Alaska

NEA-Alaska president speaks about potential loss of federal education funds

Published

2 years ago

September 20, 2024

NEA-Alaska president speaks about potential loss of federal education funds

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) – After the U.S. Dept. of Education reached out to the State of Alaska about the potential withholding of tens of millions of dollars, Tom Klaameyer, the president of NEA-Alaska spoke on the issue and the impacts it will have if it is made final.

In 2021, the federal government passed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), part of which provided funds to schools as a form of relief to aid schools recuperating from the Covid-19 pandemic. States were able to take advantage of these funds as long as they followed as set of terms that required funds to be distributed a certain way.

Earlier this week, the U.S. department of education notified the State of Alaska that it would withhold tens of millions of dollars in education funds if the state did not work to fall into compliance with regulations outlined in the ARPA.

According to the U.S. Dept. of Education, Alaska failed to do just that. Now there’s $17.5 million on the line. “In order to receive the additional covid funding from the federal government, [The Alaska Dept. of Education and Early Development] agreed to the terms of that including the maintenance of equity requirement so from the beginning the state was aware of those requirements in accepting those funds,” said Klaameyer.

The maintenance of equity requirement being the issue at question. This term required the state to provide a certain amount of funding and they say that four school districts including Fairbanks North Star Fairbanks School District did not receive the funds to meet that term.

The U.S. Dept. of Education notified the state of their non-compliance multiple times but has yet to hear back from the state on the matter. Currently, the state has until Oct. 15, to appeal or resolve the issue .

If no action is taken by that time — schools in the Kenai, Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau areas will pay the price, each losing millions of dollars.

“That’s not an insignificant amount of money, so we’re talking about schools closures here in Fairbanks, we’re talking about potential school closures elsewhere, we’re talking about higher class sizes, we’re talking about reducing positions, fewer educators in the building,” Klaameyer said.

Fairbanks in particular would lose about $2.8 million which is close to the price of operating a school for one year.

This comes at a time when the school district already faces a large deficit and has had to close Ben Eielson Jr./Sr. High School to balance the budget.

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Alaska

Alaska accepts ballots that arrive after Election Day. This case could end that.

Published

4 hours ago

March 24, 2026

Press Room

Alaska accepts ballots that arrive after Election Day. This case could end that.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to rule in favor of the Republican National Committee that all ballots must be received on Election Day to be counted.

In a case argued Monday, the RNC challenges a Mississipi law that allows ballots postmarked on or before Election Day to arrive up to five days later.

Alaska accepts postmarked ballots that arrive up to 10 days after Election Day – 15 days if mailed from overseas. And, for Alaska, the implications of the Supreme Court ruling could extend beyond mailed ballots.

The RNC case could be consequential for the midterm elections, when control of Congress is at stake. While people of both parties vote by mail, more permissive rules for it are perceived to help Democrats, especially since President Trump rails against the practice.

U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer argued that counting ballots that arrive late violates the federal law that sets the Tuesday following the first Monday of November as Election Day for the whole country.

“All ballots have to be received and the ballot box has to close on Election Day,” he said.

In Alaska’s last general election, more than 50,000 ballots arrived by mail. The Division of Elections couldn’t immediately say how many of those arrived in the 10 days after Election Day but it appears to be many thousand.

Sometimes, even Alaska ballots cast in person on Election Day aren’t received the same day. The village of Atqasuk , on the North Slope, tried to phone in its 2024 election results but couldn’t get through to the Division of Elections. The mailed ballots arrived nine days later.

Alaska Attorney General Stephen Cox cited the Atqasuk episode in a friend-of-court brief he filed in the Mississippi case.

“Alaska asks this Court to consider how its rule here will apply in all States—including Alaska, where ‘receiving’ a ballot isn’t always as simple as walking to a precinct or driving a few hours to pick up a ballot box,” he wrote.

Pat Redmond, co-president of the Alaska League of Women Voters, said Alaska has a secure process for mailed ballots. She believes the current deadline is fair and allows remote places necessary time to deliver their ballots.

“Not every place has electronic transmission,” said Redmond, who has also served as an election worker. If all ballots have to be in on Election Day “then those people, their ballots don’t count, and that’s disenfranchising people.”

Attorney Scott Stewart, defending Mississippi’s ballot deadline, told the justices that it’s wrong for the Trump administration to suggest that late-arriving ballots are subject to fraud.

“Obviously, they’ve sounded the anti-fraud theme,” Stewart said. “They haven’t cited a single example of fraud from post-Election Day ballot receipts.”

Late-counted ballots have swung several statewide contests in Alaska.

•The 2020 ballot measure creating Alaska’s ranked choice voting system and open primaries was losing on election night but ultimately won.

•Post-Election Day counts gave Sen. Lisa Murkowski the lead over challenger Kelly Tshibaka in 2022, and Murkowski’s lead grew further after second- and third-choice votes were tallied.

•In 2024, a measure to repeal ranked choice voting was ahead on election night but narrowly lost in later counts.

Late-counted ballots typically include an unknown number of ballots that arrived before Election Day, too. Still, despite no evidence of wrongdoing, supporters of the losing campaign have sometimes alleged fraud.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in the Mississippi case this summer. An attorney for the Republican National Committee told the justices a June ruling would allow states to change their ballot rules in time for the November election.

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Alaska

Polar bear undergoes root canal at Alaska Zoo

Published

16 hours ago

March 23, 2026

Press Room

Polar bear undergoes root canal at Alaska Zoo

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (InvestigateTV) — Staff at the Alaska Zoo performed a root canal on one of its polar bears after the bear broke a canine tooth.

Kova, 4, shares an enclosure with another polar bear named Cranbeary. The two have toys, treats and a large pool where Kova likes to take her morning swim.

Curator Sam Lavin noticed something was wrong when Kova’s behavior changed.

“Kova is a very interactive and busy bear and she just seemed kind of off. She was pawing at her mouth a little bit,” Lavin said.

Lavin suspected a tooth issue and asked Kova to open her mouth for a closer look.

“We could see that she had broken one of her canines and there’s any number of ways she could have done that,” Lavin said.

An X-ray confirmed the diagnosis. Zoo staff consulted with a veterinary specialist outside Alaska, sent the X-rays and received advice on how to proceed.

“We went with a local doctor to do the work,” Lavin said.

An endodontist who normally operates on humans was part of the large team that performed the root canal on the fully sedated 450-pound bear.

“Everybody knew ahead of time what their role was and what to do and where to be and it was so well planned out and everybody worked so well together,” Lavin said.

The procedure went smoothly.

“She feels so much better,” Lavin said.

The zoo said Kova quickly recovered and is back with her playmate Cranbeary.