Anchorage Daily News

Poll shows Prop. 4 failing in Tuesday's vote. The initiative that pitches fishing against mining, Ballot Measure 4, got plenty of attention this weekend from state and national media. KTUU reported on a Dittman poll Sunday of 400 voters showing 55 percent opposed to the clean water initiative and 45 percent in favor.

The New York Times paid a visit to Dillingham for a long look at the fight over Pebble Mine, the subtext of Prop. 4. This story includes an eight-minute video summarizing the story.

The Los Angeles Times tells its Prop. 4 story out of Homer, including a chat around the bar at the Salty Dawg Saloon on the Homer Spit.

Meanwhile, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reiterated its distaste for Prop. 4 and the other three ballot measures as well.

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Food prices get painful in Haines. The Chilkat Valley News reports that rising food prices and a shipping surcharge to bring groceries to rural areas are hurting.

"When you buy a gallon of milk, $2 is freight just to get it here from Seattle," said local grocer Doug Olerud, who sells a gallon of milk at $5.85.

Alaska Marine Lines says its surcharge jumped from 16.5 percent in April 2007 to 30 percent in June. The American Farm Bureau says the cost of groceries also climbed 8.5 percent.

A Haines family, the Hansons, told the paper their food bill for a family with seven children has gone from $760 a week in 2006 to $1,172 in June 2007.

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Don Young challenges whether Alaskans want change at all. Roll Call took a close look at the Parnell/Young matchup for Tuesday, set against the local clean-sweep strategies of Gov. Sarah Palin and the national cry for change from the Obama campaign.

Young just isn't convinced, and given the state's appetite for federal dollars, Roll Call suggests change just might be overrated in this state.

"I've lived through this a long time and I've watched, you know, everybody's got these buzzwords about ‘change.' My argument about change is, to what?" Young said. "When people talk about change, I'd like to see what they're changing it to. But nobody wants to talk about that."

And:

Young is a stalwart for the right for members to bring federal funds back home. He has vehemently defended these earmarks on the House floor, often to the point of verbally affronting his colleagues. Young said these days, members of Congress don't debate or vote their conscience.

"I bet you a thousand dollars to one that if you shut a vote down halfway through and say, ‘All right, everybody tell me what you voted on,' you might have the sponsor of the bill ... tell you what they were voting on," he said.

The story quotes Ivan Moore, who describes Parnell as an "empty suit."

"I think he has failed in telling people who he is," Moore said. "The thing that I hear from people about Sean is, ‘Where is he? Who is he?' ... He just hasn't made that emotional connection with people. And Don, for all his warts and all his faults, makes an emotional connection with people."

Moore even describes a "Don Factor" in his polling: Even though respondents express negative feelings toward Young, he still gets their vote.

Even challenger Gabrielle LeDoux finds charm in the 75-year-old incumbent: "I can't say that I dislike the guy," she said. "He's got a sort of a very rough sort of a charm."

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DCCC campaign ads stack up as harsher on Parnell. The sizzle around this race continues, with TPM Muckraker providing a show-and-tell on the DCCC mailings against Young and Parnell, making the case visually that the ads are harsher on Parnell than Young, reinforcing the political analysts who say the Democrats prefer to face Young in the general. Alaska Politics has posted the latest TV commercials in Tuesday's primary.

CQPolitics says U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens' corruption troubles point to a Democratic senator, but that while Young hasn't been indicted, the cloud affects him too and calls the House race "no clear favorite." The Hill reports on an FEC complaint from a former Stevens staffer against Club for Growth's support of Parnell, arguing it has exceeded contribution limits. Club for Growth responds here.

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"Enjoy your potholes..." That was Young's answer to critics of his proposed gasoline tax increase to pay for deteriorating highway infrastructure in a KTVA interview with all three U.S. House candidates reported over the weekend.

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Woodcutting permits skyrocket in Fairbanks; interest intense in Homer. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner as well as KBBI report intense interest -- some of it illegal -- in wood gathering for winter.

"What we used to issue in a year, we issue in a month and a half now," said Marc Lee at the Division of Forestry. "People are definitely very concerned about this winter coming up."

The newspaper also reports an increase in illegally taken wood. KUAC says wood stove sales have taken off in Fairbanks despite a national shortage in pellet- and wood-burning stoves.

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Wind power in Kotzebue delivers 7 percent of power for town above the Arctic Circle. Seventeen turbines are saving the community 100,000 gallons of diesel a year, reports the Alaska Journal of Commerce. At this winter's fuel prices, the savings are expected to be $300,000.

"We're glad we started when we did," said Brad Reeve, the silver-haired general manager of the Kotzebue Electric Association. "It gave us a real leg up on development because we were able to take a risk early when people really didn't believe in wind energy."

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Where to find Alaskans blogging from the Democratic National Convention. Cal Williams is posting for Alaska Dispatch. Alaska Real is posting, and participating with Celtic Diva.

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OK, gas is down nationally, but why not in Alaska? Reuters UK reports that average gas per gallon in the U.S. is now $3.70. Alaska retains the No. 1 position in price at $4.34 in Anchorage.

The decline national is attributed to an expected dip in August as vacations wind down and refineries and retailers take slimmer profits. There was no answer offered on why Alaska's prices haven't also declined.

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In other headlines of interest to Alaskans:

> UAF one of 10 universities to study how women advance in academics (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

> Motorized bikes pick up in Haines (Chilkat Valley News)

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