
Palmer mask mandate defeated after overwhelming public outcry
After listening to 20 hours of public testimony from more than 700 Mat-Su residents over a three day period, the Palmer City Council voted down a citywide mask mandate, 4-3, on Dec. 4. Nearly 70% of comments – both in-person and written – opposed the idea


Lt. Governor’s office explains why he waited to tell Alaska of voter registration hack
Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer waited five weeks before alerting Alaskans that the state’s voter registration system had been hacked back in October, exposing sensitive information of 113,000 Alaskans. One day after releasing this information, his office answered


RECOUNT: Lance Pruitt loses House race by 11 votes to Liz Snyder
The conclusion of a hand recount on Dec. 4 shows that incumbent Republican Rep. Lance Pruitt has lost his State House seat to liberal Democratic challenger Liz Snyder by 11 votes. Pruitt, who represents Anchorage House District 27, held a solid lead on


8,600 sign petition citing concerns about Anchorage mask mandate for athletes
A petition against Anchorage’s mandate that athletes wear face masks during practices and competitions has now been signed by nearly 9,000 people who say the order “defies a growing body of scientific data about significant negative health effects of


Athens disappears after claiming she had a story to tell about former Anchorage mayor
It appears former local FOX/ABC reporter Maria Athens either has nothing more to share about former Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz or is unwilling to actually go public. Nearly a month and a half after posting a video claiming she had evidence that Berkowitz


State video suggests raising doubts about the election is akin to ‘misinformation’
Three weeks after discovering that Alaska’s Online Voter Registration System was hacked by nefarious outside actors, the Alaska Division of Elections produced and published a video against what it called dangerous “misinformation” being sowed by those


Alaska’s voter registration system hacked – data exposed
As early as Oct. 27, Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer was aware that Alaska was the victim of data exposure by outside actors targeting the Division of Elections Online Voter Registration System, which was built and maintained by an outside vendor and operated by the


Palmer mask mandate likely doesn’t have the votes to pass
On Friday, Dec. 4, the Palmer City Council will read the final 250 some written testimonies on a highly controversial proposal to impose a citywide mask mandate. Once the letters are read into the record, which will likely take five to six more hours, the


Alaska hospital association president addresses COVID testing, healthcare capacity
Jared Kosin is president and CEO of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Association, which represents more than 65 hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare organizations that employ over 10,000 Alaskans. The Watchman sent several questions to Kosin in


Mat-Su Borough mayor overrides effort to repeal controversial gun range restrictions
The heated and protracted debate over whether to increase regulations on outdoor shooting ranges in the Mat-Su Borough ended with Borough Mayor Vern Halter vetoing the Assembly’s vote to reconsider an ordinance that passed last month. The majority of

