US govt seeks $92 mln extra for Exxon Valdez spill - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Thursday said it will pursue $92 million in extra damage claims against Exxon Mobil Corp. for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, the worst in U.S. history.
Four U.S. agencies including the Justice Department and the state of Alaska say it will cost that much more to clean up lingering environmental damage from when the Exxon Valdez supertanker ran aground in Alaska's Prince William Sound and spilled about 11 million gallons of crude oil."
--- read more about the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
The gist is this: In 1991, Exxon paid a civil settlement of 900 million (to who?). In that settlement there was a "reopener" clause, that allows for up to 100 mil extra for unforeseen damages. Realizing that Exxon Mobil made 36 BILLION last year and there is still oil in the sound - And they haven't settled punitive damages with the prince william sound stakeholders - The government is requesting 92 million in "damage claims" in a clean up plan.
Exxon issued the statement that further funding from Exxon isn't "justified".
If Exxon refuses to pay, the government can sue them for it before a september 1st deadline.
My take: Now that Exxon is doing well and the government is doing poorly, the Government wants to reneoigiate it's cozy sweatheart deal. Exxon should and probably will pay. But the real issue is the punitive damages to the fisherman, natives and landowners of the region. Exxon thinks they don't have to pay and I think they do.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Summer Season Alaskan Parties!
The Anchorage Press Volume 15 Edition 20 - COVER STORY
The summer is starting, just starting, in Alaska, so it's time to start thinking about festivals. Follow the link for some good pictures of the Alaskan happenings.
My favorites are - Ren Fair, Hunter creek bluegrass festival, Juneteenth (it's on my birthday), Midnight Sun Marathon, Girdwood Forest Fair, Seward Mountain Marathon, Labor day end of season party in McCarthy! Oh yea - that's a good season of all night, all sun and fun Alaskan style parties!
cheers!
Summer Music & Festival Guide 2006
It's an old story: I was a lowly merchant, she was a lady in waiting for the baroness; it wasn't meant to be. She got in trouble with her lady for making eyes at me during the morning procession, and when we met at Kaladi's for coffee, people kept texting her phone and she was too busy replying to carry much of a conversation.
Yes, I worked at a ren fair. In fact, I worked at all the fairs last summer. Or at least it felt like it.
I'd just spent six months in Honolulu and I faced a summer of underemployment. But as if by fate, I got off the plane in Fairbanks the night of the first Clucking Blossom festival and after that my summer was filled - with festivals.
The summer is starting, just starting, in Alaska, so it's time to start thinking about festivals. Follow the link for some good pictures of the Alaskan happenings.
My favorites are - Ren Fair, Hunter creek bluegrass festival, Juneteenth (it's on my birthday), Midnight Sun Marathon, Girdwood Forest Fair, Seward Mountain Marathon, Labor day end of season party in McCarthy! Oh yea - that's a good season of all night, all sun and fun Alaskan style parties!
cheers!
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Planning a family trip to Alaska?
Triporama - Plan Group Travel: "Plan a Group Trip
Create your trip, then use our tools to:
* store and share travel research
* manage invites
* conduct polls
* coordinate travel
...and more. Take a quick tour now.
Group Travel Ideas
Explore our trip ideas and find:
* hot group travel deals
* high-quality travel providers
* expert advice"
And....
TripHub Group Travel - Welcome to TripHub Group Travel: "Simplify your group planning
* Create a trip home page
* Invite people and track responses
* Research and discuss travel options
* Share travel plans with your group
"
Triphub and Triporama are services that help you plan group travel. It's a great idea. Planning a trip can be a huge stress and why not use all the tools available. It seems there is a potential to use email and group websites to get everyone involved. It sounds great!
Anyone use it?
Create your trip, then use our tools to:
* store and share travel research
* manage invites
* conduct polls
* coordinate travel
...and more. Take a quick tour now.
Group Travel Ideas
Explore our trip ideas and find:
* hot group travel deals
* high-quality travel providers
* expert advice"
And....
TripHub Group Travel - Welcome to TripHub Group Travel: "Simplify your group planning
* Create a trip home page
* Invite people and track responses
* Research and discuss travel options
* Share travel plans with your group
"
Triphub and Triporama are services that help you plan group travel. It's a great idea. Planning a trip can be a huge stress and why not use all the tools available. It seems there is a potential to use email and group websites to get everyone involved. It sounds great!
Anyone use it?
