JUNEAU -- Alaska's House majority has rejected a Senate offer to pass a state operating budget, adjourn this special session and take a cooling-off period before coming back later this year to try to hash out a final agreement on a capital budget.
Speaker Mike Chenault said Saturday that taking a break could cause problems, including missing summer construction season or delaying projects.
Chenault, R-Nikiski, also said the impasse would remain as long as the Senate insisted on including contingency language in its proposed capital budget that House Republicans consider inappropriate, if not an outright infringement on the governor's veto authority.
The Senate Finance Committee has proposed making a vast array of energy projects -- more than 100 in all, totaling about $400 million -- an as-is, all-or-nothing package. Senate leaders say this is intended to guard projects from indiscriminate vetoes and to implement energy projects statewide. They also believe they're on solid legal ground in doing so.
The Legislature's top attorney has said he believes a court could uphold the language. The attorney general has called it an unconstitutional reach.
Chenault said he worries the language in the latest version of the bill could result in legal action and potentially jeopardize popular programs, such as those related to weatherization and energy efficiency.
On Day 13 of the 30-day special session, the entrenchment seemed as solid as it had in the messy final days of the regular session.
While leaders on both sides said talks continued, they couldn't immediately identify a clear way out of the budget mess.
"I thought we had a shot at doing a time out," said Sen. Bert Stedman, the Republican co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee. He acknowledged a legislative break could have slowed down some capital projects but he said the transportation department still has many in the works.
"If we're not (leaving)," he said, "that's fine with me."
The House's GOP-led majority feels it's being held hostage by the Senate, which has in its possession three of the outstanding bills on the special session call sheet, dealing with coastal management, scholarships and the capital budget.
While Stedman's shown little interest in advancing a bill setting up a long-term funding source for one of Gov. Sean Parnell's pet projects, merit scholarships, there's been talk about setting aside a pot of money that could serve as an endowment.
There's also movement on coastal zone: Sen. Lyman Hoffman said he and Rep. Bob Herron were waiting to meet with Attorney General John J. Burns to go over a new draft and try to reach consensus. Burns was expected back in Juneau sometime Sunday, he said.
Coastal zone funding remains one of the last undecided issues in the operating budget now in conference committee. Saturday's conference committee meeting was canceled, as was the Senate Finance Committee, in which the coastal zone bill resides. Both are scheduled next for Monday.
When it comes to the capital budget, House leaders have called repeatedly on the Senate to follow the legislative process, send the House a bill and allow for any differences to be hashed out in a conference committee.
Stedman has been reluctant to do that. While it's not unusual for the House to have an agreement with the Senate not to cut from the Senate version of the bill, Chenault has said there's been no such agreement this year.
Some senators fear a backlash from Parnell for not acting on his bill to cut oil production taxes during the regular session. The bill stalled in the Senate, after narrowly passing in the House.
In late March, Parnell said he'd consider lack of action on the bill as consigning Alaska to a future of declining oil production.
Parnell has stated repeatedly that he won't abuse his veto authority and will fairly evaluate projects. He pointed to those statements as making clear his position in declining to meet with members of the Senate's bipartisan majority caucus who wanted more specifics.
To some senators, it's not clear, for example, just how he'll evaluate projects. They also have sought agreement on energy projects and assurances on Parnell's top-line spending level. Parnell had said he'd allow lawmakers to spend up to $2.8 billion but that was contingent upon passage of an oil tax bill.
Parnell's spokeswoman, Sharon Leighow, said Saturday that the governor wants lawmakers to finish the job they were sent to do.
Chenault believes Parnell has done all he can.
"Would I trust him? That's just me, probably," he said. "You know, in the Legislature, the only thing you have down here is your word. And once you ever go back on your word, then that creates a whole new realm of issues. "So, if that's what he says, then I will trust him," he said. And if Parnell goes back on what he said, "then I'll know how to deal with him in the future."
Saturday, April 30, 2011
West High graduate Hardy drafted by NFL's Tampa Bay
Daniel Hardy, who didn't start playing football until his junior year of high school at West High, was drafted today by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the seventh round of the NFL draft.
Hardy is a 6-foot-4, 250-pound tight end from Idaho. If he makes the team, he'll join three other Alaskans in the league.
Hardy took an unlikely route to the NFL. The Vandals were the only Division I team willing to let him try out for the team as a walk-on, so Hardy enrolled there without even visiting the campus. He earned a scholarship after his redshirt freshman season and wrapped up his career at Idaho as a semifinalist for the Mackey Award, given to college football's most outstanding tight end.
Hardy, 23, had 32 catches for Idaho last season despite missing the last five games with a broken arm. He was Tampa Bay's final draft selection and the 238th pick overall.
Hardy is a 6-foot-4, 250-pound tight end from Idaho. If he makes the team, he'll join three other Alaskans in the league.
Hardy took an unlikely route to the NFL. The Vandals were the only Division I team willing to let him try out for the team as a walk-on, so Hardy enrolled there without even visiting the campus. He earned a scholarship after his redshirt freshman season and wrapped up his career at Idaho as a semifinalist for the Mackey Award, given to college football's most outstanding tight end.
Hardy, 23, had 32 catches for Idaho last season despite missing the last five games with a broken arm. He was Tampa Bay's final draft selection and the 238th pick overall.
Climber killed in avalanche identified as Texas man, 39
The National Park Service has identified a climber killed in an avalanche near Alaska's Mount McKinley as a Texas man.
Thirty-nine-year-old Chris Lackey of Houston was with one of two guided parties camping out Wednesday night after summiting a 10,300-foot peak called the Moose's Tooth. They were directly south of the peak when a large column of ice and snow broke free and cascaded down Ruth Gorge at about 1 a.m. Thursday, burying both camps and throwing the climbers from their tents. The four uninjured climbers rushed to help Lackey, who was unconscious when they found him. They called for help on a satellite phone, but Lackey died before a Park Service helicopter could fly him to help. A National Park Service helicopter evacuated all of them.
Thirty-nine-year-old Chris Lackey of Houston was with one of two guided parties camping out Wednesday night after summiting a 10,300-foot peak called the Moose's Tooth. They were directly south of the peak when a large column of ice and snow broke free and cascaded down Ruth Gorge at about 1 a.m. Thursday, burying both camps and throwing the climbers from their tents. The four uninjured climbers rushed to help Lackey, who was unconscious when they found him. They called for help on a satellite phone, but Lackey died before a Park Service helicopter could fly him to help. A National Park Service helicopter evacuated all of them.
Polar bear cub rescued at Alaska oil field
Wanted: A zoo for an orphaned polar bear cub that was rescued at an Alaska oil field. Officials from the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage helped to escort the 17-pound cub from the North Slope to the zoo Friday night, zoo officials said. The female cub, estimated to be at least 4 months old, was herded into a net and kept in a large dog kennel for the trip, said Rosa Meehan, the Fish and Wildlife Service marine mammals manager in Alaska.
"It was initially shaking from the stress, but it settled down and has been resting quietly," she said.
The bear arrived at the Alaska Zoo about 8 p.m. Friday, director Pat Lampi said. The cub is scared, but curious, Lampi said.
"She's exploring," he said. "She's got a couple rooms that she can go into, and a water tank, so she's checking them out. You go in there and she'll run back in the kennel where she feels real secure, but if nobody's sitting there watching her, she's out checking stuff out and getting acclimated."
The cub will stay at the zoo until a home is found, said zoo office manager Heather Schaad. The zoo already has two polar bears and four other bears and doesn't have the facilities to keep the cub permanently, Schaad said.
The cub was captured at the Alpine oil field and fed a commercial puppy milk replacement fortified with whipping cream to meet her nutritional needs, Fish and Wildlife officials said.
She was first spotted after emerging from a den with her mother and a sibling seven weeks ago, Meehan said. Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey had captured the sow and her cubs and put a radio collar on the mother.
"Unfortunately, the collar slipped off a few days later," Meehan said.
The cub was spotted again Tuesday, but she was alone, orphaned or separated from her mother. Alpine operators contacted the Fish and Wildlife Service, which asked them to conduct an aerial search for the mother, Meehan said. Operators are required to notify the agency whenever they see the Far-North animal.
After the search wrapped up, the cub was gone. Then she showed up again Thursday, and Fish and Wildlife coordinated plans with the zoo to collect the bear.
Agency officials said the zoo already has an arrangement in place with North Slope operators to respond to any oil spills affecting polar bears. So rescue plans came together very quickly, Meehan said.
It's unknown how long the underweight cub was by herself without food, or what actually happened to her mother and sibling. One thing that's unlikely is that a subsistence hunter from the nearest community -- the Inupiat Eskimo village of Nuiqsut -- shot the mother. Only Alaska Natives are allowed to hunt polar bears, and they are required to report their subsistence harvest to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Agency biologists contacted the village and learned that no locals have taken a polar bear recently.
There are several possible scenarios that could have led to abandonment. The mother might have been in poor condition and unable to care for the cubs. Or the cub might have gotten separated from her mother in a storm, or if the mother was trying to protect the cub from an adult male bear. The mother and the other cub could be dead, or alive.
"We don't know what happened here," Meehan said.
The Alpine field is operated by Conoco Phillips.
"We were just pleased to be able to rescue this polar bear cub and put it in the hands of U.S. Fish and Wildlife," company spokeswoman Natalie Lowman said.
Reporter Casey Grove contributed to this report. Contact him at casey.grove@adn.com or call 257-4589.
"It was initially shaking from the stress, but it settled down and has been resting quietly," she said.
The bear arrived at the Alaska Zoo about 8 p.m. Friday, director Pat Lampi said. The cub is scared, but curious, Lampi said.
"She's exploring," he said. "She's got a couple rooms that she can go into, and a water tank, so she's checking them out. You go in there and she'll run back in the kennel where she feels real secure, but if nobody's sitting there watching her, she's out checking stuff out and getting acclimated."
The cub will stay at the zoo until a home is found, said zoo office manager Heather Schaad. The zoo already has two polar bears and four other bears and doesn't have the facilities to keep the cub permanently, Schaad said.
The cub was captured at the Alpine oil field and fed a commercial puppy milk replacement fortified with whipping cream to meet her nutritional needs, Fish and Wildlife officials said.
She was first spotted after emerging from a den with her mother and a sibling seven weeks ago, Meehan said. Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey had captured the sow and her cubs and put a radio collar on the mother.
"Unfortunately, the collar slipped off a few days later," Meehan said.
The cub was spotted again Tuesday, but she was alone, orphaned or separated from her mother. Alpine operators contacted the Fish and Wildlife Service, which asked them to conduct an aerial search for the mother, Meehan said. Operators are required to notify the agency whenever they see the Far-North animal.
After the search wrapped up, the cub was gone. Then she showed up again Thursday, and Fish and Wildlife coordinated plans with the zoo to collect the bear.
Agency officials said the zoo already has an arrangement in place with North Slope operators to respond to any oil spills affecting polar bears. So rescue plans came together very quickly, Meehan said.
It's unknown how long the underweight cub was by herself without food, or what actually happened to her mother and sibling. One thing that's unlikely is that a subsistence hunter from the nearest community -- the Inupiat Eskimo village of Nuiqsut -- shot the mother. Only Alaska Natives are allowed to hunt polar bears, and they are required to report their subsistence harvest to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Agency biologists contacted the village and learned that no locals have taken a polar bear recently.
There are several possible scenarios that could have led to abandonment. The mother might have been in poor condition and unable to care for the cubs. Or the cub might have gotten separated from her mother in a storm, or if the mother was trying to protect the cub from an adult male bear. The mother and the other cub could be dead, or alive.
"We don't know what happened here," Meehan said.
The Alpine field is operated by Conoco Phillips.
"We were just pleased to be able to rescue this polar bear cub and put it in the hands of U.S. Fish and Wildlife," company spokeswoman Natalie Lowman said.
Reporter Casey Grove contributed to this report. Contact him at casey.grove@adn.com or call 257-4589.
Super Bowl champion Daryn Colledge returns to North Pole High School
During an assembly Friday afternoon in the North Pole High School gymnasium, Colledge was honored by his alma mater for a donation to improve that school’s weight room.
The Packers’ left offensive guard and 2000 North Pole graduate contributed about $20,000, which will fund three weightlifting stations.
At the end of an assembly to introduce the school’s spring sports teams, the 29-year-old Colledge spoke to the 730-member student body in the gymnasium, about a dozen yards from the weight room, then signed autographs.
“A few people are put into a position where they’re fortunate enough to have an opportunity to give back,” the 6-foot-5, 315-pound Colledge said before his speech. “I think if you’re in that position, you need to do it as much as you can. This is my first chance to do it for North Pole and it means a lot to me.”
It means a lot to the people of North Pole, too. Colledge was contacted by North Pole head football coach Richard Henert, and neurosurgeon Dr. Paul Jensen about contributing to the project.
Work on the weight room is scheduled to start during the next few weeks, said Henert. When it’s ready, the room will be available to the school’s athletic teams, its fitness and physical education classes and any North Pole student who wants to do a few chin-ups, bench presses or leg squats.
“Hopefully more sports teams will get involved in the weight room because we can utilize the space, we can get more people in the smaller space and do more things,” Henert said.
Colledge’s contribution is among many in the effort. Jensen, a native of Wisconsin and an avid Packers fan, provided financial support. There also were contributions from businesses such as Western Mechanical Inc., C&R Pipe and Steel and Span Alaska.
“It sounded like a perfect match,” Jensen said. “It’s someone from a team that I’m a lifetime fan of, and he’s someone’s who’s an accomplished athlete with a Super Bowl ring. I think it’s great, I’m happy to do it and it’s an honor to work with Daryn.”
After the contributions of other North Pole supporters were noted, Colledge received proclamations from North Pole Mayor Doug Isaacson and state legislators Tammie Wilson and John Coghill of North Pole. He had his
No. 55 Patriots jersey retired, and it was given to him in a glass frame by North Pole freshman Garrett Bennett and sophomore Ryan Wicklund.
Colledge also was given a hug by North Pole senior Jasmine Nichols during a question-and-answer segment with students.
“It was fabulous. He was (built) like a brick wall,” she said.
Someone else's discarded paint can be on your walls RECYCLING: Performance artists prove you can cheaply redecorate.
Charles Oakley and Jorge C. Bailey are "spray can artists." You may have seen them at the Saturday Market, Alaska State Fair, Three Barons Fair and other venues. In what they describe as "performances," they create detailed pictures of mountains, whales, guitars, planets and such -- all in roughly eight minutes.
And they do most of it with paint that someone else has thrown away.
"About 60 percent of our art uses recycled paint," said Bailey.
The artists appreciate the eco-friendly aspect of their medium. And they like the fact that they get it for free through the Municipality of Anchorage Hazardous Waste Reuse Program.
So can anyone else.
The program, contracted to Emerald Alaska, a branch of Seattle-based Emerald Services, gives away orphaned paint and more at the Anchorage Regional Landfill near Eagle River and the Central Transfer Station near the Old Seward Highway and International Airport Road.
Emerald accepts cans of discarded paint and other household materials deemed to be hazardous. Materials that are still usable for their intended purpose go on shelves where the public can take them home.
Oakley and Bailey are among their most frequent customers.
"But we get first pick," said Roxanne Pedersen, who manages the reuse facility at the landfill. Her office is painted in a shade of ivory white gleaned from tossed paints.
"Anything that's sort of gray we save it and use it for floor paint."
