
And then there’s all the stuff that goes out over the radio but isn’t necessarily online: radio programming the funding allows us to license, search and rescue messages, boil water notices, public service messages from the local and state governments, emergency alerts.
Adams: Again, I think that the tsunami response earlier this month is an amazing example of the work we do locally — work that is only possible with federal funding. Unalaska is a volcanic island in the middle of a chain of volcanoes, and we experience extreme weather pretty frequently. Emergency alert procedures are essential and a very real part of the work we do.
Additionally, we are the only newsroom located in the Aleutian region. The reporting work that our staff does every day is essential. While cutting syndicated programming wouldn’t hurt our community because yes, we have internet in Unalaska and can get our national news and our music programming from a variety of sources, there is no replacement for the unique daily news and information that KUCB provides. We broadcast every city council meeting, ensure transparency of local government, highlight the arts and culture events that make Unalaska a unique and vibrant place to live, and provide fisheries and science reporting from an important port surrounded by some of the most productive fishing grounds on earth.
Northern Journal contributor Max Graham can be reached at max@northernjournal.com. He’s interested in any and all mining related stories, as well as introductory meetings with people in and around the industry.
This article was originally published in Northern Journal, a newsletter from Nathaniel Herz. Subscribe at this link.
FILE - Emil Bove, attorney for former US President Donald Trump, sits Manhattan criminal court during Trump's sentencing in the hush money case in New York, Jan. 10, 2025. (Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via AP, Pool, File)
FILE – Emil Bove, attorney for former US President Donald Trump, sits Manhattan criminal court during Trump’s sentencing in the hush money case in New York, Jan. 10, 2025. (Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via AP, Pool, File)
AP- The Senate confirmed former Trump lawyer Emil Bove 50-49 for a lifetime appointment as a federal appeals court judge Tuesday as Republicans dismissed whistleblower complaints about his conduct at the Justice Department.
A former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, Bove was on Trump’s legal team during his New York hush money trial and defended Trump in the two federal criminal cases. He will serve on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears cases from Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Democrats have vehemently opposed Bove’s nomination, citing his current position as a top Justice Department official and his role in the dismissal of the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. They have also criticized his efforts to investigate department officials who were involved in the prosecutions of hundreds of Trump supporters who were involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Democrats have also cited evidence from whistleblowers, a fired department lawyer who said last month that Bove had suggested the Trump administration may need to ignore judicial commands — a claim that Bove denies — and new evidence from a whistleblower who did not go public. That whistleblower recently provided an audio recording of Bove that runs contrary to some of his testimony at his confirmation hearing last month, according to two people familiar with the recording.
The audio is from a private video conference call at the Department of Justice in February in which Bove, a top official at the department, discussed his handling of the dismissed case against Adams, according to transcribed quotes from the audio reviewed by The Associated Press.
The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because the whistleblower has not made the recording public. The whistleblower’s claims were first reported by the Washington Post.
None of that evidence has so far been enough to sway Senate Republicans — all but two of them voted to confirm Bove as GOP senators have deferred to Trump on virtually all of his picks.
Democrats say Bove’s confirmation is a ‘dark day’
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that Bove’s confirmation is a “dark day” and that Republicans are only supporting Bove because of his loyalty to the president.
“It’s unfathomable that just over four years after the insurrection at the Capitol, when rioters smashed windows, ransacked offices, desecrated this chamber, Senate Republicans are willingly putting someone on the bench who shielded these rioters from facing justice, who said their prosecution was a grave national injustice,” Schumer said.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against Bove’s confirmation. “I don’t think that somebody who has counseled other attorneys that you should ignore the law, you should reject the law, I don’t think that that individual should be placed in a lifetime seat on the bench,” Murkowski said Tuesday.
At his confirmation hearing last month, Bove addressed criticism of his tenure head-on, telling lawmakers he understands some of his decisions “have generated controversy.” But Bove said he has been inaccurately portrayed as Trump’s “henchman” and “enforcer” at the department.
In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee released Tuesday evening just before the vote, Bove said he does not have the whistleblower’s recording but is “undeterred by this smear campaign.”
A February call emerges as evidence
Senators at the Judiciary Committee hearing asked Bove about the February 14 call with lawyers in the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, which had received significant public attention because of his unusual directive that the attorneys had an hour to decide among themselves who would agree to file on the department’s behalf the motion to dismiss the case against Adams.
The call was convened amid significant upheaval in the department as prosecutors in New York who’d handled the matter, as well as some in Washington, resigned rather than agree to dispense with the case.
