Alaska

Opinion: When will the real conversations about Alaska’s future begin?

Published

10 months ago

April 19, 2025

Opinion: When will the real conversations about Alaska’s future begin?

The Alaska State Capitol in downtown Juneau, photographed on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

Spring in Alaska brings back familiar patterns. Temperatures reaching the 50s. The snow begins to melt, creeks fill up, mountains of dog poo appear on the lawns, and buds of green start to emerge on the trees. Equally noticeable are the budget deliberations in Juneau, which one way or another end up focused on the amount of the Permanent Fund dividend. But there’s a behavior pattern that builds to this endpoint. The governor proposes the maximum dividend, legislators do a bunch of arm-waving about the budget deficit, the education budget comes to the forefront, the Anchorage school board proposes to cut programs, education advocates call for increases in the budget, legislators host town halls, and, eventually, new taxes come into the conversation. Local media interview parents and students about the potential discontinuation of their favorite sports program or the closure of elementary schools.

Then the tug of war emerges — new taxes versus a cut to the dividend. The conflict is obvious if you pay attention, despite the rhetoric. Several types of taxes are mentioned, such as oil industry taxes, corporate taxes, S-Corp tax, personal income taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes on gasoline. This blur of taxes creates confusion and frustration. This is about the time when one or two local economists espouse about the value that the dividend brings to the Alaska economy. A brave journalist might write an article about how the Alaska economy has been in decline for a decade or so, and people don’t like to hear that. Last-minute machinations occur in Juneau as the session is about to end. A compromise education budget emerges along with the amount of the dividend, which is well below the maximum the governor proposed months earlier.

Another mediocre outcome for the state has occurred. Everyone is unhappy, but we got through it, right? Or maybe not, as we still have the threat of the governor’s vetoes.

I like what comes next: Several legislators write about how we haven’t solved the fiscal problem, just delayed it another year. It’s their courage I admire, and it likely assists them in addressing their self-image concerns.

It’s uncertain when or what crisis will prompt it, but eventually, some bold influencers will admit we can’t afford to pay the dividend. Hopefully, they reside in the Legislature or the governor’s office. They will also acknowledge that it’s illogical to tax some residents in order to fund unrestricted payments to the same residents and others who do not have a demonstrated need. In fact, it’s uniquely un-American. If this type of money transfer had positive economic impacts, it would have been adopted by all government entities in the United States long ago.

When we get to this point of honesty and courage, then the real conversations will begin — the ones that lead us to a solid fiscal plan for the state of Alaska.

Al Bolea is a retired leadership trainer and former distinguished visiting professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He’s also a retired oil and gas executive.

• • •

The views expressed here are the writer’s and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.

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Alaska

ICE defends detention, deportation of Soldotna family as vigils held and lawmakers probe agency actions

Published

42 minutes ago

February 24, 2026

Press Room

ICE defends detention, deportation of Soldotna family as vigils held and lawmakers probe agency actions

An overflow crowd joined a prayer service and candlelight vigil for the family of Sonia Espinoza Arriaga and Alexander Sanchez-Ramos at St. John United Methodist Church in South Anchorage on Monday. (Marc Lester / ADN)

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities on Monday defended the arrest of a Soldotna mother and her three children amid vigils for the family and a state legislative hearing on ICE’s actions in Alaska.

Sonia Espinoza Arriaga, a McDonald’s employee who’d recently married a U.S. citizen, and her three kids ages 18, 16 and 5 were taken into custody in Soldotna on Feb. 17.

The next day, Espinoza Arriaga and the two younger children were deported to Mexico, where they remain. The family is in Jalisco state, according to the family’s attorney. Since Sunday, Jalisco state has been wracked with street violence after the Mexican government killed the head of a notorious drug cartel.

Espinoza Arriaga, an asylum seeker, was fleeing cartel violence as well as fear of a past partner when she entered the U.S. in 2023, her husband, Alexander Sanchez-Ramos, has said.

