Alaska
Sen. Dunbar bears down on short-term rentals: Alaska partiers are a protected class?
Anchorage Democrat Sen. Forrest Dunbar is looking for a problem to fix with Senate Bill 162. The problem is people who don’t want to rent to partiers. These short-term homeowners are a buzzkill to Dunbar.
The Dunbar party bill would add to the list of actions you cannot take as an owner of real estate in Alaska. You already cannot discriminate based on race, sex, color, gender, sexual status, marriage status, national origin, or just about anything else that distinguishes one person from another.
Dunbar’s bill inserts “residency in this state.” It appears to be a bill aimed at preventing discrimination — but against who?
Against Alaskans.
Evidently, some people in Anchorage like to rent a house for one night in order to have wild parties, and some bed-and-breakfast owners don’t want parties. They want to rent to a different kind of clientele than the ones Dunbar is advocating for.
Dunbar, who is also sponsoring a bill to allow psychedelics to be used on mentally ill patients, believes those who rent houses for short-term should not be able to deny Anchorage partiers from renting homes for their graduation bashes.
The bill pairs well with an anti-free-market bill from Rep. Andrew Gray, another Anchorage Democrat, who proposes to limit bed-and-breakfast owners to having just one short-term property, and no more.
House Bill 184 would require all bed-and-breakfast owners to register with the state and be limited to one rental property. Gray seems to believe, without evidence, that bed-and-breakfast establishments have caused a housing shortage in Alaska. Across the nation, housing shortages are caused primarily by overbearing regulation, but short-term rentals have become the scapegoat.
Now, Sen. Dunbar is adding the party lifestyle as a new protected category in the Alaska statute that covers housing. His bill was pre-filed in advance of the legislative session that starts Tuesday.
Junior Jayden Miranda on Friday became the latest player from West Valley High School to be named Gatorade Alaska Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
“It feels good and it was definitely one of the goals that I had to check off my checklist,” he said. “I woke up, and I didn’t know. My coach told me, and it was just excitement in my heart. My heart was beating and I was just smiling.”
Miranda led the Wolfpack boys basketball team to a Mid Alaska Conference championship and the No. 1 seed at the 2026 ASAA 4A state tournament.
The 5-foot-11 guard also helped lead West Valley to a 22-4 record, and through 23 games, he averaged 14.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists as well as shooting 51.8% from the floor and 39.7% from the perimeter.
“Miranda is a great kid on and off the court — gets good grades and never gets in trouble,” North Pole head coach Travis Church said in a statement. “Looking around 4A, I don’t see anyone who would measure up. He’s the best player on the best team in the state. It’s hard for me to imagine going with anyone else.”
Miranda is the second player from the program to receive the award. The first was two-time recipient Stewart Erhart, who was honored in back-to-back years from 2022-23.
The award acknowledges a student-athlete’s athletic achievement, and also recognizes outstanding academic excellence and exceptional character displayed on and off the court.
Miranda maintained a 3.36 GPA and volunteered locally with the Fairbanks Community Food Bank, donated time as a youth basketball coach and is a practiced artist who has also taken multiple cooking classes in high school.
He and the top-seeded Wolfpack fell short of advancing to the finals Friday after losing 59-52 to fifth-seeded South Anchorage.
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