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Alaska lawmakers prepare message for Interior Secretary Sally Jewell By Rhonda McBride JUNEAU – As lawmakers in the House passed yet another unanimous resolution on Monday supporting development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, it seemed as if they were trying out their message for U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, who visits Alaska next week. “If we dash off words of anger to those who... Read more »

Visit by Interior's Sally Jewell to Kotzebue is magnet for Alaska politicians By Alex DeMarban,Nathaniel Herz An upcoming winter board retreat for the Alaska Federation of Natives will feature a host of political leaders from Alaska, many drawn to the event by the presence of U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. Despite the attendance of so many officials, the event won’t be open to the public. T... Read more »

Unalaska council says no to marine sanctuary By Jim Paulin Despite an environmental group's failed federal request for a marine sanctuary covering much of the Bering Sea commercial fishing grounds, the Unalaska City Council still wanted its opposition known. "I don't think it's over at all," said Mayor Shirley Marquardt last week, and council member Tom Enlow, president of the Unisea seafood compa... Read more »

NOAA SHIES AWAY FROM ALEUTIANS MARINE SANCTUARY By Mary Kauffman, SitNews (SitNews) - A proposal to name the Aleutian Islands marine ecosystem as Alaska’s first National Marine Sanctuary has run aground on local political opposition, according to a letter from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). As a result, PEER s... Read more »

House Bill To Ban Data Sharing Through HealthCare.gov By Jessica Corso Law360, New York (February 03, 2015, 1:26 PM ET) -- A congressman from Alaska announced on Monday that he is adding his voice to the growing concerns over reports that HealthCare.gov is shuffling off private consumer data to third-party websites such as Google Inc. after introducing bill in the House last week that seeks to pro... Read more »

HillVets’ Top 100 Veterans of 2014 By Kristina Wong Congressmen, writers and entrepreneurs are among the HillVets’ Top 100 Veterans of 2014 list of the most influential veterans, service members and supporters. The exhaustive list includes influential veterans of all eras, from the Vietnam Wars to the more recent Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. And the people on the list run the gamut from film directo... Read more »

EDITORIAL: Privacy If we want our personal data shared, we'll provide it to whom we want to have it. That's the message heard loud and clear from consumers concerned with their data, which was acquired through HealthCare.gov, being shared with private businesses for advertising and marketing purposes. The government is essentially making many consumers use the website, or at the very least strongl... Read more »

Alaska Railroad safety project faces state's new fiscal reality By Nathaniel Herz JUNEAU -- A federally imposed deadline for an Alaska Railroad safety upgrade is butting up against the state’s dire fiscal circumstances, as legislators Monday signaled that they may not be able to supply the money the railroad says it needs to finish the project. Railroad executives told a state Senate committee Mon... Read more »

Chukchi Sea shoal newly closed to oil leasing is well known as biological hot spot By Yereth Rosen Hanna Shoal, a region of shallow water in the remote Chukchi Sea that President Barack Obama last week put off limits to oil leasing, has long been known as a biological hot spot in the icy Arctic Ocean. The area is so teeming with marine life that walruses, even when forced onto land by a lack of fl... Read more »

Petroleum News February 1, 2015 It’s off limits Fish & Wildlife ANWR plan bans oil development in coastal plain of refuge By Alan Bailey The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has published a final environmental impact statement for the agency’s conservation plan for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In that EIS the agency has selected a plan alternative that recommends that Congress should designa... Read more »