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Alaska: $125 million in federal COVID-19 aid authorized by Alaska lawmakers Posted & Edited By MARY KAUFFMAN - The Alaska Legislative Budget & Audit Committee on Friday authorized $125 million of the $1.25 billion provided to Alaska by the federal government through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.  This $125 million goes for education, child nutrition programs, public safety and public transportation.

Authorization of these initial budget items by the legislative committee was in accordance with a revised proposal from Governor Mike Dunleavy. 

“Today was a great first step in executing a tranche of CARES Act funding out to the people of Alaska,” said Senator Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks, vice-chairman of the Legislative Budget & Audit Committee.

Bishop said, “Hopefully by Wednesday we get the remaining balance of those funds out to communities. I want to thank all involved, from the governor’s administration to the House and Senate, who’ve worked tirelessly to get us to this point.” 

“Delivering these funds as quickly, widely and appropriately as possible to Alaskans is our top priority,” said Senate President Cathy Giessel. “Today’s progress was the result of hard work and collaboration between members of the House, Senate and governor’s office. It remains our shared goal to swiftly disburse the remaining funds.”

“Alaskans need help, and they need it fast – and these funds reflect that urgency,” said Senator Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. “But, our work is not done. We are still working closely with the administration on distributing additional funds. We’re also working closely with the congressional delegation to make sure Alaskans get necessary assistance and understand the resources available to them.”

“We thank everyone for rising above politics and working together as Alaskans to get funding out to those who need it as quickly as possible,” said Representative Chris Tuck (D-Anchorage). “Today’s action was a significant first step, and the committee continues to work overtime to review the governor’s revised proposal that was released this [Friday] morning.”

Follow-up action is expected soon to get additional federal funds out to Alaskans and organizations that need help, but the first wave of money will go toward a variety of programs adversely impacted by COVID-19.

The committee on Friday approved six spending proposals through the Revised Program Legislative (RPL) process: - More...
Monday PM - May 04, 2020

Ketchikan: Don’t delay necessary healthcare - PeaceHealth Ketchikan is planning the safe reopening of healthcare services.

While the medical center and clinics are not easing current practices related to safety and security implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians and leaders at PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center and Medical Group want to remind the public not to delay seeking important healthcare.

One outcome of the COVID-19 crisis is the shift in public perception about what constitutes necessary care. When combined with fear of contracting the virus, many people have chosen to delay or postpone routine, follow-up, and emergency care with potentially harmful effects. 

While stay-at-home orders are a large contributing factor, there is a growing concern among the healthcare community that patients, even those with severe illnesses, are avoiding hospitals out of fear.

Delays seeking care can have a detrimental impact on patient health including more severe clinical findings; poorer outcomes; and increased expenses related to postponing care.

PeaceHealth Medical Group physician Peter Rice, MD, encourages the public to remain focused on their own health and wellness during the crisis. He urges people not to hesitate to seek the routine or critical/emergency care they may need either for themselves or their loved ones.

“I am concerned about patients who are reluctant to seek medical care because they are unaware that we are open during this crisis and are safely caring for our patients,” stated Rice, “Our physician group continues to provide ongoing care, manage and treat chronic and acute illness, give important childhood and adult vaccinations, and prescribe medications for our patients unrelated to the COVID-19 virus.”

Visits may look different, given social distancing requirements, and video visits provide options to traditional face-to-face visits which are still required for some patients.

Safety remains a top priority at the Medical Center for patients and caregiver employees and they continue to take the necessary precautions based on the most recent recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ensure that any COVID-19 patients are not only cared for, but in safe and strict isolation away from general hospital areas. - More...
Monday PM - May 04, 2020

Alaska: Alaska Attorney General Says Legislative Auditor Overstepped Her Legal Authority - In response to the attempt by the Alaska Legislative Auditor to force executive branch agencies to adhere to her interpretation of the Alaska Constitution, Alaska Attorney General Kevin G. Clarkson in a letter outlined the statutory and ethical roles of the Legislative Auditor and Attorney General.

In the letter to Legislative Auditor Kris Curtis, General Clarkson explained that the role of the auditor is to audit financial transactions, and the role of the Attorney General is to provide legal advice to executive branch agencies. According to the Attorney General’s April 29, 2020 letter (128K PDF), the Legislative Auditor has overstepped her legal authority and exposed Alaska to unnecessary financial and legal risk by asserting that the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation has potentially violated its fiduciary duty by following the legal advice of two successive Attorneys General, former Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth and current Attorney General Kevin Clarkson.

