Simon Says

Another Election...

I'm in the middle of another election series.  I know a lot of friends have asked me "how many elections we have up here."  Well city elections are every three years. That's my answer for why it seems like so much.  Even though it's exciting and fun to cover, after numerous elections I am kind of warn out and ready for a little break.  But anyway, check out the series I'm working on...very interesting if you're not from up here. (And if you are I hope you'll be an educated voter :)

Norma Goodman 1930-2007

A lot of Channel 11ers lost a great friend today.  Norman Goodman, who spent her entire career with the station,(more than 50 years,) passed on last night.  I had the pleasure of interviewing Norma and getting to know her in my KTVA tenure.  Here is what we posted today:

"It is a sad time for our state and especially for us here at CBS 11 News. We've lost a friend, a colleague and a true broadcast legend. Norma Goodman died Wednesday night at the age of 76 after a short battle with cancer.

She's called the first lady of television and with good reason. Norma Goodman held the record for hosting the longest continuous running talk show on TV--not just in Alaska, but in the country."

Mackey Wins Iditarod 35

Mackey makes history with Iditarod win

Lance Mackey shouts for joy under the burled arch in Nome after winning the 2007 Iditarod Sled Dog Race on Tuesday March 13, 2007. (Bob Hallinen / Anchorage Daily News) Lance Mackey on the trail from White Mountain to Safety just before the Topkok Hills on Tuesday March 13, 2007. ( Bob Hallinen / Anchorage Daily News)

By KEVIN KLOTT
Anchorage Daily News

(Published: March 13, 2007)                

NOME - Lance Mackey lit up this historic, old gold-mining town along the Bering Sea on Tuesday as he feasted on the thrill of Iditarod victory.

Punching his fists into the sky, pounding the lucky number 13 bib on his chest, waving to a big Front Street crowd, and always smiling, the Fairbanks musher bounded down Front Street behind his smartly trotting team to claim his first victory in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

His exuberance was so unbounded it was hard to believe he’d been on the 1,100-mile trail for 9 days, 5 hours, 8 minutes and 41 seconds from Anchorage, or that he’d barely grabbed a few hours sleep over the course of the two previous days as the world’s greatest sled dog race moved up the Bering Sea coast.

“Unreal,’’ he said as he bounced around the finishing chute like a puppy. “Unreal.’’

Later, after reporters managed to pull him away from the dogs, family, friends and well-wishers he couldn’t stop hugging, the 36-year-old son of 1978 Iditard champ Dick Mackey talked about seeing a lifelong dream fulfilled.

“This is a dream I’ve been dreaming about since I was a little boy,’’ he said.

It is now a dream come true.

The #13 bib Mackey wore was the same number both his father and half-brother Rick had worn to victory before him. Each of them won the Iditarod on their sixth try. This was Lance’s sixth try.

The planets had aligned, and in ways no one had thought possible.

In and Iditarod marked by furious winds and horrible trail conditions, Mackey made history by a far bigger measure than simply joining two other family members in the winner’s circle.

That was an Iditarod first overshadowed by Mackey becoming the first to win both the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race and the Iditarod back to back, largely with the same dogs.

No one thought it could be done.

No one that is, but Lance Mackey, the musher in the soiled red snow suit who hugged his wife, Tonya, at the finish line, then raced to embrace lead dogs who licked and slobbered all over his face badly windburned face.

That was the only visible sign of the beating he had taken on the trail, but hidden beneath his right glove was a frostbitten middle finger coated with canine foot salve, covered in toilet paper and wrapped with duct tape to thwart the pain.

Mackey’s only disappoint at the finish was that his dad, who now lives in Arizona, wasn’t at the finish. He was still flying north. Instead of a hug from Dick, Lance got a phone call from Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

“You’re kidding me’’ was the musher’s first reaction to hearing the governor was on the phone.

“You’re now this huge Alaskan hero,’’ Palin told him.

“Sixth try? No. 13? What are the odds?’’ Mackey had wondered back at the White Mountain checkpoint before marching off to seal his victory.

Want longer odds?

Mackey had a cancerous tumor removed from his neck two years ago. That left him with nerve damage in his left index finger and pain so unbearable he wanted the finger removed.

“It was a big throbbing pain,” he said.

