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A graphic shows employment by Alaska region and features the percent change in jobs from December 2020 to December 2021. (Graphic via February 2022 Alaska Economic Trends reports from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development)

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Report: Alaska economy rebounding; inflation up

Prices in Alaska increased by 4.9% in 2021

This photo shows Kayla Svinicki, director and owner of Little Moon Child Care on Jan. 28. Svinicki said that providing childcare is essential but that the economics of the situation make the work difficult. She said she hopes the country starts to treat childcare as part of the nation’s infrastructure. (Dana Zigmund / Juneau Empire)

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Report: 61% of Alaskans live in child care deserts

Local providers say the struggle is real

Copies of the Alaska State Constitution are available outside the Lt. Governor’s office at the Alaska State Capitol. A Senate bill with bipartisan support is seeking to enhance civics education for Alaskan students. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

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Bill seeks to strengthen civics education

Educating citizens.

Alaska Republican state Rep. David Eastman speaks on the floor of the Alaska House on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska. The Alaska House tabled action Monday on a proposal to remove from legislative committees Eastman, who has said he joined the Oath Keepers far-right organization years ago. The House Committee on Committees voted 5-2 to remove Republican Rep. Eastman of Wasilla from his committee assignments, said Joe Plesha, communications director for the House's bipartisan majority. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

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House tables vote affecting lawmaker with Oath Keepers ties

The meeting was not widely publicized beforehand.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a meeting with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the Pentagon in Washington, Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. (AP Photo / Andrew Harnik)

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Austin to governors: Guard troops must get COVID-19 vaccine

Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska filed lawsuits challenging the military’s vaccine mandate.

Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer; Senate President Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna; Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak and Sen. Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks, spoke to reporters Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022, immediately following Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s State of the State address. Members of the Senate Republican leadership said they appreciated the governor’s optimism, and hoped it signaled a better relationship between the administration and the Legislature. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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Lawmakers welcome tone change in governor’s address

Still work to be done.

U.S. Navy / Petty Officer 3rd Class Joseph Montemarano The USS Hopper (DDG 70) prepares to moor in Homer, Alaska, for a scheduled port visit in conjunction with its participation in Northern Edge 2017 in Homer, Alaska, April 29, 2017. The Navy is proposing to considerably expand its exercise area in the Gulf of Alaska.

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Navy proposes expanding Gulf of Alaska exercise area

The proposal would more than quadruple the sea room for ships and aircraft to manuever in.

Esau Sinnok of Shishmaref, Alaska, speaks at a news conference after the Alaska Supreme Court heard arguments on Oct. 9, 2019, in Anchorage, Alaska, in a lawsuit that claims state policy on fossil fuels is harming the constitutional right of young Alaskans to a safe climate. The Alaska Supreme Court on Friday, Jan. 28, 2022, upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by 16 Alaska youths, who claimed long-term effects of climate change will devastate Alaska and interfere with their individual constitutional rights. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

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Alaska court rules against youths in climate change lawsuit

16 young Alaskans claimed long-term effects of climate change will devastate Alaska and interfere with their individual constitutional…

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

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COVID-19 4th leading cause of death in 2020

COVID was responsible for 231 deaths in 2020

Sen. Lisa Murkowski speaks at the Peninsula Clarion office on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

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Murkowski weighs in on issues

Alaska’s senior senator talks local, national politics ahead of reelection campaign

Dan Blanchard, CEO of UnCruise Adventures, stands in front of a ship on May 14, 2021. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire)

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Smooth sailing for the 2022 season?

Cautious optimism reigns, but operators say it’s too early to tell.

Then-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin speaks at a rally in Montgomery, Ala., in 2017. Palin is on the verge of making new headlines in a legal battle with The New York Times. A defamation lawsuit against the Times, brought by the brash former Alaska governor in 2017, is set to go to trial starting Monday, Jan. 24, 2022 in federal court in Manhattan. (AP Photo / Brynn Anderson)

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Palin COVID-19 tests delay libel trial against NY Times

Sarah Palin on Monday tested positive for COVID-19.

AP Photo / Mark Thiessen Attorney Scott Kendall stands next to the State of Alaska certificate for the election reforms he helped author in a successful ballot initiative in Anchorage, Alaska, on Jan. 21, 2022. Alaska elections will be held for the first time this year under a voter-backed system that scraps party primaries and sends the top four vote-getters regardless of party to the general election, where ranked choice voting will be used to determine a winner. No other state conducts its elections with that same combination.

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How Alaska’s unique new election system works

Here is a closer look at what’s happening in Alaska.