In a statement Monday, ICE spokesperson Christine Cuttita said Espinoza Arriaga and her family “were issued a final order of removal as a family unit Jan. 13 after she failed to show up for her immigration court hearing.”

“ICE located and arrested Espinoza in Soldotna, Alaska on Feb. 17 during a targeted vehicle stop,” the statement said. The mother “is now facing the consequences of making the decision to not follow that lawful order to report to ICE,” Cuttita wrote.

Cuttita wrote that “upon Espinoza’s request, ICE ensured that her family remained unified and brought the entire family unit to ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations field office in Anchorage for processing. At no time were the children separated from their mother while in ICE custody.”

“ICE does NOT separate families,” wrote Cuttita. “Parents are given a choice to either take their minor children with them or place them in the care of someone they designate. This is consistent with past administration’s immigration enforcement.”

While Espinoza Arriaga and her two other children were deported thousands of miles away to Mexico, her 18-year-old son was processed as an adult and held at the Anchorage jail before being transferred to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington.

Their cases are in the process of both a federal habeas corpus petition and an appeal in immigration court, according to Lara Nations, the attorney.

During a House Judiciary Committee hearing held in Juneau on Monday, legislators heard from advocates as well as representatives of state agencies after the detention of Espinoza Arriaga and her children.

The hearing was organized by Rep. Andrew Gray, an Anchorage Democrat, and included speakers from advocacy and legal organizations as well as clergy members and representatives of state agencies, including the Alaska Department of Public Safety and the Alaska Department of Corrections.

The Alaska State Troopers have no role in enforcing immigration law, said Leon Morgan, a deputy commissioner with the Alaska Department of Public Safety.

“We don’t coordinate with ICE for immigration enforcement,” Morgan testified.

In criminal cases, “we will certainly work with our federal partners,” he said. But civil immigration enforcement matters aren’t in that purview, he said.

“That’s been a long-standing policy with the department,” Morgan said.

Some law enforcement agencies have formal cooperation agreements with ICE through programs in which state or local law enforcement officers are trained, certified and authorized by ICE to do functions of immigration enforcement such as serving and executing administrative warrants on people in their custody. Troopers are not part of that program, Morgan said.

Only two Alaska agencies — the Alaska Department of Corrections and the Kodiak Police Department — are currently listed by ICE as participating.

[Former ICE instructor says agency slashed training for new officers, lied to Congress]

Asked about media reports that Espinoza Arriaga and her kids had been taken to an Alaska State Troopers post in Soldotna, Morgan said he thought ICE had maybe switched vehicles in the parking lot.

“I don’t think we leveraged any trooper assets to do that,” he said.

The Alaska Department of Corrections has an agreement to hold federal detainees of all kinds — both those charged with federal crimes and civil immigration detainees, testified Zane Nighswonger, director of institutions with the department.

Immigration detainees are subject to the same conditions as criminal defendants in jail, but “we do keep them separate from the prisoner population, as they’re non-criminally charged,” he said.

People usually spend about 72 hours in the Anchorage jail until they are flown to the Northwest Detention Center in Washington, where some stay for months or even years.

The committee also heard testimony from Soldotna-area residents and community leaders, including a mom who said her daughter was in the same kindergarten class as 5-year-old Matias Espinoza Arriaga. Alison Flack spoke of working with the boy as a classroom volunteer just days before he was taken into ICE custody.

“He was working so hard. He was following my instructions and sounding out his words,” she said. “I could tell how proud he felt.”

A few days later, her daughter told her the child hadn’t been at school. When she read news accounts of the family’s detention, “I immediately got a lump in my throat,” she said.

Families were shaken to hear that he had been detained along with his mother and brothers. Flack said she wasn’t sure how to explain the situation to her daughter.

“Should I tell her that he moved and just hope and pray that she doesn’t find out the truth?” she said.

