Alaska
Alaska child care advocates want subsidies and tax credits caught in legal limbo — and more
JUNEAU — Advocates want the Alaska Legislature to again pass a child care measure that is being challenged in court, along with additional help for the beleaguered sector.
Legislators last year approved Senate Bill 189, which included new state tax credits for certain corporations that contribute to child care or offer their employees child care, alongside an increase to the state’s existing assistance payments for families.
SB 189 was combined with several different measures in the final hectic hours of last year’s legislative session. Gov. Mike Dunleavy allowed the bill to pass into law without his signature in September.
But the measure has since faced a legal challenge. Former Wasilla Republican Rep. David Eastman sued the state in November, arguing that the combined bill violated the Alaska Constitution’s “single-subject rule,” which requires that provisions adopted in a single bill all relate to one topic.
State senators have recently introduced measures that were identical to those approved by the Legislature last year. Those measures are intended to avoid disruptions if a court strikes down SB 189 as unconstitutional, lawmakers said.
Anchorage Reps. Zack Fields, a Democrat, and Julie Coulombe, a Republican, said the Legislature should pass the same child care provisions as last year.
“Just do the safe thing. Effectively nullify the lawsuit and maintain these important programs,” said Fields, co-chair of the House Labor and Commerce Committee.
Child care providers and workers have long struggled with low wages, high turnover and meager benefits. Parents have complained of long waitlists and soaring costs at child care centers.
The Alaska Chamber of Commerce in recent years has advocated for reforms to expand child care access across the state.
Kati Capozzi, president and CEO of the Alaska Chamber of Commerce, said full-time child care for an infant averages $21,000 per year in Alaska.
She said a recent statewide chamber survey showed that 19% of parents missed work last year, and 12% of parents chose not to work, due to a lack of affordable and accessible childcare.
“We have thousands of able-bodied, ready-to-work Alaskans that are sitting on the sidelines due to this crisis,” she told lawmakers last week.
Capozzi said some companies have “expressed serious interest” in using tax credits, but that was stalled by the lawsuit. She urged lawmakers to pass the same child care legislation as last year without changes.
“Let’s just get that through and then focus on the other pieces,” she said.
Another consequence of rushing to pass Senate Bill 189 is that it did not include a formal estimate of costs for child care subsidies. As a result, the higher assistance payments for families have not been paid yet, said Alex Huseman, a spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Health.
Huseman said that the cost estimate was included in Dunleavy’s budget proposal for the fiscal year that starts July 1. If lawmakers approve that as part of the budget this year, the expanded subsidies will start being paid, she said.
Fields said those subsidies for low-income families are essential.
Alongside subsidies and tax credits, legislators for the past two years have approved $7.5 million in one-time grants for child care providers. Advocates say that grant funding should be increased and made permanent.
Thread Alaska, a statewide child care advocacy organization, wants the Legislature to approve $13 million this year for providers and $8.5 million to support early educators.
Robert Barr, Juneau’s deputy city manager and a thread board member, said those grants would be a starting point to help stabilize and grow the sector. But he also acknowledged the challenges facing lawmakers from the state’s strained finances.
Dunleavy established a task force in 2023 to study child care and how to stabilize the sector. The task force concluded its work late last year and made 56 recommendations. Those include subsidies for families and help for providers to navigate a complex bureaucratic process.
Coulombe, who served on the task force, opposed using state funds to subsidize child care providers’ operating expenses. She said uncertainty surrounding state funding and federal grants under President Donald Trump made that risky for business owners.
“I want them to be thriving businesses. I don’t want them to rely on the state for money every two seconds,” she said Tuesday.
Advocates consider Juneau as the gold standard for municipal support of child care. Anchorage and other Alaska communities are establishing their own local subsidy programs for providers.
Blue Shibler, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Association for the Education of Young Children, is advocating for the state to establish a pooled fund to match local government support. She said that would help providers enroll more kids in child care.
“It’s clear to me that the biggest part of the problem, especially in terms of how it’s impacting the economy, is the supply side,” she said.
Barr calculated that it would cost roughly $47 million per year to create a statewide version of Juneau’s subsidy program for providers. He has advocated for an all-in approach for child care funding from local, state and federal sources.
“The state alone isn’t going to solve it. Local governments alone aren’t going to solve the challenge that we’re facing in the sector,” Barr said.
Alaska
Alaska High School Girls Basketball 2026 ASAA State Championship Brackets – March 10
The 2026 Alaska high school girls basketball state championships begin this week, and High School On SI has brackets for all four classifications.
The brackets will be updated with scores and matchups throughout the week.
All four classifications will play their state championship games at Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.
