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We aim to raise awareness of key issues affecting Alaskans, coming from a broadly Judeo-Christian perspective, committed to the highest standards of journalism.

[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

From the Alaska Watchman:
Morning shoppers at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson commissary near Anchorage had quite a shock on July 5, when a black bear sauntered into the grocery store to grab a bite to eat.

A viral video of the incident was posted to Facebook over Independence Day weekend. It shows a bear rummaging through a produce display and then laying down in the entryway to enjoy a peach.

The bear then strolled about the front of the store before walking out and being unable to reenter.

The commissary offers grocery items to Alaska military families on base.

Video of the bear was captured in a 30-second video that has gained widespread viewership over the last few days.

An Air Force official at JBER told the Tack & Purpose military news outlet that the bear swung by around 9 a.m. and eventually left through the automatic sliding doors, wandered across the parking lot and ducked into a nearby forest.

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[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

A black bear recently treated an Alaska military commissary like its personal pantry, sauntering past startled shoppers to rifle through the produce display. With the casual entitlement of a regular customer, the animal claimed a peach and lounged in the entryway to enjoy it, turning an ordinary July morning into something closer to a wildlife documentary gone sideways.

Unable to crack the automatic doors for seconds, the bear eventually wandered back across the parking lot and into the trees. The brief footage has since circulated widely, offering a dry reminder that even on-base security has its limits when faced with determined local foraging.

[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

From the Alaska Watchman:
The federal government has agreed to pay $180 million to settle a two-decade legal fight over a botched federal expansion project at the Don Young Port of Alaska. Announced on July 7, the agreement closes the books on one of the longest-running lawsuits in state history and delivers a significant infusion of funding toward rebuilding the port.

The settlement resolves claims against the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) tied to the failed Port Intermodal Expansion Project, which left the Municipality of Anchorage to sue the federal government after the project’s design and construction proved defective.

Serving roughly 90% of Alaska, the critical port brings food, fuel, building materials and other essential goods across the Railbelt and into rural Alaska communities.

Fully owned and operated by the Municipality of Anchorage, the port functions as a municipal enterprise department overseen by the mayor and the Anchorage Assembly. While the city maintains the general facility, it relies on private commercial operators to lease terminal space and conduct cargo handling

“This is a win-win-win,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy stated upon announcing the settlement. “The Don Young Port of Alaska is a vital piece of infrastructure for our state and the nation. This settlement lets us turn...

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[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

After two decades of legal wrangling, the federal government has finally agreed to pay $180 million over a botched expansion at Anchorage’s Don Young Port. The settlement closes a lengthy lawsuit against the Maritime Administration, whose defective designs forced the city to shoulder the costs alone.

This infusion arrives as welcome relief for a facility that handles the bulk of Alaska’s food, fuel and building supplies. Officials plan to apply the funds to a broader modernization push, aiming to replace aging terminals with ones better suited to seismic risks and current shipping demands.

Governor Dunleavy called the deal a partnership triumph, allowing all sides to move past courtroom stalemates toward actual construction. State budgets add further support, though the port’s long-term fixes will still require steady commitment beyond this payout.

[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

From the Alaska Watchman:
Just when you thought the public-school funding issue was resolved by last year’s legislative passage of HB57, the good folks in the Anchorage School District (ASD) are pleading poverty again and have their hand out, asking for more money. This time, they want access to a one-time bonus the legislature passed in the just-completed regular legislative session; funds that are to be delivered by August 31. Evidently, that timing isn’t good enough for the ASD. They want their money now and are none too happy that the governor isn’t getting it to them quickly enough.

Administrators say that the funds are needed to hire additional teachers and fund programs that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to. They say if they wait until the legislature’s deadline in August, it will be too late to spend the funds for the coming school year.

While they do make a valid point, you can call me skeptical when I hear about the dire financial shape they are in. The ASD administrators haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory with their management of state revenues over the past couple of years.

The reason for the skepticism is that we were assured in the 2025 legislative session...

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[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

The Anchorage School District is back with its palm out, insisting it needs one-time funds delivered well ahead of the August deadline set by lawmakers. Their plea for extra cash to hire staff and sustain programs comes just months after HB57 was sold as the fix for chronic shortfalls, yet enrollment keeps sliding while administrators scramble.

