Bullets one, three, and four don’t exactly jibe… #akleg pic.twitter.com/ED8dW8MJwN
— The Alaska Landmine (@alaskalandmine) January 26, 2024
Alaska
The Sunday Minefield – January 28, 2024
While the second week of session was not as wild as the first, it was nonetheless eventful. After spending a lot of time juicing up the Senate’s bill for rural school broadband, the House majority still lacks the votes to pass it on the floor. And now Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska) has weighed into the growing fight surrounding education. Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson was in Juneau with his legislative director, former Senator Mia Costello. Members of the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce and members of the several labor unions were also in town. And the filing period for the April Anchorage mayoral race, Anchorage School Board races, and special Chugiak/Eagle River Assembly election closed on Friday.
I have to say one thing. I came back to Anchorage this weekend and it’s been snowing like crazy. I have not seen a single plow or grader on the roads. But last week when Juneau got an absolute dumping, crews were out 24/7 plowing and clearing the streets. And not just downtown, the Glacier Highway and the Valley too. WHY CAN’T ANCHRAGE PLOW THE FUCKING ROADS?!
A friendly message and reminder to all our readers. The Landmine is made possible by myself and a team of awesome Alaskans. I am back to Juneau soon for my sixth session in a row reporting on the Legislature. If you enjoy the content we provide, please consider making a one time or recurring monthly donation. You can click here to donate. We have a donation system that makes it super easy. We would really appreciate it. And thanks to everyone who has been supportive!
Uncertainty looms on House majority’s education priorities
The following is an excerpt from this week’s edition of the Alaska Political Report. You can click here for more information about the Political Report. A subscription is $1,299/year per organization. Discounted pricing is available for non-profits and government entities. Our coverage of the budget starts with the governor’s proposed budget, and we track everything in detail through the entire process. If you have any questions or would like to subscribe, please email jeff@akpoliticalreport.com.
Note: Shortly after this was published on Thursday, the House majority made the decision not to calendar Senate Bill 140 on Friday’s floor session. It is also not calendared for tomorrow’s floor session. Also, on Thursday afternoon GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy told the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce that he would veto a standalone education bill with just an increase to the Base Student Allocation, adding further uncertainty to the growing dispute between the House and Senate.
Since the House Rules Committee made several additions to a high-profile Senate education bill last weekend, much uncertainty remains about the fate of the legislation on the House floor. It’s unknown if the House majority will be able to hold together enough support to pass the bill, or fend off amendments from the House minority. Much of this hinges on the Bush Caucus and the amount of increase to the Base Student Allocation.
To summarize the changes to Senate Bill 140, here is an excerpt from last week’s edition of the Political Report:
At the close of the last session, the bill quickly passed the Senate without change then, when it was then taken up by the House Finance Committee, it was significantly expanded in scope through amendments. The finance committee added a $680 increase to the Base Student Allocation (BSA) (11%), increases to pupil transportation reimbursements, and a requirement for the Department of Education to work with the Department of Labor on monitoring high school graduates.
Yesterday’s actions by the House Rules Committee further expanded the scope of the bill. The committee added in provisions allowing the establishment of charter schools in school districts, added provisions for students who are deaf and hard of hearing, removed the sunset date for education tax credits/deductions, increased funding for correspondence programs by applying the special needs factor to correspondence funding, and altered the BSA increase by reducing it to $300 (5%). This effectively merges several priorities of GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy and House Republicans into the bill.
The new version of the bill was read over the House floor on Wednesday. Anchorage independent Rep. Calvin Schrage, the minority leader, objected, saying the actions by the majority violated the Legislature’s Uniform Rules – specifically, a rule that bans changing the title of a bill after significant changes are made. He later removed his objection when it was pointed out the House Finance Committee did introduce a resolution to suspend that rule. But that resolution needs 27 votes out of the House’s 40 members to pass, which would require votes from Schrage’s minority. “There is no deal on education at this time,” Schrage told the Political Report.
The House majority could ignore the title change resolution, but the minority would point that out. And if the bill does pass the House, the Senate could raise the issue if they wanted. It’s also unlikely that the Senate’s bipartisan majority will get behind all of the changes to their original bill proposed in the House’s new version of the legislation.
