May 28, 2019 In this Issue: Alaska’s PFDs almost didn’t happen Public was lukewarm on dividends; many legislators were opposedWhere did the idea come from?Senior citizen bonuses, student loans were early modelsAccidents of history played a rolePublic was initially skeptical to giving away moneyWhat if there had never been a PFD? [wbcr_php_snippet id=”1557″]
April 19, 2019 In this Issue: How the Permanent Fund came to be Political vision in 1976, but voices of caution, tooLegislators in 1976 resisted impulse to define Fund in detailIdea of savings fund surfaced first in 1960sPrudhoe Bay changed things – normal fiscal rules would not apply1969 oil lease windfall prompted thinking about futureGov. Keith Miller introduced first proposal, for a “development” fundNew legislators in 1975 willing to tackle new idea –saving oil wealthShould some of the Fund be…
100 million salmon caught so far The 2019 salmon harvest passed the 100-million-fish harvest mark Aug. 3, according to the weekly Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute catch report. So far the predicted robust sockeye salmon harvest is living up to expectations but pink salmon and chum catches are off, ASMI said. The sockeye catch totaled 52.9 million as of Aug. 3, 10 percent over the 48.1 million sockeyes harvested last year as of that date. Pink salmon were down 12 percent…
New test tunnel at Palmer project The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, the major landowner at the Constantine Metal Resources project near Haines, gave the final approval needed for a new exploration tunnel to be built at the site. The one-mile tunnel, 16 feet in diameter, will allow underground exploration drilling to access parts of the ore body, and also allow work to be done in a weather-protected environment. The project, called Palmer, is about 35 miles north of Haines…
Another big season for slope Another big exploration and appraisal drilling season is shaping up for the North Slope this winter. Oil Search will have two rigs working on new appraisal wells aimed at confirming resources in the company’s Pikka project and new discoveries on adjacent leases. Oil Search hopes to increase reserves now pegged at 500 million barrels to 1 billion barrels or more. Meanwhile, ConocoPhillips plans another aggressive winter drilling season this winter in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska,…
New space data center under construction in Mat-Su A new $5 million space data center is under construction near Talkeetna in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough with the first phase expected to be operational by the end of 2019. The developer is Anchorage-based Pacific DataPort, an affiliate of MicroCom, a 35-year-old Alaska telecommunications service company. A 5,000-square-foot facility is being built on an 80-acre tract where in previous years AT&T operated a satellite data center. Microcom Communications Solutions is. Pacific DataPort closed…
Ferry system back to normal State ferries returned to their normal schedules after agreement was reached on a contract dispute with striking vessel crew members. Alaska Airlines and southeast barge operators did some fast juggling to take care of people stranded in the recent strike by state ferry workers. In one instance Alaska diverted its Flight 77 (Juneau to Anchorage) to Wrangell to pick up people, making it the first-ever direct Wrangell-to-Anchorage flight. At times up to 225 people and…
Ketchikan dock construction Ketchikan’s Ward Cove group has started construction on a $50 million cruise dock and shoreside facility at the former Ketchikan Pulp plant site. The partners in Ward Cove are Power Systems and Supply of Ketchikan and Godspeed Inc. of Fairbanks, the latter owned by the Binkley family. The project involves refurbishing former pulp company buildings initially into office and bus shuttle facilities, with retail and entertainment to be added in later phases. Work on a floating dock,…
State cuts Medicaid payments Emergency reductions in state Medicaid payments were ordered by the state administration in late June, cutting payments to health care providers 5 percent and freezing an inflation adjustment. The combined effect is a reduction of 7 percent to 8 percent, health providers say. The Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association filed suit against the state arguing that proper procedures in changing regulations on payments were not followed. SEARHC now has Sitka hospital It’s official: Sitka…
AEDC predicts deeper downturn if budget cuts prevail Whether the state’s recession bottoms out this year and economic growth gradually renews, or whether the recession will deepen and extend for three or more years basically depends on Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Anchorage Economic Development Corp., working with McDowell Group, the consulting firm, laid out a gloomy scenario for the regional economy if deep budget cuts proposed by the governor actually happen (see page 3 for the current situation). In January, in…