January-Issue-5 2012

JUNEAU – The Judiciary committees of both the state House and Senate will conduct a joint hearing on a pending ballot proposition to reestablish a state coastal management program, Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a Jan. 23 briefing by House leaders.

JUNEAU – Alaska’s Speaker of the House and other legislative leaders announced Jan. 24 they will introduce expanding powers of a state corporation now working on a 24-inch in-state gas pipeline to become an investor and partner in a larger gas pipeline built by North Slope producers.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota oil regulators on Jan. 23 endorsed new rules aimed at reducing the number of oil waste disposal pits and disclosing the chemical makeup of fluids pumped underground to coax oil to the surface.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Health and environmental groups rallied at the Capitol Jan. 23 to call for a legislative ban on hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells, saying no amount of regulation can adequately safeguard water supplies from contamination.

NEW YORK (AP) — For do-most-of-it-yourself brides, wedding planning means lists, lists and more lists, with some spreadsheets thrown in for good measure. There are also the long, endlessly pored-over documents of vows, readings, even toasts. Did I mention lists?

JUNEAU – The Judiciary committees of both the state House and Senate will conduct a joint hearing on a pending ballot proposition to reestablish a state coastal management program, Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a Jan. 23 briefing by House leaders.

JUNEAU — State legislators were engaged mostly in overviews of state agency budgets and programs as they ended the second week of their 2012 session, but there was plenty of discussion in the background on key issues that are shaping up.

JUNEAU – Alaska’s Speaker of the House and other legislative leaders announced Jan. 24 they will introduce expanding powers of a state corporation now working on a 24-inch in-state gas pipeline to become an investor and partner in a larger gas pipeline built by North Slope producers.

This year looks OK. Watch out for next year.

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Capitalism is out of whack, the founder of the World Economic Forum says, welcoming critics’ ideas of how to fix it — even those camped out in protest igloos near his invitation-only gathering of global VIPs.

An array of 19 new seafood products will compete for top honors at the annual Symphony of Seafood contest, and the crowd will choose the popular People’s Choice award.

The bill for the holiday spending spree came the other day, delivered by an industrial-sized forklift.

Effective leadership is a key component of success. Whether it’s leadership within an organization, your family or other group, leaders who are able to inspire others through word and deed will lead their team and themselves to astounding success.

In 2010, minerals mining in Alaska generated $13 million in local government revenue and $58.9 million in state revenue — a 40 percent increase from 2009. Supporting 3,500 direct jobs and another 2,000 indirect jobs in Alaska, the production of minerals like gold, lead and silver seems to have helped spare our state from the very worst of the recession.

Gov. Sean Parnell told the Alaska Federation of Natives in 2009 he would put a law enforcement officer in every village that wanted one. In subsequent years, the Legislature has agreed to build up annual funding for village public safety officers in an effort to fulfill the governor’s pledge.

The health care industry is booming in Alaska, and growth will continue. Health care providers pay a $1.53 billion annual statewide payroll with nearly $1 billion of that in the Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna regions of Southcentral Alaska.

Alaska just got a renewed boost in improving children’s Medicaid accessibility. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded a performance bonus of $5,660,544 to improve the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization processes.

Diabetes isn’t cheap. Luckily, the number of Alaskans who have it are relatively few. Still, those who do can expect to pay out the nose ... and in more ways than one.

Eighty-six years after mushers and their sled dogs delivered serum to combat a diphtheria outbreak in Nome, another mission of mercy is under way to restore vital funding for adult and child vaccinations.

Alaska’s medical facility expansions have boomed over the last few years. Consensus among hospital administrators reveals that current facilities cannot adequately serve expanding populations. As such, a number of hospital projects have recently gotten under way or have been announced.

An array of 19 new seafood products will compete for top honors at the annual Symphony of Seafood contest, and the crowd will choose the popular People’s Choice award.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council convenes in Seattle Feb. 1 and will continue to face thorny bycatch issues affecting halibut, chinook salmon and Pribilof Islands blue king crab.