Local Sales Taxes

Question: How many communities in Alaska do NOT have a sales tax?

Answer: Currently, 253. You can verify this for yourself by visiting the Alaska Community Database. Under Public Query System, go to Advanced Search Options, select all the communities in the left hand box and add them to the right hand box, then click Next. On the next screen, choose "sales tax" from the left hand box and add it to the right hand box, then click Next. Then run the report. Save the file and open it up in your favorite spreadsheet. When we checked, 253 was the number of communities that report "None".

Alaska's African American Newspapers

Question: I would also be interested to know what black newspapers have been published in the state/territory of Alaska.

Answer: The Alaska State Library’s Guide to Alaska Newspapers on Microfilm identifies these titles as African American newspapers:

• Anchorage Gazette
• Anchorage Spotlight
• Anchorage Town Crier
• Crusader
• Midnight Sun Reporter
• New Horizon
• North Star Reporter
• Vox Populi

You can find more information about these titles in the Guide (linked above), under the "Anchorage" heading. The Alaska State Library’s collections include some issues of these newspapers on microfilm, but coverage is incomplete. Another post on this blog describes how to request our microfilm through interlibrary loan.