APRN Alaska News

ConocoPhillips is fighting a $45,000 fine for allegedly failing to report pressure levels in the Kuparuk field in a timely fashion. The fines also cover a missed a mechanical integrity test. The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Conservation is scheduled to have a hearing on the matter in August.

A cargo vessel has been detained at the dock in Valdez because something oily is leaking out of its containers.

The Caribbean-registered “BBC Arizona” was delivering construction beams when the leak was discovered.

The oil has been identified as transformer fluid, which was being shipped in bladders inside the containers.

It is still being analyzed, but they already know it does not contain PCB’s. The leak was discovered during a Coast Guard inspection after a minor fire aboard the vessel. So far the leak has been contained aboard.

Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan at the announcement of his proposed 2013 municipal budget on Oct. 4, 2012. Photo by Daysha Eaton, KSKA – Anchorage

Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan has filed a letter of intent to run for state office, but he says he’s still keeping his options open about what he might run for, and he might not run for any.

Sullivan notified the Alaska Public Offices Commission of his intent, but so far he has not registered with the Federal Election Commission for any federal office.

Democratic Senator Mark Begich comes up for re-election next year, as well as Republican Representative Don Young.

Alaska Airlines announced a schedule of December direct flights between Anchorage and Las Vegas, with a special promotional fare on Tuesday.  It is also introducing a Phoenix direct route at that time.  And it says it will be bringing in Horizon Air planes for some in-state routes beginning next March.

A Recall Lindsey Holmes sign hangs on the front of Colleen Murphy’s house. Photo by Daysha Eaton, KSKA – Anchorage

Lindsey Holmes, who serves Anchorage district 19 in the House of Representatives, switched parties just after she was elected last year. A group of voters hoping to recall her is getting ready to submit their application to the division of elections.

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“Hi, I’m Wigi from the Recall Lindsey Holmes group and we’re going door-to-door asking our neighbor’s if they’ ed in interested in signing our recall petition. Are you interested (absolutely, yes).”

John Miller and his wife, Jo Anne, hold a Recall Lindsey Holmes sign. Photo by Daysha Eaton, KSKA – Anchorage.

It’s after 5 o’clock in the Turnagain neighborhood in West Anchorage and Wigi Tozzi is having no trouble collecting recall signatures for the campaign to recall Lindsey Holmes. Holmes, a Republican member of the Alaska House, representing an area that spans South and West Anchorage, was running as a Democrat when voters cast their ballots back in November. Just before the legislature was getting ready to convene in January, she switched parties. That ticks John Miller off.

“We voted for her because we favor the Democrat philosophy. She switched to Republican. She got bought off by the Republican Party. I think she’s lost all her credibility,” he said.

Miller has already signed the petition. His wife Jo Anne signs tonight. Miller says what really bothers him is Holmes’ dramatic departure from her Democratic campaign issues.

“First of all, as soon as she became a Republican, there obviously – there was a deal in the works for some weeks before she switched, probably well before the election. She gets some plumb assignment on a committee and starts voting the republican line on SB21, every pro-business, pro-oil bill. And I spoke to her before the election and she was not in favor of any of that when she spoke to me,” Miller said.

One resident made a quilt and sculpture in support of the Recall Lindsey Holmes effort. Photo by Daysha Eaton, KSKA – Anchorage.

Tozzi, along with a small group of volunteers, have collected nearly a thousand signatures, more than they need to submit their initial application to the Division of Elections. The grass roots effort is organized out of a spacious ranch style home in west Anchorage:

“Welcome to the home of the Recall Lindsey Holmes campaign. It’s my personal home and we started meeting on January 31st,” Colleen Murphy said.

Murphy’s kitchen counter tops are covered with stacks of papers. In a corner sit the signatures gathering sheets.

“Right there sitting by the window – that’s a lot of people who are concerned about what has happened to the voting process in District 19,” Murphy said.

Murphy says Holmes is ‘not fit for duty,’ because she deceived the voters when she filled out her “State of Alaska Declaration of Candidacy” indicating she was running as a Democrat and would serve as a Democrat.

“The bottom line is it really boils down to where you go in as a declaration of candidate. It really defies logic that someone would switch parties in that period before they assumed their position.”

