ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Anchorage is a little over a foot away from reaching new heights in snowfall accumulation. At 119.1 inches of snowfall, Alaska’s largest city is still on pace to potentially break the single-season record for the most snow in the city, which currently belongs to the winter of 2011-2012.
More snow looks possible for parts of Southcentral Alaska through the day, with winter weather advisories already issued for Western Prince William Sound. The advisory, which goes into effect at noon, is for 7 to 15 inches of snowfall, with some of the highest totals occurring through Turnagain Pass later today. With hazardous road conditions expected and heavy snowfall, be prepared for lower visibility for areas from Turnagain Arm and south through the pass.
While the heaviest snow will fall for Western Prince William Sound, light totals can be expected elsewhere across the region. For Anchorage and surrounding locations, it’s looking like we’ll stay on the drier side. While up to half an inch of accumulation is possible, the biggest impact through the day will be areas of blowing snow as winds increase out of the north. This will be felt the greatest along western parts of the Kenai Peninsula, where winds up to 40 mph could lower visibility down to a mile or less.
Any snow across Southcentral will quickly come to an end later this evening, with colder and drier conditions expected for the rest of the week. It’s looking very likely that highs will drop down near 10 degrees by Thursday, with overnight lows across Southcentral dropping as low as -15 in some spots. This stretch of cold weather will stay with us into Iditarod weekend.
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Southeast Alaska is also gearing up for another round of some heavy snow late tonight through Wednesday, with a winter storm watch already being issued for the region. The watch, which goes into effect late tonight into Tuesday evening, will dump upwards of a foot of snow through parts of Southeast. The heaviest snow will arrive early tomorrow morning and last into the afternoon hours, with the activity tapering off starting Tuesday evening. While some lingering snow showers are still likely into Wednesday, many locations will only see light accumulation. The rest of the week features colder, sunnier, and drier conditions.
It’s looking very likely that the official start of the Idiatrod will be on the chillier side. Right now, one can expect partly cloudy skies with highs warming into the teens and 20s.
JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) – The Supreme Court of Alaska will be taking up the case of the State of Alaska, Division of Elections v. Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.
The oral arguments will be held Monday at 10 a.m. via Zoom, according to an order and opening notice.
The document also specifies that a decision is expected to be made before noon on Tuesday.
According to documents from the Division of Elections, the state must start printing ballots at noon on the same day.
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This comes after an Anchorage Superior Court Judge ordered Dan J. Sullivan on to the ballot Friday.
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A new home under construction in Potter Valley in Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)
This June, two very different offers reach Alaska families, and both amount to the same thing: $10,000. The difference is everything.
Bill Walker, running for governor, would hand every eligible Alaskan a one-time $10,000 check and then end the Permanent Fund dividend for good. Ask one question: Where does his $10,000 come from?
It comes from the Permanent Fund, the people’s own money and the savings Alaskans built for their children. Walker would spend that endowment once to pay Alaskans to give up the yearly dividend forever.
Think about what that does. It cancels the annual check that gives a family a reason to keep an Alaska address and replaces it with a single payout. You hand people their own savings, call it a gift and cut the tie that held them here in the same motion. It is the oldest mistake in governing money: raid what you have saved to buy a moment’s applause and call the spending generosity.
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A plan that spends the people’s savings to send the people away is not bold. It is foolish.
Now consider the other $10,000. Through Alaska Housing Finance Corp., the state offers families up to $10,000 to build a new, energy-efficient home. AHFC raids nothing. It earns its own way. Over the years, it has returned more than $2 billion to the state treasury, and it spends some of that income the way any good business does: to win a customer.
Here, the customer is an Alaskan who wants to own a home, put down roots and stay.
That is the oldest sound move in business: Invest a little of what you earn to bring in someone who stays. The homeowner remains, the community gains a family and the corporation keeps earning. The money spent comes back. A plan that puts earnings to work to bring people home is not charity. It is clever.
Same amount. Opposite source. Opposite wisdom. One spends savings; the other spends earnings. One pays Alaskans to leave; the other pays them to stay. One empties the state; the other fills it.
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This Homeownership Month, the choice is the size of a single check, and the whole question is where the check comes from and what it asks of you. Ten thousand dollars of your own fund, to wave you goodbye. Or $10,000, earned and reinvested, to help you stay and build.
Evan Swensen is the publisher of Publication Consultants in Anchorage and the author of “What’s the Money For: A Permanent Fund Mortgage Proposal.”
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