Pat Forgey
Alaska Dispatch News
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Past articles by Pat:
PFD voter registration campaign awaits election date
Thousands of signatures of Alaskans seeking to link Permanent Fund dividend applications to voter registrations were turned in to the state Elections Division Thursday, but it will be months before Alaskans will know when, or even if, that will result in an election. → Read More
Proponents say Juneau road could provide boon during Alaska's fiscal crisis
In the face of the state's economic woes, advocates of a road out of Juneau say that construction of the project could be an economic stimulus providing jobs for the region. → Read More
Legislature to consider marriage and Medicaid in a renewal of last year's battles
Controversial issues involving same-sex marriage and Medicaid expansion highlight bills introduced in the first round of pre-filed legislation introduced in the 2016 Alaska Legislature, but battles over those issues may not have the same intensity as in 2015. → Read More
State, boroughs brawl over Alaska gas line property tax windfall
How should Alaska and its local governments split up revenue from property taxes on a proposed natural gas pipeline? A new plan hopes to avoid the contentious history of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and its associated lawsuits. → Read More
Prince of Wales wolf harvest shut down over population concerns
Wildlife regulators have imposed an emergency wolf harvest closure on Prince of Wales Island, but groups fearing that the wolf population there is already at risk say no harvest should have been allowed in the first place. → Read More
Feds help competing LNG projects, but could now also help Alaska gas exports
Among the projects the bank has assisted with billions in loans and other financing are liquefied natural gas export projects in Australia and Papua New Guinea, ventures that target Asian LNG markets that may compete with Alaska's natural gas export plans. → Read More
Demand soars to see disappearing Mendenhall Glacier
The Forest Service has awarded permits for thousands of days of guided tours at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor center, but had requests for three times as many trips as were available. → Read More
Walker looks at borrowing to balance Alaska budget
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker's fiscal plan proposal puts a new focus on borrowing to maintain state spending, which state officials say could give the state more financial flexibility but would also raise costs for future generations. → Read More
Gov. Walker, Juneau celebrate a 100-year Christmas tradition with open house
Gov. Bill Walker celebrated a traditional wet Christmas season this week, but cheerful residents of Juneau didn't appear to notice as they stood in long lines in the December drizzle to tour the historic Governor's House. → Read More
Supreme Court sides with Petersburg in boundary dispute with Juneau
The Alaska Supreme Court has sided with Petersburg in a boundary dispute between the Juneau and Petersburg boroughs as the two Southeast neighbors each wanted to annex the same land. → Read More
Supreme Court sides with Petersburg in border dispute with Juneau
The Alaska Supreme Court has sided with Petersburg in a boundary dispute between the Juneau and Petersburg boroughs as the two Southeast neighbors each wanted to annex the same land. → Read More
Awaiting autopsy results, Juneau copes with mayor's sudden death
The state medical examiner is scheduled to conduct an autopsy on the body of Juneau Mayor Greg Fisk on Wednesday, and police hope that will tell them why he died unexpectedly on Monday. → Read More
Recently elected Juneau mayor found dead at home
Police said his adult son called 911 to report having found Stephen "Greg" Fisk dead in his downtown residence. No cause of death was released, but Juneau police late Monday addressed rumors surrounding Fisk’s death. → Read More
Juneau may look to Canadian natural gas to lower energy costs
Natural gas from Canada is being looked at as the solution to high energy costs in Southeast Alaska, with a Lower 48 utility proposing to build a new gas distribution system for Juneau. → Read More
Forest Service pulls Tongass sale, but reasons are in dispute
The Tongass National Forest has withdrawn a proposed timber sale near Petersburg. Environmental groups say their lawsuit against the sale was the reason, but the Forest Service says that industry wasn't interested. → Read More
After financing competing LNG projects, could the U.S. also help Alaska's?
While Alaska struggles to put together a plan to export liquefied natural gas to Asian markets, a federal agency is already subsidizing competing LNG projects in two foreign countries targeting the same potential buyers. → Read More
How a 'bridge to nowhere' became a road from nowhere to nowhere
The "Bridge to Nowhere" still rankles in Ketchikan a decade after Congressional opponents of earmarks used it to go after money for the bridge to nearby Gravina Island and the city's airport, but some of that money was still spent building a road to muskeg and scrub forest — in reality, nowhere. → Read More
Budget cuts force closure of Haines Forestry office
The Alaska Department of Forestry on Thursday announced that budget cuts have forced the closure of its Haines office, responsible for managing the 286,000-acre Haines State Forest. → Read More
Tax options can shift burden away from Alaskans, legislative agency says
The Alaska Legislature's finance staff has produced a calculator to help citizens see the effects on the huge state deficit of spending Permanent Fund earnings and collecting sales or income taxes. → Read More
No surprise: Alaska can't afford raises for its top officials, board says
Leaders of Alaska's deficit-ridden government were already unlikely to get pay raises next year, but on Friday a commission set up to handle the politically sensitive pay question took steps to make that official. → Read More