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Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Recidivism, Chugach park access and school maintenance: Here are some of the issues lawmakers addressed in the final days of the session
May 23—Alaska lawmakers devoted much of their attention during the legislative session that ended Tuesday to the budget, education funding and policy and revenue measures. Some other priorities stalled in the final days of the session — like public pension and election reforms. But the 33 bills adopted by lawmakers in the 120-day session covered a wide range of topics, including updates to Alaska's insurance laws, establishing Women's History Month and extending certain boards and commissions. Here are three other bills worth noting that passed in the final days of the session. Giving prisoners access to tablets Lawmakers adopted a bill meant to reduce Alaska's recidivism rate, which is the highest in the nation, by giving prisoners access to technology while they are incarcerated. Alaska is one of the only states that does not have an established law giving prisoners access to tablets, which can enable inmates to further their education while they are behind bars, and access other services such as telemedicine. The Alaska Department of Corrections has for several years wanted to give prisoners access to tablets. Previous efforts to pass similar legislation have failed. "One of the main struggles that inmates can face is with accessing education as they are trying to get out of prison," said Sen. Robert Myers, a North Pole Republican. Providing inmates with access to tablets and the rehabilitative services they facilitate, he added, "is a proactive attempt to make our communities safer." "These tablets are not intended to be a luxury for prisoners. They facilitate connection to essential services and resources," Myers said. House Bill 35 passed the House with support from 28 representatives. Twelve House Republicans opposed the bill in its final form. It passed the Senate unanimously. Improving a road into Chugach State Park Lawmakers adopted a bill that will allow Anchorage to make improvements to Upper Canyon Road, which leads to Chugach State Park — the most visited park in Alaska. The road provides access to popular trails such as the Flattop Sunny Side Trail and the Rabbit Lake Trail. Currently, Upper Canyon Road jurisdiction is split between the local Anchorage service area and the park, making it difficult to maintain the route, which is often crammed with vehicles belonging to hikers or skiers. The bill would allow the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, which oversees state parks, to convey the land to Anchorage, giving the city the authority it needs to better maintain the road. "It's a wonderful opportunity to build on the resources and assets in the community," said Rep. Ky Holland, an independent lawmaker who represents an Anchorage Hillside district. Rep. Julie Coulombe, a Republican who represents another Hillside district, was also in support of the bill. She said roads leading to Chugach State Park trailheads were being "destroyed by a lot of traffic." "This situation is a win-win for the state. The municipality is taking over a section of road and the municipality is wanting to maintain that road," said Coulombe, calling the route in its current condition "super-super dangerous." The bill passed with support from 35 House members and 18 Senate members. Four House Republicans and one Senate Republican voted against it. The bill has been transmitted to Dunleavy, who must sign it, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature by June 7. Putting Mt. Edgecumbe High School on 'a level playing field' Lawmakers adopted a bill that would allow Mt. Edgecumbe High School — the only educational facility directly owned and operated by the state — to directly compete with other school facilities across Alaska for maintenance funding. The state education department every year releases a ranked list of maintenance projects after school districts across Alaska submit their desired projects for review. The list covers schools in urban and rural parts of the state but has historically excluded Mt. Edgecumbe High School, instead relegating responsibility for the school's campus — located in Sitka — to the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, where it competes for funding against roads and bridges. The bill adopted by lawmakers would allow Mt. Edgecumbe High School to be ranked in the list against other schools instead. "A lot of our leaders and future leaders of the state are coming out and have come out of Mt. Edgecumbe, so what we're trying to do here is put Mt. Edgecumbe on a level playing field," said Sitka Republican Sen. Bert Stedman. "So when we at the Finance Table look at infrastructure improvements ... it would make it a fairer process." Sen. Lyman Hoffman, a Bethel Democrat, said that the transportation department project list — which includes a vast array of projects — is the wrong mechanism for a school to request funding. "This school doesn't belong on this list. It belongs on the list of the Regional Educational Attendance Areas," said Hoffman. "It's virtually impossible for them to rise to the top of the list of DOT." The bill passed the Senate unanimously and passed the House with support from 34 out of 40 lawmakers. Five House Republicans opposed the change. Alaska lawmakers this year showed renewed interest in funding maintenance of school buildings. But a structural deficit for years has prevented the state from addressing the full list of school maintenance projects. This year, lawmakers approved $38 million in school maintenance funding, enough to cover the top nine projects on the state's ranked maintenance list. Separately, lawmakers approved $2.7 million to replace dorm windows at Mt. Edgecumbe High School. The governor has yet to comment on the bill adopted by lawmakers, or about whether he will support the school maintenance funding approved by the Legislature this year. Dunleavy has vetoed tens of millions of dollars in school maintenance funding during his tenure, including more than $17 million intended for Mt. Edgecumbe School.
