Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media

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Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.

Sullivan Announces New Hires for DC Office

U.S. Senator-elect Dan Sullivan has chosen Joe Balash as chief of staff, Mike Anderson as spokesman and DeLynn Henry as scheduler. Download Audio

Sealaska Selections in Tongass Added to Defense Bill

Sealaska Corporation would get land within the Tongass National Forest in a bill that’s moving quickly in the final days of Congress. It would turn over about 70,000 acres of the Tongass National Forest to Sealaska, mostly for logging and development. It's part of a large package of public lands bills that's been tacked on to a must-pass defense bill. Download Audio

BOEM Report Says Chukchi Sea Drilling Runs Heightened Risk Of Large Spill

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is holding hearings around the state on lease sale 193, in the Chukchi Sea. In its latest Environmental Impact Statement, BOEM says there’s likely more oil there, but also more risk of a large oil spill. Download Audio

EPA Regs Hit Fishing Industry, Unless Congress Meets Deadline

Alaska’s fishing industry is watching a deadline approach: Dec. 18. That’s the date tough new EPA regulations apply to commercial fishing boats, unless Congress intervenes.

Anti-Begich Ad in Voter Guide Prompts Bill to Ban Parties From Booklet

The state Division of Elections took some heat this year for publishing an attack ad against Sen. Mark Begich within the pages of the official voter guide. Now, Rep. Les Gara, an Anchorage Democrat, wants to ban partisan ads in the guide, a booklet that’s mailed to every voting household. Download Audio

Begich Bill Would Shush Political Calls

After losing an election that was the most expensive -- and some say annoying -- in state history, outgoing Sen. Mark Begich has proposed a bill that would curtail political calls to voters’ homes. Download Audio

Senate Committee Holds Hearing On High Violence Levels In American Indian, Alaska Native Communities

The trauma American Indian and Alaska Native children experience due to the high levels of violence in their communities was the subject of a hearing today in the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Both Alaska senators pressed for solutions, in law and federal dollars. Download Audio

What’s Next For Sen. Mark Begich?

Sen. Mark Begich finally conceded that he lost the election this week, but for now, until Jan. 3, he’s still a U.S. senator, and he’s back in Washington. Download Audio

American Indian, Alaska Native Children Suffering High Rates Of PTSD

American Indian and Alaska Native children see so much violence in their homes and communities that they suffer Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder at triple the rate of the general population, akin to veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. That’s one of the starting points of a new federal task force report on indigenous children and their exposure to violence. Download Audio

Marijuana Entrepreneurs Face Special Business Burdens

Alaskans who hope to operate marijuana businesses will have to defy U.S. drug law, of course. But they’ll also face other federal rules they’re likely to find severely inconvenient and perhaps crippling to their enterprise.

Murkowski Questions Differing National Guard Investigation Results

Two different Pentagon agencies investigated the Alaska National Guard for allegedly mishandling sexual assault complaints. They came to opposite conclusions, and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski wants to know why. Download Audio

Where Did That $57 Million Go?

More than $57 million was spent on Alaska’s U.S. Senate race, which comes to about $230 per vote cast, and the campaigns aren’t done reporting their spending totals. If you're looking for where it went, start with where a lot of it came from: Out of state. Then look at your TV. Download Audio

With Persistent Lead, Sullivan Heads to Washington

With more votes counted in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race, Republican Dan Sullivan still leads Democrat Mark Begich by about 8,000 votes. While Begich hasn't conceded, the former attorney general seem to be claiming his victory. A spokesman says he's flying to Washington today. Download Audio

Lawsuit Claims Chukchi Rules Fail to Protect Walrus

A coalition of environmental groups filed a lawsuit today against the Fish and Wildlife Service, saying its rule allowing the oil industry to disturb or harm Pacific walrus in the Chukchi Sea violates the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Download Audio

Sullivan Leads Begich by 8,000 votes

Alaska appears to have followed the national trend and elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate. But Democratic Sen. Mark Begich isn’t conceding just yet. Download Audio

Knowns and Unknowns Among Uncounted Ballots

With a few candidates up and down the ballot unsure whether they won or lost, a lot of Alaskans are looking to the thousands of ballots that remain uncounted. Division of Elections chief Gail Fenumiai says it's unclear exactly how many ballots are outstanding. Download Audio

Begich, Sullivan Rally Voters, Each His Own Way

In the final days before the U.S. Senate election, candidates Mark Begich and Dan Sullivan are making their final pitches, aiming to rally their supporters to the polls. Sullivan got help from two national figures representing polar opposites of the GOP: Mitt Romney, an establishment Republican, and Sen. Ted Cruz, a Tea Party hero. Download Audio

Letter Shaming Alaska Voters Cribbed From Study Proving Its Value

Letters from an unknown group calling itself the Alaska State Voter Project are appearing in Alaska mailboxes. They list the voting history of the addressee – along with that of other community members. Many recipients are outraged, saying the letters are an attempt to shame them into voting. A political scientist says the letters are nearly identical to ones he used in a 2006 experiment.

Massive Ground Game Underway in Senate Race

Between the candidate campaigns and Outside groups, nearly $52 million has been spent to try to influence your vote in the U.S. Senate race. Much of that is spent on advertising, for Sen. Mark Begich or Republican challenger Dan Sullivan. But in the end, every race is decided by who actually turns out to vote, so there's a ground game underway.

Young Apologizes for Suicide Remarks; Is Warmly Received at AFN

Alaska Congressman Don Young angered many of his constituents this week with remarks about suicide at Wasilla High that he later acknowledged were insensitive. Today, he used his annual speech at the Alaska Federation of Natives to apologize. Download Audio