James Brooks

The House Education Committee hasn’t met since Feb. 14, denying Gov. Mike Dunleavy a channel of support for his ideas.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined Tuesday to halt significant amounts of oil and gas work on and near Alaska’s Beaufort Sea coast despite concluding that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service erred when it granted permission for oil companies to harass nearby polar bears.

An amendment from Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, would lower the age for obtaining behavioral health care to 16.

A vote on the proposal could take place as soon as Friday, and if it succeeds, the idea would go to the state Senate.

The bill moves on to the Senate, but detractors said it could be subject to legal challenges even if it becomes law.

A new bill passed by the Alaska Legislature will give companies that employ participants of a military veteran reentry program an advantage in small contracts solicited by the state.

The Senate Finance Committee proposed tripling the exemption from $150,000 to $450,000. An eligible Alaskan whose home is worth that amount or less would pay no local property taxes.

In a separate criminal case, former dentist Seth Lookhart was sentenced to 20 years in prison with eight suspended.

A third-party investigator will examine six years’ worth of contacts between staff and the board of trustees.

Two ballot measures could be presented to local voters in the two Southeast Alaska towns this fall.