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Current Topics
World's top snow art. Axios
The World Snow Sculpting Championship in Stillwater, Minnesota, crowned a new winner.
An ancient Dene cache discovered at JBER highlights Anchorage's Indigenous history. Alaska Public Media
Archeologists found a cache near Cook Inlet this summer that dates back almost a thousand years. The discovery is another testament that the Dene people have been the stewards of the lands in Southcentral Alaska for at least a millennia, tribal officials said.
Opinion: Trump push to rename Denali is an insult to Alaskans. ADN
President-elect Trump has injected a jarring note into Alaska affairs with his call for the name of Denali to be restored to Mount McKinley. Historical analysis confirms that William McKinley is the wrong public figure for Alaskans to commemorate. He was an imperial colonialist who viewed colonized populations as inferior people in need of “uplifting” by their white Christian betters. He oversaw the creation, or at least vast expansion, of the American colonial empire with the occupation of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines and Hawaii.
Alaska House resolution urges Trump administration to keep the name Denali. Alaska Public Media
The House resolution, sponsored by Rep. Maxine Dibert, D-Fairbanks, says the name Denali is “deeply ingrained in the state’s culture and identity” and urges Trump to maintain Denali as the peak’s official name in federal databases.
How China's DeepSeek Outsmarted America. The Wall Street Journal
SINGAPORE—Take a team of young Chinese engineers, hired by a boss with disdain for experience. Add some clever programming shortcuts, and a loophole in American rules that allowed them to get advanced chips.
DeepSeek Chief's Journey From Math Geek to Global Disruptor. The Wall Street Journal
Artificial-intelligence models from China’s DeepSeek, the company led by Liang, have taken the world by surprise, racing to the global top 10 in both performance and popularity. The company has done it with less-advanced chips than those available in the U.S., jolting technology executives in Silicon Valley, politicians in Washington and investors around the globe.
Arctic Issues
This icebreaker has design problems and a history of failure. It's America's latest military vessel. ADN
The icebreaker Aiviq is a gas guzzler with a troubled history. The ship was built to operate in the Arctic, but it has a type of propulsion system susceptible to failure in ice. Its waste and discharge systems weren’t designed to meet polar code, its helicopter pad is in the wrong place to launch rescue operations and its rear deck is easily swamped by big waves. On its maiden voyage to Alaska in 2012, the 360-foot vessel lost control of the Shell Oil drill rig it was towing, and Coast Guard helicopter crews braved a storm to pluck 18 men off the wildly lurching deck of the rig before it crashed into a rocky beach. An eventual Coast Guard investigation faulted bad decision-making by people in charge but also flagged problems with the Aiviq’s design. But for all this, the same Coast Guard bought the Aiviq for $125 million late last year.
(My comment: Meanwhile, China and Russia are building a fleet of nuclear powered, state-of-the-art icebreakers to cruise our borders in the Arctic.)
Denmark unveils $2.8 billion in Arctic defense, including ships, drones, & satellites. Eye on the Arctic
“ The security and political tensions between Russia, China, and the USA have spread to the Arctic, and the goal of low tension in the region is under pressure.”
Economy
Alaska's agriculture industry poised for growth in 2025. Alaska Division of Agriculture
Alaska lawmakers told by DOR to expect state revenue losses in near future. Alaska's News Source
State revenue is expected to decrease in the next couple of years after a slight increase for Fiscal Year 2025, according to Department of Revenue leadership, who addressed the House Finance Committee Thursday afternoon.
Charted: The last U.S. population surge. Axios
Any increase in GDP is, mathematically, just the increase in the number of workers multiplied by any increase in their productivity.
Education
ARE awarded DOE energy education grant. Mining News North
In support of fostering a new generation of Alaskan natural resource workers, the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded the Alaska Resource Education (ARE) $300,000 to fund the mission of spreading awareness about careers in the energy sector.
State education board proposes statewide cellphone policy. Alaska Public Media
The Alaska Board of Education and Early Development released a draft statewide cellphone policy during its Wednesday meeting. The policy allows school districts to restrict student cellphone use in class, with exemptions for medical reasons and other educational purposes. The board recommends districts adopt the restrictions, but the policy stops short of requiring it.
