The downtown Anchorage skyline is seen on June 3, 2022. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
The owner of an Anchorage business destroyed during a building fire in March has filed suit against Denali Disposal, owned by Republican gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson, and two other businesses that also used the destroyed building.
The lawsuit, by auto repair firm 2nd II None LLC, accuses all three defendants of negligence that contributed to the fire and seeks a judgment worth more than $100,000. The exact value is to be proven at trial.
According to a report by the Anchorage Fire Department, the fire — which destroyed a building owned by Restaurants Northwest, one of the defendants — was aggravated by several factors, including the fact that the building’s sprinkler system had been turned off.
Seventy-five firefighters, plus ambulance crews and police, responded to the fire, but their work was hampered by a water main break that reduced water pressure to the point that they couldn’t extinguish the blaze before it destroyed the building.
Total losses were estimated at $8 million, the report states.
The case was filed in Anchorage Superior Court on Oct. 23 and has been preliminarily assigned to Judge David Nesbett.
2nd II None is being represented by attorney William Earnhart, who declined comment on the case when reached by phone. State business records show 2nd II None as being owned by Darien Carter.
The lawsuit alleges “the fire started in a location under the exclusive control of Denali Disposal” and that “a structure fire ordinarily does not occur absent negligence.”
Wilson, reached by phone, declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing the need to avoid affecting legal proceedings.
The claim that the fire started in Denali Disposal’s rented section of the building does not match the fire department’s report, which states that officials were “unable to determine the exact origin and cause of the fire” but that “the fire originated inside the south half … of the structure.”
The building, at 501 West Potter Drive in Anchorage, was owned by Restaurants Northwest, which is one of the three defendants. State business records list former Anchorage Assemblyman and state Representative Larry Baker as the firm’s owner. Baker did not return a message left at his listed cellphone number.
According to the fire department’s report, the building’s sprinkler system had been disconnected for repairs in fall 2024 after a sprinkler head broke in a part of the building being used by Living Waters Plumbing and Mechanical, the third defendant in the lawsuit.
During a post-fire inspection, investigators found the sprinkler system was still switched to the off position.
State business records list Tim Thomas as Living Waters’ owner. He did not return an email seeking comment.
The legal complaint filed by 2nd II None states that “Living Waters and/or Restaurants Northwest knew or should have known the water valve was closed … having the water valve closed for no reason was negligent.”
Further proceedings in the case have not yet been scheduled.
Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, speaks Friday, April 12, 2024, on Senate Bill 187, the capital budget. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Senate Minority Leader Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, will resign from the Alaska Senate on Monday, according to a resignation letter submitted to Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak.
The resignation was expected. Shower was named the lieutenant governor candidate for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson in September, and he said he would resign from his seat early.
Shower did not immediately respond to a phone call and text messages seeking comment on Thursday afternoon.
Under Alaska law and Republican Party rules, party officials in Shower’s district will nominate possible replacements to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who will select the replacement.
It’s a process Dunleavy will be familiar with: Before being elected governor in 2018, Dunleavy served in the Senate and resigned early to focus on his election. Then-Gov. Bill Walker nominated Mike Shower to fill Dunleavy’s seat and Shower went on to win the next election in his own right.
Shower’s possible replacements must be Republicans, because Shower is a Republican, and otherwise meet the Alaska Constitution’s requirements for office.
The governor’s selection must be confirmed by the Senate’s other Republicans before being seated. That includes the other five Republicans in the Senate’s six-person minority caucus, as well as the five Republicans in the bipartisan Senate majority caucus.
Confirmation isn’t guaranteed: In 2018, Republican senators rejected Walker’s first choice to replace Dunleavy. Walker’s second choice withdrew his name from consideration.
In 2019, Republicans rejected Dunleavy’s first choice to replace Anchorage Republican Sen. Chris Birch, who died in office.
Each of Alaska’s state senate districts consists of two House districts. Reps. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, and Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake, respectively represent each of the House districts within Shower’s Senate district, and both men said they will be putting their names forward for consideration.
Rauscher had already announced his intention to seek Shower’s seat in the 2026 election.
It was not immediately clear on Thursday if additional candidates would be proposed for consideration by party officials.
If either Rauscher or McCabe are chosen, it would set off a domino effect: Dunleavy would then be able to select a new House representative to replace the person who moved to the Senate.
