When it comes to a discussion of cold weather in Fairbanks, the topic is never complete without recognizing the enduring contributions of the great Carl Benson, who ventured into the cold in the early 1960s in Fairbanks and began to unlock the secrets of ice fog.
Benson, 96, is still pursuing his scholarly studies, thanks to a good constitution and an unending sense of curiosity about the world around him. I can’t tell you how much I admire him.
Read MoreDunleavy, who won’t propose raising taxes, is looking at $1 billion deficits that would be covered in the next two years by spending most of the remaining contents of the Constitutional Budget Reserve on his watch.
After that, Dunleavy will be gone without having proposed any taxes or having tried to fix the state’s finances. And the Permanent Fund will be the only alternative to pay for deficits far into the future.
Read MoreThe Subway manager was invited to Juneau to serve as the embodiment of a real Alaskan who wants what Dunleavy is selling—big PFDs and great services. She wants safe roads, a safe community, affordable housing and affordable childcare.
The Dunleavy text could have been created by the state Office of Pandering to the Folks.
Read MoreThe Permanent Fund coroporation extended the period for public comment on the proposed strategic plan “due to popular demand.”
That’s a stretcher no doubt, but let’s not quibble. It’s a good move, instigated by trustee Jason Brune, who agreed it was sensible to keep getting comments from the public until just before the next meeting of the trustees, February 15. He and a couple of other trustees asked for the two-week extension.
Read MoreUPDATE: The comment deadline has been extended on the Permanent Fund’s strategic plan.
The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. has not done a major promotional campaign seeking public comment on the proposed strategic plan drafted by the six trustees.
Comments on the plan opened Jan. 24 and are to close Friday at 5 p.m.
Here is the list of comments submitted as of Tuesday. Considering the important of this document and the lack of public involvement, the trustees should extend the deadline and make a real effort to get public comments from Alaskans.
Read More“It was the Republicans, I will remind you, that told the Democrats months ago that if you want to try to get your Ukraine funding, you're gonna have to take up the border issue. This is what we asked for,” she said. “This is what we asked Senator Lankford to negotiate. It's what he did. He did it in good faith. So let's take up what we asked for,” Sen. Lisa Murkowsi said, according to CNN reporter Manu Raju.
Read MoreIn his catalog of what the late wordsmith Don Young would have called “negatism,” Dunleavy forgot a few big ones:
No to bad speeches. No to dumb ideas. No to pandering politicians who claim every choice is a simple yeah or nay. And no to a governor who continues to promise giant dividends, while failing to deliver a fiscal plan to pay for giant dividends.
Read MoreJuneau Sen. Jesse Kiehl is one of the few legislators paying close attention to what is happening with the trustees of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation.
“I’ve been very concerned with a real interest in secrecy. I think that decision about the second office appeared to have been taken between board meetings. There was open discussion of having an out-of-state meeting to avoid the Open Meetings Act,” Kiehl said Friday at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the Permanent Fund.
Read MoreThe Alaska Permanent Fund trustees want state law changed to allow them to keep the names of applicants secret when hiring the executive director or the chief investment officer.
The proposal is part of the strategic plan now out for public comment. Comments are due by February 2.
Read MoreThe trustees of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation want the Legislature to allow the corporation to borrow several billion dollars that it can invest with the hope of speeding up the growth of the $78 billion fund to $100 billion.
The idea to borrow 5 percent to 10 percent of the value of the fund is a key element in the proposed strategic plan that the fund has now made available for public comment.
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