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Oil and Gas Pipeline Topics
In
setback for oil companies, tax board raises trans-Alaska pipeline
value by $3 billion Northern Journal
A state appeals board this
week determined the property tax value of the enormous
50-year-old pipeline system, which moves crude 800 miles from the
North Slope’s oil fields to the port town of Valdez, to be $13
billion.
Appeals
court says Alaska has the right to make ConocoPhillips oil well data
public
Alaska Beacon
The state of Alaska has the
right to make public data from exploration wells drilled by
ConocoPhillips in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, an
appeals court has ruled.
'Build
the Line!' pep rallies obscure the lack of pipeline numbers. Reporting from Alaska
The “Build the Line!”
propaganda campaign is perfect for people who think that numbers
don’t matter.
The cost of the line
doesn’t matter. The cost of the gas doesn’t matter. The cost of
construction doesn’t matter. The details of the contract the state
signed with Glenfarne don’t matter.
Current Topics
More
than 70 bills are heading to the governor’s desk. Here are a few to
watch. ADN
More than 70 bills passed
in the final week of Alaska’s 34th Legislature, in what lawmakers
described as a productive flurry of activity that benefited from
mostly aligned bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate.
(My comment: These bills
have been sent to the Governor. I wonder how many he vetoes.)
More
than 80% of Alaska bills failed this session. Here are some of them Anchorage
Daily News
Lawmaking is an
uncertain venture. Of the 685 bills introduced in the two-year
legislative cycle that began last year, 114 passed. That’s about one
out of every six bills.
Alaska
Legislature approves state’s first tax on e-cigarette products Alaska
Beacon
Four years after Gov.
Dunleavy vetoed a similar measure, lawmakers passed a bill imposing
state’s first tax on electronic cigarettes and related products.
Alaska
lawmakers seek first boost to unemployment benefits since 2009 Alaska Public Media
State lawmakers voted to
increase state unemployment benefits for the first time since 2009
during the state Legislature’s race to the finish on May 20. They
attached the change to a largely unrelated travel insurance bill with
an amendment on the Senate floor hours before the Legislature
adjourned its regular session.
Opinion:
A retirement system that continues to drive workers away Anchorage
Daily News
Alaska’s public employee
retirement crisis did not happen overnight, and it will not be solved
by slogans about fiscal restraint. Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of House Bill 78 was a clear message to educators, state
troopers, firefighters, healthcare workers and countless other public
servants that long-term service in Alaska is not something our state
is willing to meaningfully invest in.
Opinion:
With his veto of House Bill 78, Gov. Dunleavy makes it clear who he
serves Anchorage
Daily News
Gov. Mike Dunleavy will be
remembered for eight years of the Dunleavy
Decline and as the worst and least productive governor in
Alaska history. With his veto of House
Bill 78, outgoing Gov. Mike Dunleavy has delivered one last
illustration of exactly whose interests his administration serves.
Unfortunately, his allegiance is not to his constituents in the state
of Alaska, but to Outside special interests, the billionaire class
and his own ego.
Legislation
would prevent state from using psychiatric hospitals as makeshift
foster placements AK
Public Media
Federal investigations have
documented abusive practices inside
psychiatric hospitals for kids in Alaska. The state has also admitted that
they've used psychiatric hospitals to
house foster children when
there aren't available placements. And Metivier said it's gotten
worse. "In recent years, as we've seen a steady decline of the
number of foster homes, we've seen more youth who are lingering out
in hospital settings when they don't meet the criteria to be in those
places," she said.
Stuff I found Interesting
New
moral low Axios
80% say moral values are
"getting worse" — 14 points higher than '25.
Master
wordsmith Axios
Remer doesn't teach lists,
but instead systems. Latin roots, Greek structures, and linguistic
clues buried inside pronunciation and meaning. Sessions feel less
like tutoring and more like detective work, with Remer teaching
students to use "definitions and etymology as clues," per
AP.
