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Alaska: Governor Outlines Plan To Address State's Epidemic Opioid and Heroin Abuse - Governor Bill Walker declared a public health crisis Wednesday in order to combat the state’s opioid epidemic. His disaster declaration established a statewide Overdose Response Program under Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer and enables wide distribution of the life-saving drug, naloxone.

“This disaster declaration is an important first step in addressing our public health crisis, which has devastated too many Alaskan families,” Governor Walker said Wednesday. “When earthquakes, fires or floods claim lives and property on a large scale, a declaration of disaster is issued to prioritize the state’s response. This is no different. We must stop this opioid epidemic. My order ensures that our resources are properly allocated to tackle this challenge. However, this is only the first step. It provides a temporary solution; we must work on a long-term fix.”

In a press conference Thusday, Governor Walker announced the next steps in addressing the epidemic. As part of his plan to build a safer Alaska, Governor Bill Walker signed Administrative Order 283, outlining the next steps to address the growing heroin and opioid epidemic in Alaska. Governor Walker will also introduce legislation in the coming weeks that provides a longer term solution to the state’s opioid and heroin abuse epidemic.

Administrative Order 283 declares the abuse of opioids as a major public health issue and includes a directive for the Department of Public Safety to identify the ways illegal drugs are brought in Alaska and to pursue improved screening and enforcement measure to stop the trafficking of illegal drugs. - More...
Friday PM - February 17, 2017

Alaska: Overturn of Fish and Wildlife Rule Moves Forward; Voids Carnivore Protections on Alaska National Wildlife Refuge - Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.J. Res. 69 to overturn a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule undoing a rule years in the works that was launched by professional wildlife scientists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that stopped intensive “predator control” methods on national wildlife refuges in Alaska.

H.J. Res. 69 passed the House 225 to 193 overturning the “Non-Subsistence Take of Wildlife, and Public Participation and Closure Procedures, on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska". This joint resolution of disapproval sponsored by Alaska Congressman Don Young passed under the Congressional Review Act.

The Congressional Review Act is a powerful tool being deployed by Congress to overturn politically motivated rules finalized in the waning days and months of the Obama administration. With the passage H.J. Res 69 in the House and Senate and the signature of the president, Young’s resolution would ensure that the final FWS rule would have no force or effect, and that no substantially similar rule can be issued in the future without a subsequent authorization from Congress.

“From the beginning, I said I would do everything in my power to overturn this illegal jurisdictional power grab by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Today, we’re one step closer to delivering on that commitment and eliminating a wrongful seizure of Alaska’s fish and wildlife management authority,” House Natural Resources Chairman Emeritus Don Young said after House passage of H.J. Res. 69. “I’m thankful to all those that played a role in moving this important resolution of disapproval, including the countless state and local stakeholders that worked with me to fight a very serious and alarming overreach by the previous administration. I look forward to working with Senators Sullivan and Murkowski to ensure H.J. Res. 69 receives swift consideration in the Senate.”

On August, 5, 2016, the United States Forest Service issued its final rule, which Young said seized authority away from the State of Alaska to manage fish and wildlife for both recreational and subsistence uses on federal lands in Alaska.

Yesterday, U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) applauded the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of H.J. Res. 69, a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to overturn an August 2016 final rule issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that significantly undermines public participation and restricts the state’s ability to manage fish and wildlife on federal refuge lands in Alaska. - More...
Friday PM - February 17, 2017

Alaska: What you need to know about the critically endangered whale you’ve never heard of By KATIE DOPTIS - In pockets of the vast North Pacific Ocean lives the most critically endangered large whale in the world -- and it’s an animal most people have never heard of. Hunted to near extinction, North Pacific right whales are down to just hundreds of animals, with only 30 living in US waters in the eastern Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. Two hundred years ago, it’s believed they numbered in the tens of thousands. Now, North Pacific right whales are so elusive some scientists who study them have never seen one.

North Pacific right whale
Photo By Brenda Rone, NOAA Fisheries

“Even some people who work in whale research don’t know about [North Pacific right whales],” said scientist Amy Kennedy. “There’s this population of animals that are still alive but are basically going extinct. This is happening now.”

Kennedy has the distinction of being an anomaly among cetacean researchers because she’s seen half of the North Pacific right whale population during her work as a scientist affiliated with NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Fisheries Science Center and with the University of Washington’s Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Ocean. And while North Pacific right whales’ population size is dire, Kennedy reports the surviving animals “look strong, they look resilient, if they could only be given a fighting chance.”

