by Becky Bohrer | ADN
JUNEAU — The Alaska Redistricting Board on Monday made what its executive director called significant changes to Southeast Alaska’s political boundaries in an effort to win court approval for the plan.
Taylor Bickford said the board adopted new districts that pair state Reps. Cathy Munoz, R-Juneau, and Bill Thomas, R-Haines, together. Reps. Peggy Wilson, R-Wrangell, and Kyle Johansen, R-Ketchikan, who had previously been paired, would no longer be. Sens. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, and Albert Kookesh, D-Angoon, would remain paired.
by Kyle Hopkins | ADN
ANCHORAGE–Assembly Chairman Ernie Hall says he’s tapped former Superior Court Judge Daniel Hensley to conduct the review, which has been requested by the ACLU of Anchorage, the city clerk who oversees elections and scores of angry voters.
A recent Election Commission review found that ballots ran dry at 65 of 121 precincts on Election Day.
Food for thought: A provocative new video from the folks over at Americans for Limited Government promoting a new project focused on economic liberty and free market policies. Watch:
by Thomas Sowell | TOWNHALL
The “Occupy” movement, which the Obama administration and much of the media have embraced, has implications that reach far beyond the passing sensation it has created.
The unwillingness of authorities to put a stop to their organized disruptions of other people’s lives, their trespassing, vandalism and violence is a de facto suspension, if not repeal, of the 14th Amendment’s requirement that the government provide “equal protection of the laws” to all its citizens.
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.
by Andrew Halcro
JUNEAU–As the Alaska State Legislature begins a special session today on oil tax reform, things are a little chilly in the Capitol. Between the House, the Governor and the Senate, there are more ill feelings than in all of Bartlett Memorial.
The biggest sticking point of the two year battle over oil tax reform has been the debate over the legacy fields on the North Slope. While the Governor and the House want to include these fields in tax reform, the Senate has balked thus creating a show down.
by Dermot Cole | FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS-MINER
FAIRBANKS — The Wall Street Journal put a overoptimistic spin on the Point Thomson announcement Friday by Gov. Sean Parnell and the letter from three oil companies, claiming it “clears the way” for a natural gas pipeline.
However, the letter about natural gas signed by the chief executives of ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and BP makes no commitments.
By Corey Allen-Young | KTVA.com
Qualifying individuals who haven’t applied yet for their slice of the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend are in danger of missing out.
The deadline to apply is 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, March 31, and the PFD office is closed on the weekends.
That makes Friday do-or-die time if you want to file in person.
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.
Warren Meyer | FORBES
Likely you have heard the sound bite that “97% of climate scientists” accept the global warming “consensus”. Which is what gives global warming advocates the confidence to call climate skeptics “deniers,” hoping to evoke a parallel with “Holocaust Deniers,” a case where most of us would agree that a small group are denying a well-accepted reality. So why do these “deniers” stand athwart of the 97%? Is it just politics? Oil money? Perversity? Ignorance?
We are going to cover a lot of ground, but let me start with a hint…
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).
Public Information Release
HAINES–Cooler drier weather has given us another day of calm in and around the Slump Area, with very little movement detected. Crews took a couple of manual measurements along the top of the slide in the Ocean View area today which shows horizontal movements of 8 to 9 inches over the last week and a half. We are still waiting for accurate information from the contract engineers. Read more->
By Becky Bohrer | AP
JUNEAU — The Alaska Redistricting Board must redraw three Fairbanks-area House districts and another in the Aleutian chain, a state court judge ruled Friday.
by Dermot Cole | FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS-MINER
FAIRBANKS — In a wide-ranging decision that touches on such far-ranging subjects as the Peloponnesian War and Balto’s role in the serum run to Nome, Superior Court Judge Michael McConahy has set the stage for what could be a major reshuffling of proposed election districts in Alaska.
Public Information Release
HAINES–A Resolution to declare a disaster and requesting state assistance was adopted in a special meeting of the Haines Borough Assembly today at 1:15 pm. The situation was elevated to this point when the main sewer line from 125 homes on the hillside of Highland Estates and Skyline Drive was broken by the slide activity.
Crews from Southeast Road Builders Inc. and the Borough Water & Sewer Department started emergency repairs to this line before light this morning. Work is ongoing as of this report (3:00pm Friday afternoon) PSA’s asking residence above this area to restrict their use of water going into the sewer until crews finish emergency repairs today. [Borough officials] will place an announcement on KHNS when the work is completed and normal usage can resume. Crews will continue working until repairs are finished today. Thank you for your patience.
No update is scheduled for the week‐end unless there are major changes to report.
Alex DeMarban | ALASKA DISPATCH
Alaska Senate President Gary Stevens said Thursday that the Senate will soon hold a hearing on its own oil-tax reform bill, essentially declaring dead House Bill 110, legislation passed last year by the state House and fervently backed by Gov. Sean Parnell.
Public Information Release:
Denali Drilling from Anchorage has completed three (3) of the five (5) test holes scheduled by 2:30 pm, and plan to complete the forth test hole on Mathias today as well. The last test hole is scheduled for tomorrow morning, Friday, in Lutak Road which will require a lane closure. One lane will be left open, and expect traffic control and flaggers through this area tomorrow morning.
Core samples of the materials are being collected by PND geo tech engineers that will be taken back to their labs for analysis.
A surveyor for PND continued to set up reflector targets, and survey points that will allow more accurate collection of data to study the daily movement. The surveyor is training employees how to set up the equipment and collect the data on a daily, or as time allows basis.
Because of all the activities happening today with the large snow fall, water line breaks in Highland Estates, drilling test holes and setting up survey equipment, we were not able to measure or report the amount of movement since yesterday.
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.
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.
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.
By Mary Pemberton | AP
A Russian tanker Wednesday was nearly finished pumping fuel to the iced-in city of Nome, having sent more than half of the 1.3 million gallons of diesel and gasoline through two hoses snaking across the ice.
The remote Western Alaska coastal city has been anticipating its winter fuel delivery since November when a powerful storm prevented the delivery by barge. The tanker left Russia in mid-December and pushed through miles of ice to begin the high-stakes delivery on Monday.
By Amanda Coyne | ALASKA DISPATCH
In a wide-ranging State of the State address Wednesday night, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell told Alaskans that much of the future of this state will be determined by the actions of legislators in the upcoming session.
By Becky Bohrer | AP
JUNEAU — An explicit ban on texting while driving and a proposed constitutional amendment that would cap state spending and force saving were among the 30 measures filed Friday in advance of this month’s legislative session.
The ban on texting or typing while driving is from Reps. Les Gara and Bill Thomas. It comes as the state’s intended ban, passed in 2008, faces a legal challenge, with a magistrate in Kenai recently saying the Legislature should have been explicit if it truly meant to prohibit the activity.
AK DOL Press Release
JUNEAU—The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s annual job forecast is 1.2 percent job growth in 2012, a modest gain in Alaska for a third straight year. The state’s employment levels dropped briefly in 2009 due to the national recession. Read more->
by Jeff Richardson | FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS-MINER
FAIRBANKS—Gasoline prices in the $4-per-gallon range may be uncomfortably high for many Fairbanks residents, but Doug Reynolds believes prices in the years ahead could make these seem like the good old days.
Reynolds, a professor of oil and energy economics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said he sees oil prices soaring in the next five to 10 years, “easily” reaching $200 per barrel or more.
That increase, roughly double the current price of oil, would translate into gasoline in the $5 to $10 range at the pump, he said.
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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by Andrew Halcro
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