Here is a sampling of Alaska editorials:
April 28, 2018
Ketchikan Daily News: Strategic investments
Funding for the military in Alaska is increasing - as well it should with the state’s strategic location for national defense and economic advantage.
The 2018 Appropriations Bill approved this spring - the largest passed in 15 years - will grow the military presence here in terms of infrastructure.
One of the key points in the bill is a $150 million match of 2017 funds for a new polar icebreaker. This $300 million, added to anticipated icebreaker funding in the upcoming fiscal 2019 Department of Homeland Security budget request, will begin to build an icebreaking fleet necessary to compete with other nations with missions in the Arctic.
Russia, with its large fleet of icebreakers, is of concern to both Alaska and the federal government.
The appropriations bill also includes $51.5 million for U.S. Coast Guard housing and shoreside infrastructure projects, and directs the Coast Guard to support the Arctic Program Office when it comes to waterway safety.
Customs and Border Protection, in tandem with Canada, will be increasingly funded for improving maritime law enforcement at Alaska’s northern Arctic border.
Beyond the Arctic, the appropriations bill allots funds to the Pacific Spaceport Complex, formerly the Kodiak Launch Complex at Narrow Cape on Kodiak Island. The 3,700-acre complex is one of a few in the United States, and they will be receiving $10 million to enhance their capabilities.
Alaska’s complex has the highest orbit capability.
Another $105 million will be used for a flight test of an anti-ballistic missile defense system at the Kodiak-located complex. This is a joint effort with Israel.
The Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex, which includes all of the land, air, sea, space and cyberspace for military training in Alaska, will receive $6 million.
Still more funding will be directed toward Eielson Air Force Base and Fort Greely. Eielson is looking at $168.9 million toward basing two squadrons of the F-35A Join Strike Fighter aircraft there, and construction of missile interceptors will be built at Greely. The Greely funding is above what the Trump administration had requested.
This is a sizable investment in national defense within the state’s borders and for the Alaska economy. Just like Ketchikan benefits from the oil revenue generated primarily in other regions of the state, it also will experience positive defense and economic outcomes from the military funding.
It all increases the importance of Alaska on the national and world stage and provides jobs within the state. When possible, Alaska’s congressional delegation has pushed for local hire, and it is even written into parts of the appropriations bill.
The bill’s effects on Ketchikan might not be as evident as the tourist on the street during the next five months, but it will be as valuable for the future.
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April 29, 2018
Peninsula Clarion: Gun ownership a complicated discussion
This past week, the Peninsula Clarion reported on a survey that examined attitudes toward gun ownership in Alaska. That story, and its posting on social media, has not surprisingly generated a great deal of discussion and debate.
When it comes to a topic that can be intimidating - like gun ownership - we think a public discussion is a good thing.
Gun ownership has been the focus of a national debate, stirred up with each mass shooting. While Alaska as a state has a much different attitude toward guns than much of the Lower 48, we think it’s important to note that gun violence has impacted our community. To us, the argument isn’t over whether guns - or specific types of guns - are good or bad, but how to preserve responsible gun ownership and protect the public from those who do harm.
That’s a far more complex question than simply whether guns are good or bad, and requires a much more nuanced answer, one that isn’t going to come from just one opinion poll.
Our main takeaway from the Alaska Survey Research poll is that Alaskans have a wide range of views on gun ownership, and those views are evolving. That shouldn’t come as a surprise; the poll surveyed 761 people statewide, including 65 residents of the Kenai Peninsula. We know from experience that if you get 65 peninsula residents in a room together, you’ll get varying views on any topic, from the role of government to the best way to prepare salmon.
Those wide-ranging viewpoints are reflected in the survey results, and we’d reiterate that having a differing opinion on the topic doesn’t make anyone right or wrong, good or bad. Indeed, the poll found high rates of gun ownership on the peninsula, and less support for restrictions on gun ownership here than in other parts of the state.
Notably, there was on question in the poll on which a large majority of Alaskans appear to agree. Eighty-four percent of respondents statewide, and 80 percent from the peninsula, would support a measure allowing family members or police to petition a judge to confiscate firearms of a person deemed to be a risk.
That’s a topic that, in our opinion, steers the debate in the right direction - actions we can take to preserve responsible gun ownership, but take steps to protect public safety.
Again, one survey isn’t enough to determine whether such a measure constitutes a reasonable restriction on gun ownership, but it does provide a good place for the debate to discussion to start. It’s a discussion we hope to see continue.
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April 27, 2018
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Nonprofit group saved the SS Nenana in the past, could work again
The SS Nenana is safe for now. Earlier this week, Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Karl Kassel confirmed there are no plans to demolish the historic riverboat.
But the boat’s fate remains up in the air.
As the borough wrestles with budget cuts and a maintenance backlog, a painting project scheduled for the summer has been canceled. The SS Nenana was deemed unsafe and now it will be closed to tourists in the summer.
There is no question the SS Nenana is important to Fairbanks and Alaska. It is the largest sternwheel steamboat constructed west of the Mississippi River. Contracted by the Alaska Railroad from 1933-53, the SS Nenana traveled from Nenana to Marshall and back again - a 1,600 mile journey - every two weeks in the summer. Its final season on the river was 1954 when it was leased by the Yutana Barge Line. The 237-foot-long five-deck boat could carry 300 tons of freight. It had a saloon deck that accommodated 48 passengers. It was phased out as boat technology advanced and aircraft became more prevalent in Alaska.
The SS Nenana has been at Pioneer Park since 1957 where it has been a tourist attraction. In 1989, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. In the late 1980s a series of renovations and improvements were carried out on the sternwheeler. The Fairbanks Historic Preservation Society, a nonprofit organization, financed those renovations. Since then, multiple smaller improvement projects have kept the boat intact. The most recent happened about five years ago.
The borough contracted PDC Engineers to survey the boat, which they did in February. They found damage and decay throughout the boat.
Since then, Pioneer Park Manager Donnie Hayes suggested the impressive diorama inside the boat be moved to a temporary home while borough officials decide what to do with the ship. But Martin Gutoski, a member of the borough’s Historic Preservation Commission who helped build the diorama, said in a Thursday phone interview he does not believe the diorama could be removed without destroying it. Mr. Gutoski said he was examining the diorama last week to see about saving it, but the 24-foot by 10-foot diorama is simply too big to fit through the door. The door is 9 feet, 4 inches wide.
The wooden riverboat is subject to a vicious freeze-thaw cycle. Its condition will steadily worsen the longer it is neglected. It could even lose its National Historic Landmark designation if it deteriorates enough. It has needed, and will need, constant care.
In 2011, freelance writer Ray Bonnell wrote for the News-Miner that “she could have easily been lost without the foresight of the people who originally brought her to Fairbanks, and those who have worked so hard to restore and protect her.”
Mr. Bonnell’s words remain relevant today. Foresight and hard work will be needed if this community wants to preserve the SS Nenana. Right now, the borough is hurting for cash. In the past, a nonprofit organization saved the SS Nenana, and that option should be seriously considered again.
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