According to the transcript of the February call, Bove remarked near the outset that interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon “resigned about ten minutes before we were going to put her on leave pending an investigation.” But when asked at the hearing whether he had opened the meeting by emphasizing that Sassoon and another prosecutor had refused to follow orders and that Sassoon was going to be reassigned before she resigned, Bove answered with a simple, “No.”
In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Bove defended his testimony as accurate, noting that the transcript of the call shows he didn’t use the word “reassigned” when talking to the prosecutors.
At another moment, Bove said he did not recall saying words that the transcript of the call reflects him as having said — that whoever signed the motion to dismiss the Adams case would emerge as leaders of the section.
But in the letter to Grassley, Bove said he did not intend to suggest that anyone would be rewarded for submitting the memo but rather that doing so would reflect a willingness to follow the chain of command, something he said was the “bare minimum required of mid-level management” of a government agency.
Republicans decry ‘unfair accusations’
Grassley said Tuesday that he believes Bove will be a “diligent, capable and fair jurist.”
He said his staff had tried to investigate the claims but that lawyers for the whistleblowers would not give them all of the materials they had asked for until Tuesday, hours before the vote. The “vicious rhetoric, unfair accusations and abuse directed at Mr. Bove” have “crossed the line,” Grassley said.
The first whistleblower complaint against Bove came from a former Justice Department lawyer who was fired in April after conceding in court that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who had been living in Maryland, was mistakenly deported to an El Salvador prison.
That lawyer, Erez Reuveni, described efforts by top Justice Department officials in the weeks before his firing to stonewall and mislead judges to carry out deportations championed by the White House.
Reuveni described a Justice Department meeting in March concerning Trump’s plans to invoke the Alien Enemies Act over what the president claimed was an invasion by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Reuveni said Bove raised the possibility that a court might block the deportations before they could happen. Reuveni claims Bove used a profanity in saying the department would need to consider telling the courts what to do and “ignore any such order,” Reuveni’s lawyers said in the filing.
Bove said he has “no recollection of saying anything of that kind.”
In a packed meeting Monday night, the Juneau Assembly approved key measures, including a proposed seasonal sales tax structure and the city’s Hazard Mitigation Plan, while deferring several bond issues and continuing deliberation on ranked-choice voting.
Deputy City Manager Robert Barr said one of the most significant decisions was the approval of a revised seasonal sales tax ordinance, which will now head to the October ballot for voter consideration.
“The idea is to have a lower sales tax in winter months and a higher sales tax in summer months.” Barr explained, “and the Assembly did, ultimately pass the ordinance with some amendments.”
One amendment, introduced by Deputy Mayor Greg Smith, lowers the winter sales tax rate further, from 2.5% to 2%. Including the existing temporary 1% tax, which is renewed by voters every five years, the total off-season rate would be 3%.
The Assembly also passed the final draft of the All-Hazard Mitigation Plan, following public testimony, much of it centered on landslide risk.
“At the end of the day, the Assembly did pass the resolution.” Said Barr “So the next steps for that plan is that it will go on to the state and then to FEMA for adoption, and we’re hopeful that that will happen in time for us to be able to apply for grant opportunities that are coming down the line.”
The plan is key to unlocking federal funding opportunities, including hazard mitigation grants.
Deliberations also continued on ranked-choice voting, with the Assembly choosing to send the matter back to the Committee of the Whole for further discussion.
“There’s three or so ranked choice voting options that they’ve been working their way through. They’re all pretty complex.” Said Barr “And again, my general sense of the body last night is they just wanted more time to think, discuss and hear public input on those three options before deciding what to do.”
Barr encouraged residents to stay engaged and informed by signing up for Juneau’s emergency alert and notification system, which also offers general civic updates.
“Beyond that, looking at our agendas when they come out, usually on Thursdays before the next week’s meetings.” He said, “People can find those on juneau.org.”
This article has been corrected to adjust the winter sales tax from from 2.5% to 2%, rather than 3.5% as previously written.
A throng of protesters gathered at the Alaska State Capitol on April 5, 2025 to speak out against the administration of President Donald Trump.
(Photos by Greg Knight/News of the North)
A throng of protesters gathered at the Alaska State Capitol on April 5, 2025 to speak out against the administration of President Donald Trump.
(Photos by Greg Knight/News of the North)
NOTN- Juneau for Democracy, a local organization formed in January, says its intention is to mobilize Alaskans to protect civil rights through peaceful protests and direct civic engagement.
The group, founded by concerned citizens, focuses on holding elected officials accountable and addressing issues ranging from healthcare access to immigration policies.
They are also responsible for the June ‘No Kings’ protest held in Juneau, which had over 1500 participants in the capital city alone.
