Labor secretary talks economy, visa program on Alaska visit

Alaska's economy should pick up given an increase in military spending and pro-energy policies of the Trump administration, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta said. Acosta toured areas of Interior Alaska with Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan on Sunday, stopping in spots in Fairbanks and King Salmon, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported .

Interior legislators respond to lingering per diem question

Legislators are under fire for per diem costs again as figures have been released showing the state has paid almost $400,000 for living costs since the start of the first regular session on Jan. 17. During the first four-month session, nearly all state lawmakers took the same amount of per diem, between $213 to $295 per day, costing $30,949 between ... (more)

The Latest: Tillerson arrives in Alaska for Arctic meeting

The secretary of state is in Fairbanks for a meeting with the world's eight Arctic nations amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Donald Trump called for more oil drilling and development. Rex Tillerson landed on Wednesday afternoon and immediately held a meeting with a congressional delegation as well as Arctic representatives from Alaska's indigenous people.

Party infighting shadows House 9 race

In the wild, when musk ox are threatened, adults circle around the young calves, horns facing outward to meet danger head on. Head-on collision could be a metaphor for the so-called Musk Ox Coalition, a group of House Republican majority legislators which broke from majority leaders last year when they voted against using Permanent Fund earnings reserves to balance the state budget.