Alaska News Daily Brief, Saturday, October 31

Alaska News, Saturday, October thirty-first. Election day is Tuesday, and the Assembly takes up housing the day after, so this quieter brief is mostly about what's coming. Mild in Anchorage, too.

0:13Near-term oil futures run $25 above Alaska's spring forecast, budget group says

Oil is running well above what Alaska planned for, and the gap keeps growing. A group called Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets put out a chart yesterday comparing oil futures with the state's spring revenue forecast. For the fiscal year that starts next July, futures put North Slope crude at about ninety-five dollars a barrel. The state's forecast for that year is seventy dollars. That's a twenty-five dollars gap. When the group ran the same numbers in late September, the gap was about fifteen dollars. This year is further off still. The state built its current budget on seventy-five dollars oil. The group's chart puts this year's price at one hundred eight dollars. By its estimate, that gap would bring in about one point six four billion dollars more in general fund money than the state expected. There's one budget line that hangs on this directly. twenty-six million dollars in construction projects only go ahead if North Slope crude averages at least eighty dollars from July through December. So far this fiscal year, the average is ninety-seven dollars. The federal Energy Information Administration points to trouble in the Middle East and shrinking global oil stockpiles. Brent crude hit one hundred thirty-one dollars in mid-September. The agency expects it to average one hundred five dollars this quarter and drop to eighty-four dollars next year. Further out, the group says long-term futures sit about two dollars below the state's forecast.

1:37DOJ confirms criminal probe tied to Daniel J. Sullivan’s candidacy days before election

In Anchorage, the state's top federal prosecutor confirmed yesterday there's a criminal investigation tied to the second Dan Sullivan on Tuesday's Senate ballot. U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman said law enforcement around the country is taking investigative steps. Heyman wouldn't say who's under investigation or what laws are involved. Nobody has been charged. Heyman said the investigation has been going for several months. He said a New York Times report this week brought a significant surge of law enforcement to Alaska. The Times reported that aides to Mary Peltola worked with people trying to recruit Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired Petersburg teacher who shares the senator's name, as a spoiler. Much of that account came from Peltola's former campaign manager, who has since asked to retract her interviews. Peltola says she knew nothing about the other candidates. Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee both deny recruiting anyone. Daniel J. Sullivan has said he got into the race on his own. Daniel J. Sullivan drew about 2.5% in the August primary. The Justice Department argues that if voters mistake Daniel J. Sullivan for Senator Dan Sullivan, that could be enough to change the result. An hour after the press conference, the department went to a federal judge in a separate civil case. It wants fast sworn testimony from the Peltola campaign and the Senate committee. It wants ballots that rank Daniel J. Sullivan kept separate. And it wants certification blocked if Senator Sullivan loses but would have won with those votes. The department's own policies bar timing public statements to sway an election. No violation has been shown. Heyman said allegations that go to the heart of election integrity get taken seriously, even a few days out.

3:35Anchorage planners find missing middle housing overlay fits city plan before vote

Also in Anchorage, city planners have signed off on the housing plan the Assembly takes up Wednesday. It's called the missing middle overlay. It would allow duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and townhomes along transit routes on about 28,000 residential lots. That's about 45% of the residential lots in the municipality. City code says the Assembly can only approve it if it fits the city's comprehensive plan. Assembly Chair Anna Brawley asked planners whether it does. Their memo says it carries out the plan's goals of handling growth, building in existing neighborhoods, and giving people more housing choices. The memo also says the final call belongs to the Assembly. Planners say the plans contradict themselves. Since twenty seventeen, 47% of new development landed where the 2040 plan called for little growth. About 1% went where it called for a lot. Neighborhoods are split. Rogers Park voted 37 to 5 against it, citing taller height limits and smaller setbacks. The U-Med Tudor council voted 10 to 1 in favor. Turnagain voted 18 to 0 for changes, starting with leaving single-family and duplex zones out. Assembly Member Janice Park has a substitute that would cap heights at 30 feet in low-density zones. Planners have said that cap would block the 3-story buildings the overlay is meant

4:56Mental Health Trust gives final approval to Hollis timber sale behind Wolf Creek Boatworks

to allow. A few more, quickly. Near Hollis, the Alaska Mental Health Trust gave final approval to log 1,438 acres. That includes old-growth forest right behind the historic Wolf Creek Boatworks.

5:10White House seafood plan promises 'U.S. Caught' label and a review of boat rules

The White House released a seafood plan that promises a U.S. Caught label and proposed rules on replacing old fishing boats. The plan doesn't name a single state. That includes Alaska, despite its outsized role in American fishing.

5:26Semi-car crash at Mile 186 partially closes Parks Highway for more than five hours

On the Parks Highway, a semi and a car crashed at Mile 186 last night. A second truck jackknifed trying to avoid the wreck. Nobody was hurt, but the highway was partly closed for more than five hours.

5:41Anchorage overlay developers would pay full cost of water and sewer extensions, AWWU says

Back in Anchorage, the city's water utility says developers building under that housing overlay would pay the full cost of extending water and sewer lines. The city wouldn't pick up that bill.

5:53State approves 25-year renewal of College Road lease, with rent to reset to market value

In Fairbanks, the state approved a 25-year renewal of the lease under the Alaska Fun Center on College Road. The lease dates to 1971, and the rent is about four thousand dollars a year. Under the renewal, that rent resets to market value.

6:10Wrap-up

Also on the site this morning: Skagway police warning of fake invoices made to look like city bills, and the Assembly weighing money for police patrols aimed at street racing. 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, Saturday, October thirty-first, twenty twenty-six.