Future of large Anchorage homeless shelter in jeopardy as Assembly weighs cost

Gov. Dunleavy vetoes Alaska tax on vaping and increase to minimum tobacco purchase age Email not displaying correctly? [View the web version]( [Anchorage Daily News]( Support independent reporting on what Alaskans care about most. [Subscribe today.]( Good afternoon. It’s Thursday, September 15. In today's newsletter: - A project to build a large homeless shelter and navigation center in East Anchorage nearly met its end this week as Assembly members considered rejecting the $4.9 million needed to continue construction. - In a switch-up among Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson's top administration officials, his former chief of staff Alexis Johnson will now lead the city's response to homelessness. - Gov. Mike Dunleavy made his first veto in almost three years, rejecting a bill that would have imposed a statewide tax on e-cigarettes and brought Alaska's minimum age to buy tobacco into compliance with federal law. Gardener Jeff Lowenfels knows people can be impatient. When it comes to boosting a garden's nutrients, a chemical fertilizer works much faster, but an organic one is a healthier way to go. [This week's column]( has all the tips for getting your soil in great shape to benefit next year's crops. 🌧️ Anchorage weather It's rainy today with a high near 56 degrees. Friday will be partly sunny, and the weekend will be split between rain on Saturday and mostly sunny skies on Sunday. Here’s what else is making headlines in Alaska today. — Megan Pacer, mpacer@adn.com [Already under construction, East Anchorage homeless shelter project is hanging by a thread]( [Already under construction, East Anchorage homeless shelter project is hanging by a thread]( A large homeless shelter and navigation center in Anchorage broke ground earlier this month, but the facility nearly met its end this week when members of the Anchorage Assembly came close to rejecting the $4.9 million needed to continue construction. Assembly members are balking at increasing costs, the rushed timeline and what they described as a lack of information from Mayor Bronson’s administration. [Read More]( [In a switch-up of 3 top city officials, Anchorage Mayor Bronson names new homeless coordinator ]( [In a switch-up of 3 top city officials, Anchorage Mayor Bronson names new homeless coordinator]( Mayor Bronson is switching up the roles of some of his top executives. Bronson’s chief of staff, Alexis Johnson, will become the city’s new homeless coordinator in the Anchorage Health Department, while the city’s director of economic and community development, Adam Trombley, will take Johnson’s role in the mayor’s office. [Read More]( [Gov. Dunleavy vetoes Alaska tax on vaping and increase to minimum tobacco purchase age]( [Gov. Dunleavy vetoes Alaska tax on vaping and increase to minimum tobacco purchase age]( Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed legislation that would have imposed a statewide tax on e-cigarettes and brought the state’s minimum age to buy tobacco into compliance with federal law, because said the 35% tax on vaping was too high. Dunleavy said it was not possible to separate out the tobacco age increase from the new tax on vaping, meaning he had to veto the whole thing. [Read More]( ADVERTISEMENT [Southwest Alaska school district adopts subsistence calendar in effort to center Yup’ik culture]( [Southwest Alaska school district adopts subsistence calendar in effort to center Yup’ik culture]( Students in Southwest Alaska's Yupiit School District, comprising Tuluksak, Akiak and Akiachak, will no longer have to miss school to go hunting. The change is part of a decades-long initiative to center Yup’ik culture in the district’s educational goals and curriculum. (Via KYUK) [Read More]( [‘It has no face or name’: Five myths of opioid addiction]( [SPONSORED: ‘It has no face or name’ - Five myths of opioid addiction]( Presented by State of Alaska Department of Health: Last year, Alaska had the largest increase in overdose deaths of any state in the U.S. Experts address five top myths around opioid addiction that can prevent Alaskans from finding help. [Read More]( ADVERTISEMENT More from the ADN [Typhoon Merbok remnant threatens Western Alaska with high winds and coastal flooding]( [Typhoon Merbok remnant threatens Western Alaska with high winds and coastal flooding]( [Read More]( [Peltola picks up House Natural Resources Committee assignment]( [Peltola picks up House Natural Resources Committee assignment]( [Read More]( [Tentative labor deal averts threat of nationwide railroad strike]( [Tentative labor deal averts threat of nationwide railroad strike]( [Read More]( [Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: State reports 26 additional deaths between January and August]( [Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: State reports 26 additional deaths between January and August]( [Read More]( [Alaska Airlines’ gendered uniform policy is likely discriminatory, Washington state commission finds]( [Alaska Airlines’ gendered uniform policy is likely discriminatory, Washington state commission finds]( [Read More]( [Patagonia founder gives away company: ‘Earth is now our only shareholder’]( [Patagonia founder gives away company: ‘Earth is now our only shareholder’]( [Read More]( [Anchorage police seek driver and vehicle in August hit-and-run on pedestrian]( [Anchorage police seek driver and vehicle in August hit-and-run on pedestrian]( [Read More]( [Mortgage rates surpass 6 percent for the first time since 2008]( [Mortgage rates surpass 6 percent for the first time since 2008]( [Read More]( [Get digital access to the ADN for as low as $1.99 for the first month]( and help us cover the news that matters most here in Alaska. 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