Alaska Government News

"Baked Alaska" isn't just a tasty dessert dish this week; the Land of the Midnight Sun is experiencing a heat wave that's shattering records and perhaps leading many to long for a glacier to lie on.

From eating giant Neapolitans, to frozen strawberry shortcakes, Alaskans are doing all they can to beat the heat.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska announced her support Wednesday for same-sex marriage, becoming the third sitting GOP senator to back the right for gay and lesbian couples to marry.

Representative Eric Feige from the Alaska State Legislature presents a letter of commendation to the 'Alert's crew for their rescue tow of drill barge 'Kulluk'.

Move over boating DUIs, shopping cart DUIs are this year's coolest way for Alaskans to be intoxicated aboard a moving object.

A heat wave hitting Alaska may not rival the blazing heat of Phoenix or Las Vegas, but to residents of the 49th state, the days of hot weather feel like a stifling oven - or a tropical paradise.

Last week, Democratic senators from California, Oregon and Washington wrote to Obama to express concern about the potential effect of the Pebble Mine on their salmon fishing industries and demanding a 'valid, sound science based approach to ensuring that Bristol Bay salmon are safeguarded.'

Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell formally jumped into the 2014 race for U.S. Senate, hoping to take on Democratic incumbent Mark Begich.

Sen. Mark Begich on Monday said he's closer to being a Rockefeller Republican than a Pelosi Democrat.

The Department of Environmental Conservation said the gift is from the Hokkaido Development Engineering Center and members of the International Association of Cold Region Development Studies.

Environmental Conservation Commissioner Larry Hartig said in a release that the donation is a symbol of the "deep friendship" between the U.S. and Japan.

Alaskans are today allowed to possess small amounts of marijuana in their own homes but the sale of marijuana is still a crime.

Poems by local writers Emily Wall and Ernestine Hayes have been selected for permanent placement in Totem Bight State Historical Park in Ketchikan as part of the Alaska Center for the Book's Poems in Place project.

On May 10th, an eighteen ton bulldozer sank into a kettle pond while traveling to Stephan Lake as part of a convoy of heavy equipment.

The Democratic senator reflects others' views in Alaska's Washington delegation: Lawmakers are demanding more transparency and congressional oversight on government surveillance, though they won't say the programs need to be shut down or that Congress should repeal the Patriot Act.

People across the state are gathering 40,000 petition signatures, needed by mid-July, so Alaskans can vote to reject or approve the recent oil tax giveaway.

Dozens of locals spent Wednesday afternoon swimming, boating and splashing around at Jewel Lake.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency is collecting public comments through the end of June on a proposed mining operation near Alaska's salmon-rich Bristol Bay.

The guard says in a release that the Alaskans are taking part in the Exportable Combat Training Capability program near Gowen Field, Idaho.

The U.S. Coast Guard, state Department of Environmental Conservation and city of Valdez plan to participate in the exercise along with the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.