The calendar for tomorrow’s House floor session has not been published yet. The House majority has a caucus meeting this afternoon, where they will decide if the bill will be on tomorrow’s floor calendar. We are told that nearly 75 amendments to the bill have already been drafted. If the bill is not on tomorrow’s calendar, the next opportunity to have it on the floor will be on Monday.
The question remains if the House even has 21 votes to pass the bill. Dillingham independent Rep. Bryce Edgmon, Bethel Democratic Rep. CJ McCormick, and Nome Democratic Rep. Neal Foster are questionable. If all three vote no, the bill won’t pass, since the 23-member majority can only afford to lose two votes without help from the minority, which is unlikely here.
There has been a lot of discussion about raising the increase in per student funding in the bill to $680 from $300. That could get the Bush members and some minority members to vote for the bill. But sources tell us the majority is considering a number closer to $500. And the minority will surely have amendments for $680, or even higher. That will put several House Republicans in moderate districts in a tough position, at risk of losing support from centrist voters who want to see more money spent on Alaska schools.
The House minority has 16 members. If Edgmon, Foster, and McCormick vote yes on any minority amendments, just two Republicans in the majority need to break away for them to pass. Keep in mind, amendments on the floor pass with a majority of members present, so if a single majority member is missing, amendments would pass with just 20 votes.
We are watching this all closely and will have updates as they become available.
Filing Closes for April Anchorage Election
The filing period for Anchorage’s April election closed on Friday. There are ten mayoral candidates, just one for the special Chugiak/Eagle River Assembly seat, and two each for the three school board seats up. While there are ten mayoral candidates, the main four are Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson, Suzanne LaFrance, Chris Tuck, and Bill Popp. Congrats to Mark Littlefield for being the only candidate to file for the special election to serve out the remainder of Assembly member Kevin Cross’ term! In December, Cross announced that he was resigning from the Assembly.
The three school board races should prove to be rather loose. I would bet the races for Anchorage School Board members Pat Higgins and Carl Jacobs will be close. In 2017, Kay Schuster lost to now-School Board member Andy Holleman by just 55 votes out of more than 41,000 votes cast. That was a 0.13% margin. Chelsea Pohland is a business owner, is active in the community, and a mother of three kids attending the Anchorage School District. I am not familiar with Angela Frank, who is challenging School Board member Dora Wilson.
Other Happenings
Members of the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce board were in Juneau this week. They had a popping reception at the Sealaska Heritage Institute building in Downtown Juneau. One tiny issue, several attendees were overheard cautioning folks to not eat the undercooked meatballs and chicken from an unknown Juneau catering company. Luckily no one seemed to be sick the next day. I got ahold of this handout that their board members were giving to legislators. For a group comprised of really smart people, it’s bizarre how they could have such conflicting priorities.
The chamber were not the only ones with a weird handout. Mayor Dave Bronson had a handout for his legislative priorities (that differ from the Anchorage Assembly’s). His handout listed him and “MAYOR DAVE BONSON.” At least his team took it in stride and had some fun with it.
At least @mayor_bronson and his team are having fun with the “Mayor Dave Bonson” spelling fail. https://t.co/HP3PhClnQp pic.twitter.com/PViLU7wzSz
— The Alaska Landmine (@alaskalandmine) January 26, 2024
Several members of labor unions were in Juneau this week with the Alaska AFL-CIO. They had an event at the Baranof the same night as the Alaska State Chamber’s event. Several people, including myself, attended both. Both events were bi-partisan, attended by legislators and staff from both parties. I gotta give a special shout out to the folks from the Teamsters, especially Tony Pro (you know who you are). And I love my man Patrick Fitzgerald channeling the legend Jesse Carr!
This Week’s Loose Unit
There was a lot of real loose shit this week in Juneau. And there was something even looser shit in Anchorage. If you had not heard, Enstar’s system is being strained because of the cold temperatures in Southcentral. One of the wells in Cook Inlet Natural Gas Storage Alaska (CINGSA) was producing sand. It’s not time to turn down the thermostats just yet, but it’s close. And don’t forget we are only a few years away from potentially having to import LNG so we don’t all freeze. To live in a place with such an abundance of gas but have this kind of shit happening says a lot about our “leaders.” Anyhoo, the Loose Unit was going to be Alaska leaders for failing to do what every other place in the world with abundant gas reserves does – provide cheap energy for their people. But a late development changed that. This week’s Loose Unit is Juneau resident Naawéiyaa Tagaban.
