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Alaska Beacon The Alaska Beacon is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government.

Our journalists fairly and fearlessly report on the people and interests that determine state policy.

When the peak of the annual glacial outburst flood hit early Wednesday morning in Juneau, newly installed flood barriers...
14/08/2025

When the peak of the annual glacial outburst flood hit early Wednesday morning in Juneau, newly installed flood barriers stacked along the Mendenhall River largely prevented flooding of the nearby residential area, reports Corinne Smith of the Alaska Beacon.

The flooding reached a record-breaking 16.65 feet at 7:15 a.m., but nearby homes, businesses and three schools were mostly spared. On Wednesday afternoon, Juneau officials announced the flood threat was over.Officials reported there were no rescues overnight or emergency evacuations during the flooding. There was some flood damage to a bridge, which had already been closed to the public Tuesday and was undergoing repairs.

Residents reported some seepage through the semipermanent HESCO barriers into neighboring yards and homes, and some streets were flooded through water rising through storm drains.

Newly installed flood barriers stacked along the Mendenhall River in Juneau largely prevented flooding of the nearby residential area.

The secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, visiting Alaska this week, said he hopes to learn...
14/08/2025

The secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, visiting Alaska this week, said he hopes to learn about challenges facing both the state’s urban centers and remote rural communities, reports Yereth Rosen of the Alaska Beacon.

“I came here to be a great listener, to understand the needs of the people of Alaska, to understand the challenges of the people of Alaska and particularly when it comes to homelessness and affordable housing,” Scott Turner, the Trump administration’s HUD secretary, said at a news conference Tuesday in Anchorage.

Turner is among several Trump administration cabinet members touring Alaska this summer.

He spent part of Tuesday meeting with Anchorage municipal officials who discussed the challenges of homelessness in the state’s largest city.

HUD Secretary Scott Turner said he wants to learn about Alaska problems, from urban homelessness to rural housing shorages.

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Wednesday overturned a lower court’s ruling that had required the Trump administ...
13/08/2025

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Wednesday overturned a lower court’s ruling that had required the Trump administration to spend foreign aid dollars approved by Congress, reports Jennifer Shutt of States Newsroom, via the Alaska Beacon.

But instead of addressing the central argument of the lawsuit — that a president cannot refuse to spend money approved by lawmakers, who hold the power of the purse — the Circuit Court in a potentially significant decision said the organizations that filed the case didn’t have the authority to do so.

Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson wrote in her 33-page opinion that only the comptroller general, who leads the Government Accountability Office, has the power to bring lawsuits when a president impounds, or refuses to spend, congressionally approved funds. The GAO is an independent, non-partisan watchdog agency that works for Congress.

The case decided Wednesday originated when Trump signed an order on Inauguration Day freezing certain foreign aid spending.

In the narrow sea passage between Alaska and Siberia, there is a glimmer of U.S.-Russia cooperation despite otherwise ic...
13/08/2025

In the narrow sea passage between Alaska and Siberia, there is a glimmer of U.S.-Russia cooperation despite otherwise icy relationships, reports Yereth Rosen of the Alaska Beacon.

Mariners using the Bering Strait are largely abiding by guidelines and rules established in 2018 to protect sensitive areas from disturbances, according to a newly published study by researchers from the University of Alaska Anchorage and Michigan State University.

There, recommended shipping lands and designated “areas to be avoided,” around ecologically sensitive sites, were established by the International Maritime Organization in response to a joint U.S.-Russia initiative. The IMO is an agency of the United Nations responsible for improving the safety and security of international shipping and preventing pollution from ships.

A study of ship movements in the Bering Strait highlights a rare case of U.S.-Russia cooperation during strained times.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s move to deploy 800 National Guard members in the District of Columbia over claims ...
13/08/2025

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s move to deploy 800 National Guard members in the District of Columbia over claims that crime is plaguing the city – despite historic lows – follows his use of the military in his administration’s growing immigration crackdown, reports Ariana Figueroa of States Newsroom, via the Alaska Beacon.

“(D.C.’s) out of control, but we’re going to put it in control very quickly, like we did on the southern border,” Trump said at a Monday press conference where he was flanked by members of his Cabinet, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He vowed to do the same in more cities governed by Democrats.

Trump’s return to the White House was led by a campaign promise of mass deportations, tying newly arrived immigrants at the southern border with high crime rates and the need to use troops to detain and remove those migrants.

Since Inauguration Day, the president has sent thousands of National Guard members to be stationed at the U.S.-Mexico border.

A long-awaited glacial flood is hitting Alaska’s capital city, reports James Brooks of the Alaska Beacon.On Tuesday morn...
12/08/2025

A long-awaited glacial flood is hitting Alaska’s capital city, reports James Brooks of the Alaska Beacon.

On Tuesday morning, local officials sent warning messages to cellphones across the City and Borough of Juneau, alerting local residents that the Mendenhall Glacier’s ice-dammed lake has burst its barrier and is sending a torrent of water toward homes and businesses in the Mendenhall Valley.

