Anchorage Daily News

PALIN SET TO REAP MILLIONS IN BOOK DEAL: Much like Barack Obama after his speech at the 2004 Democratic convention, Gov. Sarah Palin is in a good position to make millions of dollars from a book deal, reports The Times of London.

Palin's personal account of her tumultuous introduction to national politics is widely regarded as the book most likely to repay a multimillion-dollar advance. "She's poised to make a ton of money," said Howard Rubenstein, New York's best-known public relations adviser. "Every publisher and a lot of literary agents have been going after her," added Jeff Klein of Folio Literary management.

But can she keep the money? Some in state government wonder whether ethics laws would prevent her from accepting "outside employment." Read an October Associated Press story on that issue here.

WILL STEVENS EXPULSION VOTE HAPPEN? Politico cites GOP aides this morning in reoprting that with Mayor Mark Begich pulling ahead in the race for U.S. Senate, chances are diminishing that Senate Republicans will vote Tuesday to expel Sen. Ted Stevens from the GOP conference. Meanwhile, jurors in Stevens' corruption trial are talking. See below.

Also: Stevens holding on (Fox News video clip)

STEVENS' TESTIMONY DAMAGED HIS CASE, JURORS SAY: Colleen Walsh, Juror 11 in the Stevens trial and the one who has been blogging about it, and other jurors and alternates have told the Washington Post that the defense goofed by putting the senator on the stand. They also say the government's case was overwhelming.

The jurors said they went from near-disaster to a quick verdict after they put their bickering aside and realized that prosecutors had presented an overwhelming case. Stevens, they said, did himself no favors by taking the stand, where he destroyed the grandfatherly image his lawyers had carefully crafted. ...

"He looked fragile for most of the trial, and then he testified, and, man, he became this lion," said Walsh, one of two jurors and two alternates interviewed about their experiences during the trial. "I thought, 'Wait a minute, if the defense is trying to portray this man as a sympathetic character who didn't know what was going on in his life, why did they put him on the stand and he could recall everything that happened except the gifts?' " ...

AIP MADE DIFFERENCE IN SENATE RACE: Pundits are noting that conservative Alaskan Independence Party candidate Bob Bird's 12,000-plus votes on Election Day might end up helping put Mark Begich in the Senate. Did the First Dude's association with the AIP boost its vote count?

Bob Bird (Who?) and the crazy fringe party (Alaska Report)

So how did the Alaskan Independence Party do? (Mudflats blog)

A different feather (Washington Post)

TED STEVENS: THE VIEW FROM SEATTLE: Two opinion pieces in the Seattle Times over the weekend ponder Sen. Stevens as he awaits a final vote count and possible action against him by Republican senators.

Stevens' impact on his old friend, Washington state

Senator-for-Life faces own 'Last Hurrah'

WOMEN LAG IN ALASKA LEGISLATURE: The new Alaska Legislature will have one less woman than the last Legislature, even as state legislatures nationwide see a growing female membership, reports the Juneau Empire. There will be just 12 women among the 60 members of the Alaska Senate and House, one of the lowest ratios in the U.S. Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, more than half the state senators next year will be women.

In Alaska, some women in public life say they've been disappointed that there aren't more women in public office. "I think we need to take a good hard look at the Legislature and see if there are systemic changes that need to be made in the Legislature to encourage women, especially young women, to serve," said Rep. Beth Kerttula of Juneau.

One possible change might be ... a professional instead of a citizen Legislature, in which young professionals might be more able to serve. The Legislature now leans heavily toward retirement-age men.

ALASKA COLLEGE PRESIDENTS DON'T SUPPORT LOWER DRINKING AGE: "University presidents in more than half the states have signed a petition calling for a debate about the legal drinking age. So far, Alaska is not one of them," reports the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Alaska Pacific University President Douglas North called the effort counterintuitive. APU has a dry campus, meaning alcohol is not allowed. North said he doesn't think fewer restrictions would solve problems such as binge drinking. "My personal belief is that alcohol is kind of a plague on college campuses," North said. "We keep as much of a lid as we can on alcohol consumption on our campus."

See the Amethyst Initiative petition and the list of signatories here.

PROP. 8 PROTESTERS MARCH IN ANCHORAGE: The Bent Alaska blog, which covers lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, reports on Saturday's downtown rally protesting California voters' approval of Proposition 8 prohibiting same-sex marriage. The rally, which the post claims attracted more than 100 people, was among many organized for the same time nationwide. The post includes photos and many links to other coverage. The Daily News story is here. About 25 gay-rights advocates also showed up at a Fairbanks protest on Saturday.

WILD WORDSMITH OF WASILLA: Author and former talk show host Dick Cavett's Talk Show blog entry for The New York Times on Friday was among the most popular items at NYTimes.com over the weekend. His topic: Gov Palin's "frayed syntax, bungled grammar and run-on sentences that ramble on long after thought has given out completely."

UNUSED FREQUENT-FLIER SEATS IN A FLASH: Alaska Airlines is one of five major carriers targeted by Yapta.com in an effort to alert travelers by e-mail when a frequent-flier seat opens up on a particular flight, reports The New York Times. The service is being offered for free during a test phase. Yapta.com, best known for tracking ticket price drops, is headed by former Alaska Air exec Tom Romary.

BLACKWATER TAKES UP SECURITY DUTIES IN JUNEAU: Security guards wearing badges that say "Blackwater" have been spotted in Juneau. They're employees of a joint venture between the global military contractor and the Anchorage-based Chenega Native Corp., reports public radio station KTOO. Blackwater Worldwide became widely known during the Iraq War after incidents including the 2004 ambush and killing of four employees by insurgents in Fallujah and the 2007 killing by Blackwater guards of more than a dozen unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad.

‘DEADLIEST CATCH' SKIPPER SUED (The Associated Press): A man has sued the captain of the fishing crew that stars in the Discovery Channel's popular program "Deadliest Catch" after suffering injuries on the skipper's boat during a Seattle summertime festival. According to the lawsuit, Jon Moreno boarded Sig Hansen's boat with other partygoers. There, he and a friend were hoisted above the water by a crane on the crabbing boat and dropped into the water - an activity other people were doing. Moreno says he was hurt in the fall, breaking his pelvis and other injuries.

OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDALIST VACATIONS AT HOME: Eagle River's world-class trap shooter, Corey Cogdell, is living in Colorado Springs now while training for the 2012 Olympics but recently came home for a few weeks of relaxation - including hunting, the Alaska Star reports. Cogdell is studying for a pilot's license and is helping raise money for an Alaska training facility for shooters.

JEWEL AND HUSBAND LIST HOLLYWOOD PAD: Homer-bred singer-songwriter Jewel and her rodeo cowboy husband, Ty Murray, are hoping to lasso a buyer for their 1938 Hollywood Hills home, listed at $1.75 million, reports the Los Angeles Times. They also own a 2,200-acre ranch in Texas.

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM RECENT NEWSREADERS:

Walter Soboleff: An Alaska original (Juneau Empire)

Nordic skiing without snow (FasterSkier, YouTube)

Don't stereotype us: Alaska isn't about dumb, moose-eating rednecks (The Guardian U.K.)

Coal stoves back in vogue in Homer (Homer Tribune)

Athabascan Fiddlers Festival shows no signs of slowing down (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

‘Eagle Lady' is one of a kind (Homer Tribune)

The future of the poles: Northwest Passage (Scientific American)

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