Fewer people in Alaska are smoking, and the decline in tobacco sales is cutting into the amount of tobacco tax money available for some government budgets. The state Department of Health and Social Services reported in June that the number of adult smokers in Alaska has declined by one-fifth since 1996 to 21.5 percent, or about 27,000 fewer smokers statewide. As those numbers drop, smaller municipalities are forced to look elsewhere for dependable income.

(Associated Press)