Sen. Robert Myers, R-North Pole, said he believes Shower has been talking to Dunleavy about possible options.
“I think the expectation at this point is Rep. Rauscher, but I don’t want to weigh in any further than that,” Myers said of his preference.
Myers said the resignation makes sense.
“Honestly, it makes some relationships a little bit awkward if you’re still in the Legislature while running for a statewide seat like that. It could have potentially complicated next year’s session a little bit,” he said. “I wish him well on what he embarks on for the future, whether that’s politically or personally.”
While the Senate minority caucus will now need to pick a new leader, Myers said he doesn’t expect the next legislative year will have other significant changes because there’s someone new in Shower’s seat.
“The (senate) majority has already laid out what their priorities are,” he said. “I don’t see votes changing, numbers changing, majority-minority votes on major bills, or anything like that.”
At least one more Senate resignation is expected soon. Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, is running for governor and has said she will resign in time for a replacement to be selected before the legislative session begins in January.
“I typically put in about 40 hours of work, even during the interim, 40 hours or more. And so, juggling that along with the governor electoral campaign is tricky, but there’s certain things I want to finish up and make sure I’m leaving things in good order as I pass out of the district,” she said.
At the same time, she wants to leave time for Dunleavy to pick both her replacement and a replacement for a House member if he selects either Reps. Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, or DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, to replace her.
Tilton has already filed to run for Senate in 2026.
Hughes said that regardless of the replacement, she doesn’t think the Senate will change significantly. She also said that she’s going to stay out of the discussion of who will replace Shower as Senate Minority Leader.
“That’s up to that group to decide,” she said. “I’m not going to be one of them. I’m not going to meddle and try to tell them who should or should not be Senate Minority Leader.”
A federal judge in Boston ruled Friday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s plan to pause a food assistance program for 42 million people was illegal — but gave the Trump administration until Monday to respond to her finding before she decides on a motion to force the benefits be paid despite the ongoing government shutdown.
At nearly the same time Friday, a Rhode Island federal judge in a similar case brought by cities and nonprofit groups ordered USDA to continue payments and granted a request for a temporary restraining order.
In Massachusetts, in a Friday afternoon order, District Court of Massachusetts Judge Indira Talwani said she would continue to take “under advisement” a coalition of Democratic states’ request to force the release of funds from a contingency account holding about $6 billion.
Her ruling came a day before a cutoff of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits to low-income households.
Because Congress is locked in a stalemate over a stopgap spending bill and did not appropriate money for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, administration officials say the program cannot provide federal funds beginning Saturday. In states, SNAP benefits are loaded onto cards on varying dates, but the cutoff would be effective for November benefits.
Talwani, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, called the administration’s conclusion it can’t provide SNAP funding “erroneous,” and said the reserve fund was sufficient for SNAP benefits to flow to states and the vendors that add money to debit-like cards issued to the program’s beneficiaries that are used to purchase groceries.
The law creating the program mandated that benefits continue, she said.
“Defendants are statutorily mandated to use the previously appropriated SNAP contingency reserve when necessary and also have discretion to use other previously appropriated funds,” Talwani wrote.
Talwani ordered the administration to say by Monday whether it would provide at least partial benefits for November.
The 25 states that sued were Massachusetts, California, Arizona, Minnesota, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington state, Wisconsin Kansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. The District of Columbia also sued.
In Rhode Island, where the judge granted a temporary restraining order, the advocacy group Democracy Forward, which was among those bringing the suit, praised the move.
“A federal court today granted a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful effort to halt the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during the ongoing government shutdown,” the group said. “The decision ensures that millions of children, seniors, veterans, and families will continue to receive essential food assistance while the case proceeds.”
The judge in that case, John James McConnell Jr., said the administration’s actions violated a key federal administrative law against arbitrary and capricious executive action and federal spending laws “by disregarding Congress’s direction that SNAP must continue operating,” Democracy Forward said.
FILE – Bear sculptures sit outside the Boney Courthouse, where the Alaska Supreme Court hears cases, in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
AP- The Alaska Supreme Court is weighing a case that is expected to determine who can provide abortion care in the state.
The court heard arguments Wednesday in a 2019 case challenging the constitutionality of a law that states only a doctor licensed by the State Medical Board can perform an abortion in Alaska.