Colleen Murphy’s home is the headquarters of the Recall Lindsey Holmes campaign. Photo by Daysha Eaton, KSKA – Anchorage.

Tozzi and Murphy have big Recall Lindsey Holmes stickers on the backs of their signature collecting clipboards, which they say, makes gathering signatures easy.

“And people say, we don’t have to say anything. Knock on the door. They say we’ve been waiting for you. That happens almost every time. We go to knock on the door and they open the door and they say, ‘we’re so glad you’re here.”

Holmes is keeping an eye on the recall effort, but is does not seem particularly worried about it:

“It’s their job to prove whether the rationale is …and i don’t think that changing your party qualifies,” Holmes said.

Holmes says her decision to change parties was the culmination of a shift she’d been feeling for a few years.

“I had felt myself aligning more and more on economic development and business issues with the majority, the Republican-led majority. And I had felt myself distancing myself more from the stances of some of my democratic colleagues. I had just felt that on the economic development and business issues, which I thought were important – if we want to fund schools and roads and police, we need money to do it,” she said.

Holmes says she brought in millions for her district as a Republican that she could not have secured had she stayed in the minority. The Recall Lindsey Holmes Campaign plans to submit the first round of signatures required for the recall application to the Division of Elections by the end of June. If their application is approved, they’ll be required to collect 2000 more signatures. If they are successful, the state would hold a special election for voters in her district to decide on the recall.

• Department of Law Review of Application for Recall of House Representative Kyle Johansen

Lindsey Holmes, who serves Anchorage district 19 in the House of Representatives, switched parties just after she was elected last year. A group of voters hoping to Recall her is getting ready to submit their application to the division of elections.
“Hi, I’m Wigi from the Recall Lindsey Holmes group and we’re going door-to-door asking our neighbor’s if they’ ed in interested in signing our recall petition. Are you interested (absolutely, yes).”

It’s after 5 o’clock in the Turnagain neighborhood in West Anchorage and Wigi (Wee-gee) Tozzi is having no trouble collecting recall signatures for the campaign to recall Lindsey Holmes. Holmes, a Republican member of the Alaska House, representing an area that spans South and West Anchorage, was running as a democrat when voters cast their ballots back in November. Just before the legislature was getting ready to convene in January, she switched parties. That ticks John Miller off.

“We voted for her because we favor the democrat philosophy. She switched to republican. She got bought off by the republican party. I think she’s lost all her credibility.”

Miller has already signed the petition. His wife Jo Anne signs tonight. Miller says what really bothers him is Holmes’ dramatic departure from her Democratic campaign issues.

“First of all, as soon as she became a republican, there obviously – there was a deal in the works for some weeks before she switched, probably well before the election. She gets some plumb assignment on a committee and starts voting the republican line on SB21, every pro-business, pro-oil bill. And I spoke to her before the election and she was not in favor of any of that when she spoke to me.”

Tozzi, along with a small group of volunteers, have collected nearly a thousand signatures, more than they need to submit their initial application to the Division of Elections. The grass roots effort is organized out of a spacious ranch style home in west Anchorage:

“squeaking door.”

“Welcome to the home of the Recall Lindsey Holmes campaign. It’s my personal home and we started meeting on January 31st.”

Colleen Murphy’s kitchen countertops are covered with stacks of papers. In a corner sit the signatures gathering sheets.

“Right there sitting by the window – that’s a lot of people who are concerned about what has happened to the voting process in district 19.”

Murphy says Holmes is ‘not fit for duty’, because she deceived the voters when she filled out her “State of Alaska Declaration of Candidacy” indicating she was running as a Democrat and would serve as a Democrat.

“The bottom line is it really boils down to where you go in as a declaration of candidate. It really defies logic that someone would switch parties in that period before they assumed their position.”

Tozi & Murphy have big Recall Lindsey Holmes stickers on the backs of their signature collecting clipboards, which they say, makes gathering signatures easy.

“And people say, we don’t have to say anything. Knock on the door. They say ‘we’ve been waiting for you. That happens almost every time. We go to knock on the door and they open the door and they say, ‘we’re so glad you’re here.’”

Holmes is keeping an eye on the recall effort, but is does not seem particularly worried about it:

“It’s their job to prove whether the rationale is …and i don’t think that changing your party qualifies.”"