A brand-new elementary built for fifty million dollars now sits at the center of a ninety million dollar hole, an odd choice given Anchorage’s shrinking student numbers and the steady drift toward homeschooling or charters. It takes a certain nerve to torch resources on expansion, then cast the district as a victim when the bill arrives.

Parents have voted with their feet for two decades, and districts clinging to the old model would serve everyone better by shrinking to match reality instead of expecting endless top-ups from the state.

[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

From the Alaska Watchman:
Due to a key vote by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the one-year ban on federal funding for Planned Parenthood expired on July 4, meaning the abortion giant can resume consuming hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars through Medicaid reimbursements for non-abortion-related services. Without this funding, the entity has struggled to keep its nationwide network of abortion clinics operational.

While Murkowski continues to identify as a Republican, she has long supported federal funding for Planned Parenthood and regularly joins Democrats in efforts to ensure the abortion business benefits from taxpayer dollars.

Last year, pro-life advocates celebrated when the Republican-controlled Congress narrowly approved the Medicaid funding ban in the One Big Beautiful Bill. While the original aim was to exclude the abortion behemoth from Medicaid reimbursements for the next decade, one year is all GOP lawmakers could pass.

At that time, Murkowski cast the deciding vote to pass the budget bill that included the 12-month funding ban. Before the vote, however, she sided with Democrats in an attempt to keep the funding spigot flowing for the abortion company. When that effort failed, Murkowski ultimately agreed to vote with her GOP colleagues in favor of the overall spending package.

This past April, though...

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[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

Sen. Lisa Murkowski has once again shown her talent for keeping the federal spigot open. The brief Medicaid funding pause for Planned Parenthood lapsed this month, allowing the group to resume drawing hundreds of millions in taxpayer reimbursements for its non-abortion work. Her Republican credentials appear to function more as decorative trim than any real constraint on such spending.

The one-year ban emerged from last year's narrow budget fight, where she supplied the decisive vote yet had earlier tried to block even that modest limit. Murkowski later opposed a longer extension, aligning with those who favor steady support for the organization that reported a record 434,000 abortions.

Without fresh restrictions tucked into upcoming measures, the flow of dollars seems likely to continue unchecked. The result leaves taxpayers subsidizing an operation whose priorities sit uneasily with the senator's nominal party.

[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

From the Alaska Watchman:
We want to wish all Alaskans a Happy Independence Day. May this 250-year-old experiment in defending the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness be ever more firmly grounded in the acknowledgement that these gifts are not bestowed on us by mortal men or earthly governments, but by the hand of God.

Massive crowds line the streets in downtown Wasilla for the Independence Day parade on July 4.

A Mat-Su Central fire truck rolls through downtown Wasilla for the annual Independence Day parade on July 4.

Patriots carry flags marking America's 250th birthday during the Wasilla Independence Day parade.

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[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

Alaskans marked the republic's 250th with a turnout in Wasilla that might surprise those who assume civic spirit has thinned to a trickle. Crowds lined the route while flags and a fire truck advanced in steady procession, underscoring the claim that life, liberty, and happiness arrive as gifts from above rather than from any legislature's pen.

The scene carried a quiet insistence that the old experiment still holds, even if the founders might raise an eyebrow at the sheer volume of bunting. Such gatherings serve as a reminder that endurance often looks less like fireworks and more like ordinary people refusing to let the date slide by unnoticed.

[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

From the Alaska Watchman:
As America celebrates 250 years of independence, I have reflected on the courage and convictions of our Founding Fathers. They did not begin by seeking conflict with the greatest military power on earth. They simply stood for what they knew to be true: that our rights come from God, not from government, and that no person should be forced into silence for defending those rights.

Likewise, I did not set out to run for office to challenge the media or engage in controversy. I began by standing up for the people in my community and speaking on behalf of citizens who felt unheard.

For that reason, I respectfully disagree with the probable cause finding of the Alaska House Subcommittee of the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics regarding the eighteen coordinated complaints filed against me over a letter I wrote to the owners of the Homer News. In that letter, I challenged what I believe was unfair and biased coverage surrounding the memorial event I organized to honor Charlie Kirk.

