Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
Trump’s nominee for US court in Alaska gets low marks from state Bar but has youth on his side
Josh Kindred was rated 16th out of 20 candidates. In choosing him, Trump veered from the process Alaska's senators normally employ to ensure a merit-based selection.
Alaska’s senators want Congress to renew the Violence Against Women Act, but bill has become partisan football
Domestic violence isn't a red state problem or blue state problem. But passing a bill combat the epidemic has become a partisan battlefield in the U.S. Senate.
‘Savanna’s Act’ advances in US Senate; Aimed at mending police response to violence against Native women
The bill requires better data collection and fosters cooperation among police agencies.
Those impeachment hearings? Alaska’s congressional delegation isn’t watching
Both of Alaska's U.S. senators and its congressman say they're too busy with their official duties to closely follow the impeachment testimony.
Murkowski wants Pentagon to have an Arctic studies center and name it for Ted Stevens
A bill Murkowski sponsored would create a new Defense Department facility in Alaska: the Ted Stevens Arctic Security Studies Center
Could tiny nuclear reactors power Alaska villages?
Dan Brouillette would continue a quest to develop mini nuclear reactors, as well as renewables and carbon capture.
How would lifting the Roadless Rule change Tongass logging? Not much, both sides say
But at a U.S. House hearing Wednesday, people for and against the rule agreed that removing the roadless restrictions won't make much difference for an industry that's already a shadow of its former self.
With pixels and stagecraft, ‘Arctic Experience’ aims to inspire the next generation to fight Big Oil
A multimedia exhibit about the Arctic popped up in a trendy warehouse district of Washington, D.C. last weekend. It aims to wow, not just with beautiful video, but scented fog and ethereal music. It’s...
Ads use Ukraine scandal, urging Murkowski to reject a Trump judicial pick
A liberal advocacy group is leveraging the Ukraine scandal in ads that target Alaskans. Their aim is to drum up constituent messages to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, urging her to vote no on a Trump judicial nominee.
Senate passes bill with funds for murdered and missing indigenous women
Spotty data makes it hard for researchers to quantify the killings and disappearances of Native women. The recent spending bill directs the Bureau of Indian Affairs to coordinate with law enforcement agencies and develop guidelines for data collection.
Judge says Alaska should crack down on unlimited contributions in state elections
Judge William Morse says the Alaska Public Office Commission should reinstate the $500 annual per-person contribution limit to independent groups, which APOC stopped enforcing following a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision called Citizens United.
Headbutt or head nudge? MoveOn gets a rise out of Rep. Young
Alaska Rep. Don Young has been all over social media this week because activists from the liberal group MoveOn posted a video of him headbutting their camera.
Alaska congressman explains why he voted ‘no’ on new rules for Trump impeachment probe
Alaska Rep. Don Young says the newly adopted rules don't give the Republican minority enough authority in the process.
Murkowski is one of the only Senate Republicans who didn’t back the anti-impeachment resolution. Here’s why.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski says the Senate shouldn't tell the House what to do.
Sullivan joins measure knocking House for impeachment inquiry
Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan said the House's current impeachment inquiry is more partisan than the process faced by presidents Clinton or Nixon.
‘You’re not listening to the science’: Pebble Mine fight aired at US House hearing
For Alaskans opposed to the Pebble Mine, a hearing in the U.S. House Wednesday was an opportunity to raise the issue on a national stage, and to ask Congress to stop the proposed gold and copper mine upstream from Bristol Bay.
Stevens portrait unveiled at US Senate
With members of the Stevens family on hand, the unveiling was an opportunity to reflect on the senator who represented Alaska from 1968 to 2009.
Pebble pays more than $1M to hire well-connected DC lobbyists
Pebble Limited Partnership has spent a fortune to hire some of Washington's most influential insiders as lobbyists. The mine's opponents are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, too.
Sullivan took a stand against Trump’s withdrawal from Syria border. Now he says Trump had no good options
Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan says a Pentagon briefing late last week changed his perspective.
AG Barr announces $42 million in tribal grants to combat crime and help victims in rural Alaska
The money is slated to go to tribal councils, women's shelters, youth programs, substance abuse programs and policing.