Free Republic

Two citizen-backed initiatives will likely appear on the general election ballot in November, including one seeking to repeal Alaska’s voting system, state election officials said Tuesday. After a monthlong review, the state Division of Elections made the initial assessment that groups had gathered enough signatures to place two questions on the ballot: Voters will be asked to indicate whether they support Alaska’s current ranked choice voting and open primary system; and whether they support provisions mandating paid sick leave for many Alaska workers and increasing the state’s minimum wage. The initiative opposing ranked choice voting was organized by allies of...

Boeing Co. fired the head of its 737 Max aircraft program Wednesday, shaking its leadership amid the fallout of a midair blowout of an Alaska Airlines door plug in January. Ed Clark, who headed the 737 Max division, will leave Boeing immediately, according to a memo from CEO Stan Deal. Deal said the leadership changes are emblematic of the company’s “enhanced focus on ensuring that every airplane we deliver meets or exceeds all quality and safety requirements. Our customers demand, and deserve, nothing less.” The Alaska Airlines incident resulted in an Federal Aviation Administration-mandated grounding of the 737 Max 9...

The State Department on Monday brushed off reports of Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering his government to look into the nation’s former “real estate” abroad, saying Alaska would be staying in American hands. Putin signed a new decree last week to allocate funds for the research and registration of Russian property overseas, including that in former territories of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union, Russian state media TASS reported. The decree, which comes amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, did not specifically mention Alaska, though it caught the attention of military bloggers, who argued Putin was using the decree to...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new decree relating to Moscow's historic real estate holdings abroad, a move interpreted by ultranationalist bloggers as a foundation for future revanchism against Russia's neighbors—and even the U.S. The decree, signed by the president late last week, allocates funds for the search, registration, and legal protection of Russian property abroad, including property in the former territories of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. This would include Alaska, swathes of eastern and central Europe, large chunks of central Asia, and parts of Scandinavia. Russia's Foreign Ministry and its presidential administration's Foreign Property Management...

New edict affects all of Moscow's historic holdings across three continents, including former imperial colonies in the US. Russia has laid the groundwork for expanding its soft power across North America and Asia with a new decree Vladimir Putin signed last week. The new order provides funds to search, register and provide legal protection to Russian properties abroad – including land and buildings located in former Russian Empire and Soviet Union territories. Among the areas affected by the new decree is Alaska, which was sold to the United States in 1867 and still hosts communities with close links to Russia....

Administrative agencies are having a direct effect on whether Alaskans who don’t want RCV can organize and get their message out to voters... Efforts to repeal ranked-choice voting (RCV) in Alaska are proving confusing, and chaotic — just like RCV itself. But a disturbing question lies just beyond the pro-RCV and anti-election lobby smoke bombs: Does the Alaskan government have a tacit hand in silencing concerned citizens? Ranked-choice voting is profoundly complicated to explain, which in itself should be a giant red flag. It is a proposed change to our voting system pushed nationwide by some Republican operatives as well...

During an emergency press briefing, Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), disclosed that the cockpit voice recorder on the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX, which experienced a door plug loss mid-flight, had been completely overwritten. Homendy said, “The cockpit voice recorder was completely overwritten. There is nothing on the cockpit voice recorder.” She continued, “There was a lot going on, on the flight deck and on the plane. It’s a very chaotic event. The circuit breaker for the CVR (cockpit voice recorder) was not pulled. The maintenance team went out to get it, but it...

After an emergency exit-sized hole opened in the side of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 at 16,000 feet, a separate chaotic episode erupted when the cockpit door mysteriously flew open. That meant the pilots were subjected to the deafening wind and noise from the back of the plane—and also made the cockpit accessible to anyone inclined to try to force their way in. What the flight crew didn’t know at the time, federal investigators said Monday, was that it was supposed to happen that way. What the flight crew didn’t know at the time, federal investigators said Monday, was that it...

Investigators say a door plug on Alaska Airlines 1282 came loose from fittings meant to hold it to the plane ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ United Airlines and Alaska Airlines have discovered loose parts on Boeing BA -1.41%decrease; red down pointing triangle 737 MAX 9 jets that they have inspected after a near-catastrophe on a flight Friday, signaling Boeing’s issues go beyond the aircraft that made an emergency landing. The disclosures came shortly before investigators at the National Transportation Safety Board said that dangerous episode on an Alaska Airlines jet occurred because an emergency exit-sized door plug blew out at around 16,000 feet after...