Dunleavy's recycled education 'reform' plan fails. Reporting from Alaska
“The governor drew an invalid conclusion that Peterson had found Alaskan charter schools more effective than neighborhood schools. Peterson did not compare charter and neighborhood schools, but simply compared charter schools across the country,” they said. “We find that, after accounting for students’ socioeconomic status, the charter schools and neighborhood schools in Alaska communities which had charter schools at the time of the Peterson study do not statistically differ in the percentage of their students scoring proficient in the English language arts standards…We find instead that proficiency declines as family income declines,” Zirbes and Bronson wrote. Zirbes contacted Peterson, who declined to provide data about sample sizes, names of the charter schools in the sample or test score summaries.
(My comment: The simple lesson in this is to always check the data and assumptions made by the researchers. In this case I suspect the researcher was promoting their own bias. Thank you to our Alaska teachers who dug into the data and demonstrated the real facts.)
Alaska House plans fast action on bill that would boost school funding and tie it to inflation. Alaska Public Media
Introduction of new education legislation part of closing out first week of session. Alaska's News Source
Alaska House to 'expedite' consideration of education funding increase. ADN
Education matters to every Alaskan: parents, employers, workforce.
Districts across Alaska are considering closing schools. Alaska Public Media
Among the most visible signs of Alaska’s shrinking population: several school districts are considering school closures. School districts in Anchorage and Kodiak have already decided to close at least one school later this year, and the Fairbanks North Star Borough School Board will vote on Feb. 4 whether to close five elementary schools. Meanwhile, districts in Ketchikan, Sitka and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough have also warned residents of looming budget shortfalls that may result in school closures or consolidation of programs.
Fisheries
Invasive freshwater fish able to swim through Alaska's Cook Inlet, study proves. Alaska Beacon
It was the first documented case in North America of invasive northern pike, considered an exclusively freshwater fish, swimming in an estuary, an area where freshwater and saltwater meet.
Energy
Rolling blackouts could loom for urban Alaska as natural gas crunch intensifies. Northern Journal
(My comment: This headline is overly dramatic; rolling blackouts are not imminent. It’s a fact that a shortage is coming in a couple years. The utilities are working to make sure no rolling blackouts or brownouts become real. The Legislature plays nearly no role in that. This is a private sector business decision by utilities that are mandated and regulated to provide the lowest cost to consumers. Legislators will only gum up this process.)
Trump is desperate for more energy, as long as it's not from the wind. ADN
Cutting production of wind power is perhaps the most paradoxical aspect of Trump’s sweeping plan to reorient America’s energy economy, which he and his energy team contend will lower costs for consumers while boosting the amount of electricity available for economic growth.
$50 million gas line question goes unanswered. Reporting from Alaska
The Alaska Legislature has yet to be given a good reason to hand over the $50 million that Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants for the Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority for a gas pipeline study.
(My comment: I’m told, by a Senate Finance Committee member, that we’ve invested about $650 Million in work on a North Slope gas pipeline, not counting salaries for the staff of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC). The President of AGDC is the highest paid employee of the state, so salaries will push that total number a lot higher. The question is: how much do we want to keep putting into this project?)
Politics
Alaska Legislature opens new session on time and in order, a first since 2017. Alaska Beacon
For the first time in eight years, the Alaska Legislature has opened its two-year session without a deadlock in its lower chamber.
The Alaska Legislature by the numbers. ADN
27 (correction – 26) Number of women in the Legislature. The Alaska House will have a female majority this year, for the first time in the state’s history. In the Senate, meanwhile, only a quarter of members are women.
Alaska senators outline key priorities in the opening day of the 34th Legislature. Juneau Empire
Giessel said when it comes to energy in the state it’s great that Alaska will be open to resource development following President Donald Trump’s executive orders signed on Monday. However, she stressed the importance of the state managing its own resources. “By throwing open all of the regulations related to resource development we could be jeopardizing our lands and waters,” she said. “This is the time for us to look at managing our own land and water.” There is also a special committee on Arctic affairs that will review security, defense and sustainability of Alaska, and the role the state plays in making the U.S. an Arctic nation.