In March, Pedersen recorded taking in 20,500 pounds of latex paints plus another 12,500 pounds of flammables, solvents and so forth. She gave away 182 pounds of latex and 1,232 pounds of flammables.
One of three things happens to the rest. Otherwise unusable contents are filtered and sorted. Some goes to Alaska Sand and Gravel, where it's added to concrete, Pedersen said. Some is shipped to Tacoma where it is used as an alternative fuel in industrial furnaces approved for the purpose.
The stuff that's too far gone is put in barrels. Bentonite (a clay also used in drilling mud, cat litter and white wine) is added, turning the goop into a big, 55-gallon brick which is then buried in the landfill.
Items found on the shelves last week included -- mostly full -- gallons of interior latex paint and a host of little cans of wood stains ideal for small craft projects. There were larger containers of mineral spirits and paint remover, plus insecticides, herbicides, tile grout, roof coating and other construction adhesives.
Some cans had never been opened except when a worker checked their condition and left a dab on their lids to identify the color.
Petersen said that people needing more than one gallon for a job will sometimes seek out several similar shades and blend them together.
Some of the items were fairly old. Oakley told of finding a gorgeous turquoise, "The most beautiful I ever saw." He wanted more, but it's not likely he'll get any. The can was from 1964 -- and still usable more than 40 years later.
Perhaps the biggest spoiler of otherwise good paint is freezing, Pedersen said. It can be as much of a problem for oil-based paints as it can for water-based latex.
While the paint and other products are free for the taking, it will cost you to drop them off. The charge for disposing paint is 50 cents a pound. (A bathroom scale gives the weight of a gallon of latex as about eight pounds.) Non-regulated adhesives such as caulk and cement are 25 cents a pound and poisons, like weed killers, are $1 a pound.
Pickings were lean recently at both locations.
"It gets skimpy in the winter," said Pederson. "We'll get a lot more in here after spring cleanup."
The Chamber of Commerce's Annual Citywide Cleanup starts today.
Skimpy or not, the recycling rack is a bargain. This reporter walked out with most of a bottle of Brasso metal cleaner and a pint-size spritzer of D3 Discwasher, an alcohol solution for cleaning LP records that hasn't been seen in stores since the 1980s. Two-ounce vials of the stuff go for $15 plus shipping on eBay.
If frugal do-it-yourselfers were to descend on supplies and leave Oakley and Bailey without their free paint, the artists think that would be a good thing.
"I do a lot of artwork and I see a lot of waste," said Oakley. "I'm thoroughly depressed every time I go to the dump.
"Nothing would make me happier than to go in and see those racks empty. I hate the idea of tossing the old paint into the environment. My motto is, it's better on the walls than in the ground."
Reach Mike Dunham at mdunham@adn.com or 257-4332.
Eco-friendly art
Charles Oakley says artists are the ultimate recyclers -- or should be.
"We gotta be good stewards on this planet," he says. "And I don't know an artist out there who can afford to spend as much as he wants on new materials."
After the 2008 election, he gathered stakes from a myriad of political signs left littering his Anchorage neighborhood, glued them together and carved them into a statue of a killer whale.
In addition to using recycled paint, he and Jorge C. Bailey use old magazines to help frame and edge their pictures.
The spray can art produces a lot of fumes. Some spray can artists have been barred from returning to the State Fair, Oakley says.
He saw a vented table being used by Las Vegas spray canners and created his own out of recycled parts. It sucks off the fumes and filters them, ejecting clean air. He and Bailey now use it when they work in public.
After building his table, however, he discovered that the Las Vegas gizmo didn't actually filter the fumes. It just blew them into the air somewhere away from the painters.
"So I have a one-of-a-kind," Oakley says with a laugh. "You can actually use it indoors!"
Information about his work, including a gallery and video of him and Bailey in action, can be found at yosprayme.com.
No end in sight for budget gridlock ON EDGE: Alaska legislature accused of not doing the job.
The Legislature's special session hit Anchorage on Friday, with frayed nerves and Alaska Attorney General John Burns being asked to help broker a deal to put an end to the budget mess.
The House Finance Committee meeting comes as the special session is about to hit the two-week mark with no end in sight. At least some members of the public appear to be getting frustrated with the Legislature, with one man lecturing a group of lawmakers after the hearing: "You're not getting the job done."
The main issue is the language the Senate insists on having in the budget that says if Gov. Sean Parnell vetoes a single energy project, no energy project gets funded. The Senate won't pass the capital budget to the House until there's agreement on keeping that language, or identifying which energy projects that would be spared a veto.
Eagle River Republican Rep. Anna Fairclough argued the policy issue is getting lost amid all the finger-pointing. She said each of the energy projects should stand on its own merits but the Senate language forces them to all live or die together.
"The real issue is the process now links $460 million worth of projects together. That is unacceptable," she said.
Anchorage Democratic Rep. Les Gara defended the Senate to his colleagues. Gara said senators put in the language to protect the projects. He said the Senate had "legitimate fear" after the governor said earlier in the spring that there would be budget vetoes if the Legislature didn't agree to cut oil taxes.
Chugiak Republican Rep. Bill Stoltze testily responded that oil taxes are not part of the special session.
"Have you heard of the bicameral process, Mr. Gara? ... Maybe you should run for the Senate," he said.
Gara said the governor, Senate and House need to all work together and decide which of the energy projects should be included in the budget.
"We're never going to get out of this special session unless we all sit down together and decide which of these projects we're going to fund," he said.
CAN THERE BE A DEAL?
Testimony at Friday's committee meeting in Anchorage was by invitation only. A few members of the public showed up to watch, but it appeared to be mostly bureaucrats, legislative staffers and members of the press, throwing into question the notion that moving legislative hearings to Anchorage ensures citizen watchdogging.
Alaska Attorney General Burns, a Parnell appointee, testified about his opinion that the Senate language is unconstitutional because it effectively prevents Parnell from using his line-item veto on individual projects.
Burns' opinion is a view the Legislature's top lawyer, Doug Gardner, does not share. Gardner's memo says the governor could still issue vetoes and that the Senate's language may survive a court challenge.
In his testimony, Burns argued that his Department of Law sees it as a pretty clear-cut case. Language saying a governor can't veto a single project without torpedoing 100 other projects takes away the Constitutional power given the governor to veto, he said.
Burns said that if this language stands, a future Legislature could tie different projects together -- for example saying that if a governor vetoed any school project in Fairbanks, then schools in Anchorage and Tuntutuliak get no money.
Gara, the Anchorage Democrat, said he doesn't know which lawyer is right but agrees the Senate language needs to go. For that to happen, though, he said there needs to be a deal on the projects so senators will know what won't be vetoed. He asked Burns if he'd be willing to mediate a deal.
Burns responded that the Constitution says the House and Senate put together the budget, then the governor decides what to veto. "What I would be very loathe and reluctant to see happen is that process be corrupted and decisions to be made behind the closed doors," Burns told the committee.
Gara said governors never have public hearings on their veto decisions, and always make those calls behind closed office doors. There could be hearings on a deal, he said.
Burns pointed out that governors do have to say why they vetoed something, and that the Legislature has the final power to override a governor's vetoes.
Parnell has refused to say which projects he may or may not veto. He has said over the past week he won't abuse his veto authority or "target anybody for their stand on a particular issue."
BACK TO JUNEAU
Burns and other state lawyers said the Senate's budget language would leave projects open to court challenges even if not vetoed, putting them in doubt.
Nome Democratic Sen. Donny Olson watched from the audience as the attorney general testified. He said later that Burns is a Parnell appointee who "serves at the pleasure of the governor," and that there are differing legal opinions.
Parnell never specifically threatened to veto energy projects. But senators said their priority is to make energy more affordable. They say their package is balanced by region and they're worried vetoes will upset that balance. They also said they are trying to protect the appropriating power of the Legislature.
The package of more than 100 projects includes $65 million that Parnell wants for work toward the proposed Susitna River dam and more than $70 million for Railbelt transmission lines. Other major projects in the Senate's energy package include $28.5 million for expanding the Blue Lake hydroelectric project in Sitka and $17.6 million to start work on the Chikuminik hydro project near Bethel.
House members said they need to learn more about some of the projects, including Chikuminik hydro, but that the bigger issue is the Senate linking them. Chugiak Rep. Stoltze said the House Finance Committee today will be flying back down to Juneau, where little progress was reported Friday on the budget talks.
The House Finance Committee meeting comes as the special session is about to hit the two-week mark with no end in sight. At least some members of the public appear to be getting frustrated with the Legislature, with one man lecturing a group of lawmakers after the hearing: "You're not getting the job done."
The main issue is the language the Senate insists on having in the budget that says if Gov. Sean Parnell vetoes a single energy project, no energy project gets funded. The Senate won't pass the capital budget to the House until there's agreement on keeping that language, or identifying which energy projects that would be spared a veto.
Eagle River Republican Rep. Anna Fairclough argued the policy issue is getting lost amid all the finger-pointing. She said each of the energy projects should stand on its own merits but the Senate language forces them to all live or die together.
"The real issue is the process now links $460 million worth of projects together. That is unacceptable," she said.
Anchorage Democratic Rep. Les Gara defended the Senate to his colleagues. Gara said senators put in the language to protect the projects. He said the Senate had "legitimate fear" after the governor said earlier in the spring that there would be budget vetoes if the Legislature didn't agree to cut oil taxes.
Chugiak Republican Rep. Bill Stoltze testily responded that oil taxes are not part of the special session.
"Have you heard of the bicameral process, Mr. Gara? ... Maybe you should run for the Senate," he said.
Gara said the governor, Senate and House need to all work together and decide which of the energy projects should be included in the budget.
"We're never going to get out of this special session unless we all sit down together and decide which of these projects we're going to fund," he said.
CAN THERE BE A DEAL?
Testimony at Friday's committee meeting in Anchorage was by invitation only. A few members of the public showed up to watch, but it appeared to be mostly bureaucrats, legislative staffers and members of the press, throwing into question the notion that moving legislative hearings to Anchorage ensures citizen watchdogging.
Alaska Attorney General Burns, a Parnell appointee, testified about his opinion that the Senate language is unconstitutional because it effectively prevents Parnell from using his line-item veto on individual projects.
Burns' opinion is a view the Legislature's top lawyer, Doug Gardner, does not share. Gardner's memo says the governor could still issue vetoes and that the Senate's language may survive a court challenge.
In his testimony, Burns argued that his Department of Law sees it as a pretty clear-cut case. Language saying a governor can't veto a single project without torpedoing 100 other projects takes away the Constitutional power given the governor to veto, he said.
Burns said that if this language stands, a future Legislature could tie different projects together -- for example saying that if a governor vetoed any school project in Fairbanks, then schools in Anchorage and Tuntutuliak get no money.
Gara, the Anchorage Democrat, said he doesn't know which lawyer is right but agrees the Senate language needs to go. For that to happen, though, he said there needs to be a deal on the projects so senators will know what won't be vetoed. He asked Burns if he'd be willing to mediate a deal.
Burns responded that the Constitution says the House and Senate put together the budget, then the governor decides what to veto. "What I would be very loathe and reluctant to see happen is that process be corrupted and decisions to be made behind the closed doors," Burns told the committee.
Gara said governors never have public hearings on their veto decisions, and always make those calls behind closed office doors. There could be hearings on a deal, he said.
Burns pointed out that governors do have to say why they vetoed something, and that the Legislature has the final power to override a governor's vetoes.
Parnell has refused to say which projects he may or may not veto. He has said over the past week he won't abuse his veto authority or "target anybody for their stand on a particular issue."
BACK TO JUNEAU
Burns and other state lawyers said the Senate's budget language would leave projects open to court challenges even if not vetoed, putting them in doubt.
Nome Democratic Sen. Donny Olson watched from the audience as the attorney general testified. He said later that Burns is a Parnell appointee who "serves at the pleasure of the governor," and that there are differing legal opinions.
Parnell never specifically threatened to veto energy projects. But senators said their priority is to make energy more affordable. They say their package is balanced by region and they're worried vetoes will upset that balance. They also said they are trying to protect the appropriating power of the Legislature.
The package of more than 100 projects includes $65 million that Parnell wants for work toward the proposed Susitna River dam and more than $70 million for Railbelt transmission lines. Other major projects in the Senate's energy package include $28.5 million for expanding the Blue Lake hydroelectric project in Sitka and $17.6 million to start work on the Chikuminik hydro project near Bethel.
House members said they need to learn more about some of the projects, including Chikuminik hydro, but that the bigger issue is the Senate linking them. Chugiak Rep. Stoltze said the House Finance Committee today will be flying back down to Juneau, where little progress was reported Friday on the budget talks.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Special session hearing in Anchorage brings out bureaucrats
Nerves are frayed at the legislative special session hearing in Anchorage, as the House Finance Committee discusses energy projects in the capital budget that’s at the heart of the deadlock.
The Senate won’t pass the budget to the House because House members won’t agree to language saying if Gov. Sean Parnell vetoes a single energy project, then none of the projects are funded.
Eagle River Republican Rep. Anna Fairclough said each project should stand on its own but the Senate language forces them to all live or die together.
“The real issue is the process now links $460 million worth of projects together. That is unacceptable,” she said.
Anchorage Democratic Rep. Les Gara defended the Senate. Gara said that Senators put in the disputed language to protect the projects. He said the Senate had a “legitimate fear” after the governor said he would veto projects if the Legislature didn’t agree to his bill to cut oil taxes.
Chugiak Republican Rep. Bill Stoltze testily responded that oil taxes are not part of the special session.
“Have you heard of the bicameral process Mr. Gara? ... Maybe you should run for the Senate,” he said.
Gara said the House, Senate and governor need to work together and decide which of the energy projects should be included in the budget.
“We’re never going to get out of this special session unless we all sit down together and decide which of these projects we’re going to fund," he said.
House Republicans said the projects inserted by the Senate might be good, but they don’t know enough about some of them to be comfortable. Gara said in a break in the meeting that if the House Finance Committee doesn’t think it knows enough about the projects, it should have been holding some meetings in the past two weeks.
Bringing the special session hearing to Anchorage from Juneau hasn’t brought out average citizens to watch. The Legislative Information Office hearing room on West Fourth Avenue seems mostly filled up with bureaucrats and press.
Whittier harbor expansion stirs up oil spilled by 1964 tsunami
A planned $4 million harbor expansion in Whittier has gotten a lot more expensive after dredging work brought up oily gravel. The Alaska Public Radio Network reports the oil has been sitting on the seafloor off Whittier since the 1964 earthquake, when tidal waves hit a tank farm and spilled the fuel. It had been thought the resulting fire burned off most of the fuel.
Dredging work had to be halted until regulators from DEC and the Army Corps of Engineers decided how the contaminated gravel would be dealt with. They ended up piling it up on Alaska Railroad property near the end of the Anton Anderson Tunnel that connects Whittier with the Seward Highway.
That's about 1,000 dump truck loads. [Gary Folley, manager of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation's Prevention and Emergency Response Program,] says the gravel is being drained before being added to the pile, and work has resumed with more precautions to protect the waters at the dredge site.Read more at APRN, and link to the audio report there.
Dredging work had to be halted until regulators from DEC and the Army Corps of Engineers decided how the contaminated gravel would be dealt with. They ended up piling it up on Alaska Railroad property near the end of the Anton Anderson Tunnel that connects Whittier with the Seward Highway.