The law, dating to the 1970s, was struck down as unconstitutional by Superior Court judge Josie Garton last year, a victory for the group that brought the challenge, Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky. The state appealed Garton’s ruling.
Planned Parenthood has argued there is no medical justification for the restriction and that it unfairly burdens those seeking an abortion by limiting the pool of those qualified to provide care. In 2021, Garton granted the group’s request to allow advanced practice clinicians — health care workers, such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants — to provide medication abortion pending her decision in the underlying case. They have continued to do so and since the 2024 ruling also have been able to provide procedural abortions, Planned Parenthood says.
Advanced practice clinicians routinely provide care similar in risk and complexity to that of providing abortion services, and in 25 states can provide medication abortion, attorneys for Planned Parenthood said in court documents. Planned Parenthood’s advanced practice clinicians seek to provide abortion care in just the first trimester, the attorneys said.
Since Garton’s 2021 decision, advanced practice clinicians have been providing “nearly all” medication abortions in Alaska, and Planned Parenthood clinics in the state have been able to offer medication abortion each day they’ve been open, the attorneys wrote. Before that, doctors hired by Planned Parenthood on a per diem basis — at the clinics on limited days — were able to offer medication abortions perhaps once or twice a week at each clinic, they wrote.
A vital statistics report released by the state this year shows that the total number of abortions in Alaska has been fairly consistent — 1,229 in 2021, 1,247 in 2022, 1,222 in 2023 and 1,224 last year. The report says that could include cases where medication was provided to manage a miscarriage, but without providing a number. It also says reasons for ending pregnancies are not reported to the state.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned a federal right to abortion, leaving it up to each state to regulate.
Access to health care has been a longstanding concern in Alaska, with travel — sometimes covering hundreds of miles — required for many residents. Compounding that are ongoing challenges to recruit and keep medical providers.
Most Alaska communities are not connected to the state’s main road system, and health care in many small communities is often limited, requiring residents to fly to larger cities, such as Anchorage or Seattle, for more options or for specialized care. Roundtrip flights can easily cost hundreds of dollars. In remote communities, fog or poor weather can cause flight delays.
Planned Parenthood has two clinics in Alaska, in Anchorage and Fairbanks. It closed its clinic in Juneau last year.
The Alaska Supreme Court has long interpreted the right to privacy in the state’s constitution as encompassing abortion rights.
But attorneys for the state argued in court filings that Planned Parenthood did not show that the law at the center of the legal challenge had “inhibited women in Alaska from exercising their right to choose an abortion.” Planned Parenthood could have hired more doctors but chose not to, wrote the attorneys, including Laura Wolff, an assistant attorney general.
“Even if an occasional patient were prevented from getting an abortion, the physician-only law is not unconstitutional as applied to all women who are not significantly affected by the law because the law has a plainly legitimate sweep,” the filing states.
Wolff and Camila Vega, an attorney representing Planned Parenthood, argued their respective sides in court Wednesday. The court did not indicate when it might rule.
Alaska attorney Aaron Peterson, seen here in a February 2024 photo, is expected to be nominated by President Trump to one of two vacancies on Alaska’s federal court bench. (Alaska Division of Forestry photo)
President Donald Trump plans to nominate Aaron Peterson, an attorney with the Alaska Department of Law’s natural resources division, for one of two open federal judgeships on the bench of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska.
Trump himself has not formally announced Peterson’s nomination, but state and federal officials confirmed the president’s plans with the Beacon.
Reuters reported that Trump is preparing to nominate two federal judges in other states as well as Peterson.
A message left on Peterson’s work phone was not returned Tuesday afternoon.
According to a copy of Peterson’s questionnaire, a member of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s federal transition team encouraged him to apply to a committee formed by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, to vet possible candidates for the federal judiciary.
According to state voter records, Peterson is a Republican. He identified himself in the questionnaire as a member of the Federalist Society, whose members generally follow Republican legal principles and support President Donald Trump.
Records published by the Federal Elections Commission and the Alaska Public Offices Commission do not list any political contributions by Peterson.
Attorney General-designee Stephen Cox served on the Sullivan committee. By email, he called Peterson an “outstanding choice.”
“He’s demonstrated a remarkable ability to navigate complex issues with fairness and integrity, including during his representation of the Board of Fisheries. His extensive understanding of both civil and criminal law, honed through his experience as a prosecutor, makes him uniquely qualified for this position. Alaska needs judges who are equipped to handle the complex cases before them and the realities of our state, and I am confident that Aaron will be an excellent addition to the bench,” Cox wrote.
