Video: Yukon Quest’s Dog Sled Race of a Thousand Miles Begins with the First, “Mush!”

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The 31st annual Yukon Quest dog sled race started Saturday morning in Fairbanks, Alaska, and thousands from around the world came out to witness it. Eighteen teams, primarily from the United States and Canada, are competing in the race that takes mushers on about a thousand mile journey between Fairbanks and Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory of Canada.

According to the official Yukon Quest website, where you can track the sled teams’ progress in real time, the trail follows historic Gold Rush and mail delivery dog sled routes from the turn of the 20th Century.

The teams are made up of 6 to 14 dogs.

Every year the start and finish locations alternate, so each community gets the opportunity to experience both. This year, due to the unseasonable warm weather (a mystery, I’m sure, to those in the Lower 48), both the start in Fairbanks and the finish in the Yukon Territory had to be modified. In Fairbanks, rather than starting on the normally frozen solid Chena River, earth-movers brought in tons of snow Friday night for the teams to launch down 2nd Avenue Saturday. In Canada, the race will not end with the sled drivers mushing up the frozen Yukon River into Whitehorse, but rather in Takhini Hot Springs, located about 18 miles north of town.

Because of the change to the finish and others along the course, the usual thousand mile journey will be closer to 900 miles, and the winner will likely be pulling into Takhini Hot Springs by next Sunday, or so. The record time set last year, also on a shortened course, was 8 days, 18 hours, 39 minutes.

Alaska Soldiers Train With Unmanned Aircraft

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Photo Credit: Dan Joling, Associated PressThe Army is flying a new bird over south central Alaska — and the pilots sit in the back of a Humvee.

Paratroopers with the 425 Brigade Special Troops Battalion on Thursday trained with a RQ7 Shadow unmanned aircraft system. The remotely operated aircraft are designed to provide reconnaissance for troops without putting observers in danger.

The unmanned aircraft provide near real-time video and information from infrared sensors. Operators can’t distinguish individual faces, said Sgt. Brandon Byers, but they can detect heat signatures and vehicle tracks.

“They’re able to distinguish the features and different marks on the ground,” he said.

Byers oversees the maintenance section. Besides the usual repairs, the unit launches the unmanned aircraft from pneumatic catapult launchers mounted on trailers.

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Miller Says Shell Withdrawal Underscores Need for Change

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Photo Credit: NewscastUS Senate Candidate Joe Miller says yesterday’s announcement of Shell Oil’s intent to withdraw from Alaska due to the adverse ruling passed down from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last week is further evidence of the failed Democrat agenda.

“This latest blow to Alaska’s economy is a testament to the fact that elections have consequences,” said Miller. “Returning Mark Begich to the US Senate will only ensure that we get more of the same: more moral support for Barack Obama; more power grabs by Harry Reid; more activists confirmed to the federal bench; and more anti-development appointees leading the federal bureaucracy. It’s time to make a change.”

Just yesterday, it was revealed that Mark Begich has collected nearly $20,000 in campaign cash over the last two cycles from board members, executives, and associates of the plaintiffs who sued to stop drilling in the Arctic Ocean. These plaintiffs included the Alaska Wilderness League, Pacific Environment, Defenders of Wildlife, the Village of Point Hope, Oceana, and EarthJustice.

And that doesn’t include other affiliated groups and non-profits who account for thousands more. And who knows what their donors are doing?

It’s time to send a senator to Washington that folks can trust to put principle over party. Alaskans deserve a leader that they know won’t be cheating on them with Barack Obama and Harry Reid’s environmentalist friends.

Alaska Paratrooper Collapses, Dies after Jump

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Photo Credit: DVIDSHUBAn Alaska-based paratrooper has died after collapsing following a jump.

U.S. Army Alaska officials say in a release that the soldier died Thursday night at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage.

The statement says there’s no indication the soldier had a hard landing or that there was equipment failure during the parachute jump he completed prior to collapsing.

