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Ketchikan: House Transportation Committee Takes AMHS Public Testimony; Rep Dan Ortiz Wants to Hear from District 36 By MARY KAUFFMAN- Representative Dan Ortiz (I-Ketchikan) is strongly encouraging all members of District 36 to take time next week to speak up about the Alaska Marine Ferry System and the proposed budget cuts to the service. Ortiz say this will be the only AMHS public testimony opportunity in the House Transportation Committee.

Public testimony will be heard Tuesday, March 12th, from 1:30pm-3:00pm and from 5:30pm-6:30pm, by Alaska House of Representatives Transportation Committee.

Details first began to emerge on the ferry system’s proposed budget cuts during an Alaska Senate Finance Committee held in Juneau Feburary 20, 2019 and chaired by Sen. Bert Stedman (R-Sitka).

In February Governor Michael Dunleavy proposed a budget cut of approximately $60 million from the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities’ budget from $593 million to $533 million for FY2020.

The AMHS is heavily subsidized by State of Alaska General Funds and according to Office of Management and Budget’s management director for DOTPF Amanda Holland's testimony in February, the percentage of the ferry system’s state costs recovered in fares has fallen from 60 percent in 1992 to 33.3 percent in 2018. The 2018 passenger capacity was 42.6% and vehicle capacity was 51.6%.

Holland also told the committee in February the Alaska Department of Transportation will work with a marine consultant to investigate options available for moving the AMHS towards privatized service or service provided by public/private partnership, with the intent of reducing the State’s financial obligation and/or liability.

However just a few years ago, in January 2016, the Alaska Department of Transportation released a report on the positive economic impacts of the Alaska Marine Highway System and the impacts of reduced services.The report, prepared by the Juneau-based McDowell Group, found that the state-run ferry system generated a return of more than $2 to the state for every $1 invested.

According to the 2016 study, impacts of reduced AMHS service will be broad and far-reaching, affecting a diverse range of Alaska residents, businesses, and organizations. The economies of Alaska’s smaller and more isolated coastal communities, such as Ketchikan, will be particularly hard hit. 

Quoting the survey, the impacts of reduced AMHS service include: 

• Loss of return on investment: For every dollar of General Fund money not budgeted to AMHS, there will be $2.30 less economic activity in Alaska.

• Loss of AMHS employment and wages: Communities like Ketchikan and Haines, small towns with relatively high AMHS employment (and less diversified economies), will be particularly hard hit by AMHS employment and wage cuts.

•  Loss of AMHS spending with local businesses: Cuts to AMHS service will affect a wide range of Alaska businesses that AMHS makes purchases from, such as engineering firms, fuel companies, shipyards, and food suppliers. 

•  Loss of spending by non-residents: Fewer ferries means fewer out-of-state visitors traveling to Alaska’s coastal communities and spending money there on lodging, retail, transportation, and tours. These outside-sourced dollars are particularly valuable as they generate new jobs and income for Alaska residents, and impact a wide variety of economic sectors. 

•  Reduced seafood shipment capacity and loss of income to fishermen:Reduced AMHS service will negatively impact seafood processing companies and, in turn, the fishermen from whom they purchase products. 

•  Increased cost-of-living in coastal communities: Fewer ferries will lead to increased cost of goods, as communities scramble to find other ways of transporting goods in and out – groceries, construction equipment and supplies, household goods, and more will all cost more as transportation costs rise. - More...
Thursday PM - March 07, 2019

Alaska: Congressman Don Young Becomes the Longest-Serving Republican in the History of Congress - Alaska Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska) achieved a history-making milestone yesterday by becoming the longest serving Republican in the history of the United States Congress. Congressman Young breaks a record previously held by former Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon.

“It has been the honor of my life to represent our great state in the House of Representatives for forty-six years,” said Congressman Don Young. “I love and respect this institution, and it is a privilege to have worked with over two-thousand other Members throughout my tenure. I would like to thank my friends on both sides of the aisle for taking time to recognize this milestone today. I stand energized and as ready as ever to keep up the fight for all of Alaska.”

Congressman Don Young spoke from the House Floor and reflected upon this historic milestone of service to the people of Alaska.

Young said in his speech, "This a great United States of America. And we're representative of our districts. One thing I learned during my 46 years is that each one of you represent your people. And I respect it. I may not agree with some of the things you stand for, but I respect that you were elected by your people. I had the privilege of traveling a lot, and still do, into members' districts. Not to campaign against them. But to find out why and how they are elected and what they stand for in that community. This democracy, this House is the People's House."

