Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 122
I figured all terrorism was equally bad. No distinctions allowed. Aiding in the murder — stealing of life, liberty or property — from innocent people deserved strong punishment. Terrorism by the far-left or far-right, foreign-born or U.S.-born, religious zealots or atheists, rich or poor, people wearing burkas, balaclavas or Brooks Brothers suits are all equally punishable under the law. Anyone and everyone who encourages or helps terrorists belongs in prison for the public’s protection. Except in the Trump administration, where who you know,...
Alaska’s two U.S. senators both believe that President Donald Trump’s pro-development administration will be good for the state’s natural resource economy, creating jobs, boosting tax revenues and building long-term prosperity. Both support the president’s initiatives to unlock resources that had been placed off-limits by the administration of Joe Biden and others before him. And both want the federal government to operate efficiently and reduce spending. Beyond those shared beliefs, however, the two came across as worlds apart in their a...
Securing our Nation To the Editor: This week, our most senior defense and intelligence professionals discussed details of an imminent military attack on their cell phones over an unclassified, commercial chat app. We only know about this grievous conduct because a journalist was accidentally included in the dialog. What is shocking, and should raise grave concerns for every proud American, is the lack of judgment from people in the highest positions of our government. The fact that these leaders used unprotected cell phones, in locations that...
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to impose a 25% tariff on imported cars and light trucks. Trump, who campaigned on bringing down consumer costs, said during an Oval Office signing event the additional tax on foreign goods would spur U.S. production. Asked if, like other tariffs Trump’s threatened, trade partners could do anything to avoid the fee on cars and trucks, Trump answered no. This tariff will remain in place until he leaves office, he said, and was meant to protect the U.S. industry. “I think our aut... Full story
Though a $5 million federal grant to help pay for expanding the generating capacity at the Tyee Lake hydroelectric station is "clearly frozen," the head of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency hopes the funds will be released soon and the project can stay on schedule. The agency's lobbyist in Washington, D.C., and others "feel fairly confident ... that freeze will be thawed," Robert Siedman, chief executive officer of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, or SEAPA, said earlier this month. The Tyee...
This is a developing story. The Trump turmoil in the federal workforce continued at full tilt Tuesday as the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced all fired probationary Forest Service workers will be reinstated with back pay at least temporarily. Meanwhile the Department of Education made another round of mass firings that essentially cut its workforce by half. Those two moves were just part of the day's chaos that Trump administration officials are embracing as a necessary shakeup and detra...
JUNEAU — President Donald Trump has issued several executive orders in recent weeks to expand logging in the nation’s forests, but stakeholders say the recent mass firings of U.S. Forest Service employees could hinder the administration’s plans in Alaska. Trump’s actions are the latest chapter in a decades-long tug-of-war between conservation and development in Southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest — by far the largest of the nation’s forests. On his first day back in the White House, Trump signed an executive order to boost development o...
Alaskans were among the hundreds of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employees who began receiving firing notices this week, a blow to an agency that provides everything from weather forecasts to fisheries management to cutting-edge climate science in Alaska. The cuts — part of a broader effort by the administration of President Donald Trump to drastically slash the federal workforce — came after other agencies, including the National Park Service, had abruptly fired probationary workers in recent weeks. Nationally, more than 800...
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Wednesday ordered all federal departments and agencies to submit reorganization plans outlining how they would implement large-scale layoffs before March 13. Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought and Office of Personnel Management Acting Director Charles Ezell wrote in a seven-page memo the reason for the expected layoffs is that the “federal government is costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt.” “At the same time, it is not producing results for the American public,” they wrote. “I... Full story
Essential Air Service To the Editor: On Wednesday, February 19, I asked Senator Lisa Murkowski during a live and recorded town hall meeting if Essential Air Service would be protected from DOGE cuts. She stated she is “very worried about Essential Air Service.” Essential Air Service is a U.S. Department of Transportation program serving 65 rural communities in Alaska along with over 100 communities in the Lower 48, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. The program was put into place to guarantee that communities that were served by certificated air car...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy says “it’s like Christmas every day now” since Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Some other state Republican leaders spent Tuesday talking of a winter blunderland. “It’s Christmas every day if all you expect is coal in your stocking, “ Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, said in response to Dunleavy’s assessment. “It’s a tough, tough time for all of us.” Dunleavy’s holiday-season cheer is based largely on the prospect of uninhibited oil drilling and similar industrial activity that might or might not h...
Forest Service terminations To the Editor: 3,400 U.S. Forest Service employees have lost their jobs across the nation. 10 of those FS employees live in Petersburg. These firings were not based on performance. That is a false agenda this administration is pushing to make you not care and look away. These terminations were inflicted on employees that were still in their probationary period, usually their first year of work. They are predominantly young, motivated people starting out their careers. This will not only leave a gap in the Forest...