That's about 1,000 dump truck loads. [Gary Folley, manager of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation's Prevention and Emergency Response Program,] says the gravel is being drained before being added to the pile, and work has resumed with more precautions to protect the waters at the dredge site.Read more at APRN, and link to the audio report there.
BP heavy-oil pilot well starts production
A trickle of new oil into the trans-Alaska pipeline has BP Alaska officials optimistic about a $100 million investment.
For more than a week, the company has produced about 350 barrels per day of new heavy crude oil -- petroleum that flows like molasses or cold honey -- from a test well in the Ugnu Formation in the Milne Point lease area on Alaska's North Slope.
The output from the first of four test wells in the company's Milne Point S-Pad Pilot project is less important than what the company is learning, said Eric West, its heavy-oil project director.
The project is in its third year, and its success has more to do with evidence of the reservoir physic, West said.
BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said the biggest known oil reserves left on the North Slope are heavy and viscous oil, so finding ways to produce those reservoirs is an important part of company strategy.
Heavy oil has multiple challenges, starting with getting the low-viscosity material out of the ground and then down the pipeline.
BP's solution to moving the oil to tidewater is to dilute it with light oil produced nearby, meaning heavy oil must be extracted while there's enough light oil around to create a mixture.
The pilot project is about extracting the oil that has molecules that tend to stick together and do not naturally move easily from rock formations into a wellbore.
BP has two kinds of test wells in the project. Two of the four are modified horizontal wells: shafts sent down vertically and then horizontally. In the business, it's described in anatomical terms akin to a human leg and foot.
"We put a pump at the heel," West said. "Then we perforate the well between the heel and the toe. And so oil is flowing into that horizontal section. It's being motivated to move up to the surface by the pump, which is at the heel."
The pump creates suction in what would be the foot. The well also contains a device to propel the heavy oil upward.
The other test-well type in the pilot project is a CHOPS well, which stands for "cold heavy oil production with sand." That well includes a lift system to auger up heavy oil and significant quantities of sand -- up to 50 percent of the mix.
The process creates "wormholes," channels that radiate horizontally from the borehole and feed sand and oil into the well. On the well pad, a mix of sand and heavy oil is inserted into tanks and heated to 180 degrees, which causes sand to fall out.
The well that began producing oil April 22 is a horizontal well. The 350 barrels per day it has produced is not an indication of its full potential, West said.
"In fact, the pump is at about half speed and there's hardly any drawdown, or pressure on the reservoir, which is all good news," he said. ""What it means is that the formation wants to flow. It has a high potential. We're very enthusiastic about the implications."
BP planned to slowly lower pressure in the wellbore and keep an eye on the well.
"In about two week's time, if all goes smoothly, as it has so far, we'll probably bring on one of the first CHOPS wells," he said. "That should be a little bit of a rougher ride." By the end of the year, West said, BP hopes to have all four wells producing.
For more than a week, the company has produced about 350 barrels per day of new heavy crude oil -- petroleum that flows like molasses or cold honey -- from a test well in the Ugnu Formation in the Milne Point lease area on Alaska's North Slope.
The output from the first of four test wells in the company's Milne Point S-Pad Pilot project is less important than what the company is learning, said Eric West, its heavy-oil project director.
The project is in its third year, and its success has more to do with evidence of the reservoir physic, West said.
BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said the biggest known oil reserves left on the North Slope are heavy and viscous oil, so finding ways to produce those reservoirs is an important part of company strategy.
Heavy oil has multiple challenges, starting with getting the low-viscosity material out of the ground and then down the pipeline.
BP's solution to moving the oil to tidewater is to dilute it with light oil produced nearby, meaning heavy oil must be extracted while there's enough light oil around to create a mixture.
The pilot project is about extracting the oil that has molecules that tend to stick together and do not naturally move easily from rock formations into a wellbore.
BP has two kinds of test wells in the project. Two of the four are modified horizontal wells: shafts sent down vertically and then horizontally. In the business, it's described in anatomical terms akin to a human leg and foot.
"We put a pump at the heel," West said. "Then we perforate the well between the heel and the toe. And so oil is flowing into that horizontal section. It's being motivated to move up to the surface by the pump, which is at the heel."
The pump creates suction in what would be the foot. The well also contains a device to propel the heavy oil upward.
The other test-well type in the pilot project is a CHOPS well, which stands for "cold heavy oil production with sand." That well includes a lift system to auger up heavy oil and significant quantities of sand -- up to 50 percent of the mix.
The process creates "wormholes," channels that radiate horizontally from the borehole and feed sand and oil into the well. On the well pad, a mix of sand and heavy oil is inserted into tanks and heated to 180 degrees, which causes sand to fall out.
The well that began producing oil April 22 is a horizontal well. The 350 barrels per day it has produced is not an indication of its full potential, West said.
"In fact, the pump is at about half speed and there's hardly any drawdown, or pressure on the reservoir, which is all good news," he said. ""What it means is that the formation wants to flow. It has a high potential. We're very enthusiastic about the implications."
BP planned to slowly lower pressure in the wellbore and keep an eye on the well.
"In about two week's time, if all goes smoothly, as it has so far, we'll probably bring on one of the first CHOPS wells," he said. "That should be a little bit of a rougher ride." By the end of the year, West said, BP hopes to have all four wells producing.
Today's oil, gas, gold, zinc prices
North Slope oil: $125.48 per barrel, up $1.07
U.S. natural gas (Henry Hub): $4.50 per million BTU, up $0.11
Gold (N.Y. Mercantile): $1,556.00 per ounce, up $25.30
Zinc: $1.0073 per pound, down 0.48 cents
50 Fairbanks teachers sent notice of possible layoffs
FAIRBANKS — The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District has sent notifications of possible layoffs to 50 teachers for the coming year.
The “doubtful status” employee notifications are directly tied to the district’s budget position — not knowing how much state funding will increase, if at all.
The notifications are part of a contractual agreement for non-tenured teachers through the Fairbanks Education Association. This doesn’t mean 50 teachers will be laid off, but it does warn of possible layoffs.
Through the contractual agreement, non-tenured staff members have to be notified of their employee status by the end of the school year — May 24 for teachers. The 50 non-tenured teachers have worked for the school district for one year or less.
Layoffs are only one cost-cutting option the district will have to consider if state funding doesn’t come through.
Superintendent Pete Lewis’ optimism was boosted Thursday when he heard that legislators are willing to add more education funding.
“I’m hopeful and optimistic we’re not going to have to go down this road,” he said, adding the district is in a “holding pattern.”
“If it doesn’t come through, we have to have the district positioned” for possible layoffs, he said.
The school board will need a full array of options if it has to deal with making more cuts, Lewis said.
The district is looking at a $2.6 million budget shortfall without increased school aid.
The school district, which also gets a large portion of its funds from borough property taxes, has until June 30 to finalize the budget.
The “doubtful status” employee notifications are directly tied to the district’s budget position — not knowing how much state funding will increase, if at all.
The notifications are part of a contractual agreement for non-tenured teachers through the Fairbanks Education Association. This doesn’t mean 50 teachers will be laid off, but it does warn of possible layoffs.
Through the contractual agreement, non-tenured staff members have to be notified of their employee status by the end of the school year — May 24 for teachers. The 50 non-tenured teachers have worked for the school district for one year or less.
Layoffs are only one cost-cutting option the district will have to consider if state funding doesn’t come through.
Superintendent Pete Lewis’ optimism was boosted Thursday when he heard that legislators are willing to add more education funding.
“I’m hopeful and optimistic we’re not going to have to go down this road,” he said, adding the district is in a “holding pattern.”
“If it doesn’t come through, we have to have the district positioned” for possible layoffs, he said.
The school board will need a full array of options if it has to deal with making more cuts, Lewis said.
The district is looking at a $2.6 million budget shortfall without increased school aid.
The school district, which also gets a large portion of its funds from borough property taxes, has until June 30 to finalize the budget.
Legislature schedules Anchorage hearing today
The Legislature's special session is coming to Anchorage today, but House Democrats say it's a ploy and are mostly boycotting the daylong hearing.
"They're just throwing gasoline on the fire; that's all this is going to be," said Anchorage Democratic Rep. Mike Doogan. "They've decided the (Capitol-based press) didn't do the job they wanted done and so they're going to go to Anchorage and see if they can get their pals in talk radio to help them out."
The Republicans who lead the House Finance Committee scheduled today's Anchorage hearing.
The rest of the Legislature is supposed to remain in Juneau while the committee heads up to Southcentral for the one-day event. Chugiak Republican Rep. Bill Stoltze described the relocation as "another venue to discuss the issue, maybe a different set of fresh eyes and press on it."
House Republican leaders allege the Senate and the news media have wrongly portrayed the special session fight as being about oil taxes. They say it's about the Senate trying to force the House to accept budget language it doesn't want.
The language says if Parnell vetoes a single energy project, none of the energy projects get funded. The Senate refuses to pass the capital budget to the House until there's an agreement on it.
Senators say they put the language in the budget because Parnell threatened vetoes if the Legislature didn't pass his bill to slash oil taxes. The oil tax bill was squashed in the Senate and is not part of the special session that's now in its 12th day.
Today's House Finance Committee hearing in Anchorage will have Parnell administration testimony in the morning from the Alaska Energy Authority and the Alaska Housing Finance Corp. about some of the energy projects in the budget. The afternoon is going to feature Attorney General John Burns, a Parnell appointee, discussing his memo that the Senate language represents an unconstitutional attack on the governor's line-item veto authority. It's a view that the Legislature's top lawyer says he's not sure about.
House Minority Leader Beth Kerttula on Thursday said it's an unnecessary trip. The Juneau Democrat said most of those testifying have to travel from Juneau.
"We also think that besides being expensive it's pretty exclusive. Rather than opening up a hearing to the public and having testimony across the board ... they are having limited testimony and only taking one side of things," she said.
Kerttula said the House Democratic caucus believes the 11 members of the House Finance committee should stay in Juneau during the special session with the rest of the legislators. She said she suspected little would get done this weekend with finance members gone.
She said her caucus is just sending one of its members to the committee hearing, Anchorage Democratic Rep. Les Gara. The other two Democrats on the Finance Committee, Doogan and Fairbanks Rep. David Guttenberg, are planning to stay in Juneau and join the hearing by teleconference.
Chugiak Rep. Stoltze, who organized the hearing, said the House is frustrated by waiting for the Senate to give it the budget. He said the projects should stand on their own merits and the hearing will discuss "the constitutionality of the language the Senate is proposing, which jeopardizes the funding of all the energy projects."
Stoltze said the finance committee has held hearings in Anchorage in the past and that he didn't see a reason to continue to sit tight in Juneau. "There's not a lot going on around here, quite frankly," he said.
IS THERE A SOLUTION?
House Democrats said they have a simple plan for ending the special session. They said the governor needs to "renounce his threat" to veto projects in retaliation for the oil tax issue. Then the Senate needs to remove the disputed budget language challenging Parnell on vetoes. Finally, they said, the House, Senate and Parnell need to agree on what projects should be in the budget.
Parnell has refused to tell legislators what projects he may or may not veto, saying the Senate needs to simply follow the legislative process and pass a budget.
Senators point to Parnell's statement this spring that he'd need to cut capital spending if the oil tax cut didn't pass. Parnell said the Legislature would be dooming the state to a future of lower oil production and therefore less tax money over the long term. Senators said that didn't make sense and Parnell's bill would give away billions. Now they say they are afraid he's going to retaliate.
Parnell has been saying this week he wouldn't abuse his veto authority or "target anybody for their stand on a particular issue." Parnell said he repeated that pledge to Senate leaders and at venues including a dinner with lawmakers from both parties at the governor's mansion. But he turned down an invitation to talk about it to the bipartisan Senate majority.
Parnell said he "wouldn't appear in caucus to say in secret what I have been saying publicly."
Senate President Gary Stevens told The Associated Press on Thursday that Parnell has "removed himself" from efforts to reach a compromise.
Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, said Parnell expressed fear the caucus meeting would turn confrontational, particularly with the Democratic members, or into a form of "kabuki theater."
"What he said is that if they want to know what I think, all they have to do is read my press releases, which, again, seems to be a distancing from the legislative process, you know, unnecessarily," Stevens said.
Today's House Finance Committee hearing will be at the Anchorage Legislative Information Office at 716 W. Fourth Ave. Suite 220. It will run from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and then pick up again in the afternoon from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
"They're just throwing gasoline on the fire; that's all this is going to be," said Anchorage Democratic Rep. Mike Doogan. "They've decided the (Capitol-based press) didn't do the job they wanted done and so they're going to go to Anchorage and see if they can get their pals in talk radio to help them out."
The Republicans who lead the House Finance Committee scheduled today's Anchorage hearing.
The rest of the Legislature is supposed to remain in Juneau while the committee heads up to Southcentral for the one-day event. Chugiak Republican Rep. Bill Stoltze described the relocation as "another venue to discuss the issue, maybe a different set of fresh eyes and press on it."
House Republican leaders allege the Senate and the news media have wrongly portrayed the special session fight as being about oil taxes. They say it's about the Senate trying to force the House to accept budget language it doesn't want.
The language says if Parnell vetoes a single energy project, none of the energy projects get funded. The Senate refuses to pass the capital budget to the House until there's an agreement on it.
Senators say they put the language in the budget because Parnell threatened vetoes if the Legislature didn't pass his bill to slash oil taxes. The oil tax bill was squashed in the Senate and is not part of the special session that's now in its 12th day.
Today's House Finance Committee hearing in Anchorage will have Parnell administration testimony in the morning from the Alaska Energy Authority and the Alaska Housing Finance Corp. about some of the energy projects in the budget. The afternoon is going to feature Attorney General John Burns, a Parnell appointee, discussing his memo that the Senate language represents an unconstitutional attack on the governor's line-item veto authority. It's a view that the Legislature's top lawyer says he's not sure about.
House Minority Leader Beth Kerttula on Thursday said it's an unnecessary trip. The Juneau Democrat said most of those testifying have to travel from Juneau.
"We also think that besides being expensive it's pretty exclusive. Rather than opening up a hearing to the public and having testimony across the board ... they are having limited testimony and only taking one side of things," she said.
Kerttula said the House Democratic caucus believes the 11 members of the House Finance committee should stay in Juneau during the special session with the rest of the legislators. She said she suspected little would get done this weekend with finance members gone.
She said her caucus is just sending one of its members to the committee hearing, Anchorage Democratic Rep. Les Gara. The other two Democrats on the Finance Committee, Doogan and Fairbanks Rep. David Guttenberg, are planning to stay in Juneau and join the hearing by teleconference.
Chugiak Rep. Stoltze, who organized the hearing, said the House is frustrated by waiting for the Senate to give it the budget. He said the projects should stand on their own merits and the hearing will discuss "the constitutionality of the language the Senate is proposing, which jeopardizes the funding of all the energy projects."
Stoltze said the finance committee has held hearings in Anchorage in the past and that he didn't see a reason to continue to sit tight in Juneau. "There's not a lot going on around here, quite frankly," he said.
IS THERE A SOLUTION?
House Democrats said they have a simple plan for ending the special session. They said the governor needs to "renounce his threat" to veto projects in retaliation for the oil tax issue. Then the Senate needs to remove the disputed budget language challenging Parnell on vetoes. Finally, they said, the House, Senate and Parnell need to agree on what projects should be in the budget.