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Saddened to report the death of a Valdez Heli Ski Legend
Doug Coombs Dies in French ski accident
To me Doug Coombs was a legend. A story that may or not be true, but gives inspiration and hope. He pioneered the Heli Ski community and guiding business lifestyle. The life he created for himself was the stuff of legend. He rode in a helicopter to work. In a remote part of Alaska he helped define a sport, a business and a lifestyle. The sport was big mountain, heli access free-skiing. He was twice a World Extreme Skiing Champion. The business was guiding mere mortals to the hallowed heights he and a few others had pioneered. He was a success in founding two guiding outfitts and working on at least three continents. And the lifestyle was a global trekking heli skibum business mogul with a big smile and a pure heart. He was a champion for everyone who looked up at a snow loaded coulair or down at a map where the mountains are shaded white.
In this way, he lives on as legends do. I'm glad to know him. He will be missed.
To me Doug Coombs was a legend. A story that may or not be true, but gives inspiration and hope. He pioneered the Heli Ski community and guiding business lifestyle. The life he created for himself was the stuff of legend. He rode in a helicopter to work. In a remote part of Alaska he helped define a sport, a business and a lifestyle. The sport was big mountain, heli access free-skiing. He was twice a World Extreme Skiing Champion. The business was guiding mere mortals to the hallowed heights he and a few others had pioneered. He was a success in founding two guiding outfitts and working on at least three continents. And the lifestyle was a global trekking heli ski
In this way, he lives on as legends do. I'm glad to know him. He will be missed.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Valdez Star - Dr. Ernesto Sirolli
Valdez Star: "Dr. Ernesto Sirolli, an expert at economic development for the little guy, made a full day presentation in Valdez last week, selling a unique program he calls Enterprise Facilitation.
“This is not a government scheme,” Sirolli to the assembled crowd of attendees that included a good number for of people from the small business community in Valdez and a contingency from Mat-Su and Cordova, “It’s really up to you.”
What Sirolli was offering the people of Valdez is a chance to take control of the local economy by capitalizing on local resources, the entrepreneurial spirit of common people and getting the local community together to foster an environment to nurture, support and educate ordinary people who wish to go into business for themselves or to teach existing small businesses how to flourish and avoid the pitfalls that most small businesses fall prey to.
Mike Williams was so inspired by the message of the Sirolli Institute that he offered up $1,000 on behalf of the Totem Inn - on the spot - as seed money to start raising the $50,000 it will cost to get the program going in Valdez."
www.sirolli.com
“This is not a government scheme,” Sirolli to the assembled crowd of attendees that included a good number for of people from the small business community in Valdez and a contingency from Mat-Su and Cordova, “It’s really up to you.”
What Sirolli was offering the people of Valdez is a chance to take control of the local economy by capitalizing on local resources, the entrepreneurial spirit of common people and getting the local community together to foster an environment to nurture, support and educate ordinary people who wish to go into business for themselves or to teach existing small businesses how to flourish and avoid the pitfalls that most small businesses fall prey to.
Mike Williams was so inspired by the message of the Sirolli Institute that he offered up $1,000 on behalf of the Totem Inn - on the spot - as seed money to start raising the $50,000 it will cost to get the program going in Valdez."
www.sirolli.com
The Valdez Star - Valdez, Alaska
The Valdez Star - Valdez, Alaska: "Sports and activity travel cut from school budget
By Lee Revis
Editor, Valdez Star
A sharply divided school board managed to adopt a working budget Monday night after several painful budget hearings, special meetings and debates on what programs and services to cut."
By Lee Revis
Editor, Valdez Star
A sharply divided school board managed to adopt a working budget Monday night after several painful budget hearings, special meetings and debates on what programs and services to cut."
Monday, March 06, 2006
gorachaelgo.com
gorachaelgo.com: "Being born legally blind didn't stop Rachael Scdoris from becoming her high school track team captain, a Winter Olympics torchbearer and a nationally known sled dog racer. Click the links to the left to learn more about Rachael's inspirational story.
Be sure to check the Iditarod page often to get the latest info on Rachael's experience in the 2006 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race."
Be sure to check the Iditarod page often to get the latest info on Rachael's experience in the 2006 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race."
Friday, February 03, 2006
Aleut Story
Aleut Story: "Aleut Story was developed, researched, filmed and edited for national television over five years. Thousands of pages of historical documents, public testimony, congressional debate, personal memoirs, photographs and scholarly texts wereReturn to Funter Bay reviewed. Filmed entirely on location, the project took the film crew to the Aleutian Islands, the Pribilof Islands, to the historic sites of federal duration camps at Funter Bay and Killisnoo, Anchorage, Juneau, Seattle and Washington, D.C. But the real strength of this film is the chorus of first person voices."
