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.
Bill Aims To Create Arctic Port on Bering Sea Coast
A U.S. House subcommittee today considered a bill aimed at creating a deepwater dock at Point Spencer, a narrow curlicue of land on the Bering Strait, just south of the Arctic Circle. Alaska Congressman Don Young says his bill would divide the 2,000 acre spit among the Coast Guard, the state and the Bering Strait Native Corp., creating a partnership to build a port.
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U.S. House Passes Bill to Allow Sale of Feathery Art
The U.S. House today passed a bill to allow Alaska Natives to sell handicrafts that include the feathers of migratory birds. Alaska Congressman Don Young, who sponsored the bill, says it will end a "bizarre policy" that allows Native people to hunt the birds and make handicrafts from feathers but not sell their creations.
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Support Alliance Endorses Sullivan for Senate
U.S. Senate challenger Dan Sullivan has won a rare endorsement from the Alaska Support Industry Alliance. Sen. Mark Begich nets the purse seiners.
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Dems Ask Maryland to Investigate Sullivan Tax Breaks
Maryland tax authorities said this week they’ll investigate whether Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan improperly benefited from tax breaks intended for Maryland residents for a house he owned in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.
As it turns out, Sullivan’s history of voting in Alaska elections may cost him.
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Politifact Rates Begich Ad “Pants on Fire”
The fallout continues after U.S. Sen. Mark Begich aired a campaign ad blaming his opponent for a sentencing error that freed a sex offender now charged in a double homicide.
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Begich Campaigns Removes Controversial ‘Crime Scene’ Ad
The campaign of Sen. Mark Begich has taken down a controversial TV ad entitled “crime scene” that began airing Friday. The ad featured a retired Anchorage police officer who says Republican Senate candidate Dan Sullivan let sex offenders off with light sentences.
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Ad Alleges Begich Shortchanges His Female Staff – Is It True?
An ad running against Sen. Mark Begich attacks him on his support for women – exactly where he proclaims his strength. The ad, by Crossroads GPS, says he favors men when it comes to setting salaries for his Senate staff.
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AFP Targets Begich Absenteeism in $1M Ad Buy
The ad says Begich missed more votes last year than 80 percent of his colleagues. Still, his 2013 attendance record was the best of the Alaska delegation.
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Begich Says ‘Bring it on’
Now that former DNR Commissioner Dan Sullivan has won the Republican Primary, U.S. Sen. Mark Begich is staking out his positions, emphasizing his record and his support of abortion rights.
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Sullivan Wins, Snubs Election Central Celebration; Treadwell Concedes
Dan Sullivan took 40 percent of the vote, handily beating Joe Miller and Mead Treadwell to win the Republican Primary for U.S. Senate. Sullivan, though, wouldn’t talk to reporters and didn’t come to Election Central at the Egan Convention Center, as winning candidates usually do.
Endorsements Fly in GOP Senate Race
The Primary Election is tomorrow, and the Republican candidates for U.S. Senate are scrambling for high-profile endorsements. Mead Treadwell announced today he has astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Joe Miller boasts Fox TV host Mike Huckabee, and – just today -- Focus on the Family Founder James Dobson. Dan Sullivan landed board members of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, Club for Growth and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
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Sec. Moniz: We Won’t Be Obstacle to Alaska Gas Exports
Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz is in Alaska this week. He says the Obama Administration wants to spur a project to export North Slope natural gas, and he says the No. 1 way his department can help is by staying out of the way.
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Rep. Young Introduces Fiancee to Church Crowd
Alaska Congressman Don Young introduces girlfriend, Anne Garland Walton of Fairbanks, as his fiancée.
Joe Miller Agrees To Support GOP Rivals If They Win Primary
Miller had previously refused to say whether he’d run as a write-in or on a third-party ticket if he loses the Republican Primary on Aug. 19. Now, Miller says he’ll back either Dan Sullivan or Mead Treadwell to help unseat the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Mark Begich.
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Sullivan Continues to Lead Fundraising Battle
In the U.S. Senate race, Dan Sullivan’s financial advantage over other
Republican contenders continues to grow. Sullivan has raised more than $4 million, most of it from Outside Alaska. He’s done well in Ohio, the headquarters of the paint company his family runs. Money has also poured into the Sullivan campaign from national fundraising groups working to win Republican control of the Senate.
Ad Claims Treadwell Company Erodes Privacy
A new negative ad focused on Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mead Treadwell says technology companies he founded are helping the government erode privacy. Treadwell calls the claim absurd.
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Treadwell, Sullivan Assail Each Other’s Ties To L48 Companies
The two leading Republican U.S. Senate candidates are increasingly turning on each other. Last week, Dan Sullivan sent mailers to Alaska voters alleging Mead Treadwell benefitted financially from the Obama stimulus package, a bill he denounces on the campaign trail. This week Treadwell is fighting back, and he’s taking aim at the Ohio paint conglomerate Sullivan’s family runs.
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Eielson A Frontrunner to House F-35 Fighters
There's good news for the Fairbanks business community today. The secretary of the Air Force called Alaska’s congressional delegation this morning to announce that Eielson Air Force Base is the only candidate selected to house two squadrons of F-35 fighter planes. The final decision won’t be until the fall of 2015, after a study of the environmental Impact, but Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she’s confident.
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Murkowski Demands Begich Stop Using Her Image in Campaign Ads
A lawyer hired by Sen. Lisa Murkowski‘s re-election committee today sent a cease-and-desist letter to the campaign of Sen. Mark Begich. She is demanding that he quit using her name and image in his political ads.
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GOP Candidates for U.S. Senate Debate Abortion, Social Issues
The three Republicans vying to run against U.S. Sen. Mark Begich met today in an Eagle River church to debate social issues in a forum sponsored by the Alaska Family Council. All three took anti-abortion, conservative positions but, judging by the applause, this was Joe Miller’s crowd.
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