Parnell has refused to tell legislators what projects he may or may not veto, saying the Senate needs to simply follow the legislative process and pass a budget.
Senators point to Parnell's statement this spring that he'd need to cut capital spending if the oil tax cut didn't pass. Parnell said the Legislature would be dooming the state to a future of lower oil production and therefore less tax money over the long term. Senators said that didn't make sense and Parnell's bill would give away billions. Now they say they are afraid he's going to retaliate.
Parnell has been saying this week he wouldn't abuse his veto authority or "target anybody for their stand on a particular issue." Parnell said he repeated that pledge to Senate leaders and at venues including a dinner with lawmakers from both parties at the governor's mansion. But he turned down an invitation to talk about it to the bipartisan Senate majority.
Parnell said he "wouldn't appear in caucus to say in secret what I have been saying publicly."
Senate President Gary Stevens told The Associated Press on Thursday that Parnell has "removed himself" from efforts to reach a compromise.
Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, said Parnell expressed fear the caucus meeting would turn confrontational, particularly with the Democratic members, or into a form of "kabuki theater."
"What he said is that if they want to know what I think, all they have to do is read my press releases, which, again, seems to be a distancing from the legislative process, you know, unnecessarily," Stevens said.
Today's House Finance Committee hearing will be at the Anchorage Legislative Information Office at 716 W. Fourth Ave. Suite 220. It will run from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and then pick up again in the afternoon from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Senate tricks drain power from House, Gov. Parnell COMPASS: Other points of view
Alaskans deserve better from their elected representatives than a special session budget stand-off in Juneau. The legislature ended the 90-day regular session gridlocked, without accomplishing our only real responsibility, passing the 2012 budgets. Blame is being thrown around about who is responsible. Senate members accuse the governor and his complicity with a House of Representatives that refuses to comply with Senate demands.
Now, a third of the way through this special session, we aren't much closer to final budgets. That's because the Senate refuses to pass the capital budget to the House until the House guarantees to not change contingency language that our Attorney General and the Department of Law say is unconstitutional -- and that many House members believe compromises our sovereign responsibilities.
Squabbling does not make good government. Alaskans rightfully expect statesmanship from their elected officials. It is time to set aside political rhetoric, fix the problem, and move forward.
Sadly, today's political gridlock is not about the merits of a weighty policy issue. It is about an attempt by the Senate to fence off more than 100 capital budget items. Their scheme makes the passage of any one item contingent upon the passage of every item, without consideration of an individual expenditure's relative merits. Millions in new projects have not been fully vetted by legislative committees before the public, but are fenced in with other popular expenditures like the AHFC Weatherization and Home Energy Rebate programs. The Senate scheme is a blatant attempt to usurp the governor's constitutionally established line-item veto authority, despite the legislature's own constitutional last word -- a veto override.
But it is more than that. Not only does the Senate's scheme take away the governor's rightful role in the process, it also denies the same to the House. Our members are frustrated by the Senate's refusal to transmit the capital budget without the guarantee we will not change their potentially unconstitutional contingency language. Nearly two weeks past the end of the regular session, the Senate still refuses to relinquish the capital budget without this promise. As a result, the House has not yet had the opportunity to consider the Senate's scheme in our deliberative process, and to express our independent voice on what projects may or may not be best for the state.
One of the greatest concerns with fencing projects is the precedent it sets for future legislatures. If we allow this Senate language to stand, we can only presume that more budgets will contain questionable bulk expenditure lists that must be accepted on an all-or-none basis. This is clearly not what our Constitution's writers had in mind when they crafted the foundations for Alaska's fiscal management, and for the bicameral institution that is the Legislature
It has been suggested that the House simply pass the Senate budget and let the governor file a lawsuit over its constitutionality. This capitulation would be a poor exhibit of statecraft, delegating the legislature's responsibility for sound decision-making to the court system. No legislator should be willing to consider such a dereliction of duty.
Now, a third of the way through this special session, we aren't much closer to final budgets. That's because the Senate refuses to pass the capital budget to the House until the House guarantees to not change contingency language that our Attorney General and the Department of Law say is unconstitutional -- and that many House members believe compromises our sovereign responsibilities.
Squabbling does not make good government. Alaskans rightfully expect statesmanship from their elected officials. It is time to set aside political rhetoric, fix the problem, and move forward.
Sadly, today's political gridlock is not about the merits of a weighty policy issue. It is about an attempt by the Senate to fence off more than 100 capital budget items. Their scheme makes the passage of any one item contingent upon the passage of every item, without consideration of an individual expenditure's relative merits. Millions in new projects have not been fully vetted by legislative committees before the public, but are fenced in with other popular expenditures like the AHFC Weatherization and Home Energy Rebate programs. The Senate scheme is a blatant attempt to usurp the governor's constitutionally established line-item veto authority, despite the legislature's own constitutional last word -- a veto override.
But it is more than that. Not only does the Senate's scheme take away the governor's rightful role in the process, it also denies the same to the House. Our members are frustrated by the Senate's refusal to transmit the capital budget without the guarantee we will not change their potentially unconstitutional contingency language. Nearly two weeks past the end of the regular session, the Senate still refuses to relinquish the capital budget without this promise. As a result, the House has not yet had the opportunity to consider the Senate's scheme in our deliberative process, and to express our independent voice on what projects may or may not be best for the state.
One of the greatest concerns with fencing projects is the precedent it sets for future legislatures. If we allow this Senate language to stand, we can only presume that more budgets will contain questionable bulk expenditure lists that must be accepted on an all-or-none basis. This is clearly not what our Constitution's writers had in mind when they crafted the foundations for Alaska's fiscal management, and for the bicameral institution that is the Legislature
It has been suggested that the House simply pass the Senate budget and let the governor file a lawsuit over its constitutionality. This capitulation would be a poor exhibit of statecraft, delegating the legislature's responsibility for sound decision-making to the court system. No legislator should be willing to consider such a dereliction of duty.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Early morning ice fall kills Alaska Range climber in tent
Ice cascading down Ruth Gorge killed a Lower 48 climber early today, according to the National Park Service. The man was alone in his tent when the large piece of ice tumbled down around 1 a.m. and he died hours later while being flown off the mountain in the park's high-altitude helicopter.
The National Park Service declined to release the name of the dead climber, pending notification of next of kin.
After completing a climb up 10,300-foot Moose's Tooth, not far from Mount McKinley, two climbing parties including the climber who perished were camped on what's known as Root Canal, a glacier landing strip and camping area directly south of the challenging peak.
Four climbers survived the ice fall without injuries.
"The other folks were very lucky," park service spokeswoman Kris Fister said.
The survivors attended to the injured climber, who was unconscious and barely breathing. One of them called 911 via satellite phone and National Park Service rangers were immediately notified.
Weather and darkness prevented a night rescue attempt. Shortly after daybreak, the park service's high altitude A-Star B3 helicopter with pilot and two Denali mountaineering rangers headed for the Root Canal.
The rangers loaded the injured climber into the helicopter and flew to an Aeromed air ambulance staged at Mile 133 of the Parks Highway, near the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge.
The climber died during the flight, according to a ranger and paramedic on board.
The helicopter flew the climber's body back to Talkeetna before returning to the accident site to evacuate the surviving climbers, who had lost their climbing gear and tents in the avalanche.
Moose's Tooth is a distinctive face across the gorge from Mount Dickey.
"This complex massif has no forgiving route to the summit," wrote Joseph Puryear in his highly regarded book "Alaska Climbing," which details a variety of Alaska Range routes. "Its north face is strew with hanging glaciers, its colossal east face contains some of the most severe alpine routes in Alaska, its southern flank is a massive rock rampart split by thin ice couloirs."
The Ham and Eggs route taken by the man killed Thursday was first climbed in 1975 by a three-climber team that included renown author Jon Krakauer.
"Ham and Eggs is one of the ultra-classic routes of the Alaska Range, providing a direct line to this popular summit," wrote Puryear. "The climbing is fun and moderate, and it gives the feel of a big Alaskan alpine route. The climb is characterized by many short crux ice and rock sections connected by easier snow climbing."
The climber who died and the others were camped near the base of Ham and Eggs, Fister said, who was not sure when they were due to fly out.
Ruth Gorge is popular, but in recent years, it has also proven deadly.
Last May, 39-year-old Canadian Andrew Herzenberg and 42-year-old Israeli Avner Magen, both from Toronto, perished after being swept away by an avalanche descending a steep gully of Ruth Gorge.
The previous year, Colorado climbers Sarah Fritz and Irena Overeem won the prestigious Mislow-Swanson/PMI Denali Pro Award for initiating and leading a technical rescue of an injured climber who broke his leg and ankle after falling 60 feet on Moose's Tooth. Fritz strapped the injured climber to her back and, with a belay provided by Overeem and a few others, rappelled 600 feet to get the injured man to the base of a couloir, where a sled and more help awaited.
Fister said Denali climbing rangers recall about 10 deaths in the gorge over the past decade.
Those attempting Moose's Tooth don't have to register with the park service or buy a $200 permit, as Mount McKinley climbers are required to do.
"It's a popular area for spring climbing," Fister said. "It's probably a different type of climber than you see going up Denali."
The National Park Service declined to release the name of the dead climber, pending notification of next of kin.
After completing a climb up 10,300-foot Moose's Tooth, not far from Mount McKinley, two climbing parties including the climber who perished were camped on what's known as Root Canal, a glacier landing strip and camping area directly south of the challenging peak.
Four climbers survived the ice fall without injuries.
"The other folks were very lucky," park service spokeswoman Kris Fister said.
The survivors attended to the injured climber, who was unconscious and barely breathing. One of them called 911 via satellite phone and National Park Service rangers were immediately notified.
Weather and darkness prevented a night rescue attempt. Shortly after daybreak, the park service's high altitude A-Star B3 helicopter with pilot and two Denali mountaineering rangers headed for the Root Canal.
The rangers loaded the injured climber into the helicopter and flew to an Aeromed air ambulance staged at Mile 133 of the Parks Highway, near the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge.
The climber died during the flight, according to a ranger and paramedic on board.
The helicopter flew the climber's body back to Talkeetna before returning to the accident site to evacuate the surviving climbers, who had lost their climbing gear and tents in the avalanche.
Moose's Tooth is a distinctive face across the gorge from Mount Dickey.
"This complex massif has no forgiving route to the summit," wrote Joseph Puryear in his highly regarded book "Alaska Climbing," which details a variety of Alaska Range routes. "Its north face is strew with hanging glaciers, its colossal east face contains some of the most severe alpine routes in Alaska, its southern flank is a massive rock rampart split by thin ice couloirs."
The Ham and Eggs route taken by the man killed Thursday was first climbed in 1975 by a three-climber team that included renown author Jon Krakauer.
"Ham and Eggs is one of the ultra-classic routes of the Alaska Range, providing a direct line to this popular summit," wrote Puryear. "The climbing is fun and moderate, and it gives the feel of a big Alaskan alpine route. The climb is characterized by many short crux ice and rock sections connected by easier snow climbing."
The climber who died and the others were camped near the base of Ham and Eggs, Fister said, who was not sure when they were due to fly out.
Ruth Gorge is popular, but in recent years, it has also proven deadly.
Last May, 39-year-old Canadian Andrew Herzenberg and 42-year-old Israeli Avner Magen, both from Toronto, perished after being swept away by an avalanche descending a steep gully of Ruth Gorge.
The previous year, Colorado climbers Sarah Fritz and Irena Overeem won the prestigious Mislow-Swanson/PMI Denali Pro Award for initiating and leading a technical rescue of an injured climber who broke his leg and ankle after falling 60 feet on Moose's Tooth. Fritz strapped the injured climber to her back and, with a belay provided by Overeem and a few others, rappelled 600 feet to get the injured man to the base of a couloir, where a sled and more help awaited.
Fister said Denali climbing rangers recall about 10 deaths in the gorge over the past decade.
Those attempting Moose's Tooth don't have to register with the park service or buy a $200 permit, as Mount McKinley climbers are required to do.
"It's a popular area for spring climbing," Fister said. "It's probably a different type of climber than you see going up Denali."
Today's oil, gas, gold, zinc prices
North Slope oil: $124.41 per barrel, up $0.10
U.S. natural gas (Henry Hub): $4.39 per million BTU, up $0.04
Gold (N.Y. Mercantile): $1,530.70 per ounce, up $14.00 Zinc: $1.0121 per pound, down 1.16 cents
U.S. natural gas (Henry Hub): $4.39 per million BTU, up $0.04
Gold (N.Y. Mercantile): $1,530.70 per ounce, up $14.00 Zinc: $1.0121 per pound, down 1.16 cents
Board of Game bans Tasers for hunting
It may be OK to use a Taser to stun a mugger, but not a moose.
The Alaska Board of Game recently passed a statewide proposal prohibiting the use of electronic control devices, a.k.a. Tasers, for the taking of game, except under a permit issued by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
The action was taken during a Board of Game meetingin Anchorage March 26-30.
According to a press release issued by ADF&G on Thursday, the department submitted the proposal after recent media attention about the use of Tasers on wildlife, particularly bears and moose, and subsequent public and wildlife safety concerns relating to their use.
ADF&G biologists in Fairbanks unsuccessfully used a Taser on a cow moose a little more than two months ago in an attempt to stun it so they could remove a rope from around its neck. The moose had been roaming an east Fairbanks neighborhood with a rope around its neck after some local residents used the rope to pull it out of the Chena River in early January.
Biologists used a special wildlife Taser in an attempt to stun the moose on Feb. 4 in the Hamilton Acres subdivision but could not get the probes to stick, which they attributed to the animal’s thick winter hair.
It was the first time state wildlife officials used a Taser on an animal in the northern region of the state but biologists in Southcentral and Southeast have experimented with the Taser on animals.
“The department recognized the lack of authority to regulate the use of ECDs on wildlife and brought the concern to the Board of Game,” the press release stated. “Restricting the use of ECD technology will reduce the risk of improper or unethical use on wildlife by the public or other agency personnel who are unfamiliar with the potential effects and hazards.”
The change does not impact other legal uses of Tasers by the general public for the purpose of personal protection, or their use by law enforcement in human restraint.
Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - entry Board of Game bans Tasers for hunting
First mosquito of the season
It’s not printed in the Alaska Hunting Regulations but the mosquito season officially opened in Fairbanks on Sunday. At least it did at my house.
I spotted, heard and killed my first mosquito of the season late Sunday afternoon. It was typical of the blood suckers you see at this time of the season — big, slow and stupid — but it was a mosquito nonetheless so it had to die and I killed it.
I heard it before I saw it. It announced its presence just a second earlier when it buzzed by my ear. I squashed it against my chest with my hand when it landed on my shirt.
There was no feeling of triumph or joy. I did not pose for a picture while holding up its proboscis.
Having eaten many mosquitoes in my 25 years in Alaska and knowing what they taste like, I did not attempt to salvage any meat from the bird, I mean bug, not even the backstrap. I’ve always thought it’s too bad mosquitoes don’t taste like M&Ms.
As is usually the case, the first mosquitoes of the spring accompanied the first “hot” weather of the spring. The temperature hit 59 degrees on both Saturday and Sunday, the first time this spring the temperature at Fairbanks International Airport hit the 50-degree mark.
Who knows what this year’s crop of mosquitoes will be like, but I think it’s safe to say that we’ll be stuck with them — or by them — for the next five months.