Snorkel Alaska!
Celebrity Shore Excursions: "mmerse yourself in Southeast Alaska's underwater world as you snorkel the calm and clear waters of Mountain Point. Stay warm in a quarter-inch wetsuit complete with hood, boots and gloves, as you hover among Alaska's diverse marine life. Local water temperatures often exceed those of the Northern California coast. "
Monday, January 30, 2006
Exxon record profits!
Most popular news stories as ranked by readers of Yahoo! News: "Exxon Sees Record Profits for Any U.S. Co. AP - 1 hour, 9 minutes ago Sent 900 times
DALLAS - Exxon Mobil Corp. posted record profits for any U.S. company on Monday — $10.71 billion for the fourth quarter and $36.13 billion for the year — "
HOLY COWS!
DALLAS - Exxon Mobil Corp. posted record profits for any U.S. company on Monday — $10.71 billion for the fourth quarter and $36.13 billion for the year — "
HOLY COWS!
Sunday, January 29, 2006
- Sinequanon's Journal - :: Exxon Valdez: Trying to Erase Judgement ::
- Sinequanon's Journal - :: Exxon Valdez: Trying to Erase Judgement ::: "Bill Scheer of Valdez, Alaska, is covered in crude oil while working to clean a beach after the Exxon Valdez oil spill at Prince William Sound on April 13, 1989.
Sixteen years later, Exxon Mobil is still trying to get out of paying a judgement against them regarding the Exxon Valdez disaster that dumped a shipload of oil all over the coast of Alaska. The results of that environmental spill killed millions of sea and land wildlife and devastated the ecosystem. It also harmed Alaska’s economy."
Sixteen years later, Exxon Mobil is still trying to get out of paying a judgement against them regarding the Exxon Valdez disaster that dumped a shipload of oil all over the coast of Alaska. The results of that environmental spill killed millions of sea and land wildlife and devastated the ecosystem. It also harmed Alaska’s economy."
Idiotarod January 28, 2006
Idiotarod January 28, 2006: "The Iditarod is the famous long-distance race in which yelping dogs tow a sled across Alaska. Our Idiotarod is pretty much the same thing, except that instead of dogs, it's people, instead of sleds, it's shopping carts, and instead of Alaska it's New York City."
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Local Hero Marcus Fuller
Local Hero Marcus Fuller: "Local Hero Marcus Fuller
Submitted by Travis Andersen
Read this article about our Valdez friend, Marcus Fuller. He is an incredible guy. Last I heard he was in China studying chinese medicine and stuff. I got to know him on the slopes of thompson pass outside Valdez, Alaska in the land of the Chugach Mountain Kings. He would travel around but generally showed up for fishing in Prince William Sound and then again in the Spring for some skiing.
He is a man of many talents and friendly as you wouldn't believe. Here is some of his artwork and sundries.
http://www.alaskagold.com/marcus
Submitted by Travis Andersen
I first came across Marcus Fuller by accident years ago on the ridge at Bridger Bowl. I was setting up to shoot a friend of mine who was going to ski a particular hidden, tight, technical chute. I was in position and waiting when Marcus suddenly appeared at the top of the line. He had no idea anybody was going to be there, especially with a camera, and was just skiing a line for his own pure satisfaction. He shredded the line, before my buddy and skied off laughing and hooting."
Read this article about our Valdez friend, Marcus Fuller. He is an incredible guy. Last I heard he was in China studying chinese medicine and stuff. I got to know him on the slopes of thompson pass outside Valdez, Alaska in the land of the Chugach Mountain Kings. He would travel around but generally showed up for fishing in Prince William Sound and then again in the Spring for some skiing.
He is a man of many talents and friendly as you wouldn't believe. Here is some of his artwork and sundries.
http://www.alaskagold.com/marcus
HeraldNet: Iditarod champion fighting leukemia
HeraldNet: Iditarod champion fighting leukemia: "Iditarod champion fighting leukemia
More Stories about Susan Butcher
Susan Butcher on Google News
By Mary Pembertonread more...
Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Iditarod champion Susan Butcher is taking orders from her doctors these days in her fight with leukemia but there's no doubt who is in charge - the same woman who used an ax to fend off a crazed moose on the Iditarod Trail."
