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.
Rio Tinto Considers Pulling Out Of Pebble Mine
Another investor in the proposed Pebble Mine says it may back out. Rio Tinto announced today that it will perform a strategic review of its investment in the controversial gold and copper mine in the Bristol Bay region and that the review will consider divestment.
Download Audio
Reindeer Herders Ask For Help As Herds Dwindle
Here’s a story about reindeer that has nothing to do with Santa. The reindeer herders of the Seward Peninsula have endured years of declining stocks. Once they had more than 100,000 animals. Now, it’s down to about 20,000 and the industry teeters on the edge of viability. Kawerek Reindeer Herders Association sent a delegation to Washington, D.C. earlier this month to see if the federal government can help.
Download Audio
New Ambassador To China Could Trigger Senatorial Domino Effect
In Washington D.C., the buzz around the Capitol is that the White House is going to nominate Montana Senator Max Baucus to be ambassador to China. His departure with a year left on his term would trigger a domino effect in the Senate, advancing a few Democrats to key positions, and that could have big implications for Alaska.
Download Audio
Congress Likely To Pass Budget
It looks like Congress will finally pass a budget. A two-year spending plan easily cleared a Senate hurdle today, and is headed for final passage tomorrow. Both Alaska senators supported it, but they’re not entirely happy.
Download Audio
State May Get 8 Cargo Planes
The state may be taking possession of eight new airplanes. They’re 1980s era cargo planes that the Army doesn’t want anymore. A provision in the Defense Bill now before the U.S. Senate offers them to the governor of Alaska. The catch is, the state has to figure out what to do with them – and how to pay for their upkeep.
Download Audio
Presidential Adviser Pete Rouse Maintains Alaska Roots
One of President Obama’s closest advisers is leaving. Pete Rouse has been at Obama’s side since his first days in the Senate and at the White House, serving at times as chief of staff. But Rouse shuns the spotlight, so few people know of his Alaska roots, or the pull he’s had on the 49th state.
Download Audio
Big Outside Money Expected For US Senate Race
Outside money is expected to pour into the race for the U.S. Senate seat held by Mark Begich, and the first of it is making a splash across Alaska’s TV sets.
Download Audio
FDA To Announce Decision On Genetically Modified Salmon
Alaska’s Congressional delegation is bracing for an FDA decision on genetically modified salmon and Sen. Mark Begich has asked the head of the agency not to exploit the holiday season to release what’s expected to be an unpopular report.
Download Audio
Arctic Fibre Reveals Alaska Broadband Plans
In another sign of how climate change is transforming the Arctic, a Toronto-based company is planning to lay a fiber-optic cable through Canada’s Northwest Passage.
Download Audio
Federal Budget Deal Might Include Higher Air Travel Taxes
Brace yourselves for higher airline ticket fees, maybe. In Congress, budget negotiators are trying to craft a deal that would keep the government running and avoid automatic spending cuts without raising taxes. But lawmakers say the deal may include higher user fees, among them, a doubling of the security fee air passengers pay - from $2.50 per flight segment to $5.
Download Audio
Bills Would Help Communities Deal With Marine Debris
Two bills aimed at helping coastal communities deal with marine debris advanced in Congress on Wednesday. Alaska Congressman Don Young, a co-sponsor, says they would make it easier for local, state and tribal governments to get money to remove rubbish that floats to their shores.
Download Audio
Survey Says Alaska Has Poor Business Climate
A survey of oil company managers and executives has given Alaska poor marks for its business climate. The annual report by the Fraser Institute, a conservative Canadian think tank, stacks Alaska up against other states and countries in an effort to develop a “policy perception index.” The respondents weren’t kind to the 49th state.
Download Audio
ANWR Campaigns March On, No End in Sight
Congress is so stuck in partisan mire it hardly passes any bills these days. So it would seem unlikely it could pass anything as controversial as opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. Still, two campaigns, Arctic Power and Alaska Wilderness League, remain on the job in Washington, D.C. One has been fighting for 20 years to allow oil development on the coastal plain of the refuge, the other working just as long to ensure that day never comes.
Download Audio
Amendment Would Let Military Prosecutors Handle Sexual Assault Reports
The U.S. Senate this week has been debating how the military should handle sexual assault reports from service members. Both Alaska senators have signed on to an amendment that would let military prosecutors, rather than a suspect’s commander, determine which cases to pursue. Senator Lisa Murkowski on Wednesday spoke on the Senate floor about some of the incidents that motivate her.
Download Audio
Tlingit Code Talkers Receive Recognition
Navajo code talkers were recognized more than a decade ago for their service in World War II. They used their Native language as a code that the enemy was never able to crack, but until recently, no one knew that Tlingits from Southeast Alaska also served as code talkers.
Download Audio
Feds Pay Alaska $19 Million For Oil, Gas Development
The Department of Interior announced Tuesday it paid Alaska $19 million over the previous year for oil and gas development on federal land in the state.
Download Audio
Alaska Leaders Attend White House Tribal Nations Conference
Tribal leaders from Alaska and the rest of the country had a chance this week talk with the highest powers in the federal government. Nearly all of President Obama’s cabinet secretaries participated in the annual White House Tribal Nations Conference, as did Obama himself.
Download Audio
Washington DC Gets Lesson In Tlingit Culture
It was Tlingit weekend at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. recently. Storytellers, artists and dancers from Alaska and Canada performed in the museum’s massive atrium. The museum, a stone’s throw from the U.S. Capitol, is a branch of the Smithsonian, but it’s unlike the others.
Download Audio
Murkowski Says Sequestration Jeopardizing National Defense
The country could face a second round of automatic budget cuts if Congress can’t agree on a spending plan by year’s end.
Download Audio
Senate Passes Anti-Discrimination Bill
Gay rights advocates are celebrating a win today in the nation’s capital. The U.S. Senate has passed a bill to ban workplace discrimination against gay and transgender people. Both Alaska senators voted for it. But, the bill is unlikely to become law.
Download Audio