“The Legislative Auditor has an important role,” said Attorney General Clarkson in describing why he felt a response was necessary. “But her role has limits. It is beyond the auditor’s authority, as well as beyond comprehension, to assert that executive branch agencies are acting unlawfully because they follow the Attorney General’s advice. The meaning of the Alaska Constitution is not for the auditor to determine. The Auditor has no legal training. Our statutes and constitution are clear—it is the Attorney General’s role to advise agencies on what the law means, and it is for the courts to ultimately determine what the law is.”

The legal question is whether the Legislature must make an appropriation to place 50 percent of royalties in the Permanent Fund when the Alaska Constitution requires a deposit of only 25 percent. When the disagreement between the Legislative Auditor and the Department of Law first arose, former Attorney General Lindemuth (Walker administration) sent a letter to the auditor explaining the Department’s view that because the constitution requires a deposit of only 25 percent and a state statute requires 50 percent, depositing the constitutional 25 percent is automatic but the additional statutory 25 percent requires a legislative appropriation. - More...
Monday PM - May 04, 2020

Sikuliaq embarks on limited research cruise
By ALICE BAILE
The Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Ecological Research site lies off the research vessel Sikuliaq’s stern. The cruise this May will be the first research cruise since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Photo by Bernard McKiernan

Alaska: Sikuliaq embarks on limited research cruise By ALICE BAILEY - Scientific operations resumed on the research vessel Sikuliaq for one week beginning May 4, preserving an unbroken string of 22 years of ecological data collection. 

Special permission has been granted for a small team of researchers from the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to collect water samples in the northern Gulf of Alaska.

This will mark the first time a vessel in the U.S. Academic Research Fleet has been allowed to engage in research activities since COVID-19 grounded the fleet, which is coordinated by the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System. 

The scientists self-quarantined for two weeks prior to boarding the vessel, and are adhering to health mandates while conducting their research. 

Rose Dufour, ship operations program director at the National Science Foundation, said, “NSF recognizes the difficult decision to move forward with science operations in these uncertain times, but we feel UAF has done an excellent job in assessing and mitigating the risks.”

UAF operates the Sikuliaq on behalf of NSF, which owns the vessel.

The Sikuliaq will provide science support for the Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Ecological Research program. This ocean region supports one of the nation’s largest fisheries, as well as many important crab, seabird and marine mammal populations. 

Understanding the NGA ecosystem begins with understanding the plankton that sustain it. - More...
Monday PM - May 04, 2020

Alaska - Nationwide: S-O-S Sent to Federal Government as Fishermen and Seasfood Businesses Struggle to Stay Afloat & Provide Essential Services - Today, hundreds of independent fishermen along with small and mid-sized seafood businesses across the country and their allies sent a letter to the Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Agriculture, and Congress urging for increased federal support for America’s fishing communities. Representatives from Alaska, the West Coast, the Gulf, and New England spoke out in an accompanying video message . Their message underscored growing concerns about the impacts of COVID-19 on small and mid-scale seafood producers and called on the Trump Administration and Congress to address the increasingly urgent situation facing fishing communities nationwide.

The letter outlines several key recommendations that would enable fishing communities to weather the COVID-19 crisis and adapt to its abrupt and dramatic impacts on the seafood supply chain. The recommendations include $1.5 billion in additional emergency funding (with at least half allocated for small and mid-sized fishing operations); debt forgiveness measures; support for young fishermen; investments in shoreside infrastructure; access to testing, protective equipment and medical care; and, eligibility for the USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.

A broad and diverse group of 238 allies endorsed the letter, including commercial fishing trade associations, seafood businesses, food & agriculture groups, environmental organizations, social justice advocates and concerned citizens, collectively representing three million Americans. - More...
Monday PM - May 04, 2020

COVID-19 harms Alaska mariculture industry
By MELISSA GOOD
A grow-out raft suspends trays of oysters in the water.
Photo by Melissa Good/Alaska Sea Grant.

Alaska: COVID-19 harms Alaska mariculture industry By MELISSA GOOD - Alaska’s mariculture industry laid off employees after COVID-19 health mandates sharply reduced revenue, according to a new Alaska Sea Grant survey.

Alaska Sea Grant distributed the anonymous survey to Alaska’s mariculture producers to better understand the impacts of COVID-19 during February and March. Survey respondents reported that revenue was down, with 43 percent reporting losses of more than half of their revenue. More than a third had laid off employees.

Mariculture — the cultivation of shellfish and aquatic plants — is a fledgling industry in Alaska with a current value of around $1 million. Sales 2019 included 1.8 million oysters, 112,000 pounds of seaweed and smaller amounts of other shellfish species.

