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State: Struggling to attract Outside job seekers, Alaska’s working-age population suffers

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State: Struggling to attract Outside job seekers, Alaska’s working-age population suffers


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development is looking ahead to a potentially brighter economic picture in the state in 2024, estimating there will be over 5,000 new jobs. But, a big question remains: Will there be enough people to fill those positions?

According to the state, the working-age population, or Alaskans between 18 and 64, continued its downward trend in 2022-23, with an estimated 2% decline. According to a state demographer, since 2013, Alaska has lost 13% of its working-age population — about 33,000 people, more than the population of Juneau — with an aging state population and fewer residents moving to Alaska.

The baby boom population, according to demographer David Howell, is expected to be completely aged out by 2030.

“It’s something that we knew was kind of going to happen,” Howell said.

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“It’s not so much that there’s this exodus of people going out of the state, it’s more so that people aren’t coming in,” he added. “We knew that we would see a little bit larger outflows as the baby boomers start to hit those 65 ages, because we’ve always lost populations at the senior age groups. So, numerically, we knew that would happen, but at the working ages [18-64], we’re not really seeing that much more going out, just less coming in.”

Howell said historically, a big chunk of that group was made up of people in their early 20s and 30s. However, now, there is a decline in all age groups moving to the state.

“People are looking for workers all around the country. And so I think people aren’t having to move to find a job, necessarily. And so, you know, if you can kind of stay where you are, and get a job, then, you might just stay where you are,” Howell said.

With a large employment gap in an economy ripe with job openings, Howell said it’s currently an employee market.

The state added in a recent report that Alaska has two job openings for each unemployed job seeker. The decline in the working-age population, Howell said, puts the economy at a standstill.

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“We’ve seen areas of the country where the working-age population has stagnated or declined in other years, and, yeah, in general, it does lead to a stagnant economy because you can’t expand that quickly because you don’t have that working population to fill those new jobs,” Howell said.

Jenna Wright, the CEO of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation, agrees with Howell. She said Anchorage needs to find a way to attract and retain residents to create a thriving economy and help grow back the working-age population. She said investing in infrastructure would be a good start.

“We’ve got great trail systems, we have the beautiful Chugach State Park but we don’t have a ton of access,” Wright said. “All of the parking lots are full right now. So the more that we can invest in quality of life elements that work for a diverse set of people, that’s going to be what’s most important to retaining and attracting talent.”



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Alaska

‘Drag racing for dogs:’ Anchorage canines gather for the ‘Great Alaska Barkout’

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‘Drag racing for dogs:’ Anchorage canines gather for the ‘Great Alaska Barkout’


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Alaska’s first “flyball” league held its annual “Great Alaska Barkout Flyball Tournament” on Saturday in midtown at Alyeska Canine Trainers.

Flyball is a fast-paced sport in which relay teams of four dogs and their handlers compete to cross the finish line first while carrying a tennis ball launched from a spring loaded box. Saturday’s tournament was one of several throughout the year held by “Dogs Gone Wild,” which started in 2004 as Alaska’s first flyball league.

“We have here in Alaska, we’ve got, I think it’s about 6 tournaments per year,” said competitor and handler Maija Doggett. “So you know every other month or so there will be a tournament hosted. Most of them are hosted right here at Alyeska Canine Trainers.”

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State of Alaska will defend its right to facilitate oil and gas development

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State of Alaska will defend its right to facilitate oil and gas development


Last week, Superior Court Judge Andrew Guidi indicated he will rule that Alaska does not have authority to permit access across its lands to facilitate oil and gas development on the North Slope.

The Alaska Dept. of Natural Resources plans to fight and appeal any final adverse ruling that undermines the state’s constitutional interests in resource development.

The Department of Natural Resources has issued a permit allowing Oil Search Alaska (OSA) to cross the Kuparuk River Unit, operated by Conoco Phillips Alaska, to develop the Pikka Unit. As described in the State’s brief to the court, “the denial of such access implicates the delay of development of millions of barrels of oil and billions of dollars of public revenues.”

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“The State of Alaska has a constitutional obligation to maximize the development of our resources,” DNR Commissioner John Boyle said on Nov. 22. “We have to confirm with the Supreme Court that we have the authority to permit access for all developers to ensure we can meet this obligation.”

Once the Superior Court issues the final judgement, Alaska will be able to file its appeal. This is expected to occur in the coming weeks.

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Close encounters with the Juneau kind: Woman reports strange lights in Southeast Alaska skies

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Close encounters with the Juneau kind: Woman reports strange lights in Southeast Alaska skies


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – For Juneau resident Tamara Roberts, taking photos of the northern lights was just a hobby — that is until a different light altogether caught her eye.

Capturing what she’s called strange lights in the skies of Juneau near her home on Thunder Mountain, Roberts said she’s taken 30 to 40 different videos and photos of the lights since September 2021.

“Anytime I’m out, I’m pretty sure that I see something at least a couple times a week,” Roberts said. “I’m definitely not the only one that’s seeing them. And if people just pay more attention, they’ll notice that those aren’t stars and those aren’t satellites.”

Roberts has been a professional photographer for over 20 years. She said she changed interests from photographing people to wildlife and landscape when she moved to Juneau 13 years ago.

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Once she started making late-night runs trying to capture the northern lights, she said that’s when she started encountering her phenomenon.

Roberts said not every encounter takes place above Thunder Mountain: her most recent sighting happened near the Mendenhall Glacier while her stepmom was visiting from Arizona.

“She’d never been here before, so we got up and we drove up there, and lo and behold, there it was,” Roberts said. “I have some family that absolutely thinks it’s what it is, and I have some family that just doesn’t care.”

Roberts described another recent encounter near the glacier she said was a little too close for comfort. While driving up alone in search of the northern lights, she expected to see other fellow photographers out for the same reason as she normally does.

But this night was different.

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“I’ve gone up there a million times by myself, and this night, particularly, it was clear, it was cold and the [aurora] KP index was high … so as I’m driving up and there’s nobody there. And I was like, Okay, I’ll just wait and somebody will show up.’ So I backed up into the parking spot underneath the street light — the only light that’s really there on that side of the parking lot — and I turned all my lights off, left my car running, looked around, and there was that light right there, next to the mountain.”

Roberts said after roughly 10 minutes of filming the glowing light, still not seeing anyone else around, she started to get a strange feeling that maybe she should leave.

“I just got this terrible gut feeling,” Roberts said. “I started to pull out of my parking spot and my car sputtered. [It] scared me so bad that I just gunned the accelerator, but my headlights … started like flashing and getting all crazy.

“I had no headlights, none all the way home, no headlights.”

According to the Juneau Police Department, there haven’t been any reports of strange lights in the sky since Sept. 14, when police say a man was reportedly “yelling about UFOs in the downtown area.”

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Responding officers said they did not locate anything unusual, and no arrests were made following the man’s report.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service in Juneau also said within the last seven days, no reports of unusual activity in the skies had been reported. The Federal Aviation Administration in Juneau did not respond.

With more and more whistleblowers coming forward in Congressional hearings, Roberts said she thinks it’s only a matter of time before the truth is out there.

“Everybody stayed so quiet all these years for the fear of being mocked,” Roberts said. “Now that people are starting to come out, I think that people should just let the reality be what it is, and let the evidence speak for itself, because they’re here, and that’s all there is to it.”

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