Commentary

A portion of Interior Alaska is seen from the Alaska Highway, roughly 25 miles east of the Manh Choh mine site on April 27, 2022. (Photo by Andrew Kitchenman/Alaska Beacon)

It is time for Alaska to just say ‘no’ to bad carbon math

BY: - October 30, 2023

Gov. Mike Dunleavy is deliberately bad at carbon math. He “needs” all Alaskans to ignore the math and just say “yes” to everything, including development projects that will collectively emit a lot more greenhouse gases, while touting a state carbon offset program that will alter the amount of emissions already in the atmosphere by zero. […]

(Getty Images)

A glaringly obvious answer to America’s truck driver shortage

BY: - October 25, 2023

Seemingly intractable problems sometimes have an obvious solution standing right in front of them. Our nation’s dire shortage of long-haul truck drivers, for example. Wrangling big rigs across the country is difficult and dangerous work, and the corporate giants that dominate the industry have long been wailing that they can’t find people willing to do […]

This tallis is shown in detail. The tallis is a shawl worn while praying in Judaism. (Photo by RBFried/Getty Images)

When things seem hopeless in Middle East, an Alaska memory provides glimmer

BY: - October 24, 2023

Jews in Israel and Palestinians in Gaza are embroiled in the deadliest fighting in decades, prompted by an organized assault by Hamas soldiers who murdered innocent Israelis on Oct. 7 and also took hostages. Israel has followed the Hamas raid with deadly retaliatory attacks on Gaza — military targets but also more innocent civilians caught […]

Children pick up their school lunches. (Photo by Amanda Mills/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Canceling school lunch debt would have meaningful impact for children’s health

BY: - October 20, 2023

Pandemic, epidemic – these words have become part of our everyday vocabulary in the light of COVID-19 over the past few years. However, we cannot forget the other illness that plagues our society, threatening the wellbeing and growth of our younger generations. Childhood obesity is an ever-growing problem that is affecting our communities, leading to […]

U.S. President Calvin Coolidge was photographed with Osage Nation members in 1925. (Photo retrieved from Library of Congress)

Gangsters are ‘Flower Moon’ villains, but U.S. government was biggest thief of Native wealth

BY: - October 19, 2023

Director Martin Scorsese’s new movie, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” tells the true story of a string of murders on the Osage Nation’s land in Oklahoma in the 1920s. Based on David Grann’s meticulously researched 2017 book, the movie delves into racial and family dynamics that rocked Oklahoma to the core when oil was discovered […]

Power lines stretch toward Anchorage from the base of Dghelishla, also known as Mt. Susitna. (Photo by Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)

Restaurant owner pleads guilty in Kachemak Bay seaplane case while state contracts with McKinsey

BY: - October 16, 2023

I took a break earlier this month, but now I’m back in full force for the fall, with some fun stories on my agenda. This edition covers subjects including a plea deal in a high-profile criminal case; a contract between Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration and the consulting firm McKinsey & Company; an array of […]

Book excerpt: ‘Accountability in State Legislatures’

BY: - October 13, 2023

The following is an excerpt from the 2023 book “Accountability in State Legislatures.” More information can be found here. State lawmakers decide who can bear arms, join arms in matrimony, and even participate in our democracy. Formally, the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the […]

In this photo illustration, boxes of the diabetes drug Ozempic rest on a pharmacy counter on April 17, 2023, in Los Angeles, California. Ozempic was originally approved by the FDA to treat people with Type 2 diabetes- who risk serious health consequences without medication. In recent months, there has been a spike in demand for Ozempic, or semaglutide, due to its weight loss benefits, which has led to shortages. Some doctors prescribe Ozempic off-label to treat obesity. (Photo illustration by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Policies barring coverage of anti-obesity care are outdated

BY: - October 12, 2023

Millions of Americans suffer from obesity.  They are blamed for their weight; constantly being told they are not making good decisions. From friends and family to their own health care providers, they experience discrimination and bias from all sides. Many have searched high and low for affordable options and treatments to help manage what the […]

The U.S. still imports more than 8 million barrels of petroleum per day, but since 2020, it has exported more than it has imported. More than one-third of U.S. crude oil exports go through the Houston Ship Channel. (Photo by Carol M. Highsmith/U.S. State Department Bureau of Global Public Affairs, CC BY-NC)

Rising oil prices, surging inflation: sound familiar?

BY: and - October 11, 2023

Fifty years ago, a secret deal among Arab governments triggered one of the most traumatic economic crises to afflict the United States and other big oil importers. Saudi King Faisal and other Arab leaders launched an oil embargo on Oct. 17, 1973, as payback for Washington siding with Israel in its war with neighboring Egypt […]

Glacial lakes are common in the Himalayas, as this satellite view shows. Some are dammed by glaciers, other by moraines. (NASA photo)

Glacial lake outburst floods in Alaska and the Himalayas show evolving hazards in a warming world

BY: - October 9, 2023

In August 2023, residents of Juneau, Alaska, watched as the Mendenhall River swelled to historic levels in a matter of hours. The rushing water undercut the riverbank and swallowed whole stands of trees and multiple buildings. The source for the flood was not heavy rainfall – it was a small glacial lake located in a […]

The author captures threads of a dialect by recording words for “Michipicoten” in an open-air meeting with community elders. (Photo by John-Paul Chalykoff, CC BY-ND)

I’m working to revitalize an Indigenous language and bring it into the future

BY: - October 3, 2023

Language is foundational to Indigenous communities, including my own, and a vital connection to our cultures. It is well documented how residential schools in Canada and boarding schools in the U.S. devastated Indigenous languages and severed cultural connections. While our languages are in decline, efforts to sustain them are ongoing, and I am taking part […]

A snow-covered Alaska is seen from space in this November 2001 photo from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on a NASA satellite. (NASA/GSFC photo)

The burden of limiting physician assistants would fall on rural Alaska

BY: - September 30, 2023

This commentary is adapted from a letter submitted to the Alaska State Medical Board. I am a proud Alaska Native woman of the Gwich’in Nành and I am a proud physician assistant. As an Alaska Native who grew up in Aniak on the Kuskokwim River, I chose a very specific path of training in order […]