Tagaban was invited to give a land acknowledgement at an event for Representative Mary Peltola (D – Alaska) at the Crystal Saloon in Juneau on Saturday. Tagaban opened by talking about the evils of American colonization in Alaska. He then said that “Alaska will always be connected to the victims of the Holocaust.” But he only said that to tee up his real point, that the Jews are committing a genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. An ignorant talking point for people in the pro-Hamas crowd. He didn’t say a word about how Hamas brutally slaughtered and raped over 1,000 Jews on October 6, including many women and children. Classic fucking Loose Unit behavior.
He then called on Peltola to call for a cease fire and to end the genocide in Gaza, which really means telling Israel they can’t defend themselves against a group who literally calls for their extermination. Before he could finish, Shannon Mason, Peltola’s communications director, cut him off, telling him she invited him for a land acknowledgement and not to do what he was doing. Several people in the crowd told her to let him talk, but Mason handled it like a pro. The only thing she left out was telling him and his idiot friends to get the fuck out of their event. Peltola should tell all these useful Hamas idiots that she doesn’t want or need their votes and to please stop coming to her events.
And of course their his stunt was posted on Instagram after. You can watch the pathetic thing here.
If you have a nomination for this week’s Loose Unit, or if you have any political news, stories or gossip (or any old pics of politicians or public officials) please email me at jeff@alaskalandmine.com.
Late every summer, hulking white bears gather outside a tiny Alaska Native village on the edge of the continent, far above the Arctic Circle, to feast on whale carcasses left behind by hunters and to wait for the deep cold to freeze the sea.
It’s a spectacle that once brought 1,000 or more tourists each year to Kaktovik, the only settlement in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in a phenomenon sometimes called “last chance tourism” — a chance to see magnificent sights and creatures before climate change renders them extinct.
The COVID-19 pandemic and an order from the federal government halting boat tours to see the bears largely ended Kaktovik’s polar bear tourism amid concerns that the tiny village was being overrun by outsiders. But Kaktovik leaders are now hoping to revive it, saying it could be worth millions to the local economy and give residents another source of income — provided the village can set guidelines that protect its way of life and the bears themselves.
“We definitely see the benefit for tourism,” said Charles Lampe, president of the Kaktovik Inupiat Corp, which owns 144 square miles (373 square kilometers) of land. “The thing is, it can’t be run like it was before.”
As far back as the early 1980s, anyone in Kaktovik with a boat and knowledge of the waters could take a few tourists out to watch the bears as they lumbered across the flat, treeless barrier islands just off the coast or tore into the ribs of a bowhead whale left by subsistence hunters.
Tourism in Kaktovik soared in the years after federal officials declared polar bears a threatened species in 2008. The rapid warming of the Arctic is melting the sea ice the bears use to hunt seals, and scientists have said most polar bears could be wiped out by the end of the century.
As visitation boomed, the federal government imposed regulations requiring tour operators to have permits and insurance, and that began to squeeze locals out of the industry, Lampe said. Larger out-of-town operators moved in, and before long crowds of tourists were coming to Kaktovik — a village of about 250 people — during the six-week viewing season.
The town’s two hotels and restaurants lost out on some business when large operators began flying tourists in from Fairbanks or Anchorage for day trips. Locals complained tourist gawked at them or traipsed through their yards.
Small plane capacity became an issue, with residents sometimes battling tourists to get on flights to or from larger cities for medical appointments, forcing those left stranded in the cities to get expensive hotel rooms for the night.
When the pandemic struck, Kaktovik paused visitation. Then in 2021, the federal government, which manages polar bears, halted boat tours, mostly over concerns about how tourists were affecting bear behavior and overrunning the town.
Now Alaska Native leaders are in talks with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to address those concerns and reignite the industry, perhaps as early as 2027. The agency told The Associated Press in a statement that it’s working with Kaktovik “to ensure that any future opportunities are managed in a way that prioritizes visitor safety, resource protection, and community input.”