Here are the Alaska legislative priorities to watch this session. ADN
Giessel is again expected to lead an effort to reform Alaska’s public-sector retirement system in an effort to boost the state’s recruitment and retention of public employees, including teachers, public safety workers and others. Giessel foreshadowed the argument she would make in favor of the overhaul: Though the new pension system was expected to cost the state $46 million annually in new expenses, it was simultaneously expected to save the state more than $70 million a year in costs associated with staff turnover and filling vacated positions.
'A lot of work ahead of us': Alaska lawmakers talk priorities on smooth first day of session. Alaska Public Media
Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, who shepherded a pension bill through the Senate this year, said the state was feeling the squeeze with large numbers of positions left vacant. “Doing nothing is costing us right now,” she said. Giessel said she also expected to discuss energy issues early in the session, too, as the Railbelt rides out another winter with gas supplies dwindling. “We'll be talking about Cook Inlet gas, the potential for importing, we'll be talking about the LNG pipeline,” she said. Earlier this month, state officials announced a framework agreement with Glenfarne Group, based in New York and Houston Texas, to take over development of the long-dreamed gas pipeline between the North Slope and Southcentral. The announcement came after the state’s development agency offered a $50 million letter of credit to backstop front-end engineering design work — and Giessel said she’s skeptical. “We're offering now a completely risk-free $50 million to a company,” she said. “We don't know what the product is going to be, and if it's a nothing product, we still are paying $50 million.”
Testing new limits: Trump token. Axios
Most Americans don't realize there are basically no limitations on presidents profiting off their reins of power through new businesses or business deals. Thanks to the Supreme Court, presidents also enjoy the presumption of immunity for "official acts" if they're ever accused of crossing any legal lines.
State celebrates Trump support for LNG project, some lawmakers remain skeptical. Alaska Public Media
Anchorage Republican state Sen. Cathy Giessel criticized a $50 million backstop Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, or AIDEA, OK’d for a company to update the project’s 10-year-old engineering and design work. The money was included in the governor’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. “We’re offering now a completely risk-free $50 million to a company,” she said. “We don’t know what the product is going to be and if it’s a nothing product, we are still paying $50 million. I question whether it was AIDEA’s authority to take the $50 million they actually owed us as a dividend and appropriate it for this.” Bethel Democrat Sen. Lyman Hoffman co-chairs the Senate Finance Committee. He says energy is a priority this session, but called AIDEA’s backstop a “bad precedent.”
Dunleavy proposes new limits on early voting in Alaska. ADN
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is proposing legislation that would shorten the window for early voting in statewide elections and make other changes to the way elections are conducted. The bill would require all mail ballots to be received by the Division of Elections by Election Day, altering statutes that have existed for decades. Currently, ballots must be postmarked by Election Day but can be received up to 10 days later for most voters, and 15 days after Election Day for overseas voters.
Speaking with legislative leadership in Juneau. Alaska Insight
PODCAST: What are the goals for this coming session? Senate President Gary Stevens, along with one of my Representatives, Chuck Kopp, outline goals.
Alaskans don't have a right to correct errors on absentee ballots, state judge rules. ADN
An Anchorage judge has ruled that Alaskans don’t have a constitutional right to correct errors they make on absentee ballots. Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, the Native American Rights Fund and the firm Perkins Coie sued the state in 2022, arguing that the lack of a process to fix defective by-mail ballots violated the Alaska Constitution.
(My comment: The Legislature needs to change this. We have a bill to do that.)
Gov. Dunleavy reintroduces bill to penalize unpermitted public protests as felonies. Alaska Beacon
One year after a similar proposal failed to pass the state legislature, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has reintroduced legislation that could result in felony charges against homeless Alaskans and the organizers of unpermitted protests.
Health Care
Virus season roars back with a "quad-demic". Axios
Transmission of influenza A, COVID and RSV is "high" or "very high" across much of the U.S. at the same time norovirus cases are well above normal levels, CDC and wastewater surveillance data shows.
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