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Senate Majority
Bipartisan Coalition Website
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State
Senator District E
Senate
Majority Leader
Senator Cathy Giessel Newsletter
UPDATES
Issues affecting
your
family, community and jobs.
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Dear friends and
neighbors,
Welcome Snow!
Vacancies in the Alaska Senate
Two Senators have
resigned in order to run for
Governor.
They cannot raise money
while the Legislature is in session, so by resigning, they can
raise money and campaign full-time.
They must be replaced
and the Constitution (Art. 2, sec. 4) and Statutes (AS 15.40.320,
15.49.330(a) gives that replacement selection proposal to the
Governor.
The Process:
The political party
district committee (made up of citizens) accepts applications from
interested people. They meet, interview, and send 3 names forward
to the Governor to choose one person from.
Within 30 days the
Governor sends the name of his choice to the Senate. The Senators
who are of the same party as the resigning Senator meet and either
approve or reject the new appointee. Majority vote needed for
approval.
If the Senators reject
the name, the Governor proposes a second name from the list.
If the Senators reject
all 3 names, the District committee sends forward 3 more names.
(This is similar to the
Judicial Council process to appoint judges.)
Current Status:
The two resigning
Senators are Republicans from Districts M and O.
Republican Senators: 4 in
Minority, 5 in Bipartisan Majority
Majority vote of these 9
Senators is required for approval
of the appointee.
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Items in this Newsletter:
· Catch up with Cathy Events
· Alaska National Guard Response
· Letter to the Editor: An Ode to Public Workers
· ACEP Energy Map
· Community Wildfire Protection Plan
· Circumpolar Connection
· Thompson Pass Name a Snowplow Contest
· Alaska Senate Floor Staff Hiring Notice
· Alaskans for Fair Courts Newsletter
· Statewide Energy Status and Cost
· Current Topics, Stuff I Found Interesting,
Arctic Issues, Economy, Education, Politics, Healthcare,
· Resource Values, Permanent Fund
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These are informal coffee conversations in
which the folks that attend determine the topics of interest and
concerns.
November 22: 9-10am at the Grind in Girdwood
Last one: December 13: 10:30-11:30am at Bells Nursery Cafe on
Specking Road
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Letter to the editor: An
ode to public workers
"I
recently attended a local event in which we had some state
representatives present a bill that was aimed at securing pension for
public workers. At this event, I kept internally cycling all the woes
and complaints I have as a teacher. In my mind, no one has it worse
than me. Yes, I know, 'boo hoo.'
"Though
I kept my complaints silent, others did not. A public assistance
worker stood up and voiced her frustration that her specific
profession was not acknowledged in the presentation, and you could
feel everyone else tense up, because, of course, don’t we all want to
be specifically acknowledged? It can feel as if no one seems to know
or acknowledge how hard we have it.
"However,
in a humbling turn of events, it became very apparent that the weight
of working for the public extends far beyond what I was aware of or
acknowledged. When you are a public worker who works for and with
people, you see the sides of humanity that others get to pretend
don’t exist, and that’s a burden.
"Public
assistance workers, while trying to get support to disadvantaged
people, witness people die before they ever receive support (the
number of people dying of malnutrition is continuously increasing).
Public school teachers are made aware of just how many kids come from
traumatic situations (more than you’d like to think) and have the
burden of trying to make these students feel normal and respected,
even if the outside world refuses to offer them dignity.
"First
responders see and hear the real-life “Final Destination” moments
that we all pretend only happen in horror movies. Our public health
workers put aside their judgements to work and save people who are
beaten, broken, and often causing harm to themselves and others. And
what about the people sacrificing their safety and well-being to
ensure we have safe roads, forests, cities, airports, etc.?
"To
be a public worker is to live in the space between gratitude and
grief. We are grateful for the chance to serve, but grieve for the
cost it takes. We are asked to absorb frustration, extend compassion,
and hold the line when no one else will. If the measure of a society
is how it treats its people, then, by golly, public workers are the
heart of this country."
Donica, Alaska public
school teacher
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The ACEP is located at the
University of Alaska Fairbanks.
This interactive map is an
incredible tool to see the cost of energy around Alaska.
A new interactive web map
developed by researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks gives
policymakers and residents a clearer picture of how energy costs
affect households across the state.
The online
map
visualizes energy burden, or the percentage of annual gross household
income that is spent on residential energy services, such as space
heating and electricity.
Developed by Jesse
Kaczmarski and Ian MacDougall, the tool allows users to explore
how energy costs vary by neighborhood and how factors such as
energy prices drive those differences.
Users can interact with the
map by changing the price of energy sources and see how those
changes affect household energy burden across the borough. Each
census area includes a clickable summary with local data and
additional map layers, such as city and military boundaries.
Here is the link to the Online
Map.
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Community Wildfire Protection Plan
The Draft Community
Wildfire Protection Plan "CWPP" is now available online,
and this is your chance to offer comments. Remember that the
deadline for comments is the end of the month, so your councils and
neighborhood groups need to act quickly!
