Free Republic

ANCHORAGE — Oil production at Prudhoe Bay, the nation's most prolific oil field, halted on Friday when a vehicle clearing snowdrifts damaged the power supply to processing centers. Prudhoe Bay had been sending about 380,000 barrels of crude oil a day down the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, said Steve Rinehart, spokesman for field operator BP PLC. Rinehart said production would be "way down" on Friday and would ramp back up over the next several days. BP's Northstar field also went offline as a result of the power outage. Northstar produces about 79,000 barrels of crude daily from a man-made island in...

Alaska Native and environmental groups sued Monday to stop exploration by oil companies this summer in Arctic waters frequented by whales, seals and other marine species. The groups are challenging federal permits that let Shell Oil Co. and BP search for oil and gas using powerful vibrations that have been shown, at times, to harm a variety of marine animals. The technology, known as seismic exploration, is used to determine the geologic makeup below the sea bed. "The federal government is rushing to approve a burst of new seismic activity without completely studying the effects on marine life," said attorney...

FEDS: Did giant try to manipulate market for crude in 2000?

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The results of Gov. Sarah Palin's prenatal testing were in, and the doctor's tone was ominous: "You need to come to the office so we can talk about it." Palin, known for a resolve that quickly launched her from suburban hockey mom to a player on the national political stage, said, "No, go ahead and tell me over the phone." The physician replied, "Down syndrome," stunning the Republican governor, who had just completed what many political analysts called a startling first year in office. She had arrived at the Capitol on an ethics reform platform after...

BUTTE, Alaska (AP) - For decades, Alaskans have contentedly called Ted Stevens senator, and Don Young congressman, their Republicans in far-off Washington. Now other, less flattering names are creeping into conversation. Crook, for example. Or jerk. Or old, washed up. And because of it, Democrats sense opportunity even in the Last Frontier, a state that has dealt them mostly defeat for a generation. "I've been voting for Ted and Don all my life," says Scott Frank, 45, a blue-collar Republican sipping coffee at the Butte Cafe, "but they've really screwed up." Shoulder-to-shoulder around a slab-wood table, Frank and his pals...

Senate GOP uses ANWR to attack gas pricesSTEVENS STUMPS: Oil exploration in Alaska gets senior senator fired up. By ERIKA BOLSTAD ebolstad@adn.com Last Modified: May 2nd, 2008 10:13 AM WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans, continuing a national GOP push to hammer Democrats on gas prices, unveiled a domestic oil exploration plan Thursday that includes a call for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. The Senate Democrats who control the chamber summarily dismissed the idea -- and the others in the Republican proposal. Drilling in ANWR is also opposed by all three of the presidential candidates: Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,...

Magnitude: 6.6 Friday, May 02, 2008 at 01:33:36 UTC Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 04:33:36 PM at epicenter ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA 65 km (40 miles) W (272°) from Adak, AK 233 km (145 miles) W (263°) from Atka, AK 1972 km (1225 miles) WSW (251°) from Anchorage, AK

U.S. President George W. Bush said on Tuesday there was no "magic wand" to bring down record-high fuel prices but would consider a proposal to suspend federal gasoline taxes this summer -- an idea that has divided the 2008 presidential candidates... Bush again prodded Congress to open an Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling and allow construction of more nuclear and coal plants... "I've repeatedly submitted proposals to help address these problems, yet time after time Congress chose to block them." Crude oil prices have surged more than five-fold since 2002... Oil prices are up nearly 25 percent since the...

Here's what the leaders of the congressional Democrats told the American people two years ago to persuade voters to bring them to power: — "Democrats have a common-sense plan to help bring down skyrocketing gas prices." (Nancy Pelosi, now speaker of the House). — "Democrats believe that we can do more for the American people who are struggling to deal with high gas prices." (Steny Hoyer, now House majority leader). — "House Democrats have a plan to help curb rising gas prices." (Jim Clyburn, now House majority whip). When Pelosi was sworn in as speaker, the national average price for...

Anchorage continues to dig out from a snowfall that set a record for the day and the month.The National Weather Service says 17.2 inches fell at its office just south of Anchorage's international airport and 22 inches fell in northeast Anchorage on Friday and Saturday. The heaviest snow fell between 3 and 6 p.m. Friday at a rate of almost two inches per hour. The monthly total at the weather service office is now 29.7 inches, breaking a record from 1963 when 27.6 inches fell during April.

