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Anchorage News Edition
of Continental Newstime newsmagazine
VOLUME XIV NUMBER 1 NOVEMBER 1, 2026
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This is not the whole newspaper, but a special complimentary, on-line edition of the general-interest newsmagazine, Continental Newstime. The rest of the newspaper includes national and world news, newsmaker profiles, commentary/analysis, periodic interviews, travel and entertainment features, a science column, humor, sports, cartoons, comic strips, and puzzles, and averages 26 pages per month. Continental Features/Continental News Service publishes, on a monthly rotational basis, special, complimentary on-line newspapers: Washington DC News Edition, Chicago News Edition, Honolulu News Edition, Atlanta News Edition, Anchorage News Edition, Boston News Edition, Seattle News Edition, Miami News Edition, San Diego News Edition, Rochester (N.Y.) News Edition, Minneapolis News Edition, and Houston News Edition.
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* Congressional News Briefs … Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski and Congressman Nick Begich, together with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy have announced funding of $249 million, under the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program, to complete the 32-mile rail connection to Port MacKenzie’s deepwater port from the Alaska Railroad’s 500-mile main line. Senator Sullivan notes, “This is a major win for the Mat-Su Borough and our entire state, and another important step toward unlocking Alaska’s extraordinary resource potential.” The implications of the federal award are “opening new opportunities for mineral development, supporting major energy projects like Alaska LNG, and creating good-paying jobs for Alaska’s hard-working families.” Senator Murkowski adds that the project will reduce shipping times and costs, while Congressman Begich, as Vice-Chair of the Railroads and Pipelines Subcommittee, says that $34 million was previously awarded to expand Port MacKenzie’s facilities. Then, too, with Senator Sullivan terming Alaska a “resource-rich but infrastructure-poor state,” the Senators inform that there will be almost $105 million in Port Infrastructure Development Program funds for six other port and maritime-infrastructure projects from Southeast Alaska to the Aleutian Islands and the Arctic Ocean. Senator Sullivan reports, as well, that U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins is releasing $8 billion under the new Harvest Fuel Relief Program to offer farmers and food harvesters, including Alaska fishermen, aid in meeting high diesel prices. The Senator says that fishermen partner in the program by calculating and providing information on their vessels’ fuel consumption and costs, so the Agriculture Department can figure relief payments. Moreover, at the Alaska Federation of Natives annual convention, he underscored how Alaska Native voices have been heard at the federal level, through efforts to expand land allotments for Alaska Native Vietnam veterans, the restoration of National Guard units to rural communities, disaster relief, the protection of Alaska’s subsistence resources, a five-year injection of funding in rural health care, planning for water and sanitation projects, and a commitment to counteract domestic violence and sexual assault. Senator Daniel S. Sullivan has not commented on his Website about Democrats running a retired teacher, Daniel J. Sullivan, to siphon votes away from the Senator, but after the New York Times reported that a Democratic operative working with his chief Democratic opponent, former Congresswoman Mary Peltola, and national Democrats encouraged the retired teacher to enter the race, a spokesperson for the Senator’s campaign asserted, “Alaskans deserve the truth.” Senator Murkowski separately, but as part of a bipartisan group of Senators, has protested President Donald Trump’s recent concession to Russian President Vladimir Putin that enables Moscow to sell diesel fuel in the world marketplace. The Senators write: “Granting Moscow the ability to sell Russian diesel freely in global markets damages American security interests and is a betrayal of the people of Ukraine, who continue to defend themselves from Putin’s murderous, illegal war. This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies; it should be rescinded.” At-Large Congressman Begich, reporting from his Anchorage Office, calculates that since taking office in January, 2025, his “constituent-services team has now returned over $3 million to Alaskans who were waiting on benefits, tax refunds, and other federal payments.”
* State Government News Briefs … Governor Mike Dunleavy, following his Proclamation joining the 27th national observance of Lights On After School and its commitment to providing quality after-school educational programs that equip youth with essential life and academic skills, while enhancing the well-being of Alaska families and communities, has issued a Proclamation declaring October 23-31, 2026 as Red Ribbon Week, a time for raising awareness of the harm that alcohol and drug misuse causes to individuals, families and communities and creating recognition that making healthy, drug-free choices represents an act of leadership and courage.