While fisheries and aquaculture businesses in Alaska are allowed to continue operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic with health safety precautions, closures in restaurants and tourism-related businesses around the country have reduced the demand for seafood.

Mariculture farmers reported the biggest hits to their businesses were restaurant closures (81%), labor challenges (52%) and reduced opportunity for export (48%). Closures of restaurants have resulted in few or no sales, which means little or no cash flow to the farms. With reduced cash flow, farmers are unable to hire workers to maintain, harvest and process their crop.

As the summer growing season approaches, oyster farmers are concerned that a shortage of labor could lead to the loss of millions of oysters to predation and fouling. Long-term concerns include whether the economy will rebound, restaurants will reopen and customers will return with the “previous enthusiasm for new healthier/more sustainable products,” as one survey respondent said. Another respondent said some of the impacts from COVID-19 could be minimized if the state’s ferries were operating. - More...
Monday PM - May 05, 2020

New equipment provides quick test
results for COVID 19
New COVID 19 testing equipment that can deliver results in under two hours.
Photo courtesy PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center

PeaceHealth Ketchikan has been using an Abbott Labs ID NOW in both in Ketchikan and on Prince of Wales Island.

The Abbott Labs equipment is a Point of Care (POC) machine that can be used outside a lab to provide results in under an hour if the test is negative. If a test is positive or unknown, that test was sent to an outside lab for verification, which can take two to four days.

Now PeaceHealth Ketchikan can run the second test on site, in its own lab and have a result quickly with the QIAstat-Dx which tests for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).

The machine takes a small DNA sample and amplifies it, so it is large enough to study. With this new equipment, the lab tech goes under the ‘hood’, a device that pushes air flow away from the tech, and adds the sample to a reagent which is then analyzed in the QIAstat-Dx. - More...
Monday PM - May 04, 2020

Alaska: Additional benefits now available for unemployed Alaskans - The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) announced Friday it will provide up to 13 weeks of additional Unemployment Insurance benefits to help Alaskans who are out of work due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

“Reopening Alaska’s economy responsibly and getting Alaskans back to work will take some time,” said Commissioner Tamika Ledbetter. “It’s important that we help Alaskans out of work through no fault of their own, by extending unemployment benefits so they can meet their basic needs until they are able to return to work.”

This program, called Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), is part of the CARES Act signed into law on March 27, 2020. The benefits would be payable after individuals have exhausted benefits on a regular unemployment claim that ended July 6, 2019, or later. The additional payments are available during the weeks ending April 4 - Dec. 26, 2020. - More...
Monday PM - May 04, 2020

Southeast Alaska: False distress calls put Alaskan, other lives at risk; $1,000 reward - The U.S. Coast Guard received multiple reports of false distress communications in various parts of Southeast Alaska recently, putting mariner's lives at risk. 

Coast Guard Investigative Service is working with the Juneau Police Department to investigate these calls, and urges the public to be aware that knowingly and willfully communicating a false distress message such as a flare or a radio communication to the Coast Guard or causing the Coast Guard to attempt to save lives and property when no help is needed is considered a felony under federal law.

The felony offense is punishable by up to ten years in prison, up to a $250,000 criminal fine, a $10,000 civil fine, and reimbursement to the Coast Guard for the cost of performing the search. To determine the fine(s), cost estimates are based on hours of asset operations and personnel hours worked. 

Flares are considered a sign of distress and they are distinctive from fireworks. Flares are red or orange in color, and come in three common types. Meteor flares rise rapidly to over 250 feet and descend rapidly, burning for more than five seconds. Parachute flares rise rapidly to over 1,000 feet and descend slowly, burning for more than 30 seconds. Hand-held flares burn for one to two minutes. Crews aboard Coast Guard Air Station Sitka's MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters, Coast Guard Station Juneau's 45-foot Response Boat Mediums and 17th District-based Coast Guard Cutters have been launched on multiple unresolved distress calls in the last several weeks, costing more than $1.4 million of taxpayer money to conduct unresolved searches that degrade crew readiness, impact their ability to train and respond to other missions, and endure unnecessary risk operating in the challenging and harsh climate and geographic environment in Alaska.

