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Current Topics
Record-high temperatures bake Deadhorse and other sites on Alaska's North Slope. Alaska Beacon
At Deadhorse, the industrial camp community next to the Prudhoe Bay oil field, the temperature hit 89 degrees. It was not only an all-time high for Deadhorse but appears to be the highest temperature ever recorded at any site above 70 degrees latitude in North America, said Brian Brettschneider, a National Weather Service climatologist.
The parent companies of 2 of Alaska's grocers want to merge. Here's what we know. Alaska Public Media
PODCAST: Last week, Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola joined 27 other D.C. lawmakers from 16 states in a legal brief backing a lawsuit by federal regulators to block a massive, national grocery store merger. Most Alaskans live in a community where a Fred Meyer store competes directly with a Carrs or a Safeway, so the proposal for one parent company to buy the other for $24.6 billion has a lot of Alaska consumers worried.
Stuff I Found Interesting
Information Overload: Brain Expert John Medina on Combatting Cognitive Biases. National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)
If you’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed or just plain confused by the onslaught of competing messages thrown at you in today’s 24-7 information blitz, molecular biologist John Medina understands.
Meet Your New Intern: Artificial Intelligence. NCSL
Artificial intelligence isn’t human—it just acts like it is. And you should treat it that way, says Jennifer Pahlka.
Economy
The Best and Worst States for Retirement. NYTimes
Economic impacts of mining in Alaska include wages, taxes and career training, report says. Alaska Beacon
Alaska’s mining industry supported 11,800 jobs and $1.1 billion in total wages in 2023, according to a report commissioned by the Alaska Miners Association and Alaska Metals Mines.
Despite Clouds in Forecast, US Economy Still on "Strong Footing". NCSL
“Is this just a market correction or is this the sign of what is still to come when we look at the fundamentals in the economy? So, a cloudy day for the markets today, and I don’t think this is over, and the sunshine piece of it, what I would just say is that it is still fundamentally some strong footing that the U.S. is on, but momentum is slowing and expectations still remain very high.” Chang says Chase still puts the risk of a U.S. recession at 45% for this year.
Politics
How Alaska wound up with no limits on campaign donations - and how some hope to restore them. Alaska Public Media
Back in 2006, Alaska voters passed a ballot initiative in a landslide. In most cases, it allowed campaign donations of no more than $500 per candidate per year. But those days are long gone, said former attorney general Bruce Botelho. “There are no limits at the moment,” Botelho said in an interview.
(My Comment: Read this article to understand why we now have no campaign donation limits. I would suggest that this opens the door for people who have family or friends who are millionaires/billionaires, as is the case for many Republican candidates. This has been a factor in elections in the last 2 years, distorting the level playing field that voters want to have.)
Mail delays postpone the start of pre-Election Day voting in parts of rural Alaska. Alaska Public Media
Early voting opened Monday for Alaska’s Aug. 20 primary election, but ballots headed to many rural Alaska polling locations failed to arrive in time due to delays in the mail, the director of the Alaska Division of Elections said Wednesday.
(My comment: We have to fix this! Its the 21st century! These kinds of things disenfranchise voters.)
Alaska Beacon Voter Guide offers step toward more informed election. Alaska Beacon
These questions encompass candidates’ positions on everything from schools to taxes to what candidates see as the biggest local need.
Healthcare
Non-core business floats insurers. Axios
A host of earnings reports in recent weeks reinforce how much pharmacy, physician networks and other non-core products are driving the bottom lines of health behemoths with big insurance units — a situation that is grabbing the attention of regulators and Congress.
(My comment: Aetna is the State of Alaska insurance company. That means Optum is the PBM (pharmacy benefit manager) which realizes billions of dollars of profits from medications. My work to bring PBMs under control has demonstrated that the State of Alaska has no idea how much money we are losing to Aetna and Optum. “Cut the budget”? Let’s cut the losses from the PBM to save money!)
Rising pertussis case number in Alaska prompt warnings and prevention recommendations. Alaska Beacon
A spike in pertussis, a contagious disease commonly known as whooping cough, has swept through Alaska, the state Department of Health reported. Through the end of July, 131 pertussis cases had been reported in Alaska this year, according to an alert issued by the department’s Division of Public Health epidemiology section.
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