The finger was surgically removed. Three hours after leaving the hospital, Mackey was running his dogs.

The odds of winning the 1,100-mile Iditarod and the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest back to back were astronomical, too.

“I got pretty beat up on the Quest,” he said. “I got two handwarmers in there and I still can’t keep my fingers warm. (But) I could be dead on my feet and still be smiling from ear to ear.”

At one time, competing in both marathons was thought to be impossible. But winning both the same year?

“I guarantee nobody thought this was going to be possible,” he said.

Mackey had no doubt.

“Not even a question,” he said.

“There’s no way that if I would have raced them hard (at the Quest) and came here to race them hard, I would still have a team.

“But I didn’t have to (run hard) in the Quest. It was a long training run from Dawson (to Fairbanks).”

Eight of the nine dogs Mackey finished with, he said, were Quest dogs.

Twice before, Mackey tried winning both in the same year and came up short. He won Quests in 2005 and 2006, but finished seventh and 10th in those Iditarods.

But last month, he won his third straight Quest in record-setting time. Eleven days later, with nearly the same team, he started the Iditarod in Anchorage.

HEADING NORTH

Everything started coming together for Mackey last May when his family lived in Kasilof.

Ten weeks before Iditarod sign ups began — the first mushers in line have dibs on bib numbers — Mackey sold his Kasilof home and purchased another in Fairbanks. Between the moves, Mackey and his family had no place to live; he’d sold his Kasilof home to younger brother, Jason, who’d moved in.

So wife Tonya, Lance and their four teenage kids settled into their camper in the driveway of their old Kasilof home. But Lance said that Jason spent more time in the camper than in the home. It got annoying.

“The hell with it,” Lance said, and he drove north to Wasilla. He and Tonya remembered the Iditarod signups were June 24.

So the Mackeys pulled into Iditarod Headquarters on June 17, seven days early but first in line. The next day, G.B. Jones of Knik waited in line with his camper.

With the kids on summer break and the Matanuska Valley sun shinning brightly on his rig, Mackey made the most of his family’s move north.

“I felt like a teenager again,” he said, “playing around the parking lot with my kids.”

On June 24, Iditarod Headquarters opened its doors. Mackey signed up, then bolted to Fairbanks. And on March 1, at the Iditarod pre-race banquet in Anchorage, Mackey picked bib No. 13.

His dad won with it, his brother won with it. Maybe it was his lucky No. 13, too.

His team needed some luck Saturday night when Mackey brought up the rear in a four-team dash to the Bering Sea coast, led by four-time champions Jeff King of Denali Park and Martin Buser of Big Lake. But Mackey and Paul Gebhardt — old Kasilof neighbors who used to swap dogs — fed off each other’s momentum, working to catch up.

The teams chugged through 25 mph headwinds, eventually making up a six-hour deficit.

The key for Mackey the rest of the way was resting less, but feeding more.

“There was no reason to stop except to snack, and they ate everything,” he said. “I’d start at the back, work to the front, get back to the sled and everything would be gone. It’s about a 30 second stop.”

He kept going, even in Rainy Pass when he was down to just one runner. Despite that, he maneuvered the sled through the treacherous Dalzell Gorge and across the snowless Farewell Burn until he could get a replacement in McGrath.

“Unbelievable,” Mackey said. “Buser was in front with two good runners and he was falling over. But every time I laughed at him, I would fall.”

'TIME FOR A NEW FACE’

As a 7-year-old, Mackey began dreaming of winning the Iditarod after he watched his dad win by one second.

“That was the most important second of his life,” Mackey said. “I never thought I’d actually be living it, too.”

But it’s exactly what he pictured.

“Just like (Robert) Sorlie, Martin (Buser) and Jeff (King), they all dream about perfection,” Mackey said. “That’s exactly what this trip’s been for me — perfect.”

Not since Mitch Seavey won in 2004 has a new champion passed the Burled Arch on Front Street. Mackey likes that picture.

“You know, I was kind of thinking … I’m tired of the Jeff (King) and Martin (Buser) Show,” Mackey said. “It’s time for a new face – even if it’s an ugly one.”

And with his victory, Mackey gets to replace his ugly, unreliable truck, prone to expensive breakdowns. In addition to his $69,000 first-place prize, Mackey will received a 2007 Dodge Ram Laramie. The truck, valued at $40,980, will look pretty, he said, beside the four ugly diesels parked in his driveway.