So far in fiscal year 2020, the Coast Guard launched on 102 cases that could not be resolved, including 64 unintentional/accidental electronic alerts, 15 abandoned/derelict vessels, seven uncorrelated maydays, two people in the water, eight flare sightings and three capsized boats. - More...
Monday PM - May 04, 2020

Analysis: Coronavirus: Why is it so hard to aid small businesses hurt by a disaster? By MARIA K. WATSON - The U.S. government has committed hundreds of billions of dollars to help small businesses weather the coronavirus pandemic. But early reports suggest larger companies are gobbling up much of the aid, while many of the neediest ones – particularly those with only a few dozen employees – aren’t benefiting.

For example, large, generally profitable companies like Shake Shack, Potbelly and even the Los Angeles Lakers, with access to other lines of credit, have received millions of dollars in loans, even as mom-and-pop stores across the U.S. say they are still waiting to hear back about their applications.

Very small businesses, particularly those operating on small profit margins, are especially vulnerable, since they may not have the cash reserves to weather periods of economic uncertainty and typically have fewer ways to access financing. A recent poll by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found that one in four U.S. businesses is two months away from permanently shutting down.

My research on efforts to help businesses recover from hurricanes and other disasters shows why smaller organizations have long struggled to get aid after a crisis. - More....
Monday PM - May 04, 2020

Analysis: The 'first scientist's' 800-year-old tonic for what ails us: The truth By RICHARD GUNDERMAN - It seems that science has been taking a beating lately. From decades of denial by the tobacco industry that smoking causes cancer to more recent attempts to use the COVID-19 pandemic to score political points, a presumption seems to have taken root that it is okay to seek and speak the truth only when it suits personal interest.

In times like these, we urgently need leaders who know what they are talking about and whose commitment to truth exceeds their loyalty to party or person – among them, the sort of people long known as scientists (“those who know,” the literal meaning of scientist). COVID-19 is a kind of plague, but so is ignorance, and only by addressing the latter can society tackle the former.

This year marks what is believed by many to be the 800th birthday of an especially courageous truth seeker, the English polymath Roger Bacon. Though other scientists came before him, his breadth of study has led many to call him “the first scientist.” Were he alive today, Bacon would likely be pursuing the truth about such matters as the coronavirus and its effects on society, as well as the need for personal and political virtues to overcome it.

Because Bacon lived so long ago, we know more about his ideas than his life. Born in Somerset, England, his family appears to have been well off, and he studied and taught at two of Europe’s oldest universities, beginning at Oxford. After earning his master of arts degree, he accepted an invitation to teach at the University of Paris for about a decade before eventually returning to Oxford.

Bacon was one of those remarkable human beings who seem to know just about everything. An expert on the thought of the ancient philosopher Aristotle, he also taught mathematics, astronomy, music, optics, alchemy (a forerunner of chemistry), moral philosophy and theology. Because of the depth and breadth of learning reflected in his Opus Majus (“Great Work”), composed at the Pope’s request to describe his studies, he became known as Doctor Mirabilis or “Wonderful Teacher.” - More...
Monday PM - May 04, 2020

BOB CIMINEL: A Few Questions About Those Stimulus Checks - I am a pragmatist to the nth degree. As I’ve gotten older I’ve become even more adept at questioning give-away programs, and particularly those sponsored by politicians. And, no matter how they refer to themselves, anyone holding an elected office is first and foremost a political animal born, nurtured and absolutely at home in the snake-pit of politics.

The forthcoming stimulus payments will assuredly have a due-bill attached to them. In all probability it will be a future tax increase or a new round of inflation
.
The government currently has no income, except for stalwart citizens like myself who paid their taxes before the COVID-19 invasion. And that begs question, where is the money to fund the stimulus initiative coming from? There are only two methods through which the government can pay for stuff, either print more money or borrow more money. Even without the stimulus package the government was projected to spend over $1 trillion more than it’s projected income (read taxes).

What do people use when they spend more than they make? They either borrow money or use credit cards, which are just a convenient way to borrow money.
As of now, $5.4 trillion of our debt is owned by Asian countries, and 20% of that is held by China, world headquarters for COVID-19.

The money for the stimulus checks will be added to the deficit and our grandchildren will pay it back in their taxes, along with the funds allocated for business, research, transfer payments and anything else that receives money for nothing. There is no free lunch
.
Were I running the country, I would put people back to work and stop all federal, state and local withholding for a year. That would put an extra 30 to 40% in every paycheck every payday. Those hardworking folks who run cash businesses may be at a short-term disadvantage, but as business picks up they will reap the benefits of the trickledown economy.

Some questions have been in my mind since the Democrat majority in the House approved the package: - More...
Monday PM - May 04, 2020

Political Cartoon: Believe Some Women
By Rick McKee ©2020, Counterpoint
Distributed to paid subscribers for publication by Cagle Cartoons, Inc.