Sullivan Says City Shortfall Tops 18 Million Dollars

Thu, September 2, 2010
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Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan says city revenues do not meet estimated costs for next year’s municipal budget. Anchorage’s budget for 2011 is in preparation now, and city residents are being warned they may have to make some hard choices.

Addressing Alaskans: Jerene Mortensen

Thu, September 2, 2010
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Jerene Mortensen, mother of Three Cups of Tea and Stones in Schools author, Greg Mortensen recently moved to Anchorage in December 2009. Since arriving, she’s been touring Anchorage schools talking with students and various local groups about her sons efforts to build schools and provide children with access to education in Pakistan and Afghanistan. This week on Addressing Alaskans, listen her talk entitled “Three Cups of Tea: A Mother’s Perspective” recorded at UAA’s Wendy Williamson auditorium on Friday, August 27.

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Engineering Update: Thursday, Sept. 2

Thu, September 2, 2010
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KSKA’s engineers are working to prevent the infrequent drop outs you’ve heard this week, most recently during Addressing Alaskans at 2:28 pm. The program was restored about 3 minutes later. Typically these drop outs last no more than a couple minutes, so please stay with us if programming is lost, as it should return momentarily. We’re working to put an end to the drop outs as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Only in Alaska Can Stuff Like This Happen

Thu, September 2, 2010
Posted in Elections, Metro News, RUNNING | Leave a Comment

The shock wave felt Tuesday night with Lisa Murkowski’s concession in the Republican U.S. Senate primary race sent tremors throughout Alaska’s political landscape. KSKA’s Ellen Lockyer spoke with Anchorage pollster Ivan Moore about how the shakeup could resonate with Alaska voters in November

Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage

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Hometown, Alaska: The Great Death

Tue, August 31, 2010
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The epidemics that swept through Alaska Native villages in the early 20th century are among the most tragic and least known events in Alaska history. Entire communities perished, and the impacts are still felt. In his new book, The Great Death, author John Smelcer explores these terrible events in fiction, using an extraordinary story from his own family history. In the second half of the show, Dr. Tom Nighswander explains the science of the epidemics. Listen to Hometown, Alaska Wednesday at 2:00 pm, repeating at 7:00 pm.

Lit Site Alaska: Epidemics and Pandemic Flu of 1918-1919
Book recommended by Dr. Nighswander: Chills and Fever: Health and Disease in the Early History of Alaska By Robert Fortuine

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Murkowski Concedes to Miller

Tue, August 31, 2010
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Photos by Annie Feidt, APRN – Anchorage

Senator Lisa Murkowski conceded her bid for reelection to primary opponent Joe Miller early Tuesday evening saying it was for the “good of the state of Alaska.”

She said it had been a “terribly long week” and “difficult on all sides,” during a press conference in Anchorage.

Murkowski had watched Miller’s lead dip and climb back during the course of Tuesday’s counting of absentee and other ballots but she said did not see a path to winning.

“Based on where we are right now, I don’t see a scenario, where the primary will turn out in my favor,” she told reporters. “I’m now conceding the race for the Republican nomination.”

She told reporters and several sullen supporters standing at her side that she had called Miller just before the press conference to tell him of her decision.

Murkowski thanked her supporters and called them the “best of the best.”

Prior to the press conference, Miller told KTUU-TV in Anchorage he felt “pretty good” about how the count had gone. He was asked if Murkowski should drop out. “No, that’s her decision,” he said.

Miller now faces Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams (right), the Democrat who easily won his party’s nomination.

Tuesday’s count showed Miller with 52,988 votes or 50.78 pct of the vote. Murkowski had 51,358 votes or 49.22 pct. Some 1,630 votes separated the two candidates. That was a margin similar to the one Miller had started with on Tuesday morning.

The Republican senate primary captured national headlines this past week as both campaigns sought to cast the returns in the most favorable light.

Miller’s candidacy was boosted early when he won the endorsement of former Governor Sarah Palin.

“Do you believe in miracles?!” Palin said in a Twitter message shortly after Murkowski’s announcement. “Thank you for your service, Sen. Murkowski. On to November!”

Miller, a Tea Party favorite, also had won the endorsement of Fox TV host and former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

Throughout the campaign, Miller had chided Murkowski for being too liberal.

Murkowski had run strong in Anchorage and various other parts of the state, but Miller led in Fairbanks and in much of the Mat-Su Valley.

Vote Gap Between Murkowski and Miller Narrows Slightly

Tue, August 31, 2010
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The absentee ballot count today in the Republican U.S. Senate primary shows a slight narrowing of the gap between Lisa Murkowski and Joe Miller at this hour. As of 5:00 p.m., Miller is leading Murkowski by 1,469 votes, down from 1,668 votes after last Tuesday’s election.

