Rural-urban unity needed for education
Education funding is one of the Legislature’s familiar battlegrounds. Contributing to this annual clash is the thorny question of how to achieve fairness between rural schools and urban schools. The debate can take many shapes.
Irwin memo raises serious questions
When the history of the Alaska gas line gets written, the Irwin memo will need its own chapter. From Gov. Frank Murkowski’s decision to release the memo to the dismissal of its author, Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Irwin, along with the resignations of no less than six of DNR’s top professionals, the memo has already had a profound effect on the gas line process. Here’s why: In five incisive pages, Irwin has given observers reason to believe that during the time that this administration has been negotiating with the “producers” — Conoco Phillips, BP and Exxon Mobil — over the terms of a proposed gas line contract, the governor has been very busy giving away the farm.
Reform can fix flawed oil tax system
What would you say if the state exempted almost every new oil field, even some of the largest ones in the country, from Alaska’s 15 percent oil production tax? And what if you knew the state was handing out this tax exemption, not just at $12 per barrel when oil profits are skinny, but at $30, $40 and $50 per barrel when oil production is wildly profitable?
State has obligation to crime victims
Violent crime continues to rip the social fabric of Alaska. Several recent cases drive this point home. Two months ago, the remains of Bethany Correira, a talented young lady from Talkeetna who had moved to Anchorage shortly before she was murdered, were discovered in the woods along the Parks Highway. Another shocking case concluded when a 20-year-old defendant was sentenced to 99 years in prison for murdering Rachael Peace and, with the help of his teenage accomplices, setting her body on fire on Crow Creek Road in Girdwood. Rachael was also a promising young person who had left her family in Cordova to begin life as an adult in Anchorage. Equally tragic was the murder of Eric Kalenka, who was senselessly killed in the drive-through lane of a local Taco Bell.
Connections among men in ethics case raise doubts
Attorney General Gregg Renkes is dragging his feet. He is supposed to be investigating Republican Party chairman Randy Ruedrich’s alleged misuse of state resources. The incident came to light in November 2003. At that time, Ruedrich was both the Republican Party chairman and a Murkowski appointee to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, drawing a state salary of $118,000 per year. Ruedrich resigned from the AOGCC when allegations surfaced that a staffer saw “hundreds” of e-mails on Ruedrich’s state computer dealing with Republican Party business.
Cutting VPSOs not tough on crime
During his campaign, Gov. Frank Murkowski promised to “get tough” on crime. Unfortunately, the Murkowski administration’s actions do not back up the “get tough” rhetoric.