Keep your fingers crossed for a deep, hard freeze in the next week or two to wipe out this early batch.
And just in case you were wondering, there is no limit on the number of mosquitoes you can "harvest" during a summer.
Interior Alaska villages making plans to increase biomass use
FAIRBANKS — Some Interior villages are already sold on biomass. Community leaders shared how they harvest energy from the forests and rivers around them with roughly 200 attendees at the Alaska Wood Energy Conference on Wednesday.
“We are a rural community that wants to promote to other rural communities that this can be done,” Tanana city manager Bear Ketzler said.
The three-day event focused on various fuel types, technologies, environmental impacts and supply issues associated with wood energy.
The Tok School installed a wood chip-fired boiler in November that is fueled by local forest thinning projects and waste wood. Project leaders described the purpose and performance of the 5.5-million BTU steam boiler.
“It’s been pure savings,” said Scott MacManus, executive director for the Alaska Gateway School District.
The system should offset 65,000 gallons of heating fuel per year, saving $268,450. It was inspired by skyrocketing energy costs. The school district was spending $300,000 per year on heat and power and was forced to sacrifice music, art and other elective programs.
“This is why we’re involved in the wood business right now, because we have to do something to maintain the quality of education,” MacManus said.
They have 40,000 acres of continuous fuel at their fingertips, more than they could ever use, said Jeff Hermanns, Tok area forester for the state of Alaska. Foresters want to remove 3,000 acres to dampen an ever-present fire hazard, but the wood is too small to turn into board.
So Hermanns and MacManus planned an energy project around the fuel source, a theme that was repeated by several conference speakers.
The scrawny spruce trees turned out to be perfect fodder for a Rottochopper grinder.
“We were told you can’t use whole trees for biomass,” Hermanns said. “We broke that myth.”
They can stuff dozens of whole trees into a grinder to create wood chips, which is cheaper and cleaner than stacking the wood into decks and burning it.
“There were 100 decks when I got (to Tok),” Hermanns said. “That’s probably three years worth of fuel for the school. We just put a match to it.”
They also have been monitoring air quality.
The boiler has an electrostatic precipitator, which filters particulates from the exhaust. It was emitting 14 parts per million during a recent test, when levels in Fairbanks were three times as high.
“You could have stuck your head in the stack, taken a deep breath and you’re doing better than you are in downtown Fairbanks,” MacManus said.
Power generation is next. The school district is collecting bids for a steam turbine to produce its own electricity, which now costs 30 cents per kilowatt hour. That will double their savings to about $500,000 annually, MacManus said.
“Which buys us a counselor, a music program, phys-ed people,” MacManus said.
Tanana also has been saving money with wood, said Ketzler, the city manager. The resource, which is dragged from the Tanana River or hauled in by snowmachine, is less abundant and more expensive — $275 per cord — than in Tok. But it still beats $6.50 per gallon of fuel and 70 cents per kilowatt-hour.
“We could pay $500 a cord and we’d still be saving money,” Ketzler said.
In 2007, the city installed two wood-fired boilers, both putting out 450 BTUs, and a new building at the washeteria for less than $100,000.
The system has replaced about 6,000 gallons of fuel — more than half — with 50 cords of wood per year. It burns at 2,000 degrees and emits no smoke, he said.
Tanana is planning 12 more biomass systems in the next year and a half at the school, senior center, city shop and teachers’ apartments, among other places.
Financing comes from federal grants, state legislative funding and private loans.
Together these projects should save 33,000 gallons of fuel per year and consume 200 more cords of wood, Ketzler said.
He plans to add solar thermal panels to the senior center and start a greenhouse to dump extra energy in the next few years.
“These kind of energy-related projects are going to be the lifeblood of keeping rural Alaska going,” he said.
“We are a rural community that wants to promote to other rural communities that this can be done,” Tanana city manager Bear Ketzler said.
The three-day event focused on various fuel types, technologies, environmental impacts and supply issues associated with wood energy.
The Tok School installed a wood chip-fired boiler in November that is fueled by local forest thinning projects and waste wood. Project leaders described the purpose and performance of the 5.5-million BTU steam boiler.
“It’s been pure savings,” said Scott MacManus, executive director for the Alaska Gateway School District.
The system should offset 65,000 gallons of heating fuel per year, saving $268,450. It was inspired by skyrocketing energy costs. The school district was spending $300,000 per year on heat and power and was forced to sacrifice music, art and other elective programs.
“This is why we’re involved in the wood business right now, because we have to do something to maintain the quality of education,” MacManus said.
They have 40,000 acres of continuous fuel at their fingertips, more than they could ever use, said Jeff Hermanns, Tok area forester for the state of Alaska. Foresters want to remove 3,000 acres to dampen an ever-present fire hazard, but the wood is too small to turn into board.
So Hermanns and MacManus planned an energy project around the fuel source, a theme that was repeated by several conference speakers.
The scrawny spruce trees turned out to be perfect fodder for a Rottochopper grinder.
“We were told you can’t use whole trees for biomass,” Hermanns said. “We broke that myth.”
They can stuff dozens of whole trees into a grinder to create wood chips, which is cheaper and cleaner than stacking the wood into decks and burning it.
“There were 100 decks when I got (to Tok),” Hermanns said. “That’s probably three years worth of fuel for the school. We just put a match to it.”
They also have been monitoring air quality.
The boiler has an electrostatic precipitator, which filters particulates from the exhaust. It was emitting 14 parts per million during a recent test, when levels in Fairbanks were three times as high.
“You could have stuck your head in the stack, taken a deep breath and you’re doing better than you are in downtown Fairbanks,” MacManus said.
Power generation is next. The school district is collecting bids for a steam turbine to produce its own electricity, which now costs 30 cents per kilowatt hour. That will double their savings to about $500,000 annually, MacManus said.
“Which buys us a counselor, a music program, phys-ed people,” MacManus said.
Tanana also has been saving money with wood, said Ketzler, the city manager. The resource, which is dragged from the Tanana River or hauled in by snowmachine, is less abundant and more expensive — $275 per cord — than in Tok. But it still beats $6.50 per gallon of fuel and 70 cents per kilowatt-hour.
“We could pay $500 a cord and we’d still be saving money,” Ketzler said.
In 2007, the city installed two wood-fired boilers, both putting out 450 BTUs, and a new building at the washeteria for less than $100,000.
The system has replaced about 6,000 gallons of fuel — more than half — with 50 cords of wood per year. It burns at 2,000 degrees and emits no smoke, he said.
Tanana is planning 12 more biomass systems in the next year and a half at the school, senior center, city shop and teachers’ apartments, among other places.
Financing comes from federal grants, state legislative funding and private loans.
Together these projects should save 33,000 gallons of fuel per year and consume 200 more cords of wood, Ketzler said.
He plans to add solar thermal panels to the senior center and start a greenhouse to dump extra energy in the next few years.
“These kind of energy-related projects are going to be the lifeblood of keeping rural Alaska going,” he said.
Parnell promises he won't use veto to punish legislators TAX CUTS: House Republicans plan Anchorage hearing Friday.
Gov. Sean Parnell pledged Wednesday that he wouldn't use vetoes to punish lawmakers who opposed his oil-tax cuts. But senators aren't convinced as the special session hits Day 11. House Republicans are blaming the Senate and taking their show on the road. They're staging a hearing in Anchorage at the end of the week to hear the attorney general argue that the Senate is acting illegally.
The deadlock remains over language the Senate put in its proposed capital budget that says if the governor vetoes a single energy project, then none of the $400 million in energy projects will get funded. Senators say the provision is needed because Parnell threatened vetoes if lawmakers refused his proposal to cut oil taxes.
Parnell said in a Wednesday interview that he would not abuse his veto authority or "target anybody for their stand on a particular issue." He said it's a message he also delivered in a phone call to Senate leaders, as well as in venues including a governor's mansion dinner with legislators.
Senate President Gary Stevens said things were "poisoned" by Parnell's initial suggestion he'd veto projects if lawmakers didn't go along with his oil-tax cut. Parnell said the capital budget needed to be smaller because there would be less oil production and therefore less tax money over the long term to run state government, a suggestion Senate leaders called absurd.
Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, said senators are looking for more confidence that Parnell won't be vindictive. Stevens invited Parnell to meet with the Senate majority to get assurances that vetoes won't be retaliatory against the lawmakers who blocked the tax cut.
"I think it is important for the caucus to hear from the governor ... I think folks need to hear that from the governor himself," Stevens said.
But Parnell on Wednesday turned down the invitation.
"I told the senator I wouldn't appear in caucus to say in secret what I have been saying publicly," he said.
Parnell said he'd hold a press conference to affirm his commitment not to abuse vetoes if Senate leaders joined him to say they were dropping the disputed budget language.
Alaska Attorney General John Burns, a Parnell appointee, put out a memo on Tuesday saying the Senate's budget language is an unconstitutional attack on the governor's line-item veto power. The Legislature's top lawyer, though, had his own memo released on Wednesday saying he's not convinced a court would agree.
SPECIAL SESSION COMING TO ANCHORAGE
House Republican leaders, who supported the governor's proposed oil tax cut, bristled on Wednesday at the suggestion that the oil issue is causing this mess.
House Speaker Mike Chenault said the oil tax isn't part of the special session. He said the problem is the Senate refusing to let the House have the capital budget.
"The House is being left out of this argument, and the (media) has crafted it very well, along with the Senate, that it's all about oil taxes and what the governor may or may not have said whenever," the Nikiski Republican said. "I don't care about that. (Oil taxes) are not on the call; it's not an issue that's in front of the House."
"The issue is the House being forced to accept language that we don't agree with," Chenault said.
House and Senate leaders have been talking privately but with no breakthrough. Senators said they've offered several concessions to the House. There was an apparent agreement Wednesday to take out $100 million for weatherization and alternative energy grants from the disputed capital budget and deal with the items separately.
But the language attempting to limit the governor's veto power is the main issue. House leaders say it's unacceptable and actually endangers the projects.
Senate leaders say it's meant to guard the statewide package of energy projects. The list includes transmission lines and money that Parnell wants for work toward the proposed Susitna dam, as well as smaller hydro and rural energy efforts.
"The principles we have to stand behind, and are standing behind, are those of protecting legislative priorities," said Senate President Stevens.
Top senators said they didn't object to the House Finance Committee taking the special session on the road to Anchorage for a hearing on Friday. But some legislators object.
"I think clearly this is for show," said Fairbanks Democratic Rep. David Guttenberg, who plans to stay in Juneau and participate in the meeting by teleconference.
Guttenberg said the main people to testify at the hearing are in Juneau, where the job of working out the budget is supposed to happen. Guttenberg said it will just inflame the situation to bring the attorney general to Anchorage to talk about his opinion that the Senate is violating the Constitution with its budget language.
The House Finance Committee plans to meet at the Anchorage Legislative Information Office on Friday from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Chugiak Republican Rep. Bill Stoltze said the morning part of the hearing will include the Alaska Energy Authority and the Alaska Housing Finance Corp. talking about projects in the budget. The attorney general will then speak in the afternoon. Stoltze said it makes sense to have the hearing in Anchorage. "Another venue to discuss the issue, maybe a different set of fresh eyes and press on it," he said.
The deadlock remains over language the Senate put in its proposed capital budget that says if the governor vetoes a single energy project, then none of the $400 million in energy projects will get funded. Senators say the provision is needed because Parnell threatened vetoes if lawmakers refused his proposal to cut oil taxes.
Parnell said in a Wednesday interview that he would not abuse his veto authority or "target anybody for their stand on a particular issue." He said it's a message he also delivered in a phone call to Senate leaders, as well as in venues including a governor's mansion dinner with legislators.
Senate President Gary Stevens said things were "poisoned" by Parnell's initial suggestion he'd veto projects if lawmakers didn't go along with his oil-tax cut. Parnell said the capital budget needed to be smaller because there would be less oil production and therefore less tax money over the long term to run state government, a suggestion Senate leaders called absurd.
Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, said senators are looking for more confidence that Parnell won't be vindictive. Stevens invited Parnell to meet with the Senate majority to get assurances that vetoes won't be retaliatory against the lawmakers who blocked the tax cut.
"I think it is important for the caucus to hear from the governor ... I think folks need to hear that from the governor himself," Stevens said.
But Parnell on Wednesday turned down the invitation.
"I told the senator I wouldn't appear in caucus to say in secret what I have been saying publicly," he said.
Parnell said he'd hold a press conference to affirm his commitment not to abuse vetoes if Senate leaders joined him to say they were dropping the disputed budget language.
Alaska Attorney General John Burns, a Parnell appointee, put out a memo on Tuesday saying the Senate's budget language is an unconstitutional attack on the governor's line-item veto power. The Legislature's top lawyer, though, had his own memo released on Wednesday saying he's not convinced a court would agree.
SPECIAL SESSION COMING TO ANCHORAGE
House Republican leaders, who supported the governor's proposed oil tax cut, bristled on Wednesday at the suggestion that the oil issue is causing this mess.
House Speaker Mike Chenault said the oil tax isn't part of the special session. He said the problem is the Senate refusing to let the House have the capital budget.
"The House is being left out of this argument, and the (media) has crafted it very well, along with the Senate, that it's all about oil taxes and what the governor may or may not have said whenever," the Nikiski Republican said. "I don't care about that. (Oil taxes) are not on the call; it's not an issue that's in front of the House."
"The issue is the House being forced to accept language that we don't agree with," Chenault said.
House and Senate leaders have been talking privately but with no breakthrough. Senators said they've offered several concessions to the House. There was an apparent agreement Wednesday to take out $100 million for weatherization and alternative energy grants from the disputed capital budget and deal with the items separately.
But the language attempting to limit the governor's veto power is the main issue. House leaders say it's unacceptable and actually endangers the projects.
Senate leaders say it's meant to guard the statewide package of energy projects. The list includes transmission lines and money that Parnell wants for work toward the proposed Susitna dam, as well as smaller hydro and rural energy efforts.
"The principles we have to stand behind, and are standing behind, are those of protecting legislative priorities," said Senate President Stevens.
Top senators said they didn't object to the House Finance Committee taking the special session on the road to Anchorage for a hearing on Friday. But some legislators object.
"I think clearly this is for show," said Fairbanks Democratic Rep. David Guttenberg, who plans to stay in Juneau and participate in the meeting by teleconference.
Guttenberg said the main people to testify at the hearing are in Juneau, where the job of working out the budget is supposed to happen. Guttenberg said it will just inflame the situation to bring the attorney general to Anchorage to talk about his opinion that the Senate is violating the Constitution with its budget language.
The House Finance Committee plans to meet at the Anchorage Legislative Information Office on Friday from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Chugiak Republican Rep. Bill Stoltze said the morning part of the hearing will include the Alaska Energy Authority and the Alaska Housing Finance Corp. talking about projects in the budget. The attorney general will then speak in the afternoon. Stoltze said it makes sense to have the hearing in Anchorage. "Another venue to discuss the issue, maybe a different set of fresh eyes and press on it," he said.
Workplace fatalities fall sharply in Alaska ABOUT HALF AS MANY: Deadly industries like fishing and aviation have better training and technology.
The number of Alaskans dying in traumatic ways on the job dropped remarkably after the 1990s, a new federal study says.
Commercial fishing remains Alaska's most dangerous occupation based on the sheer number of deaths, but even there, fatalities dropped by almost half. And the second most dangerous occupation, aviation, is also far less deadly than it used to be, said the study, reported Wednesday by the Alaska Division of Public Health.
