Theater patrons suddenly have an abundance of choices. Valley Performing Arts is closing a run of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors; TBA Theatre is mounting its traditional Halloween shows; Anchorage Community Theater stages a radio play; Mad Myrna’s brings back its annual Rocky Horror Show; Perseverance Theatre opens its season in Juneau; and the following week, Cyrano’s Theatre Company continues its 2020 season after a long hiatus.
Stability is the focus for interim University of Alaska President Pat Pitney. In a speech to the Anchorage Downtown Rotary Club, Pitney said, “If we can get stable financial footing from the state, we can repair the work with the students. We can get them back.”
An empty hole now sits in the middle of the Great Alaska Mall, where Alaska Bagel served coffee and brunch to Midtown Anchorage for more than twenty-five years. The shop served its last dine-in customer on October 21, three weeks after receiving notice from the landlord to move out.
The former President and CEO of Alaska Aerospace is returning to the state-owned corporation. Craig Campbell is leaving his current position in Anchorage City Hall as policy and programs director for Mayor Dave Bronson.
The state Department of Labor & Workforce Development puts the seasonally adjusted rate at 6.3 percent in September, a slight decrease from August and approximately the same level of unemployment Alaska saw from 2015 through 2017.
Alaska’s oldest salmon hatchery is getting a makeover. The Sitka Sound Science Center (SSSC), on the historic campus of Sheldon Jackson College, just received a $500,000 grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to pay for plumbing, electricity, and safety upgrades.
The new venture for out-of-state air travel by Ravn Alaska’s sister brand is beginning to take off. Northern Pacific Airways has purchased its first Boeing 757, plus another five in various stages of acquisition, with the goal of connecting Anchorage to the Lower 48 and Asia sometime next year.