Alaska Beacon

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy extended his record-high veto rate Thursday by vetoing nine of the 82 bills passed by lawmakers in the second year of the 34th Alaska State Legislature, writes James Brooks for the Alaska Beacon.

Among the vetoed bills were measures that would have provided mental health lessons to kids in public schools, created a retirement plan for private-sector workers who don’t have one and updated the state’s corporate income tax system.

Two of the vetoed bills — one expanding the power of pharmacists and the other covering the state’s board of engineers and architects — were put into law Friday after lawmakers overrode the governor.

Dunleavy has now vetoed or attempted to veto almost one-fifth of all bills passed by the 34th Legislature. Other governors have issued more vetoes, but none have vetoed a higher proportion of bills than Dunleavy.

Dunleavy vetoes nine bills, but Alaska lawmakers override two in special session flurry | Alaska Beacon Sixteen other bills, including a measure raising the state’s age of consent, became law without a veto from the governor.

Alaska’s acting attorney general filed an emergency petition with the Alaska Supreme Court to compel the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District to open a charter school whose application the district previously denied, writes Corinne Smith for the Alaska Beacon.

The petition comes one day after a Fairbanks judge denied a preliminary injunction filed by the local charter group that sought to force the district to open Pearl Creek STEAM charter school.

“Without a speedy decision, the school will be unable to open this year,” wrote Acting Attorney General Cori Mills.

Mills urged the court to reverse the state judge’s decision and instruct the district to move forward in approving the charter school to open in the fall. “That means the District must take all necessary steps to ensure the Pearl Creek STEAM charter school opens in August 2026,” she wrote.

It’s the latest development in a months-long saga and court dispute between the Fairbanks district and the group behind Pearl Creek STEAM – a proposed charter school focused on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics – that is seeking to open its doors to students from Kindergarten through sixth grade this fall.

State AG asks Alaska Supreme Court to compel Fairbanks district to open charter school | Alaska Beacon Alaska’s acting attorney general filed an emergency petition with the Alaska Supreme Court to compel the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District to open the Pearl Creek STEAM charter school whose application the district previously denied.

Hundreds of sophisticated monitoring instruments will remain in place in the nation’s oceans, thanks to a National Science Foundation reversal of its plan to partially dismantle the system.

The federal agency announced on Thursday that it is dropping its plan to remove hundreds of instruments from the Ocean Observatories Initiative program, writes Yereth Rosen for the Alaska Beacon.

The program encompasses more than 900 instruments monitoring ocean currents, temperatures, sea life and other conditions. Information gathered is used to analyze weather and prepare for extreme weather events, manage fisheries, record climate change and other functions. The $386 million system was installed a decade ago and was intended to last for three decades.

News that the Trump administration planned to pull out hundreds of the instruments – including those positioned in Alaska’s ocean waters – triggered outrage from scientists, the fishing industry, members of Congress from coastal states and others.

U.S. scientific instruments in oceans off Alaska and elsewhere to remain in place | Alaska Beacon After a public outcry, the National Science Foundation dropped its plan to remove much of the Ocean Observatories Initaitive system.

Final peace negotiations between the United States and Iran officially began Thursday, Vice President JD Vance said at a late morning press conference in Washington, starting a 60-day countdown for the Islamic Republic to safely open the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. to lift a blockade on Iranian oil, and for the two nations to hammer out a nuclear deal. More from States Newsroom's Ashley Murray at the alaskabeacon.com.

The agreement is “a win-win situation” for the U.S., Vance said.

“If they change their behavior, big things are going to happen for Iran and for the world,” Vance said. “If they don’t, no skin off our backs” because Iran’s nuclear program and military are “still destroyed.”

The agreement immediately stops hostilities that began Feb. 28. The war claimed the lives of 13 U.S. service members, thousands of civilians in Iran, Lebanon and across the Gulf region, and disrupted the global economy.
https://alaskabeacon.com/2026/06/18/repub/60-day-clock-starts-for-negotiations-with-iran-over-strait-nuclear-future/

60-day clock starts for negotiations with Iran over strait, nuclear future | Alaska Beacon Final peace negotiations between the United States and Iran officially began Thursday, starting a 60-day countdown for the Islamic Republic to safely open the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. to lift a blockade on Iranian oil, and for the two nations to hammer out a nuclear deal.

An attorney advising the Alaska Legislature said Wednesday that Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom may have violated the U.S. Constitution when she disqualified Petersburg’s Daniel J. Sullivan from this year’s U.S. Senate race in Alaska, writes James Brooks for the Alaska Beacon.

Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage and chair of the House Judiciary Committee has scheduled a legislative hearing on Monday to discuss the disqualification.

By email, the Alaska Division of Elections said it will not have someone attend the hearing.

In a memo to Gray, attorney Andrew Dunmire said “the Lieutenant Governor was likely not legally justified in her decision to reject Mr. Sullivan’s declaration of candidacy.”

Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg has the same first and last name as incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.

Alaska legislative attorney says U.S. Senate candidate’s removal could violate Constitution | Alaska Beacon A consultant working with Dan J. Sullivan said he is still deciding what to do after the lieutenant governor's decision.