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Current Topics
USDA releases bids to purchase Alaska seafood. Alaska Business
The purchase consists of more than 1.4 million cases of canned Alaska pink salmon, 300,000 cases of canned Alaska sockeye salmon, and 15 million pounds of Alaska pollock fish sticks and fillets. Each case of salmon consists of 24 cans, regardless of size. All of the pink salmon will be in “tall” cans that contain 14.75 oz, and the sockeye salmon will be split between the 14.75 oz “talls” and the smaller 7.5 oz “halves.”
Murkowski calls proposed endangered listing for Alaska king salmon 'wrongheaded'. Alaska Public Media
The Wild Fish Conservancy filed a petition with NOAA Fisheries in January, but Murkowski says the organization has missed the mark.
“They are attempting to utilize a very legitimate law, the Endangered Species Act, for what I would consider to be a very wrongheaded purpose,” Murkowski said by phone. “And that is to basically stop our wild fisheries.”
Basin-wide shift in bowhead whale migration in the Pacific Arctic. AGU Publications
Departure from the western Beaufort Sea shifted 45 days later over the 12-year period. Summer presence increased at both sites, suggesting feeding areas within the Chukchi Sea are becoming more favorable. Likewise, findings from the Bering Strait suggest that some whales are remaining north of the Bering Strait for the winter instead of in the Bering Sea.
New data can help better understand glaciers. Phys.Org
This innovative dataset, featured in Earth System Science Data, offers an important tool to understand better the mechanisms behind glacier calving, or the breakup of icebergs, which can help to enhance our understanding of the climatic drivers behind glacier loss in Svalbard and the Arctic.
Economy
Peltola counts Federal Trade Commission (FTC) action against supermarket merger as a win for bipartisanship. Alaska Public Media
Congresswoman Mary Peltola leaned into unity in her annual address to the Alaska Legislature Monday. She pointed to a new federal action against supermarket consolidation as a win for the state, for her efforts and for what she sees as the Alaska model of bipartisanship.
In speech to state legislators, Alaska's Peltola praises effort to stop grocery-store merger. Alaska Beacon
The proposed supermarket merger is intensely unpopular in Alaska. Kroger owns Fred Meyer stores. Albertsons owns Safeway and Carrs. Peltola, a Democrat, has rallied Alaska opposition, amplifying local concerns that combining the major grocery chains would bring higher food prices and eliminate union jobs. She and the state’s U.S. senators wrote letters to the FTC opposing the merger. Peltola said she also met with the FTC chair and conveyed what Alaskans told her.
(My Comment: This is good news for Alaska! The Legislature sent a letter to the FTC in October, opposing this merger.)
Energy
Developers say proposed wind farm project could help power Anchorage, reducing strain on gas. ADN
Developers of a huge wind farm proposed for construction near Anchorage say it could help provide a much-needed boost to the area’s energy needs, and will be most productive when it’s most needed, when temperatures drop and demand for energy soars.
Unalaska weighs energy options as geothermal project requests new terms. Alaska Public Media
The City of Unalaska signed an agreement in 2020 to purchase power from Ounalashka Corporation/Chena Power, LLC, a partnership between Unalaska’s Native corporation and the team behind Chena Hot Springs. OCCP originally said it could bring a geothermal power plant online by 2023, but difficulties securing investors have led them to push that date to 2027.
Bill supporting development of nuclear energy wins passage in Kentucky Senate. AP News
The Kentucky Senate voted overwhelmingly Monday to lay the foundation to attract nuclear energy projects to a state where coal has dominated and fueled the economy for generations.
Politics
Lawmakers, advocates move to reignite an Alaska Children's Caucus. Alaska Beacon
The caucus is still in nascent stages, but Senate co-chairs Sen. Löki Gale Tobin, D-Anchorage, and Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, and the House co-chairs Rep. Mike Cronk, R-Tok, and Rep. Maxine Dibert, D-Fairbanks, have an open invitation to all members of the Alaska State Legislature to join.