Using legislative procedures to punish or discourage elected officials from expressing their constituents' concerns sets a dangerous precedent and risks turning disagreement into a tool for silencing opposition.

The irony is...

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[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

In the spirit of our nation's founding, one lawmaker refuses to let an oath muffle her message. Rep. Vance finds herself tangled in ethics complaints after daring to call out biased coverage of a memorial for Charlie Kirk. The irony stings: questioning partisan tilt gets labeled as partisan itself, as if dissent were some novel crime invented for the occasion.

She draws a line between official duties and personal platforms, noting her letterhead and social accounts spring from her own hand, not legislative largesse. Silencing elected voices through procedural maneuvers risks turning our republic into an echo chamber, much like those regimes our ancestors fled. Robust debate, she reminds us, is not misconduct but the messy fuel of a free society.

As America marks 250 years, Vance recalls that liberty thrives on bold speech, not bureaucratic oversight. Disagreement with powerful institutions, including the press, remains a protected right rather than an ethical lapse. She vows to keep voicing constituents' concerns without apology.

[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

From the Alaska Watchman:
A prominent pro-life organization is headed to Anchorage next month to equip Alaskans with practical tools and strategies to defend preborn babies from abortion, while inspiring churches to get off the sidelines and enter the battle.

The Aug. 14-15 trainings feature national pro-life leader A.J. Hurley, director of activism and outreach for The White Rose Resistance, a pro-life Christian organization founded by Seth Gruber in 2022. It aims to mobilize the American church against abortion by directly drawing parallels between modern abortion and the historical injustices of Nazi Germany.

Hurley is the primary operational organizer, public spokesperson, and traveling speaker for the group. He is responsible for training and mobilizing grassroots efforts across the country and regularly represents the organization on podcast circuits, radio shows, and at church events to promote the group's mission.

Before stepping into his role at The White Rose Resistance, Hurley was already a well-known national figure within the pro-life movement. He spent eight years as a neonatal respiratory care practitioner, an experience he frequently cites as the catalyst for his full-time pro-life activism.

Hurley was also a co-founder of the #JusticeForTheFive campaign, which made national news in March 2023 when he and a group of...

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[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

A national pro-life outfit is sending its lead trainer north next month, bent on schooling Alaskans in the finer points of shielding the unborn while coaxing churches off their pews. The sessions lean on historical echoes of quiet defiance under tyranny, swapping one regime's machinery for what organizers call a modern culture of death.

Expect practical drills on clear speech and local outreach, drawn from the speaker's years in neonatal care and earlier clashes over remains. The effort aims to stir grassroots resistance without fanfare, treating the topic as one more front in an old fight for dignity from conception onward. Attendance might just separate the sidelined from those willing to engage the awkward details.

[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

From the Alaska Watchman:
The mystery of human creation is a double-edged sword. While everyone knows this, a history teacher thinks of it all the time.

The human mind can create magnificent edifices of cathedrals, skyscrapers, bridges, power plants, rocket ships, ocean liners, flying machines. It can devise economic systems with productivity to feed eight billion people, a smooth-running global supply chain, political systems that, on paper at least, can hold a civilization together.

There is art that inspires, beautiful music, games that entertain, instant communication, fashions, tools, individual and mass transportation, books and photography.

The other side of the sword is also well known: endless wars, tyrannical dictators and kings, nuclear bombs, genocide and inexplicable mass murders, mad scientists, and an incredible tendency towards self-destruction. Humans apply the assets of the good products of human ingenuity in order to destroy.

We easily hate not only our next door neighbor, the rival town and team, but more easily other cultures and countries, whose differences we might not understand and which often look sinister.

But we can also hate ourselves.

We can extol the joy of a baby, but also tear it apart, in numbers so vast as to beggar the imagination. We usually honor...

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[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

Human ingenuity erects cathedrals and supply chains that sustain billions, yet the same mind forges bombs and bureaucracies bent on erasure. This double-edged inheritance leaves us praising infants while discarding the inconvenient, honoring parents until they slow the march forward. The pattern repeats across eras, where progress and self-sabotage share the same workshop.

Secular visions of perfection fare no better. Marxism and its socialist cousins promise material heaven through confiscation and class warfare, only to birth fresh hierarchies more ruthless than the ones they replace. Whether democratic or national in flavor, these systems erode private life until the state alone decides worth, all while decrying invisible faiths as the true polluters.