Holmes says her decision to change parties was the culmination of a shift she’d been feeling for a few years.

“I had felt myself aligning more and more on economic development and business issues with the majority, the republican led majority. And I had felt myself distancing myself more from the stances of some of my democratic colleagues. I had just felt that on the economic development and business issues, which I thought were important – if we want to fund schools and roads and police, we need money to do it.”

Holmes says she brought in millions for her district as a republican that she could not have secured had she stayed in the minority. The Recall Lindsey Holmes Campaign plans to submit the first round of signatures required for the recall application to the Division of Elections by the end of June. If their application is approved, they’ll be required to collect 2000 more signatures. If they are successful, the state would hold a special election for voters in her district to decide on the recall.

Politicians have been sounding alarms that student loan rates will soon double. And you could be forgiven if you’re worried your rates will jump.

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“The political discussion surrounding this suggests that these are students who already in repayment and are going to see higher payments due starting in August. That’s just not the case,” Beth Akers said. “It’s new students who are taking out loans now, who are in school now and will start making payments after they graduate.”

Akers, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, said unsubsidized Stafford loans are available to all students. The debate is over the federally subsidized ones that go disproportionately to low-income students. The government pays the interest on the loan while a student is enrolled in school.

The current interest rate is 3.4%. It’s slated to spike to 6.8% in just four weeks.

Congress has the authority over the interest rates. And it’s prepared to do something huge: Cede power.

The House passed a bill two weeks ago that ties the interest rate to the ten year Treasury note.

“The interest rate would fluctuate over the course of a loan, just like a variable rate mortgage would,” she said.

The plan would cap any interest rate at 8.5%. The House passed it along mostly partisan lines. Congressman Don Young skipped the vote.

It’s not wholly different from President Barack Obama’s plan, but speaking at the White House Friday morning, he objected to the idea rates could change year-to-year with the ten year Treasury note.

“That’s not smart. It eliminates safeguards for lower income families,” he said surrounded by students. “That’s not your fair. It could actually cost a freshmen starting school this fall more over the next four years than if we did nothing at all.”

The president said he wants students to permanently lock in one rate for the lifetime of the loan.

The Senate is preparing to vote on a package this week.  Senator Mark Begich supports an idea floated by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. That plan would keep rates at .75% for one year – the rate banks borrow money at.

“Why would we loan money to banks and then stick it to our students?” he asked rhetorically.

Akers dismissed the idea as politics. But there are substantive reasons she thinks the rates should be higher than .75%.

“When you set interest rates really low, you’re essentially making the financing of education really cheap, which is going to have the effect of driving up tuition prices. But it also has the effect that students become less weary of this financial decision they’re making,” she said.

If this sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because Congress had this very fight last year, right in the middle of the presidential campaign, and nobody wanted to be labeled as voting to increase student loans rates.

Instead of fixing the problem, Congress delayed the rate increase a year. And now we’re four weeks away from the delayed deadline.

Senator Lisa Murkowski would not commit to any package – the President’s or the House version.

And she does not seem optimistic for any legislative action. It’s possible Congress once again delays the increase without fixing the problem.

“Is a one year fix a good deal? No it’s not a good deal,” she said Tuesday afternoon. “But is it maybe what we’re left with? Maybe.”

Some of the uncertainty could begin to vanish later this week when the Senate takes an initial vote.

Education advocates are encouraging students to submit their FAFSA applications for aid regardless of the political fight.

Last week, a superior court judge scolded the redistricting board, saying that it was unnecessarily holding up the redrawing of the state’s political boundaries. Now, Democratic lawmakers are calling for non-partisan “masters” to step in and guide the redistricting process.

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The five-person redistricting board is made up of political appointees, and Republican leaders got to choose four of those seats this cycle. Sen. Hollis French, an Anchorage Democrat, says that a politicized process has resulted in delays.

“I guess we wanted to give the board the opportunity to do the right thing, but they’ve refused so many times now that it seems seems unlikely right thing in the future. So, now it’s time to get a master appointed, get neutral lines drawn that comply with the Alaska State Constitution, and let the next election go forward under a plan that’s constitutional.”

