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Current Topics
Anchorage coffee shop owner fined for feeding moose. Alaska Public Media
When snow gets deep and moose struggle to find food it’s tempting to feed them, as an Anchorage woman is accused of doing earlier this week. But biologists say there are some good reasons not to do that. First of all, it’s illegal, and it can be costly if you get cited. Just ask Michelle Drury, who runs a coffee stand near the Carrs grocery store at Dimond Boulevard and Jewel Lake Road.
Staffing shortages at Anchorage permitting department create backlog for homebuilders. ADN
How reindeer see their food in dark arctic winters. ABP Live
The researchers found that Cladonia rangiferina absorb ultraviolet light. So do a few other lichen species that supplement the reindeer’s primary diet. And reindeer can see light in the ultraviolet spectrum.
Alaska Congresswoman Wants U.S. Congress to Fund Icebreakers. High North News
The 46-year-old Polar Star, the Coast Guard's only heavy icebreaker, is nearing the end of its useful service life and relies on its out-of-service sister ship, Polar Sea, for spare parts. The US Coast Guard icebreaker program is far behind the original timeline, and the first vessel will not be ready until the middle of 2028. The second Polar Security Cutter will likely not enter service before the next decade, extending the US icebreaker problem into the 2030s.
(The US is not the super-power it pretends to be. Alaska, as the far-north defense outpost, is minimally equipped.)
America is larger now, by declaration of State Department. Alaska Public Media
The State Department enlarged the country’s geography, citing international law, by defining how far under the sea the continental shelf extends. The new additions are spread across seven areas of ocean, and more than half of the claim is in the Arctic.
Education
Plans for Alaska's first tribally operated public schools inches closer to completion. Alaska Beacon
Alaska’s Board of Education has approved a draft report that’s a step toward the state recognizing tribes’ authority to operate and oversee K-12 schools. The board approved a Department of Education and Early Development report on what’s known as the State Tribal Education Compact at its meeting last week. Ultimately, the report is intended to be the basis of legislation.
New survey: Most Indiana private schools teach cursive, compared to roughly half of publics. Indiana Capital Chronicle
Dunleavy's budget falls short of what Alaska schools need to succeed. ADN
…the last time ASD was forced to issue layoff notices to teachers, one-third of those certificated professionals left Alaska altogether — taking with them their talents and families. This is how a community fails.
Alaska leads states in first-ever rankings of charter performance on NAEP. Alaska Beacon
Energy
Researchers present early findings on Bristol Bay hydroelectricity project. KDLG
The Nushagak Cooperative, Dillingham’s local utility provider, is looking to build a hydroelectric facility on the Nuyakuk River in Bristol Bay. The river is a tributary of the Nushagak River and part of the watershed for the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery.
Alaska regulators want utilities to address emergency plans as they face gas shortage. ADN
Top of the charts: Five low-carbon tech tremds worth tracking. Wood Mackenzie
As our recent energy transition outlook highlighted, the world is nowhere near the 1.5 °C global warming pathway. Shifting the world away from fossil fuels to a low-carbon energy system was never going to be easy, let alone quick. However, positive change is underway in key areas, as policy is evolving and low-carbon technologies are seeing substantive progress.
Graphite One delivers anode samples. Metal Tech News
As part of its strategy to quickly establish a domestic mine-to-battery graphite anode material supply chain, Graphite One Inc. has delivered samples of synthetic graphite lithium battery anode material to battery manufacturers and automakers in the United States.
Economy
Boomers at work. Axios
An increasing number of Americans age 65 and older are working — and earning higher wages, per a study from the Pew Research Center. This is good for the economy, especially as the U.S. population ages — but whether or not it's good for older Americans is a bit more subjective.
Alaska's Permanent Fund can't afford trustee's half-baked statements. ADN
Fisheries
Trident Seafoods Selling Two Southeast, Two Gulf Plants. Alaska Business
Trident Seafoods is seeking potential buyers for four of its Alaska shoreside plants as part of a comprehensive restructuring initiative. Facilities in Kodiak, False Pass, Ketchikan, and Petersburg are up for sale.
