By Editor, on May 7th, 2012 by Becky Bohrer | ADN
JUNEAU — A U.S. Postal Service spokesman says a moratorium on closing postal facilities is still scheduled to end May 15, despite calls from senators to extend it.
Read the full article in the Anchorage Daily News.
Editor’s note: The comments following this article in the ADN contain informative arguments on both sides.
By Editor, on April 1st, 2012 Press Release
ANCHORAGE–The Alaska Redistricting Board today adopted, by unanimous vote, a new plan for the redrawing of Alaska’s state legislative districts.
“We believe that the new plan deviates from the requirements of the Alaska Constitution to the least degree reasonable necessary to ensure compliance with the Federal Voting Rights Act,” said Board Chairman John Torgerson.
A preliminary statewide map is available for download here*. Additional maps and data will be added to www.akredistricting.org and distributed via email on Monday, April 2nd.
The Board intends to meet via teleconference next week to formally adopt a new Proclamation of Redistricting and accompanying report along with findings as mandated by the Court.
*All district boundaries are subject to technical changes pending staff and legal review prior to the formal adoption of a new Proclamation of Redistricting.
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Editor’s note: None of the Southeast Alaska districts were affected by this action.
By Editor, on February 20th, 2012 From KINY News:
Alaska U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski will tour a host of Southeast Alaska communities over the President’s Day recess.
According to a press release from Murkowski’s office, the Senator will kick off her Southeast swing Tuesday in Skagway for a roundtable discussion there.
From Skagway, Murkowski will travel to Haines on Wednesday for another roundtable discussion at the Bald Eagle Museum before heading to Yakutat where she will meet with state and local officials at the ANB Hall there.
Senator Murkowski will visit Juneau on Thursday for her annual address to the Alaska State Legislature before leaving for Ketchikan for a press conference on Friday.
By Roger Maynard, on February 15th, 2012 By SEN. CATHY GIESSEL
The Alaska Legislature is currently considering a bill that would join Alaska in an interstate compact changing the way the United States president is elected. I have serious concerns about its true, negative, effects. The bill’s supporters promote the change as a way to ensure that “the person with the most votes wins.” I have participated in two hearings on Senate Bill 39 in the Senate State Affairs committee, and have researched the issue extensively. Again, I have serious concerns about the negative effects of this legislation on Alaska.
Read the full opinion piece in the Juneau Empire.
By Roger Maynard, on February 10th, 2012 Press Release
WASHINGTON D.C.–Following a meeting with U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz today, the Alaska Congressional Delegation released a set of unified statements.
The meeting was requested by the Alaska Congressional Delegation to question as well as hear the reasoning behind the Air Force’s recently announced plan to relocate the 18th Aggressor F-16 Squadron from Eielson Air Force Base to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Read more->
By Editor, on February 9th, 2012 WASHINGTON, FEB. 8, 2012—The average American relying on federal government assistance receives more in benefits than the average American’s disposable personal income, according to The Heritage Foundation’s newly released 2012 Index of Dependence on Government.
The Index reports Americans who rely on government receive an average $32,748 worth of benefits, surpassing the average American’s disposable personal income of $32,446.
Overall, the Index—which scores the nation’s dependency across numerous federal assistance programs that were once done through communities, churches, neighborhood groups and the private sector—rose 8.1 percent in 2010 from the most recent data available.
Read more at the Heritage Foundation.
By Editor, on February 9th, 2012 by Cliff Groh
ANCHORAGE–U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered today the release on March 15 of the special counsel report into misconduct by federal prosecutors in the trial of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens (R.-Alaska).
Read more in Cliff Groh’s Alaska Political Corruption blog.
By Roger Maynard, on February 4th, 2012 By Brad Heath | USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – The federal government has spent nearly $1.8 million defending prosecutors from allegations they broke the law in the botched corruption case against former Alaska senator Ted Stevens, Justice Department records show.
Read full article in USA Today.
By Editor, on January 28th, 2012 By Dan Joling | AP
ANCHORAGE—Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s announcement that the Pentagon will seek new rounds of military base closures drew a swift response from Alaskans who watched a similar process nearly gut Eielson Air Force Base in 2005.
