• CH2M Hill announced that they would be considering selling their oil, gas and chemicals assets in Alaska. KTVA reports this would impact more than 2,000 of its employees.  CH2M Hill is Alaska’s 6th largest employer.

• The “Worst Ad of the Campaign” award goes to Sen. Mark Begich’s Jerry Active ad, so says the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza. On the face of it, there were worse ads, but none did as much harm to a candidate as did the Active ad, so says Cillizza, a fact that continues to be repeated and one that I’m not sure I buy.

• Politico has the inside dirt on how Loretta Lynch came to be President Obama’s Attorney General pick (hint: She was far from his first choice).

• Human Rights Campaign issued a report yesterday detailing a marked improvement for LGBTQ equality in Fairbanks from the previous year. Fairbanks Mayor John Eberhart told the Fairbanks News Miner that; “his administration has undertaken several tasks in an attempt to improve the city’s openness to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents.” If that doesn’t deserve two snaps, I don’t know what does.

• From what this article in The Hill says, President Obama is finally letting loose his liberal tendencies and veering to a hard left now that the elections are over. First it was the climate change deal with China earlier this week, and there are indications that there will be more on the horizon (like immigration). Strategists argue the president now has little to lose, except his legacy.

• The University of Alaska is kindly reminding its students and staff that while recreational marijuana use is now legal in the state, it is still illegal on UA’s campuses. “Reminding college students about school drug policies will totally stem the wave of Alaskan Dog F#^ck” said No One, Ever.

• Is it just me, or if there something a little cool and unsettling about our presumed future lt. governor wearing a leather bomber jacket to his first post-election press conference announcing the transitional team? The c’est la vie air of Byron Mallott is refreshing. However some might wish for greater deportment, particularly considering how nervous everyone is about the vagueness of the ticket.

• The Supreme Court further erodes campaign finance contribution limits.

• Roll Call gives much needed advice to freshman federal legislators on what they shouldn’t do when setting up their offices.

• In other news, Slate is reporting that the FBI has finally gotten around to updating its 80-year-old definition of rape. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it means that Alaska’s already pearl clutching high rates of rape just got even worse, but Choose Respect right?.

• The finger pointing by the Democrats at their leadership is getting ugly. The Hill reports that many are demanding the party conduct an “autopsy” similar to what the Republicans did after the presidential elections to discover why Democrats lost so heartily this cycle.

• The Fairbanks Northstar Borough Assembly will be tackling a land use conflict today between a private property owner and a trail user during a work session. The Fairbanks News Miner has the details.

• While the Outside media outlets are piling it on thick that Dan Sullivan is our newest U.S. Senator, Hollywood actress Patricia Heaton thought that it was important to weigh in on the issue of Mark Begich’s withholding of a concession speech. “Mark Begich is still waiting on the game-changing husky vote,” she wrote, which is cleverer than I would have thought from Hollywood.

• The Republic has announced that the tea party-style PAC, Conservative Patriots Group, has ceased to exist due to financial limitations and regulations.

• Want to hear Lobbyist Ray Gillespie’s take on Alaska’s fiscal situation? APRN’s Kodiak station (KMXT) has you covered. Fair warning, it isn’t pretty.

• The Washington Post reports that Facebook has rewritten its privacy policy so its users (myself included) can finally understand what rights we are giving up.

• Lock up your drawers and doors ladies and gentlemen of Kodiak. ABCNews has pearl clutching news:  An underwear bandit is on the loose and seems to have a fondness for the gentler sex’s unmentionables. No word on whether Delta Tau Chi has a chapter on the island.

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com