News
Both sides of Alaska homeschool case want programs in place, disagree over how it should happen
The administration of Gov. Mike Dunleavy and plaintiffs in a court case whose outcome struck down key components of Alaska’s homeschool programs have different ideas for how to get families who use those programs through the next year. Earlier this month, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Adolf Zeman ruled that the law allowing the state to […]
Alaska House approves social media ban for young kids, online pornography ID checks for all
The Alaska House of Representatives voted by a wide margin and with bipartisan support on Friday to ban children younger than 14 from using online social media. House Bill 254, from Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, also requires companies that provide internet pornography to check whether an Alaskan viewing that pornography is at least 18 years […]
Tire toxicity faces fresh scrutiny after salmon die-offs
For decades, concerns about automobile pollution have focused on what comes out of the tailpipe. Now, researchers and regulators say, we need to pay more attention to toxic emissions from tires as vehicles roll down the road. At the top of the list of worries is a chemical called 6PPD, which is added to rubber […]
Top GOP ‘election integrity’ lawyer charged in Arizona fake elector scheme
Less than a week after the Republican National Committee unveiled a “historic” new program to monitor the polls for fraud, a top lawyer with the committee was among those indicted for an alleged scheme to use false fraud claims to overturn the results of Arizona’s presidential election. Indeed, the lawyer, RNC senior counsel for election […]
Report portrays mixed picture of Alaska’s huge seafood industry
The Alaska seafood industry remains an economic juggernaut, but it is under strain from forces outside of the state’s control, according to a new report commissioned by the state’s seafood marketing agency. The report from the McKinley Research Group, titled The Economic Value of Alaska’s Seafood Industry, is the latest in a periodic series commissioned […]
Alaska Senate panel approves state spending plan with smaller dividend than House proposed
The Alaska Senate is moving toward a final vote on its draft state spending plan for the coming fiscal year, with lawmakers expected to vote next week on a proposal that includes enough money to pay a 2024 Permanent Fund dividend estimated to be $1,580 per recipient. The Senate’s draft operating budget is different from […]
New Alaska research projects focus on climate change, mercury and workforce development
Four new research projects selected for funding in a University of Alaska Anchorage program will address some of the most pressing problems facing the state: climate change, marine ecosystem health and losses in the labor force. The projects, each designed to run for two years, were winners in an annual competition that uses an endowment […]
Lawmakers hope to use this emerging climate science to charge oil companies for disasters
A fast-emerging field of climate research is helping scientists pinpoint just how many dollars from a natural disaster can be tied to the historic emissions of individual oil companies — analysis that is the centerpiece of new state efforts to make fossil fuel companies pay billions for floods, wildfires and heat waves. When a flood […]
Alaska House seeks to ban social media for kids, limit access to internet pornography
Late Wednesday night, the Alaska House of Representatives advanced toward a final vote on a proposal that would ban children younger than 14 from using social media and require all Alaskans to verify their age before viewing pornography online. House Bill 254, sponsored by Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, originally contained just the porn age requirement, […]
Alaska Senate plans fast action on correspondence problem, but House is ‘fundamentally divided’
As the Alaska Senate prepared on Wednesday to launch a legislative blitz intended to quickly fix a looming problem with the state’s remote education programs, the Alaska House of Representatives signaled that it is so split that it may need more than a year to act on the topic. House lawmakers spent more than three […]
Too many cubicles, too few homes spur incentives to convert offices to housing
Read more Stateline coverage of how communities across the country are trying to create more affordable housing. HERNDON, Va. — Juan Ramirez, watching his dog play in Chandon Park here in suburban Virginia on a Saturday morning, tries to imagine the massive office buildings next to the park becoming apartments and townhouses. “I guess it’s inevitable. People don’t […]
Biden signs $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan into law
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan emergency spending law Wednesday to provide an additional $95 billion in aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, ending months of behind-the-scenes maneuvering and public pleas for Congress to approve the funding. The package also included a measure requiring the popular app TikTok be sold by its Chinese […]