Sorted by date Results 27 - 51 of 1098
It may not look like it matters to most Alaskans, but it does. Not just for the money it would raise for the state treasury, but because it highlights a 45-year-old problem. A first-year Wasilla senator has introduced legislation to collect state corporate income taxes from Hilcorp, a privately held company that bought out BP’s North Slope assets in 2020. Similar legislation has been introduced in past years but failed to pass. It’s not that Hilcorp is cheating on its taxes, it’s simply following state law, which has always exempted such priva...
As if years of political interference and, for many elected officials, disinterest weren’t enough to sink the Alaska Marine Highway System, rust and age could finish the job. Maybe the answer is some duct tape to keep the ships running just a little longer until they turn 65 years old and could qualify for Medicare. But that’s too long to wait — the marine highway needs urgent care. The ships are aging, which is a polite way of saying they are long past their prime and getting older and rustier. Salt water accelerates the process. The Matan...
Amid all the upheaval in the nation’s capital — where the only certainty is that the Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln memorials haven’t been sold off — comes a new idea to help school children nationwide. Regardless of what anyone thinks of efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, cut funding for programs that encourage vaccinations of children or allow appointed federal officials to dictate what and how colleges should teach, there was news last week that could have long-lasting, positive impacts on students for years. Unknowi...
Though February is the shortest month of the year, there still is plenty of time to get your fingers working at the keyboard — or thumbs on your smartphone — to help guide decisions that will affect the town’s economy, health and children’s fun in the years ahead. It’s as if someone proclaimed February as Community Survey Month. But that’s OK. Better that people have an opportunity to share their opinions before decisions are made than being left behind to complain after the decision making is finished. And it’s a triple header of opportunit...
Wealthy people enjoy their mansions, yachts, fancy cars, private jets and private clubs. No law against being super comfortable, living the good life with servants and avoiding TSA lines and self-serve kiosks. But considering that the ultra-wealthy already own so much, enjoy so many perks in life and never have to ask “how much” when grocery shopping, you would think they could leave alone federal services for everyone else who is not in the same high-income world. I’m not asking them to take a vow of poverty like a nun or even share their...
No matter what any crowd-pleasing elected official says, Alaska cannot afford a long-deserved increase in state funding for schools and a large Permanent Fund dividend. There just isn’t enough money in the state checkbook to do both this year — not unless Alaskans want to start paying an income tax or a state sales tax, which are both even less popular than a middle seat in the last row of a six-hour flight. More than 90% of the spendable dollars in the state budget comes from two sources: An annual draw on Permanent Fund investment ear...
President Donald Trump has strong opinions, strong confidence in his decisions and often uses strong language. All of which can be good traits for a leader. Assertiveness and assurances, particularly in times of crisis or disaster, can help the public feel that someone is taking charge and will make things better. Nations need leaders who can bring people together in times of sadness. Such as the day after a deadly crash between a passenger jet and a military helicopter at Washington National Airport last week. Trump started his press...
I am writing to express my outrage and disappointment over the recent actions of our school district activities director, Tammi Meissner, and Superintendent Bill Burr. As a parent of a student athlete, I am appalled by the strict enforcement of a fee-payment rule that resulted in two of our top student athletes being denied travel to a Jan. 23-25 basketball tournament in Craig. This is not the first time this issue has arisen. Just weeks ago, three other student athletes faced the same situation, initially being denied travel due to late...
An article appeared in the Daily Sitka Sentinel about Dale Borgford’s proposal to turn Wrangell’s former 6-Mile sawmill site into the trash-burning capital of Southeast Alaska. I was sent a letter that Dr. Gregory Duncan and Dr. Anne Duncan wrote to the Wrangell borough assembly and Borough Manager Mason Villarma. They raise extremely valid concerns about the extreme hazards and drawbacks of this proposal. Sitka’s municipal trash incinerator is now closed. If something like this was ever proposed again, I would spend every last dime I had t...
Sitka and Ketchikan have much in common: They both have airports on islands — Japonski (Sitka) and Gravina (Ketchikan). Yet there is a significant difference: Sitka has a bridge to their island and Ketchikan has a ferry. I believe there is another alternative. The late Don Young, while a member of the U.S. House, was successful in obtaining initial federal funding for planning and engineering for a bridge to Gravina Island, but we had a change in governors and the new governor moved the money to needed road projects in Central and Interior A...
Admittedly, a lot of people avoid surveys. They have other things they want to do with their time than answer questions. But this isn’t a political poll or an advocacy group asking your opinion about a hot topic, or a company asking how much you love their product. The borough has given the Sustainable Tourism Lab at Oregon State University a homework project. The students will run an online survey of Wrangell residents, asking their opinions about — yes, you’re right — tourism. What’s good about it, what’s not so good. What are the benefit...
I remember as a kid accompanying my mom to the elementary school a few blocks from our house. No, not because the principal had called her into the office to talk about my behavior. That came later, in high school and college. Such as in college, when the dorm manager called my dad at work to tattle on me. He called my dad collect. For people too young to know, that’s when the person making the call instructed the operator to bill the person getting the call, “collecting” the toll. That was back when you paid for long-distance calls by the expe...
