- Sen. Mark Begich released a new ad simply titled “Margie,” featuring Margie Brown, former President and CEO of Cook Inlet Region, Inc. In it Brown expounds on the amazing work Sen. Begich has done to help the over 3,000 jobs in the telecommunication field here in Alaska as both mayor and senator. She also mentions how great Begich and Sen. Lisa Murkowski work together, which will likely further rankle Murkowski.
- The first of many Alaska state races previews: Senate District E.
- Senior political writer, Harry Enten, with FiveThirtyEight offers advice on how to read the tea leaves in the recent U.S. Senate polls. His take; Alaska has been a fairly stable race with Sullivan winning “by a couple of percentage points,” as of Friday.
- While California’s public pension fund has decided to stop investing in hedge funds, Opalesque reports that Alaska’s Permanent Fund Corp. is sticking with their current strategy.
- The Washington Times has an article that discusses the recent U.S. Senate polls that put Dan Sullivan in the lead, but also offers commentary regarding extraneous forces that are hurting Sen. Mark Begich’s popularity.
- The Huffington Post reports that the Oregon Supreme Court issued two rulings that grant animals legal protections that were once reserved for humans.
- Fairbanks News Miner reports on the conundrum facing Alaska’s judicial system in validating a convict’s claim to being the guilty party in the crime that led to the Fairbanks Four being convicted of the 1997 murder of John Hartman.
- CNN and ORC International conducted a telephonic poll of 1,055 American adults between September 25-28, 2014 and found that 73% of those polled are in favor of using military airstrikes in Syria, 50% would still support airstrikes even if the U.S. did so alone, while 60% Americans oppose U.S. “boots on the ground”.
- The DSCC and the NRSC are determining which of the U.S. Senate races they will be cutting back their support for and which ones they will be focusing on for the win in November. The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports that the decision by the DSCC regarding Alaska has yet to be made.
- Former state Department of Law lawyer Jon Katchen wrote a take-down of Bill Walker’s Point Thomson opinion piece.
- Scott Hawkins, founder of Prosperity Alaska, was quoted in the Dispatch as saying, “Oil taxation is an incredibly technical, complex, arcane subject. It does not belong on the ballot,” which might rankle some.
- The Yes on 2 (the legalizing marijuana ballot measure) just got a big endorsement from Southeast Alaska. The Juneau Empire reports that Juneau Assembly member Jesse Kiehl has publicly announced his support for Ballot Measure 2. He joins former State House Majority Leader Kyle Johansen in supporting the measure. If it passes, Snoop Dogg has pledged to do a concert in Alaska. The video with Snoop Dogg has explicit language, because of course it does.
- Becky Bohrer with the AP reports that the state is defending Alaska’s gay marriage ban in federal court with papers filed last Friday. This comes as a response to five same-sex couples that sued the state back in May to overturn the ban that was put into law in 1998 by voters.
- Want to know who the billionaires are that are putting so much personal influence in the outcomes of political races? The Hill has a breakdown of the who’s who, what they are interested in assisting and who are the recipients.
Clarification: The piece about FiveThirtyEight has been changed to reflect that the site isn’t making a prediction.
Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com
This news wrap-up is a wonderful feature. In fact, I’m not buying the Dispatch as a result, especially after reading about the fiasco with Craig Medred’s intentional slam on commercial fishermen. To think that the publisher and editor of the paper allowed that questions the legitimacy and ethics of the nnewspaper. I believe that ethical conduct starts at the top and sets the example. Now, we know that isn’t the case at all at the state’s largest paper. It seems that it has gone down hill ever since the new owner has taken over. The better reporters have disappeared. In any case, keep the news wrap-up coming. Its all the news I need outside of television.
Wanted to let you know that I appreciate your blog and often wonder how you tolerate some of the rude and ridiculous people that post comments here. I would suggest that if someone is unhappy with your characterizations or representations, that they read something else. Personally, I think you go too far in your quest to be fair and balanced. Again, great job and to hell with some of the pricks that seem to enjoy being pompous without giving their name. So lame. They all seem to be Democrats for some odd reason. Maybe that is why I have never affiliated with a party.
@Beautiful. You’re right. Piece has been changed.
Hey Amanda…
It’s awful how you sum up the FiveThirtyEight article in your own wonderfully slanted style:
“His take; Alaska is going to be a fairly stable race from here on out with Sullivan winning ‘by a couple of percentage points.’ ”
THIS is what the article said:
“Instead, it’s likely the race in Alaska has been fairly stable over the past few weeks. Sullivan is ahead by a couple of percentage points.”
Look at what the article said. Look at what you did with it. Look in the mirror.
“Inside Alaska politics… so you don’t have to be”