Alaska’s congressional delegation and Gov. Sean Parnell issued a joint statement saying they will stand together to resist attempts to close or shrink Alaska bases.
Read more in the Peninsula Clarion.
By Editor, on January 26th, 2012 The Heritage Foundation
President Obama’s State of the Union address laid out his long-term economic recovery plans, which he claims will “work for everyone, not just a wealthy few.” That is, unless it is the pipeline construction business. President Obama’s politically intoned decision to reject TransCanada’s permit application to construct a 1,700-mile pipeline from Alberta, Canada, to Texas refineries last week sent a clear message that special-interest demands are more important than more energy and much-needed job creation.
Read full opinion piece at the heritage.org.
By Editor, on January 25th, 2012 By Becky Bohrer | AP
JUNEAU–Some Alaska lawmakers, hoping to make a point about federal encroachment on state rights, are urging the federal government take over New York City’s Central Park and designate it as a wilderness area.
Read more in the Anchorage Daily News.
By Editor, on January 19th, 2012 By Michelle Theriault Boots | ADN
In a state that expects to see more than 400 cruise-ship sailings with nearly a million passengers this summer, it’s difficult to look at the images of the Costa Concordia and not wonder: Could it happen in Alaska?
“It kind of gives us a little wake-up call,” said Rick Janelle, a civilian U.S. Coast Guard employee based in Juneau who acts as an adviser on cruise ship safety.
Read full story in the ADN.
By Editor, on January 3rd, 2012 By Richard E. Mooney | NY TIMES
Washington, Jan. 3, 1959 — Alaska became a state today. By the clock on the mantel in the Cabinet Room at the White House, it was two minutes past noon. In Juneau, capital of the forty-ninth state, it was 9:02 A.M., Pacific Standard Time.
Read full article from 1959 in the New York Times.
By Editor, on December 29th, 2011 SEATTLE (AP) — The Washington state ferry service isn’t going to start turning away hefty passengers, but it has had to reduce the capacity of the nation’s largest ferry system because people have been packing on the pounds.
Coast Guard vessel stability rules that took effect nationwide Dec. 1 raised the estimated weight of the average adult passenger to 185 pounds from the previous 160 pounds, based on population information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
…The new stability rules may have a bigger impact on the smaller charter fishing boats, such as those that take anglers fishing out of the Pacific Ocean ports of Westport and Ilwaco, Young said. Any vessel that carries more than six paying customers has to be inspected and certified by the Coast Guard as a passenger vessel.
Read full article in the Seattle PI.
By Editor, on December 29th, 2011 By Diane Cardwell and Rick Gladstone | NY TIMES
The United States economy managed to cope this year despite triple-digit prices for barrels of oil. The lessons may come in handy, economists say, because those prices will probably be sticking around.
With Iran threatening to cut off about a fifth of the world’s oil supply by closing the Strait of Hormuz and unrest in Iraq endangering the ability to increase production there, financial analysts say prices for two important oil benchmarks will average from $100 a barrel to $120 a barrel in 2012.
Read full article in the New York Times.
By Editor, on December 20th, 2011 Jill Burke | ALASKA DISPATCH
It’s nearly guaranteed to be a monumental showdown, the kind Alaska seems to spawn regularly. On Wednesday, a handful of lawyers will volley before a federal judge over whether the U.S. government properly chose to shut down cod and mackerel fisheries in Southwest Alaska, giving the well being of an endangered marine mammal preference over the livelihood of scores of fisherman.
Read the full article in the Alaska Dispatch.
By Editor, on December 14th, 2011  Sen. Ted Stevens By Jordy Yager | THE HILL
A bipartisan group of senators is calling on the Justice Department to apologize to the family of the late Sen. Ted Stevens and fire the attorneys accused of the withholding of evidence that contributed to his criminal conviction.
The former colleagues of the long-serving Alaskan Republican told The Hill that the DOJ’s prosecution of Stevens was a disgrace.
Read full article in The Hill.
By Editor, on December 13th, 2011 Alex DeMarban | ALASKA DISPATCH
The National Marine Fisheries Service has renewed plans that may lead to a listing of the ribbon seals under the Endangered Species Act, bringing to three the number of ice-dependent seals in Alaska that could be protected by the act.