“Somebody said I could go pick the color of my truck,” he said. “I’d like to have a one-of-a-kind (truck). I’m gonna have it painted up. People are gonna know what that truck means to me.”

And people will know how important it was to pick No. 13.

“I was ready, damned and determined when I picked that number,” Mackey said. “That bib to me now is absolutely priceless. It’ll be a piece of memorabilia that I’ll cherish the rest of my life.”

Mackey's Zorro

ADN Reporter Kevin Klott also had this awesome story...

Zorro didn't finish, but he left his mark
STUD: Mackey's faithful canine friend is sick with pneumonia but is improving.

Lance Mackey and Zorro (BOB HALLINEN / Anchorage Daily News)

By KEVIN KLOTT
Anchorage Daily News

(Published: March 15, 2007)                

NOME -- Tears of joy rolled down Lance Mackey's leathery cheeks when he crossed the Burled Arch here Tuesday night to celebrate a historic finish in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

But earlier in the day, 77 miles up the trail, an emotional Mackey shed tears of sadness when he dropped the always-faithful Zorro in White Mountain.

The 8-year-old team dog, father of seven of the eight dogs in this extraordinary team and the main stud in Mackey's Comeback Kennel, couldn't make the final push to Nome. Veterinarians thought Zorro had pneumonia; blood tests confirmed it.

"He's all I thought about," Mackey said. "Pretty hard to accept the fact that I might not see him alive again.

"It might sound silly, but I'd give up that new truck to keep Zorro alive. That's how important he is to me."

Mile after mile, the 36-year-old Fairbanks musher kept telling some higher being in doggie heaven, "Please, just keep my dog alive, man."

"He's the reason I'm here," Mackey said. "My main boy, no doubt about it."

After crossing the Burled Arch in Nome, one of the first questions Mackey asked Iditarod officials was, "How's Zorro?"

Iditarod head veterinarian Stu Nelson said his health is improving, but Mackey won't put Zorro in the clear for another few days.

"It's not over," Mackey said. "This is the kind of situation that in four days from now he could still pass."

On Wednesday, Zorro was sleeping comfortably on a bed of straw inside a tent and away from his teammates. When Mackey entered, however, Zorro's eyes popped open and his tail started wagging fast.

"You'll be just fine, buddy," Mackey said. "He seems to be doing a lot better."

Much better than early Tuesday morning when Mackey checked into White Mountain -- the second-to-last checkpoint -- at 1:38 a.m. Mackey said Zorro seemed fine that day. But Mike Gascoigne, a volunteer veterinarian from Brisbane, Australia, noticed Zorro's belly bulging under the straw.

"That wasn't right," Mackey said of Zorro's hard breathing. "He was the only dog doing it."

So Gascoigne took Zorro into the warm checkpoint, checked his vitals and watched him until Mackey left for Nome at 9:38 a.m.

"To me, that guy deserves an award," Mackey said. "He sat on that chair all night, falling asleep sometimes. He never left (Zorro). It made me feel good that these guys are very adamant about saving dogs' lives."

When Mackey finished his first Iditarod in 2001, Zorro was his strongest dog. The only yearling (less than 2 years old) finisher, Mackey predicted Zorro would provide the bloodline for an eventual championship team.

"He ain't a leader, but he's the main reason this team is what they are," Mackey said. "Without him, I'm nothing. In 2001 ... I told my brother (Rick Mackey), 'He ate, he had a good attitude, his feet were perfect -- he's just an all-around dog.' "

With Zorro, Mackey built his kennel. The hard part was training the dogs to buy into his "eat more, rest less," philosophy.

"I demand perfection," he said. "I think they read off me a bit."

Mackey reads their mannerisms, too. He said Zorro has a couple of sons in the dog yard trying to take his spot as the kennel's main stud.

"The whole kennel watches (Zorro) as soon as a bitch comes in heat," Mackey said. "He's the man. But his boy Molson wants that spot. He wants a taste of that action."

He can't run Zorro and Molson together. They fight like cats and dogs, he said, because he wants daddy's spot.

"I think it's comical," he said. "I can tell what they're thinking. One ready to brawl; one telling the other to (back) off."