Juneau, AK (LifeNews.com) -- As many as 80 percent of unborn children diagnosed with Down syndrome become victims of abortion, but Alaska Gov, Sarah Palin didn't let her child become a statistic. Palin, who has deeply-felt pro-life views, gave birth to her fifth child this week and the baby was diagnosed with the condition. On Tuesday, Palin confirmed her baby, named Trig Paxson, has Down syndrome."Trig is beautiful and already adored by us," Palin said in a statement LifeNews.com obtained."We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this...

Gov. Sarah Palin was back at work today, holding a meeting on the natural gas pipeline three days after giving birth to her fifth child. Palin and her husband, Todd, showed the baby, Trig Paxson Van Palin, to a few reporters and talked about the sooner-than-expected delivery. Trig arrived about a month early and has Down syndrome, the governor confirmed. Testing during early pregnancy revealed the condition. Palin said she was sad at first but they now feel blessed that God chose them. The couple has lots of family support, she said.

Alaska is seeking bids to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment of the state’s oil and gas infrastructure to prevent a repeat of the corrosion and spills suffered in recent years at the Prudhoe Bay oilfield, the largest in the US. The engineering analysis, for which bids are due by April 28, is being conducted on the instructions of Governor Sarah Palin. She ordered the audit – to take two years and cost $5m – after the biggest spill at the BP-operated Prudhoe Bay in 2006 revealed corrosion in the pipelines and forced the closure of half the oilfield. The state...

Juneau's snowfall record for April 17 was buried under more than a half-foot of snow Thursday. The National Weather Service recorded 7.5 inches of snow Thursday at its Juneau International Airport weather station. The record had been only 1.1 inches, received on April 17 in 1948. The storm that started Wednesday night dropped a total of 10.5 inches at the airport, 12.5 inches at the service's Juneau office on Mendenhall Loop Road, and 9 inches downtown. Early Thursday morning, 10 inches of new snow was reported at the base of Eaglecrest Ski Area, which is closed for the season. Juneau...

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gave birth to a baby boy early Friday, becoming the second U.S. governor to have a baby while serving in office. Palin's labour began Thursday, about a month early, while she was attending a Republican Governors' Association meeting in Grapevine, Texas, said spokeswoman Sharon Leighow. Palin, 44, the first woman to serve as Alaska governor, delivered a keynote luncheon address on Alaska energy issues Thursday before flying back to Anchorage and delivering the baby Friday morning, exactly a month before her due date, Leighow said. The baby, named Trig Paxson Van Palin, is the fifth child...

Photo Essay only: In case you are wondering, the man did get away.

Gov. Sarah Palin gave birth to her fifth child at 6:30 this morning at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, her spokeswoman said today. The boy's name is Trig Paxson Van Palin. He's 6 pounds, 2 ounces. "The governor's labor began while she was in Texas, and I do know that she got on a plane and landed in Anchorage late last night," said Palin spokeswoman Sharon Leighow. Leighow said the governor and her son are healthy and resting comfortably today. The baby wasn't due until May 18. "It was quite a surprise," Leighow

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday took the rare move of requesting a federal criminal investigation into an Alaska congressman's changes to a $10 million earmark in 2005, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and top Republicans endorsed an ethics committee investigation of how the language governing the pet project was altered.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Department of the Interior wants 10 more weeks to decide whether polar bears should be listed as threatened or endangered, a delay conservation groups condemned as tied to the transfer of offshore petroleum leases in one of the animals' two U.S. habitats. The Interior Department on Jan. 9 missed a deadline for a final decision, and three conservation groups sued. In the government response Thursday, Assistant Interior Secretary Lyle Laverty said the department needed until June 30 to complete a legal and policy review of the proposed listing. A spokeswoman for the Center for Biological...

The Senate moved yesterday toward asking the Justice Department for a criminal investigation of a $10 million legislative earmark whose provisions were mysteriously altered after Congress gave final approval to a huge 2005 highway funding bill.

