News

Senator Murkowski, pictured here at the Nome Investment Summit on April 18, 2025.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski continues to speak out

Senator Lisa Murkowski, (R-Alaska) attended the City of Nome’s Investment Summit on Friday, holding a keynote address and making time for an interview with The Nome Nugget. Top of mind is the...

PRESENT— With a uniquely Nome-sense of humor, Nome Mayor John Handeland gifted Senator Lisa Murkowski with an oosik, the private parts of a male walrus, as an appropriate tool to take back to Congress.

As gateway to the Arctic, Nome prepares for future development

An illustrious line-up of speakers attracted a large audience as the City of Nome held its first Investment Summit on Friday, April 18 at Old St. Joe’s to discuss the future of Nome in light of a...

REAL ID deadline is approaching

The REAL ID deadline is coming up shortly, on May 7. People will need a REAL ID-compliant identification card to board a domestic flight or enter a military base or other federal facilities. A...

JOINT SESSION–Senate President Gary Stevens (R–Kodiak) and Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon preside over the joint Legislative session on April 22 where the Legislature failed to override the Governor’s veto of the bill that would increase school funding.

Legislature fails to override governor’s veto of school funding increase

Today, the Alaska Legislature failed to override Governor Mike Dunleavy’s veto of a $1,000 increase to the per-student base school funding formula, known as the BSA, or Base Student Allocation. The...

FUNDING TALK–Governor Mike Dunleavy during an April 17 press conference in the Capitol discussed his veto of Senate Bill 69, a bill passed by the Legislature that would have increased the per student funding formula by $1,000.

Dunleavy vetoes $1,000 increase to school funding

Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a bill today that would have increased the per-student base funding formula by $1,000, about 17 percent, instead submitting a bill which proposes a $560 increase along with...

ON THE FLOOR–Senator Donny Olson during a Senate Floor session on April 10.

Senate passes bill to reappropriate $10 million from port funding

The City of Nome could lose $10 million in state funding, which was part of a $175 million appropriation by the Alaska Legislature in May 2022 for the Port of Nome expansion. This has come as a...

HANDS OFF— Nomeites gather at Anvil City Square on Saturday to join nationwide protests against Trump and DOGE.

Nomeites join nation in protests against Trump, Musk

Last Saturday, people in more than 1,200 locations across the country rallied against President Donald Trump and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency and its leader Elon Musk, in what is...

ARCTIC AFFAIRS— Former U.S. Arctic Ambassador Michael Sfraga spoke to the Senate Special Committee on Arctic Affairs last week. He explained how critical Alaska is for the U.S. as a global power in the Arctic and how the Port of Nome could play a strategic role in that.

Bering Strait highlighted in Arctic security presentation

Speaking to state senators last week, Mike Sfraga, the former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Affairs emphasized the importance of the Bering Strait region in domestic and foreign policy. “I...

IPOP proposes a gold mine operation in the Bonanza Channel

Three local tribes file lawsuit challenging Army Corps’ mining permit to IPOP

The Village of Solomon, Native Village of Council and King Island Native Community filed a civil lawsuit in Alaska District Court today against the Army Corps of Engineers’ approval of IPOP LLC’s...

GET TO WORK–Representatives Chuck Kopp (R-Anchorage), Andy Josephson (D-Anchorage), Bryce Edgmon (I-Dillingham) and Louise Stutes (R-Kodiak) pack up following a press conference in speaker chambers on Tuesday April 8.

PFD and school funding keys to balanced state budget

Legislators are working to balance the state operating budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1, with school funding and Permanent Fund dividends at the forefront of the conversation. Both are...