Thousands of absentee ballots were counted today at the Anchorage office of the state division of elections. The ballots are pivotal in the outcome of the race for Alaska’s available US Senate seat in the November election.

But things were quiet this morning as election volunteers, most of them women, sat at their workstations. Both the Miller and the Murkowski campaigns had sent observers to watch the proceedings. Gail Fenumiai, division of elections director, said ballot counting was taking place at the same time in Wasilla

Fenumiai said questioned ballots, those voted on election day, but without proper address identification, are verified by a bipartisan review board. Despite fears expressed by the Miller campaign regarding mishandling of the vote count, the operation seemed to go smoothly. Other than a handful of reporters, there were few members of the public in evidence at the division office in Anchorage.

When new numbers were posted to the state election division website shortly before eleven this morning, the returns showed a slight lessening of the gap between the two candidates – in Murkowski’s favor. John Bitney speaks for Lisa Murkowski’s campaign.

The districts reflecting the early returns were in Anchorage and Eagle River. Miller campaign spokesman Randy DeSoto said he wasn’t worried about them

Shortly after noon, Matanuska Valley election officials finished counting absentee votes in Wasilla. Those returns lessened Miller’s advantage by about one tenth of a percentage point.

Photo and Story by Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage

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Live Coverage: President Obama on Iraq

Tue, August 31, 2010
Posted in Off Mic, Schedule Updates, Web Updates | Leave a Comment

Tuesday during All Things Considered President Barrack Obama will address the nation from the Oval Office. Obama promised in 2009 to end the formal “combat” mission in Iraq on August 31. Earlier this week the White House said the number of U.S. troops staged in Iraq had fallen below 50,000. Iraq is scheduled to assume its own security after Tuesday, with the U.S. falling into an advisory and backup role. President Obama makes his second official Oval Office address to the nation on All Things Considered (Tuesday) from 4:00 – 4:30 pm.

Kids These Days!: Tuesday, August 31

Tue, August 31, 2010
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Kids These Days! is a brand new show debuting tomorrow on KSKA! Tune in at 2pm (or at 7pm) tomorrow to hear the debut show – “Babes in the Woods” – all about getting outside with your children. Host Shana Sheehy speaks with in-studio guest, Jen Aist, author of Babes in the Woods: Hiking, Camping and Boating With Babies and Young Children. Jen answers listeners’ questions about the best hiking trails for youngsters, gives tips on how to keep your kids progressing up the trail and talks about camping with babies.

Jessica Cochran contributes a piece on the Children & Nature Network and what they are doing to get kids outdoors, as well as filing a story about her own family camping trip this summer. Producer Sarah Gonzales speaks with Alaska Geographic and the Forest Service about the Chugach Children’s Forest.

Learn more about this show, and hear an advance clip now on kidsthesedays.org

UPS Pilots Seek State Help

Tue, August 31, 2010
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A plan by rapid package shipper UPS to furlough Anchorage based pilots is meeting resistance with the help of Alaska’s elected officials.

Earlier this year, UPS announced plans to furlough some 300 pilots nationally, citing a company-wide cost cutting regime. Almost all the pilots affected, 262 of them, were based out of the company’s Anchorage hub, because the furloughs affect the pilots with the least seniority, and the recently established Anchorage hub has the greatest number of junior pilots. Pilots are fighting the move. Bob Thrush, president of the Independent Pilots’ Association says UPS has gone back on its word

Alaska Senators Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski have put pressure on UPS to reconsider, and Alaska governor Sean Parnell and Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan have contacted UPS officials on the issue. So far, about 109 UPS pilots from Anchorage have already lost their jobs.

The remaining pilots are slated to lose their jobs by the end of next March. Thrush says the furloughs were not necessary, because the pilots initially volunteered shift and vacation pay cuts to head off the furloughs

Many of the affected pilots have homes in Anchorage. IPA spokesman Brian Godet says if the UPS plan goes through, the pilots could be furloughed through 2014, and that could mean lost revenues of up to $61 million for the city and the state. But UPS spokesman Mike Mangeot, speaking from Louisville, Kentucky, says there are some changes coming

Thrush says if UPS decides to rehire any pilots, regulations demand that the furloughed pilots be offered their jobs back first.

Mangeot says UPS’s second quarter earnings indicate a 40 percent increase in Asian exports, and that growth could extend to Alaska

The state house transportation committee is getting involved in the issue. A hearing on the UPS layoffs is scheduled for Tuesday morning at 9:00 in Anchorage to question UPS officials about the plan. UPS has 1,000 employees in Alaska and spends $328 million a year to run its operations in the state.

Live Work Alaska: 300 UPS Pilots Laid Off; 262 from Anchorage

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Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage

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