All posts tagged: Alaska

Winter Drilling Program in Alaska Petroleum Preserve Can Proceed, Judge Rules

Winter Drilling Program in Alaska Petroleum Preserve Can Proceed, Judge Rules

Published by Sam Flores

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — ConocoPhillips Alaska can proceed with an oil and gas exploration program in a portion of a vast petroleum reserve in the state after a federal judge denied a request from project opponents to halt it. U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason rejected a request by conservation groups and an Iñupiat-aligned group that sought to halt ConocoPhillips Alaska’s planned exploration program in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska until the groups’ legal challenge to the program’s authorization by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management was resolved. The groups said the federal government improperly analyzed the drilling program. The company, meanwhile, said the program was imperative to preserving its leases. Gleason said in her order dated Tuesday that the groups had not shown that they have a “fair chance of success” on the merits of their claims. The decision comes after a mobile drilling rig the company planned to use as part of its program toppled onto snow-covered tundra near existing oil and gas infrastructure while being transported last week. Attorneys for the company in …

Alaska College Student Arrested for Eating AI Artwork Speaks Out

Alaska College Student Arrested for Eating AI Artwork Speaks Out

Published by José Betancourt

The University of Alaska Fairbanks undergraduate arrested earlier this week for eating an AI-generated artwork on view in an MFA exhibition has since addressed his controversial meal. Graham Granger, a student in the school’s film and performing arts program, was charged Wednesday with class B misdemeanor criminal mischief for tearing up a set of Polaroids by artist Nick Dwyer, causing less than $250 in damage. “[Granger] was tearing them up and just shoving them in as fast as he could,” a witness told The Nation. “Like when you see people in a hot-dog eating contest.” According to the police report, roughly 57 of the 160 images in the show were destroyed.  Related Articles Granger spoke to The Nation following his release from the Fairbanks Correctional Facility—he said he expects to pay a fine rather than serve jail time—and clarified that the vandalism was not premeditated. “I saw the AI piece, and as an artist myself, it was insulting to see something of such little effort alongside all these beautiful pieces in the gallery,” he said. …

Why the potential return of a popular Alaska congresswoman could spell doom for Senate Republicans

Why the potential return of a popular Alaska congresswoman could spell doom for Senate Republicans

Published by Sam Flores

A popular Alaska congresswoman who narrowly lost re-election last year is expected to jump into the race for Sen. Dan Sullivan’s seat later this month, tossing a firecracker into the already chaotic scramble for control of the upper chamber set to play out in 2026. Mary Peltola was defeated in her bid to represent Alaska’s at-large congressional district for a second term in 2024, with her Republican opponent winning by slightly more than two percentage points. That defeat came amid a wave election year that devastated the Democratic caucuses in the House and Senate, and showed the congresswoman’s formidable electoral strength relative to her party’s national brand. Now, Axios reports that Peltola is in the early stages of launching a bid for Senate and is expected to formally do so later in January. Her entrance into the race would firmly place Sullivan’s Republican-held seat into play and give the Democratic Party one more avenue to obtain control of the upper chamber in a midterm sweep — the party is already slightly favored to take the …

Constituents Are Seldom Heard in the Mississippi Legislature; Hearings Often Last-Minute, No Agenda

Constituents Are Seldom Heard in the Mississippi Legislature; Hearings Often Last-Minute, No Agenda

Published by Sam Flores

When the Mississippi Legislature reconvenes in the Capitol’s marbled halls this month, one voice will scarcely be heard: constituents’. Citizens and advocates are occasionally invited by lawmakers to speak at the Capitol. But unlike some other statehouses in the U.S., there are no formal opportunities for constituents in Mississippi to provide public comment or testimony in committee hearings, remotely or in writing. “Constituents should have a voice when it comes to policy making,” said Sarah Moreland-Russell, an associate professor in the School of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis who has studied testimony’s impact on the lawmaking process. Moreland-Russell said she was “very surprised” to learn that there are no opportunities for Mississippi’s citizens to regularly provide testimony at the statehouse. “If you’re not hearing from the people that are actually being affected by a policy, then how do you know it’s truly going to be effective?” she asked. In Louisiana, House and Senate rules mandate proponents and opponents of bills have the opportunity to speak on a piece of legislation. In Alaska, …

Midwest Hit With More Extreme Cold After Winter Storm

Midwest Hit With More Extreme Cold After Winter Storm

Published by Sam Flores

Extreme cold with near-zero degree wind chills descended upon parts of Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin, forecasters said Tuesday, even as utilities worked to restore power to thousands of customers after heavy snow and strong winds pummeled parts of the Midwest, Great Lakes and the Northeast this week. The cold front follows a system that barreled across the Midwest and parts of the Great Lakes with strong winds and a mix of snow, ice and rain. Forecasters said it intensified quickly enough to meet the criteria of a bomb cyclone, a system that strengthens rapidly as pressure drops. Nick Korstad, who lives in the Big Bay Point Lighthouse on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Lake Superior, called the storm the strongest he has seen since he moved there in 2018, with gusts up to 75 mph (121 kph) rattling the house as waves pounded the cliffs below. The storm knocked out power for about 40 hours, darkening the lighthouse beacon and forcing him to rely on oil lamps and fireplaces. “When winds reach this magnitude, the …