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski offered her congratulations to her Alaskan colleague, who reached the milestone of becoming the longest-serving Republican in the history of Congress. Congressman Young has served in the House of Representatives for 46 years.  - More...
Thursday PM - March 07, 2019

Alaska: “Prudhoe Bay Governor” Dies at the age of 94, Flags to Fly at Half-Staff Through Sunday - Alaska Governor Michael J. Dunleavy and First Lady Rose Dunleavy wish to express their condolences to the family of former Alaska Governor Keith Miller. Miller, Alaska’s third Governor, passed away last Saturday at the age of 94 in Anchorage.

“While Governor Miller’s time in office was brief, the “Prudhoe Bay Governor” as he became widely known, successfully managed the historic $900 million-dollar Prudhoe Bay lease sale that led to the construction of the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline and the modernization of Alaska’s economy,” said Governor Dunleavy. “That’s a remarkable legacy and I ask all Alaskans to remember that significant contribution Governor Miller made to our great state.”

Keith Miller was born in 1925 in Seattle and grew up in Bothell, Washington. As a young man, he always dreamed of living in Alaska and after serving his country in the Army Air Corps during World War II, he took the first opportunity he could to come the Last Frontier. Miller worked on a gold dredge in Fairbanks and tried his hand at farming before finding his true calling in politics. - More...
Thursday PM - March 07, 2019

Alaska Legislature Passes Citation Honoring Tlingit Code Talkers
Attendees of yesterday's event:
Front row: Verna Adams, daughter of George Lewis; Krissy Bean, granddaughter of Richard Bean; Jodi Mitchell, step-daughter of Jeff David, and on the end John David, son of Jeff David; back: Tlingit and Haida Central Council President Richard Peterson, Alaska Native Brotherhood Camp 70 President Marcelo Quinto, SHI President Rosita Worl, Tlingit veteran and former state lawmaker Bill Thomas; Southeast Alaska Native Veterans Commander Ozzie Sheakley, and Commander of Hoonah Veterans James Lindoff, Jr.
Photo by Lyndsey Brollini, courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute

Southeast Alaska: Alaska Legislature Passes Citation Honoring Tlingit Code Talkers; Men helped end World War II by using Tlingit as a code - The Alaska State Legislature passed a citation yesterday honoring Alaska's Tlingit code talkers for their exemplary military service and the crucial role they played in helping to end World War II.

The citation, which postumously honored Tlingit code talkers Robert Jeff David, Sr., Richard Bean, Sr., George Lewis, Jr., and brothers Harvey Jacobs and Mark Jacobs, Jr., passed with family members of the men and Native leaders watching from the House and Senate galleries.

Sen. Jesse Kiehl called it ironic that the Tlingit code talkers, who were punished in school as children for speaking their Native tongue, were later called upon to use Tlingit to save American lives.

"When wartime came, when they answered their nation's call, it was in part their languages, their cultures and their connections to one another that was such a strength, that saved so many American service men and women and helped us to be victorious," Kiehl said from the Senate floor.

"Their story is a testament to the ingenuity, nobility and bravery of Alaska Native people and highlights the importance of preserving the Tlingit language," said Senate Majority Leader Mia Costello.

Sen. Gary Stevens on the floor made remarks based on the citation which has not yet been publicly released.

During the war, the Japanese had cracked every code the United States used, but when the Marines turned to Navajo, Tlingit and other Native American recruits to develop and implement a secret military language, they created the only unbroken codes in modern warfare and helped assure victory for the United States over Japan in the South Pacific.

Navajo code talkers have long been recognized for the crucial part they played in World War II. But until very recently, no one knew that Tlingit code talkers also used the Tlingit language as a code that the enemy was never able to crack. Even the families of the Tlingit code talkers did not know of their secret service. - More...
Thursday PM - March 07, 2019

Alaska: Discovery could mean breakthrough in hard drive storage By FRITZ FREUDENBERGER - A breakthrough by a University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher could lead to computer hard drives capable of storing much more data in a smaller space.

As file size and data needs increase, the future of data storage is uncertain. In the past, the density of data that can be stored on hard drives has increased by 40 percent a year. But in the last five years, that rate, known as data scaling, has slowed to between 15 and 10 percent. Now, thanks to a breakthrough in magnetics, the rate may rise.

Gunther Kletetschka, a research professor at the UAF Geophysical Institute who specializes in magnetics, recently reported a way to control magnetization in nanoparticles that could allow more data in computer hard drives. The results were published with three co-authors in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Scientific Reports.

“What we have shown in this paper is that we have a way that we can erase magnetic memory and a way to stabilize it,” Kletetschka said. “It shows there is a new principle that has not been used. If we use this principle we can have a much larger density of memory storage than we had before.”

