North Slope

The House version looks to be pretty similar to the $4.5 billion that Walker proposed.

The magazine Mother Jones reports that a top scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey resigned late last year to protest what he saw as a threat to the agency’s scientific integrity just before the Geological Survey released a major assessment of how much oil and gas it believes is in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

“He does not remember meeting me,” Nancy Grant says of her first encounter with her now-husband, Andrew Grant. “I do, too!” he insists.

The Cutter Maple became the sixth Coast Guard vessel ever to transit the famed Northwest Passage last summer, when it completed the 8,000-mile trip from Sitka to Baltimore, Maryland. Despite almost a year of planning, the trip was no cakewalk.

House Speaker Bryce Edgmon was enthusiastic about Lincoln’s appointment.

Lincoln is the vice president responsible for managing lands for NANA Regional Corp.

There are two new candidates: Kotzebue resident John Lincoln and Utqiagvik resident Abel Hopson-Suvlu.

Nominees, Sandy Shroyer-Beaver and Eugene Smith have years of experience on Kotzebue’s city council. The third, Leanna Mack of Utqiagvik, said her community involvement makes up for her relative lack of political experience.

This year, the Republican majority can only afford to lose one senator to keep a simple majority. Senate leadership and Alaska’s senators talk through some of their bipartisan goals for the year.

A majority of the 16 Democrats in the House must approve Westlake’s replacement.