Alaska
Sunshine to start, rain returns by midweek
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Around Southcentral, the week starts the way the weekend ended, with mostly sunny skies. A few clouds are likely through the morning but the sunshine will appear and warm things up. Highs around Anchorage will hit the mid-60s. Palmer could see a daytime temperature near 70 degrees.
A new system swings into Southwest on Wednesday bringing more rain. That system will slide into Southcentral on Thursday bringing rain and cooler temperatures.
Another sunny day for Southeast on Monday. Expect mostly sunny skies with temperatures in the mid-60s to low 70s for daytime highs. The water levels in the Mendenhall River are rising again but the National Weather Service does not expect it to reach flood stage.
More rain to start the day across the Interior but look for that rain to diminish by the afternoon. Another system is expected to move across northern Alaska starting Tuesday. Expect some rain and high winds by Tuesday night. Utqiagvik is looking at wind gusts to near 55 mph.
Copyright 2023 KTUU. All rights reserved.
Alaska
Indigenous Alaskans and Republicans dismayed by Trump’s Denali renaming
Donald Trump’s pledge to rename the highest mountain in North America has sparked backlash among some Indigenous Alaskans and Alaskan lawmakers, including Republicans.
Trump reiterated his intentions to rename Denali back to Mount McKinley during his inaugural address. Barack Obama had dubbed the mountain Denali during his presidency, undoing the 1917 designation made in honor of the 25th president, William McKinley.
The declaration of renaming has proved to be highly controversial. The Koyukon, an Alaska Indigenous Athabascan group, referred to the mountain as Denali for centuries before McKinley took office or Alaska became a US state.
The name was officially changed to Denali in 2015 to “recognize the sacred status of Denali to many Alaska Natives” though it is known by other names in other Indigenous Alaskan languages.
Alaska News Source reported research that suggested that Alaskans are against changing the name back to McKinley by about a two-to-one margin, despite Alaska being a state that is overwhelmingly supportive of Republicans.
Emily Edenshaw, president and CEO of the Alaska Native Heritage Center, told EarthBeat: “Keeping this name honors that connection and recognizes the enduring contributions of Alaska Native peoples.”
Alaskan lawmakers across the political spectrum have reacted negatively to Trump’s announcement.
In a video post on X, Dan Sullivan, an Alaska Republican senator, said: “I prefer the name Denali that was given to that great mountain by the great patriotic Koyukon Athabascan people thousands of years ago.”
Lisa Murkowski, another Republican senator from Alaska, said that she “strongly disagreed” with Trump’s decision to rename the mountain.
“Our nation’s tallest mountain, which has been called Denali for thousands of years, must continue to be known by the rightful name bestowed by Alaska’s Koyukon Athabascans, who have stewarded the land since time immemorial,” she wrote in a post on X.
But not every reaction to Trump’s announcement has been negative. Massee McKinley, great-great nephew of McKinley and a member of the Society of Presidential Descendants, told NBC News that his ancestor “deserves to have the mountain named after him”.
The choice to honor McKinley through the renaming of Denali is especially divisive due to the former president having racist views on native populations.
“We could not leave them [the Native people] to themselves – they were unfit for self-government,” McKinley once said in an interview about the Philippines and its people. “There was nothing left for us to do but to take them … uplift and civilize and Christianize them and by God’s grace do the very best we could by them.”
Alaska
Lawmakers press Alaska elections director on 2024 process, issues
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Facing state Senate and House lawmakers questions Thursday over how the 2024 General Election was handled, Alaska’s Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher said her department is working on solutions to prevent similar situations in the future, including an influx of voters ahead of Election Day.
“The division was not prepared for early voting, and the early voting process takes longer than someone going to the polls,” Beecher explained. “Our space was certainly not adequate to deal with the volumes of people, and we didn’t have the volume of staff.
“I don’t know if it was a phenomenon of if it will happen again with the desire to vote early,” Beecher continued, “but we have certainly added that to our agenda, to discuss what can we do differently.”
After members of the House and Senate State Affairs Committees also expressed concern about what’s been reported as 106% of Alaska’s population being considered registered voters, Beecher responded calling comparing Alaska’s population percentage to registered voters “apples and oranges,” because she said people who do not reside in Alaska are also registered to vote here.
”Both can be true,” she said, saying that intent to return to Alaska is key, and citing overseas voters, such as members of the military.
Newly-minted Sen. Robert Yundt, R-Wasilla, asked Beecher about what’s known as “inactive” voters.
“There was 19,000 and some that were removed for being inactive,” he said of voters’ ballots this past election. “Can you speak to what determines, and makes for, someone being inactive, please?”
Beecher responded, in part, by saying there are many different ways the her staff would view a voter as “active,” including voting or signing a petition.
“Any kind of action contacting the Division (of Elections) makes you ‘active,’” she explained. “If we have no activity from an individual for two general elections, they are sent a notice.”
House State Affairs Committee Vice-Chair Rep. Andi Story, D-Juneau, asked about what happens when certain mistakes are made early in the voting process, for example, if a voter is struggling to understand or access their ballot.
“I had a constituent who had a visual impairment and came to vote,” Story said, “and at that time, the adaptation that this person needed wasn’t available. What happens when we have, some, I don’t know, mistakes like that?”
When somebody requests a special needs ballot, Beecher said, that is provided. Special needs ballots can also be requested on the DOE website.
Several lawmakers submitted bills as part of prefiled legislation ahead of the start of the session.
Sen. Mike Cronk, R-Tok, has a bill focused on civil liabilities when it comes to electioneering, while Story filed legislation centered on pre-registration for certain minor-aged voters.
For his part, Gov. Mike Dunleavy, R-Alaska, has also submitted bills for consideration, including House Bill 63, which his office said in a prepared statement would make the system as a whole “more efficient and trustworthy.”
HB 63 would, as written, repeal the 2016 ballot measure allowing voter registration through Permanent Fund Dividend applications; authorize voting by mail, specifically for communities that have fewer than 750 people; and allow the DOE to count absentee ballots earlier.
The bill was introduced this week and is currently with the House State Affairs Committee.
Dunleavy is expected in Juneau as early as Friday, ahead of next week’s annual State of the State Address.
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Alaska
Back to back storms will deliver heavy rain, snow and wind to Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – There are currently 19 weather alerts in effect across Alaska for high winds, heavy snow, and rain.
We will see two strong Pacific low-pressure systems moving in Thursday night through Sunday. The first storm will bring wet and windy conditions to the western side of the state. The second storm will move further east, impacting Southcentral, the Interior, and the Slope.
For Southcentral, temperatures have warmed enough to initially allow all rain to fall in the lower and mid-elevations. Showers are likely Friday, with heavier rain moving in Friday night and continuing into Sunday. Some snow could mix in early Saturday morning and again Sunday.
Anchorage, the Western Kenai Peninsula, and Matanuska Valley should prepare for 1-3″ of rain. The Susitna Valley will likely see 2-5″ and the Eastern Kenai and Prince Williams Sound regions will see the heaviest rain with 2-6″ likely through Sunday.
North of Talkeetna, through the Alaska Range heavy snow and high winds are expected.
The Interior will see much warmer air moving in with these storms. high temperatures will climb to the upper 30s and low 40s near Healy and Fairbanks Friday through Sunday.
Much colder air moves in early next week though for much of the state. Fairbanks to Anchorage will likely see a transition to snow on Sunday,
Additional snow is likely Monday night through Wednesday as temperatures continue to fall.
Stay with Alaska’s Weather Source for the latest on these storms.
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Copyright 2025 KTUU. All rights reserved.
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