State should not own gas line
Why does the state need to own any part of the gas pipeline? The state knows nothing about building, operating or maintaining a pipeline. The state is broke, or at least that is what it is feeding us, yet it is spending millions of dollars hiring experts at very high salaries, buying TransCanada's share for many millions, but it doesn't know if the pipeline will be built or if there will be a market for the gas by then.
Of course, the governor has talked with people in Asia who say they are very interested in buying our gas, but it will take eight to 12 years to build the line. Our governor is proceeding full speed ahead as though this is a 100 percent money-making project and the state will make billions.
Until then, the state will be spending billions we don't have unless we go into the Permanent Fund, raise taxes or revive the state income tax or a sales tax, And that would be just to build the pipeline. To cover the rest of the state's spending would require taking more from the Permanent Fund and raise all the taxes mentioned above. We all know if legislators get their hands on any of this money they will use it until it is gone. Oil and gas prices will go up, but when and how much is unknown.
The pipeline project resembles a situation where comes home to a family in debt and says he/she has been demoted and now makes a quarter of what they were making, but has a project that will make them rich if it works out. They will need to buy into this project and pay additional money until the project is finished. To raise the money, they will have to get a second mortgage on their house, use their kids' college savings and borrow from their parents. Their lifestyle will be tight for eight to 12 years, but if everything works out they will be rolling in money.
Of course, if it doesn't work out they will probably lose the house, the kids will skip college and they will owe their parents a large sum of money.
If this pipeline project were profitable, the producers would be building it now. The trans-Alaska pipeline was built, and is operated and maintained by the producers. The state's contribution was to collect the money when the oil started flowing.
— Wayne Watson
Anchorage
Whale story was informative
Whales could be dying from an unknown disease or virus that only affects their genus. The virus could cause the whales to start decomposing while death occurs. The Nov. 8 article on the subject of the whales was very helpful and informational.
— Joshua Peterson
Anchorage
Residents can report outages of street lights
In regards to the Nov. 11 letter titled "Muni needs to address lighting," thank you Sue Forbes for bringing attention to street light outages within the Anchorage bowl. There are many street light owners (MOA Street Light Maintenance, state of Alaska, Municipal Light & Power, Chugach Electric, Matanuska Electric) within Anchorage.
We ask the community to help by informing us of street lights outages by calling the municipal street light hotline at 343-4557 or sending an email to our MOA Streetlight Hotline website StreetlightHotline@ci.anchorage.ak.us. Please share your name, phone number and a detailed location by address, street name and cross street for street light ownership identification.
If these are MOA street lights, we will issue a work request for repairs. If the outage belongs to another owner, MOA will notify the appropriate agency of the outage.
In the near future, residents will have the ability to view street lighting ownership maps online and be able to contact the street light owner directly to report issues or outages.
— Kathy Bourque Parker
Municipal Street Light Maintenance Administrator
Anchorage
Explaining school performance disparities
Kudos to Tegan Hanlon for the excellent story about the achievement gap in the new standardized test results for Anchorage elementary schools (ADN, Nov. 11, 2015). Ms. Hanlon noted that high-performing schools generally drew students from more affluent parts of town, including South Anchorage, the Hillside, Eagle River and Girdwood. In the case of Girdwood, however, this explanation does not apply. The latest Census Bureau figures estimate that 2009-13 median family income between in the Turnagain Arm Census Tract that forms the catchment area for the Girdwood school was $82,232. This is 9 percent less than the median family income in Anchorage as a whole ($90,466). How does the Girdwood school achieve its high level of performance level without the advantage of affluence? Using my daughter's experience as a guide, I would say that there are two main factors: good teachers and strong community engagement. These factors promoting success should be within reach for every Anchorage neighborhood school.
— Matt Berman
Girdwood
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