Alaska News Daily Brief, Friday, October 16

Alaska News for Friday, October sixteenth. The people making the calls in this brief are mostly close to home: planning commissioners and assembly members in Anchorage and Fairbanks, and, in two very different votes, you. Several of them sit down again next week.

0:17Peltola takes in $14.1 million in two months, nearly 7 times Sullivan's haul

A lot of money is moving, in campaign accounts and city budgets alike. In the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Mary Peltola took in about 14.1 million dollars from the end of July through September. Republican Senator Dan Sullivan took in 2 million over the same stretch. That's nearly 7 times more for Peltola. But Sullivan still ended September with more cash in the bank. Sullivan had 5.1 million dollars. Peltola had 3.2 million. That's because both campaigns spent more than they raised. Peltola's campaign spent 15.6 million dollars in those two months. Sullivan's spent 4.2 million. Each one drew its bank account down by about 30 percent. Peltola's filing named about 18,000 donors. That's roughly 14 times as many as Sullivan's. On both sides, the typical contribution was 50 dollars. A bigger share of Sullivan's named donors live here. About 31 percent of the people Sullivan's campaign named had Alaska addresses. For Peltola's campaign, it was about 9 percent. The national names keep showing up. Peltola's latest report lists novelist John Grisham and comedian Larry David. Sullivan's lists Education Secretary Linda McMahon and BlackRock chief Larry Fink, at 7,000 dollars apiece. Neither campaign reported any debt. The two face each other in a four-candidate general election on November 3rd.

1:45Planners say Anchorage's capital budget isn't strongly tied to its growth plan

In Anchorage, the city's own planners say the capital budget isn't following the city's growth plan. That's the budget for roads, buildings and other long-term projects. Next year's comes to 136 million dollars. The city adopted its land use plan for the Anchorage Bowl back in twenty seventeen. Since then, just 1 percent of new development in the Bowl has landed where that plan called for the most growth. Almost half went to areas marked for little growth. Long-range planning manager Daniel McKenna-Foster wrote the memo. The memo says there doesn't appear to be a strong connection between the city's plans and how it spends on infrastructure. The plan also gives no clear guidance on how to divide the money. McKenna-Foster has also pointed to the age of those plans. In September, he told commissioners, "Anchorage does have a lot of plans. We have a lot of plans that have never been updated." Planners flagged specific projects. One is a 6.7 million dollar rebuild of 57th and 58th avenues in a single-family neighborhood. Planners suggest updating the land use plan so more people could use those new roads. Another is the Academy Drive and Vanguard Drive project, which dates to a 2011 study. Planners say the city should drop it or check whether it still has a clear purpose. The Planning and Zoning Commission takes it up Monday. The Assembly holds its first public hearing Tuesday and votes November 17th. Approved projects go to voters as bonds in April twenty twenty-seven.

3:29Fairbanks borough mayor proposes pause on large data center permits through 2027

Up in Fairbanks, borough mayor Grier Hopkins wants to stop issuing permits for large data centers through the end of twenty twenty-seven. The borough wouldn't accept new applications or approve pending ones. Large means a building with more than 50,000 square feet of floor space for data work. A facility drawing 5 megawatts or more at peak would also count. So would generating 5 megawatts or more on site. The borough's comprehensive plan was last updated in two thousand five. Its zoning code doesn't mention data centers at all. The proposal warns these facilities could eat up a big share of the area's power. It also points to noise from cooling equipment and emissions from onsite generators. Interest is real. This year the Air Force invited developers to propose A.I. data centers on underused military land, including at Eielson Air Force Base. Fairbanks would be joining other towns. Houston's City Council voted unanimously October 8th to stop data center permits for two years. Petersburg is drafting a nine-month pause. Statewide rules stalled. A Senate bill setting rules for utility service to data centers, and requiring decommissioning plans, passed 14 to 5 in May. A House committee heard it, but it did not advance before the session ended. The Fairbanks Assembly votes October 22nd on sending the idea to the Planning Commission. That vote wouldn't adopt the pause. The commission would have 90 days to weigh in.

4:57Acting attorney general asks Legislature to clarify suppressor law after federal ruling

Quickly, around the state. Alaska joined a lawsuit to end federal registration of gun suppressors, and the suit won. But Alaska's own suppressor law still leans on that federal registration. So the acting attorney general is asking the Legislature to fix the mismatch.

5:16AGDC managers ask board for $1.28 million to support its 25% stake in Alaska LNG

The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation owns a quarter of the Alaska L-N-G project. Its managers are asking the board for 1.28 million dollars to oversee that stake. Part of the work is staying ready to take the project back from Glenfarne, the company that owns most of it, if that's ever necessary.

5:37DOE awards ASRC subsidiary up to $49.8 million for Prudhoe Bay hydrate test site

On the North Slope, the U.S. Department of Energy is paying a subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation up to 49.8 million dollars. The money keeps a methane hydrate test site at Prudhoe Bay running. Methane hydrate is natural gas locked in ice-like crystals. The money also pays to plan a possible second production test.

6:00State scheduled Dalton Highway closures near Mile 7.5 Thursday night for a load recovery

The state scheduled on-and-off closures of the Dalton Highway Thursday night, from 7:30 to 9:30. Crews were recovering a load. Traffic was affected in both directions, and drivers were asked to travel with caution.

6:15Mat-Su Platting Board approves six-lot subdivision near Engstrom Road

In the Mat-Su, the Platting Board approved six new lots near Engstrom Road. Neighbors worry about traffic at the Bogard and Engstrom intersection. A road meant to ease that has been chosen. But it isn't funded.

6:29Norton Sound salmon season draws the fewest commercial permit holders since 2007

Just 72 permit holders fished commercially for salmon in Norton Sound this year. That's the fewest since two thousand seven. King salmon also missed every escapement goal in the region. That means too few kings made it back to spawn.

6:45Aleutians East draft hazard plan says Unga Island dam rated poor has no known owner

In the Aleutians East Borough, a draft hazard plan says the Squaw Harbor Dam on Unga Island has no known owner. The dam is seeping and rated poor. The state wants it labeled high hazard potential. That means a failure could kill people downstream.

7:02Federal managers move 700 tons of unused Atka mackerel to Bering Sea trawlers

Federal managers are shifting 700 tons of Atka mackerel to Bering Sea trawlers. Boats that catch the fish by accident barely caught any. So that quota goes to the trawl co-op that targets mackerel on purpose.

7:17Fairbanks-area draft 20-year transportation plan totals more than $1.6 billion

The Fairbanks area's draft 20-year transportation plan adds up to more than 1.6 billion dollars. People in the plan's survey picked Airport Way as the ugliest road around. A 2018 plan identified fixes for Airport Way. The regional planning group, known as FAST, says those fixes haven't moved forward. Peltola has the donors, Sullivan has the bank balance, heading into November 3rd. Anchorage residents, the Assembly's first public hearing on next year's capital budget is Tuesday. In Fairbanks, your Assembly votes on the data center pause October 22nd. Also today: an earthquake near Lake Minchumina was felt in Fairbanks and Wasilla, and the state wants to split the Fairbanks-area air pollution zone, setting North Pole apart. That's all for this edition of the Alaska News daily brief. The full stories are at Alaska News dot com. And that's the way it is, Friday, October sixteenth, twenty twenty-six.