President Donald Trump’s order to pause the spending of billions of dollars in federal grants triggered a wave of anxiety, fear and uncertainty on Tuesday in Alaska, a state dependent more than any other on federal spending. “For me, it was pandemic-level chaotic,” said Nils Andreassen, director of the Alaska Municipal League, which works with cities and boroughs statewide. A federal judge’s ruling late Tuesday temporarily blocked the presidential order, but that only defers an act with broad consequences. “We’re waiting for the other shoe... Full story
Alaska is a land of unmatched potential and opportunity. It always has been, and it always will be if we choose the right policies and priorities. This past week, I fulfilled my Constitutional and statutory duties to introduce a budget for the 2026 fiscal year that will begin next July 1. The budget follows the law by fully funding education and the Permanent Fund Dividend and provides funding to address the top priorities of my administration: public safety, energy and resource development, food security, and increased affordability for the...
Just asking questions To the Editor: Alaska representative Jamie Allard (R-Eagle River) asked via social media this week how many non-citizens voted in Alaska’s 2024 election, implying that thousands of “illegal” votes could sway our ballot measures. Simple answer to Allard’s question is, most likely, none. Non-citizen voting is illegal by state and federal law. Alaska’s Division of Elections and Department of Motor Vehicles rigorously enforce those laws by confirming citizenship before they process registrations. Provisional ballots are likewi...
Republican Donald Trump again won Alaska in the presidential election, the Associated Press announced on Wednesday. Trump had a 15.2-percentage-point lead over Democrat Kamala Harris, with roughly 70% of the state’s votes counted. Alaska was one of two states, along with Maine, that held a ranked choice election for president. However, the ranked choices of voters for trailing candidates would only be considered if no candidate received more than 50% of the first-preference votes. Trump was on track to exceed that level. Alaska has voted for t... Full story
The differences between Democratic incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola and her Republican challenger Nick Begich were on full display last Monday during the final planned debate of Alaska’s U.S. House race. Begich, a businessman who lost twice to Peltola in 2022, is again vying for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat against Peltola, a former state lawmaker who won the seat in 2022 after leading for several years an intertribal fish commission. The outcome of the race could have far-reaching impacts in determining control of a closely divided chamber, dra...
Whichever side wins the national election Nov. 5 needs to think about why they did not get a larger share of the vote. Not that they ever really expected to win over the hearts, minds and ballots of 60% of voters. The honest reality is that most candidates would accept 51% as a clear victory in this divisive world. OK, maybe they’re prefer 52%. But they’ll happily declare a mandate on the thinnest of margins. Gloating is ugly. It makes sore losers out of disappointed losers. Even worse, many of those sore losers are increasingly embracing anger...
Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom is withdrawing from the race for the state's lone U.S. House seat, she announced Friday via social media. With most votes counted, Dahlstrom is expected to finish third in the state's top-four primary election, behind Democratic incumbent Mary Peltola and fellow Republican challenger Nick Begich. Her withdrawal means the expected No. 4 finisher, Republican Matt Salisbury, will likely advance to the general election alongside Begich and Peltola, as would... Full story
Democratic U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola received more than half of the votes in primary results released Tuesday night, well ahead of Republican challengers, businessman Nick Begich III and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom. With 387 of 403 precincts reporting through 1 a.m. on Wednesday, the incumbent Peltola had received 50.4% of the votes counted. She was running well ahead of her 36.8% share of the vote in the 2022 primary, which was held the same day as the special election she won to fill the seat left vacant by the death of 49-year Congressman Don... Full story
True political leadership requires accurately describing the challenges facing our state and nation and proposing realistic solutions. Nancy Dahlstrom, a Republican running for Alaska’s sole Congressional seat, has already failed this test. In an interview broadcast on Alaska News Nightly on July 16, Ms. Dahlstrom stated that, if elected, her “first priority” representing Alaska in Congress would be to get “the border wall closed” and force “16 million-plus people who are in the country illegally” (an inflated number) to “go back to where t...
Seattle has more power in the U.S. House of Representatives than the state of Alaska. And yet, ahead of this year’s House elections, there’s as much at stake with Alaska’s race than all four of the contests in King County combined. The vast majority of the 435 seats in the House are firmly Democratic or firmly Republican. Alaska is among a dwindling number of exceptions that could go in any direction. More than that, it’s one of just five places in the country that voted for Donald Trump as president in 2020 yet elected a Democrat to the Hou... Full story
Unbelievable. Elon Musk is promoting and pushing errors and false news into the heads of people around the world. All for personal profit or personal ego. Maybe just for personal fun. Whatever the reason, it’s irresponsible and dangerous. Musk, a serial entrepreneur who seems to have invented most everything but cold cereal, believes Grok, his artificial intelligence service pedaled through X, formerly known as Twitter, should be a news source. Not necessarily a trusted news source, but that’s not important in his world. “What we’re doing o...
The state of Alaska, with all the legal wisdom of a political agenda and the flowing words of a high-priced law firm, has filed a claim against the federal government. Nothing new about that — the state has filed and signed onto more lawsuits against the national government in recent years than President Joe Biden has forgotten dates or former President Donald Trump has told lies. Nothing to be proud of in any of that. The state’s latest legal endeavor came July 2 in a dubious lawsuit — with a few errors and omissions for poor measure — that as...
