Nat Herz

Supporters say the measure contains programs proven in other states that will boost Alaska’s low student reading scores. But critics say the bill was rushed and doesn’t adequately account for the needs of rural school districts.

Justin Ruffridge grew up in Soldotna and, as a conservative and a Christian, he’s part of the same demographic as some of the COVID-19 vaccine’s biggest skeptics. He’s also a medical professional, and that lends him a measure of credibility that government officials can lack.

A broader partisan divide over the COVID-19 vaccine is already prompting concerns about vaccine hesitancy in some of Alaska’s more conservative communities.

More than 75,000 Alaskans have already cast absentee ballots, nearly one-fourth of the total votes cast in the 2016 presidential election.

Groups connected with both major parties are pouring money into the race.

Veterans of state budget battles say that after years of spending cuts, it’s unlikely that further reductions can fill much of the deficit without major impacts to services like schools and the Medicaid system.

The initiative, Ballot Measure 2, would mandate more transparency about who’s funding the super PAC-like independent spending groups that operate in Alaska’s elections. It would also target the election process itself.

A back injury, and the changes it caused to her workouts, played a role in Anchorage nordic skiing phenom Kikkan Randall's disappointing showing in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, according to an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

A huge wildfire burning on the Kenai Peninsula was threatening structures south of the Kenai River Sunday afternoon, prompting an evacuation order on one side of the famed river and an evacuation watch on the other.

The Anchorage Assembly will not vote at its special meeting Wednesday on the scheduling of a referendum on the city's controversial new labor ordinance, which passed last spring with the backing of Mayor Dan Sullivan.