Alaska Conservationists Concerned With Cruise Ship Rules

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Photo Credit: APTowering cruise ships, sometimes four at a time, sit at port in Juneau at the peak of summer, delivering tourists important to the economy of this and other southeast Alaska communities. But some conservationists worry about what the ships could be leaving in Alaska waters and are fighting proposed new rules for the discharge of treated wastewater . . .

Over the years, Alaska has rolled back provisions of a 2006 citizen initiative that called for cruise ship wastewater to meet water quality standards at the point of discharge. In 2013, for example, the Legislature struck that discharge requirement, saying instead that wastewater cannot be discharged in a way that violates applicable state or federal law.

The 2013 law allowed for mixing zones, where wastewater can be diluted into the water, if ships meet certain standards for treatment of discharge. The change followed a debated preliminary report from a science advisory panel that found none of the advanced wastewater treatment systems on ships operating in Alaska waters could consistently meet water quality standards at the point of discharge for four “constituents of concern:” ammonia, copper, nickel and zinc.

The proposed general permit, under which ships can apply to be covered, are based on that law. (Read more about the concerns from the Alaska conservationists HERE)

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Corruption: Seven Congressmen (Including Mark Begich) Who Joined Lobbying Firms Less Than a Month After Leaving Office

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Less than a month after leaving office, at least five former House members and one U.S. senator are already on the payroll at firms that make millions lobbying their congressional colleagues. The findings, provided to Vocativ by the Center for Responsive Politics, a government watchdog group, also show that a second senator who left office at the beginning of January, Alaska’s Mark Begich, took the extra step of starting his own public affairs consulting firm, which has already secured clients in health care and aviation.

While Washington’s contentious revolving door spins in perpetuum—allowing a stream of money, influence and access to flow seamlessly between the private and public sectors—the speed with which these public servants have offered themselves up to big business may raise a few eyebrows . . .

By law, ex-House members are required to wait one year before they can officially lobby lawmakers on the Hill, while former senators must wait twice as long. Many, however, are able to work around those requirements at firms by signing on as consultants, counsel and strategic advisors, as a recent analysis by CRP and the Sunlight Foundation shows. That study’s conclusion: “The many loopholes limiting who can lobby whom in Washington and whether that lobbying must be disclosed to the public make a hunk of Swiss cheese look like the Berlin Wall.” (Read more about the congressmen who joined lobbying firms HERE)

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FBI Director: ISIS Probes in Every State Except Alaska

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Photo Credit: clarionledgerAs Americans stood horrified at the news of a Jordanian pilot burned alive by the terrorist group known as the Islamic State, one of the top law enforcement officers in the country talked about how Mississippians can fight those kind of extremist ideals within our own borders.

FBI Director James Comey, who was in the state for the second visit of his 10-year term, said there are open cases looking into individuals who may be related to ISIS/ISIL in every state in the Union except Alaska.

“Mississippi is a great state, but like all 50 states it has troubled souls that might look to find meaning in this sick, misguided way. The challenge that we face in law enforcement is that they may be getting exposed to that poison and that training in their basement,” Comey said. “They’re sitting there consuming and may emerge from the basement to kill people of any sort, which is the call of ISIL, just kill somebody.”

So he stressed that the threat is very real, not just for military or law enforcement or the media, all of whom have been warned by the FBI that ISIS could be gunning for them, but for ordinary citizens as well. (Read more about where ISIS probes are HERE)

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Former Adjutant General Retiring From Alaska National Guard

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Brig. Gen. Leon “Mike” Bridges, who served as acting adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard after the ouster of a former leader, plans to retire on May 1 after he was not chosen to permanently take over the job. . .

Bridges said in an interview Wednesday that he applied for the position and considered himself to be a useful soldier and public servant. But he said Walker is commander in chief of the state’s military forces and has selected his new leadership team . . .

Bridges oversaw a transitional period for the Guard. In September, a report on allegations of sexual assault and other misconduct within the Guard by the National Guard Bureau’s Office of Complex Investigations found victims lacked confidence in the command . . .

Since taking office, Walker’s administration has named retired state court judge Patricia Collins as a special investigator to look into allegations of sexual abuse or harassment by National Guard members. Collins also has been asked assess whether allegations were adequately investigated by law enforcement; whether any cases were handled appropriately by prosecutors; and other matters. (Read more about the general leaving the Alaska National Guard HERE)

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After a Mid-Air Crash in Alaska, the Pilots Miraculously Survive

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Photo Credit: Fox News By Associated Press. The Alaska Department of Public Safety says officials have found two separate wreckage sites in the Mat-Su Valley after responding to reports that a single-engine plane collided with another aircraft.

A statement issued Saturday afternoon says pilots of both planes were found alive. One had serious injuries while the other pilot was moderately injured.

One airplane has been determined to be an Alaska Wildlife Trooper fixed-wing aircraft. (Read read more about the crash in Alaska HERE)

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String of Earthquakes Hit Alaska Islands

By Lauren Rosenthal. The Pribilof Islands aren’t usually prone to shaking. But more than a dozen earthquakes have been recorded in between St. Paul and St. George since Friday afternoon.

Michael West, the director of the Alaska Earthquake Information Center, describes the activity as a “swarm.”

“That is, a cluster of earthquakes that are responding to some stress in the earth that appears to be releasing itself kind of incrementally,” West says.

Most of the earthquakes have been around magnitude 4.0, although five of them exceeded 5.0M.

Residents in St. Paul and St. George have been feeling the effects. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Obama’s Drilling Ban in Alaska Definitely Not About Saving Polar Bears

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller Obama’s latest anti-fossil-fuels directive is to move off-limits to exploration and drilling some 12 million acres in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This is one of the most oil-rich regions in the world. The area to be removed from drilling is larger than the combined land area of Connecticut and Massachusetts. Alaska’s economy is already softening because of low oil prices; now he tosses the state’s drowning economy an anchor.