More Stories about Susan Butcher
Susan Butcher on Google News
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
The Swift Report: Campaign Urges Tourists to Visit Alaska 'B4ITMELTS'
The Swift Report: Campaign Urges Tourists to Visit Alaska 'B4ITMELTS': "Campaign Urges Tourists to Visit Alaska 'B4ITMELTS'
B4itmelts_1A new campaign to promote tourism to Alaska is reminding would-be travelers that if they plan to visit the 49th state, they'd better do so before it is swallowed up by the ocean. High-profile ads being displayed in Seattle, Los Angeles and Minneapolis feature a picture of a classic Alaska license plate and an irresistible vanity message: 'Alaska B4ITMELTS'
By Cole Walters
A state once known for arctic tundra gets a tropical makeover"
B4itmelts_1A new campaign to promote tourism to Alaska is reminding would-be travelers that if they plan to visit the 49th state, they'd better do so before it is swallowed up by the ocean. High-profile ads being displayed in Seattle, Los Angeles and Minneapolis feature a picture of a classic Alaska license plate and an irresistible vanity message: 'Alaska B4ITMELTS'
By Cole Walters
A state once known for arctic tundra gets a tropical makeover"
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
adn.com | alaska : Avalanche claims backcountry skier
adn.com | alaska : Avalanche claims backcountry skier: "Avalanche claims backcountry skier
I'm saddened to hear this news. I worked with Joel in McCarthy in the Summer of '98. And I saw him on occasion when we both lived in Anchorage. It's a tragic story.
from his hometown paper:
Here is a picture of the avalanche.
From the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center
GIRDWOOD: Joel Schihl died, a friend was not injured descending Raggedtop.
By MEGAN HOLLAND
Anchorage Daily News
Published: January 4, 2006
An avalanche near Girdwood killed one experienced backcountry skier while his partner escaped uninjured Tuesday afternoon, Alaska State Troopers said.
Joel Schihl, 30, died when a sheet of snow 100 feet across collapsed under his skis, tumbling him 1,600 feet down Raggedtop Mountain and burying him in 5 feet of snow. Friend Bradley Cosgrove, 28, was able to avoid getting trapped and was not injured, troopers said."
I'm saddened to hear this news. I worked with Joel in McCarthy in the Summer of '98. And I saw him on occasion when we both lived in Anchorage. It's a tragic story.
from his hometown paper:
Joel Schihl grew up in the Charlestown Lakes section of Virginia Beach and graduated from Tallwood High School.
He attended the University of Alaska Anchorage where he met his wife, Jeannie. They got married this summer, and were expecting their first child.
Joel Schihl cooked in a restaurant owned by his wife’s family in Anchorage, but his father said he spent as much time as possible outdoors.
“He would go skiing in the morning, then go work in the restaurant,’’ Schihl said. “He died doing what he loved.’’
Here is a picture of the avalanche.
From the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Alaskan Edge - Surfing in Yakutat
Alaskan Edge: "Alaskan Edge
by
Jake Howard
1778 was a busy year for Captain James Cook. Early on in the year the English explorer became the first European to discover the paradise that is Hawaii, and his shipmates were the first to write about the thriving surf culture that already existed there. What’s lesser known, however, is that from there Cook and crew sailed north, where they spent the better part of a year mapping the coast of Alaska. Two very different places in most regards (although some native Alaskan tribes believe their ancestors migrated from Hawaii) but there’s one thing the two very unique states have in common: the spirit of aloha. Back in 1993 Alaska was featured on the cover of SURFER magazine. In Dave Parmenter’s acclaimed piece, The Land Duke Forgot we learned that while Duke may have passed this place up on his whirlwind tours, his spirit most assuredly has taken residence. Granted, the stereotypical surf image is a bit skewed up in the northern reaches, but the stoke is the same."
Also check out the Yakutat surf shop - for all your Alaskan Surfing needs.
by
Jake Howard
1778 was a busy year for Captain James Cook. Early on in the year the English explorer became the first European to discover the paradise that is Hawaii, and his shipmates were the first to write about the thriving surf culture that already existed there. What’s lesser known, however, is that from there Cook and crew sailed north, where they spent the better part of a year mapping the coast of Alaska. Two very different places in most regards (although some native Alaskan tribes believe their ancestors migrated from Hawaii) but there’s one thing the two very unique states have in common: the spirit of aloha. Back in 1993 Alaska was featured on the cover of SURFER magazine. In Dave Parmenter’s acclaimed piece, The Land Duke Forgot we learned that while Duke may have passed this place up on his whirlwind tours, his spirit most assuredly has taken residence. Granted, the stereotypical surf image is a bit skewed up in the northern reaches, but the stoke is the same."
Also check out the Yakutat surf shop - for all your Alaskan Surfing needs.
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