French says there’s precedent for getting independent experts involved. The courts have appointed masters to steer the redistricting process in the 1970s and again in the 1990s. But French sees this as just a short-term fix. In the past, he’s put forward legislation to create a non-partisan redistricting board, and he’s considering doing that again next session.

Bob Brodie serves on the redistricting board, and he doesn’t think an intervention is necessary. He says the board will meet this Friday to address the Superior Court’s criticisms.

“The judge seemed to think that we need to get on a faster track, and we’re prepared to do that. We’re just going to have to see how it works with everybody’s schedule.”

The board had been waiting on a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court over whether the state needed to meet federal requirements to preserve Alaska Native political influence, but Brodie says the board will consider drawing the maps before that. He adds that the board is also open to having public meetings after they release their map — another concern of the Superior Court.

The redistricting process has been going on for almost three years now. The court system rejected earlier plans from the board for addressing federal requirements before state requirements. A provisional map was used in the last election, where Democrats and members of the Senate’s bipartisan coalition fared poorly.

Pavlof volcano eruption column, May 18, 2013. Photo courtesy Theo Chesley.

After a week-long respite, Pavlof Volcano on the Alaska Peninsula has sent up another ash plume. Pilots flying past the volcano Tuesday morning were the first to spot the cloud, which they estimated at 19,000 feet.

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PenAir flight operations manager Lloyd Seybert says the airline cancelled its afternoon flight into Sand Point as a result, but the plume hasn’t affected any other PenAir routes.

Alaska Volcano Observatory geologist Michelle Coombs says this pattern of fluctuating activity is pretty standard for Pavlof, but that it can make monitoring difficult.

“In this case, actually, we had a pilot report that came in, and we retrospectively looked at the seismicity, and we said “Oh yep, there it is! It’s really subtle, but there it is.” So we’ll just do our best and keep our eye on things, but it’s just a bit of a tricky volcano.”

Coombs says the reason for that is once the volcano has been erupting for a while, the magma isn’t creating new routes to the surface.

“It’s basically more of an open pathway, so the magma can come up without making a lot of seismic rumbling.”

Nevertheless, Coombs says the Observatory would be able to detect a significant intensification of the eruption. They’ve raised the aviation alert level to orange.

Petersburg’s officials and enforcement officers are cracking down on a growing problem in the borough’s harbor – sea lions. More and more of the creatures have arrived in the harbor, lured by the catch of local sport and commercial fishing fleets. Now the problem has turned dangerous.

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The National Park Service is finalizing its strategy for future land acquisitions in and around Lake Clark National Park. The park’s first final Land Protection Plan should be finished in July.

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Sitka resident and Tlingit weaver Teri Rofkar takes staff from the National Museum of the American Indian up Blue Lake Road last year. The group was in town for field study, learning about the origins of many of the objects they keep track of in Washington, D.C. (KCAW photo by Ed Ronco)

Up a staircase, through a bedroom, and there it is: a room lit by skylights and tall windows. The studio, whereTeri Rofkar weaves her work.

Rofkar was named the 2013 Rasmuson Distinguished Artist on Wednesday. The annual award is given by the Rasmuson Foundation to an Alaska artist with a history of accomplishment. It brings with it a $40,000 prize.

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It is in this studio that Rofkar has shelves of books, on subjects ranging from Russians in Alaska to Tlingit ethnobotany. Bins on a low shelf hold wool.

“Mountain goat, merino, alpaca and bison, because I did use the buffalo wool for that robe for the park service, and dog,” she says. “I’m working on a dog robe.”

There’s a spinning wheel in the middle of the room and a weaving frame, on which hangs the beginning of her next project. And over on one of the shelves, right next to an elegant blue vase, is a small frame, holding the picture of a shirtless, chiseled man, smoldering at the camera lens.

“Oh, he’s just purely inspiration,” Rofkar says. “I’ve probably had him for 30 years. And he’s still inspiring. I think that’s the one thing I’ve had to frisk out of gals’ hands. Like, ‘You put that right back!’”

Of course, Rofkar’s real inspirations for her work come from all around her. Maybe it’s a story told by a family member. Or the 1964 Alaska earthquake. She calls herself a basket weaver, but much of her work is traditional Tlingit robes. Baskets, she says, big baskets that hold people.

