“I think the next stage that we really need to take a focus on is tracking our healthcare outcomes, making sure that we know what those metrics are, so that five years from now, when these dollars go away, we can point to the fact that healthcare outcomes did improve in certain areas, or in a region they did something new that we can replicate across the board.” - Rep. Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage, on the potential for federal health dollars to make a lasting change in Alaska.
Cancer Connection, located within the Southeast Cancer Center in Juneau, is one of the first recipients of federal funding through the Rural Health Transformation Program. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
By Corinne Smith
The Alaska Department of Health announced the first group of projects to be awarded millions in federal funding from the Rural Health Transformation Program on Friday, ahead of an October deadline.
Officials announced the first $4.5 million of the state’s $272 million in funding will be awarded to 19 projects serving communities statewide, with additional funding to be announced each Friday as the review process is finalized.
Then-Speaker of the House Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, listens to a speech on Wednesday, May 18, 2022, during final debates on Alaska's state budget. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
By James Brooks
Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, will pay more than $2,000 to settle a series of campaign finance complaints filed by a former chair of the Alaska Republican Party in 2025.
The Alaska Public Offices Commission approved the final consent agreement July 28. Under the terms of the agreement, Stutes will pay a penalty of $2,643.50 and repay her campaign $13,869.44 to settle complaints regarding improper campaign finance reporting and improper campaign spending in the 2020, 2022 and 2024 elections.
U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche appears at his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill last month. (Photo by Eric Lee/Getty Images)
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris
A group of leading anti-abortion organizations sent a letter to newly confirmed U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche urging him to review the U.S. Department of Justice’s authority to use a 150-year-old anti-obscenity law to prevent people from obtaining abortion medication or other related materials through the mail.
Advancing American Freedom, a conservative advocacy group founded by former Republican Vice President Mike Pence, authored the Aug. 7 letter. It is co-signed by four major anti-abortion organizations, including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Americans United for Life and Students for Life of America. The nearly 30 other signees include the North Carolina House of Representatives, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs and The Conservative Caucus.
A torn Styrofoam cup emerges with other trash from a melting pile of snow on April 26, 2026, in a parking lot by Northern Lights Boulevard in Midtown Anchorage. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
COMMENTARY
By Gabriella Chalker and Rhea Larson
This year, Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have eliminated the use of polystyrene, best known as Styrofoam, in Alaska. We are interns at Alaska Community Action on Toxics, a nonprofit focused on the impacts of toxic chemicals and plastics on people’s health, the environment and Indigenous ways of life. We are still fighting to end the use of polystyrene — and we are tired of empty promises from politicians like Dunleavy.
We represent young women, scientists and Native peoples. Our voices are often left out of the conversation, yet we have the most at stake. Repeatedly, older generations tell us: “Sorry for the mess we’ve left you.” However, change can only be accomplished through collective and intergenerational action, and we need all ages to help now.
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