Let’s play a little game. Imagine this scenario, and then tell me in what country this story takes place. You wake up and go to work. Maria, in the next cubicle over, isn’t there. And she isn’t there the next day. You and your coworkers come to find out that military officers knocked on her [...]

When I moved to Alaska more than twenty years ago, I was expecting something like the TV show Northern Exposure. I figured Alaskans would be really happy and proud that the show “put them on the map,” as it were.  Invariably, when I mentioned it to anyone who had been in Alaska for a while, [...]

By Shannyn Moore A friend of mine has a “driving teenager.” I know my time is coming, so I’ve watched their interaction closely. “Be home by 11. Wear your seat belt. Call or text me to check in at 10. You can’t give rides to anyone. Don’t bring the car back on empty. Don’t drink [...]

Join me and author Amanda Coyne of Alaska Dispatch today at firedoglake.com for a book salon featuring the new release Crude Awakening – Money, Mavericks and Mayhem in Alaska by Coyne and co-author Tony Hopfinger. Details below. Hope to see you there! [Cross-posted from Alaska Dispatch] Jeanne Devon, AKA AK Muckraker, who runs the popular [...]

I roll over lazily, stretch, yawn, and open one eye… I do a combined gasp/shriek, recoil a little, and bury my face in the pillow. Yes, my strange bedfellow is still here. I thought he left after the 2010 election, but apparently not. Given that you all know how I feel about former U.S. Senate [...]

The past two budgets have included $84 million for a bridge…to somewhere in Alaska. Senators Wielechowski and French have written a letter to the Alaska Railroad with some concerns. ANCHORAGE- Today, Senators Bill Wielechowski and Hollis French are calling on Alaska Railroad officials to ensure steel products made only in America are used to build [...]

~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more! Here’s a plate of slurpable stories to start your week. Source links are in the title. Start shucking!   Pay Up, Joe An Alaska judge on Friday ordered that failed U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller pay more than $17,300 in legal costs [...]

The thing that consoles me when I write about local issues, is that our characters here in Alaska (even though many of you are from elsewhere) are so incredibly over-the-top and ridiculous that they can be appreciated in their own right, just for the entertainment value. It’s like writing a book full of short stories [...]

There are actually 6 seats up for election on the Anchorage Assembly. However, we are going to focus on three of them for two very good reasons… 1) The incumbents are under attack from Mayor Sullivan, 2) and under attack from corporations and big-monied businesses. The attack-ees are Harriet Drummond, West Anchorage: Elvi Gray-Jackson, Midtown: [...]

Now, there have been rumors before that Sarah Palin was shopping for new digs outside the great state of Alaska. For a while it was being reported that she was looking for some sandy turf in the exclusive enclave of The Hamptons on Long Island. I tried to imagine how the tight-lipped residents of that [...]

~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more! Chuitna Coal Comment Period Extended The comment period for the petition to make the Chuit River and its tributaries declared unsuitable for coal strip mining has been extended! That means if you had all the best intentions of emailing and saying, “I [...]

~Lisa Murkowski and husband Verne Martell when she declared her write-in candidacy. Today, Lisa Murkowski was sworn in for her second full term as U.S. Senator. She was escorted to the swearing in by Murkowski the Elder (Also known as Murkowski the Lesser). Frank the Bank who gave her the seat when he left to [...]

Happy New Year, Mudflatters. The Mudflats is slowly returning from its hiatus… Of course, I’d never want to come back and all of a sudden just bonk you on the head with a large cast iron skillet, but sometimes we don’t get what we want. This is one of those times. Over the weekend, there [...]

It’s that time of the year again – the beginning of it. And it wouldn’t feel right, hanging up that new calendar without our yearly round up of the ne’er-do-wells, miscreants, and rogues of Alaska politics. Yes boys and girls, it’s time for the Muddy Awards. Now that our heads are clear after the holidays, [...]

This blog post comes with musical accompaniment to enhance your reading pleasure. Yes, it’s true. One of our most favorite villains in the never ending Palin drama is leaving the Great Land. And I have to admit, as much as I’d like to tell him not to let the door hit him on the way [...]