Alaska Beacon, Juneau, AK (2026)

05/30/2026

Alaska and three of its municipalities could be in line for an extra $60 million in oil industry tax revenue after a new ruling in a long-running feud over the value of the trans-Alaska pipeline system, reports Max Graham for Northern Journal via Alaska Beacon.

A state appeals board this week determined the property tax value of the enormous 50-year-old pipeline system, which moves crude 800 miles from the North Slope’s oil fields to the port town of Valdez, to be $13 billion.

That’s some $3 billion more than an initial 2026 assessment from Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration — meaning the pipeline’s owners would owe $60 million more under the state’s 2% property tax regime.

Alaska and three of its municipalities could be in line for an extra $60 million in oil industry tax revenue after a new ruling in a long-running feud over the value of the trans-Alaska pipeline system.

05/29/2026

The U.S. Postal Service on Friday took its first major step to carry out President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting voting by mail, proposing a rule that would require states to submit lists of voters before mailing ballots, reports Jonathon Shorman for States Newsroom via Alaska Beacon.

But the proposed rule appears to smooth over some of the rougher edges of the executive order, which has been condemned by Democratic state officials as an intrusion on their constitutional authority to administer elections.

The U.S. Postal Service on Friday took its first major step to carry out President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting voting by mail, proposing a rule that would require states to submit lists of voters before mailing ballots.

05/29/2026

The Alaska Legislature approved a package of legislation aimed at improving the state’s coordination and emergency medical services response for strokes and heart attacks, including prompting school districts to offer CPR training for all Alaska students, reports Corinne Smith for the Alaska Beacon.

Noting Alaska’s unique challenges with geography, transportation and emergency services resources, the bill’s sponsor Rep. Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage, said the goal of the legislation is to streamline responses to intervene in what’s known as the “golden hour” — the 60 minutes following a traumatic injury or medical event — particularly for strokes and heart attacks.

The Alaska Legislature approved a package of legislation aimed at improving the state’s coordination and emergency medical services response for strokes and heart attacks, including prompting school districts to offer CPR training for all Alaska students.

05/29/2026

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with a fund that opponents fear will be used to pay off the president’s political allies, reports Jonathon Shorman for States Newsroom via Alaska Beacon.

Judge Leonie Brinkema in the Eastern District of Virginia issued a brief order halting the Department of Justice, the Treasury Department and other high-ranking administration officials from taking any additional actions to create the fund or make payments from it.

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with a fund that opponents fear will be used to pay off the president’s political allies.

05/29/2026

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund has attracted scrutiny for its corruption potential, even splitting congressional Republicans who rarely confront President Donald Trump’s decisions and policies, reports Ashley Murray for States Newsroom via Alaska Beacon.

Among the top concerns: Could pardoned Jan. 6, 2021, riot defendants who assaulted police officers claim a slice of the pie and essentially be rewarded for committing political violence?

The Trump administration’s nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund has attracted scrutiny for its corruption potential, even splitting congressional Republicans who rarely confront President Donald Trump’s decisions and policies.

05/29/2026

For countless generations, people of the Bering Strait region have relied on the food they harvest from the sea without worrying about harmful algal blooms that threaten seafood eaters in warmer and more southern latitudes, reports Yereth Rosen for the Alaska Beacon

Now, as the Northern Bering Sea undergoes cascading effects of a warming climate, algal risks pose a new challenge.

The change has been dramatic.

As the Northern Bering Sea undergoes cascading effects of a warming climate, algal risks pose a new challenge.

05/29/2026

The leader of the coalition majority in the Alaska House of Representatives will leave his seat and run for state Senate, writes James Brooks for the Alaska Beacon.

On Wednesday, Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, filed as a candidate with the Alaska Division of Elections for the Senate seat covering Southwest Alaska.

Edgmon said he decided to run “with some encouragement and the realization that the timing was now or never.”

The incumbent, Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, is retiring and not seeking election. Hoffman, who has been in office since 1987, is the longest-serving state legislator in Alaska history.

The incumbent, Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, is retiring. Hoffman is the longest-serving state legislator in Alaska history.

05/29/2026

Former Alaska Gov. Bill Walker said Thursday that he is considering whether to formally file as a candidate for governor on Monday, the deadline to enter the 2026 race, writes James Brooks for the Alaska Beacon.

Walker and former Department of Revenue Commissioner Randy Hoffbeck filed letters of intent with the Alaska Public Offices Commission on Thursday, a necessary step before officially registering as candidates with the Alaska Division of Elections.

Both would run as independents if they decide to register, Walker said.

“We’ll meet a few times more over the weekend,” Hoffbeck said. “We both feel very strongly that we need to raise the level of discussion on a (state) fiscal plan and the gasline, but our consideration is: Can we move the needle? Is this the best use of our time and resources?”

The deadline to file as a candidate in this year’s statewide elections is 5 p.m. Monday. If Walker formally becomes a candidate, he would be the 19th in this year’s race.

He and his potential lieutenant governor, former Revenue commissioner Randy Hoffbeck, filed preliminary paperwork Thursday.

05/29/2026

The state of Alaska has the right to make public data from exploration wells drilled by ConocoPhillips in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, an appeals court has ruled, writes Yereth Rosen for the Alaska Beacon.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, issued Wednesday, overturns a 2023 decision by U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason that allowed well data to remain under wraps.

At issue is a collection of wells drilled in the reserve, which is federal territory. ConocoPhillips argued that data confidentiality is explicitly guaranteed in federal law and that federal law supersedes state law, but the appeals justices disagreed.

On the National Petroleum Reserve, “Alaska has its own authority to gather — and disclose — data collected from oil and gas exploration, authority that it exercised even before Congress opened the Reserve to private exploration,” the appeals court ruling said.

The state of Alaska has the right to make public data from exploration wells drilled by ConocoPhillips in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, an appeals court has ruled. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, issued Wednesday, overturns a 2023 decision by U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gle...

05/28/2026

Early this month, a mobile floating gas station of sorts pulled up alongside the towering cruise ship Star Princess at Seattle’s Pier 91 terminal. For the next eight hours, the refueling crew made news by pumping a large volume of super-cooled natural gas into the bowels of the cruise liner, writes Tom Banse in an article first published by Post Alley.

The newest cruise ship operated by Princess Cruises is the first oceangoing vessel to be refueled in Seattle with liquefied natural gas (LNG). It could be the start of a new way of fueling the Alaska cruise ships that operate out of Seattle and Vancouver all summer.

“I’m just delighted to see there’s no smoke coming out of the cruise ship. We’re plugged in. We’re burning the cleanest gas you can right now,” Port of Seattle Commissioner Fred Felleman said while observing from an adjacent pier. “Right now, this is about as good as it gets in the industry.”

The steadily-growing fleet of mammoth cruise ships that ply the Inside Passage has a sizable carbon footprint – ship fuel being the biggest single component. Cruise line executives acknowledge that they need to do their part to soften the environmental impact. The major cruise lines in the Alaska market, through their trade association, have committed to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from ship operations by 2050. The challenge until now has been finding an alternative fuel that is cost-competitive and available at scale locally.

The newest cruise ship operated by Princess Cruises is the first oceangoing vessel to be refueled with liquefied natural gas, which could be the start of a new way of fueling the Alaska cruise ships that operate out of Seattle and Vancouver all summer.

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