According to Kennedy, North Pacific right whales appear, and act, a lot like their North Atlantic right whale cousins. But genetically the two species are different; scientists believe the animals diverged millions of years ago. North Pacific right whales can grow up to 60 feet long and weigh 100 tons, making them twice as heavy as an average humpback. They mainly feed on small crustaceans called copepods and slowly skim the waters of the ocean to filter their food.

The whales have a high-fat content, with a higher blubber to muscle ratio than most other whales. Those basic biological facts, their size, slow speed, and that they float when killed made them whalers’ prime targets. In fact, even their name, “right whale” was coined by hunters who systematically singled them out because they were the right whale to kill, providing an easy bounty of meat and oil.

North Pacific right whales were first hunted by “Yankee” (American) whalers in 1835. By 1900, the population had been reduced to a fraction of the original size, according to Center-affiliated researcher Yulia Ivashchenko. “The species was protected by international agreement in 1935 and again in 1946, but we now know that the former USSR killed hundreds of these animals as part of a huge secret campaign of illegal whaling that began after World War II,” she said. - More...
Friday PM - February 17, 2017

She married Murray Gildersleeve December 29, 1947, and they had five children, cared for two foster children, and dozens more called her ‘mom.’

A loving wife, daughter, sister, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, auntie and friend, Elaine loved everyone with the tender, compassionate heart of a Christian and prayed for each one daily.

A true "sourdough," Elaine loved her life in southeast Alaska, becoming a pilot, keeping the books for the family logging business and enjoying a reputation as a skilled fisherwoman. She was an excellent cook and enjoyed preparing meals for her family and church family, and had a large library of cookbooks. But. as everyone knew, her best recipes were never written down as there were no measurements.

Though Elaine and her husband retired to Maui, Alaska called them home every summer where they continued to enjoy the outdoors. - More...
Friday PM - February 17, 2017

COLUMNS - COMMENTARY

MONEY MATTERS: INVESTING IN ANNUITIES – A GOOD IDEA OR NOT? By MARY LYNNE DAHL, CFP® - A financial planner that I know recently mentioned to me that she had a new client who asked her to explain annuities. The planner had not recommended an annuity but the investor was interested and wondered why not, because he had seen a commercial on TV which he said claimed that you could not lose money and your return could only go up, not down, with a certain kind of annuity. The investor was attracted to that idea, of course. Who wouldn’t want an investment that could not lose money and which guaranteed a return that would only go up and never down? It sounded too god to be true, which should be a warning flag. Too often, it is not.

What is an annuity? An annuity is not simply an investment like a mutual fund or stock. It is an insurance product that combines insurance with investments. In simple terms, it uses an insurance contract to provide the insurance portion and a mutual fund or similar investment to provide the investment portion. When someone invests in an annuity, part of the money buys insurance and part goes into an investment, and there are problems with this as an investment strategy. One of the main problems is high fees. - More...
Friday PM - February 17, 2017

DANNY TYREE: Presidents' Day: Untold Stories Abound - Since Presidents' Day is fast approaching, it is appropriate that three of the books I'm currently juggling on my Kindle Fire are "Lady Bird and Lyndon," "The General Vs. The President" (MacArthur and Truman) and "The Wars of the Roosevelts."

To my surprise, the upcoming holiday really is still Washington's Birthday. Although we've been brainwashed into calling it Presidents' Day for decades, the change was never made official. Similarly, the Tomb of the Unknowns is still technically Sure As Tarnation Looks Like Hiram To Me.

Thanks to Smithsonian.com and other websites, I've been able to assemble some fascinating presidential trivia for you. Thanks to my anonymous sources, I've also been able to ENHANCE that trivia.

For instance, you probably knew that four presidents (Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama) received the Nobel Peace Prize. There were actually SEVEN, but the mainstream media decided not to let the other three know, distracting them with comically large checks from Publishers Clearinghouse. - More...
Friday PM - February 17, 2017

TOM PURCELL: Whose Day Is it Anyway? - "I thought the purpose of Presidents Day was getting steep discounts on mattresses and furniture."

"Good one, but the original purpose of Presidents Day was to celebrate George Washington's birthday. According to History.com, in 1800, the year after Washington died, 'his February 22 birthday became a perennial day of remembrance.' For years it was celebrated with the same passion with which Americans still celebrate the Fourth of July. In 1885, a bill established Feb. 22 as a federal holiday. The federal government still officially refers to Presidents Day as Washington's Birthday."

"Which is it? Washington's Birthday or Presidents Day?"

"Well, both. Washington's Birthday became popularly known as Presidents Day as part of 1971's Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which sought to create more three-day weekends for federal employees. It moved the holiday from a fixed calendar date to the third Monday of February." - More...
Friday PM - February 17, 2017