Scripture offers a narrower path through such folly. From arks to furnaces to an empty tomb, the record shows apparent defeats reversed by an unseen hand. The branch still protrudes from the cliff, though reaching it requires admitting our own designs have failed.

[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

From the Alaska Watchman:
A new document from the Alaska Board of Education paints a sobering picture of persistent and ongoing failures of public education in teaching Alaska students basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills.

Education officials released a draft strategic plan last month, outlining three-year goals under the longstanding Alaska’s Education Challenge (AEC) framework. While the plan reaffirms five strategic priorities established nearly a decade ago, the accompanying data shows little to no gains across most grade levels.

The document emphasizes the need for accelerated improvement. Yet statewide assessments reveal that the vast majority of Alaska students are failing to attain grade-level mastery of foundational subjects, further underscoring dismal achievements despite initiatives like the Alaska Reads Act.

EARLY LITERACY FLOUNDERS

Under Strategic Priority 1, which aims to support all students reading at grade level by the end of third grade, the plan sets targets based on screenings and statewide assessments. Kindergarten through 3rd-grade students made progress during the school year. For example, the percentage of students performing at or above benchmark on literacy screeners rose from 41% at the beginning of 2023–2024 to 57% by year-end, and from 44% to 59% in 2024–2025. However, end-of-year performance remains below 60%, leaving a significant portion...

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[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

Alaska's education saga trudges onward with a new strategic plan that concedes most students remain adrift in reading and math basics. Statewide data shows third-grade proficiency stuck near 28 percent, while grades three through nine manage just 32 percent mastery overall, even after modest early gains and extra funding poured into the system.

The draft nods to familiar priorities from years past, yet highlights how upper-grade math craters further, with ninth-graders failing at an 83 percent clip. Unions and entrenched interests keep blocking ties between spending and outcomes or wider family options, allowing these shortfalls to linger like a stubborn fog that never lifts.

Public comments on the plan are open until August, but the pattern suggests acceleration may prove elusive once more.

[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

From the Alaska Watchman:
Two Anchorage Assembly members who represent the Eagle River area have introduced a resolution to initiate removal proceedings against East Anchorage Assembly Member George Martinez, citing a breach of public trust following Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) findings and new questions about taxpayer-funded travel and disclosures.

Anchorage Assemblyman George Martinez

Assembly Members Jared Goecker and Donald Handeland submitted resolution AR 2026-192 for first reading at the July 7 meeting. The measure looks to formally deliver an accusation document to the city clerk and direct the city attorney to secure outside counsel for an independent investigation.

The resolution highlights prior APOC findings that Martinez improperly used campaign funds for personal benefit, including a round-trip flight to Florida, and provided testimony the commission deemed not credible under oath. He was fined the maximum $5,300 and complied with the order.

Additional allegations focus on whether taxpayer-funded travel contributed to Martinez enjoying elevated airline status or personal travel rewards. The resolution calls on investigators to examine if such travel coincided with or subsidized his private business activities, particularly involving Consoach LLC, and whether he fully complied with financial disclosure requirements regarding his “adjunct professor” role and business interests.

The proposed probe would also review...

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[Publisher @Alaskawatchman]

Anchorage's assembly finds itself mired in fresh ethics scrutiny, as two Eagle River members introduced a resolution to launch removal proceedings against George Martinez. The measure cites APOC's earlier findings of campaign fund misuse for a personal Florida flight, along with testimony the commission labeled not credible, resulting in a maximum fine that Martinez paid. New questions swirl around taxpayer-funded travel possibly boosting his airline status or subsidizing private business via Consoach LLC, plus incomplete disclosures on his adjunct role and potential document tweaks.

This push for outside counsel and a full probe tests whether public trust violations merit more than assumptions or excuses. Martinez's colleagues note his prior judgment lapses on sponsored travel, suggesting similar patterns with municipal funds deserve answers rather than ideological cover from the body's hard-left majority. A censure alternative floats as a softer option, but removal requires eight of twelve votes.

It remains unclear if the assembly will scrutinize one of its own or let the matter fade into procedural haze. The resolution underscores that no elected figure should evade examination when facts point to breaches, though political alignments may yet blunt the effort.