“We are prepared for this situation. We’ve been preparing for this situation,” said Sabrina Grubitz, public safety manager for the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, and the commander of a unified local government task force responding to the flood.

The flood is expected to peak Wednesday afternoon at 16.6 feet, likely setting a record and surpassing a flood last year that damaged more than 290 homes.

Officials sent warning messages to cellphones across Juneau, alerting residents that the ice-dammed lake has burst its barrier.

For years, state lawmakers have taken the lead on regulating kratom — the controversial herbal supplement used for pain ...
12/08/2025

For years, state lawmakers have taken the lead on regulating kratom — the controversial herbal supplement used for pain relief, anxiety and opioid withdrawal symptoms. Some states have banned it entirely. Others have passed laws requiring age limits, labeling and lab testing, reports Amanda Hernández of Stateline, via the Alaska Beacon.

At least half of the states and the District of Columbia have enacted some form of regulation on kratom or its components — building a patchwork of policies around a product largely unaddressed by the federal government.

But that may soon change. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is pushing to ban 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH — a powerful compound found in small amounts in kratom and sometimes concentrated or synthesized in products sold online, at smoke shops or behind gas station counters.

At least half of the states and the District of Columbia have enacted some form of regulation on kratom or its components.

Four days before a scheduled meeting with the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, over the possibility of a ceasefire t...
12/08/2025

Four days before a scheduled meeting with the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, over the possibility of a ceasefire that could pause the Russian invasion of Ukraine, President Donald Trump has yet to announce a firm location or timing, reports James Brooks of the Alaska Beacon.

Trump said last week on social media that he would meet Putin in Alaska on Friday.

Speaking to reporters Monday at the White House, Trump said he would seek to temporarily end the fighting that has resulted since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

The president said last week that he will talk to Putin in Alaska on Friday, but he still hasn't said where or when those talks will happen.

About 10 million people, mostly Medicaid recipients, will lose access to health insurance and 2.4 million fewer people p...
12/08/2025

About 10 million people, mostly Medicaid recipients, will lose access to health insurance and 2.4 million fewer people per month will participate in a federal food aid program under Republicans’ massive tax cut and spending law, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Monday, reports Jacob Fischler of States Newsroom, via the Alaska Beacon.

Median-income U.S. households will see a small overall gain in resources from President Donald Trump and the GOP’s “big, beautiful” law, CBO said.

But major changes to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, mean Americans at the bottom of the income distribution will see a net loss of benefits, CBO said.

Median-income households will see a small overall gain in resources from President Donald Trump and the GOP’s “big, beautiful” law, CBO said.

Officials in Alaska’s capital city are asking residents to voluntarily evacuate from parts of the Mendenhall Valley ahea...
12/08/2025

Officials in Alaska’s capital city are asking residents to voluntarily evacuate from parts of the Mendenhall Valley ahead of an expected glacial flood this week, reports James Brooks of the Alaska Beacon.

Last year’s flood damaged more than 290 homes in the valley, a largely suburban district of Juneau that is located near the Mendenhall Glacier, and while city officials have constructed temporary barriers to deter future flooding, those barriers haven’t yet been tested in an actual emergency.

“We are issuing those evacuation advisories, because although we are extremely confident in the HESCO barriers’ capability to protect neighborhoods, we’re not willing to bet on that with anybody’s life — or safety,” said Ryan O’Shaughnessy, director of emergency programs for the City and Borough of Juneau.

Water in a lake within the Mendenhall Glacier began overtopping an ice dam on Sunday, meaning a glacial outburst flood is days away.

When Siri Fiske founded the Mysa Microschool in Washington, D.C., in 2016, there wasn’t a widely accepted term for her s...
11/08/2025

When Siri Fiske founded the Mysa Microschool in Washington, D.C., in 2016, there wasn’t a widely accepted term for her small, one-room schoolhouse model, reports Robbie Sequiera for States Newsroom via the Alaska Beacon

Now, the school is referred to on its website as one of the first microschools in the nation, and Fiske has seen a growing microschool movement since the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the five years since remote schooling amid pandemic-era lockdowns, microschools and homeschooling have emerged as increasingly popular alternatives to traditional public and private models. Smaller class sizes, individualized classrooms and lack of standardization are an appeal to parents, Fiske said.

In the five years since remote schooling amid pandemic-era lockdowns, microschools and homeschooling have emerged as increasingly popular alternatives to traditional public and private models. But some education experts have expressed concerns about the growing movement.

A push to create a new Alaska Department of Agriculture could cause a showdown over executive power, reports James Brook...
11/08/2025

A push to create a new Alaska Department of Agriculture could cause a showdown over executive power, reports James Brooks .bsky.social for .com

Alaska's governor and the state Legislature have different views about the constitutionality of the governor's actions.

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