The 1A and 2A championships run March 11-14. Classes 3A and 4A play the following week, March 18-21.
Alaska High School Girls Basketball 2026 State Championship Brackets, Matchups, Schedule – March 10
3/11 – Shaktoolik (1) vs. Arlicaq (16)
3/11 – Kake (8) vs. Tri-Valley (9)
3/11 – Fort Yukon (4) vs. Andreafski (13)
3/11 – Sand Point (5) vs. Napaaqutgmiut (12)
3/11 – Scammon Bay (2) vs. Nunamiut (15)
3/11 – Akiuk Memorial (7) vs. Newhalen (10)
3/11 – Davis-Romoth (3) vs. Cook Inlet Academy (14)
3/11 – Hoonah (6) vs. Shishmaref (11)
3/12 – Seward (1) vs. Chevak (8)
3/12 – Metlakatla (4) vs. Cordova (5)
3/12 – Craig (2) vs. Susitna Valley (7)
3/12 – Glennallen (3) vs. Degnan (6)
3/18 – Barrow (1) vs. Kotzebue (8)
3/18 – Grace Christian (4) vs. Galena (5)
3/18 – Monroe Catholic (2) vs. Delta (7)
3/18 – Mt. Edgecumbe (3) vs. Kenai Central (6)
3/18 – Mountain City Christian Academy (1) vs. North Pole (8)
3/18 – Colony (4) vs. West (5)
3/18 – Bartlett (2) vs. Juneau-Douglas (7)
3/18 – Wasilla (3) vs. Service (6)
More Coverage from High School On SI
Alaska
Made In The USA: The Alaska Wall Tent By The Alaska Gear Company
This is the Alaska Wall Tent by the Alaska Gear Company, each one is made in the United States from Sunforger 13oz DLX, a double-filled, pre-shrunk, marine-grade canvas ideal for longterm outdoor use.
The Alaska Wall Tent comes in an array of sizes and versions, allowing you to choose the one that best suits your individual use-case. They’re all individually made in Alaska, and perhaps even more importantly, they’re all tested extensively to be able to handle local conditions.

This is the Alaska Wall Tent by the Alaska Gear Company, each one is made in the United States from Sunforger 13oz DLX, a double-filled, pre-shrunk, marine-grade canvas ideal for longterm outdoor use.
History Speedrun: The Alaska Gear Company
The Alaska Gear Company was formerly known as Airframes Alaska, it’s an aviation and outdoor equipment supplier and manufacturer headquartered in Palmer, Alaska. The company is led by majority owner Sean McLaughlin, who bought the original bush airplane parts business when it had just two employees and $100,000 in annual revenue. McLaughlin has since grown it to approximately 100 employees and $20 million in annual sales.
The company can trace its early roots to a licensed maker of Piper PA-18 Super Cub fuselages at Birchwood Airport. Through a series of acquisitions, including Reeve Air Motive (an aircraft parts retailer operating out of Anchorage’s Merrill Field since 1950, Alaska Tent & Tarp, and Northern Sled Works, the company grew well beyond aviation into outdoor recreation and cold-weather gear.
That diversification ultimately drove the rebrand from Airframes Alaska to Alaska Gear Company in late 2023, as the old name no longer conveyed the full scope of what the company produces and sells.
The Alaska Gear Company now operates out of three locations – a 100,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Palmer, a production facility in Fairbanks, and a retail store with an in-house sewing workshop at Merrill Field in Anchorage.
Its product lines span two major categories. On the aviation side, the company is best known for its hand-built Alaskan Bushwheel tundra tires, FAA-approved titanium landing gear, Super Cub fuselage modifications, and a wide range of bush plane parts. On the outdoor side, it manufactures Arctic Oven hot tents, canvas wall tents, custom freight and pulk sleds, and a modernized version of the iconic military bunny boot designed for extreme cold weather conditions.
More recently in 2024, the Alaska Gear Company was named “Made in Alaska Manufacturer of the Year” by the Alaska Department of Commerce.
The Alaska Wall Tent By The Alaska Gear Company
The Alaska Canvas Wall Tent is a handmade-in-Alaska canvas tent made from 13oz Sunforger DLX double-filled, preshrunk, marine-grade cotton canvas that’s treated to resist fire, water, and mildew while still remaining breathable.
It comes in four sizes, including 8×10, 10×12, 12×14, and 14×16 feet, all with 5-foot wall heights, and it’s available either unframed (starting at $1,295) or with a frame (starting at $2,300). The unframed version can be constructed in the field using lengths of wood sourced from the area, reducing the initial pack weight – this is crucial for trips into the wilderness by bush plane where every pound of weight is critical.

