Alaska
Alaska Senate Majority discusses budget process at press availability
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) – Nearly three months into the current legislative session, the Alaska Senate Majority held a press conference giving updates on the budget process and other items of interest to the public.
The House is currently working to create a draft of their budget, which will be submitted to the Senate. The Senate Finance Committee then makes their own changes and sends it to the full Senate for a vote. Once the Senate has its own approved version of the budget, they send it back to the House for concurrence.
If the House does not concur with this version, the two bodies appoint a Conference Committee to meet, negotiate and develop a combined budget that meets with each group’s approval.
According to Republican Senator Bert Stedman, “We need to look at our overall spending plan with the operating budget and the capital budget combined. We have no intention of running a deficit, and what I mean by that is we want to have our budget bookmarked, or bookended within the revenue expectations of the spring revenue forecast for ‘24 and ‘25.”
The state’s budget contains both a capital and operating budget as well as other supplements and appropriations.
The capital budget includes deferred maintenance, infrastructure, construction projects and other funding for plans beyond the next year.
According to Republican Bert Stedman, the current capital budget the Senate and House are working on is around $550 million.
The operating budget, meanwhile, has to do with the yearly allocation of state funds to complete state business.
Stedman sees a deficit in the House’s current version of the budget. “They’re underwater somewhere around $276 million, so that’s a lot of gaposis to deal with in the Conference Committee, and we have to get the ends to meet. How they plan on doing that in their spending plan, in how they want to structure the budgets to negotiate with the Senate I don’t know. I guess I’m going to find out when we fire up the Conference Committee, but that’s a big spread.”
As the Senate held the press conference on April 10, the House was working on various budget items in a floor session.
Copyright 2024 KTVF. All rights reserved.
Alaska
Lavrov Challenges Rubio: Kremlin Says Trump-Putin Reached Deal as Moscow Questions Washington’s Neutrality
The Kremlin has pushed back against US claims that no agreement was reached between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin during the August 2025 Anchorage summit in Alaska.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Washington presented proposals to settle the war in Ukraine during the talks and that Moscow accepted them.
JOIN US ON TELEGRAM
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
Lavrov was responding to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has publicly rejected Russian claims that Washington and Moscow reached an agreement on Ukraine during the Alaska summit, saying no deal was ever finalized.
As reported by DRM News, Rubio said the summit produced only a proposal, not a binding agreement.
He added that the US remains ready to play a constructive role in bringing the parties together and helping end the war, but stressed that while proposals were discussed in Alaska, “there was no agreement.”
Lavrov struck back by calling the response “not very elegant.”
“When my colleague says that in Alaska there were only proposals and no agreement, I wonder what we mean by agreement,” Lavrov said.
“If one side, in this case the US, put proposals on the table, and the other side expressed agreement, then saying there was no agreement is somehow not very elegant,” he added.
According to Lavrov, White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow days before the summit and delivered the same US settlement plan.
Other Topics of Interest
SBU Says Drones Hit Russian Military Ships in New 40-Day Crimea Campaign
The operation aims to degrade Russia’s use of Crimea as a military and logistics hub by targeting ships and air defenses.
“Already in Anchorage, when the two presidents sat down for talks, Putin began listing the American proposals point by point. After each point, in the presence of Trump and Rubio, he asked Witkoff whether he had correctly described the ideas brought to Moscow. Witkoff answered affirmatively to each question,” Lavrov said.
He called for clarification from Washington, adding that recent US statements about playing a constructive role in ending the war sounded like an attempt to position itself as a mediator.
Previous claims
In early June, Lavrov claimed Russia had accepted what he described as US proposals presented at the Alaska summit.
Lavrov alleged that Washington initially acted as a mediator but later stepped back from the process after failing to pressure Ukraine to accept the proposed terms.
This week, he also suggested that the Alaska summit may have been used to “buy time” for Ukraine to rearm itself, further arguing that Russia no longer views the West as a credible broker amid sanctions pressure.
Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov also said Moscow remained committed to implementing the understandings reached in Alaska, while accusing Washington of “apparently [failing] to complete its part of the process.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov argued that Washington cannot be considered fully neutral in the war because of its military support for Ukraine.
“If we’re talking about absolute neutrality, then, of course, the term is probably inapplicable, because the United States supplies the majority of weapons to Ukraine and provides other forms of assistance,” Peskov said.
At the same time, he said Moscow highly values Washington’s willingness to help resolve the war, as well as its influence over European allies and Kyiv.
Peskov also dismissed remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron, who recently said at the G7 Summit that Washington had abandoned neutrality and was now openly backing Ukraine’s territorial integrity, continued aid, and sanctions against Russia.
“Regarding President Macron’s statements, it is difficult to judge. I don’t think President Macron can in any way claim to be Washington’s lawyer or press secretary,” Peskov added.
Alaska
Alaska, Hawaiian Airlines expand free Wi-Fi on flights
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Free Wi-Fi is available on more Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines planes.
The company said that 150 aircraft are now equipped with Starlink.
“For years, T-Mobile has played a key role in keeping our guests connected, and we’re proud to now offer Starlink, the fastest Wi-Fi in the sky, to Atmos members for free, made possible through our work with T-Mobile,” said Shane Jones, Senior Vice President of Fleet, Products and Guest Experience. “We’ve seen an overwhelmingly positive response from our guests, and we couldn’t have done it without T-Mobile as we continue to raise the bar for the experience across Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines.”
Passengers must now be Atmos Rewards members to take advantage of the free service. The company said a new onboarding portal started in June, with the experience to become standard by mid-July.
Existing Atmos Rewards members will connect automatically, and new guests can sign up in just a few steps.
“Our relationship with Alaska Airlines has helped redefine what travelers can expect from inflight connectivity, and today’s milestone is another important step forward, said Mike Belcher, Head of Partnerships and Business Development at T-Mobile. “Bringing complimentary inflight Wi-Fi to more travelers across both Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines makes it easier to stay connected throughout their journey. The new, streamlined experience for accessing Wi-Fi reflects our shared commitment to delivering a better, more seamless travel experience.”
The airline expects to finish installing Starlink across its remaining mainline fleet by 2027.
Alaska
Pilot’s quick thinking averts disaster in Alaska emergency landing
-
Pennsylvania4 minutes agoFederal government sues Pennsylvania, others over SNAP data
-
Rhode Island7 minutes agoTarget 12: State of RI’s fire hoses
-
South-Carolina12 minutes agoMississippi State baseball lands Will Craddock, South Carolina transfer infielder
-
South Dakota19 minutes agoSouth Dakota Republicans reject censuring John Thune over stalled SAVE America Act
-
Tennessee22 minutes agoFlood watch in effect for Middle Tennessee: 2-3″ of rain expected Saturday
-
Texas27 minutes ago
Texas state school board approves mandated reading list including Bible passages
-
Utah34 minutes agoUtah, Salt Lake County awarded grants for community cleanup
-
Vermont37 minutes agoWest Rutland man dies in hit-and-run, police seek vehicle