Political Corruption, Alaska-Style: Provision in NDAA Benefits Native Corp Instrumental in Murkowski's Write-In Campaign

/4 Comments/in , /by

Credit - AP

Credit – AP

By Edwin Mora. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) negotiated the inclusion of a land entitlement provision in the “must-pass” National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for a Sealaska, an Alaska Native Regional Corporation that helped fund her re-election in 2010 as a write-in candidate.

The NDAA, which includes a public lands package that has been lambasted by conservative lawmakers as unrelated to defense operations, passed the House last week. It is expected to be voted on in the Senate this week.

The public lands package includes the conveyance of tens of thousands of acres in the Tongass National Forest to the Sealaska Corp. It would allow the corporation to handpick lands outside the boundaries set by the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

In the past, “opponents have accused the Native corporation of choosing some of the best and most valuable lands in the national forest for their own private, moneymaking enterprises,” reported The Associated Press in June 2010.

A Dec. 3 press release acknowledged that Murkowski helped negotiate the Sealaska measure into the NDAA.

Read more from this story HERE.

__________________________________________________________________________
NDAA Passes, Authorizes Transfer of Large Tracts of Land to Fed Govt.

Credit: Reuters - Jonathan Ernst

Credit: Reuters – Jonathan Ernst

By Donna Casata

Congress on Friday sent President Barack Obama a massive defense policy bill that endorses his stepped-up military campaign of air strikes and training of Iraqis and moderate Syrian rebels in the war against Islamic State militants.

The Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill that authorizes funds for basic military operations, including construction of new ships, aircraft, and weapons as well as a 1 percent pay raise for the troops. The vote was 89-11.

A coalition of defense hawks and Western state Republicans overcame objections by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and several other GOP senators, who were furious that unrelated provisions to designate 250,000 acres of new, federally protected wilderness were added to the popular legislation dedicated to military operations.

The measure would authorize the training and equipping of moderate Syrian rebels battling the extremists, a mandate that lasts for two years. It also would provide $5 billion to train Iraqis to counter the militants who brutally rule large sections of Iraq and Syria.

“American air power had changed the momentum on the ground somewhat and given moderates in the region an opportunity to regroup, but ISIS cannot be defeated without an opposing force to take the fight to it on the ground,” said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Armed Services Committee. “To do that, our Arab and Muslim partners must be in the lead because the fight with ISIS is primarily a struggle within Islam for the hearts and minds of Muslims.”

Read more from this story HERE.

__________________________________________________________________________

Cruz Votes Against NDAA

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today voted against the National Defense Authorization Act citing several concerns, including an extreme land grab provision and ongoing assistance to Syrian rebels.

“The 2015 National Defense Authorization Act includes a number of problematic provisions, including an extension through 2016 of the program to arm Syrian rebels and an extreme land grab that restricts more than a half-million new acres of property from productive use,” said Sen. Cruz. “This is yet another example of Majority Leader Reid’s legacy of obstruction by not allowing any amendments to be called on this bill.

Read more from this story HERE.

Weird Weather Lingers In Alaska's Largest City

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: AP / Mark Thiessen

Photo Credit: AP / Mark Thiessen

A week before Christmas, Alaska’s largest city should look like a postcard wonderland, and the last place you’d expect to see equipment making snow.

“We want Santa to bring snow, soon,” Terry Goodwin said as she hit a ski trail in Anchorage on Thursday near snowmaking machines churning out the white stuff.

A picturesque northern winter-scape is hardly the reality here as a spate of weird weather lingers in Anchorage, which is almost 2 feet behind the snowfall totals typical by this time. With just days to go until solstice Sunday signals the official start of winter, bare ground can be seen in places and temperatures have been averaging in the 30s, prompting a few hardy residents to take to the streets in T-shirts and shorts.

For the most part, it’s even been too warm to make snow for local ski haunts because the machines would churn out slush. However, a slight dip in temperatures allowed the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage to manufacture powder Thursday on trails at the city’s Kincaid Park. That will have to do until nature provides its own supply.

Read more from this story HERE.

Despite Oil Prices Plummeting, S&P Not Downgrading Alaska, Yet

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo credit: roger4336

Photo credit: roger4336

Alaska has built up layers of budgetary reserves that allow it to absorb one or two years of large operating deficits — just outside of our outlook time horizon –at its current rating level. But in order for it to avert credit quality deterioration, we believe the state must make material progress in reducing the deficit in its fiscal 2016 budget.