Iditarod 35

A lot of excitement up here as the Iditarod dog sled race has started.  ADN photographer Marc Lester captured the picture I've posted. For those of you who don't know a lot about it, here's Wikipedia's article.  I'm going ahead and link you all to ADN's complete coverage for all of this years information, results, and excitement.  I'll do my best to follow the race and post results as they come in. And, of coarse, you can visit the Iditarod's official webpage.

More on Palin's Pipeline Proposal

ADN Reporter Sabra Ayres has a really good, and easy to understand article explaining Palin's plan:

Palin unveils anticipated gas line proposal

LEGISLATION: It offers $500 million seed money and a tax break.

By SABRA AYRES
Anchorage Daily News

(Published: March  3, 2007)                

JUNEAU -- Lawmakers greeted Gov. Sarah Palin's much anticipated gas pipeline bill Friday with measured caution about two of its key incentives to launch a multibillion-dollar project.

Palin introduced her bill Friday, saying the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act defines incentives the state would give potential pipeline builders in exchange for committing to transport Alaska's natural gas to market.

The North Slope has huge supplies of natural gas, and getting it to the Lower 48 is critical to helping the United States reduce its dependence on foreign energy sources, Palin said.

The bill offers to give a pipeline developer as much as $500 million, which the developer would need to match, as seed money for the project.

AGIA also would freeze state gas-production taxes for 10 years after a pipeline started up for any North Slope producer that agrees early on to put its gas into the pipe.

"We are trying to remove as many risks to the builders as possible, and create stability and predictability," said Marty Rutherford, the deputy commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources and a key member of Palin's gas line advisory team.

But while, in general, legislators welcomed Palin's bill as a new jump start to the gas pipeline issue, some said they want more details on why the administration included the $500 million seed money as a gift as opposed to a loan.

"I'm not saying it was the wrong decision, but I want to let the administration have its say," said House Majority Leader Ralph Samuels, R-Anchorage. "If the state is taking up half of the risk, what will we be getting back?"

In addition, the 10-year tax freeze for producers raised questions with some legislators in terms of its legality, as well as its potential problems in the eyes of the natural gas producers.

As the owners of the Slope's natural gas, the producers will be key players in the process, Samuels said.

"Like it or not, they have the gas, so we are going to have to work with them to get them to come to the table, especially when it comes time for the open season," Samuels said. Open season is when natural gas owners commit to ship their gas, and it happens before a pipeline is built.

Some gas producers might not want to step forward if they don't know what their future tax rate will be, Samuels said.

Sen. Hollis French, a Democrat from Anchorage, said he also would be looking at the tax freeze.

Legislators got legal opinions last year during debate on raising oil taxes that they couldn't lock in tax rates over a long term, he said. "I'm going to pay particularly close attention to the tax details on this."

Palin's proposal would replace legislation then-Gov. Frank Murkowski used last year to draft a deal with three big North Slope producers on state tax terms if they built a pipeline. Murkowski's contract was slammed for being too generous to the producers -- BP, Conoco Phillips and Exxon Mobil -- and it died when Murkowski lost his re-election bid last August.

During her election campaign, Palin promised to bring more transparency to the state's dealing with possible gas line builders.

"Her bill takes the exact opposite approach from the Murkowski plan, which harmed the state's negotiation position when he agreed to only contract with the producers," said Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage. "AGIA forces big companies to compete against each other."

According to Palin's advisers, the state will have a strict timeline in which it hopes to move the process from legislative approval of the bill to pipeline fieldwork by the summer of 2008.

On Friday, Palin said she hoped the Legislature would work closely with her administration to get the bill passed this spring in order to stay within the desired time frame.

"Getting the bill passed this year is optimistic," Samuels said. "We'll give it our best shot, but I remember this time last year thinking that we'd have an oil and gas tax bill passed, and we were back here in August."

If AGIA passes, the administration will seek applications for the incentives. During that time the public will have a chance to participate in reviewing applications.

Senate Minority Leader Gene Therriault said he believed the criteria for how the administration will judge applicants would be an important part of the bill's debate.

Palin's proposal also includes creation of a state pipeline coordinator to streamline the state's issuing of the many permits needed to build a pipeline. That office will work with the federal office created last year to oversee federal approval of a project.

