Another small plane has apparently gone down in southwest Alaska. The pilot of a DeHavilland Beaver was ferrying three National Park Service employees, but they never arrived at their destination. A search is ongoing.
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We had a couple of thunderclaps yesterday afternoon. Having grown up in the Midwest, I was accustomed to horrendous storms with torrential downpours ... sometimes 2" or more per hour ... and usually spawning tornadoes, hail, and flooding.Two thunderclaps followed by a gust of cool air & then a drizzle lasting 10 or 15 minutes is hardly a storm by those standards ... but it IS something for Anchorage. I can count the number of thunderbumpers I've heard here on my fingers, and have a few left over.
The geese are bailing out on us ... the honking of low-flying formations has been waking us up in the wee hours for the last 10 days. I haven't seen any seagulls lately, either, which would lead me to believe they've already gone. Since the leaves started turning a couple of weeks back, that may mean we're in for an early winter. Or not; your mileage may vary, but these conditions provide a clue.
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Tomorrow's primary election should be interesting. I don't recall so much emphasis on "conservatism" in quite awhile, but I wonder whether the bite will be as big as the barking would indicate.
One candidate for Governor is now running ads accusing the incumbent of being a big-government RINO, and points to the rapidly expanding budget, growth of the bureaucracy, and monies thrown at companies surrounding the proposed natural gas pipeline without any tangible results.
I would have to agree.
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There are a lot of long-shot candidates running in this primary cycle, which I think is a GOOD thing. The leftward run by the general government has stirred up the libertarian leanings of folks all over.
And it's nice to have choices on the ballot for a change.
5 comments:
We had some actual "storms" here this summer... of course not on par with a good midwest Severe Storm (good thing with all these trees!), but still more than usual.
Have been hearing the geese for the last week here. I was surprised it was so early! Makes me a bit worried about winter catching us early this year, but we'll see.
I sure hope Tuesday results in Joe Miller winning. I haven't followed your governor race close enough. Do you have a favorite or are you not publicly saying?
For Governor, I prefer Ralph Samuels ... for whatever that's worth.
I see why you like him. He definitely seems to have a plan for helping Alaska's economy.
"As Governor, I will make economic growth and development my first priority. My vision for our economy includes:
Realign resource development policies to increase investment in Alaska and provide jobs for Alaskans
Reform taxation, regulatory, and permitting processes that impede economic and resource development
Build a natural gas bullet line from the North Slope to Southcentral; provding affordable energy, jobs, and opportunity for private sector investment
Invest in transportation and infrastructure to support economic growth
Create opportunities for small businesses to grow and succeed in Alaska......"
As an outsider I find it shocking that Alaska doesn't already have a domestic natural gas line. Sounds like he has plans to make Alaska's economy more self sufficient, but I am left to wonder why it already isn't. Is it the feds and environmentalists standing in the way or was oil production bringing in so much money that the state did not need to diversify?
DR, this is turning into a blog post of its own ... Alaska's economy is much more diverse than it was 25 years ago, when it was built on oil revenues & real estate. Now, oil is only one part of the puzzle, although it provides the lion's share of State revenue.
The natural gas from existing wells in the Cook Inlet is dwindling, and no new wells have been built recently. Blame the environmentalists & federal "oversight". New wells will be more costly, and known reserves will be more expensive to locate. A pipeline from the North Slope is expected to alleviate those conditions, but it will also be costly. No easy answers.
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