The organization regularly hosts rallies, and encourages constituents to contact their representatives. Members also maintain a weekly presence with U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office staff and hold “Stand for Staff” events every Thursday to support federal employees affected by recent mass firings.
“It is really rewarding to have these conversations, because people feel heard.” Said Juneau for Democracy’s Ariel Hasse-Zamudio, “That’s a huge way that we can make a difference, if we’re not building relationships, if we’re not having conversations, then we’re not able to move forward and elevate our issues.”
Juneau for Democracy is focusing on a few key issues in their activism, including budget allocations that affect Medicaid.
“Just a little under 40% of Alaskans are on Medicaid, and that’s a huge number, because we’re only a state of 741,000 people.” Said Hasse-Zamudio, “that’s your neighbor, that’s your friend, that’s the people you might have seen at the hospital, and because so many people are going to lose their health care because of the requirements of the bill, that’s going to cause medical facilities to shut down.”
The tax and spending bill President Donald Trump signed into law July 4 enacts wide-ranging changes to public policy, including major revisions to Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and federal tax laws.
A provision in the bill will require the 40 states that have expanded Medicaid, to check paperwork at least twice a year to ensure those enrollees are volunteering or working at least 80 hours a month or attending school at least half-time.
The new law provides states $200 million for fiscal year 2026 to get their systems up and running. But some experts say states will have difficulty meeting the deadline with that funding and worry enrollees might lose their health benefits as a result.
“It’s actually more important now that the bill has passed that we continue to elevate the decisions that our federal delegation made that are against Alaskan interests.” Hass-Zamudio said.
The group also spotlights protecting public lands, and opposing what they describe as overreach by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The group argues ICE can currently arrest individuals without warrants or clear cause.
“We need accountability for this organization, if this organization is to exist and be funded.” Said Hasse-Zamudio, “there’s really no oversight right now.”
Recently, the Alaska Department of Corrections has held dozens of immigration detainees in Anchorage under conditions that violate federal standards for humane treatment.
According to Alaska Public Media, three immigration lawyers said the men were denied phone access to their attorneys and consulates, held in lockdown for long periods and, in one incident, subjected to pepper spray.
ICE teams are continuing to carry out enforcement operations, and officials have said targeting criminals is a priority, but a key issue to watch is how the term “criminal” is defined. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that the administration sees all undocumented immigrants as criminals.
Megan Lingle from Juneau for Democracy added” I know that my Tlingit ancestors sacrificed a great deal, and we are still living with the trauma of those sacrifices. I mean, boarding schools were not that long ago, many of my grandparents generations were abducted and forced into them, and that hits really close to home when we hear ice might be in town.”
Lingle also emphasized the collective effort of Juneau for Democracy, “It’s crucial not only to use my voice, but also to encourage others to do the same, because fear grows in silence.”
The organization is planning another protest at the Capitol building on August 2 in Juneau, advocating for education funding as a part of a national day of protest, “Rage Against the Regime.”
“Juneau may seem small, but every voice matters.” Said Lingle “”We are the leaders we are waiting for.”
Governor Mike Dunleavy speaks during a press conference on Thursday, April 17 in Juneau. (Photo by Greg Knight/NOTN)
Governor Mike Dunleavy speaks during a press conference on Thursday, April 17 in Juneau. (Photo by Greg Knight/NOTN)
NOTN- Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Monday released the full policy agenda for a special session of the Alaska Legislature, scheduled to begin Saturday, Aug. 2. The session, first announced earlier this month, will focus on a sweeping package of education reforms the Governor says are aimed at improving student outcomes and securing long-term funding for public schools.
“This is an opportunity to address Alaska’s performance issues and funding issues in K-12 education well into the future.” Dunleavy said in the press release. “By addressing this now, school districts, students, parents, teachers, and policymakers will have certainty and will not have to debate this issue during the regular session that begins in January,”
The Governor’s office outlined their key priorities for the session, those include
Executive order creating a Department of Agriculture
Tribal Compacting between the state Department of education and select tribes
Expansion of corporate tax credit program for education.
Authorize the Department of Education as a charter school authorizer in addition to local districts
Open enrollment allowing public school students to enroll in any public school that has room including outside of a student’s resident district.
Grants for reading improvement and for a new after school reading tutoring program
Recruitment retention payments to classroom teachers to reduce turnover
Long-term certainty in funding for K-12 schools if agreement is reached on policy.
Education Commissioner Dr. Deena Bishop, a former teacher and superintendent, said the proposals are evidence-based and modeled after successful policies in other states.