Bits of data are stored on a disk in a computer’s hard drive by writing on particles when they are in a fluctuating magnetic state, then stabilizing them to store the written data. To record more data in a given area, you need to allot a smaller space to each bit. In turn, that reduces the signal when you read the data. If you reduce the signal too much, it gets lost in the magnetic noise that arises from the particles coating the disk.

It is possible to reduce that background noise by making the particles smaller. However, it is difficult to shrink them without compromising their ability to maintain a stable magnetic state. The smallest size that’s practical to use for magnetic recording is known as the superparamagnetic limit.

And, unknown to most consumers, disk manufacturers have reached it. - More...
Thursday PM - March 07, 2019

Alaska: Arctic change is impacting lower latitudes By HEATHER REBEKAH - A new, short article written for the public compiles evidence that the footprint of Arctic change is expanding.

“People in other places may not have a full understanding that as the Arctic becomes disrupted the number of social and environmental systems in lower latitudes that are affected is growing,” said co-author Amy Lovecraft from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Lovecraft is a professor of political science and director of the Center for Arctic Policy Studies at the International Arctic Research Center. She and 14 others from multiple disciplines wrote the paper. The group focused on sharing a sobering message and calling people to action globally.

The article, published today in the journal Earth’s Future, provides evidence of the effect of Arctic change, including sea level rise, greater storm impacts, and ocean and atmospheric warming.

Under current warming trajectories, sea level is projected to rise 1 meter this century, with the melting of Arctic land ice being a major contributor. New York, Los Angeles and Houston would be just a few of the cities worldwide forced to deal with the impacts.

Changes to the Arctic jet stream may also significantly affect storms and extreme weather events, such as drought and unusual snowstorms already occurring in the continental U.S.

Arctic sea ice loss has serious global consequences, as sea ice helps to regulate Earth’s climate by reflecting incoming solar radiation. As sea ice cover declines, Arctic warming is amplified, further accelerating climate warming well beyond the Arctic.

Permafrost thaw is expected to cost Alaska an estimated $2.1 billion dollars in infrastructure damage and release significant amounts of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, contributing to further warming of the planet. - More...
Thursday PM - March 07, 2019

TOM PURCELL: Why 'Springing Forward' Takes My Dad Weeks - Nobody dreads daylight saving time more than my father.

He has his work cut out for him this coming weekend, when we "spring forward" by setting clocks ahead by an hour before going to bed Saturday night. 

You see, my mother loves clocks - so much that he has 14 clocks to reset.

There are clocks in both guest bedrooms. That way, my mother argues, friends and family members who stay over always know the time and can set alarms to wake early.

My father finally figured out how to change the microwave's clock, but the stove is brand-new and its clock is causing him grief.

"For godssakes, Betty," he complains to my mother, "I'll never figure this daggone thing out."

He particularly dislikes the clock in the basement family room. Everyone in our family thinks this framed "picture clock," which displays a mill on a river, is ugly. But my mother loves it because 40 years ago, I used my meager high-school savings to buy it for her as a birthday gift. - More...
Thursday PM - March 07, 2019

JOE GUZZARDI: Play Ball! Baseball Fans Brace for Big Changes - Spring training is underway, and fans whose passion for baseball dates back decades brace themselves for more game-altering, useless and annoying changes. Major League Baseball commissioner Rob "Meddling" Manfred is back at it with more dumb ideas that will, if implemented, distract from the game on the field.

Manfred's latest folly, currently being tested in spring training, is the pitch clock that will limit hurlers to 20 seconds in between pitches. Another experiment that the Atlantic League is testing is a three-batter minimum on relief pitchers. And eventually, the dreaded robot umpire will take its place behind home plate. Count on it!

Fans will remember, with irritation, that Manfred is responsible for the tedious replay review system which slows the game's pace. As fans sit on their hands, bench coaches call their video guys, umpires stare at managers for an order to look at replay, and the umpiring crew deliberates, then consults with the New York-based experts - snail's pace stuff. More Manfred tedium: the automatic intentional base on balls wherein the manager simply flashes four fingers, and the batter trots to first base. The pitcher is relieved of throwing the traditional four wide ones. The estimated game time saved is only a few seconds, but to Manfred every second lost is precious. - More...
Thursday PM - March 07, 2019

Political Cartoon: MLB season begins March 20th
It is the 150th anniversary of professional baseball, dating back to the 1869 foundation of the Cincinnati Reds. 
By Dave Granlund ©2019, Cagle Cartoons
Distributed to paid subscribers for publication by Cagle Cartoons, Inc.