Overall, work-related deaths of Alaskans declined from 648 in the 1990s to 379 a decade later -- down by more than 42 percent. The numbers don't include fatalities from heart attacks or other medical causes, only traumatic deaths, like the 29 people who died between 2000 and 2009 from violence at the workplace, including suicide.
Safety experts say efforts on a number of fronts have paid off. Thousands of fishermen have gotten targeted training in marine safety and survival. Management of some key fisheries changed so that crews didn't have to risk stormy seas or overloading their vessels to catch as much as possible during short openings, but rather operate now under assigned individual quotas. Hundreds of small planes have been equipped with avionics that show pilots the terrain.
"We're proud of the collaborations with workers and all of the government agencies that we've worked with to see this trend occur, this downward trend in fatalities," said Jennifer Lincoln, who is deputy director of the Alaska office of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
"But I don't think we can say that our work is finished. Both commercial fishing and aviation are still high-risk occupations so we have to be diligent and continue to come up with ways to prevent those fatalities from occurring."
In addition to the heartache and loss from the deaths individually, employers and insurers nationwide spent nearly $79 billion on workers' compensation in 2008, just a portion of the real costs of work-related injuries and fatalities, the report said.
DYING AT SEA
Perhaps the most striking improvement in safety came in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Island crab fishery. In the 1990s, at least one crab boat capsized most years and sometimes multiple boats went down. On average, eight crab fishermen were dying a year at sea in Alaska.
A number of vessels were overloaded with too many crab pots, which weigh hundreds of pounds, said Coast Guard Cmdr. Chris Woodley, who helped develop a stability and safety program to address the problem. He used to be stationed in Alaska and now is chief of the prevention department for the Coast Guard in Puget Sound, where many vessels that fish Alaska make their home port.
In 1999, the Coast Guard began doing spot checks of crab boats before they went out to make sure they weren't overloaded. Almost every year at least one or two captains would have to remove crab pots, which could mean a less lucrative, though safer, run. Woodley remembers one captain in those early days who was steamed.
"I was pretty sure he was going to throw me in the water or do something violent," Woodley said, making light of the captain's reaction years later. "It was one of those situations where I thought I should get off the boat now."
After that, a few crew members died after falling overboard but just one crab boat went down, the Kodiak-based Big Valley in January 2005. It had problems before with complying with load limits. The Coast Guard wanted to include it in the spot checks that season but couldn't find the vessel, Woodley said. Five died. The investigation found the boat was overloaded with about twice the weight of crab pots as it was designed for, he said.
"The program was designed to prevent exactly that," Woodley said.
In 2005, the fishery changed to an individual quota system, so captains didn't feel pressure to race out in bad weather because they were guaranteed a share of the catch.
Just one crab fisherman has died since then, after falling overboard, according to statistics Woodley provided.
"It's a much better picture than what it used to be," he said.
In addition, thousands of Alaska fisherman have gotten safety training that has proven to be effective, Lincoln said.
The Sitka-based Alaska Marine Safety Education Association alone has trained more than 10,000 fishermen in marine safety and survival through a Coast Guard-required class on emergency drills, said Jerry Dzugan, the group's executive director.
Still, during 10 years ending in 2009, 111 commercial fishermen died on the job in Alaska. In all, counting other crew members, there were 133 deaths on vessels in Alaska. About half drowned after a vessel capsized and a third were caused by falls overboard. The biggest number, 39, occurred in salmon fisheries. But the highest rate of deaths occurred on factory trawlers.
AIRPLANE SAFETY
During that same period, there were 48 fatal aircraft crashes in Alaska resulting in 78 deaths considered work related. Forty-seven pilots died, as did other crew and people traveling to job sites, such as biologist Gordon Haber, killed in a 2009 crash while tracking wolves.
That's down by more than half from the 1990s.
Mary O'Connor, manager of the aviation safety program for the Alaska office of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, said several changes have made a difference.
First, 150 weather cameras have been installed at remote airports and at mountain passes around Alaska, with another 71 planned. Pilots can go online (akweathercams.faa.gov) before taking off to check current weather images and compare them with clear day images.
The Federal Aviation Administration began a trial project in 1999 equipping 208 small planes in the Yukon-Kuskowim Delta and another 170 in Southeast Alaska with avionics that would show a moving map of the terrain, O'Connor said. A pilot operating under visual flight rules who ended up in the clouds could check the panel for the nearest low terrain, to get below the cloud cover.
The FAA also has an education program directed at teaching passengers that they, too, are responsible for safety. They shouldn't pressure pilots to fly in bad weather. They shouldn't try to take extra bags if that will overload the plane, O'Connor said.
Commercial fishing remains Alaska's most dangerous occupation based on the sheer number of deaths, but even there, fatalities dropped by almost half. And the second most dangerous occupation, aviation, is also far less deadly than it used to be, said the study, reported Wednesday by the Alaska Division of Public Health.
Overall, work-related deaths of Alaskans declined from 648 in the 1990s to 379 a decade later -- down by more than 42 percent. The numbers don't include fatalities from heart attacks or other medical causes, only traumatic deaths, like the 29 people who died between 2000 and 2009 from violence at the workplace, including suicide.
Safety experts say efforts on a number of fronts have paid off. Thousands of fishermen have gotten targeted training in marine safety and survival. Management of some key fisheries changed so that crews didn't have to risk stormy seas or overloading their vessels to catch as much as possible during short openings, but rather operate now under assigned individual quotas. Hundreds of small planes have been equipped with avionics that show pilots the terrain.
"We're proud of the collaborations with workers and all of the government agencies that we've worked with to see this trend occur, this downward trend in fatalities," said Jennifer Lincoln, who is deputy director of the Alaska office of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
"But I don't think we can say that our work is finished. Both commercial fishing and aviation are still high-risk occupations so we have to be diligent and continue to come up with ways to prevent those fatalities from occurring."
In addition to the heartache and loss from the deaths individually, employers and insurers nationwide spent nearly $79 billion on workers' compensation in 2008, just a portion of the real costs of work-related injuries and fatalities, the report said.
DYING AT SEA
Perhaps the most striking improvement in safety came in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Island crab fishery. In the 1990s, at least one crab boat capsized most years and sometimes multiple boats went down. On average, eight crab fishermen were dying a year at sea in Alaska.
A number of vessels were overloaded with too many crab pots, which weigh hundreds of pounds, said Coast Guard Cmdr. Chris Woodley, who helped develop a stability and safety program to address the problem. He used to be stationed in Alaska and now is chief of the prevention department for the Coast Guard in Puget Sound, where many vessels that fish Alaska make their home port.
In 1999, the Coast Guard began doing spot checks of crab boats before they went out to make sure they weren't overloaded. Almost every year at least one or two captains would have to remove crab pots, which could mean a less lucrative, though safer, run. Woodley remembers one captain in those early days who was steamed.
"I was pretty sure he was going to throw me in the water or do something violent," Woodley said, making light of the captain's reaction years later. "It was one of those situations where I thought I should get off the boat now."
After that, a few crew members died after falling overboard but just one crab boat went down, the Kodiak-based Big Valley in January 2005. It had problems before with complying with load limits. The Coast Guard wanted to include it in the spot checks that season but couldn't find the vessel, Woodley said. Five died. The investigation found the boat was overloaded with about twice the weight of crab pots as it was designed for, he said.
"The program was designed to prevent exactly that," Woodley said.
In 2005, the fishery changed to an individual quota system, so captains didn't feel pressure to race out in bad weather because they were guaranteed a share of the catch.
Just one crab fisherman has died since then, after falling overboard, according to statistics Woodley provided.
"It's a much better picture than what it used to be," he said.
In addition, thousands of Alaska fisherman have gotten safety training that has proven to be effective, Lincoln said.
The Sitka-based Alaska Marine Safety Education Association alone has trained more than 10,000 fishermen in marine safety and survival through a Coast Guard-required class on emergency drills, said Jerry Dzugan, the group's executive director.
Still, during 10 years ending in 2009, 111 commercial fishermen died on the job in Alaska. In all, counting other crew members, there were 133 deaths on vessels in Alaska. About half drowned after a vessel capsized and a third were caused by falls overboard. The biggest number, 39, occurred in salmon fisheries. But the highest rate of deaths occurred on factory trawlers.
AIRPLANE SAFETY
During that same period, there were 48 fatal aircraft crashes in Alaska resulting in 78 deaths considered work related. Forty-seven pilots died, as did other crew and people traveling to job sites, such as biologist Gordon Haber, killed in a 2009 crash while tracking wolves.
That's down by more than half from the 1990s.
Mary O'Connor, manager of the aviation safety program for the Alaska office of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, said several changes have made a difference.
First, 150 weather cameras have been installed at remote airports and at mountain passes around Alaska, with another 71 planned. Pilots can go online (akweathercams.faa.gov) before taking off to check current weather images and compare them with clear day images.
The Federal Aviation Administration began a trial project in 1999 equipping 208 small planes in the Yukon-Kuskowim Delta and another 170 in Southeast Alaska with avionics that would show a moving map of the terrain, O'Connor said. A pilot operating under visual flight rules who ended up in the clouds could check the panel for the nearest low terrain, to get below the cloud cover.
The FAA also has an education program directed at teaching passengers that they, too, are responsible for safety. They shouldn't pressure pilots to fly in bad weather. They shouldn't try to take extra bags if that will overload the plane, O'Connor said.
Conoco sees 43% earnings increase for quarter LESS PRODUCTION, HIGH PRICES: Profits from Alaska hit $549 million.
NEW YORK -- Conoco Phillips said Wednesday that first-quarter earnings rose 43 percent as higher oil and gasoline prices made up for a sharp decline in production.
The results weren't as strong as Wall Street had expected, however, and shares fell almost 2 percent.
Conoco, the third-largest U.S. oil company, earned $3 billion in the first three months of the year. Production dropped, however, as the Houston company shed assets to focus on developing oil fields in North America.
Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov said Conoco picked a good time to rearrange its operations. The price of oil has risen so high -- 17 percent to nearly $107 at the end of March -- that companies like Conoco were able to earn more money while producing less oil. And higher prices also elevated the value of its assets.
"It's a real seller's market right now," Molchanov said. Oil companies have "found it not only easy to sell properties but at prices that perhaps a year ago would have seemed unrealistically high."
Conoco said oil and natural gas liquids prices increased 27 percent in the quarter to $91.55 per barrel. That made up for a 25 percent drop in production to 1.7 million barrels per day.
ALASKA PROFITABLE
Alaska state Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, urged Conoco to invest more in Alaska, given its profits from the state.
In its earnings report, the oil giant noted its Alaska profits were $549 million between January and March, far better than in any quarter of 2010.
Wielechowski said more than 28 percent of Conoco's worldwide oil and gas production profits come from Alaska, while only 13 percent of its overall production occurs here.
A study by legislative analysts determined that Conoco Phillips and its partners would reap an estimated 93 percent rate of return on several new investments they are considering in Alaska.
"If that isn't a good enough rate of return, I don't know what is," Wielechowski said Wednesday.
HIGHER DIVIDEND
Conoco said first-quarter income came to $2.09 per share, up from $2.1 billion, or $1.40 per share, a year earlier. Revenue increased 27 percent to $58.25 billion.
Excluding gains from the sale of shares in Russian oil company Lukoil and other assets, the company earned $2.6 billion, or $1.82 per share.
Analysts, who typically exclude one-time items, expected the company to earn $1.93 per share, according to FactSet. Revenue did top expectations.
During the quarter, Conoco spent $1.6 billion to buy back 21 million shares and raised its quarterly dividend by 20 percent to 66 cents.
Excluding properties the company sold, CEO Jim Mulva said oil production fell about 7 percent in the quarter because of weaker production from existing fields in the North Sea, China, the Lower 48 and Alaska. Conoco also experienced a series of unexpected shutdowns.
PIPELINE LEAK
A leak in the trans-Alaska pipeline system stalled oil shipments in January. A supply vessel collided with the company's Britannia platform in the North Sea. Also, Conoco is part owner of oil fields in Libya's Sirte Basin. As the uprising there escalated, Conoco closed offices in the country and evacuated staff.
Together, the unplanned shutdowns cut profits by about $100 million.
Exploration and production profits still increased 28 percent to $2.35 billion when compared with last year.
The refining and marketing business reported a profit of $482 million after posting a $4 million loss in the same period last year. Conoco's refineries benefited from higher fuel prices and profit margins, though lower refining activity along the Gulf Coast pushed total refining activity down to 87 percent in the quarter in the U.S., compared with 88 percent in the same period last year. Mulva said the drop cost Conoco about $50 million in profit in the quarter.
The results weren't as strong as Wall Street had expected, however, and shares fell almost 2 percent.
Conoco, the third-largest U.S. oil company, earned $3 billion in the first three months of the year. Production dropped, however, as the Houston company shed assets to focus on developing oil fields in North America.
Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov said Conoco picked a good time to rearrange its operations. The price of oil has risen so high -- 17 percent to nearly $107 at the end of March -- that companies like Conoco were able to earn more money while producing less oil. And higher prices also elevated the value of its assets.
"It's a real seller's market right now," Molchanov said. Oil companies have "found it not only easy to sell properties but at prices that perhaps a year ago would have seemed unrealistically high."
Conoco said oil and natural gas liquids prices increased 27 percent in the quarter to $91.55 per barrel. That made up for a 25 percent drop in production to 1.7 million barrels per day.
ALASKA PROFITABLE
Alaska state Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, urged Conoco to invest more in Alaska, given its profits from the state.
In its earnings report, the oil giant noted its Alaska profits were $549 million between January and March, far better than in any quarter of 2010.
Wielechowski said more than 28 percent of Conoco's worldwide oil and gas production profits come from Alaska, while only 13 percent of its overall production occurs here.
A study by legislative analysts determined that Conoco Phillips and its partners would reap an estimated 93 percent rate of return on several new investments they are considering in Alaska.
"If that isn't a good enough rate of return, I don't know what is," Wielechowski said Wednesday.
HIGHER DIVIDEND
Conoco said first-quarter income came to $2.09 per share, up from $2.1 billion, or $1.40 per share, a year earlier. Revenue increased 27 percent to $58.25 billion.
Excluding gains from the sale of shares in Russian oil company Lukoil and other assets, the company earned $2.6 billion, or $1.82 per share.
Analysts, who typically exclude one-time items, expected the company to earn $1.93 per share, according to FactSet. Revenue did top expectations.
During the quarter, Conoco spent $1.6 billion to buy back 21 million shares and raised its quarterly dividend by 20 percent to 66 cents.
Excluding properties the company sold, CEO Jim Mulva said oil production fell about 7 percent in the quarter because of weaker production from existing fields in the North Sea, China, the Lower 48 and Alaska. Conoco also experienced a series of unexpected shutdowns.
PIPELINE LEAK
A leak in the trans-Alaska pipeline system stalled oil shipments in January. A supply vessel collided with the company's Britannia platform in the North Sea. Also, Conoco is part owner of oil fields in Libya's Sirte Basin. As the uprising there escalated, Conoco closed offices in the country and evacuated staff.
Together, the unplanned shutdowns cut profits by about $100 million.
Exploration and production profits still increased 28 percent to $2.35 billion when compared with last year.