Immigration agents make arrests in five states Immigration raid nets almost 30 arrests at Houston Shipley Do-Nut ... Federal immigration agents raid Ark. poultry plant Immigration crackdowns reported in 6 states

U.S. fighter pilots from Japan and South Korea are honing their combat skills at Operation Red Flag-Alaska, a two-week exercise that ends Friday. Hosted by Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska’s central interior, the exercise is part of the spin up for a second deployment downrange this fall for the 14th Fighter Squadron from Misawa Air Base in northern Japan. “Every one of the pilots flying with the 14th Fighter Squadron will be deploying to Operation Iraqi Freedom in September,” Col. Mark Altobelli, 35th Operations Group commander, was quoted in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. This year’s Red Flag also includes...

In a difficult year for Republicans, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens is providing GOP leaders with yet another headache. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that Stevens is essentially even with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. Stevens currently attracts 46% of the vote while Begich earns 45%. Four percent (4%) say they’d vote for a third party option while 5% are not sure. Any incumbent who polls below 50% is considered potentially vulnerable and that label certainly applies to Stevens.

Buzzwinkle, entangled in holiday lights, stares into space in this November 2007 photo. He was recently euthanized. ANCHORAGE–A well-known Anchorage moose has been euthanized. State wildlife biologist Rick Sinnott said he shot the aging bull moose known as Buzzwinkle after finding it in distress in a neighbourhood lot. The moose, who was at least 13 years old, was severely emaciated and unable to get up. Sinnott said it had badly worn teeth and an infected wound on his rump. Buzzwinkle got its antlers tangled in a rope swing in a resident's yard in 2004 and was darted and tagged....

It has been 31 years since the Prudhoe Bay oil field began producing on the North Slope, and though the crude oil flowing from the big field today is less than a third of what it was during the peak years, Prudhoe is still the linchpin of North Slope production: Today it provides more than half the oil moving down the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. Most of the new oil will have to come from the Prudhoe field and a second large field, Kuparuk, which is also showing its age. New oil could be found through exploration as well, but not...

JUNEAU, Alaska - For decades, Alaska has unsuccessfully pursued a pipeline project that would ship natural gas to U.S. markets to power homes and business. After years of failure and frustration, suddenly there are a pair of viable proposals on the drawing board. Two of the world's largest oil companies unveiled plans Tuesday to jointly develop a multibillion dollar pipeline to be anchored Alaska's energy-rich North Slope. Britain's BP PLC and ConocoPhillips, based in Houston, said they plan to spend $600 million in the first phase of the project over the next three years, beginning this summer. The project's cost...

BP PLC and ConocoPhillips said Tuesday they will team on building a natural gas pipeline connecting Alaska to Alberta, Canada, and then to the lower 48 states if needed. The Denali pipeline, which is expected to carry about 4 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day to markets, will cost about $600 million to reach the first major project milestone, an open season, before the end of 2010, the companies said.

....This "long-billed syndrome" has been recorded in about 160 birds, mostly in western Washington and southern British Columbia and mostly since 2000. It's also documented in more than 2,100 birds in Alaska, where the deformity seems to have started affecting lots of birds in the early 1990s. Researchers say the weird beaks appear to be concentrated in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, although reports are coming in from farther south -- from Southern California in one recent case. The cause remains a mystery. A small band of puzzled, poorly funded scientists is scrambling to find answers. Could it be chemicals?...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A former stripper-turned-soccer mom has been sentenced to 99 years in prison for plotting the 1996 to kill her former fiance. Mechele Linehan was sentenced on Wednesday. Linehan, 35, was convicted in October of first-degree murder in the 1996 shooting of death of Kent Leppink. Leppink's body was found on a remote trail. Prosecutors say Linehan had Leppink killed for insurance money and was inspired by a 1994 movie, "The Last Seduction," in which a woman coaxes her lover into killing her husband for money. Linehan's coconspirator, John Carlin III, was sentenced in January to 99 years...

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has fuelled talk of a massive tunnel between Europe and America by forking out $160 MLN on the world’s largest drill. The 19-metre giant will be the first drill capable of boring a four-lane tunnel. The project would link Russia’s far eastern Chutoka region, which Abramovich governs, with America’s Alaska. The tunnel was first mooted by the Tsars and then in the 1990s, but both times it was dumped because of high costs. President Vladimir Putin is said to back the latest idea, as it would open up lucrative freight routes from Europe and allow Russian...