More than 120 people showed up for a meeting in Soldotna to talk about what happened to the family, said Meredith Harbor, a pastor with Christ Lutheran Church in Soldotna. Many of them didn’t know the family personally, she said.

A vigil for the family Monday night drew an overflow crowd at St. John United Methodist Church in South Anchorage.

Lead pastor Andy Bartel said he wasn’t surprised by the large turnout.

“I think most people want to feel empowered, that they have a voice, that we are a nation that has been by the people and for the people,” Bartel said.

Daily News photojournalist Marc Lester contributed.

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Alaska

UA Board of Regents to continue anti-DEI policy, despite federal court ruling

Published

13 hours ago

February 23, 2026

Press Room

UA Board of Regents to continue anti-DEI policy, despite federal court ruling

University maintains its ‘unwavering’ commitment to equal rights and points to federal funding threat

Student walks along West Ridge at the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus on Oct. 10, 2024. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

The University of Alaska Board of Regents says the university will continue the policy to ban references to “DEI,” or “diversity, equity and inclusion,” enacted last year, despite a federal court ruling that struck down the policy and the U.S. Department of Education agreeing to drop an appeal.

Jonathon Taylor, a spokesperson for the university, said even though the policy was struck down, “the direction of enforcement and potential risk has not gone away.”

Last year, the Trump administration issued a “Dear Colleague” letter to all pre-K through 12 schools, colleges and universities who receive federal funding outlining its opposition to diversity initiatives it called discriminatory, and threatened to withhold federal funds from schools if they had diversity or equity programs.

As a result, the board moved quickly to comply, approving a policy on Feb. 21, 2025 to scrub references to DEI and affirmative action from all university programs and operations, job titles and office names. At the time, Ralph Seekins, chair of the Board of Regents, defended the policy, saying the action to remove DEI language as committing to “equal opportunity” for everyone.

Several education and civil rights groups filed lawsuits and a federal court blocked the directive in April. This week, a New Hampshire federal judge dismissed the case, following a January agreement by both parties and the Department of Education to drop its appeal. The ruling invalidates the directive, and prevents the government from enforcing it. Plaintiffs celebrated the court’s move, with some saying it was a victory for free speech and academic freedom.

Taylor confirmed that the UA Board of Regents had no immediate plans to change or rescind the policy for the University of Alaska.

“The Dear Colleague Letter from February 2025 has indeed been struck down by the courts, and the Department of Education has declined to appeal,” Taylor said by email.

“However, the federal administration’s policy goals and concerns that led to the letter – including what they see as discriminatory DEI practices, and attempts to tie enforcement to federal funding – have not changed.

Federal agencies can still pursue similar goals through other legal or regulatory means and have demonstrated an intent to focus oversight or investigations on what they see as DEI-related policies and programs using mechanisms other than agency guidance (the original Dear Colleague letter),” he wrote.

Taylor said the board enacted the policy to mitigate risks of federal funding being withheld. He said the board has had to “balance their concern about the potential medium- and long-term regulatory and funding risks to which UA may be exposed with the University’s unchanging and unwavering commitment to equal access, equal opportunity, and no discrimination, as well as free speech, academic freedom, and freedom of expression.”

Taylor added that overall, UA has so far been effectively able to “weather the storm” of federal funding cuts, grant freezes and terminations. As of September, and most recently available data, UA had roughly $530 million in active federal grants. There has been $24.6 million, or 4.6% that have been delayed, frozen or terminated.

The item was not on the Board of Regents’ February meeting agenda, scheduled for two days this week in Dillingham, at the University of Fairbanks’ Bristol Bay campus.

But several university faculty weighed in during public comment to the board on Monday.

Jill Dumesnil, a professor of mathematics at the University of Southeast and president of the largest faculty union, United Academics, called on board members to create updated guidance following the ruling.