San Francisco Chronicle
01-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
S.F. boozy brunch hotspot shuts down, and more Bay Area restaurant closures
The following is a list of notable Bay Area restaurants that closed in April 2025. Click here for a list of March closings. Popular pan-Asian restaurant Chubby Noodle closed in San Francisco's North Beach on April 30. The restaurant was well known for its 90-minute all-you-can-eat brunch which included dishes like spicy wontons, garlic noodles and salt and pepper shrimp. Nighttime diners could find Korean-style pork tacos, Japanese style meatball skewers and steamed pork buns, among other dishes. Los Altos Georgian restaurant Bevri announced via email its final day in business was April 7. The restaurant was well known for its khachapuri, a cheesy stuffed flatbread, and Georgian wines. The flagship Bevri location in Palo Alto remains open. Windsor bistro and shop Maison Porcella announced via its newsletter that it closed on April 26. Owners thanked patrons for their support and wrote they will now focus on preparing their charcuterie boards for catering clients and at farmers' markets. The restaurant space will remain available for private parties through the end of June. East Bay Nosh reports that Highwire Coffee on Berkeley's stretch of San Pablo Avenue has closed. Company co-founder Robert Myers said the location was not ideal for foot traffic. A new Highwire location recently launched in West Oakland's Prescott Market food hall. Zarri's Delicatessen has made its last smoked ham and liverwurst sandwiches. The 90-year old deli in Albany was known for its old-school foods and Italian goods, including wines. It originally opened in Richmond in 1935, then relocated to Albany in 1974, East Bay Nosh reported. Santa Rosa's beloved Italian restaurant Trattoria Cattaneo closed for good when its lease ran out on April 30. Owners Riccardo and Julie Cattano told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that business cratered post-pandemic, and that the rising costs of goods and utilities made the restaurant unprofitable. Sushi California in Berkeley has closed for good. The neighborhood roll restaurant offered nigiri pieces, maki sushi like salmon rolls and, yes, California rolls. Live music acts on Wednesdays and Fridays were a popular draw. A wine bar and bottle shop at the Chase Center's Thrive City plaza has closed. Glu Glu announced on Instagram that April 30 was its final day at the location. The message mentions there are plans to reopen at another location. Local roaster Ritual Coffee closed its Haight Street location on April 11 after nine years in business. Owner Eileen Rinaldi cited many unspecified factors which made it a challenge to operate. Three other locations operate across San Francisco and Napa. San Francisco's beloved liquor store the Jug Shop closed after 60 years in business. An owner confirmed to the Chronicle that the business was unable to pay rent at its temporary location and was evicted. The business was forced to relocate from its longtime space on the corner of Pacific Avenue and Polk Street for redevelopment. The bottle shop was listed on the San Francisco Legacy Business Registry. Luce, the longtime Michelin-starred Mediterranean restaurant at San Francisco's Intercontinental Hotel, has closed. It originally opened in 2008 and became a launchpad for high profile chefs such as Dominique Crenn, of Atelier Crenn, 'Top Chef' star Melissa King and Rogelio Garcia of Calistoga's Auro. A Richmond restaurant and live music venue abruptly closed mid-April. Baltic Kiss notified tentative performers it had closed immediately, with a matching message on its website. The restaurant was the latest from chef Tony Caracci and Suzie Vasko, who operated the Black Star Pirate BBQ in Point Richmond. Employees have filed complaints with the California Labor Commission alleging thousands of dollars in unpaid wages.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alaska Poised To Beg for Relief From Crippling Federal Shipping Restrictions