The refining and marketing business reported a profit of $482 million after posting a $4 million loss in the same period last year. Conoco's refineries benefited from higher fuel prices and profit margins, though lower refining activity along the Gulf Coast pushed total refining activity down to 87 percent in the quarter in the U.S., compared with 88 percent in the same period last year. Mulva said the drop cost Conoco about $50 million in profit in the quarter.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
ConocoPhillips 1Q earnings short of expectations
NEW YORK -- ConocoPhillips' first-quarter earnings rose 43 percent because of a jump in oil prices, but the results weren't as strong as Wall Street had expected.
The Houston oil company said Wednesday that its production and refining businesses suffered from a variety of disruptions during the quarter, including the uprising in Libya.
Conoco reported net income of $3 billion, or $2.09 per share, in the first three months of the year, up from $2.1 billion, or $1.40 per share, a year earlier. Revenue increased 27 percent to $58.25 billion.
Excluding gains from the sale of shares in Russian oil company Lukoil and other assets, the company earned $2.6 billion, or $1.82 per share.
The adjusted earnings fell short of Wall Street expectations. Analysts, who typically exclude one-time items, expected the company to earn $1.93 per share, according to FactSet. Revenue did top expectations.
Shares fell $2.47, or 3 percent, to $78.74 in morning trading.
Profit increased as prices for oil and natural gas liquids increased 27 percent in the quarter to $91.55 per barrel. Natural gas prices fell, however, by 6 percent to $5.22 per 1,000 cubic feet.
CEO Jim Mulva said oil production dropped in the January-March quarter by 8 percent to 1.7 million barrels per day as Conoco dealt with a series of unexpected shutdowns.
A leak in the trans-Alaska pipeline stalled oil shipments in January. A supply vessel collided with the company's Britannia platform in the North Sea. Also, Conoco is part-owner of oil fields in Libya's Sirte Basin. As the uprising there escalated, Conoco closed offices in the country and evacuated staff.
Altogether, the unplanned shutdowns cut profits by about $100 million.
Conoco, the third-largest U.S. oil company, has been aggressively shedding assets as it focuses more on developing oil sands in Canada and underground shale deposits in North America. During the quarter, Conoco finished selling off its shares of Russian oil giant Lukoil. Conoco also repurchased 21 million shares for $1.6 billion and raised its quarterly dividend by 20 percent to 66 cents. Shares rose more than 17 percent in the quarter.
Despite the drop in production, exploration and production profits increased 28 percent to $2.35 billion for the quarter. The refining and marketing business reported a profit of $482 million after posting a $4 million loss in the same period last year. The refining business benefited from higher fuel prices and profit margins, though lower refining activity along the Gulf coast pushed total refining activity down to 87 percent in the quarter in the U.S., compared with 88 percent in the same period last year. Mulva said the drop cost Conoco about $50 million in profit in the quarter.
The Houston oil company said Wednesday that its production and refining businesses suffered from a variety of disruptions during the quarter, including the uprising in Libya.
Conoco reported net income of $3 billion, or $2.09 per share, in the first three months of the year, up from $2.1 billion, or $1.40 per share, a year earlier. Revenue increased 27 percent to $58.25 billion.
Excluding gains from the sale of shares in Russian oil company Lukoil and other assets, the company earned $2.6 billion, or $1.82 per share.
The adjusted earnings fell short of Wall Street expectations. Analysts, who typically exclude one-time items, expected the company to earn $1.93 per share, according to FactSet. Revenue did top expectations.
Shares fell $2.47, or 3 percent, to $78.74 in morning trading.
Profit increased as prices for oil and natural gas liquids increased 27 percent in the quarter to $91.55 per barrel. Natural gas prices fell, however, by 6 percent to $5.22 per 1,000 cubic feet.
CEO Jim Mulva said oil production dropped in the January-March quarter by 8 percent to 1.7 million barrels per day as Conoco dealt with a series of unexpected shutdowns.
A leak in the trans-Alaska pipeline stalled oil shipments in January. A supply vessel collided with the company's Britannia platform in the North Sea. Also, Conoco is part-owner of oil fields in Libya's Sirte Basin. As the uprising there escalated, Conoco closed offices in the country and evacuated staff.
Altogether, the unplanned shutdowns cut profits by about $100 million.
Conoco, the third-largest U.S. oil company, has been aggressively shedding assets as it focuses more on developing oil sands in Canada and underground shale deposits in North America. During the quarter, Conoco finished selling off its shares of Russian oil giant Lukoil. Conoco also repurchased 21 million shares for $1.6 billion and raised its quarterly dividend by 20 percent to 66 cents. Shares rose more than 17 percent in the quarter.
Despite the drop in production, exploration and production profits increased 28 percent to $2.35 billion for the quarter. The refining and marketing business reported a profit of $482 million after posting a $4 million loss in the same period last year. The refining business benefited from higher fuel prices and profit margins, though lower refining activity along the Gulf coast pushed total refining activity down to 87 percent in the quarter in the U.S., compared with 88 percent in the same period last year. Mulva said the drop cost Conoco about $50 million in profit in the quarter.
Feds' worst-case Arctic oil spill far exceeds planning estimate
The federal agency overseeing offshore drilling in Alaska says a worst-case scenario for a blowout in the Chukchi Sea lease area could put more than 58 million gallons of oil into Arctic waters.
That's far more than the major leaseholder in the Chukchi, Shell Oil, says it could handle under its response plan.
A memo prepared by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement says a blowout worst-case scenario could discharge nearly 2.6 million gallons per day initially.
The agency says discharge from the hypothetical blowout would decline rapidly but could leak more than 58 million gallons in a month.
A Shell spokesman says he hasn't seen the report but the company would not encounter wells of that flow rate for many years into the project.
House GOP blames Senate for impasse
House Republicans said today they're frustrated over the stalemate in Juneau and are staging a hearing in Anchorage to hear the attorney general opine that the Senate is acting illegally.
"Another venue to discuss the issue, maybe a different set of fresh eyes and press on it," House Finance co-chair Bill Stoltze said from Juneau this morning.
"There's not a lot going on around here, quite frankly."
The House Finance Committee has scheduled the Anchorage hearing for Friday, on what will be the 12th day of a special session with no clear end.
Stoltze, R-Chugiak, said the morning part of the hearing will include the Alaska Energy Authority and the Alaska Housing Finance Corp. talking about projects in the budget that the Senate is refusing to pass to the House.
Attorney General John Burns in the afternoon will discuss his opinion that the Senate is trying to violate the Constitution.
The impasse is over language the Senate put in its proposed capital budget that says if Gov. Sean Parnell vetoes a single energy project, then none of the $400 million in energy projects would get funded.
Burns, a Parnell appointee, put out a memo yesterday saying that's an unconstitutional attack on the governor's line-item veto power.
Senators said they put the language in after Parnell threatened budget vetoes if his proposal to reduce Alaska's oil profits tax didn't pass.
They say the special session is Parnell's fault and won't pass the capital budget to the House until House members agree to the language.
House Republican leaders, who supported the oil tax cut, bristled this morning at the suggestion that the oil tax is what's causing the mess.
House Speaker Mike Chenault said the oil tax isn't part of the special session and the problem is the Senate refuses to let the House have the budget.
The House has a right to make changes to the budget, he said, and the differences with the Senate can go to a conference committee. If Parnell vetoes and there's enough legislative objection, the vetoes can be overridden, he said.
"The House is being left out of this argument, and the (press) has crafted it very well, along with the Senate, that it's all about oil taxes and what the governor may or may not have said whenever," the Nikiski Republican said. "I don't care about that (oil taxes) are not on the call; it's not an issue that's in front of the House.
"The issue is the House being forced to accept language that we don't agree with," Chenault said. The House Finance Committee will meet at the Anchorage Legislative Information Office from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Friday.
"Another venue to discuss the issue, maybe a different set of fresh eyes and press on it," House Finance co-chair Bill Stoltze said from Juneau this morning.
"There's not a lot going on around here, quite frankly."
The House Finance Committee has scheduled the Anchorage hearing for Friday, on what will be the 12th day of a special session with no clear end.
Stoltze, R-Chugiak, said the morning part of the hearing will include the Alaska Energy Authority and the Alaska Housing Finance Corp. talking about projects in the budget that the Senate is refusing to pass to the House.
Attorney General John Burns in the afternoon will discuss his opinion that the Senate is trying to violate the Constitution.
The impasse is over language the Senate put in its proposed capital budget that says if Gov. Sean Parnell vetoes a single energy project, then none of the $400 million in energy projects would get funded.
Burns, a Parnell appointee, put out a memo yesterday saying that's an unconstitutional attack on the governor's line-item veto power.
Senators said they put the language in after Parnell threatened budget vetoes if his proposal to reduce Alaska's oil profits tax didn't pass.
They say the special session is Parnell's fault and won't pass the capital budget to the House until House members agree to the language.
House Republican leaders, who supported the oil tax cut, bristled this morning at the suggestion that the oil tax is what's causing the mess.
House Speaker Mike Chenault said the oil tax isn't part of the special session and the problem is the Senate refuses to let the House have the budget.
The House has a right to make changes to the budget, he said, and the differences with the Senate can go to a conference committee. If Parnell vetoes and there's enough legislative objection, the vetoes can be overridden, he said.
"The House is being left out of this argument, and the (press) has crafted it very well, along with the Senate, that it's all about oil taxes and what the governor may or may not have said whenever," the Nikiski Republican said. "I don't care about that (oil taxes) are not on the call; it's not an issue that's in front of the House.
"The issue is the House being forced to accept language that we don't agree with," Chenault said. The House Finance Committee will meet at the Anchorage Legislative Information Office from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Friday.
State, federal agents make early morning visit to Nenana artist’s home
FAIRBANKS — A dozen state and federal law enforcement officials converged on the home of Nenana artist and woodsman Miles Martin early Tuesday morning.
They asked questions and confiscated some property but did not make any arrests, Martin said after the officials had left his property.
He declined to say why he was being investigated, saying officials are continuing their investigation and he does not want to jeopardize his case.
He did say the group included staff from the Alaska State Troopers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The group behaved professionally, he said, although having them arrive suddenly about 7 a.m. came as a shock.
“When they arrived, everyone was sneaking around with guns drawn,” he said. They wanted to know how many people were on the property. Once they saw I was cooperative, the guns got be put down.
“I think it was their intention to arrive while I was asleep, but I was already up.”
Martin said the officers read him his rights and presented a search warrant. From the information they had, it was clear they had been investigating him for several years, Martin said. They also hinted that others were being investigated, he said.
Early in the visit, he said, they asked him to put weapons in a pile and to not go near it. They asked his girlfriend to stand outside the home, even though she was wearing a bath gown, which he said concerned him.
They stayed at his home until 4:15 p.m. When they left, they took boxes of confiscated property, Martin said. They left him with a list of things they had taken, he said.
“There was no bad feeling,” he said. “They left and said we’ll be in touch.”
Martin is known in Fairbanks for his booth at the Tanana Valley State Fair. He makes and sells artwork and also sells raw materials such as tusks, antlers, teeth, claws and rocks, according to his website.
He has written a book about 25 years he spent living on a houseboat in Alaska.
Several other Nenana residents mentioned seeing vehicles of federal and state agencies at Martin’s home Tuesday, but no agency representatives were immediately able to comment on the events at Martin’s home.
Megan Peters, a spokeswoman with the Alaska State Troopers, said she did not have any information about a multi-agency raid in Nenana and said she would not be able to speak about trooper involvement if troopers were not the lead agency.
They asked questions and confiscated some property but did not make any arrests, Martin said after the officials had left his property.
He declined to say why he was being investigated, saying officials are continuing their investigation and he does not want to jeopardize his case.
He did say the group included staff from the Alaska State Troopers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The group behaved professionally, he said, although having them arrive suddenly about 7 a.m. came as a shock.
“When they arrived, everyone was sneaking around with guns drawn,” he said. They wanted to know how many people were on the property. Once they saw I was cooperative, the guns got be put down.
“I think it was their intention to arrive while I was asleep, but I was already up.”
Martin said the officers read him his rights and presented a search warrant. From the information they had, it was clear they had been investigating him for several years, Martin said. They also hinted that others were being investigated, he said.
Early in the visit, he said, they asked him to put weapons in a pile and to not go near it. They asked his girlfriend to stand outside the home, even though she was wearing a bath gown, which he said concerned him.
They stayed at his home until 4:15 p.m. When they left, they took boxes of confiscated property, Martin said. They left him with a list of things they had taken, he said.
“There was no bad feeling,” he said. “They left and said we’ll be in touch.”
Martin is known in Fairbanks for his booth at the Tanana Valley State Fair. He makes and sells artwork and also sells raw materials such as tusks, antlers, teeth, claws and rocks, according to his website.
He has written a book about 25 years he spent living on a houseboat in Alaska.
Several other Nenana residents mentioned seeing vehicles of federal and state agencies at Martin’s home Tuesday, but no agency representatives were immediately able to comment on the events at Martin’s home.
Megan Peters, a spokeswoman with the Alaska State Troopers, said she did not have any information about a multi-agency raid in Nenana and said she would not be able to speak about trooper involvement if troopers were not the lead agency.
Anti-federal rally seeks to draw attention to government
FAIRBANKS — The organizer of a protest against the federal government tonight in Fairbanks says he does business with the government even though he doesn’t like what it’s doing in Alaska.
“People say, ‘If you’re angry, then don’t sell to the federal government,’ but we’re not stupid,” said Craig Compeau, owner of Compeau’s, a local boat, snowmachine and ATV retailer. “We’re going to bid on this stuff.”
Compeau organized tonight’s “Fed Up with the Fed” rally at the Pioneer Park Civic Center.
Compeau has for years done business with the federal government. In 2008, Compeau’s sold more than $215,000 of merchandise to the federal government, including more than $20,000 to the National Park Service, according to the website FedSpending.org. Between 2005-08, Compeau’s sold more than $600,000 of boats, snowmachines and ATVs to the federal government.
Compeau’s beef with federal authorities and the business he conducts with them are “two totally separate issues,” Compeau said.
“This is an access issue,” he said. “At the rate things are going, I won’t have a business if people can’t access anything. Four-wheelers will be the next endangered species in Alaska.”
Besides, tonight’s event is about more than just “bashing” the federal government, Compeau said.
“It’s an educational forum,” he said of the rally, which will feature appearances by two of Alaska’s top elected officials: U.S. Rep. Don Young and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. “It should be an informative, engaging event.”
Young, Alaska’s lone congressman and an outspoken critic of the federal management agencies in the state, is scheduled to speak at the rally sometime between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Murkowski will attend the rally but won’t be able to speak, her spokesman, Matthew Felling, said Tuesday. Murkowski had rescheduled an earlier flight from Fairbanks to Anchorage to attend the rally, but the speakers’ slots were pushed too late for her to participate, Felling said. Compeau had listed Murkowski as a speaker.
The rally is being sponsored by the Alaska chapter of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, a statewide wildlife conservation group based in Palmer. Compeau serves on the group’s board of directors.
Rally organizers toned down their language on Tuesday by eliminating references comparing the National Park Service to the Gestapo on websites and emails advertising the event. The Gestapo reference came from trial earlier this month of Jim Wilde, whose 74-year-old wife, Hannelore, testified that the only other time she had had a gun pointed at her was when the Gestapo showed up at her home as a child growing up in Germany.
Wilde, 71, was arrested by Park Service rangers last summer after reportedly failing to stop for a boat inspection in the middle of the Yukon River.