“Many faculty are still experiencing a chilling effect on our campuses. Some fear retaliation or punishment for teaching or discussing DEI-related subject matter, others just feel uncomfortable, unsupported and unwelcome,” she said.

“Teaching about race, racism, inequality and related issues, continues to be lawful, supporting students in a way that acknowledges racial or ethnic identities continues to be lawful,” she added. “Schools may continue operating programs that encourage diversity, equity and inclusion in accordance with existing law, and the Dear Colleague letter and the certification requirement cannot be enforced against educators or schools.”

Michael Navarro, a professor of marine fisheries at the University of Alaska Southeast, and co-chair of the Belonging, Empowerment, Access, Representation and Safety Committee, known as UAS BEARS, made a plea to the board to rescind the anti-DEI motion.

“As a direct result of this board decision, UAS has lost faculty and staff and some students question the university’s commitment to their success and safety on campus,” he said.

“Despite the anti-DEI motions, reaffirmation towards maintaining a welcoming environment and honoring Alaska Native culture and heritage, after this motion, many people now feel less welcome or even unwelcome, and are not testifying today because they don’t feel safe to do so.”

Taylor, with the university, said as of now the board does not have plans to take up the issue but continually accepts written comments from the public. “The Board continues to receive testimony both in support of and in opposition to last year’s motion, and takes that feedback into consideration when setting meeting agendas,” he said.

To date, the University of Alaska Fairbanks has taken the hardest hit with federal funding cutbacks — of the $24.6 million in grants delayed, frozen or terminated, approximately $20 million has been at UAF, including $8.8 million terminated for funded programs for Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students last year. The Trump administration has terminated $4 million in grant funding at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Taylor confirmed, and no federal grant funding has been frozen at the University of Alaska Southeast.

• Corinne Smith started reporting in Alaska in 2020, serving as a radio reporter for several local stations across the state including in Petersburg, Haines, Homer and Dillingham. She spent two summers covering the Bristol Bay fishing season. Originally from Oakland, California, she got her start as a reporter, then morning show producer, at KPFA Radio in Berkeley. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

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Alaska

Alaska to highlight rich sports history with ‘Week of Dreams Kickoff’

Published

1 day ago

February 23, 2026

Press Room

Alaska to highlight rich sports history with ‘Week of Dreams Kickoff’

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Visitors to the Mountain View Library on Thursday will have a chance to both read and hear about the rich history of Alaskan athletics.

The Alaska’s Week of Dreams Kickoff, organized by America250-Alaska, will feature speakers, presentations and exhibits highlighting the intertwined histories of sports and the 49th state, with a special emphasis on baseball.

“It’s the American pastime, right?” Alaska State Historian Katherine Ringsmuth, who will be presenting at the event, said. ″But what’s so extraordinary, is when baseball arrives, because Alaska is such a unique place, we really give it an Alaskan flavor.”

There exists perhaps no better example of that flavor than in the sport’s very first foray into what is now Alaska, with Saint Paul Island’s “Knock Down and Skin ‘Em” missionary squad, another of Thursday’s presentation topics, beginning play in 1868.

In the many decades since, the sport has blossomed in the Last Frontier, with Ringsmuth citing examples such as the indoor women’s teams in Nome helping to lay the groundwork for what is now the sport of softball, as well as all the future MLB superstars, from Randy Johnson to Barry Bonds to Aaron Judge, who have played summers in Alaska courtesy of the Alaska Baseball League.

The event itself is a preview for the Alaska’s Week of Dreams event, which will serve as part of the America250 organization’s nationwide celebration of the United States’ 250th birthday.

“This is a great opportunity to celebrate our past, but also remind not just Alaskans, but the whole country, the whole world, that here in Alaska, dreams can come true,” Ringsmuth said.

While plans for the week itself, set to conclude on July 4, are not yet finalized, Ringsmuth said events such as MLB youth clinics, special Alaska Baseball League games, and even a celebrity golf tournament to raise money for youth sports associations across Alaska, are in the works.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

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