Alaska has three federal judgeships but only one sitting federal judge. Judge Timothy Burgess retired at the end of 2021, and Judge Joshua Kindred resigned in disgrace in 2024 amid a sexual scandal.
Since then, Alaska’s two U.S. senators have been divided about who to pick as replacements and how to pick those replacements. Under longstanding Senate tradition, judge picks normally advance only with the assent of both home state senators.
As a result of the senators’ disagreements and Sullivan’s decision to not attempt to fill a vacancy under President Joe Biden, the judgeship vacated by Burgess is now the fifth-oldest vacancy among 50 in the federal court system.
Sullivan has not disclosed the names of judicial candidates that he examined through a special committee designed to serve as an alternative to the Alaska Bar Association’s traditional review process.
Through a spokesperson, Murkowski said she learned about Peterson’s nomination from the White House.
“After speaking extensively with him last week about his many qualifications, I informed the White House that I would support his nomination. Alaska’s District Court has had two vacancies for far too long, and I hope the White House will soon announce a second qualified nominee whom I can support to fill out the bench,” Murkowski said.
According to Peterson’s questionnaire, he met with Murkowski on Oct. 23, seven months after being interviewed by Sullivan and four months after his initial interview by the White House Counsel’s Office. Since September, according to the questionnaire, he has been in regular contact with White House and Department of Justice officials.
By email, Sullivan said Peterson has “extensive legal experience.”
“Throughout his career, which includes military service, Aaron has demonstrated a commitment to the rule of law and federalism. He also understands the principle that the job of a federal judge is to interpret the law, not to make policy,” Sullivan said. “I’d like to thank each of the members of the Alaska Federal Judiciary Council, who worked with me to fully vet a number of well-qualified Alaska nominees, including Aaron. The council’s diligent work and input are invaluable in ensuring Alaskans are represented by jurists and citizens of the highest caliber. I also want to thank President Trump and his team for working closely with my office on identifying outstanding judges who will serve Alaska and our country well.”
According to the information Peterson submitted to the U.S. Senate’s judiciary committee, he was born in Anchorage in 1981 and served in the U.S. Air Force from 2000 to 2003 before attending the University of Alaska Anchorage, graduating in 2007. He attended Gonzaga University School of Law and graduated in 2010.
After graduation, he returned to Alaska, serving first as a clerk to Justice Michael Spaan of the Alaska Supreme Court, then as a prosecutor with the Municipality of Anchorage.
The Alaska Bar Association’s directory says he was admitted to the state bar on Nov. 16, 2010.
Peterson worked in the Anchorage District Attorney’s office starting in 2012, including on violent felonies, such as murder and sexual assault. He moved to the Department of Law’s office of special prosecutions in 2015 before beginning work with the Department of Law’s natural resources section in 2019.
Since joining that section, he’s prosecuted high-profile criminal cases, including a 2018 incident in which two Matanuska-Susitna Borough men illegally killed a black bear and her two squealing cubs within their den.
More recently, Peterson has represented the state in an ongoing case that challenges the state’s current two-tier system of subsistence fishing management. He also represented the state in a lawsuit that challenged salmon fishery management in Cook Inlet.
“If confirmed,” Peterson said in his questionnaire, “I will recuse myself from any case where I have ever played a role. Further, I will evaluate any potential conflict or issue that could give rise to the appearance of a conflict, on a case-by-case basis and determine appropriate action, including recusal where necessary.”
John Boyle, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, speaks on Nov. 15, 2023, at the Resource Development for Alaska annual conference in Anchorage. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
John Boyle, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, abruptly resigned his position on Friday.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced the appointment of his deputy, John Crowther, as acting head of the agency that regulates Alaska’s agriculture, mining, oil and gas.
The governor’s office declined Monday to answer questions about the resignation, which had not been previously announced.
Dunleavy is term-limited and will leave office in December 2026. Boyle’s departure follows those of Revenue Commissioner Adam Crum and Attorney General Treg Taylor.
The resignations of both of those men — who are now Republican candidates for governor in next year’s elections — were announced in advance, unlike Boyle’s departure.
Boyle could not be reached for comment on Monday.