Obama says his motivation is to keep this land environmentally undisturbed and to protect wildlife — as if he were a modern-day Theodore Roosevelt–style preservationist. “Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuge is an incredible place — pristine, undisturbed,” Obama says. “It supports caribou and polar bears, all manner of marine life, countless species of birds and fish, and for centuries it supported many Alaska Native communities. But it’s very fragile.”

Well, no, not really. Think of a football field, and then think of placing a postcard on that field. This is roughly the size of the development footprint required to drill in these wilderness lands, compared with the entire Alaskan landmass. Thanks to horizontal drilling, the footprint from oil and gas production is getting smaller all the time. Drilling will hardly alter the majesty of the mountains or the forest lands.

[T]he impact on Alaska’s wildlife and natural beauty has been almost nonexistent. A study delivered in 2002 to the American Society of Civil Engineers found that “the ecosystems affected by the operation of TAPS and associated activity for almost 25 years are healthy.” Today the size of the caribou herd in Alaska is estimated at about 325,000 — four times the number before the pipeline was built. . .

So what’s really going on here? This latest White House move isn’t about saving polar bears. It’s about a radical climate-change agenda to stop all domestic oil and gas drilling and coal mining, wherever and whenever possible. The middle-class Americans who will lose jobs or pay more for gas at the pump are collateral damage. (Read more about the drilling ban in Alaska HERE)

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Exquisite Photo From Rocket Launching in Alaska

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Photo Credit: NASA When you think of NASA launches, you probably think of Florida and shuttle missions and massive rockets blasting into the sky. But NASA is busy launching all sorts of smaller projects that don’t attract as much of the space glory. On January 26, the space agency sent four suborbital sounding rockets up into the sky from the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska.

A time-lapse composite image shows all four rocket launches as bright trails leading up into misty green aurora-filled skies. The otherworldy image shows stars streaking in a circular pattern, a green Lidar streak and frost-covered ground and foliage. (Read more about the photo from the rocket launching in Alaska HERE)

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Obama Advisor John Podesta Paid by Shadowy Foreign Billionaire to Shut Down ANWR?

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Photo Credit: The Daily Caller By Richard Pollock. In 2013, John Podesta was paid $87,000 by a shadowy foreign billionaire whose passion is preventing energy exploration on American land.

Just two years later, Podesta is a member of President Obama’s inner circle, and the driving force inside the White House to block 12 million acres of land in Alaska’s Artic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling.

The circumstances suggest Podesta may have run afoul of Obama’s highly-touted ethics pledge, which requires political appointees to disqualify themselves in matters relating to the interests of a former employer or client.

Podesta — who is preparing to leave the White House to take a top position with Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign — has largely avoided public scrutiny during his time as a White House Counselor.

But his work came into fuller view earlier this week when he emerged as one of the architects of the new White House policy that seeks to end any future drilling for oil on Alaska’s coastal plain. (Read more from “Podesta Paid to Shutdown ANWR?” HERE)

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Obama Treats Journalists as ‘Enemies of the State’

By Sam Rolley. Former CBS reporter Sheryl Attkisson told senators on Thursday that a journalist’s job of “getting at the truth has never been more difficult” than it is under the Obama administration.

Testifying before the Senate confirmation hearing for Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch, Atkins said that the Obama Justice Department has potentially done “long-term damage to a supposedly free press” and urged Lynch to enact policy changes to end the DOJ’s abuse of journalists.

“Facets of federal government have isolated themselves from the public they serve. They covet and withhold public information that we as citizens own. They bully and threaten access of journalists who do their jobs, news organizations that publish stories they don’t like and whistleblowers who dare to tell the truth,” Attkisson said. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Fairbanksan Among 3 Americans Killed in Gruesome Attack in Afghanistan

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Photo Credit: ABC News[Editor’s Note: Alaskan Jason Landphair was one of the three Americans killed in the below-described attack. Joe and Kathleen Miller attended Jason’s and his beautiful wife Natasha’s wedding several years ago in Fairbanks. On her Facebook page earlier today, Natasha said, “God is Forever Good. I believed he was Good yesterday. I believe He is Good today.” Please pray for Jason’s wife and daughters in this incredibly difficult time.]

By Jason Howerton. Three American contractors were killed in a suspected insider attack at the international airport in Kabul on Thursday, according to several news reports. Officials said the shooter was dressed in an Afghan soldier’s uniform.

“We can confirm that there was a shooting incident at North Kabul International Airport complex 29 January at approximately 6:40 p.m. [local time]. Three coalition contractors were killed as was an Afghan local national,” the U.S. military said Thursday, according to ABC News.

An Afghan air force official also told Reuters that the motive of the shooting had yet to be determine and an “investigation has been opened.” (Read more about the attack in Afghanistan HERE)

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Taliban Claim Responsibility for Attack

By Masoud Popalzai. The Afghan Taliban have claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that killed 3 American contractors at a military base attached to the Kabul airport.

The attacker in the Thursday incident was a Taliban agent who “had penetrated into the security forces and was waiting for such a target for a long time,” a spokesman for the group, Zabiullah Mujahid, said Friday. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Former Alaskan Soldier Sentenced to 62 Years in Prison

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Photo Credit: alana sise/flickrA former Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson soldier was sentenced to 62 years in prison for the murder of his wife in their Anchorage home. . .

A jury last year found him guilty of murder for the 2012 shooting death of his wife, Sara Lopez.

Prosecutors say David Lopez was angry that the Office of Children’s Services took away the couple’s daughter after Sara Lopez brought the toddler to a hospital because of concerns about bruises on the girl. (Read more about the Alaskan soldier HERE)

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