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Alaska Confirms 100 Percent Engagement in eRecording

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Photo Credit: Arthur ChapmanAlaska has become the third multi-jurisdictional state in which 100 percent of its recording jurisdictions are eRecording enabled.

Colorado was the first multi-jurisdictional state to earn the 100 percent designation, with Arizona reaching that landmark in 2012. Hawaii also claims 100 percent with its state-based recording system.

According to State Recorder, Vicky Backus, “Alaska is divided into 34 recording districts which are under the jurisdiction of the State of Alaska so recording is handled at the state level not in the borough or municipality. We initially looked into building our own internal eRecording system but we also shopped around to see what was available. Alaska began eRecording in 2012 at our Anchorage office and expanded out from there. Effective January 2014, Alaska can boast having all 34 recording districts set up for eRecording.

With the number of counties that are eRecording across the nation surpassing the 1,060 mark, more states are expected to join Alaska, Arizona, Colorado and Hawaii with 100 percent involvement.

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Why Are Anti-Development Environmentalists Funding Begich?

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Fairbanks, Alaska. January 30, 2014 – While Mark Begich professes to be an advocate of off-shore drilling, US Senate candidate Joe Miller isn’t so sure Alaskans are getting the whole story.

“Mark Begich promised to be an advocate for resource development,” said Miller. “But given the results, coupled with his behavior in the senate, Alaskans are having their doubts.”

In his latest radio ad, Begich takes credit for the return of Shell Oil rigs to the Chuckchi Sea. There’s only one problem. Last week’s Ninth Circuit Court decision to suspend permits resulted from litigation brought by some deep-pocketed friends of the junior senator.

Begich has collected nearly $20,000 in campaign cash over the last two cycles from board members, executives, and associates of the plaintiffs who sued to stop drilling in the Arctic Ocean. These plaintiffs included the Alaska Wilderness League, Pacific Environment, Defenders of Wildlife, the Village of Point Hope, Oceana, and EarthJustice.

That doesn’t include other affiliated groups and non-profits who account for thousands more. And who knows what their donors are doing?

“It all adds up to a rather disturbing pattern,” Miller concluded. “When seen through the purview of his party’s stance on development issues, his support for Obama and Reid, votes to confirm radical environmentalists to cabinet-level positions in the Department of Interior and at the EPA . . . I have to scratch my head. Do Mark’s big government friends know something that Alaskans aren’t being told?”

It’s time to send a senator to Washington that folks can trust to put principle over party. Alaskans deserve a leader that they know won’t be cheating on them with Barack Obama and Harry Reid’s environmentalist friends.

Joe Miller is a husband, father, combat veteran, businessman, and advocate for constitutional liberty, who believes in limited government, the Right to life, individual rights, private property, and free markets.

Poll: Sarah Palin Has Highest Favorability Rating Among 2016 GOP Primary Contenders

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Though former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was not included in a Public Policy Polling survey of potential 2016 Republican presidential contenders, she was still overwhelmingly the most liked person among Republican primary voters.

According to Public Policy Polling:

The best liked person we tested on this poll with Republican primary voters is actually Sarah Palin who has a 70/20 favorability rating. She’s followed by Huckabee at 64/18, Ryan at 58/18, Paul at 58/21, Bush at 56/18, Cruz at 45/20, and Christie at 40/38. Most of those numbers are similar to what they were a month ago but Christie’s seen a substantial drop from +18 at 47/29 a month ago to his new +2 net favorability.

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Oil Drilling on US Arctic Coast Put On Ice

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Photo Credit: Alastair Grant / AP

Photo Credit: Alastair Grant / AP

By Toby Sterling.

Oil companies’ rush to find reserves off Alaska’s Arctic shores suffered a setback on Thursday after Shell said it would suspend its operations in the region — and possibly withdraw for good.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC is the main company to have purchased leases for oilfields off Alaska’s Arctic shores, but its attempts to drill have been halting due to technical and legal hurdles.

While other companies are still seeking to exploit deep-water Arctic fields nearby in Canada, Shell’s troubles may indicate that the difficulties outweigh the potential economic benefits.