Although the rapid decline in oil prices exacerbates Alaska’s existing fiscal budget deficit, whether it will weaken the state’s credit quality will depend on the state’s budgetary response. For fiscal 2015, the state assumed oil prices would average $105.06 per barrel, giving rise to about 495,900 barrels
per day of production on Alaska’s North Slope. Based on more recent price and production information, the state has revised its estimates to $76 per barrel and 509,500 barrels per day for fiscal 2015.

The state’s assumptions regarding oil prices and production are integral to its budget condition because oil-related revenues made up 88% of its estimated revenue for the 2014 fiscal year and 79% of fiscal 2015. At enactment, the state’s budgeted general fund expenditures for fiscal 2015 exceeded its unrestricted revenues by $1.4 billion. Weaker oil prices and production resulted in an updated budget gap of $3.5 billion, equal to 57% of general fund expenditures. For most states, an operating deficit of this magnitude would likely result in immediate negative rating consequences. In Alaska’s case, however, extraordinarily large budget reserves effectively buy the state time to deal with its structural misalignment.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Makes Bristol Bay Off Limits to Oil and Gas Development

/3 Comments/in , /by

Credit - LA Times

Credit – LA Times

In a boon to commercial fishermen, conservationists and Native Alaskans, President Obama on Tuesday withdrew the waters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay from oil and gas development, vowing to protect the world’s biggest sockeye salmon fishery.

Calling the region “one of America’s greatest natural resources and a massive economic engine, not only for Alaska but for America,” Obama said he was taking it “off the bidder’s block” and would “make sure that it is preserved into the future.”

“Bristol Bay has supported Native Americans in the Alaska region for centuries,” Obama said in a video message released Tuesday. “It supports $2 billion in the commercial fishing industry. It supplies America with 40% of its wild-caught seafood. It is a natural wonder, and it’s something that’s just too precious to be putting out to the highest bidder.”

In 2010, Obama declared the verdant, 52,234-square-mile area off Alaska’s southwest coast temporarily off-limits to oil and gas leasing, a protection that was set to expire in 2017. Tuesday’s action safeguards the important habitat area indefinitely.

The area, also known as the North Aleutian Basin Outer Continental Shelf, has never been the site of offshore drilling, although the Interior Department opened it up to exploration and development in 1986 with the controversial Lease Sale 92.

Read more from this story HERE.

Falling World Oil Prices Wreak Havoc With Alaska State Budget

/3 Comments/in , /by

Getty Images

Getty Images

As Allen Newton, 58, filled his ice-caked Ford Expedition for $3.15 a gallon, he happily tried to remember the last time gasoline was so cheap here in Alaska’s biggest city.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Newton said Sunday afternoon, breath steaming outside a downtown gas station.

At the same time a few blocks away, freshly elected Gov. Bill Walker met with his new bipartisan Cabinet. He was talking about oil prices too.

A crash in Alaska North Slope crude prices that echoes a worldwide drop in the price of oil has raised the possibility of multibillion-dollar deficits in a state where 88 cents of every dollar spent by state government comes from oil production.

Alaska crude hit a four-year low of $60.80 a barrel Thursday, a collapse that threatens jobs, public services and some of the ambitious infrastructure projects needed to harness and navigate the state’s vast natural landscape. State officials are now projecting a $3.5-billion shortfall in funding the state’s original spending plans. (Read more from this story HERE)

Alaska Assistant District Attorney Fatally Shot

/1 Comment/in , /by

FACEBOOK - New York Daily News

FACEBOOK – New York Daily News

A former Washington state legislator serving as an assistant district attorney in Alaska was shot and killed Monday night, authorities said.

Brian Sullivan, 48, was killed in a home at 5318 Laura Madison St. in Barrow at about 10 p.m., according to Kristine Hilderbrand, an assistant to Borough Mayor Charlotte Brower. Barrow is the northernmost community in the U.S.

An adult male suspect, whose name has not been released, has been taken into custody in the homicide investigation, North Slope Borough officials said. No charges were filed as of noon Tuesday.

Authorities have not released details of the crime or a motive.

Sullivan’s death may be the first time an Alaska state prosecutor has been killed in a homicide, according to KTUU-TV.

Read more from this story HERE.

———————————————————————————-

Assistant District Attorney Brian Sullivan shot and killed in Barrow

By Jillian Rogers

A respected Barrow lawyer is dead following a shooting that took place in the North Slope community Monday night.

Assistant District Attorney Brian Sullivan, the father of three daughters, was shot and killed shortly before 10 p.m., the North Slope Borough confirmed Tuesday…

Sullivan was 48. Next of kin have been notified and the incident is being investigated as a homicide. Police have a suspect, an adult male, in custody.

