Free Republic

Due to a key vote by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the one-year ban on federal funding for Planned Parenthood expired on July 4, meaning the abortion giant can resume consuming hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars through Medicaid reimbursements for non-abortion-related services. Without this funding, the entity has struggled to keep its nationwide network of abortion clinics operational. While Murkowski continues to identify as a Republican, she has long supported federal funding for Planned Parenthood and regularly joins Democrats in efforts to ensure the abortion business benefits from taxpayer dollars. Last year, pro-life advocates celebrated when the Republican-controlled Congress narrowly...

Another norovirus outbreak has struck a Princess Cruises vessel, turning what should have been a dream Alaskan adventure into a grim reminder of how quickly order can dissolve into chaos even in the most controlled environments. The Ruby Princess, departing San Francisco on June 12 for a 20-day voyage, saw more than 100 passengers and 20 crew members felled by the highly contagious stomach virus before limping back to port on July 2. Passenger Peter Korer, a seasoned cruiser from Las Vegas with over 40 voyages under his belt, described the ship as a “floating Petri dish.” This was his...

The Coast Guard said no fatalities have been reported, and all crew members from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka have been transported to Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center. The United States Coast Guard confirmed Monday that an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter has crashed in Sitka, Alaska, during a training flight with four people on board. The Coast Guard said no fatalities have been reported, and all crew members from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka have been transported to Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center. The cause of the crash, which occurred Monday morning, is currently under investigation. "The safety, well-being, and rescue of our...

In 2007, Inuit whalers in Alaska made a surprising discovery. In the carcass of a whale, they found fragments of a weapon embedded in its flesh – but this wasn’t a modern piece of equipment. The harpoon was traced back to the 1900s, and after investigation, scientists estimated that the whale itself was around 115 years old, if not older. Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) were severely affected by the introduction of widespread commercial whaling that saw their numbers plummet to fewer than 3,000 members. It was effectively ended by 1921, a move that has seen the population grow to between...

The Alaska Division of Elections has preliminarily determined that Dan J. Sullivan from Petersburg is not eligible to run for office, following a probe into allegations from Republicans that he is attempting to rig the election to draw votes from the U.S. senator of the same name. “Based on a review of the evidence presented and in the Division’s possession, the Division has determined that the preponderance of evidence does not support your eligibility for the office of United States Senator,” Carol Beecher, director of the Division of Elections, said in a letter to Dan J. Sullivan on Wednesday.

Six Republicans joined with Democrats on Thursday to support a measure that would block the construction of President Donald Trump's planned White House ballroom. The measure needed 60 votes to pass and came as part of a string of amendment votes ahead of the main vote on a reconciliation bill to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol. The final vote was 52-47 in favor, with GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, John Husted of Ohio, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina voting to block construction,...

The Trump administration on Friday auctioned off rights to drill in a pristine wildlife refuge in Alaska, but the lease sale attracted only two bidders on a few tracts of land. Of the about 60 tracts of land opened up for leasing by the Trump administration, only five received bids.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy said the country and the U.S. will sign an agreement to design an underwater tunnel connecting Russia’s Chukotka region to Alaska across the Bering Strait. Kirill Dmitriev, who is also head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, made the announcement Thursday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. “As regards, the tunnel, we have a piece of news for tomorrow that we will continue tunnel engineering. The tunnel will take place,” he told Russian TV channel Zvezda, according to a translation by state-owned news agency TASS. He added that this will be one of...

The Senate on Thursday voted on a proposal to block the construction of President Trump’s 90,000 square foot ballroom.The proposal, which needed 60 votes, failed 52-47.However, SIX Republican Senators voted with the Democrats to block the construction of the ballroom: Collins, Husted, Moran, Murkowski, Sullivan and Tillis.The proposal was introduced by Democrat Senator Jeff Merkley during Thursday’s vote-a-rama.

Four Senate Republicans broke ranks to kill another effort to pass President Donald Trump's marquee voter ID and election integrity legislation as the GOP marches to fund immigration enforcement. Just like last time, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Thom Tills, R-N.C., joined all Democrats to thwart the move. It’s the second attempt by Republicans to attach the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act to their budget reconciliation package, and the second time that they’ve failed to get the legislation across the line months after launching a quasi-floor takeover to debate the bill....

Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan’s re-election campaign is accusing one of his opponents in Alaska and Democrats in Washington of recruiting a candidate with the same first and last name: Dan Sullivan. “Mary Peltola and D.C. Democrats know they can’t win this race on the issues, so they’ve resorted to dirty, dishonest tactics — recruiting a sham candidate with the sole purpose of deceiving voters and manipulating Alaska’s election system,” Nate Adams, the senator’s campaign spokesman, said in a statement Tuesday.