The departing commissioner has extensive experience in the oil industry. Before joining Dunleavy’s cabinet in 2023, he was a lobbyist for BP and Oil Search.
Crowther, who will replace Boyle on an interim basis, has been with the Department of Natural Resources since 2012, the governor’s office said.
He previously worked as director of the governor’s Washington, D.C. office and served on the staff of the U.S. Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He holds a law degree from Georgetown University.
“The Department of Natural Resources is at the forefront of protecting and developing Alaska’s precious land and waters. Mr. Crowther’s legal background and experience as a deputy commissioner make him a great choice to advance the responsible development, and maximum use, of Alaska’s natural resources consistent with the public interest as mandated by Alaska’s Constitution,” the governor said in a prepared statement released on Friday.
Alaska Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Steven Gildersleeve, right, an HH-60M Black Hawk critical care flight paramedic, assigned to the 207th Aviation Troop Command, surveys Nightmute, Alaska, with local resident Harvey Dock during Operation Halong Response, Oct. 17, 2025. (Alaska National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Joseph Moon)
President Donald Trump granted the State of Alaska’s request for a federal disaster declaration on Wednesday, unlocking federal disaster aid to support the ongoing relief and recovery effort in the aftermath of ex-Typhoon Halong throughout Western Alaska.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy formally submitted the request on Oct. 16, and applauded the announcement on social media on Wednesday.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy arrives in Bethel after visiting the storm-damaged villages of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok on Oct. 17, 2025. (Photo by Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
“This declaration will be instrumental for ongoing response and recovery efforts. I want to thank President Trump and his administration for the continued support of Alaska and providing help for Alaska during this time of need,” Dunleavy said on Facebook. “Thank you President Trump!”
The declaration authorizes a 100 percent cost share for relief assistance for the next 90 days, through January, according to a statement from the governor’s office. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will coordinate with the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management on all recovery operations and programs. Representatives with the governor’s office and Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said they did not yet have a copy of the declaration on Wednesday.
Trump said he also authorized an immediate $25 million in relief funding, to cover costs as the state continues to conduct damage assessments.
“I am approving $25 Million Dollars to help Alaska recover from the major typhoon they experienced earlier this month,” Trump wrote on the social media site Truth Social. “It is my Honor to deliver for the Great State of Alaska, which I won BIG in 2016, 2020, and 2024 — ALASKA, I WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”
The Alaska congressional delegation also thanked the president in a joint statement, noting their letter urging the president to respond and grant the disaster declaration.
“I raised Alaska’s disaster declaration directly with President Trump yesterday at the White House and thank him for quickly approving it to ensure impacted western communities have federal support in the wake of Typhoon Halong,” wrote US Sen. Lisa Senator Murkowski, R-Alaska. “I also appreciate FEMA’s expedited review of this request, which is one of the quickest federal responses in recent years.”
“To all Alaskans impacted,” Murkowski added. “Please know that your congressional delegation, state, and nation stand united and will continue to coordinate recovery efforts as you move forward.”
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, praised Trump’s move and said he would be visiting storm-impacted villages on Saturday.
“I plan on being in Western Alaska this weekend with top FEMA and DHS officials, and my team and I will continue working closely with the Trump administration and our state, local, and tribal partners to make sure these incredible Alaskans get the help they need to recover and return to their communities,” Sullivan said.
Begich has not announced plans to visit the region. He also praised Trump and the announcement. “Our focus as a delegation remains on ensuring every Alaskan family impacted by this storm receives the resources and support needed throughout the long process of rebuilding their lives,” he said.
Alaska Organized Militia members assigned to Task Force Bethel continue recovery efforts, including retrieving boats the storm washed away and clearing debris at Chefornak, Alaska, Oct. 21, 2025. (Photo by the Alaska National Guard)
The disaster declaration request covered the Northwest Arctic Borough, Lower Yukon Regional Education Attendance Area and the Lower Kukokwim Regional Attendance Area, places hit by the remnants of Typhoon Halong.
More than 1,500 residents were displaced by the storm that killed one woman and left two missing in Kwigillingok.
The storm recovery effort is in full swing. Local residents are working on clean up, while regional tribal partners and dozens of state agencies, non-profit and relief organizations provide support to the region, particularly the hardest hit area of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. State and tribal agencies are flying aid into those residents who remain in the coastal villages, like immediate food, water and fuel, while crews continue to work on debris removal, fuel spills, infrastructure assessment and repair to water, power, and sewer systems, roads and boardwalks. Crews are working throughout communities to repair homes where possible, so that local residents can return before winter sets in.