Among the changes Kaktovik leaders want to see is a limit on how long a boat can sit in the water near the bears. Too long, Lampe said, and the bears get used to humans — making for a dangerous situation when bears wander into town looking for food.
During the height of the tourism boom, it became tougher to haze bears out of town, even with the town’s bear patrol shooting at them with non-lethal rounds. The patrol had to kill about three or four bears per year, compared to maybe one per year before the boom, Lampe said.
“Our safety was at risk,” Lampe said.
In 2023, a 24-year-old woman and her 1-year-old son were killed in a polar bear attack in Wales, in far western Alaska. It was the first fatal polar bear attack in nearly 30 years in Alaska, the only U.S. state home to the species.
Since the boat tours in Kaktovik were halted, the bears once again seem more fearful of humans, Lampe said.
Polar bear tourism coincides with Kaktovik’s subsistence whaling season. When a crew lands a whale, it’s usually butchered on a nearby beach. While the community encourages visitors to watch or even help, some were recording or taking pictures without permission, which is considered disrespectful, Lampe said.
Sherry Rupert, CEO of the American Indigenous Tourism Association, suggested that Kaktovik market itself as a two- or three-day experience.
Native communities that are ready for tourists “want them to come and be educated and walk away with a greater understanding of our people and our way of life and our culture,” she said.
Roger and Sonia MacKertich of Australia were looking for the best spot on the planet to view polar bears in the wild when they came to Kaktovik in September 2019. They spent several days in the village, took a walking tour led by an elder and bought souvenirs made by local artists, including a hoodie featuring a polar bear.
For Roger MacKertich, a professional wildlife photographer based in Sydney, the highlight was the boat tours to see bears roaming on the barrier islands or taking a dip in the water. The bears paid them no attention.
“That’s nearly as good as it gets,” he said.
© Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
GIRDWOOD, Alaska (KTUU) – A skier sustained serious injuries Saturday after a frightening crash in the Alaska Airlines Slush Cup event at the Alyeska Resort Spring Carnival.
Family members of 29-year-old William Ingrim confirmed that Ingrim is currently hospitalized with injuries sustained participating in Saturday’s pond skim, and said his medical team is working to determine his prognosis.
Video footage captured at the event shows Ingrim skiing down the slope leading up to the pool of water, hitting the jump at high speed, and crossing over almost the entire length of the pool before landing hard near the end of it. Medical personnel staged at the pool can be seen rushing to his aid in the moments after the crash.
Ingrim’s mother, Robin, told Alaska’s News Source on Sunday that she was told her son is “stable” but in a medically-induced coma. She added that he will “probably” be paralyzed.
Other family members disputed that information Monday, telling Alaska’s News Source that a lot about Ingrim’s status is unknown.
Family members who are currently in Alaska and who spoke with doctors released a short statement Monday night:
“It’s a tough time for Will, but he’s a resilient young man. it’s an unimaginable time for his family and friends and we appreciate all the outpouring of love, prayers and support.”
According to his family, Ingrim is a commercial fisherman. During the winter months, he works as a coach at the Alyeska Ski Club.
Ingrim is one of seven siblings, a brother with six sisters, his family said.
“He’s precious to me,” Robin said about her son. “Will is the nicest young man you know.
“It’s going to be very hard on all of us.”
As of Sunday, Robin said she has not heard from Alyeska Resort.
Officials with Alyeska told Alaska’s News Source on Monday that their thoughts are with the participant and their loved ones during this time. The resort also stated that the safety of their guests and participants remains their highest priority.
“The Slush Cup is a longstanding event that is carefully planned with safety measures in place, including trained personnel and emergency response teams on site,” the statement from Alyeska spokesperson Bayne Salmon read.
“Out of respect for the individual and their family, we will not be sharing additional personal details at this time.”
Alaska’s News Source asked the resort if anyone in the past has ever been injured while participating in the event in the past, but have not heard back as of publication.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with new information from members of the skier’s family, including sensitivity to their wishes in providing updates on his current medical condition.
See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com
Copyright 2026 KTUU. All rights reserved.