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* Municipal Government News Briefs … Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance, as part of her ten-year housing-construction goal of 10,000 homes to meet the Municipality’s housing crisis, has proposed working with the Anchorage School District to market a 53.8-acre property the School District originally acquired for a future school site before enrollment declined and to sell this Westpark property for housing development, with sales proceeds going to the School District. The Mayor observes, “Selling the Westpark land is a win-win. It not only allows us to help fund our schools, but it opens unused public land for housing development our community urgently needs.” And the Mayor has authored Assembly Resolution 2026-292 to this effect. Of the two other School District properties that the Mayor and the School District are working to transfer, Campbell STEM Elementary School was the subject of a Request for Information by the Mayor and Assembly Member Erin Baldwin Day at a public meeting, with a Request for Proposals on future uses of the building due to follow in the community, while the two local officials will accept the Abbott Loop Elementary School lot after the unsafe building is removed, a community conversation on its future being set to take place some time in November. Superintendent Dr. Jharrett Bryantt concedes, “We have a responsibility to continually ask whether the way we use our facilities and property best serves students.” Also supporting the School District’s partnership with the Municipality, School Board President Carl Jacobs reflects, “The School Board has a responsibility to meet the needs of students today while also making decisions that support a sustainable school system for the future.” In other developments, the Mayor has submitted her Administration’s 2027 Municipality of Anchorage budget proposal, one including a General Government Operating Budget of $692.5 million and a Capital Improvement Budget of $87.9 million. The Mayor explains, “The Municipality has limited revenue sources. Core services are funded largely by property taxes, which are strictly limited by the municipal tax cap,” and the proposed operating budget “sits $34,000 under the municipal tax cap.” She continues, “alcohol and marijuana tax revenues have declined. Years of reduced support from the State of Alaska budget have increased reliance on property taxes to maintain core services and essential infrastructure. To avoid service cuts in 2027, the LaFrance Administration patched about a $15 million budget gap through disciplined fiscal planning, cutting nearly $1 million in vacant positions, reducing reliance on contractual services, and using $12.1 million in one-time funds.” Given these funding limitations, the Mayor informs that the priorities of her Administration are “robust public safety, increased housing development, and modernized infrastructure”; building the regional recreation and tourism economy; neighborhood revitalization; energy affordability; and economic growth. Meantime, the priorities of the Capital Improvement Budget are fire-house replacement and acquisition of more ambulances; drainage work and road maintenance; “traffic calming” and pedestrian safety; energy-efficiency upgrades at the Performing Arts Center and installation of a new HVAC system at the Loussac Library; repairs and improvements at Goose Lake Park and other parks, playgrounds and trails; and improvement projects at the Chugach State Park Access Service Area. Finally, the Administration is committed to crisis care and access to housing to reduce homelessness and drug use. The Assembly, in turn, has followed up on individual Members’ community budget workshops with a Municipality of Anchorage Fiscal Future Summit on October 30. Leading up to its scheduled regular meeting on November 4, the Assembly planned Work Sessions on amending the Municipal Code. The regular-meeting Agenda includes consideration of an Ordinance establishing new restrictions on automated license-plate reader systems, real-time crime-center operations, live-camera monitoring, and retention of surveillance data, with a prohibition on participation in external surveillance-data networks. Besides, Public Hearings are scheduled on both the Operations and Capital Improvement Budgets, and Assembly Members are due to address a proposed Ordinance revising annual certification deadlines and reporting requirements for real-property tax exemptions.
* School District News Briefs … The Board of Education of the Anchorage School District anticipates a deficit in excess of $90 million next school-year and is acting on a Right-sizing Initiative that reflects changing demographics and urgent needs. Both outgoing Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt and the Board have pledged to avoid additional school closures, at least this year. An interim-leadership change is favored by the District, too.