There is no cost estimate for the storm damage at this time, according to Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson for the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, because agencies are working to restore services simultaneously.
The program provides financial assistance for storm damage to homes, vehicles, essential personal property, medical, dental or funeral needs directly related to the disaster. Applicants will be eligible for $21,250 in home repairs and another $21,250 for “other needs.”
The president has not yet authorized federal individual assistance — $42,500 for home repairs and $42,500 for other items — but state officials say there will likely be more information from the Trump administration in the coming days.
The Alaska and American flags fly in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
NOTN- Juneau Sen. Jesse Kiehl says the ongoing federal government shutdown is harming public workers and citizens rather than politicians.
Speaking on KINY last week, Kiehl said that despite one party holding control of Congress and the White House, U.S. Senate filibuster rules make it difficult to reach a budget deal.
“Federal rules are a little bit different than the state; there’s the old saying in the U.S. Senate that there are only two rules, there’s unanimous consent and total exhaustion.” Kiehl said, “Breaking a filibuster means bringing in cots and sleeping there until somebody finally falls over. The U.S. Senate is not a bunch of spring chickens, so they don’t like to do that second part. So they’re trying to get to a deal, or rather, if they don’t get to a deal, we end up here.”
Kiehl, recalling Alaska’s own brief partial shutdown during his time in the Legislature, said the consequences of budget impasses fall hardest on workers and the public.
“The pain doesn’t end up with the folks who do the voting, we really have to keep an eye on who’s affected, and it’s the citizens.” Kiehl said, “It’s the people who try to go to work and do the job for the public every day, and that’s what we’re seeing. It’s a doggone shame.”
As of October 21, 2025, the government has been shut down for 21 days, with over 700,000 federal employees furloughed, on October 22, 2025 the shutdown will become the second longest, the longest funding lapse was 35 days in 2018 and 2019.
Republicans and Democrats seem no closer to an agreement on how to resolve the ongoing budget dispute.
Under the U.S. system, the different branches of government have to agree on spending plans before they become law.
“Everybody needs to focus back up and remember that services to Americans are what’s getting cut here.” Kiehl said, “This is destructive.”
AP- The remnant storms of Typhoon Halong tore into western Alaska with such ferocity that they pulled Steven Anaver’s home from its foundation and buoyed it across choppy water — with him inside.
Videos he shared Monday with The Associated Press convey the desperate scene as the waters rose inside his home and the flooding raged outside.
The storms’ blistering winds and record-high water levels laid waste to several small communities Oct. 12, displacing more than 2,000 people and requiring one of the most significant airlift operations in Alaska history.
At least one person is dead, and two others are missing.
The water started rising quickly Saturday night in Anaver’s village of Kwigillingok. It’s one of two Yup’ik communities that were hit hardest.
Anaver looked out through his window into pitch-black darkness. The power had long since been out.
The storm was the worst he’d seen. At around 3:00 a.m. on Sunday, the water level jumped, rising to his knees in about 10 minutes.
Shortly after, the home teetered, tilted and started floating.
Plastic bags, boxes of blankets, a leather boot and furniture cushions floated in videos Anaver took from inside. The walls swayed like a ship’s.
Outside, the dark waters lapped the house just a few feet from the window as the home drifted away. Anaver heard loud booms, and frigid wind rushed through a hole that opened in one wall.
“This was a big challenge for my anxiety,” he said. “I kept calling my family.”
More booms shook the home as the waves crashed it into other structures.
“Oh God,” he wrote in a Facebook post around 5:30 a.m.
Anaver tried to take pictures to orient where he was — the camera could see better than his eyes in the darkness — but it was futile until the moon came out later that morning.
He could see a house he recognized. He’d floated for roughly a mile.
A small hill with a board sticking out of it had stopped Anaver’s home just feet from the river, which had dragged other houses much farther away.
After 7 a.m., when the water had receded enough, two neighbors in waders came over and helped him out.
Three days later, Anaver posted a video on Facebook of the hours drifting in his own home.
“I was inches away from death,” he wrote. “I escaped.”