Alaska is a cold state where residents need energy to keep the chill at bay. Fortunately, the state is blessed with natural resources, including abundant oil and natural gas that can help satisfy that need. Unfortunately, as I've written before, a nationalistic, century-old law requires that shipping between American ports be conducted only by U.S.–built and –flagged ships. And there aren't any liquid natural gas tankers that satisfy the requirement. Now Alaska officials are seeking a waiver so they can use their own resources to resolve a growing energy crunch. "Alaska is facing an acute energy shortage," state Sen. Robert Myers (R–Fairbanks) told a State Senate Transportation Committee hearing on his proposed waiver resolution on March 20. "The Alaska Department of Natural Resources has projected shortfalls in the Cook Inlet natural gas supply beginning in the very near future. As such, various utilities are now discussing liquefied natural gas imports to solve the crisis. Alaska is in a unique quandary in which it prides itself on its oil and gas resources yet is unable to utilize its own natural gas from the North Slope gas fields." Myers' statement was meant more for the record than for his fellow lawmakers. Alaskans are well aware of the problem and have been trying to overcome it for years. As it stands, the gas Alaskans use comes not from the abundant supply in the vast North Slope reserves, but from closer to home in the Cook Inlet. Interest in drilling there has waned, though, leaving one company, Hilcorp, as the main producer. Going forward, Hilcorp has warned that it may not be willing or able to supply gas at the same rate as in the past. That should be fine, given all that North Slope gas. But the North Slope is far from Alaska's population centers. A new pipeline was approved in 2020 but is still struggling to find investors willing to foot the estimated $44 billion cost. South Korean companies seem interested (the gas will also be shipped overseas), but that still leaves completion of the project years in the future. But liquid natural gas (LNG) is shipped all over the world. There's no practical reason the gas can't be transported by tanker from the North Slope wells to the users in the state's populated areas. But there's a big legal barrier. Over a century ago, Congress passed the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, better known as the Jones Act, mandating that "No merchandise…shall be transported by water…between points in the United States…in any other vessel than a vessel built in and documented under the laws of the United States and owned by persons who are citizens of the United States." There's more to it, but the nationalistic law, intended to protect American shipping, effectively barred transporting goods between American ports in foreign-built and foreign-flagged vessels. That means North Slope natural gas can be transported to Alaska's populated south only in American tankers. If you can find any. You can't. "LNG carriers have not been built in the United States since before 1980, and no LNG carriers are currently registered under the U.S. flag," the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in 2015. And, while you'd think that demand—not just in isolated states like Alaska and Hawaii, but also territories like Puerto Rico—would drive supply, there's a huge hurdle. "U.S. carriers would cost about two to three times as much as similar carriers built in Korean shipyards and would be more expensive to operate," the GAO added. The GAO created its report at a time when Congress was considering extending the Jones Act to require that exports of natural gas be carried only in U.S.-flagged shipping. The GAO concluded that such a law would "increase the cost of transporting LNG from the United States, decrease the competitiveness of U.S. LNG in the world market, and may, in turn, reduce demand for U.S. LNG." Congress wisely dropped the idea of extending the Jones Act, but Alaskans are still stuck with the original law, waiting for nonexistent domestically-built LNG tankers to show up with loads of North Slope natural gas. If they don't wait but instead try to ignore a law with which it's impossible to comply, they risk millions of dollars in fines, since the federal Department of Justice vigorously enforces the Jones Act. In 2017, the feds fined an energy company $10 million for transporting a drill rig from the Gulf of Mexico to Alaska's Cook Inlet in a foreign-flagged vessel. The company planned to bring more natural gas to the resource-rich but energy-starved state. As Myers pointed out in his statement to the Alaska Senate, the federal government does permit waivers of the Jones Act, from time to time, and has done so for Alaska in the past. In an email to me, he mentioned that Crowley, an American shipping company that has defended the Jones Act, is now transporting LNG to Puerto Rico from the Gulf Coast in a French-built