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Current Topics
Biden administration throws support behind King Cove road through Izembek wildlife refuge. ADN
The Biden administration won’t make the final call on the road, which would travel about 16 miles through the refuge. That decision will fall to the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. But support for the potential road is a first for a Democratic administration, officials said.
Underwater internet fiber cables bring Bethel a step closer to faster, cheaper internet. Alaska Public Media
After more than two years of planning, branching underwater internet cables have reached their resting place on the seafloor between Dillingham and the mouth of the Kuskokwim River. It brings the hub community of Bethel, and eventually more than a dozen other coastal Kuskokwim and Yukon communities, one step closer to what the project’s purveyors say will be urban internet speeds and prices for the coastal edge of the state.
State orders new Knik Arm tunnel study. Mat-Su Sentinel
A 2009 bridge study estimated the cost of construction at about $900 million.
'One person at a time': Anchorage's new HOPE team aims to boost outreach to the city's homeless population. Alaska Public Media
Ultimately, the HOPE team gets the couple a week-long stay at a Midtown hotel, using some donated gift cards to cover the stay. Adolf gave Virginia a call, to let her know. “She was very excited,” Adolf said. “So she’s like, ‘Thank you. Thank you.’ She said it over and over. So it’s pretty cool. It’s a good feeling to know that they’re going to be in a, you know, they can lay down and take a shower and just take a breather for a minute.”
Making Alaska roadways safer. Talk of Alaska- Alaska Public Media
PODCAST: As understanding grows of the health, safety and community benefits from creating walk and bike routes, city planners and traffic engineers are getting better at designing for the safety of all users.
Stuff I Found Interesting
A dog on Prince of Wales Island is helping to conserve wolves by tracking their poop. Alaska Public Media
The canine conservationist followed a scent to a rotted log. Beneath it was a small pile of wolf droppings camouflaged by the undergrowth. He lay down.
Fin whale nearly 50 feet long washes ashore on Anchorage tidal flats. ADN
A 47-foot fin whale washed ashore along Anchorage’s coastal trail over the weekend. Hundreds of people ventured out onto tidal flats Sunday to take a look at the carcass in the sun.
AI can 'hear' when a lithium battery is about to catch fire. NIST
Watch the short video: Before a lithium-ion battery catches fire, a chemical reaction causes pressure to build up inside. The battery starts to swell. Many lithium-ion battery cells can’t expand because they have hard casings. Many of these hard casings contain a safety valve designed to break and release this pressure. This breaking safety valve is the sound Tam heard in the videos. It’s a distinctive click-hiss, a little like the sound of cracking open a bottle of soda.
(My Comment: If you have kids who like to do cool experiments to answer “why” questions, they should consider a science career at National Institute of Standards and Technology!)
National Security
U.S. signs Icebreaker Pact with Finland, Canada. USNI News
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas spoke about the great power competition, detailing the progress of the Russian and Chinese icebreaker efforts and what their Arctic capabilities would mean for the U.S. if left uncontested in his opening remarks at the pact signing. Yielding the Arctic reserves of energy, rare earth minerals and sea lanes would have severe consequences for the American people, Mayorkas said.
Fisheries
Silver Bay Seafoods acquires Peter Pan Seafoods facilities from Rodger May. KDLG
Federal judge dismisses Bering Sea trawl fleet's challenge to stricter halibut bycatch limits. ADN
A federal judge in Alaska has dismissed a legal challenge filed by the Bering Sea bottom-trawl fleet against stricter halibut bycatch limits.
Dire condition of Alaska's seafood industry has many causes and no easy fixes, experts say. Alaska Beacon
State officials and industry leaders trying to rescue the ailing Alaska seafood industry are facing daunting challenges, recently released numbers show.
Economy
U.S. House OKs bill that would boost Social Security benefits for thousands of Alaskans who have worked in the public sector. ADN
The U.S. House approved on Tuesday a bill in a 325-75 vote that will reverse what is called the Social Security Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset Provision.
(My comment: This is critical for Alaska’s public employees, most of whom have also been private sector employees who have paid into social security or spouses of the same. A reminder: Alaska teachers and many other public employees do not participate in social security so have nothing to fall back on in old age except the stock market or other investment income.)
As more Alaskans continue to leave than arrive, here's where they're moving. ADN
Last year, those leaving flocked in highest numbers to Texas, which claimed roughly 4,688 Alaska residents in 2023, according to the data. Next, Oregon took about 3,236 residents, Washington absorbed 3,098, and the furthest state from Alaska — Florida — claimed 2,280 of its former residents.
With Port of Alaska tariffs rising, consumers may see slightly higher prices on goods statewide. Alaska's News Source
The cost of shipping goods to Alaska is expected to rise in the new year due to increasing tariffs at the Port of Alaska.