Members of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian group Aanchich’x Kwaan perform on Oct. 18, 2025, at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Anchorage. The dance and singing group has members of all age groups, from young children to elders. The group was among several that performed traditional dances at the convention. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Anchorage, while it featured the usual cultural celebrations, socializing and discussions of state and federal policies, had a strong focus this year on a particular subject: the ravages on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta of ex-Typhoon Halong.
Natasha Singh poses for photos in the hallway of the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center, site of the Alaska Federation of Natives annual convention. Singh, who is president of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, had just delivered her keynote speech on the opening morning of the convention. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Speaker after speaker at the convention, the largest annual convention of any kind in Alaska and one of the largest Indigenous gatherings in the nation, referenced the storm. It has displaced more than 1,500 people, killed at least one person and dislodged houses from their foundations. Residents of stricken villages have been airlifted away, with hundreds getting temporary residency in Anchorage. The state’s largest city is about 490 miles east of the evacuees’ home villages, and vastly different in culture and character from the highly rural Indigenous communities.
“My heart with everyone impacted by the recent coastal storms,” Natasha Singh, the president of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and the keynote speaker on the first day of the convention, said at the start of her address.
“While the damage is so vast, the love for our people is even greater. And even as we feel the pain and the loss, I also feel a sense of inspiration to see so many people reach out to help,” she continued.
Volunteers work on Oct. 18, 2025, to sort donated items being collected in a room in the Dena’ina Civic and Coonvention Center, site of the Alaska Federation of Natives annual convention. Donations of diapers, clothing, hygiene products, bottled water, shelf-stable food and other items were being collected for Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta residents displaced by the remnants of Typhoon Halong. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
A special feature of the convention was a second-floor room at the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center that was set aside to collect donations headed to the storm victims. Over two days, as convention proceedings unfolded in the third-floor ballroom, the collection room became filled with boxes of diapers, toiletries, clothing items, shelf-stable food and other necessities that were sorted by volunteers.
On Saturday, the final day, delegates passed a resolution seeking an immediate national disaster declaration, and investment by the federal government in better infrastructure in rural Alaska to protect against future disasters.
The ravages of the remnants ofTyphoon Halong demand more than an emergency response, the resolution said. The disaster “has continued to expose vulnerabilities in infrastructure, housing, and emergency preparedness for rural Alaska/extreme remote America, and highlights the need for stronger tribal-state-federal collaboration,” it said.
Alaska Federation of Natives convention attendees from the Yukon-Kuskokwim region listen on Oct. 16, 2025, to the keynote address delivered by Natasha Singh, president of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
The call for a national disaster declaration and the aid that would come with it was among a packet of resolutions passed on Saturday. Many of the resolutions concerned food security and efforts to ensure that Alaska Natives can safely practice their traditional fishing and hunting practices.
One highly anticipated convention speaker was former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, who is considered a possible candidate for governor or U.S. Senate.
But Peltola made no campaign announcement.
“I want to preface everything I’m saying with: This is going to be very anticlimactic for everybody, I think,” she said at the start of her speech. “No big announcements, no big declarations.”
Former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, speaks at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention on Oct. 17, 2025, about subsistence food gathering. Peltola is Yup’ik and from Bethel. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Instead, she discussed subsistence – the traditional harvests of wild foods and arts materials – and the legal and environmental threats to its continued practice.
State legislators sit onstage at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention on Oct. 17, 2025, as House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, addresses the audience. Lawmakers pictured are, from the left, Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome; Rep. Maxine Dibert, D-Fairbanks; Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage; Rep. Zack Fields, D-Anchorage; Rep. Robyn Burke, D-Utqiagvik; Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak; Sen. Donny Olson, D-Golovin; and Rep. Nellie Jimmie, D-Toksook Bay. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
She spoke about the way subsistence ties Alaska Natives to their home regions.
“Those spots, the places that we hunt and fish, they’re like another personality to us,” Peltola said.
She referred to a close friend who recently died. When she was on her deathbed, her family gathered around, Peltola said. “And at one point, they just talked about places. They just said the names of the places where they pick berries, or get whitefish, gather greens. And it was one of the most beautiful moments I’ve ever experienced, just reciting names.”
Kendra Berlin mans a pro-voting table at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention on Oct. 16, 2025. Berlin, originally from Bethel but now living in Palmer, was distributing T-shirt and buttons promoting the Natives Vote cause. (Phot by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
