- The Bush-era torture tactics have been released in the Torture Report. Reactions on the hill have been dramatic because the report is really bad. Angus King (I-ME) told CNN’s New Day that the practices used were what we tried Japanese soldiers for war crimes after WWII. Some in the international community are calling for perpetrators to be punished. The ACLU wants Pres. Obama to grant all those involved a pardon.
- Noble Drilling, a contractor of Shell Oil, has been found guilty of environmental and maritime crimes and has been ordered to pay $12.2 million in fines and community service for activities during the winter of 2012. The Fairbanks News Miner has all of the juicy details.
- Obama’s stance on torture has always been clear. Not so clear is his stance on exposing U.S. involvement in torture.
- The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reports that Jane Soeten of Wasilla and Jean White of Anchorage will be receiving bronze medals in recognition of their service to our country during WWII at a ceremony in Washington D.C.
- Oil economist Roger Marks said that given falling oil prices, he can see Alaska falling into a recession. However, Alaska businesses are not letting $65 barrel of oil stop them from keeping oil projects on track. KTVA has the latest from AOGA’s Kara Moriarty.
- The New York Times reports that the GOP’s top donors want a 2016 nominee and THEY WANT IT NOW!
- Becky Bohrer has a piece regarding Pebble Mine. The EPA asked U.S. District Judge H. Russell Holland for clarification on his November ruling that restrained further action on Pebble until he ruled on the merits of the lawsuit brought by the Pebble Limited Partnership. The clarification from Judge Holland is this: all work by the EPA relating to the Pebble Mine must stop while the lawsuit is pending.
- The Fairbanks News Miner was on hand when the Fairbanks City Council advanced a labor agreement with the AFL-CIO and the Fairbanks North Star Borough announced that they would host a special town hall Wednesday to discuss air quality.
- After a long delays, the Dispatch reports that a traffic and cost study on the Knik Arm Bridge was finally released to the public. The upshot: the bridge is expected to cost about $900 million. The first year’s toll revenue is projected to be $6.8 million in 2019, and $167 million by 2045. DOT, which has taken over the project, is still planning on applying for federal loans.
- The conservative Senate Steering Committee apparently put together binders full (this time not full of women) of information on how to try once more to knockout Obamacare, per Politico.
- Bill Walker pledged that he would expand Medicaid. While the sentiment and intent is noble, is it realistic?
- In news that should surprise no one. The Juneau Empire reports that the State of Alaska has submitted a permit to the U.S. Army Corps to build The Road.
- Politico has the details about the inner warring factions happening within the Democratic Party. Will there be pitchforks or barbed words over tea and stickies?
- A two-day symposium to discuss Common Core education standards will be held today and tomorrow in Anchorage. The details are found in today’s Fairbanks News Miner.
- Are the inaugural balls for the governor a silent pay-to-play method for access or simply politically minded factions of the state putting on a party? Nothing will likely come of it, but an advocacy group called Public Citizen wants to know and the Dispatch explains all.
- The City and Borough of Juneau are planning to purchase the remains of the Gastineau Apartments and convert them to affordable senior housing/assisted living facilities, according to the Juneau Empire.
Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com
Truth Teller: If you paid even 5 minutes attention to how state government works, you’d know that every new governor comes in and introduces the former governor’s budget. This happens for a few reasons. The election is held barely a month before the budget is statutorily due to be introduced–in this case, Walker was not declared the winner until almost 2 weeks past election day. New governors simply do not have the time to create a new budget by the time the bill is due. So, they introduce the former governor’s bill and later come back and amend the bill with their version of the budget. This has been the accepted practice since forever. I distinctly remember Governor Murkowski introducing his own budget in early March 2003 with a speech to the state. It’s where he announced he was cutting the Longevity Bonus and other drastic measures to cut the budget. (We all know how that worked out for him–especially since his plan included buying himself a jet.)
So, your name calling at this juncture of Governor Walker’s new term seems a little uneducated and misguided.
How incredibly quickly the Walker administration seems to be in walking away from the “few” priorities they established in the primary. Already they seem to be making excuses about Medicaid expansion instead of pursuing it (this is the guy the Dems wanted). They said he was going to name peope to positions based on merit and not based on political patronage. If this is the case, can someone please explain to me why Craig Fleener and Ken Alper ggot the jobs they did? Neither seem to remotely have the qualifications for the positions foe which they were named. Walker said he was going to get the budget under control; however, all he did was submit Parnell’s budget with a footnote saying that he wasn’t endorsing it. He could at least been honest and either said that we don’t know what to do or we’re too lazy to make meaningful changes. All this is the first 10 days.
Sorry Alaska, I think we made a mistake. Bill Walker is the new Captain Zero.