She’s been weaving for years. Her work is often surprising — incorporating an unusual color, or a new feature, like DNA symbols woven into a recent robe she did about goats. She says finding new ways to appreciate the art is important.

Rofkar: That’s where the rubber meets the road. Are you still doing it? Does it still inspire you? Are you still excited to get in there and do the dirty work? Absolutely.
KCAW: Why?
Rofkar: There’s so many more discoveries. It’s like the ocean we haven’t explored.
KCAW: I remember interviewing you a few years back for a robe you were working on for the national park. And what I remember about that interview is you opened a door the robe was sitting in before it was unveiled and you spoke TO the robe.
Rofkar: Yes.
KCAW: I hear a lot of personification in the way you talk about your art.
Rofkar: It embodies the place, right? Maybe in that case it was a reflection of the history of the park and the place of the park. This robe over here that’s about the mountain goat on Baranof Island has the double-helix and DNA stranding. The science I’ve embedded in it — the double helix — is accurate. They are an entity, just as the materials that I harvest, the tree people and the ferns. The place that we’re at, we live here, but there are others who have been living here for many more thousands of years than us. It’s relationships.

Rofkar received her award from the Rasmuson Foundation at an event in Anchorage. She says the money will help her take some time to focus on art for the sake of art, rather than worrying about weaving things that will earn money.

“Rasmuson has such a leap of faith to support all these artists, and they’re calling it a vision,” Rofkar said. “But for us, it’s our journey. They’re making our journey possible.”

What Rofkar does is rare, but she’s working to share her artform. She’s demonstrated and taught all over the country. When she started, she says she felt like her artform was on the verge of going away.

“It seemed like such a fragile art form,” Rofkar said. “There’s very few baskets. I think Tlingit basketry was declared lost in the (19)50s. I felt like I was single handedly holding it up. The robes: there are so few of them. There’s getting to be more. But here I was feeling like the carrier of the culture. And I realize now, whoops, this basketry, this weaving, it’s been going on for thousands and thousands of years. I’m the one that’s fragile. The art will continue on.”

On the way out the door, Rofkar sits me down in front of her computer, and plays a video produced for the Rasmuson Foundation. On the screen, she’s sitting at the spinning wheel in her studio.

And as she finishes introducing herself, heavy metal music begins to play and her name zooms onto the screen in big letters. It’s a startling contrast, but as it turns out, the perfect choice by the filmmaker.

KCAW: This is not music somebody would normally associate with…
Rofkar: Spinning and weaving. I love heavy metal.
KCAW: Do you?
Rofkar: I do.
KCAW: Like who?
Rofkar: Oh, Primus…

Another surprise, from Teri Rofkar.

Dozens of people and their luggage waiting in the parking lot. (Photo by Heather Bryant/KTOO)

Approximately 100 passengers and employees were evacuated Monday morning when the smell of diesel fumes started to fill the Juneau International Airport terminal shortly after a power outage occurred in Mendenhall Valley.

Acting Airport Manager Patty deLaBruere said during the sweep, firefighters from Capital City Fire and Rescue  noticed an additional smokey smell toward the back of the building and continued to investigate.

“When the power went out at the airport and throughout the valley, one of the things we noted was that the generators were not coming on for the airport. And shortly thereafter there was a very strong burnt diesel smell throughout the terminal in very specific parts. Se we elected to evacuate the terminal based on that even when the power did come back up. While the fire department was doing a search, we had that diesel smell finally dissipate.”

While passengers standing in the parking lot could see the ladder from the CCFR ladder truck moving around the airport tower, most passed the time on their cellphones.

Employees were brought back in to the building to get computer equipment set up shortly after 11 a.m. Passengers  started wheeling in their luggage at 11:43 a.m.

deLaBruere said firefighters did not locate any fire in the building, but fumes in the back area of the boiler room may have been the cause of the burnt diesel smell.

“But they were fairly confident that it did dissipate out and that’s why they’ve given us the all clear. They have not found any other sources,” deLaBruere said as people were re-entering the terminal.

No flights were affected.

Original Story: June 3, 2013 – 11:59 a.m.

Juneau International Airport was evacuated this morning due to the smell of diesel and smoke in the building.

There was no smoke or fire; instead a power outage was the culprit. According to Acting Airport Manager Patty deLaBruere, once the power came back on, airport generators did not start, and burnt diesel could be smell throughout the building.