Alaska
Blood Bank declares critical shortage as World Cup cuts off national
supply Alaska News Source
Blood Bank of Alaska is
facing a critical shortage, with its CEO warning that the upcoming
FIFA World Cup has effectively sealed off the national blood supply,
leaving Alaska entirely dependent on its own donors at a time when
local demand is surging.
East
Cook Inlet razor clam fishery remains closed as populations reach
historic low Alaska Public Media
The beaches that once
hosted Alaska's largest razor clam fishery will stay closed for
another year. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game surveyed
Ninilchik and Clam Gulch on the east side of Cook Inlet this spring,
and Area Management Biologist Mike Booz said populations show no sign
of rebounding.
Wildlife
officials urge caution around edgy animals after 5 people injured in
Anchorage moose encounters Anchorage
Daily News
Since Memorial Day weekend,
five people have suffered minor injuries in encounters with cow moose
that occurred in the city’s green spaces, according to Alaska
Department of Fish and Game biologist Cory Stantorf. No one has been
injured since that weekend, he said.
Alaska’s
minimum wage increasing to $14 an hour next month Alaska News Source
Alaska’s minimum wage will
be increasing to $14 per hour on July 1, according to the Alaska Department of Labor. The increase comes as a result of the passage
of Ballot Measure 1 in November 2024. The minimum wage will receive
another boost on July 1, 2027, to $15 per hour.
First
Alaska mule deer harvest follows years of fleeting appearances in the
state Alaska Beacon
Mule deer, better known as
inhabitants of the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains regions, have been
expanding their range northward, including into Alaska. As they do
so, they are expanding the risks of parasites and some contagious
diseases.
Economy
Comparing
slices Axios
Corporate profits are taking the largest chunk of America's total income
since a brief period of the early 1950s, as the slice of the pie
going to worker pay has shrunk to the thinnest on
record. It's another piece of evidence underscoring the
current state of play in the American economy: Surging profits have
buoyed stock markets while increasing pressure on an already cranky
public.
Education
Alaska
Legislature approves civics education requirement for all Alaska high
schoolers Alaska Beacon
The new requirement aims to
bolster Alaska students’ knowledge and understanding of the U.S.
government and civic responsibilities. It comes amid declining public
trust in government, the bill’s sponsor, Senate President Gary
Stevens, R-Kodiak, told the Alaska Beacon last month.
University
of Alaska names U.S. Army commander as new UAF chancellor Alaska
Beacon
Col. Russell “Russ” Vander
Lugt was selected from four finalists after an eight-month search process. He will be
the top executive of Alaska’s leading research institution, which
describes itself as “America’s Arctic university.”
Senior
Army officer chosen to lead University of Alaska Fairbanks KUAC
Congrats to the new
chancellor, but I will also be watching to see where Mike Sfraga
shows up next. Mike is such a gifted, knowledgeable person! We are
fortunate that he’s an Alaskan!
Elections
Opinion:
We don’t give a damn how they gerrymander Outside Anchorage
Daily News
Many Alaskans fondly
embrace and proudly recite the defiant expression from the 1970s: “We
don’t give a damn how they do it Outside.” Though often it’s because
we can’t get it done the same way they do it Outside because of cost
or geography or our small population — or because some online
merchants still refuse to ship to the 49th state.
Healthcare
Opinion: Untying the hands of
Alaska's most accessible healthcare providers ADN
Pharmacies are one of the
most accessible healthcare destinations in Alaska, making community
pharmacists a constant medical presence, especially in rural and
remote communities. They are familiar faces who know which
medications a patient is already taking, ask the right personal
health questions, and are typically available without an appointment
and during extended hours that fit a working family’s schedule.
Pharmacists are a natural part of the care team, and HB 195 gives
them the authority to function as one.
(My comment: I carried this
bill on the Senate side. So thankful it passed. Hoping the Governor
won’t veto it.)
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