The five-year contract allows for Tesoro to purchase from the state up to 25,000 barrels of oil per day. It will circulate $127 million in the economy as Tesoro produces up to 59,000 barrels per day at its Nikiski refinery, which employs more than 200 Alaskans.

“As we grapple with low oil prices and declining production, I’m pleased we pulled together to pass this common-sense legislation,” Governor Walker said. “This monetizes our natural resources and provides an economic boost to the Southcentral region. I thank Senator Peter Micciche and Representative Dan Saddler for carrying this bill.” - More...
Saturday PM - April 23, 2016

Alaska: Legislature Reforms Alcohol Laws - Friday, the Alaska State Legislature passed SB 165 which rewrites penalties for minor alcohol consumption and restructures the state Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Board as part of a broader effort to overhaul the state’s alcohol laws. SB 165 also matches background check requirements for cannabis license applicants (similar to those required by alcohol licensees) and adjusts the composition of the Board of Barbers and Hairdressers.

“One of the main reasons I agreed to become involved with the review and reform of our alcohol laws was to address the counterproductive consequences suffered by young people from a mistake of possessing or consuming alcohol before they are 21 years old,” said Senator Peter Micciche (R-Soldotna) who sponsored the bill. “To lose your driver’s license for a non-driving offense, and have an alcohol conviction permanently on your record places a significant obstacle on a young person’s future, some of whom just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. When you’re trying to help a young person who’s made a mistake to succeed, throwing multiple obstacles in their way further complicates their potential for success.” - More..
Saturday PM - April 23, 2016

The Point Thomson reservoir holds an estimated 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and associated condensate – a high-quality hydrocarbon similar to kerosene or diesel. The resource represents 25 percent of the known gas on the North Slope. Potential future development will depend on a range of factors such as business considerations, investment climate, and the fiscal and regulatory environment.

U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) congratulated the state of Alaska and ExxonMobil Friday for beginning production at the Point Thomson project on Alaska’s North Slope, Exxon’s first operated project in Alaska. The challenging field, which over the decades had numerous plans for development, contains a quarter of the North Slope’s massive natural gas reserves. Development of the field is a foundational element in a project that will commercialize Alaska’s North Slope natural gas. - More...
Saturday PM - April 23, 2016

Alaska Science: Carpeting the Denali Fault with earthquake sensors By NED ROZELL - Crouching amid scratchy spruce branches and surrounded by feet of snow, Amir Allam jabs half-frozen soil with the spikey base of a white cylinder. The seismologist twists the 6-pound seismometer to orient it northward. Then he clicks a cable to a magnetic connection on top.

Amir Allam of the University of Utah and UAF installs a temporary seismometer near the Denali Fault between Delta Junction and Glennallen.
Photo by Ned Rozell

"Starting operation," says a tinny voice that sounds like a woman from London. The words come from a thick tablet attached to the cable. In less than 10 minutes, Allam has deployed another shake-detection instrument on one of Alaska's greatest earthquake producers, the Denali Fault.

Allam, assisted during this season of bear emergence by shotgun-toting UAF student Nick Lock, will install dozens more seismometers in a dense grid straddling the fault. A weak point in Earth's crust ruptured here in 2002, slicing the highway and shoving the nearby Trans-Alaska Pipeline on its extra-long rails.

A team of five including seismologist Carl Tape of the Geophysical Institute installed almost 200 of the instruments during three sunny days in mid-April. They favored shoving the seismometers into ground at the base of spruce trees, where there was less snow to shovel and ample soil to receive the spikes.

The fading snowpack was still about four feet deep. Cold nighttime temperatures formed a crust that could support the scientists' weight until early afternoon.

"Conditions are pretty good right now," Lock said at noon, "But once everything starts melting they're the worst."

"We've sunk in chest deep," says Allam, who, like Lock, is big as a bear. - More...
Saturday PM - April 23, 2016

Alaska: Alaska's first "wild" wood bison calves spotted - After vanishing from their wild habitats over a century ago, Alaska Department of Fish & Game biologists spotted the first wild-bred, wild-born, wood bison calf this week in Alaska's Lower Yukon/Innoko area. The animals were reintroduced into the Lower Innoko/Yukon Rivers area on April 3, 2015 to restore the species to its historic range in Alaska.

This calving season, two wild-born calves have been spotted and the ADF&G expects about 30 new calves this year. Calving season for the species runs from late April through mid-June.

The ADF&G reported this monumental event is a milestone that marks the beginning of a viable, wild, and growing population of wood bison in Alaska, the only place in the United States where the species is currently found. The stock used to reintroduce wood bison to Alaska had been in captivity over many generations (since 1957) in order to save this unique northern subspecies from extinction. Some people had doubts that the bison would become wild again and prosper in their old homelands after such a long time behind fences with supplemental food, water, and shelter. - More...
Saturday PM - April 23, 2016

Columns - Commentary

Musicians leave a print on the earth. Elvis fans remember the moment and the very place they were when they first heard his death announced. Many of us will never forget the chilling news of John Lennon's assassination. Only recently we mourned the death of David Bowie and Merle Haggard.

We expect old people to die. George Beverly Shea was a 104 when he died. He recorded 70 albums and sang to millions around the world. Our natural reasoning is that our favorite musicians will live past 100 and sing a few departing songs then ease off to an eternal sleep. However, some musicians it seems are eternal as Chuck Berry almost 90 and Jerry Lee Lewis who is 80, both entertained forever it seems. I saw Jerry Lee in Owensboro, Kentucky well into his seventies. He could actually still play the piano very well. The hip gyration move had lost some of it gravitas but hey he was still entertaining 4000 people that night. And then of course there is Tony Bennett who is approaching 90 and still performing. Some of us wonder if The Rolling Stones will be touring when they hit 80. Paul McCartney is still rocking at age 73. All of these people will die but their music never will.

Life is great when people are able to still participate and enjoy life. Prince leaving us at age 57 makes it all the more shocking. Reports are that Prince recently presented great concerts in Georgia. Over the weekend he entertained a small gathering in Minnesota. As always, he presented his music with passion, genius and celebration. Such musical celebration mystifies us even more. It is hard for us to fathom something being wrong when an artist is seemingly hitting all the right keys. - More...
Saturday PM - April 23, 2016