The agency rejected a ribbon-seal listing in 2008 but said new information warrants a second look. That’s disappointing news, said Rick Rogers, executive director with the pro-industry Resource Development Council in Anchorage.
The combined population of ribbon, bearded and ringed seal populations in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas exceed 1 million animals, so why should they fall under the act’s protections, he wondered.
Read full article in the Alaska Dispatch.
By Editor, on December 12th, 2011 by Craig Medred | ALASKA DISPATCH
Alaska’s Fed-wary political leadership tried to challenge National Park Service oversight of the Yukon River after rangers took down Interior elderly riverboat operator Jim Wilde in an ugly show of force in the fall of 2010, but they backed off after a federal magistrate ruled he wasn’t going to buy state ownership of the river as a defense against charges levied against Wilde.
Now, though, state officials seem to think they’ve found the perfect vehicle to challenge federal authority in a lawsuit filed by moose hunter John Sturgeon. A former state forester who’s now an executive with Koncor Forest Products, Sturgeon has sued the federal government, charging it has gone well beyond its legal authority to regulate navigable waters in Alaska parks and preserves. By law, Alaska’s navigable waters were supposed to pass into state ownership at statehood.
Read the full story in the Alaska Dispatch.
By Editor, on December 12th, 2011  Mia Bennett | ALASKA DISPATCH
The U.S. Congressional Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, part of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, held a hearing earlier this month on U.S. Coast Guard operations in the Arctic. The chief topic of concern was icebreakers. As I reported back in February, the U.S. will be without heavy icebreakers for at least two years.
Read full article in the Alaska Dispatch.
By Roger Maynard, on November 22nd, 2011 OPINION by Cliff Groh | ALASKA POLITICAL CORRUPTION BLOG
The trial judge in the Ted Stevens case has issued an order summarizing a report by special counsel investigating whether prosecutors involved in that case should be prosecuted for criminal contempt of court. U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan states that special counsel “concluded that the investigation and prosecution of Senator Stevens ‘were permeated by the systematic concealment of significant exculpatory evidence which would have independently corroborated his defense and his testimony, and seriously damaged the testimony and credibility of the government’s key witness…’”
Read full opinion in Cliff Groh’s Alaska Political Corruption Blog.
Read ADN article: “Stevens’ prosecution team won’t face criminal charges”
By Editor, on November 22nd, 2011 Alex DeMarban | ALASKA DISPATCH
A federal judge upheld the three-year-old endangered listing for the biologically distinct Cook Inlet beluga whale today, rejecting all state arguments and noting that the state’s beluga conservation programs are ineffective and underfunded.
Read full article in the Alaska Dispatch.
By Editor, on November 22nd, 2011 Can you imagine running a country using these numbers?
- United States Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
- Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
- New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
- National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
- Recent budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000
Now, remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s a household budget.
- Annual family income: $21,700
- Money the family spent: $38,200
- New debt on the credit card: $16,500
- Outstanding balance on credit card: $142,710
- Total budget cuts: $385
REALLY BRINGS THE ISSUE HOME, DOESN’T IT?
Hat tip: Jim Carnahan
By Editor, on November 19th, 2011  Sen. Mark Begich Press release:
Permanently banning responsible development of the enormous energy resources beneath Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) takes billions of dollars out of the economy, costs Americans sorely-needed jobs and contributes to higher prices to heat their homes and gas up their cars, says U.S. Sen. Mark Begich. Read more->
By Editor, on November 11th, 2011 Press release
WASHINGTON, D.C.–Today, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) and Rep. Don Young (AK-at large) announced plans to introduce the Alaskan Energy for American Jobs Act to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for future energy production and job creation. Read more->
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| Nate Beeler
The Columbus Dispatch
May 16, 2012
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Lynn Canal Map & Marine Traffic (refresh for current ship positions)
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P.O. Box 784
Haines, Alaska 99827
editor@hainesnews.net
The Haines Alaska News is a public information service of the Alaska Alliance for Commerce, Inc., a grassroots movement organized to advocate for small business and a free market economy in Alaska.
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