Firefighters arrived and so did KTOO reporter Heather Bryant.  She reports the airport was evacuated, with staff, passengers and luggage waiting outside while firefighters did a sweep, shortly before 11 a.m.

“When the firefighters began their sweep they started to notice another smoky type smell at the back of the building, so at this time they’re still sweeping the floors and the road  as well, trying to determine  the location of that smoke,” Bryant said from the airport.

 People were allowed back into the building about 11:45 a.m.  deLaBruere says the smell appears to have been caused by a buildup of fumes in the boiler room.

The power went out at 10:17 Monday morning, affecting a large area from Lemon Creek through the Mendenhall Valley and out Glacier Highway, according to Alaska Electric Light and Power spokeswoman Deb Ferriera.  She says an eagle lost his lunch.

“Essentially an eagle picked up some garbage from the landfill and flew over the transmission line and whatever it was holding in its talons came in contact with the transmission line, opening basically all the feeders from lemon Creek all the way out the road,” she says.

Ferriera says an AELP crew in a bucket truck cleared the line and power was restored by 11:02.

This story was updated with comments from Acting Airport Manager Patty deLaBruere.

Rocks began sliding off Pillar Mountain between Piers 2 and 3 Monday afternoon, possibly driven by steady rain and winds gusting to 45 mph. Rezanof Drive West was closed for about two hours at midday, according to Department of Transportation spokeswoman Sharon Barrett.

“It was right around 12:30 we had a call from someone who had hit the rock,” she said. “They were headed out of town and the truck hit the rock as it was in the middle of the road, spun the truck around, but my understanding is there were no injuries, other than to the truck.”

Traffic on the east side was backed up nearly into downtown at times, and past Dead Man’s Curve on the airport side. Once traffic resumed, cars were initially let through just a few at a time in one direction only.

The hillside last unleashed a slide about a year ago, though Barrett says this time it wasn’t as big.

“There have not been that many this time. It’s mostly been small rock slides, a couple rocks every once in a while. It’s obviously an active slide area, and just maintain caution when driving through there.”

Barrett says DOT will likely respond as it did last year, and keep a lookout at “The Dip” until the slides abate.

The long awaited entry of telecommunications carrier Verizon into the Alaska market is now happening.

The company announced it is about to light up its 4G LTE network in the more urban parts of the state and begins taking customers for data transmission Friday.

Verizon cellphone customers should notice an improvement quickly because up until now the company has been renting capacity from other carriers.

GCI and ACS have been preparing for Verizon’s competitive entry for some time. The company claims its 4G capacity will be much faster than what is now being offered, and is touting reliability, with generators located at its towers in case of power failures.

On Monday, BP committed to spending at least a billion dollars in Alaska over the next few years. The oil giant plans to use that money to bring two drill rigs to Prudhoe Bay and to potentially expand into undeveloped parts of that field. The announcement comes on the heels of a major change to the state’s oil tax system. APRN’s Alexandra Gutierrez reports.

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Over the past three years, one of the biggest criticisms of Gov. Sean Parnell’s plan to lower taxes on oil companies was that those companies weren’t making any commitments to drill more in Alaska. Since the overhaul passed, producers like Repsol and ConocoPhillips have said they’re going to invest more in the state, and they’ve given the tax cut credit for that. Now, BP is the latest company to join the chorus.

“That change in the taxes really allowed us to move forward and get the support of the working interest owners to move these projects forward,” says Dawn Patience, a spokesperson for BP.

Patience says that BP will be adding 200 jobs to their Alaska operations just to bring on the new drill rigs. She says that BP is also working with Exxon and ConocoPhillips to start building up the western part of Prudhoe Bay, which could mean more than 100 new wells in that area.

BP can’t say how much new oil these developments will yield. But the Parnell administration is applauding the announcement, and the Department of Revenue says the new rigs are good for the state treasury. During the oil tax debate, the Department was estimating that the legislation would cost the state at least $3 billion in lost revenue over the next five years. Oil tax adviser Mike Pawlowski expects that number to go down substantially with BP’s new rigs.

“The fiscal note we always put out as a worst-case scenario with no new investment and new production,” says Pawlowski.” And this is obviously different. We’re seeing significant new announcements. So, I think overall it’s very exciting.”

