The recent sales trips to Asia by Alaska leaders gave Gov. Sean Parnell and Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan the chance to showcase the advantages of Alaska natural gas, but that promotional effort won’t be enough to get a pipeline from the North Slope. At some point, the administration must negotiate with the gas owners to create a tax plan. That’s how the state can truly make a difference.
The transportation needs of Chugiak-Eagle River should no longer take a back seat behind Anchorage priorities.
The online system through which people can donate Alaska Permanent Fund dividend funds to charities and nonprofit groups had another successful year, but it has plenty of room for growth.
We wish to express our deepest gratitude to the 3,500 men and women of the Army’s 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, which is currently in the process of redeploying to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson after a 10-month mission to Afghanistan. If it weren’t for these courageous “Spartans,” and the brave decision they made to serve in harm’s way, our nation would be a much more dangerous place.
When he was 72 years old, Dick Griffith spent 53 days walking and skiing 550 miles across the Arctic. When asked recently why he would risk extreme temperatures, polar bears, unstable sea ice and myriad other potential calamities that could befall such an expedition, the longtime Eagle River Nature Center volunteer and legendary adventurer just shrugged.
This is the day Alaskans crow about to their brethren in the Lower 48, trying to make them jealous that the government gives them money to just live here.
When this community was founded, rugged individuals had to wage daily battles for survival in a harsh, unforgiving land. Today, it doesn’t take much to remind us what life might have been like in those frontier times.
“No Easy Day: The Autobiography of a Navy SEAL” (Dutton), by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer
It’s not lack of demand for low-cost energy that has prevented Fairbanks from shifting to natural gas.
Now that the dust has settled on the 2012 statewide primaries, the winners can turn their attention from beating up on rivals from within their own parties to battling those from without. If the previous election season is any indication, it could be a bumpy ride.