Sullivan was a well-respected member of the community and a friend to many.

Further information will await a charging decision by the prosecutor’s office. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Alaska State Troopers were en route to Barrow to investigate at the request of acting North Slope Borough police chief Darryl Holman.

Read more from this story HERE.

Anchorage PD/Morning Man Jimmy O'Brien Arrested On Child Porn Charges

/2 Comments/in /by

JamesLaPlanteUSETHISONEJAMES LAPLANTE, also known as JIMMY O’BRIEN, who works as the PD and morning man at iHEARTMEDIA Country KASH-F (COUNTRY 107.5)/ANCHORAGE, was arrested by local police last evening for posessesion and distribution of child pornographY, as well as online enticement of a minor, according to the ALASKA DISPATCH NEWS.

LAPLATE has been program director at the station since SEPTEMBER 2000.

LAPLANTE was arrested after investigators with the ANCHORAGE POLICE DEPARTMENT’s CYBER CRIMES UNIT and TECHNICAL CRIMES UNIT of the ALASKA BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION served search warrants on his home and office.

Read more from this story HERE.

Anchorage Cathedral Vandalized

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: Catholic Anchor

Photo Credit: Catholic Anchor

The historic Holy Family Cathedral in Anchorage was vandalized on Dec. 2. The Dominican priests who staff the parish found it damaged and in disarray at about 4:30 p.m.

A video of the damage taken by Dominican Father Mark Francis Manzano shows overturned pews, spilt holy water, toppled liturgical furniture, including the archbishop’s presider’s chair and debris scattered throughout the sanctuary. Advent candles and the ambo were also thrown to the floor and a microphone connected to the sound system was ripped out.

On his Facebook page Father Manzano noted that while the damage was considerable, “it could have been much worse.”

“By the grace of God, the tabernacle, the relics, and the ambry were all secured and left untouched,” he observed.

The cathedral will mark its 100th year anniversary next year. It was the first church built in Anchorage and remains a historic landmark, even hosting Pope John Paul II during his 1981 visit to Anchorage.

Father Manzano noted that as the cathedral church for the Anchorage Archdiocese, the downtown parish tries to “intentionally keep our doors open from an hour before the morning Mass until the conclusion of Vespers in the evening.”

“Now we are rethinking our schedule,” he posted. “We are rethinking lots of things now since this is the second vandalism event within one week of each other.”

A week prior vandals damaged one of the priests’ cars, busting a back window. Over the last few years the cathedral has been targeted by vandals who have damaged outdoor statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary as well as a number of saint statues.

In the most recent incident the tabernacle was undamaged and that the Blessed Sacrament was not violated but the altar was stripped.

Police are investigating the incident.

Originally posted on CatholicAnchor.org

Reprinted in-full courtesy of Joel Davidson. Read more from Joel HERE.

Backers of Alaska Gold Mine Win Court Battle with EPA

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

On-again, off-again plans for the world’s largest gold and copper mine could be back on again, after a federal judge in Alaska issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Environmental Protection Agency from its ongoing efforts to bury the project.

Pebble Partnership, the Canadian company behind the project, which would take place near Anchorage, claims the regulatory agency has conspired illegally with opponents of the mine to devise scientific and environmental justifications for blocking it. Salmon fishermen in Washington state and Alaska, Native American groups and environmental organizations have opposed the massive project for several years, and had appeared to have gotten it scuttled prior to Tuesday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Russel Holland, in Anchorage.

“We expect the case may take several months to complete,” Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier said Tuesday after the U.S. District Court ruling in Anchorage. “This means that, for the first time, EPA’s march to preemptively veto Pebble has been halted.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Alaska Library Bans "God Less America" by Fox News' Todd Starnes

/2 Comments/in , /by

700x357GodLessAmericaI received a Facebook message the other day from one of my readers in Cordova, Alaska.

Kanji Christian had purchased a copy of my new book – God Less America – and he enjoyed the book so much he decided to donate a copy to the public library.

The folks at the library said it would take a while for them to approve the book. A few months later, Kanji dropped by hoping to find his donated copy of “God Less America” on the bookshelf. But the book was nowhere to be found.

Kanji decided to investigate and he soon learned that my book had been rejected by the library.

“She (the librarian) just said that if it didn’t make it in it’s because they check reviews and then decide whether or not it’s something the community would be interested in,” Kanji wrote to me.

Read more from this story HERE.