Bill introductions are scheduled for the session’s opening day, with hearings requested to begin Sunday, Aug. 3.
However many lawmakers plan to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s decision to veto millions of dollars in public school funding from this year’s state operating budget.
according to the Alaska Beacon, It takes 45 votes to override an Alaska governor’s budget veto, and of the 46 legislators who voted this spring to override the governor’s veto of the education funding formula, all but a handful have committed to supporting a budget veto override as well.
That formula is subject to the state’s annual budget process, and Dunleavy chose to only partially fund it, causing a wave of cuts to services at public schools across the state. Dunleavy had said he would not agree to the full funding increase without the Legislature adopting other policies he’s proposed.
In preparation for a possible glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) this summer, local, tribal, and state agencies have formed a joint communications initiative aimed at improving public safety and emergency response in Juneau.
The City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ), Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (Tlingit & Haida), and the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) are coordinating with several federal and state partners to streamline flood messaging and improve community readiness.
The collaborative effort stems from increased awareness of the growing risks posed by the Mendenhall Glacier’s Suicide Basin and recent flood events that have affected homes, infrastructure, and traditional lands. With the basin approaching capacity, agencies are taking proactive steps to minimize confusion, provide timely updates, and improve response coordination in the event of a flood.
The new effort, called the Joint Information Center (JIC), was established under the Incident Command System and includes coordination from the National Weather Service, U.S. Coast Guard, Alaska Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management, and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.
“This partnership will allow us to pool our resources to make sure our residents receive accurate, timely information—especially during high-stress situations like a flood,” said CBJ City Manager Katie Koester.
The JIC will provide consistent emergency alerts, preparedness tips, and flood status updates through email, social media, media briefings, and partner websites. The group will release email updates twice a week and near-daily social media posts to help keep the public informed.
“Community emergencies such as flood events do not recognize jurisdictional boundaries,” said Tlingit & Haida President Chalyee Éesh Richard J. Peterson. “That’s why collaboration between tribal, municipal, state, and federal partners is critical as we prepare our community, pool our resources, knowledge and coordinate response. Together, we are building a framework that prioritizes public safety and ensures that no one is left behind when it matters most.”
Key Ways Residents Can Stay Informed:
Sign up for emergency alerts at bit.ly/CBJAlerts
Check in with the Juneau Flood Ready website at bit.ly/JuneauFloodReady
View road closure leading up to and during an event at 511.Alaska.gov
Stay tuned to the National Weather Service Suicide Basin monitoring page (link) 5 Review the interactive flood inundation maps available at JuneauFlood.com.
Pearl Creek Elementary School is seen on June 3, 2025. The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District decided to close the school at the end of the academic year due to budget cuts. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Three Alaska school districts have joined a coalition from across the country — including school districts, teachers unions, parents and advocacy groups — suing the Trump administration for blocking $6.8 billion in congressionally approved education funding.
The Anchorage, Fairbanks North Star Borough, and the Kuspuk school districts joined the lawsuit filed Monday in federal court. The suit challenges the withholding of funds as unlawful and unreasonable, as well as violating Congress’ authority and the separation of powers.
“The lawless and last-minute withholding of federal education funds is not just a bureaucratic failure—it is a direct attack on our most vulnerable students. Less than a month before school starts, we’ve been forced to plan for cuts instead of preparing to serve children,” said Fairbanks Superintendent Luke Meinert in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
The Trump administration has said it’s withholding the funds pending a review of the grant programs to ensure they align with the Republican president’s priorities, and to “prevent them from promoting a ‘left-wing’ agenda,” according to the lawsuit.
For Alaska, an estimated $46.4 million was allocated across five grant programs, according to the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development. That includes funding to support migrant education, academic enrichment, English language learning, and other types of instruction, as well as teachers’ professional development. In addition, an estimated $1.1 million was withheld for adult education programs.
According to the lawsuit, school districts nationwide are facing millions in budget shortfalls, and have had to “cancel orders for new curriculum, delay critical teacher training, pause contracts for services for English language learners, or take other actions to avoid incurring expenses that they cannot afford to pay without the money normally provided by the Formula Grant Programs.”
The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District serves more than 12,000 students across 33 schools, and has seen over $2.57 million frozen, according to the lawsuit.
“Without these Title program funds, nearly 200 education jobs are in jeopardy,” Meinert said. “Our classrooms will be less supported, and students will be left behind. This isn’t just fiscal irresponsibility—it’s a moral failure that jeopardizes the future of the very students federal law is meant to protect.”
The Kuspuk School District serves 320 students in nine schools across 12,000 square miles in Western Alaska — and has received national attention for its deteriorating school buildings and severe maintenance needs. It is facing over $180,000 in frozen funds.