FIRST ON FOX: Republicans are moving to block a political newcomer linked to Democrats who shares the name of Alaska's incumbent senator, arguing the candidate's long-shot bid could mislead voters in a closely watched Senate race. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) sent a letter Monday to the Alaska Division of Elections and the state's lieutenant governor, demanding that "Dan J. Sullivan" — a former teacher with no relation to incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan — be struck from the ballot ahead of the August primary. "Alaska regulations provide that a candidate’s name may not appear on the ballot...

The National Park Service ‌reported that four climbers from a seven-member expedition suffered a fall on Wednesday in the vicinity of Denali Pass, located about 2,100 feet (640.1 metres) below the 20,310-foot summit of McKinley, North America's tallest peak. The ​survivor was rescued on Thursday from a mountain basin at 17,200 feet and ​later transferred to an air ambulance for transport to a hospital, the ⁠Park Service said. "Operations for the three remaining climbers have transitioned from a search and rescue ​mission to a recovery effort," the Park Service said in an online statement, adding the ​agency "does not release...

In Alaska three Latvian climbers fell to their deaths... The top US general in Latin America met Cuba's military leadership... Two killed and two wounded in a Ukrainian drone... Three more killed in the latest US air attack... President Trump turning against Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina endorsing... The messaging from the White House...no 'final determination'...deal with Iran... warning of dangerous military activity tonight in the Strait of Hormuz... Bulgaria's new nationalist Prime Minister...government will limit the stays of US military aircraft... A federal judge in Miami announcing an inquiry into the... lawsuit by President Trump... judge ruling...

Is it free woolly? Scientists were flabbergasted after discovering that the mammoth backbones that had been housed in an Alaskan museum for 70 years actually belonged to a whale, per a study published in the Journal of Quaternary Science. This archaeological case of mistaken identity began way back in the 1950s, when archaeologist Otto Geist happened upon some bones while traveling through the Alaskan interior, roughly 10 miles North of Fairbanks in a region formerly known as Beringia, The Smithsonian Magazine reported. He assumed the remnants, a pair of growth plates, belonged to the plush pachyderm mammoth based on their...

Thune spoke directly with Paxton following Tuesday's runoff victory, marking the first reported contact between the two men since the bitter primary contest ended. A person familiar with the conversation described the call as PRODUCTIVE. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told reporters she was "supremely disappointed" by Trump's endorsement of Paxton over Cornyn.

As scientists study Earth's oceans, they come across some intriguing mysteries. Among them are some of the strangest deep-sea discoveries, including a "golden orb" measuring about 4 inches in diameter in the Gulf of Alaska in 2023. Referred to as a "yellow hat" by one of the videographers at the time, researchers were stumped about what it could be; coral, an egg casing, or a dead sponge attachment were some of the initial guesses. Since then, they've been able to determine that it's dead cell remains from a huge deep-sea anemone. The golden specimen was found about 2 miles beneath...

Senate Republicans on Tuesday vented their frustration and disappointment over President Trump’s decision to endorse state Attorney General Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn (R) in the Texas Senate Republican primary, a move that deals a crushing blow to Cornyn’s hopes of winning the May 26 runoff. “I don’t understand. He is an ethically challenged individual,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said of Paxton, who was charged with defrauding investors in a Dallas-area tech startup before he completed a pretrial diversion program. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said she was “supremely disappointed” in Trump’s endorsement of Paxton over Cornyn. “I don’t understand...

"They're looking to explore Alaska" is the latest word on how Communist China might reduce its dependence on uncertain Persian Gulf oil imports, according to a Fox News report on Thursday. As you must know by now, President Donald Trump and his impressive entourage are in Beijing for a two-day summit with Chinese Communist Party boss Xi Jinping, which always makes for great TV. I grew up watching presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush meet with an accelerating array of Soviet party bosses, usually so that they could agree that neither side would build more nuclear missiles...

Republicans’ support for President Donald Trump's war on Iran fractured on Wednesday. Senate Democrats have tried to splinter off Republicans from their near-unified backing of Operation Epic Fury for months with a campaign of attrition, putting war powers resolution after war powers resolution on the floor ever since fighting began. And after two months of trying, they finally got some in the GOP to flip on Trump with Sen. Jeff Merkley's, D-Ore., latest attempt. Still, it wasn’t enough to terminate ongoing operations in the Middle East. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has consistently...