Federal investigators said that Boeing didn’t make pilots aware that when a plane rapidly depressurizes, the cockpit door will fly open ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The cockpit door aboard last week’s troubled Alaska Airlines flight surprised the flight crew by swinging open seconds after the fuselage suffered a potentially catastrophic rupture, according to the chair of the federal agency investigating the incident. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said during a news briefing Monday that the cockpit doors flew open immediately after the paneled-over exit door popped off of the fuselage. A flight attendant had to try three times to get it...

A Portland man recovered a cell phone, which is believed to be owned by a passenger of Alaska Airlines flight 1282 after it was sucked out of the plane when the door plug blew open. Writing on X, the man, Sean Bates, posted a photo of the phone: “Found an iPhone on the side of the road,” he wrote. “Still in airplane mode with half a battery and open to a baggage claim for #AlaskaAirlines ASA1282.” Bates found the phone when he was out walking before posting it on social media, which also showed what appeared to be an Alaska...

The climate fanatics at The Washington Post treated an old oxymoronic article claiming that man-made global warming causing more Alaska blizzards as front-page news. The Post took its Dec. 16 eco-propaganda headlined, “As Alaska’s climate gets wetter, snowstorms put the homeless in peril,” and plastered it onto the front page of the Jan. 8 print edition of the newspaper. Yes, you read that right.The newspaper just broke old news. Apparently, regurgitating weeks-old agitprop was more important to the newspaper than the recent disturbing news that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin hid his hospitalization for days without DOD officials or President...

The cockpit voice recorder data on the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet which lost a panel mid-flight on Friday was overwritten, U.S. authorities said, renewing attention on long-standing safety calls for longer in-flight recordings. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair Jennifer Homendy said on Sunday no data was available on the cockpit voice recorder because it was not retrieved within two hours - when recording restarts, erasing previous data. The U.S. requires cockpit voice recorders to log two hours of data versus 25 hours in Europe for planes made after 2021. The industry has been wrestling with the...

A horrifying series of videos shared Friday showed the moment a window panel off an Alaska Airlines flight, and it turns out there were already concerns over the aircraft before takeoff. ... there was a significant concern over the aircraft’s safety well before the incident occurred, ... The aircraft was not being used for flights to Hawaii because a warning light already indicated there were pressurization problems on three different trips before the one where the door panel blew off. Alaska Airlines had apparently restricted longer flights over water so it “could return very quickly to an airport” if the...

With state and federal money, University of Alaska researchers plan to explore the viability of a new coal plant in the Susitna River valley that would inject its carbon emissions underground...

A large cargo ship carrying lithium batteries which caught on fire has reached Alaska but continues to be held two miles offshore while responders attempt to extinguish the blaze. The 19-strong crew managed to make it to shore with no injuries reported, according to the US Coast Guard. The Genius Star XI was carrying a load of lithium-ion batteries across the Pacific Ocean, from Vietnam to San Diego when the cargo caught on fire, the guard's Alaska district said in a release. The fire started on Christmas Day in cargo hold No. 1, a spokesperson for ship owner Wisdom Marine...

A large cargo ship with a fire in its hold is being kept 2 miles (3.22 kilometers) offshore of an Alaska port as a precaution while efforts are undertaken to extinguish the flames, the U.S. Coast Guard said Saturday. There were no injuries to the 19 crew members aboard the Genius Star XI, which was carrying a load of lithium-ion batteries across the Pacific Ocean, from Vietnam to San Diego, the guard's Alaska district said in a release.

(Excuse me for printing his words. I wanted you to see what the left is saying now.) This is infuriating. This clod deserves no respect. Bill Maher called Sarah Palin a “dumb twat” on his comedy show last night. His far left audience loved it. The Daily Caller reported: On Friday night’s airing of the show, host Bill Maher took a shot at one of the left’s favorite targets, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, by contemplating her reaction to the tragic events that have unfolded in Japan over the past nine days. (h/t Real Clear Politics Video) “Did you hear...

Russian lawmaker Sergei Mironov suggested in a Wednesday post to X, the platform previously known as Twitter, that the oversight and power of the U.S. is weakening, citing the recent attempts by Venezuela to seize lands controlled by its neighbor, Guyana. The politician suggested that other nations should consider retaking old territories that are now part of the U.S., citing the examples of Mexico and Texas, and Russia and Alaska.

The Biden administration is facing heavy criticism from Native Alaskans over its crackdown on oil and gas drilling in Alaska, activity which generates tax revenue vital for key state and local programs. Native Alaskan leaders have particularly taken issue with the Department of the Interior's (DOI) recent actions blocking future oil and gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve (NPR), an area in North Slope Borough, Alaska, specifically set aside by Congress for resource development, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), and in federal offshore waters off the state's coast. "My community unapologetically supports the leasing program," Charles Lampe,...