Monsanto shouldn’t be immune from the U.S. justice system. That’s why I’m co-sponsoring legislation to eliminate the Monsanto rider. The Monsanto rider stripped the courts of their power to halt the planting of genetically modified crops that could be dangerous to people or the environment. I will keep working on this issue because genetically modified crops can be just as dangerous as genetically modified fish. I’ve always opposed Frankenfish—and I oppose special legal exemptions for Frankenfruit companies too.  ~Senator Mark Begich, D-AK Anchorage will be making history when we participate in the first ever global March Against Monsanto! Join over…

Inside, former ConocoPhillips lobbyist and current Gov.  Sean Parnell was signing away billions of dollars of Alaska’s oil wealth to BP, Exxon, and ConocoPhillips. He was handing them new roads and road improvements, he handed them schools, he handed them public safety officers, and bridges. And in return, we get nothing. Outside, a crowd gathered during their lunch hour to protest the action. The Republicans who backed the Governor’s giveaway either tried to rush through the crowd without making eye contact , or they entered the lobby of the Dena’ina Center from the other side. It was a parade –…

I have to admit, I missed it. Apparently it was Irony Week in the Municipality from May 5-11. Luckily we have Mayor Dan Sullivan on the job, raising Irony Week to new heights of… well, irony. This winter, hundreds of people – municipal workers of all stripes, and supporters from the community, filed into the Assembly chambers to protest the erosion of collective bargaining rights, and threats to the livelihood of public workers in the form of the Mayor’s Ordinance 37. They stood in line, they waited in seats, they filled the lobby. They went on their day off, their…

Day 19 and 20 kind of melted together, which is in keeping with the theme outside. It’s melting. Big time. I say this in hushed tones so Old Man Winter doesn’t catch on that I know. Fortunately for all of us, even though the jet stream and the precipitation don’t seem to get it, the sun is actually doing its job. No weather is going to change the axis of the Earth, so our daylight hours continue to grow, and the sun gets warmer by the day. Most of the snow is gone from the lawn, although mornings are still…

During the hearings, and vote on SB21, (the governor’s oil tax plan to give billions to oil companies in exchange for absolutely no promise of anything) did you find yourself wondering why Sen. Peter Micciche who works for Conoco Phillips was allowed to vote to give his boss a windfall? Or why Sen. Kevin Meyer who also works for ConocoPhillips was allowed to do the same? And then there’s Rep. Mike Hawker whose wife works for the oil industry. Before critical votes, you’ll hear a legislator like Micciche and Meyer pipe up and say they’d like to abstain from the…

I thought I’d open with this weather prediction. It’s Bill Murray playing Phil the weatherman from the movie Groundhog Day. “It’s going to be cold, it’s going to be grey, and it’s going to last the rest of your life.” That’s where we are. Facebook is filled with people posting pictures of the snow, and writing messages in it. Some can be repeated: REALLY? WTF? OMG! And all are followed by the date. According to KTVA, we have now surpassed the previous record for longest snow season ever. The previous record was 32 years ago. Despite the winter weather conditions,…

You knew this was coming. Alaska is experiencing insane weather anomalies. Last year Southcentral Alaska had its snowiest winter on record. This year, it’s the longest snow season, at 231 days and counting. So it’s not surprising some idiot on Facebook is going to pipe up and say, “Still believe in ‘global warming?’” But I actually didn’t expect to hear it from Sarah Palin, even though she’s repeatedly earned the title of Alaska’s newest village idiot. Palin, you see, during her very brief tenure as Alaska’s governor, not only acknowledged climate change, but actually tried to do something about it….

With AKM’s permission, Wickersham’s Conscience will post a Bird of the Week very nearly every week here at the Mudflats. This week, it’s a Canada Goose landing in a seasonal pond at Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, in Fairbanks. Technical stuff: Canon 1D-X, 300mm lens with a 2.0 teleconverter, handheld; f11, 1/640, ISO 125. Taken May 2, 2013. The evening light and lucky timing on the splash help the shot. The reflection was planned.

This morning, I awoke to this. And this. There will be “after” shots tomorrow. If we get snow on the 23rd, we will have broken a record for the longest snow season. The fact that we have not already reached that milestone is a bit mind blowing. Today, as the flakes fall in that way that five months ago would have seemed magical, I am trying to reach deep, deep into my psychological reserves and make the best of it with my pal Ray Charles.

May 16. More than half way into the month. We are over the hump of May, and the weather calls for snow tomorrow and the day after. And yes, if one more person asks me, “So, do you still believe in global warming?” I’m going to wait for that snow, and I’m going to grasp them about the back of the neck and give them a good whitewash. Repeat after me. Climate is not the same thing as WEATHER. Last night when I went in to do Thursdays in the Mud on The Shannyn Moore Show, Shannyn suggested an interesting…