Alaska is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. It borders the Canadian province of British Columbia and territory the Yukon to the east;it shares a western maritime border in the Bering Strait with Russia's Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The Chukchi and Beaufort Seas of the Arctic Ocean lie to the north and the Pacific Ocean lies to the south. Technically a semi-exclave of the U.S.,Alaska is the largest exclave in the world.
Southeast Alaska,often abbreviated to Southeast or Southeastern,and sometimes called the Alaska(n) Panhandle,is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska,bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The majority of Southeast Alaska is situated in Tlingit Aaní,much of which is part of the Tongass National Forest,the United States' largest national forest. In many places,the international border runs along the crest of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains. The region is noted for its scenery and mild,rainy climate.
Sitka is a unified city-borough in the southeast portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. It was under Russian rule from 1799 to 1867. The city is situated on the west side of Baranof Island and the south half of Chichagof Island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean. As of the 2020 census,Sitka had a population of 8,458,making it the fifth-most populated city in the state.
Lisa Ann Murkowski is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator representing Alaska,having held that seat since 2002. She is the first woman to represent Alaska in the Senate and the Senate's second-most senior Republican woman,after Susan Collins of Maine. She became dean of Alaska's congressional delegation upon Representative Don Young's death.
The Alaska Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a bicameral institution consisting of the 40-member Alaska House of Representatives and the 20-member Alaska Senate. There are 40 House Districts (1–40) and 20 Senate Districts (A–T). With a total of 60 lawmakers,the Alaska Legislature is the smallest bicameral state legislature in the United States and the second-smallest of all state legislatures. There are no term limits for either chamber. The Alaska Legislature meets in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau,Alaska. The current meeting since 2023 is the 33rd Alaska State Legislature. The previous meeting,the 32nd Alaska State Legislature,met from 2021 to 2023.
Andrew Verne Marrou is an American politician who served in the Alaska House of Representatives from the 5th district as a member of the Libertarian Party from 1985 to 1987. He was the Libertarian vice-presidential nominee in the 1988 election and presidential nominee in the 1992 election.
Alaska Day is a legal holiday in the U.S. state of Alaska,observed on October 18. It is the anniversary of the formal transfer of territories in present-day Alaska from the Russian Empire to the United States,which occurred on Friday,October 18,1867.
The Alaska State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska Legislature,the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members,each of whom represents a district of approximately 17,756 people per 2010 census figures. Members serve two-year terms without term limits. With 40 representatives,the Alaska House is the smallest state legislative lower chamber in the United States. The House convenes at the State Capitol in Juneau.
USCGC Maple (WLB-207) is a Juniper-class seagoing buoy tender operated by the United States Coast Guard. She was based at Sitka,Alaska for 16 years and is currently homeported at Atlantic Beach,North Carolina. Her primary mission is maintaining aids to navigation,but she also supports search and rescue,law enforcement,oil spill response,and other Coast Guard missions.
Bert Stedman is a Republican member of the Alaska Senate. A fourth generation Alaskan,he was born in Anchorage and spent his childhood between Petersburg and Sitka. He was appointed by Governor Frank Murkowski in November 2003 to the Alaska Senate to represent District A. He now represents District R following redistricting in 2012.
Albert Matthew Kookesh,Jr. was an American politician who served as a member of the Alaska Senate. He represented District C as a Democrat from 2005 through 2013. Previously he was a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 1997 through 2005.
Although in its early years of statehood,Alaska was a Democratic state,since the early 1970s it has been characterized as Republican-leaning. Local political communities have often worked on issues related to land use development,fishing,tourism,and individual rights. Alaska Natives,while organized in and around their communities,have been active within the Native corporations. These have been given ownership over large tracts of land,which require stewardship. The state has an independence movement favoring a vote on secession from the United States,with the Alaskan Independence Party,but its membership has shrunk in recent decades.
Mary Sattler Peltola is an American politician and former tribal judge serving as the U.S. representative from Alaska's at-large congressional district since September 2022. She previously served as a judge on the Orutsararmiut Native Council's tribal court,executive director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission,Bethel city councillor and member of the Alaska House of Representatives.
Byron Ivar Mallott was an American politician,elder,tribal activist,and business executive from the state of Alaska. Mallott was an Alaska Native leader of Tlingit heritage and the leader of the Kwaash KéKwaan clan. He was the 12th lieutenant governor of Alaska from December 2014 until his resignation on October 16,2018. He also previously served as the mayor of Yakutat,the mayor of Juneau,the president of the Alaska Federation of Natives and the executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund.
William A. Thomas Jr. is a businessman,commercial fisherman,and politician from the U.S. state of Alaska. Thomas served as a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives from the 5th District,comprising scattered rural and semi-rural communities throughout Southeast Alaska and stretching westward to Prince William Sound,from 2005 to 2013. Thomas served in the majority his entire tenure in the House and held multiple chairmanships. Thomas gained a seat on the powerful House Finance Committee during his second term and would eventually co-chair the committee. Following redistricting,Thomas lost reelection in 2012 by 32 votes to 23-year-old Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins,a political newcomer who left Yale University to run.
The Libertarian Party of Alaska is the affiliate of the Libertarian Party (LP) in Alaska,headquartered in Anchorage.
Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) is a non-profit medical,dental,vision and mental health organization serving the health interests of the residents of Southeast Alaska.
Sitka Fine Arts Camp is a nationally-recognized fine arts summer camp located in Sitka,Alaska. The camp was established in 1973 at Sheldon Jackson College. It used other locations in the years that followed before acquiring the majority of historic Sheldon Jackson College buildings and campus in 2011. It took almost four years for a USDA Rural Development loan to be transferred from the college to the camp because of a "maze of paperwork," but it was done in 2013.
Outer Coast College is a small,private,liberal arts college in development in Sitka,Alaska. It is currently in the accreditation process with the plan to open a two-year undergraduate program in the fall of 2024.
The 2022 Alaska House of Representatives elections were held on Tuesday,November 8,2022,with the primary election on August 16,2022. Voters in the 40 districts of the Alaska House of Representatives elected their representatives,in conjunction with state senate elections and the biennial United States elections for federal offices.
