Free Republic

A new radio commercial from Democrat Tony Knowles blasts opponent U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski for a remark she made last week, calling the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound "that little issue." The ad, which started airing statewide Monday, uses a sound bite from a press conference Murkowski held in Washington, D.C. She used an Exxon Mobil gas station as a backdrop for the conference. But when reminded by an aide about Exxon's Alaska oil spill, Murkowski said with a laugh to Sen. George Allen, R-Va., "We've got that little issue, remember?"

© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com The U.S. Coast Guard, responding to elevated threats of terror from the sea – threats first reported in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin – has closed one of the world's largest oil tanker terminals on Alaska's south shore. Tanker loading at Valdez, the southern terminus of the trans-Alaska pipeline, was shut off Tuesday night. The facility remains closed indefinitely. The 800-mile pipeline carries 17 percent of the nation's oil supply from the Prudoe Bay oil fields off Alaska's northern slope. Security in the sound area was tightened last week after U.S. officials said the terminals could be a target of...

<p>Valdez tanker port shut down SECURITY: Coast Guard abruptly closes terminal, orders tankers to leave area.</p> <p>A Coast Guard spokesman would only say that the order was part of a "further extension of prudent maritime security measures."</p> <p>Air Force fighter jets, meanwhile, have been flying patrols around Valdez in recent days, and federal authorities have placed restrictions on private planes in a 25-mile radius around the town, home to the sprawling marine terminal at the end of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.</p>

With the nation on an elevated terror alert, the oil tanker terminal in Valdez, Alaska has been temporarily closed at the request of the U-S Coast Guard. Alyeska Service Pipeline Company spokesman Mike Heatwole says tanker loading was suspended Tuesday night and remained closed yesterday. Tankers load Prudhoe Bay oil destined for Valdez, the end of the 800-mile pipeline, which carries 17 percent of the nation's domestic oil supply. Last week, security was beefed up in the Prince William Sound community after federal officials said al-Qaida operatives could target remote sites such as oil facilities in Alaska. Officials also said...

<p>MEXICO CITY (AP) - A former Mexican consul to Lebanon has been arrested on charges of helping a smuggling ring move Arab migrants into the United States from Mexico, federal agents said Thursday. Imelda Ortiz, detained late Wednesday in Mexico City, is the fourth alleged member of the ring captured in three days.</p>

Friday December 6, 9:55 pm ET IRVING, Texas (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's biggest publicly traded oil company, said on Friday a federal court in Alaska has decided it should pay $4 billion in punitive damages for the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Exxon Mobil, which argues that it should pay no more than $40 million for the 1989 tanker accident, said it planned to appeal the order. The decision was handed down by the federal court in Anchorage and reduced to $4 billion from $5 billion the amount of punitive damages awarded last year in connection with...