“We will not drill in Alaska in 2014, and we are reviewing our options there,” Shell CEO Ben van Beurden told reporters in London.

Shell received a negative Federal court decision last week. Environmentalists are still challenging whether the government’s 2008 decision to open the area to exploration was correctly granted in the first place: it is covered by sea ice for much of the year.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Newscast

Photo Credit: Newscast

Shell halts Alaska exploration to focus on performance

By Alistair Osborne.

Royal Dutch Shell will stop its exploration programme in Alaska this year as part of a refocusing of strategic priorities under new chief executive Ben van Beurden.

The oil giant, which stunned the market a fortnight ago with its first profits warning in 10 years, said its new boss was setting “an agenda for sharper performance and rigorous capital discipline”.

One immediate decision is that Mr van Beurden, who took over at the start of the year from predecessor Peter Voser, has called a halt to Shell’s controversial exploration in Alaska – a move that will be seen as a victory for environmental campaigners.

Mr van Beurden said he was responding to a US federal court ruling last week that the full range of environmental risks had not been assessed by the American government.

Shell said the ruling “raises substantial obstacles to Shell’s plans for drilling in offshore Alaska”.

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Mark Begich Not Interested in Campaigning In Alaska with his 93 Percent Friend

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Screen Shot 2014-01-30 at 2.44.55 AMJoe Miller is not surprised that Mark Begich does not want to campaign with Barack Obama and questions the senator’s commitment to opening ANWR and other federal lands to resource development, given his voting record. 

Asked by CNN following the State of the Union Address earlier this week whether he wanted Barack Obama to campaign with him in Alaska, Begich said, “I’m not really interested in campaigning. What I’d like him to do is see why his policies are wrong on ANWR for example. He opposes oil and gas development.”  

Recent polling indicates a good reason the senator does not want to campaign with the President. A Gallup Poll released this week found Barack Obama has a 33.5 percent job approval rating in Alaska, while a recent poll found a 39 percent approval rating for the state’s junior senator.

 
Miller stated, “I’m not surprised Mark Begich does not want to campaign before the people of Alaska with the man he has voted with 93 percent of the time back in Washington, D.C. The President and his policies are even less popular in our state than the senator’s. Whether it is ObamaCare, blocking the development of ANWR, or the profligate tax and spend policies that are stymieing job creation and stealing our future, Alaskans know our nation is currently on the wrong track.” 

Begich insists he is a strong proponent of opening ANWR, but his vote last summer to confirm Sally Jewell as Interior Secretary, who is an outspoken opponent of such a move, makes the senator’s pronouncements highly suspect. He also voted to confirm Regina McCarthy to head the EPA, who opposes opening ANWR. 

“It is a mystery to me how Mr. Begich can imagine that he has any credibility on this issue when he is, at least in part, personally responsible for elevating the very people to power who are blocking access to Alaska’s resources,” said Miller.

Planned Parenthood Suing Over Alaska Abortion Reg

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Photo Credit: Wonderlane/flickr

Photo Credit: Wonderlane/flickr

Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest sued the state health commissioner Wednesday over regulations that would further define what constitutes a “medically necessary” abortion for purposes of receiving Medicaid funding.

The lawsuit, filed in Anchorage Superior Court, seeks to have the regulations struck down as unconstitutional and to block the state from enforcing them. The lawsuit alleges the regulations violate the rights to equal protection, privacy and health and are also a violation of the administrative procedure act. The lawsuit says the department violated the act by not holding a public hearing on the proposal.

A spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, Kristen Glundberg-Prossor, said the regulations circumvent a 2001 Alaska Supreme Court decision, which held that the state must fund medically necessary abortions if it funds medically necessary services for others with financial needs. The lawsuit lists as defendants Bill Streur, the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services who proposed the regulations, and the department.

A health department spokeswoman said Streur had not seen the lawsuit and would not comment until he has reviewed it with the Department of Law.

Read more from this story HERE.