If you missed the November
CWPP Town Hall, you can watch it on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/@AnchorageFire
And the Draft CWPP is
available here:
https://www.muni.org/Departments/Fire/Wildfire/Pages/CWPP_Update.aspx
Use the "quick start
guide" on that page to learn how to work the CWPP and navigate
directly to your areas of interest.
Remember that the CWPP will
be guiding our future, and your participation is vital.
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Circumpolar
Connections:
A
Dialogue on Arctic Food Systems
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On November 11th, the UAF Institute of Agriculture had
a seminar on Arctic Agriculture. The recorded discussion is here, and the password is: pH9dJ#Nv
If you want to sign up for upcoming seminars,
please go to: https://bit.ly/CircumpolarConnections
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Alaska’s New Snowplow Name Is Here: Meet 'The Whiteout
Warrior'
Thompson Pass Edition.
(FAIRBANKS, Alaska) – After
receiving 305 creative submissions from Alaskans across the state,
the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
(DOT&PF) is proud to announce the winning name of the Winter
2025–26 Name a Snowplow Contest: The Whiteout Warrior. This newly
named plow will serve the Richardson Highway through Thompson Pass,
one of the snowiest and most challenging transportation corridors in
North America.
“This year’s submissions
were outstanding, and our Thompson Pass crew got a real kick out of
the creativity Alaskans brought to the table,” said Jason Sakalaskas,
Northern Region Maintenance & Operations Chief. “We are proud to
see The Whiteout Warrior leading the pack this winter. Thank you to
everyone who participated and helped honor the hardworking men and
women who keep this pass open.”
Thompson Pass, a 2,600-foot
mountain pass along the Richardson Highway, receives more than 500
inches of snow annually. The corridor connects the Alyeska Pipeline’s
Valdez Marine Terminal with Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Canada,
functioning as a gateway to Alaska’s economy and access to vital
natural resources. The Richardson Highway also links Valdez to its
closest northern neighbor, Glennallen, 119 miles away.
DOT&PF’s Winter
Maintenance and Operations crews work year-round to keep this
essential route open, safe, and reliable, often through heavy storms,
drifting snow, icy conditions, and nonstop winter weather. The Name a
Snowplow contest is designed not only to engage the public, but to
recognize the dedication of the Winter M&O teams who “Keep Alaska
Moving” across all regions of the state.
While this year’s contest
highlighted Thompson Pass, DOT&PF acknowledges the statewide
commitment of winter operators who clear over 5,600 miles of highway
in some of the world’s harshest winter conditions.
The department extends its
appreciation to everyone who submitted a name and participated in
this year’s contest. The Whiteout Warrior will be officially added to
the fleet this winter season.
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Our system is recognized as
one of the best in this country, if not the best, and has served
Alaskans well for almost 70 years, producing high quality judges who
have served Alaska with integrity, skill, and deep commitment to the
rule of law. The system relies upon the work conducted by
the Alaska Judicial Council, an independent, nonpartisan body tasked
with the responsibility for thoroughly evaluating every judicial
applicant, leaving no stone unturned in this comprehensive process.
(My comment: The appointment
of replacement Senators in the Legislature mirrors the process of the
Alaska Judicial Council. The
Alaskans for Fair Courts
newsletter reviews various judicial function and topics. This is
their most current newsletter edition. There is a subscription link
in the newsletter.)
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Current Topics
Anchorage
rolls out cameras and theft tracking in effort to reduce crime. Alaska Public Media
Many Anchorage retailers
already share shoplifting information with each other through a
private platform called Auror. Now APD is using
the platform to connect with retailers, too.
Tribes
and environmental groups sue to stop road planned for Alaska wildlife
refuge. Alaska Beacon
The idea of a road linking
King Cove to the World War II-era military runway at Cold Bay dates
back decades. The legal and political battle over the proposal has
also been long. Some of the plaintiffs in the new cases were
plaintiffs in previous lawsuits over proposed land trades.
FAA
lifts order slashing flights, allowing commercial airlines to resume
their regular schedules. ADN
Things That I Found Interesting
Can
AI translate Native languages in times of disaster? HCN
In 2022, after historic
storms hit remote villages across Western Alaska, the Federal
Emergency Management Agency hired a California-based contractor to
help residents access disaster aid. Their job was to translate
applications for financial assistance: The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is a
constellation of small Alaska Native communities, and nearly half the
region’s population — some 10,000 people — learn to speak
Yugtun, the Central Yup’ik dialect, before they learn English.
Farther north, approximately 3,000 people speak Iñupiaq. But when the
translations came through and journalists at the local public radio
station, KYUK, tried to read them, they found that the material
was nonsense.
UAF
study links beaver expansion to faster Arctic thaw. UAF News
Beaver colonization of the
Arctic is likely a result of warming temperatures, which offer the
species more shrubs and unfrozen habitat during winter. A rebound
from historic trapping may also play a role.