Alaska’s statewide commercial salmon harvest this year is expected to total 125.5 million fish, less than two-thirds of the total landed by commercial harvesters in 2025, according to the annual forecast released last week by state biologists.
The anticipated 2026 total, detailed in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s 2026 forecast and 2025 review, is lower than annual statewide harvests in all but four years since 2000, according to department records.
The lowered expectations for the statewide salmon harvest are driven mostly by anticipated declines in runs of pink salmon, also known as humpback salmon, according to the forecast.
Pink salmon are the most plentiful, smallest and cheapest of Alaska’s five salmon species. They have two-year life cycles, the shortest of all of Alaska’s salmon species. Although there are regional variations, the general pattern for the recent past is alternating big-run and smaller-run years, with 2025 as one of the big-run years.
The year-to-year difference has been significant, said Forrest Bowers, who heads the department’s commercial fishing division.
“We have been seeing a pronounced even-odd year difference in pink salmon returns, with much larger returns in odd-numbered years,” Bowers said by email.
In all, about 197.4 million salmon were harvested commercially last year, 120 million of which were pink salmon, the forecast said. This year, about 60 million pink salmon are expected to be harvested commercially, according to the forecast.
For Alaska’s other four salmon species, the forecast calls for lower total catches as well, with a combined reduction of 11% below the 2025 non-pink salmon total harvest, Bowers said.
That is not considered a precise prediction. There are estimate ranges for different species and locations, which put the anticipated 2026 harvest in the general ballpark of last year’s harvest, except for pink salmon.
“When we consider forecast uncertainty and the distribution of harvests across the state, the forecast for non-pink salmon is fairly similar to the 2025 actual harvest,” Bowers said.
Sockeye salmon, also known as red salmon, is the second-most plentiful of Alaska’s five species, and the statewide harvest is dominated by Southwest Alaska’s Bristol Bay, site of the world’s largest sockeye salmon runs.
That status will continue this year, according to the forest. Bristol Bay’s estimated 2026 harvest for this year is 33.5 million fish, a little over the average over the last 20 years — but smaller than in some recent years, when harvests in that region hit or approached records. Last year’s Bristol Bay sockeye harvest was about 41.2 million fish, a little more than three-quarters of the statewide sockeye harvest.
This year, the statewide sockeye salmon harvest is forecast to total 49.7 million fish, of which about two-thirds are expected to come from Bristol Bay.
The forecast chum salmon commercial harvest this year is 17.2 million fish, compared to 21.7 million last year. This year’s forecast harvest of coho salmon, also known as silver salmon, is 2.4 million fish, compared to 2.7 million harvested last year. This year’s forecast harvest of chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, is 197,000 fish, compared to last year’s total harvest of 201,000 fish.
The department’s forecast details regional differences along with species differences.
In the Yukon and Kuskokwim river systems, salmon runs are expected to continue to be weak, as they have been for the past several years, according to the forecast. There is no commercial fishing anticipated on either of those river systems. The only commercial fishing in the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim region is expected to be in Norton Sound and in the Kotzebue area, as was the case last year and in other recent years.
The newly released forecast is for commercial harvesting alone. It does not include subsistence or sport harvests. Reports detailing last year’s subsistence harvests are expected to be released in the future, the forecast said.
Originally published by the Alaska Beacon, an independent, nonpartisan news organization that covers Alaska state government.
-
News38 seconds agoBeneath King Charles’s Jokes and Decorum, Some Subtle Rebuttals to Trump
-
Politics7 minutes agoFull Guest List for Trump’s State Dinner With Charles and Camilla
-
Business13 minutes agoPrime Minister Mark Carney Says Canada’s Economy Is Expected to Grow and Deficit to Fall
-
Health25 minutes agoCould At-Home Brain Stimulation Reduce Psychiatry’s Reliance on S.S.R.I.s?
-
Culture37 minutes agoBook Review: ‘The Rolling Stones,’ by Bob Spitz
-
Lifestyle43 minutes agoFashion Can’t Get Over Michael Jackson
-
Education49 minutes agoVideo: The Best Flats
-
Technology55 minutes agoIt’s primetime for conspiracy theorist video creators