Alaska Senate approves permanent extension of senior benefits program and three other bills. Alaska Beacon
The Alaska Senate voted without dissent on Wednesday to permanently extend a state program that pays up to $250 per month to poor Alaskans over 65 years old.
Senate advances bills to extend senior benefits, boost civil legal aid for low-income Alaskans. ADN
Senate Bill 170 passed unanimously from the Senate along with three other bills, including a measure that boosts free civil legal aid for low-income Alaskans, which is often used in domestic violence cases.
Alaska state senators show the courage to lead. ADN
On Feb. 2, the Alaska Senate acted in a manner that should inspire all Alaskans and tamp down the cynicism we often feel toward elected leaders when we believe they have ducked a hard conversation, a tough vote, or a difficult compromise for the greater good of our state. They passed Senate Bill 88, a public employee retirement bill that provides a modest pension to state employees. The matter is now before the House of Representatives.
Income tax bill voted down in House committee. Alaska's News Source
In a vote of 4-3, the House Ways and Means Committee voted down a bill Monday that would have implemented an income tax in Alaska.
Anti-ranked choice voting initiative clears first hurdle on way to November ballot. Alaska Public Media
A ballot measure to repeal Alaska’s ranked choice voting and return to a partisan primary has cleared an initial review.
Ballot measures on ranked choice repeal, minimum wage increase likely to go before Alaska voters. ADN
Two citizen-backed initiatives will likely appear on the general election ballot in November, including one seeking to repeal Alaska’s voting system, state election officials said Tuesday.
Initiatives targeting minimum wage, ranked-choice voting eligible to appear on ballot. Alaska's News Source
Individual initiatives related to Alaska’s minimum wage and open primary election system will likely appear on the November general election ballot.
Minimum wage increase, ranked choice repeal have enough signatures to be on ballot. Alaska Beacon
Two citizen-backed initiatives will likely appear on the general election ballot in November, including one seeking to repeal Alaska’s voting system, state election officials said Tuesday.
Healthcare
Burnout worse for women health workers. Axios
Burnout pushes some exhausted health care workers out of the industry, and it can also increase the risk of medical errors that put patients in danger. Women account for about three in four health care jobs in the United States.
(My comment: I spent multiple years working as an RN in a hospital unit during the pipeline construction. I know the demands, mental and physical, on nurses and nurse aides in our hospitals. I also know, first hand, that women are paid less than men in nearly all job categories, women take time off from professions to care for family members, and women live longer than men. A nursing shortage? Improved wages, working conditions, support: these will turn the nursing shortage around.)
Alaska lawmaker says systematic changes to food stamps program will reduce backlog, save money. Alaska Public Media
“It’s less than $300,000 a year. But, it will serve a huge population of our state. And as I said before, the state is already appropriating millions … $4.5 million in the next two fiscal years, to make up for the SNAP problems that we’ve had. So we actually save money.”
As millions wait on food stamp approvals, feds tell states to speed it up. Stateline
Lawmakers also are taking aim at the problem. Senate Majority Leader Cathy Giessel, a Republican, has sponsored a bill that would expand eligibility for food stamps and streamline the verification process, a standard that has already been adopted by 41 states. The measure would eliminate restrictions on recipients’ savings and assets, while expanding eligibility to those making 200% of the federal poverty level, up from 130%.
The doctor will fee you now. Axios
Making it easier to access your doctor online is generally seen as a good thing — until it becomes a bit too much. Patients aren't always good at differentiating between what they should be emailing their doctor about and what can wait.
A first for drug affordability boards. Axios
Colorado's prescription drug affordability board on Friday agreed to set a payment limit on Amgen's arthritis and psoriasis drug Enbrel. It's the first time any of the drug affordability boards set up by several states in recent years has moved to cap a medicine's price.
Surge in youth antidepressant scripts. Axios
Antidepressant prescribing to youths rose 63.5% during the pandemic, with adolescent girls accounting for some of the sharpest increases. It's further evidence of a youth mental health crisis characterized by depression and anxiety brought on by social isolation, concern about the future and financial and other stressors. But a shortage of mental health workers and the shift toward telehealth and remote prescribing may have contributed to a prioritization of drug treatments over therapy.
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