* Weather … The National Weather Service reports that there is light rain at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, as of 9:53 PM on October 29, with a temperature of 44 degrees Fahrenheit, relative humidity of 71 percent, wind out of the north at 6 miles per hour, barometric pressure of 29.57 inches, a dewpoint of 35 degrees, a wind chill of 41 degrees, and visibility of 10 miles. The over-night forecast calls for a 90-percent chance of precipitation and a low temperature of 42 degrees. Look for the chance of rain or showers to decrease from 90 percent Friday, to 60 percent Friday night and to 50 percent on Saturday, with the daily high temperature hovering around 40 to 42 degrees and the over-night low temperature being 38 degrees. It is generally anticipated that mostly-cloudy skies will prevail from the night of October 31 through at least November 2, given mostly-sunny skies on November 1, along with daytime temperatures of 40-42 degrees and night-time temperatures of 31 to 33 degrees.
* Sports … The Seawolves Men’s Hockey Team next plays on November 6 (4 PM) and 7 (3 PM) in St. Paul, Minnesota against the University of St. Thomas. Meantime, the Men’s Basketball squad has two games against Evergreen State in the Alaska Airlines Center: one on November 6 (11 AM) and one on November 7 (4:15 PM). And the Women’s Volleyball Team hosts St. Martin’s on November 5 at 7 PM in the Alaska Airlines Center.
For a copy of the cartoon feature of Martin Tanksley, please E-mail continentalnewstime@gmail.com
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One of the questions Ralph Nader is yet to answer about his book, “Let’s Start the Revolution”:
“Can that ‘left/right coalition’ you mention hang together once formed on certain issues when one side fails to rein in its desire to initiate new spending programs and the other side objects that it’s their money that is to be spent?”
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* Proverbs (chapter 28/verse 22): “He that hastes to be rich has an evil eye, and considers not that poverty shall come upon him.” hastes=hurries.
[A timely warning against get-rich-quick schemes]
A free copy of the Etna, California News Edition of Continental Newstime [dated August 14, 2020] containing the newspaper feature of outdoor writer Lee Snyder is also available by
E-mail request to info@continentalnewsservice.com
*Free
Marion, Montana News Edition
of Continental Newstime newsmagazine
VOLUME I NUMBER 1 AUGUST 17, 2022
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This is not the whole newspaper, but a special complimentary, on-line edition of the general-interest, periodic newsmagazine, Continental Newstime. The rest of the newspaper includes national and world news, newsmaker profiles, commentary/analysis, periodic interviews, travel and entertainment features, an intermittent science column, humor, sports, cartoons, comic strips, and puzzles, and averages 26 pages per month. Continental Features/Continental News Service publishes, on a monthly rotational basis, special, complimentary on-line newspapers: Washington DC News Edition, Chicago News Edition, Honolulu News Edition, Atlanta News Edition, Anchorage News Edition, Boston News Edition, Seattle News Edition, Miami News Edition, San Diego News Edition, Rochester (N.Y.) News Edition, Minneapolis News Edition, and Houston News Edition.