Energy
Nuclear may be the answer to Utah's skyrocketing energy demands, Cox says. KSL
“We have one data center project in Utah that they want to build now, actually we have four of these, but one of them would use 1.4 gigawatts of power," the governor said Thursday at Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce's Growth and Prosperity Summit, held at Utah Valley University in Orem.
"The entire state of Wyoming runs on 900 megawatts. Utah runs on 4 gigawatts of power. That means that one campus would need more than 25% of all of the power that we use in Utah," Cox said. "That's impossible. It just can't happen, but that's what we're seeing ... we're in a crisis right now."
Politics
Opinion: This is an obvious time for a centrist party in America. Governing
Moderates have been largely squeezed out of political relevance by acrimonious polarization, plus the extreme gerrymandering of congressional and legislative districts in many states. You know how it works: The dominant party redraws districts and cherry-picks its voters, while concentrating the minority party’s voters in fewer districts. The dominant party in each resulting district controls the primary, which becomes the election, where unorganized moderates either lack the numbers to compete or simply don’t participate.
U.S. Supreme Court leaves in place Alaska campaign disclosure rules voters approved in 2020. ADN
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday left in place disclosure rules for campaign contributions that Alaska voters approved in a 2020 ballot measure. The justices did not comment in rejecting arguments from donors who challenged as unconstitutional the disclaimers that are required for ads and the reporting required for contributions greater than $2,000 that are given to or received by third-party groups.
Editorial: How Alaska can fix its sluggish ballot-counting problem. ADN
What to expect from the 34th Alaska Legislature. Alaska Public Media
PODCAST: Votes are still being counted, but lawmakers in the Alaska Legislature have already formed majorities and are outlining their priorities.
Multiple US election offices report receiving mailed ballots misdirected from other states. ADN
Terry Thompson had an election to run for voters in Cascade County, Montana. Why then, she thought, was her office in Great Falls being sent mailed ballots completed by voters in places such as Wasilla, Alaska; Vancouver, Washington; and Tampa, Florida?
(My comment. I’m hearing that Alaska Senators interested in requiring all ballots to arrive by Election Day in order to be counted. This would disenfranchise any by-mail voters, which may be the goal. It’s not a goal that I support, as this article points out. )
Education
Opinion: 15 years of unaddressed inflation have left Alaska's students treading water. ADN
Healthcare
1 big thing: The majority of America's diet. Axios
Stunning stat: 73% of America's food supply is made up of ultra-processed foods, like chips, candy bars and sodas. These foods comprise 60% of the typical adult's diet and 66% of the typical kid's diet. Junk food has been linked to a host of negative health effects, from obesity and diabetes to heart disease, depression, dementia and more, AP reports. But the effects aren't limited to your physical health. It also hits your brain.
Fatal drug overdoses are declining nationally - but not in Alaska. ADN
Between June 2023 and June 2024, Alaska recorded a total of 398 overdose deaths, the data shows. Between June 2022 and June 2023, the number was 287.
Pay first, deliver later: Some women are begin asked to prepay for their baby. KFF Health News
In April, just 12 weeks into her pregnancy, Kathleen Clark was standing at the receptionist window of her OB-GYN’s office when she was asked to pay $960, the total the office estimated she would owe after she delivered. Clark, 39, was shocked that she was asked to pay that amount during this second prenatal visit. Normally, patients receive the bill after insurance has paid its part, and for pregnant women that’s usually only when the pregnancy ends. It would be months before the office filed the claim with her health insurer.
Finding a dentist can be like pulling teeth, but in 14 states, therapists are filling the gap. Alaska Beacon
In 2006, Alaska became the first state to authorize dental therapists. The rest of the 13 states that have authorized dental therapists have dental therapy programs that have been running for fewer than 20 years, which is about how long Alaska’s program has run. What we found is that Medicaid recipients, both children and adults, were less likely to have teeth removed after the authorization of dental therapists. This meant that more people were keeping their teeth longer, and they were more likely to get preventive care, like fluoride treatment and cleanings.
(My comment: The clarifying information needed is that the dental therapists in Alaska are Dental Health Aide Therapists licensed by the Federal government through Alaska Native Tribal Health. To create more access to dental health for all Alaskans, we need to authorize Dental Hygienists to preform the same services and the Dental Health Aides. Interestingly, this is something that dental associations strongly oppose!)
Sexually transmitted infections top Alaska's annual disease list, reflecting high rates. Alaska Beacon
Alaska has some of the nation’s highest rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2022, Alaska had the nation’s third-highest chlamydia rate and fourth-highest gonorrhea rate, according to the CDC.
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