BRADNERS' ALASKA LEGISLATIVE DIGEST

If Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s plan to “fully-fund” Permanent Fund dividends and to pay three years “underfunded”dividends is approved by the Legislature, the amount of dividends paid each year would total at least $2.4 billion yearly for three years. That compares to the roughly $1 billion to $1.2 billion paid out over the last three years. The future estimate assumes 600,000 Alaskans apply for and qualify percent, would be paid to the federal government in tax, and how much of the…

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Companies commit to new work, $322 million bond Donlin Gold has been given approval by its board to proceed with new geotechnical drilling to support a dam safety permit from the state of Alaska. The work involves 85 new drill holes to be done over several months. The authorization, which involves several million dollars, is important because it is a sign of confidence in the project by owners Barrick Gold and NovaGold Resources, who are 50-50 partners. In a related…

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Light bidding in NPR-A lease sale As oil lease sales go, it seemed a bust. The federal government’s Dec. 12 lease sale Wednesday in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, on the North Slope, pulled in $1.5 million and 16 bids from three companies. Interior Department officials looked at the upside: “It was better than last year, when we got only seven bids,” Assistant Interior Secretary Joe Bal- ash said. Still, the results seemed dismal compared with $28 million the state of…

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The state’s recession appears near bottom. The economy is still shedding jobs but key industries like oil and gas and construction are showing up- upticks, according to state labor department esti- mates. Petroleum showed a year-over-year gain of 100 in November compared with the same month of 2017, the first increase since oil prices dropped sharply in 2015. Construction jobs were also up 200 in November. In other industries, retail was down 700 jobs compared with November 2017; profession- al…

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Railroad: Winter passengers up The Alaska Railroad is enjoying a nice surge in winter ridership, much of it related to growth in winter tourism, Anchorage Daily News writer Annie Zak reported. The railroad is operating passenger service for 102 days this winter, in contrast with 66 days during the winter of 2012-2013. Winter ridership increased by a third from 2015-2016 to 2016-2017, and tour operators are reporting increasing business. Many winter visitors are coming from China, and the U.S.-China trade…

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Viking Lumber manufacturing Viking Lumber, operator of two sawmills in South- east Alaska, is now making a “firelog” for heating in homes and businesses and distributing them in retail outlets in Southcentral Alaska. The product is made from waste trimmings and sawdust left from Vi- king’s primary wood products such as lumber, and is manufactured through a compression technique with- out chemicals or binders. The product burns hotter and longer than ordinary logs, according to Tongass Wholesale Distribution, a company…

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Coastal Villages’ worker bonuses Coastal Villages Region Fund, a western Alaska Community Development Quota group, will pay $100,000 in bonuses to 640 youth workers employed last summer on various community job in villages in CVRF’s region. Bonuses averaged $156 per youth worker, who were between 14 and 19 years old. CVRF engages in offshore fishing in federally-man- aged waters off Alaska’s coasts. Concerns over Kodiak rockets Kodiak fishermen are voicing concerns over closures of fishing near Narrow Cape, on the…

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