Down to the wire: What we’re watching before Alaska’s polls close

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy this week threatened to veto a hard-fought bill to increase funding for Alaska’s public schools, unless the Legislature agrees to back some of his own education priorities.

Now, lawmakers in Juneau and school districts across the state are scrambling to sort out what to do next.

In this episode, host Elizabeth Harball talks to reporters Sean Maguire and Iris Samuels to discuss what is and isn’t in the bill, and what might happen next.

For more local and state news, subscribe to the Anchorage Daily News today.

This episode of ADN Politics is sponsored by SteamDot Coffee.

A recent cold snap in Southcentral Alaska raised the profile of a looming problem for the region: Natural gas from Cook Inlet powers a big chunk of Alaska, including Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula and the Mat-Su – but energy companies say that gas won’t be available for much longer. How is that possible, in a state that has enormous gas reserves? And what does that mean for future energy bills?

Anchorage Daily News reporter Alex DeMarban has been covering this issue, and speaks with host Elizabeth Harball to answer these and other burning questions. 

For more local and state news, subscribe to the Anchorage Daily News today.

This episode of ADN Politics is sponsored by SteamDot Coffee.

The New Year has arrived, bringing with it an election year and the next Alaska legislative session. In this episode, host Elizabeth Harball talks to Daily News reporters Iris Samuels and Sean Maguire about the top storylines they are tracking in 2024 — from continued battles over education funding and ranked choice voting to notable people and issues on the ballot in November.

For more local and state news, subscribe to the Anchorage Daily News today.

This episode of ADN Politics is sponsored by SteamDot Coffee.

Part of a little-known state agency is near collapse, and it’s not clear what will happen to the vulnerable people it serves.

Daily News reporter Iris Samuels recently dug into issues at Alaska’s Office of Public Advocacy. Facing severe staffing issues, it turned to a private nonprofit to help it provide guardianship services for over 100 people. But that nonprofit ran into issues of its own, leaving the Alaskans it served at risk of going into debt, losing public benefits, or becoming homeless.

Host Elizabeth Harball talks to Samuels about what happened to the Office of Public Advocacy, and what that means going forward.

For more local and state news, subscribe to the Anchorage Daily News today.

This episode of ADN Politics is sponsored by SteamDot Coffee.

In this episode, we return to the topic of snow plow politics in Anchorage. In November, once again, the city was hit with back-to-back snowstorms. And once again, the roads were a huge mess.

For a winter city that relies on plowing so residents can get to work and schools can open, snow plowing quickly becomes a political issue — especially with a mayoral race coming up.

Host Elizabeth Harball talks to Daily News reporter Zachariah Hughes about why so many Anchorage roads went unplowed for days and the political fallout as Mayor Dave Bronson vies for reelection.

For more local and state news, subscribe to the Anchorage Daily News today.

This episode of ADN Politics is sponsored by 

SteamDot Coffee

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In 2018 and then in 2020, two women were found dead on the same property in the Northwest Alaska community of Kotzebue.

The women were 25-year-old Jennifer Kirk and 30-year-old Susanna, or “Sue Sue,” Norton. They both had been in relationships with sons of Kotzebue’s now-former mayor, who owns the property where they were found. 

Kirk’s death was declared a suicide, and Norton’s, a homicide. No charges have ever been filed in connection to the deaths.

In this episode, host Elizabeth Harball speaks with Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica reporter Kyle Hopkins, who spent years looking into the details of the two cases for a recently published story. He explains how he found disturbing patterns leading up to the deaths, as well as unexplained holes in the investigations. 

For more local and state news, subscribe to the Anchorage Daily News today.

This episode of ADN Politics is sponsored by SteamDot Coffee.

As Western Alaska communities face a shocking decline in the salmon runs they depend on, fishing operations called factory trawlers are drawing more scrutiny than ever before — the vessels are not going after salmon, but they can still scoop some up in their nets.

With support from the Pulitzer Center, the Daily News recently published a two-part series diving into factory trawling in the Bering Sea, the industry’s impact on Alaska’s salmon runs, and Community Development Quota groups, which have become powerful players in fishery politics.

In this episode, host Elizabeth Harball talks to longtime fisheries reporter Hal Bernton, who went out on a factory trawler this August to report the first story in the series.

For more local and state news, subscribe to the Anchorage Daily News today.

This episode of ADN Politics is sponsored by SteamDot Coffee.

Anyone who has tried to buy or rent a home in Anchorage recently has been faced with the realities of the city’s housing crisis. Costs have shot up, while at the same time, there isn’t a lot of inventory to choose from. The issue has wide-ranging implications for the city, impacting everything from attracting and retaining workers to efforts to address homelessness.

Host Elizabeth Harball talks to Anna Brawley, an Anchorage Assembly member with a background in city planning, about efforts to address the city’s housing crisis, and challenges that are coming up along the way.

For more local and state news, subscribe to the Anchorage Daily News today.

This episode of ADN Politics is sponsored by SteamDot Coffee.

A top official in Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson’s administration resigned this month after being accused of breaking election laws.

It’s a complicated saga that has unfolded over months – an investigation into the mayor’s IT director involving a challenge to this year’s city election results. 

In this episode, host Elizabeth Harball speaks with ADN reporter Emily Goodykoontz, who broke the news about the allegations in May.

For more local and state news, subscribe to the Anchorage Daily News today.

This episode of ADN Politics is sponsored by SteamDot Coffee.

This week, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed $87 million in education funding passed by the Legislature — half of a one-time funding increase for public schools that education advocates said was badly needed. 

Almost immediately, some lawmakers were calling to override the veto. 

Host Elizabeth Harball talks to ADN reporter Iris Samuels about the likelihood of a veto override, what it would take to get there, and more.

For more local and state news, subscribe to the Anchorage Daily News today.

This episode of ADN Politics is sponsored by SteamDot Coffee.