tanker. The company is permitted to do so through a narrow legal carve-out to the Jones Act that allows tankers built overseas before 1996 to be reflagged as American for the purposes of serving Puerto Rico. That won't help Alaska. What will help Alaska in the short term is another waiver. In his proposed resolution, Myers points out that Alaskans face shortfalls in the natural gas supply beginning in 2027; that "in 2024, 39 percent of the electricity generated in the state was from natural gas, and nearly half of households in the state use natural gas to heat their homes"; and that U.S. military bases in the state, such as Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, will also suffer from the crunch. The resolution, which is still in committee, continues: BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully urges the United States Congress to recognize the imminent and acute need to stabilize the state's energy supply and enact a Jones Act waiver that facilitates the urgent transportation of domestic liquefied natural gas between ports in the state until Jones Act-compliant vessels are available. If Congress goes along with the request, Alaska will get a temporary breather. But U.S. states and territories shouldn't have to beg permission of the federal government for companies to be able to transport abundant goods and resources between American ports in the ships that actually exist and are available instead of a fantasy fleet that has failed to materialize after 125 years of bad law. Alaska should get its waiver in the short term. But the whole country should be relieved of the crippling burden that is the Jones Act. The post Alaska Poised To Beg for Relief From Crippling Federal Shipping Restrictions appeared first on
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
At least 1 dead as severe storms sweep through the Midwest
At least one person is dead after severe weather hit Butler County, Missouri on Friday night, officials said. There were previous reports of three deaths due to the storm, but Robert Myers with the Butler County Emergency Management Agency confirmed to ABC News that there was some miscommunication in the field and when comparing notes with the sheriff and coroner. Emergency management is working through the damage now this morning, but Myers said daylight will give them a better idea of the amount of destruction. The Black River Coliseum has been opened as shelter and Myers said that there are people with injuries in nearby hospitals but did not have an exact number. Millions of Americans across the country are on alert for a severe weather outbreak as violent, long-track tornadoes with damaging winds of up to 80 mph and large hail is expected across the Midwest and South as the cross-country storm moves east. There is a rare high risk warning issued for violent tornadoes in Mississippi and Alabama on Saturday afternoon and into the evening. So far there have been 23 reported tornadoes overnight across four states – Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois and Mississippi as the severe weather outbreak continues into Saturday. Winds gusted up more than 80 mph causing damage in the Midwest from Missouri to Wisconsin. Tornado watches remain in effect for parts of five states, from Alabama to Ohio, as the storm pushes eastward on Saturday with gusts of winds over 70 mph in some areas. The Storm Prediction Center said that numerous significant tornadoes, some of which could be long-track and potentially violent, are expected and cities in the high risk areas include Hattiesburg, Jackson, Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. The most dangerous tornado threat should begin Saturday during the late morning to early afternoon hours in Louisiana and Mississippi before spreading into Alabama late afternoon into the evening, followed by the western Florida panhandle and into western Georgia through late Saturday night. The severe storms are expected to be weaker on Sunday as the storms reach the East Coast from Florida to the Mid-Atlantic. Damaging winds, large hail and brief tornadoes on Sunday afternoon will be possible for the Southeast, while heavy rain and damaging wind threat will reach the Northeast Sunday evening into the overnight. The severe weather outbreak is all part of a major cross-country storm system that is also prompting fire danger and red flag warnings across the Plains. At least 1 dead as severe storms sweep through the Midwest originally appeared on