James Beck, an attorney and medical liability expert in the Philadelphia law office of Dechert LLP, said Wednesday that the Alaska attorney general was pursuing a matter best left to federal regulators. Beck said, so-called "off label" use, where a drug is used for an unapproved purpose, is generally within the medical standard of care that is "designed to help people." He said the state was trying to assess liability for drugs that were prescribed for "therapeutically appropriate," off-label use that helped patients recover from mental illness. "This litigation made no logical sense; it was brought purely to recover as...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - A controversial land swap proposal could open portions of an Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling, dividing Alaska natives and stoking opposition from environmentalists seeking to protect the bears, moose and birds that live there. Supporters of the plan to exchange land in the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, which lies just south of the more-famous Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, say they would like the plan to be approved by the administration of President George W. Bush before the election in November. "The window is the election," Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young, a staunch backer of...

SEATTLE — Four people died Sunday off the coast of Alaska when a commercial fishing boat carrying 47 people began sinking west of the remote port town of Dutch Harbor, officials with the Coast Guard said. Forty-two people were rescued by the Coast Guard about 120 miles west of Dutch Harbor, in the Aleutian Islands. One person remained missing on Sunday afternoon, and a search was being conducted with helicopters and a C-130 plane, officials said. One of the four died in the rescue operation, they said. The authorities on Sunday had not released the names of the four people...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Four crew members died Sunday and another was missing after a Seattle-based fishing boat began sinking in high seas off Alaska's Aleutian Islands, the Coast Guard said. The dead were among 47 crew members who abandoned ship after the 184-foot Alaska Ranger developed problems. Forty-two crew members were recovered safely, but a search was continuing for the missing person, said Chief Petty Officer Barry Lane. The vessel started taking on water shortly before 3 a.m. after losing control of its rudder 120 miles west of Dutch Harbor, which is on Unalaska Island.

"Vandals dumped red paint on a downtown veterans memorial Wednesday morning in what police suspect was a symbolic act of protest on the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. "

Vandals dumped a bucket of red paint on a downtown veterans memorial this morning, the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, in what police suspect was a symbolic act of protest. Passers-by spotted the blood-toned paint on the Anchorage Veterans Memorial, in the Delaney Park Strip off I Street, during the morning commute and reported it to police. The soldier's helmet was blood red, with the paint dripping down to the ground below. "There's a movement across the country, since it's the fifth anniversary of the war, to protest," police Lt. Paul Honeman said. Police say they are...

The lieutenant governor of Alaska, Sean Parnell, announced today that he's challenging ethically embattled Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) in the Republican primary, raising the likelihood of a hotly contested fight for the GOP nomination. Parnell announced his intentions at the state’s Republican Party convention, according to The Associated Press. He will be formally kicking off his campaign at a news conference this afternoon in Anchorage. Parnell is an ally of the state's governor, Sarah Palin, a reform-minded Republican who unseated former Gov. Frank Murkowski in a 2006 Republican primary. An attorney, he has served in both the state House and...

In a surprise move, Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell announced Friday at the State GOP Convention that he will challenge embattled Congressman Don Young in the Republican primary. Young -- an 18-term incumbent -- is reportedly the target of a federal corruption investigation. Young's campaign committee has already spent over $800,000 on legal fees related to the investigation. Independent polling has shown Young trailing former State House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz (D) in general election matchups. "For too long, we have expected too little from our elected officials. It is time for change," said Parnell. As Parnell is a close ally...

Congress is considering permanent protection for 26 million acres of beautiful and historic landscapes in the American West, but has quietly excluded millions of acres of California desert. In a system that would rival the national parks and forests, the National Landscape Conservation Act would unify the management and funding for areas such as the original Pony Express National Historic Trail, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, a million acres of Alaskan caribou calving grounds, 38 wild rivers, Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and a tiny ghost town near the Mexican border. But more than half of the 10.6 million-acre...

I'm dancing on the top deck with a 71-year-old feminist and psychotherapist whom I've come to think of as the Twirler. We've spent two days attending seminars on The Nation magazine's Alaska cruise; we've talked about the Bush presidency and prison reform and single-payer health care. Now, at almost midnight, my fiercely intelligent and opinionated new friend is putting all the heady political talk behind her by bodily twirling. "If I start to get dizzy, then I twirl in the opposite direction," Charlotte tells me as the live band revs up its throbbing Motown beat. "I won't fall." "Good, please...