Not everyone is celebrating BP’s announcement. At the end of the legislative session, Democratic lawmakers who opposed the oil tax cut said they expected to see lots of “brass bands” and “ribbon cuttings” for work that was already expected to happen. Bill Wielechowski, a senator from Anchorage, says that BP’s announcement is part and parcel of that.

“It’s a shame that the governor gave away billions and billions in tax breaks to get something that the oil companies were going to do anyway because it’s so profitable.”

Wielechowski adds that one of BP’s Alaska executives already acknowledged that some of the work that they’re planning to do would have happened anyway, just at a slower pace.

BP will be putting contracts for the rigs out to bid this summer, and they expect the first of the two to go online in 2015. Spokesperson Dawn Patience says that the company is not factoring in a referendum to repeal the new oil tax system in its investment decisions. That referendum could be on the ballot next summer, while the rig work is underway.

Major hurdles need to be cleared before Galena residents, who evacuated due to a major ice jam flood last week, can return home.

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A draft Environmental Impact Statement released by the Air Force Friday recommends downsizing Eielson Air Force Base for cost savings, but Alaska’s leaders argue the document ignores requests for cost reduction estimates and fails to consider the local impact.

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The long awaited EIS offers three alternatives.  Two explore the impacts of moving the 18th Aggressor Squadron from Eielson Air Force Base to Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson near Anchorage.  The third includes no action.

U.S. Senator Mark Begich thinks the Air Force should have considered the benefits of keeping the F-16s where they are.

“First off, they’re adjacent to some of the best training ground in the country when it comes to the air capacity there,” says Senator Begich.  “Along with the army is now looking at that space for additional partnerships with the Air Force.”

“There’s a lot of opportunity here and it’s almost like they ignored all that and they just said well we gotta check they box and get the EIS done.  It’s a disservice to our military and to the people of Fairbanks.”

According to the Air Force, moving the F-16s will result in significant cost savings, but the Alaska delegation argues the move will actually cost money as the Air Force struggles to find appropriate housing and accommodations for both the aircraft and associated personnel.

Matthew Felling is the Communications Director for U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski.

“We have yet to see anything that is not red ink from this equation,” says Felling.  “Secondly, we know in Alaska that the Asia Pacific Region is heating up and the nation knows that the Pentagon has decided that this is going to be our focal point for the future, to take a look west.”

“Eielson is in the pull position for this new philosophy so why are we taking a look at undercutting it and short sheeting it when we should be building it up?”

According to the EIS, the move would result in the largest increase in unemployment in the Fairbanks are in the last decade.  It would also force the closure of two schools in the Fairbanks North Star Borough and increase noise pollution in and around JBER.

A group of state and local leaders, who call themselves the “Tiger Team” have met regularly in Fairbanks for more than a year to discuss the Air Force’s proposal.

Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins says the group is also unhappy with the Draft EIS.

“It’s still the house of cards perception that is very disconcerting to me when we see a document that doesn’t have all the content we expected to have in it and in 10 working days you’ll have a public hearing,” Mayor Hopkins says.

Public hearings on the draft EIS are scheduled in Palmer and Anchorage on June 17 and 18.  Hearings are also scheduled in North Pole in Fairbanks June 19 and 20.

Local leaders says that’s not enough time.  The Air Force will accept public comment on the document through July 31. A final record of decision on the proposal to relocate the F-16s is expected this fall.

About 35 carpenter union locals in the Pacific Northwest have closed in the past three years to join larger locals. Earlier this month, Juneau’s Carpenter Union Local 2247  fell to the same fate and its members have been absorbed by Anchorage’s Carpenter Union Local 1281.

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The carpenters’ umbrella union – the Pacific Northwest Region Council – says Southeast has not been forgotten. Officials met with members in Ketchikan last night and have scheduled a Juneau meeting tomorrow.

May 1st is the unofficial Labor Day in the U.S., a day for unions and locals to celebrate their unity and strength. For about 150 Southeast carpenters, who were members of Local 2247, it was the day they found out their hall had been shut down.

“I actually saw on Facebook. I follow the Pacific Northwest Regional Council page and there was an announcement that two halls in Alaska had been closed so I clicked it to see what it was and it was our local,” says Juneau carpenter Chris Dimond. Dimond has been a member of Local 2247 for ten years.

