THE GOVERNOR’S DEFICIT BOOTH
There were no Governor’s Family Picnics this year, because the optics are just terrible for an event like that when your budget deficit is $3.5 billion. But the governor is getting his image out at the Alaska State Fair, where he has purchased a booth to spread the message. What message you ask? The message that he needs half of Alaskans’ Permanent Fund dividends to pay for state government, and that he’ll need some of their paychecks, too.
ANDREW HALCRO SELF-AWARENESS POST
Andrew Halcro, who lost his bid for mayor of Anchorage but immediately signed on with the new mayor with a $100,000-plus job, just doesn’t like Rep. Liz Vazquez. He’s said so many times over. He’s found people to run against her and backed them. He’s ranted on Facebook about how much he dislikes her.
Now he’s mad that David Nees, who ran against Liz in the primary, has gone to work for her as staff. Halcro’s Facebook post clucks that it is wrong for many reasons.
Halcro might be the wrong person to criticize, but at least he almost waited until after business hours to do so, unlike all the campaign-oriented posts he made during the primary election season.
OK, almost, but not quite.
FIRST SHIPMENT OF LOUISIANA LNG MAKES IT TO CHINA
The first shipment of liquefied natural gas to pass through the expanded Panama Canal has arrived in China, according to Shell. This is a game-changer for LNG, which is plentiful in the Gulf of Mexico states.
“The expansion has significant implications for LNG trade, reducing travel time and transportation costs for LNG shipments from the U.S. Gulf Coast to key markets in Asia and providing additional access to previously regionalized LNG markets,” according to a release from the Energy Information Administration.
Japan and South Korea demand is falling mainly due to increasing reliance on coal and overall drop in power demand. Buyers in those two countries have LNG contracts that will last another decade or more, which means China is the biggest potential growth province in the region.
BANG BANG, WILL WALKER’S SILVER HAMMER COME DOWN ON BP?
Governor Walker has given BP until tomorrow to give over its natural gas marketing plan for its Prudhoe Bay gas. If the company doesn’t give it over, then the governor might refuse to allow it to continue to develop oil at Prudhoe Bay. That’s the threat, but will he do it? Read what Dave Harbour has to say about it:
If Alaska governor Bill Walker’s predecessor governors wished to demand competitive producer information, they would have put that demand in the original Prudhoe Bay Lease Sale — and future lease sale — requirements. Adding requirements — especially those that violate federal laws — after a lease sale, after investors pay their bonus bids, after exploration and development and construction of transportation facilities and after nearly 50 years of precedent is tantamount to expropriation.” Northern Gas Pipelines, Aug. 3, 2016.
More at AKHeadlamp, a news and commentary site.
FEWER HOMELESS PEOPLE IN ANCHORAGE?
The mayor of Anchorage’s homeless coordinator says there are fewer homeless living on the streets in Anchorage than there were in January. But the chatter in the coffee shops disputes that claim. So far, the count from this morning has not been released, but in January there were 87 people living under bushes and in the woods of Anchorage.
The municipality has been clearing out the homeless camps, and housing vouchers are more readily available. More at KTVA.