• Lisa Murkowski’s 2013 request for an investigation regarding misconduct with the Alaska National Guard resulted in the inspector general determining in May that the allegations could not be substantiated and later released a report that was substantially redacted. APRN reports that Friday, Sen. Murkowski politely asked the IG to reexamine the rigor of its investigation since their conclusions differed so greatly than the National Guard Bureau’s Office of Complex Investigations and asked for an unredacted version of the report to be released. She might have asked in her typically elegant style, but the rest of us were more like, WTF?

• Keystone XL oil pipeline is green for voting in the House, but it could be all for naught due to an obscure Nebraska commission that regulates telephones, taxi cabs and grain bins according to the AP.

• Wishbone Hill coal permits have caught the attention of the Federal Office of Surface Mining (OSM). KSKA reports that last month the state gave the Palmer area mine permission to begin mining, but that caused ire with OSM due to the fact that the state never officially terminated the permits due to inaction by the mine’s earlier owner.

• The Peninsula Clarion has the latest on Soldotna’s officials going paperless in a move to hopefully mimic the Kenai Peninsula Borough’s roughly $327,500 in a similar move last year.

• The Fairbanks News Miner reports that the Fairbanks North Star Borough school district is hoping to begin offering full-day kindergarten at all 20 elementary schools next school year if Outside grants and funding come to fruition.

• The Juneau Empire has proof that despite the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races being called, ballot counting will resume today. Breathe easy Alaska; the Division of Elections has your back…even while rocking lime green stockings.

• The Juneau Empire also takes Sen. Mark Begich to task for not graciously conceding the race, ala Gov. Sean Parnell.

• Eric Musser is searching for a new code enforcement officer in charge of regulating taxis and other private for-hire vehicles (Uber) in Anchorage. It is a job described as “a tough environment on the night shift” per the Dispatch.

• Sitka’s $145 million Blue Lake Hydro plant is back on line and will be providing the main source of power for Sitka per the Sitka Sentinel.

• The next Seward State Parks Advisory Board meeting will be tomorrow from 5:00-7:00 pm at the AVTEC Culinary Arts building.

• The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) has sold its stake in its Kenai Offshore Ventures and its Endeavour jack-up rig currently located in Cook Inlet for $25.6 million. According to the Alaska Journal of Commerce, the rig is being sent to South Africa via a heavy lift vessel pending final AIDEA approval.

• The Washington Post says that Sen. Lisa Murkowski is one of the seven women to watch in the new Congress, not only because she’ll be chair of Energy, but also because come around 2016, the GOP will be looking for women who are “anti-Hillary, to serve as surrogates on the stump, and in television studios, and as VP short-lister,” In other words, Murkowski’s name is being bandied about in D.C. as a potential Veep, which causes me to sigh deeply, and I’m not likely to be the only one.

• In a brevity free column, John Aronno from the Alaska Commons wonders if ballot measures may be the beginnings of a trend.

• Obama’s once biggest enemy could be the very man who becomes his biggest ally in securing a positive legacy, per Politico. That is only if Obama can navigate the tight network of McConnell’s world behind the wizard’s curtain.

• The Hill has an article about how Democratic Party strategists are sounding alarm bells that the demographics (minorities and young voters) that helped twice elect Pres. Obama will not only make up an even larger portion of the electorate, but could quite possibly be up for grabs.

• Read all about the spoiled women, Mai Tai’s, Walker’s transition team and questionable fax leaks in today’s Loose Lips.

• Pope Francis has confirmed that he will be visiting the United States next year for the first time as pontiff to attend Philadelphia’s World Meeting of Families. No word yet on other visiting states, though someone should let the pope’s people know that Anchorage’s Park Strip hasn’t seen a visit from a pope since 1981, when John Paul II visited.

• The EPA has started a small rollout of a new program called Food: Too Good to Waste with the aim to reduce food waste with private consumption and commercial sectors. With 44% of all landfill deposits being food, this might be a bee in an Assembly person’s bonnet to look into for Alaska’s many cities as a way to not only reduce cost of landfills, but the potential risk to our beloved state’s natural beauty.

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com