As part of a fundraiser to help Wilde pay his legal bills, rally organizers said they will award prizes for the best guesses about how much money the Park Service spent on the Wilde trial. The top prize is a free picnic lunch and scenic tour of “Gestapo Point,” the spot where Wilde was tackled by rangers and handcuffed. Other prizes include a Taser, handcuffs, a box of shotgun shells and a replica Gestapo badge.
Young has asked the Park Service for a full financial accounting of the case.
Compeau said the reference to “Gestapo Point” was actually coined by residents in the village of Eagle and that he used it “to make a point.”
“We felt it was the most powerful point of the trial and it never made the press,” he said. “Now that we’ve got the message out there, we’ve dropped it.”
No one asked him to stop using the term, Compeau said. He chose to do so after reading some blog entries about the rally.
Young’s spokeswoman, Meredith Kenny, said Young did not endorse the use of the term “Gestapo” to describe Park Service rangers’ actions and that his attendance at the rally “serves only as an endorsement of his passionate stance against over-regulation and against this abuse of power.”
Murkowski declined comment when asked if she was comfortable appearing at an event that associates Park Service rangers with the Gestapo, according to her spokesman.
While tonight’s rally has been billed as a protest against “unprecedented overreach” by the federal government, focusing on the recent trial of Wilde, it really is about much more, Compeau said.
“People say, ‘If you’re angry, then don’t sell to the federal government,’ but we’re not stupid,” said Craig Compeau, owner of Compeau’s, a local boat, snowmachine and ATV retailer. “We’re going to bid on this stuff.”
Compeau organized tonight’s “Fed Up with the Fed” rally at the Pioneer Park Civic Center.
Compeau has for years done business with the federal government. In 2008, Compeau’s sold more than $215,000 of merchandise to the federal government, including more than $20,000 to the National Park Service, according to the website FedSpending.org. Between 2005-08, Compeau’s sold more than $600,000 of boats, snowmachines and ATVs to the federal government.
Compeau’s beef with federal authorities and the business he conducts with them are “two totally separate issues,” Compeau said.
“This is an access issue,” he said. “At the rate things are going, I won’t have a business if people can’t access anything. Four-wheelers will be the next endangered species in Alaska.”
Besides, tonight’s event is about more than just “bashing” the federal government, Compeau said.
“It’s an educational forum,” he said of the rally, which will feature appearances by two of Alaska’s top elected officials: U.S. Rep. Don Young and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. “It should be an informative, engaging event.”
Young, Alaska’s lone congressman and an outspoken critic of the federal management agencies in the state, is scheduled to speak at the rally sometime between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Murkowski will attend the rally but won’t be able to speak, her spokesman, Matthew Felling, said Tuesday. Murkowski had rescheduled an earlier flight from Fairbanks to Anchorage to attend the rally, but the speakers’ slots were pushed too late for her to participate, Felling said. Compeau had listed Murkowski as a speaker.
The rally is being sponsored by the Alaska chapter of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, a statewide wildlife conservation group based in Palmer. Compeau serves on the group’s board of directors.
Rally organizers toned down their language on Tuesday by eliminating references comparing the National Park Service to the Gestapo on websites and emails advertising the event. The Gestapo reference came from trial earlier this month of Jim Wilde, whose 74-year-old wife, Hannelore, testified that the only other time she had had a gun pointed at her was when the Gestapo showed up at her home as a child growing up in Germany.
Wilde, 71, was arrested by Park Service rangers last summer after reportedly failing to stop for a boat inspection in the middle of the Yukon River.
As part of a fundraiser to help Wilde pay his legal bills, rally organizers said they will award prizes for the best guesses about how much money the Park Service spent on the Wilde trial. The top prize is a free picnic lunch and scenic tour of “Gestapo Point,” the spot where Wilde was tackled by rangers and handcuffed. Other prizes include a Taser, handcuffs, a box of shotgun shells and a replica Gestapo badge.
Young has asked the Park Service for a full financial accounting of the case.
Compeau said the reference to “Gestapo Point” was actually coined by residents in the village of Eagle and that he used it “to make a point.”
“We felt it was the most powerful point of the trial and it never made the press,” he said. “Now that we’ve got the message out there, we’ve dropped it.”
No one asked him to stop using the term, Compeau said. He chose to do so after reading some blog entries about the rally.
Young’s spokeswoman, Meredith Kenny, said Young did not endorse the use of the term “Gestapo” to describe Park Service rangers’ actions and that his attendance at the rally “serves only as an endorsement of his passionate stance against over-regulation and against this abuse of power.”
Murkowski declined comment when asked if she was comfortable appearing at an event that associates Park Service rangers with the Gestapo, according to her spokesman.
While tonight’s rally has been billed as a protest against “unprecedented overreach” by the federal government, focusing on the recent trial of Wilde, it really is about much more, Compeau said.
Assembly OKs nearly $8 million in additional spending BUDGET: Property taxes will increase $21 for a $100,000 home.
The Anchorage Assembly decided Tuesday night to add nearly $8 million in spending to this year's city budget, most of it for changes Mayor Dan Sullivan sought.
The new budget total: about $443.4 million.
The city usually readjusts its budget after the first quarter of each year, right before sending out property tax bills for city government and the School District in May.
Taxes for each $100,000 worth of property will rise by $21 over last year with the latest changes, said city budget director Cheryl Frasca. If you have a $300,000 house, triple that to $63.
The average tax bill per each $100,000 in property will be $1,519 - or $4,557 for a $300,000 house.
The tax increase is lower than it might have been because the administration applied $6.7 million from $11 million in leftover funding from 2010 to reducing taxes.
The administration has proposals to spend the rest of the 2010 savings, but they have not gone before the Assembly yet.
Sullivan incorporated a handful of proposals from Assembly members into his version of the revised 2011 budget, including a few reductions.
Only three Assembly amendments passed: one to rehabilitate the train engine on the Delaney Park Strip; one to keep Fairview Recreation Center open until 10 p.m. on weeknights; and one to eliminate $270,000 from the police department budget with the intention of later replacing that money with federal funds.
But efforts by Assembly members to eliminate some fees the city intends to charge the School District for such things as school sports teams' use of the Anchorage Football Stadium and city trails failed 5-6.
It was sponsored by Assembly members Harriet Drummond, Elvi Gray-Jackson and Dick Traini.
The trio also tried to get the city to cancel a charge of $495,000 to the district for its share of the cost of sending out property tax bills. That failed 4-7.
Assembly member Paul Honeman said he supported canceling the city charges to the School District because "we're ... just shifting the money."
Assembly member Ernie Hall said he was voting no on most Assembly initiatives to increase spending, including the School District givebacks, because he thinks many Anchorage residents are hurting.
When he gets coffee in the morning at a gas station, Hall said, he sees people making purchases "struggling to get two to three gallons of gas."
The mayor's proposed changes passed with a 10-1 vote.
His additions are mostly to pay for unanticipated expenses and some priorities that weren't funded when the 2011 budget originally passed last December.
For example, the mayor's amendments include $1.8 million for higher workers' compensation costs than were expected and $227,000 more for People Mover bus fuel.
There's $610,000 for an academy to train new Anchorage police officers, and $203,000 to match a federal grant for hiring new firefighters.
Find Rosemary Shinohara online at adn.com/contact/rshinohara or call her at 257-4340.
The new budget total: about $443.4 million.
The city usually readjusts its budget after the first quarter of each year, right before sending out property tax bills for city government and the School District in May.
Taxes for each $100,000 worth of property will rise by $21 over last year with the latest changes, said city budget director Cheryl Frasca. If you have a $300,000 house, triple that to $63.
The average tax bill per each $100,000 in property will be $1,519 - or $4,557 for a $300,000 house.
The tax increase is lower than it might have been because the administration applied $6.7 million from $11 million in leftover funding from 2010 to reducing taxes.
The administration has proposals to spend the rest of the 2010 savings, but they have not gone before the Assembly yet.
Sullivan incorporated a handful of proposals from Assembly members into his version of the revised 2011 budget, including a few reductions.
Only three Assembly amendments passed: one to rehabilitate the train engine on the Delaney Park Strip; one to keep Fairview Recreation Center open until 10 p.m. on weeknights; and one to eliminate $270,000 from the police department budget with the intention of later replacing that money with federal funds.
But efforts by Assembly members to eliminate some fees the city intends to charge the School District for such things as school sports teams' use of the Anchorage Football Stadium and city trails failed 5-6.
It was sponsored by Assembly members Harriet Drummond, Elvi Gray-Jackson and Dick Traini.
The trio also tried to get the city to cancel a charge of $495,000 to the district for its share of the cost of sending out property tax bills. That failed 4-7.
Assembly member Paul Honeman said he supported canceling the city charges to the School District because "we're ... just shifting the money."
Assembly member Ernie Hall said he was voting no on most Assembly initiatives to increase spending, including the School District givebacks, because he thinks many Anchorage residents are hurting.
When he gets coffee in the morning at a gas station, Hall said, he sees people making purchases "struggling to get two to three gallons of gas."
The mayor's proposed changes passed with a 10-1 vote.
His additions are mostly to pay for unanticipated expenses and some priorities that weren't funded when the 2011 budget originally passed last December.
For example, the mayor's amendments include $1.8 million for higher workers' compensation costs than were expected and $227,000 more for People Mover bus fuel.
There's $610,000 for an academy to train new Anchorage police officers, and $203,000 to match a federal grant for hiring new firefighters.
Find Rosemary Shinohara online at adn.com/contact/rshinohara or call her at 257-4340.
Fresh fish starts rolling in GREENPEACE: Carrs/Safeway tops national seafood sustainability list.
For those looking for a taste of fresh fish, Dannon Southall at 10th & M Seafoods in Anchorage has some good news: "The deep blue sea is in the giving mood as always this week. Fresh halibut is still rolling across the docks."
Southall says they will have fresh fish all week at $19.95 per pound for fillets. They also have headed and gutted halibut available for those looking for a better price and more fish. If salmon is on the fish wish list, Southeast troll-caught kings are available for $18.95 per pound for fillets and $14.95 per pound for head-on fish, which weigh typically 12 to 15 pounds.
"These amazing treats will look great on your barbeque this week while grilling with the spring sun shining down on us," Southall says. "Pair these amazing trolls with the wonderful spot shrimp from Prince William Sound and you will be in a Alaskan seafood bliss."
The spot shrimp should be available Friday.
Fresh rockfish, sole fillets and catfish are all available for $8.95 per pound. Other options from Outside waters include spearfish ($7.95/pound), grill-grade tuna ($9.95/pound) and sushi-grade tuna ($19.95/pound).
There is good news for those who spend time at Carrs/Safeway markets looking for seafood.
Safeway, which operates more than 1,700 stores including those in Alaska, claimed the top spot in the Greenpeace seafood sustainability report, released earlier this month.
Safeway was praised for discontinuing sales of "red-list," or unsustainably caught, species, including orange roughy.
"Safeway broke new ground with this new report," says Casson Trenor, senior markets campaigner for Greenpeace.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Safeway's move into first place from its fourth-place ranking last year was due in part to the company's involvement in fishery improvement projects to rebuild fish stocks. Other local shopping options ranked include Target (tied for second), Costco (11th) and Walmart (13th).
Greenpeace used four criteria to determine seafood retailer rankings in its fifth Carting Away the Oceans report: seafood purchasing policy, participation in political or conservation initiatives, transparency about what is being sold at the point of sale and how many types of red-list fish a retailer sells.
Farmers markets
Alex Davis and Duane Clark won't be alone at the University Center this week for the Center Market.
Davis says Matanuska Creamery is joining the market this week (11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday). Mile 5.2 Greenhouse will be at Saturday's market.
Davis plans to be restocked on pork products this week. If butchering and preparation goes as planned, he will have fresh chops and roasts today; he will definitely have ground pork, Italian sausage, breakfast sausage and spicy sausage. He also plans to have a 70-pound barbecue pig with him at the market.
Other items include organic parsnips and German butterball potatoes, along with five varieties of jam, 90 dozen chicken eggs and seven dozen duck eggs. New this week is goat cheese from Cranberry Ridge Farm, including a feta-type cheese and a farmer's cheese that Davis describes as "like a curd but it does not melt." He invites shoppers to stop by Saturday's market for "a special treat." More information is available at www.adfarmorganic.com.
Clark will have grass-fed beef from the Valley, frozen Alaska seafood, local honey, French Oven bakery products and popcorn. For more information, visit www.countryhealthfoods.com.
Steve Edwards lives and writes in Anchorage. If you have a suggestion for a future Market Fresh column, please contact him at sedwards@adn.com.
Southall says they will have fresh fish all week at $19.95 per pound for fillets. They also have headed and gutted halibut available for those looking for a better price and more fish. If salmon is on the fish wish list, Southeast troll-caught kings are available for $18.95 per pound for fillets and $14.95 per pound for head-on fish, which weigh typically 12 to 15 pounds.
"These amazing treats will look great on your barbeque this week while grilling with the spring sun shining down on us," Southall says. "Pair these amazing trolls with the wonderful spot shrimp from Prince William Sound and you will be in a Alaskan seafood bliss."
The spot shrimp should be available Friday.
Fresh rockfish, sole fillets and catfish are all available for $8.95 per pound. Other options from Outside waters include spearfish ($7.95/pound), grill-grade tuna ($9.95/pound) and sushi-grade tuna ($19.95/pound).
There is good news for those who spend time at Carrs/Safeway markets looking for seafood.
Safeway, which operates more than 1,700 stores including those in Alaska, claimed the top spot in the Greenpeace seafood sustainability report, released earlier this month.
Safeway was praised for discontinuing sales of "red-list," or unsustainably caught, species, including orange roughy.
"Safeway broke new ground with this new report," says Casson Trenor, senior markets campaigner for Greenpeace.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Safeway's move into first place from its fourth-place ranking last year was due in part to the company's involvement in fishery improvement projects to rebuild fish stocks. Other local shopping options ranked include Target (tied for second), Costco (11th) and Walmart (13th).
Greenpeace used four criteria to determine seafood retailer rankings in its fifth Carting Away the Oceans report: seafood purchasing policy, participation in political or conservation initiatives, transparency about what is being sold at the point of sale and how many types of red-list fish a retailer sells.
Farmers markets
Alex Davis and Duane Clark won't be alone at the University Center this week for the Center Market.
Davis says Matanuska Creamery is joining the market this week (11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday). Mile 5.2 Greenhouse will be at Saturday's market.
Davis plans to be restocked on pork products this week. If butchering and preparation goes as planned, he will have fresh chops and roasts today; he will definitely have ground pork, Italian sausage, breakfast sausage and spicy sausage. He also plans to have a 70-pound barbecue pig with him at the market.
Other items include organic parsnips and German butterball potatoes, along with five varieties of jam, 90 dozen chicken eggs and seven dozen duck eggs. New this week is goat cheese from Cranberry Ridge Farm, including a feta-type cheese and a farmer's cheese that Davis describes as "like a curd but it does not melt." He invites shoppers to stop by Saturday's market for "a special treat." More information is available at www.adfarmorganic.com.
Clark will have grass-fed beef from the Valley, frozen Alaska seafood, local honey, French Oven bakery products and popcorn. For more information, visit www.countryhealthfoods.com.
Steve Edwards lives and writes in Anchorage. If you have a suggestion for a future Market Fresh column, please contact him at sedwards@adn.com.
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