Students attend class in a Kuspuk elementary school. (Photo provided by the Kuspuk School District)
Among the grants frozen was funding to support teacher training, school supplies, enrichment programs and English language learning, including for over 130 staff. “Because English is not the first language for more than 60% of the district’s teaching staff, sustained … training has been critical to ensuring educators can effectively support English Learners across subjects and grade levels,” according to the lawsuit.
Superintendent Madeline Aguillard said in a statement the programs are “not line items, they are lifelines” for students.
“These are not extras. These are the programs that give our students a chance,” she said. “When funding is blocked, it does not just stall services. It dismantles the systems we have built to reach those most in need. When the federal government walks away from its obligation, it is not a delay. It is denial. Denial of access. Denial of progress. Denial of the futures our students have a right to pursue.”
For Anchorage, the state’s largest district by population at more than 43,000 students in 94 schools, the frozen funds are estimated at $11.8 million.
In an interview last week on the district’s budget challenges ahead of the lawsuit, Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt said the funding freeze on July 1, at the start of the fiscal year was “severe,” particularly having just signed new contracts for teachers and staff. “If you offer somebody a role and no longer have the funds for it — it’s so unprecedented that the federal government would not essentially pay its bills on time because these monies were appropriated. This is not a budget reduction conversation. This is a executing the will of the Congress of conversation,” he said.
Anchorage Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt (Photo provided by the Anchorage School District)
The freeze comes amid an ongoing state education funding debate with the Alaska State Legislature meeting for a special session on Aug. 2, as well as a dispute over local contributions to school funding. School officials said this combination of issues is devastating to public education in Alaska. Earlier this year, the Anchorage School District reported it had to lay off 42 staff positions, and cut more than $30 million in salaries, benefits and services.
Bryantt said the district had to immediately lay off five staff members following the funding freeze announcement, and transfer about a dozen more to alternate roles. “We can make sure that folks are employed. That’s my top priority, in addition to the continuity of our students’ learning,” he said, and recruiting and hiring teachers is an ongoing challenge.
“Teachers are a national commodity,” he added.
The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Rhode Island, names the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, its director Russ Vought, the U.S. Department of Education and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. It asks a judge to compel the department to release the funds.
Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski joined nine other Republican senators in a letter to the Office of Management and Budget urging the department to release K-12 funds, as well as over $700 million for adult education programs.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education announced it will release some of the withheld grants, an estimated $1.3 billion that goes to support after-school care and summer school programs, though it’s unclear when those funds will be received by districts.
The Alaska State Capitol in downtown Juneau.
(Photo by Greg Knight/News of the North)
The Alaska State Capitol in downtown Juneau.
(Photo by Greg Knight/News of the North)
A recent actuarial analysis presented to the Alaska House Finance Committee has renewed focus on legislation to restore a defined benefit pension for public employees, the analysis shows the plan could help retain workers despite a higher upfront price tag.
For years, efforts to reinstate pensions for state workers have faced a hurdle in Alaska law, which requires an actuarial review of any retirement legislation before it can advance to a floor vote. These reviews are often expensive and time-consuming, delaying legislative progress.
But advocates argue these studies are critical to ensuring any proposed pension system is fiscally sound.
This year, the state’s actuary delivered its report on House Bill 78 to lawmakers, outlining costs and potential long-term benefits of shifting from a defined contribution system similar to a 401(k), back to a traditional pension plan. The analysis found that defined benefit pensions provide more value to employees and improve workforce retention, which in turn raises overall payroll and long-term staffing stability.
“The actuary said That’s going to, almost single-handedly solve your retention problem.” Said Juneau Senator Jessie Kiehl.
The fiscal note for HB 78 estimates the pension plan would cost the state about $40 million in the first year, with expenses growing as more vacant state jobs are filled and employees remain longer.
But Kiehl says the predicted $76 million annual savings and increased revenues for public employers far outweighs the price tag up front.
“In the end, we save money. ” Kiehl said. “The state of Alaska is actually going to come out ahead, not only by having better trained, more effective public workers, but by having a more efficient government.”
Kiehl also specifically noted Juneau Police Department, who face poaching from Washington State Patrol, “when police officers at JPD have a pension, they don’t get poached by Washington State Patrol who come up here just about every summer, take our JPD officers to dinner and say, Hey, come on down. We’ll hire you, bring your experience and all the training the taxpayers of Juneau paid for, and by the way, you can earn a Washington state pension.”
The legislature is expected to take up the measure during the 2026 legislative session.