Minimum wage bumps. Axios
The minimum wage is set to increase in 22 states on Jan. 1, 2024. For Americans making minimum wage, it's an automatic raise — but it also ripples out. Typically, increasing the wage floor for the lowest earners pushes up pay for those who make a bit more than the minimum, as employers have to adjust pay scales upwards. More states are requiring a $15 an hour minimum wage — including New York, Maryland, and New Mexico.
(My Comment: How many small businesses will this put out of business? As wages go up, cost of products go up. Consumers have a price breaking p0int that they will not exceed - meaning they stop buying small business products like local grown produce.)
Politics
Dunleavy rejects leaders of Alaska's public aerospace company without explanation. ADN
The Alaska Aerospace Corp. was left without permanent leadership after Gov. Mike Dunleavy refused to approve a new executive and removed the chair of the corporation’s board without explanation, according to emails and documents obtained by the Daily News.
Mental health funding is fast becoming "the bipartisan issue of our time". Route Fifty
It’s widely acknowledged that there’s a desperate need for improved and expanded mental health services across the country—so much so that this is one of the few issues that appears to be gaining traction in both red and blue states. Significant investments have been made in recent months in bright red Montana and Texas and in deep blue California and New York.
Alaska Legislature approves $100,000 lawsuit over Dunleavy funding legal challenge to state union dues rules. ADN
The crisis at Alaska's Office of Public Advocacy. ADN
How a new way to vote is gaining traction in states - and could transform US politics. Alaska Beacon
With U.S. democracy plagued by extremism, polarization, and a growing disconnect between voters and lawmakers, a set of reforms that could dramatically upend how Americans vote is gaining momentum at surprising speed in Western states.
A tour of Gov. Dunleavy's capital budget. Alaska Beacon
Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy introduced his new capital budget proposal, for the fiscal year starting Jul. 1, a few days ago. Here’s a quick review of some of the newest and most interesting items in the plan, which would spend $300 million in state general funds and some $3 billion in federal money. Like Dunleavy’s operating budget proposal, which I previously analyzed, this proposal is preliminary.
Legislative Council votes to sue Dunleavy administration in state employee union dues case. Juneau Empire
Increased military exercises with Pacific allies seek to deter Chine, top U.S. admiral says. The Washington Times
Deterring Chinese military aggression is a central tenet of America's 2024 spending plan and its broader foreign policy in the years to come. National Security Correspondent Bill Gertz has an inside look at one piece of that effort. Vice Adm. Karl O. Thomas, commander of the Navy's 7th fleet, talked to Mr. Gertz about how the fleet will ramp up its exercises at sea to counter any coming Chinese aggression. But some lawmakers believe the Pentagon must do more. Mr. Gertz also is tracking the push to have the Pentagon convert existing missiles and bombs into new weapons that can effectively counter growing threats of a Chinese attack on Taiwan.
China is far from the only concern in the Pacific. Asia Editor Andrew Salmon gives a troubling report on North Korea's move to synchronize the moving parts of its strategic deterrent, revealing this week that Monday’s test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile was accompanied by new missile-launch exercises.
Health Care
A low-tech infection fighter. Axios
The humble toothbrush could prove to be a life-saver for patients in intensive care who are at serious risk of getting hospital-acquired pneumonia.
Medicare's mental health boom. Axios
The largest expansion of Medicare's mental health services in a generation can provide a critical lifeline to America's seniors — if enough providers sign up. Medicare for decades has covered psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and services provided by some other mental health professionals. But many refuse to see Medicare patients because of low reimbursement and bureaucratic headaches.
(My comment: Medicare in Alaska is the lowest reimbursement in the US. This, coupled with the Governor’s deletion of the Senior bonus (a very small subsidy for low-income seniors) will certainly continue the senior exodus from Alaska.)
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