It comes in four sizes, including 8×10, 10×12, 12×14, and 14×16 feet, all with 5-foot wall heights, and it’s available either unframed (starting at $1,295) or with a frame (starting at $2,300). The unframed version can be constructed in the field using lengths of wood sourced from the area, reducing the initial pack weight – this is crucial for trips into the wilderness by bush plane where every pound of weight is critical.
All tents include a 4.5 inch oval stove jack for use with wood or propane stoves, as well as a 56 inch triangular rear window with insect screening, an 18oz vinyl sod cloth around the base to block drafts and moisture, ridgepole openings at both ends, rope-reinforced eaves, brass grommets, overlapping door flaps with ties, a heavy-duty zippered door, and 100 feet of sisal rope for tie-downs.
The tents are now available to buy direct from the Alaska Gear Company here, and at the time of writing they have stock ready to ship out immediately.

Images courtesy of the Alaska Gear Company
Alaska
Lakes are growing in Alaska. That’s not entirely a bad thing
The St. Elias Mountains in southeast Alaska are dotted with over 100 lakes where glaciers crumble into milky, turquoise water. Those lakes are expanding at an ever-quickening pace.
The lakes will quadruple in size over the next century or two, scientists report March 9 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This growth will transform landscapes, create new salmon habitat and may even change the course of a major river.
“We are seeing the great age of ice retreat” in Alaska, says Daniel McGrath, a glaciologist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. “These glaciers are just peeling back from the landscape,” revealing deep grooves they carved in the Earth, where lakes are now forming.
Glacial hydrologist Eran Hood of the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau, who was not part of the study, adds that “understanding where these lakes are going to emerge is important” because it “changes the whole nature of the downstream ecosystem.”
Hugging the coastline along the Alaska-Canada border, the tiny mountainous region that includes the St. Elias Mountains is losing 60 cubic kilometers of ice per year. Because lakes absorb solar heat, the glaciers that shed ice into lakes are shrinking faster than those that terminate on dry land. Across southeast Alaska, these lakes attached to glaciers have expanded by 60 percent since 1986, reaching a combined area of 1,300 square kilometers.
McGrath and his colleagues wondered how far this runaway expansion might go. So, they combined satellite images with estimates of ice thickness — mapping deeply eroded grooves that are still hidden under glaciers.
The results were “eye-opening,” McGrath says. The team identified 4,200 square kilometers of glacier-covered grooves adjacent to existing lakes.
He and his colleagues predict that the lakes will continue to expand — causing rapid ice retreat — until they fill those grooves, reaching a combined size of around 5,500 square kilometers, an area the size of Delaware.
“By the end of this century, all of these lakes will probably be more or less fully developed,” says study coauthor Louis Sass III, a glaciologist with the U.S. Geological Survey at the Alaska Science Center in Anchorage. But those growing lakes are already reshaping entire landscapes in a way that is often overlooked in public discourse around glacier retreat.
Many of Alaska’s glaciers terminate on dry land, and their meltwater often creates barren, rocky floodplains downstream, where the streams alternate between trickles and floods — constantly branching and shifting course as they lay down sediment released by the glacier.
“Those habitats are fairly inhospitable for a lot of fish,” including some salmon, says Jonathan Moore, an aquatic ecologist with Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada. The water is too cold, and fish eggs “get swept out or buried by the floods every year.”
But as glaciers retreat into lakes and those lakes expand, their meltwater has time to drop its sediment and warm a few degrees in the lake before spilling into a river. Rivers that carry less sediment are less prone to shifting channels.
A 2025 study by Moore and remote sensing scientist Diane Whited of the University of Montana found that as glacial lakes expanded over 38 years in southeast Alaska, the downstream river channels stabilized, allowing willows and bushes to spread across floodplains.
“It creates salmon habitat,” Hood says. A 2021 study by Moore and Hood predicted that by 2100, glacial retreat in southeast Alaska will transform 6,000 kilometers of river channels into decent habitat for some local species of salmon. The lakes themselves will create spawning grounds for sockeye salmon — an important commercial species.
But these changes will come with upheaval.
For instance, one major river, the Alsek, will probably shift its course as retreating glaciers cause two lakes to merge, providing an easier path to the ocean.
People in Juneau are feeling another dramatic effect of expanding lakes. At least once per year, a lake dammed by the nearby Mendenhall Glacier spills out in a flash flood that gushes through town, forcing some residents to build protective levees around their homes.
These ecosystems “are going to be transformed,” Moore says. “But that transformation is going to be pretty violent and pretty dangerous.”
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