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Good afternoon. It's Thursday, Feb. 19.

In today's newsletter:

A Soldotna woman and wife of a U.S. citizen detained by ICE earlier this week has been deported to Mexico along with two of her children, including a 5-year-old. Her oldest son remains in detention in the Anchorage jail.
Some candidates in Alaska's race for governor have been pouring their own money into their campaigns with six months to go until the primary election.
Sen. Dan Sullivan defended his stance on President Donald Trump's administration to Alaska lawmakers after his annual address, even as he called on them to unanimously adopt a resolution opposing one of Trump's policy ideas.

When gardening columnist Jeff Lowenfels starts mentioning that now is the time to bring spring flowering bulbs out into the light, many readers may remember the bag of tulips or daffodils that got left in the garage. What to do? Fear not. Jeff has all the details on how to bring those flowering bulbs you bought in the fall back to life.

Anchorage weather

It's partly sunny today with a high around 19 degrees. The forecast calls for sunny skies on Friday and heading into the weekend, while daytime highs will drop to the low teens before climbing back up into the 20s next week.

Here's what else is making headlines in Alaska today.

— Megan Pacer, mpacer@adn.com

'Ripped from me': Soldotna family taken by ICE deported to Mexico as teen remains in Anchorage jail →

A Soldotna woman detained by ICE this week and quickly deported with two of her children had missed one hearing in her asylum case. Advocates say the deportation of a 5-year-old boy indicates a shift to harsher immigration enforcement tactics in Alaska.

Candidates pour money into Alaska governor's race →

Aggregate fundraising by all candidates for governor totaled more than $4.3 million through the beginning of February. Nearly $1.9 million of that came from the candidates themselves.

Sen. Sullivan defends his approach to the Trump administration in address to Alaska Legislature →

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan declared that the state is experiencing a "comeback" under President Trump.

Anchorage School District's proposed budget cuts encounter wave of opposition →

With less than a week to decide which of the proposed budget cuts they'll implement, Anchorage School Board members are encountering strong resistance from affected parents, students and employees.

Mat-Su school bus workers vote to strike as soon as March 2 →

Contract negotiations between workers and Durham School Services stalled last month over issues including wages, training, and health check requirements. (via Mat-Su Sentinel)