The two fly fishermen were Bradley E. Johnson, 46, of Cloquet, Minn., and his friend, Roger Ball, 56, of Conde, S.D. Johnson worked for Minnesota's department of transportation.
***
Palin is on the bus. In a silly but polished animated cartoon that makes fun of every national politician vying for attention, one segment is of particular interest to Alaskans wondering if their governor might be tapped as a Republican VP.
The humor is at JibJab; it's well done and pokes good fun at everyone. Of note to pundits is exactly which spot Palin is in as she waves from the campaign bus window. A nod to local blogger Mudflats, who found it yesterday.
***
Tax relief for fishermen stalls out in Congress. KDLG updates the Fisheries Fuel Tax Relief Bill of 2008, pitched by Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Sen. Ted Stevens. Attempts to get Alaska fishermen considered "farmers of the sea" so they could get help from existing agriculture funds failed. Sen. Ted Stevens told KDLG by phone that his next plan is to attach it to a current energy bill or see if the Alaska Legislature can take it up.
The bill would give fishermen facing high fuel prices a tax credit based on the difference between fuel prices today and what they paid on Labor Day in 2004.
***
Declining Porcupine caribou herd could lead to hunting limits. The sobering news came at the International Gwich'in Gathering in Old Crow, Yukon, reports CBC News.
Recent computer models show that the herd continues to decline, down from a 2001 count of 120,000 to a possible low of 90,000.
Options include a total ban on hunting, taking more males than females, or limiting the hunt. Another option, predator control, came up because the herd grew when Alaska activated wolf bounties between 1950 and 1970.
***
New top cop Kopp expresses frugal philosophy. Former Kenai Police Chief Chuck Kopp told the Peninsula Clarion he's looking forward to his new role as the commissioner of public safety.
Kopp identified a management style that he'll take into the state job.
One of the qualities Kopp gained as Kenai's police chief, he said, is perseverance in carrying out purposefully set plans and learning to focus on the police department's mission. He also realized as police chief that resources are finite.
"We only have so much," he said. "We're always asking the hard question: Does this program work? Does this request for service align with our mission statement? That's going to transfer to a very large level."
A sexual harassment complaint against Kopp reported in the ADN was not explored in the interview.
***
Wasilla council member sends Meritage report to troopers. The Frontiersman reports that Diane Woodruff has asked the Wasilla Police Department to deliver the Denali Law Group's report of potential conflict of interest between the city and Meritage Development to troopers for further investigation.
"I just want them to finish looking at everything else," Woodruff said by phone Wednesday. "If (troopers) find something criminal, they'll go from there."
She said she requested this because an official investigation could go deeper than the Denali Law Group could, such as using search warrants to investigate financial records.
***
Susitna ferry ponders landing areas in Anchorage. ADN and APRN offer updates on a ferry that would link Anchorage, the Mat-Su and Tyonek. The hangup appears to be where the ferry would land in Anchorage.
Anchorage officials want the landing at the city's expanding port, but Mat-Su officials prefer Ship Creek. Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich has suggested that they scope out and get permits for both spots and proceed. Ferry officials worry that the delay in negotiations will lead to higher production costs for the catamaran-style vessel now being built Ketchikan.
The fight over drilling for oil offshore and in Alaska comes to a head today. A close look at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's commitment to stop offshore drilling, reported by The New York Times today, gives a window into how Democrats are framing their position.
In a move that echoes Alaska's position with Exxon over Point Thomson - a use-it-or-lose-it approach to long-standing leases that go undeveloped by oil companies - the House is scheduled to vote today on a proposal that would deny oil companies new leases unless they can show they are diligently exploring existing holdings. The measure would require annual lease sales from lands in Alaska set aside as a National Petroleum Reserve and direct the Interior Department to make sure a pipeline is linked to the reserves. Democrats are calling the measure the Drill Responsibly in Leased Lands, or Drill Act.
The Associated Press also covered the strategy story.
***
Shell Oil is staging preliminary work out of Dutch Harbor. KIAL reports that preliminary scoping work for future drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas by Shell Oil is being managed out of Dutch Harbor.
The work now is preliminary: seismic, shallow hazard, marine mammal and baseline environmental research in the lease area Shell paid $2.7 billion for last February.
Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said the vessels moving north will be tracking designated marine species and examining ice gouges in the sea floor. Marine mammal observers will be on board. Acoustic recording devices on the sea floor will listen for whale sounds and other animals.
***
Earmarks still coming from Rep. Don Young. The Washington Post's Investigations blog took a look at recently passed earmarks and found these:
-- Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) netted $1.5 million in earmarks in that bill, including $700,000 for Cook Inlet beluga whale research by the National Marine Science Foundation; $500,000 for police officer hiring and training in the Northwest Arctic Borough; and $300,000 for outreach and education for the Steller sea lion program at the Alaska Sea Otter and Steller Sea Lion Commission in Anchorage.
The Hill, in a story that looks at a variety of incumbents whose challengers have raised more money than they have, singles out Young high in the story as a major example:
Young continued to struggle on the fundraising front, bringing in just $110,000 for the quarter and seeing his cash on hand continue to fall to $460,000.
***
The sky is falling, or is it? KBBI reports that, at least anecdotally, mental health workers in Homer say there's a growing need for their services as locals react to high food and fuel prices and the Supreme Court's Exxon Valdez decision.
For its part, the state, which looks at mental health numbers on a quarterly basis, says it really doesn't see any particular rise in service need yet, but a spokesman acknowledges that "life in Alaska is getting more complicated. It's getting harder for people to make a living here."
That all sounds quite true. But then comes a surprising report from Homer News detailing that prices here are climbing more slowly than they are elsewhere. The data came from the Alaska Economic Trends published by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workplace Development.
In it economists note that the consumer price index for Anchorage rose 2.2 last year, "the lowest rate since 2002. The figure beat the national average annual rate of 2.8 percent."
"It surprised the heck out of us," said economist Neal Fried.
***
In other headlines of interest to Alaskans:
> Gas-electric hybrid buses head to Denali (APRN, Earth Times)
> Free seafood cookbook from Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (Thrifty Scotsman)
> New study shows how undersea volcanic eruptions 93 million years ago gave us today's oil (National Geographic)
> Landscape features on Mars mimic Alaska, prompt scientists to link processes that shaped both (Astrobiology Magazine)
> Satellite goes out in Alaska (TechTrader Daily)
> Operation Chitina a successful dipnet mission (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
> Torrent shipwreck items recovered (Homer News, Homer Tribune)
> A look at the marginal candidates (Anchorage Press)
> "Everyone's screaming for gas" (Homer Tribune)
> Advocates promise emission reductions with coal project (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
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