The Wrangell School District — its students, staff and parents — will need to practice deep-breathing exercises to relieve the stress as they wait to see if the state Legislature and governor can agree on adequate funding for public education while at the same time waiting on Congress to reauthorize a quarter-century-old federal aid program for rural schools. These are significant and serious stress issues, particularly for Wrangell. State funding, based on a per-pupil formula, and the federal Secure Rural Schools money that comes through the...
The country is looking at tariffs the wrong way. This isn’t a new problem — we’ve been making the same mistake since the first U.S. tariffs on imported goods in 1790. But the self-inflicted case of mistaken identity has gone on far too long and it’s time to fix it. The problem is that the U.S. imposes tariffs on what we buy, which is why the added cost often ends up hurting no one but ourselves. And now the country is talking about even more and larger tariffs on what we buy for our homes, business and factories — the very items that many cons...
Just two days after he was sworn in as Alaska’s sole member of the U.S. House, Nick Begich should have been happily celebrating and graciously thanking his supporters. Instead, he was flapping his lips. Or, more accurately, flipping his thumbs and other typing fingers. The freshman member of Congress, elected to fill one of the 435 seats in the House, disagrees with a decision by President Joe Biden to ban offshore oil and gas leasing in vast areas off the East Coast, West Coast and much of the Bering Sea offshore western Alaska. Begich p...
Close to 20 years ago, when I was working for the Anchorage Daily News, the paper was moving more aggressively into the online world, allowing readers to post comments at the end of news stories, opinion columns and letters to the editor for everyone to see. I thought that was a bad idea, opening up a free platform for people to spread and promote mistruths, half-truths and full-out falsehoods to tens of thousands of readers every day. Not to mention personal attacks on innocent people, accusations and hostile language. The problems would...
Wrangell, like much of Alaska and the country, relies on fundraising for all sorts of good causes. Many of those causes look pretty similar to public services that are covered by taxes. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is something that elected officials and the public should keep in mind as they increasingly talk about cutting government spending and relying on donors to pick up the tab. In Wrangell’s case, the borough assembly decision last year to reduce financial support for the Senior Center, school district and public radio sta... Full story
There’s no reason to hide my praise for the Freedom Caucus, that rabble-rousing merry band of far-right conservatives who make trouble for congressional Republican leaders — and for the country. The hard-liners are willing to shut down government services to make a point, even when the point is dull and the public harm is sharp. They promote chaos to churn up their fundraising efforts. And they flock to social media like waterfowl flock to wetlands to feed — both leave the same kind of mess behind. But when the Freedom Caucus is right, they...
Borough officials met with the Washington state developer who has grand plans for the former mill property at 6-Mile. They listened as he presented his ideas at a public workshop. And they wisely made no commitments, other than to continue listening. It’s not that the borough is against development proposals to create jobs; City Hall fully supports any reasonable idea that would help the town’s struggling economy. It’s just that officials don’t want to write any checks, make any promises or sign any commitments until they know more. Cautious is...
Americans are changing their minds in record numbers. No, not about politics. People are pretty stubborn about that. And don’t look for Americans to change their minds about what they dislike — taxes, inflation, roof leaks and car repairs — or what they like —sweets, free Wi-Fi and airline miles on their credit cards. But take a look at the numbers and you’ll see that people change their minds about their online purchases more often than candidates change their positions on tough issues. Or, if you don’t want to pick on politicians...
It feels like just yesterday we were welcoming a new year on this incredible island we are so blessed to call home. Wrangell is more than a place — it’s a family. Each person here adds something extraordinary to the vibrant life of our community. This past year, we celebrated milestones that reminded us of the strength of these bonds. During the Fourth of July, 30- and 40-year high school reunions chose Wrangell as their gathering place — not just out of tradition, but because here, everyone knows your name, arms are open wide, and every accom...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has a choice for his final two years on the job: He can continue talking about how state law requires him to include an outrageously large Permanent Fund dividend in the budget — even though it would dig a deep budget hole which, thankfully, legislators will never approve — or he can help solve the problem. It looks like he is sticking with the irresponsible approach. He proposed a budget last week that is politically popular with his supporters but which he knows the state cannot afford without drawing down its rem...
The CEO of a large health insurance provider was shot dead on the sidewalk in front of his New York City hotel in a planned killing and 57,000 people posted laughing emojis on the company’s Facebook page. When did murder become funny? Days after the Dec. 4 killing, the tone turned even uglier. “Wanted” posters started appearing in New York City, glued to light poles and traffic control boxes at street corners. But these posters were not searching for the murderer; they were threatening more violence against health care executives. “Heal...
The recent announcement by the state’s bank AIDEA, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, and the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. warrants close examination not only by the Legislature but every Alaskan who might become a ratepayer utilizing the natural gas. The AIDEA proposal commits up to $50 million as a backstop in support of engineering work on the proposed pipeline to move North Slope gas to Fairbanks and Southcentral Alaska. The work would be conducted and initially funded by an unnamed private company. If the study c...
A Washington state developer with ideas of turning organic waste into new products is coming to town to look over the former mill property near 6-Mile, lay out his ideas and answer questions from community officials. The borough plans to assemble most everyone from City Hall with an interest in development of the property, including members of the assembly, planning and zoning commission, port commission and economic development board. Officials will hear from Borgford BioEnergy, which set up a new company this year, Alaska BioEnergy. The...