“The process that we had created to deal with major maintenance and capital improvements has not been working.” - Sen. Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage, on why a legislative education funding task force recommends the state separate funds for instruction and maintenance in Alaska schools.
People wait in line to vote on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026 at Scenic Park Elementary School in East Anchorage. (Photo by Loren Holmes/Alaska Beacon)
By James Brooks
In the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, candidates in two different Alaska House of Representatives elections are separated by five votes, according to preliminary, partial ranked choice runoff data published by the Alaska Division of Elections on Wednesday night.
The winners of those two races are not expected to change the balance of power in the Alaska House, which is on course to be controlled by a multipartisan coalition, but they would be significant in determining who represents the state’s fastest-growing region in that chamber.
Sioux Falls residents vote in South Dakota’s general election on Nov. 3. Turnout fell to a historic low in the state as Democrats gained in the Republican-dominated legislature. Democratic gains in many states could be explained more by the turnout gap than by voters switching their allegiance. (Photo by Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
By Tim Henderson
Much of the midterm “blue tsunami” came from diverse, enthusiastic young voters with financial struggles who flocked to the polls, and also Trump voters sitting out the election, according to two experts analyzing turnout in a handful of states with detailed results.
The results, they say, could mean a mandate for bringing costs down and more power for young Latinos, but also a danger for Democrats if Republicans rally back to the polls in 2028.
Students begin their first day of school at the Tlingit Culture, Language and Literacy program at Harborview Elementary School in Juneau on Aug. 15, 2025 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
By Corinne Smith
After a nearly 18-month investigation, a joint legislative task force on education funding seeks not only to boost state spending on schools but to change the way Alaska allocates funding to support its troubled K-12 education system.
Among the key recommendations in the draft report released Monday is the finding that annual education spending should be adjusted with inflation, and that funding for school facilities maintenance and rising energy costs should be separate from dollars intended for student instruction.
Image courtesy of Bill Sherwonit.
COMMENTARY
By Bill Sherwonit
Once upon a time—and really not so long ago—a mountain valley just east of Anchorage was the best place in Alaska, and likely the world, for people to watch and photograph large numbers of moose.
…This year, on a dozen or more hikes out of Glen Alps between late August and mid-October—a period that includes the rut’s peak and post-rut congregation—I didn’t see more than a handful of moose on any given day. And only a single cow.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Museum swap brings bones of hero dog back to Alaska | Yereth Rosen
Commentary: Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act compromises Alaska Native people’s rights | Kimberly Strong
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