As part of the licensing of a pipeline builder, the builder must agree to several terms intended to benefit Alaskans, the Palin administration said.

The builder must give the state at least five places within the state where gas can be taken out for in-state use.

The builder must actively recruit within the state to hire Alaskans, in addition to having its headquarters in-state. In return, the state will provide training programs to ensure there are qualified technicians ready to work on the project.

AGIA also focuses on commitments from the builder to expand the pipeline's capacity if explorers find enough new reserves of natural gas on the Slope.

The builder would be required to re-examine pipeline expansion every two years and agree to add pipeline capacity as needed.

 

---

 

Reporter Sabra Ayres can be reached at [email protected]

Copyright © 2007 The Anchorage Daily News (www.adn.com)

Palin Releases Natural Gas Pipeline Plan

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Governor Palin has introduced natural gas pipeline legislation that she says is the first step in ultimately delivering trillions of cubic feet of North Slope reserves to
market. The multibillion dollar pipeline has implications for North America's long-term energy supply for heating homes and businesses. It's being widely discussed by lawmakers, energy regulators and oil company executives around the world. By presenting Alaska's lawmakers with the proposed Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, also known as "AGIA," Palin is formally setting aside failed efforts by her predecessor Frank Murkowski. It also means Exxon Mobil Corp, B-P P-L-C and ConocoPhillips, who had an agreement in principal with Murkowski, must start over with negotiations.  And this time they'll compete on a larger playing field. At least 12 groups or companies have expressed an interest in building the pipeline. Palin's bill sets project criteria which energy companies must meet in exchange for inducement incentives from the state to build a pipeline. One of those inducements is a stake up to 500 (m) million dollars to offset startup costs for the company or group of companies selected to build the pipeline. The bill also affords tax incentives and royalty breaks for North Slope oil and natural gas lease holders.    
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Governor Set To Debut Gasline Plan

It is about to be a very busy day in my world, and for all Alaska political reporters.  I'm up late cramming, reminiscent of those dreaded college "all nighters." Earlier tonight I attended a two hour tutoring meeting making sure I understand full well the information about to be presented at 11 AM Alaska time.  While I can't share that information until after 11, I can share what Governor Palin has told me on the record thus far.  All this has to do with the ongoing effort to get Alaska's natural gas to market, through a pipeline. I've blogged about it a whole lot.  For the past week the governor was in DC at the governor's conference selling her plan to the Feds.  Folks like President Bush, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner, Secretary of Energy, our Alaskan congressional delegation, etc.  The governor tells me the meeting went better then expected.  And many of those federal officials who were skeptical of her proposal are now on board.  The governor's plan is called the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, or AGIA.  The main idea in submitting her AGIA bill to lawmakers is to replace the current law Alaskan officials must follow to negotiate getting a natural gas pipeline.  That law is known as the Alaksa Stranded Gas Act, or ASGA.  Governor Palin argues our gas is not stranded anymore and ready to be moved to market.  ASGA requires lots of behind closed doors negotiations, which Alaskans hate.  Palin says AGIA will make the process more public.  But thus far the inducements, or incentives, AGIA will require have been unknown.  Today Palin will present all the unknowns.  Palin's commissioners say the gasline negotiating process has always been flawed because both sides have left too many unknowns out there.  AGIA will tell producers, in a law, everything the state expects producers to deliver; and in return will tell producers what they'll get if they deliver the best offer.  While the governor made it clear to reporters Wednesday one of the inducements will be the state matching dollar for dollar, up to $500 million, for the producer who ends up winning the pipeline building rights to offset the billion dollars in licensing fees they'll have to fork out.   Governor Palin also told me she'll offer the winning producer a complete Alaska workforce ready to go by 2008's summer.  Here's what the governor told me when I asked how that would be possible: "You start now. Training those who will be ready once the ground starts turning and the pipeline is being bulit. We do that by working with the department of labor and the department of education. Working together with what the existing programs are. But also augmenting those programs. Making sure you fill in all those gaps. Construction projects. Engineering aspects of it. The service oriented aspect of it."  In return for the Alaskan workforce, Palin says she will spell out in the bill the winning producer would have to hire an all Alaskan workforce.  That's about all I can report for now.  Updates to come soon.