Energy
Gasline
Caucus briefs lawmakers, staff. Petroleum News
Officials with the DOT are
expecting an influx of transportation activity from the North Slope
to the Kenai Peninsula.
1
big thing: The nuclear CEOs who see an opportunity in waste. Axios
Oklo is working on an
initial commercial facility at Idaho National Laboratory to recycle
used fuel into material for reactors like Oklo's Aurora
"fast" reactor. These reactors use neutrons with high kinetic energy
to sustain a nuclear fission chain reaction instead of the slower
thermal neutrons used in conventional reactors.
Fisheries
Alaska
bottom trawlers face renewed scrutiny amid halibut decline. ADN
To reduce their unintended
take of halibut, the Unimak and other vessels in the bottom trawl
fleet have an escape hatch in their nets that allows some of the
larger halibut to swim free. Once a net is spilled on deck, the crew
most often quickly sorts the halibut and then an independent observer
returns them to the sea. Studies show this sorting reduces the number
of halibut that die due to their net encounters.
Education
State
bond debt reimbursements return as Anchorage School Board weighs $79
million proposal. ADN
The state has not shared
the cost of new school construction since 2015, save for a one-time
allocation for school bond debt reimbursement in 2022, of which ASD received $96 million.
(My comment: Watch out that
you read the whole article. Very unlikely that the State will
pay any of it!)
Trump
administration unveils plan to try to dismantle Department of
Education. Alaska Beacon
President Donald Trump’s
administration took major steps Tuesday in trying to dismantle the
U.S. Department of Education, announcing six interagency agreements
signed with other departments that will transfer several of its
responsibilities to those agencies.
Economy
Hot
wage-growth cities. Axios
Politics
1
for the road: Ken Burns on America's genesis. Axios
'Inaccurate'
New York Times piece spotlights Anchorage's electronic voting system,
officials say. Alaska Public Media
Anchorage
officials clarify role of electronic voting in city's mail elections
after report. ADN
“Readers of the New York
Times have been led to believe the MOA Elections team has embarked on
some novel, unsecure agenda on the bleeding edge of integrity in
local elections,” Heinz wrote in the statement. “Rest assured,
municipal voters: the article is an egregious misrepresentation of
MOA Elections."
Mapped:
Trump's growing business empire. Axios
Trump said
yesterday he'll approve the sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia,
making the kingdom the first Middle Eastern country other than Israel
to obtain the advanced fighter jets.
Trump
says he will sell F-35s to Saudi Arabia ahead of crown prince's
Washington visit. ADN
Trump’s family has a strong
personal interest in the kingdom. In September, London real estate
developer Dar Global announced that it plans to launch Trump Plaza in
the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
Health Care
'Punishing
us': Alaska small-business owners consider next steps amid steep
rises in health care costs. ADN
The impact of the
elimination of the tax credits depends on the income, age and family
size of the enrollee. Premium increases are greatest for Alaskans
nearing retirement age who earn 401% of the poverty line or higher.
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Alaska History
·
1938, Nov 30
– Kennicott Copper Mine closed
·
2018, Nov 30
– 7.0 earthquake in SC Alaska
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Alaska
Oil Resource Values
Alaska
North Slope crude oil price (11/18/25): $65.98
FY26 budget (beginning 7/1) is fully funded at
$64/barrel of oil.
History of prices:
10/16/25: $63.17
9/2024: $63.63
9/30/23: $87.99
9/30/22: $86.91
6/29/22: $116.84
3/08/22:
$125.44
12/22/21: $75.55
March 2020: $12.29
7/3/2008: $144.00
ANS
production (11/18/25): 465,749 bpd
Graphite
Creek enriched with rare earths. Mining News North
Now, new analyses of
garnet-bearing schist within the planned pit area reveal elevated
levels of five of the rare earths used in powerful permanent magnets
– neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium, and samarium – along
with scandium and yttrium used in high-performance alloys.
RCA
issues regs for operating community energy facilities. Petroleum News
This arrangement can be used
for a community solar farm, in which consumers can subscribe to the
power generated by a certain number of solar panels.
A
'tidal wave' of LNG supply will reshape global markets, says RBC
Capital CNBC
The supply injection is
likely to thrust the market into an extended period of oversupply by
the end of 2026, which will remain until 2030, with prices possibly
moving below double digits, analysts such as RBC’s Adnan Dhanani have
projected.
Precious
Metal Prices
November 19, 2025
Gold - $4107.38
Silver - $51.72
Platinum - $1576.15
Palladium - $1427.50
Rhodium - $7900.00
Alaska Permanent Fund
website
Fund
value November 18, 2025 - $85,817,200,000
PFD payout from ERA, Fiscal years 1982-2024: $31.3 billion
Over $100 billion total earnings over lifetime of the
Permanent Fund
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