Dimond currently works for Juneau-based North Pacific Erectors and has never used his union local to find work, but he’s been a loyal member, attending monthly meetings, and taking part in union events.

“For me, personally, that was kind of a kick, when we’re supposed to have this brotherhood and this tight-knit community amongst ourselves and then to have that taken away without any forewarning or any real clear explanation of why it was being done.”

Local 2247 has been around since 1939. It was part of the Alaska Regional Council of Carpenters until this past February when the state council was dissolved and absorbed into the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, which represents 26,000 members in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and now Alaska.

Ben Basom is communications director for Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters. He says shutting down Juneau Carpenter Local 2247 and moving its membership to Local 1281 in Anchorage is part of a nationwide effort by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters to streamline operations, run more efficiently, and save costs. Basom claims savings have even been passed down to members.

“The immediate benefit to the membership was a reduction in over-the-counter dues. I know, for example, in my old local I think I was paying $33 a month over-the-counter and all dues went down to $20, so right there out-of-pocket dues were reduced,” Basom says.

Basom says dues may go down for 1281 members, but it’s too early to say for sure.

Southeast carpenters are struggling with potential changes that may come about due to the closure of Juneau Local 2247. Juneau carpenter Mike VanderJack says it initially caused a lot of confusion.

“About exactly what that would mean for us. If they were taking over our retirement – we just had no idea what that meant because they had not discussed that with us previously. Maybe if we had had a few months to prepare ourselves and to understand what that meant for us, it would’ve been something different, but instead it was just upsetting, confusing,” VanderJack says.

Without a local union hall, members also fear losing their voice. They once met in Juneau, now monthly union meetings are in Anchorage. There’s concern Southeast-based carpenters will have to share Southeast jobs with their Anchorage counterparts. The concerns were great enough earlier this month that Juneau Senator Dennis Egan’s office heard complaints.

“Right now it just feels like we don’t get a say in what’s going on and that’s really upsetting and that goes against everything we’ve learned about what a union is,” VanderJack says.

Basom is hoping the Pacific Northwest Council can make the transition as smooth as possible. He wants to assure Southeast carpenters the council’s intent is not to abandon Juneau.

“Transitions sometimes can be frightening and I completely understand that. But as far as the standard order of business such as finding jobs and having contractors and dispatching members to work, it is not going to change. It’s going to be business as usual,” Basom says.

The carpenters may be settling into the idea that Anchorage Carpenter Union 1281 is now their local. A union election is underway and one member from Southeast is on the ballot. The Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters is also opening an office in Juneau and is currently looking for someone to work as a Southeast representative.

Around this time last year, it looked like Adak’s jet service was in jeopardy. Alaska Airlines wanted to stop flying there, and it was only after much back and forth that they conceded to continue serving the community, on a trial basis.

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Now, the uncertainty appears to be over. Alaska Airlines was the only company that responded to a recent request from the federal Department of Transportation for bids on the community’s Essential Air Service contract, and they’ve agreed to commit for two years.

Marilyn Romano is the airline’s regional vice president. She says Alaska decided to bid even after the news that Icicle Seafoods would be shuttering its processing plant on the island because other companies — and industries — are poised to make up some of the traffic.

“None of us can predict the future, but people in the community of Adak feel like there are some possibilities for growth, possibly even in the oil industry, and so we take all of that into consideration when making a decision,” Romano says.

But Alaska Airlines’ commitment to Adak in the face of an uncertain future will come at a cost. The company is asking the federal government to increase their subsidy for the route by half a million dollars, for a total of $2 million a year. Romano says that factors in the loss of passenger and cargo revenues from the processing plant, and potential increases in the price of jet fuel.

For its part, Adak appears to be fully in support of Alaska Airlines’ proposal. City manager Layton Lockett says continued jet service is critical to the community’s development, a sentiment that fish buyer Pete Hartman echoes in a letter to the DOT. His company, Hart Sales, started shipping fresh fish off the island after Icicle’s closure, and he writes “without the Jet services of Alaska Airlines to the lower 48 markets I will have to cease our operation.”

The DOT will review the bid and is expected to make a decision about whether to award the contract in the coming weeks.