The mystery of mammoth tusks with iron fillings By By Ned RozellMarch 5, 2008 A giant meteor may have exploded over Alaska thousands of years ago, shooting out metal fragments like buckshot, some of which embedded in the tusks of woolly mammoths and the horns of bison. Simultaneously, a large chunk of the meteor hit Alaska south of Allakaket, sending up a dust cloud that blacked out the sun over the entire state and surrounding areas, killing most of the life in the area. Embedded iron particles surrounded by carbonized rings in the outer layer of a mammoth tusk from...

JUNEAU -- Gov. Sarah Palin shocked and awed just about everybody around the Capitol on Wednesday when she announced she's expecting her fifth child. The governor, who recently turned 44, told a handful of reporters as she was leaving work to expect a new member of the first family, then headed to a reception at the Baranof Hotel to feast on king crab. Palin said she's already about seven months along, with the baby due to arrive in mid-May. That the pregnancy is so advanced astonished all who heard the news. The governor, a runner who's always been trim, simply...

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she's pregnant with 5th child and is due sometime in May Associated Press - March 5, 2008 10:43 PM ET JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband are expecting their fifth child. Palin, 44, wouldn't say whether the child will be a boy or a girl, explaining that she had not shared that with their children yet. The baby is due in mid-May. She and her husband, Todd, have three girls and a boy, ages 6 to 18. Their oldest, Track, enlisted in the Army last year. Former Massachusetts Gov. Jane...

The chief of staff of former Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski pleaded guilty this afternoon to illegally concealing campaign contributions and agreed to cooperate with authorities investigating political corruption in Alaska.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration on Monday again asked Congress to allow oil and natural gas drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, saying $7 billion could be raised in leasing fees from energy companies. In its proposed budget for the 2009 spending year, which begins on October 1, the White House said it assumed the initial tracts in the refuge could be leased during 2010. The government would share half the $7 billion in leasing revenue with the state of Alaska. However, the Democratic-controlled Congress is against opening the area to drilling and the two leading Democratic candidates...

ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska, March 4, 2008 – An Air Force fighter pilot assigned to 3rd Wing here will be among the contestants on the March 6 episode of “Jeopardy!” “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek and Air Force Capt. Timothy Bobinski, 19th Fighter Squadron chief of safety, pose on the set of “America's Favorite Quiz Show.” Bobinski was a contestant on an episode of the show taped in November. The episode is due to air March 6, 2008. Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Television  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Capt. Timothy Bobinski, 19th Fighter Squadron chief of safety,...

Even if you live in the most heavily taxed state, Maine (which collects an average of 13.5% of residents' income), you might not be ready to high-tail it to Alaska, the state with the lowest taxes (6.6%, and the only state that lacks both sales and income taxes), unless you have an affinity for mosquitoes and seemingly endless tundra. But in certain cases -- say, if you're about to retire and need to make every dollar count -- moving to a less expensive state might make some sense. More on that later. For the rest of us, it's at least...

National Democrats have their man against Sen. Ted Stevens, and he appears set to give the party its first real shot at the senator in his 40-year career. Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich announced Wednesday that he is entering the race against Stevens (R-Alaska), setting up an exploratory committee and ending months of speculation about whether Democrats could field a formidable candidate against the embattled lawmaker. A federal investigation into Stevens’s ties to the Veco Corp. pushed the seat into the realm of possibility for Democrats. Begich’s entry makes it an official race. In launching his committee, Begich said in an...

Forget regional balance and those white guys in suits. Alaska's young, hot, Vogue-posing, female Republican governor could become the popular favorite to be Sen. John McCain's running mate. Named by Alaska Magazine as "America's Hottest Governor," Palin (pronounced Pay-lin) is getting big buzz in the conservative press and talk radio. Fans have a "Draft Sarah Polin" movement. What better balance for the 71-year-old nominee who could be facing a 46-year-old phenomenon? A former athlete and beauty queen, Palin's approval ratings hover in 90 percent zone. Take that Barack. She was born in 1964 (1936 for McCain) and has four kids...

Drained lake holds record of ancient Alaska By Ned RozellFebruary 27, 2008 Not too long ago, a lake sprung a leak in the high country of the Wrangell-St. Elias Mountains. The lake drained away, as glacier-dammed lakes often do, but this lake was a bit different, and seems to be telling a story about a warmer Alaska. The lake, known as Iceberg Lake to people in McCarthy, about 50 airmails to the north, had been part of the landscape for as long as people could remember. Pinched by glacial ice, the three-mile-long, one-mile-wide lake on the northern boundary of the...