Alaska News Daily Brief, Friday, October 30

Alaska News for Friday, October thirtieth. Oil selling near its highest since two thousand eight, and a contractor barging in its own asphalt plant because no road reaches the job. Most of Alaska runs well above normal.

0:15Dunleavy says signing off on a Peltola Senate win depends on his investigation

Governor Mike Dunleavy won't say whether he'd sign off on Mary Peltola's election to the U.S. Senate if she wins on Tuesday. In a NewsNation interview yesterday, Dunleavy said the state investigation he ordered this week "may in fact impact whether somebody is seated in the U.S. Senate." Asked if that was a real possibility, he said yes, depending on what the investigation finds. That investigation is about a New York Times report. The Times says Peltola aides worked with national Democrats to recruit spoiler candidates. One was Daniel J. Sullivan of Petersburg, who shares a name with Senator Dan Sullivan. Peltola's campaign and the Democrats deny it. Daniel J. Sullivan says he got in the race on his own. No court has found anything illegal. Peltola's campaign says Dunleavy is threatening to overrule Alaska voters. Here's how the paperwork actually works. Under state law, the elections director has to certify whoever gets the most votes. There's no exception for an investigation. Federal law then has the governor sign the senator's credentials. A governor who refuses could delay things. But the Senate judges its own members, and it has seated senators before their papers arrived. The state aims to certify by November 25th. Dunleavy leaves office December 7th, and the new Senate term starts January 3rd.

1:34Alaska oil nears its highest price since 2008, far above what the state budgeted

Up on the North Slope, oil is selling for far more than the state planned on. The state built this year's budget on seventy-five dollars oil. North Slope crude hit one hundred twenty-nine dollars and seventy-one cents a barrel on Wednesday, close to its highest price since two thousand eight. The federal Energy Information Administration points to attacks on oil facilities and tankers around the Middle East. Tanker rates hit records in September, and that pushed up what refiners pay. A budget watchdog group, Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets, figures the state could take in about one point seven billion dollars more than expected if prices hold. That's nearly double the oil money the state forecast for its main account. The extra money wouldn't raise dividends on its own. Lawmakers set the dividend every year. The other side of it shows up at the pump. AAA has diesel averaging six dollars and fifty cents a gallon statewide, about two dollars and forty-four cents more than a year ago. In a lot of rural towns, diesel runs the power plant and fuel oil heats the house. How much the state actually gains depends on the next 8 months. The year's average is about ninety-seven dollars so far. The federal forecasters expect global prices to fall to around eighty-seven dollars by spring as Middle East production recovers.

3:04Juneau Assembly to weigh how it will pick a developer for Telephone Hill housing

In Juneau, the Assembly gets one chance on Monday to change how the city picks a developer for Telephone Hill. That's the downtown hill by the parking garage and the State Office Building. The city wants up to 155 homes there, ideally with 30 priced for households earning 80 percent of the area's median income. Under the draft, a developer's track record counts for 70 of 100 points. Their plan for the site counts for 30. Teams asking for less help from the city score higher. That help could mean the city paying for demolition, a 12-year property tax break, affordable housing money, and a deferred price on the land. City Manager Katie Koester told members to think carefully, because the scoring can't be changed later. The hill still has seven empty houses. The Alaska Historical Association has applied to list it as a historic district, citing homes built as early as 1882. One residents' group has offered to fix up the houses and rent them out. If the committee signs off, the call for developers goes out November 12th. Any land sale would still need a public hearing, tentatively in July twenty twenty-seven.

4:16Three out-of-state donors have given Kreiss-Tomkins $480,000, including $120,000 Tuesday

Now a quick run around the state. Three out-of-state donors gave Kreiss-Tomkins another forty thousand dollars each on Tuesday. That brings the three to four hundred eighty thousand dollars. The four thousand dollars donation cap voters approved doesn't take effect until after the election.

4:37DOJ rewrites its Alaska Senate suit, and the state asks a judge to toss it by Monday

The Justice Department rewrote its Alaska Senate lawsuit yesterday to add the New York Times report. The state called that gamesmanship and asked a federal judge to throw the case out by Monday. There's no ruling yet.

4:52Outside spending in Alaska's U.S. House race runs nearly 2 to 1 in Hill's favor

In the U.S. House race, outside groups have reported about twenty-one million dollars. That spending favors Hill over Begich by nearly 2 to 1. The Senate race has drawn about five times as much.

5:04Outside groups have reported more than $100 million in Alaska's Senate race

That Senate figure is now over one hundred million dollars from outside groups. It's split nearly evenly between the two sides, and most of it is going to attack ads. Peltola's campaign had more cash on hand at last count.

5:17Alaska's state farmland auction draws 55 bids on 19 parcels

The state's farmland auction drew 55 bids on 19 parcels near Nenana and Anchor Point. Bidders offered one point one seven million dollars for 17 of them. Buyers now have five years to make half the cropland farmable, or they don't get title.

5:32State proposes 320-acre Dalton Highway gravel site near the Ambler road's start

On the Dalton Highway, the state wants to open a 320-acre gravel site at Milepost 165. That's about four miles from where the Ambler road would start. The state transportation department would get first call on the gravel.

5:46Contractor barged in whole plants to repair King Salmon's military airfield

There's no road to King Salmon. So a North Pole contractor barged in its own asphalt, concrete and rock-crushing plants to repair the military side of the airport.

5:55North Pole needs $3.5 million to move its sewage outfall before daily fines start

North Pole has about three and a half years to find three point five million dollars and move its sewage outfall. If it doesn't, daily fines start. The city has been going back and forth with the state on this for 13 or 14 years.

6:08Kodiak's new trash contract would raise business dumpster rates up to 43%

In Kodiak, a new contract with Alaska Waste would raise business dumpster rates by up to 43 percent. Home roll carts would go up 5 percent. The Borough Assembly votes November 5th.

6:19Wrap-up

There's more this morning than the brief had room for, including Alaska's first reported clade I mpox cases, in Anchorage, and high wind warnings for the Alaska Range and Delta Junction as Champi's remnants pass through. That's all for this edition of the Alaska News daily brief. The full stories, and more, are at Alaska News dot com. And that's the way it is, Friday, October thirtieth, twenty twenty-six.