Marion, Montana News Edition of Continental Newstime
Editor-in-Chief: Gary P. Salamone
Continental Features/Continental News Service
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* Congressional News Briefs … Marion’s agent in the U.S. House of Representatives, Matt Rosendale, decided he was not going to sugar-coat House Bill 5376. While House Democrats said they were acting to pass the “Inflation Reduction Act,” the Congressman contended that legislation increasing the size of government, raising taxes on hard-working Americans and spending billions of taxpayer dollars on the Left’s Green New Deal was actually an “Inflation Acceleration Act” and he cast a vote against the bill. Warning that the spending would “cripple our nation’s budget,” he noted that the legislation “will also raise an army of 87,000 IRS agents to squeeze more taxes out of already-hurting American families. With frivolous spending and an enlarged, aggressive IRS, the only climate that will be changing over the next year will be the economic climate, and it will get worse.” He offered this solution: “To reduce inflation, Congress must freeze spending, a concept the Left does not understand. Reining in federal spending and reducing taxes to lower inflation will reaffirm confidence in those investing in our economy.” On his part, Senator Steve Daines, commenting on the $739-billion, so-called Inflation Reduction Act of President Joseph Biden and Senate Democrats that he opposed, asserted that Senate Democrats voted against Daines’ amendment to eliminate policies that would increase costs on Made in Montana energy and other amendments that would render the bill “less painful for Montanans.” He characterized, as “supersizing the IRS,’ the plan to hire more than 80,000 Internal Revenue Service agents “to audit small and medium-size businesses and assert control over the lives and finances of Montanans.” He termed a subsidy for “rich people” the provision to offer $7,500 tax credits to individuals making up to $150,000, so they can purchase expensive electric vehicles. Considering the bill “a slap in the face of Montana families,” the Senator added, “The Democrats’ reckless tax-and-spend bill is bad for Montana families, bad for Montana energy jobs and bad for Montanans’ pocketbooks.” Working with Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth and Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono, Senator Daines has introduced bipartisan legislation, known as the BABES (Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening) Enhancement Act, to require the Transportation Security Administration to clarify and update guidance, every five years, on handling breast milk, baby formula, and other related nutrition products based on consultation with leading maternal-health experts. Calling the legislation a “Bill to Support Montana Moms,” Daines informs that companion legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives, and the measure is endorsed by such organizations as the March of Dimes and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Senator Jon Tester, in turn, as the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, announces that the $792.1-billion Defense Appropriations Bill earmarks almost $182 million for Montana priorities, saying, “This legislation will keep America safe by investing in Malmstrom Air Force Base, giving our troops a well-deserved pay raise [4.6 percent], ensuring our servicemen and women are well-equipped with the most up-to-date technology, and shifting resources towards programs that’ll maintain our fighting edge over adversaries like China and Russia.” For example, over in Columbia Falls, uAvionix is due to receive $7 million to develop Future Tactical Unmanned Aerial System communications. In addition, he reports that, for Montana, the American Rescue Plan Act means $266 million to deliver high-speed Internet to rural areas of the state, something that is “one of the biggest keys to success for Montana’s students, families, and small businesses.”
* State Government News Briefs … Governor Greg Gianforte has expressed the view that the Montana Supreme Court, after upholding a district-court order temporarily blocking three pro-life bills he signed into law—the Court should not delay bringing into line its 1999 ruling in Armstrong v. State with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision finding that there is no constitutional right to abortion and that the states are entitled to restrict abortion. In other developments, the state legislature has highlighted a recent report by the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology that acknowledges findings of the Department of Environmental Quality that the ingestion of too much manganese through drinking water may be harmful, at the same time the Bureau notes that the mineral, naturally present in many common foods, is essential for proper nutrition and that too little may be harmful, as well. Some research shows that adults and children drinking water with high manganese concentrations for sustained periods may suffer from memory and attention problems and motor-skill deficits. But, since most Montanans tap groundwater supplies for their drinking water, they mainly avoid high levels of manganese. Those that do not? The Bureau’s Ground Water Assessment Program reports that 7 percent of the water samples it tested exceeded the recommended health-standard limit for
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adults and children older than 6 years of age. Checking 3,858 water samples from across the state, the Bureau gives assurance that manganese concentrations were low and safe for 85 percent of the well samples it analyzed and that lower concentrations were recorded in samples from western Montana aquifers; higher concentrations, in the eastern part of the state. Specifically, certain aquifers near Flathead Lake, north and west of Great Falls, and in the Missouri River Valley yielded more samples with elevated manganese concentrations. The Safe Drinking Water Act categorizes manganese as a secondary water contaminant, like iron, pH and sulfate, meaning it is safe to drink, but may damage water equipment and transmit an unpleasant odor and taste. The state legislature reports that 380 Montana schools, to date, have tested water fixtures for the primary water contaminant, lead and are implementing remedies for contaminated fixtures.
* County Government News Briefs … The Flathead County Board of Commissioners [Brad W. Abell, Pamela Holmquist, and Randy Brodehl], at its last meeting on August 11, considered six different lakeshore permits, including one at McGregor Lake, one at Flathead Lake, and another at Whitefish Lake; conferred with Erik Mack, of the Planning & Zoning Office, who reported an uptick in zoning violations; discussed giving authorization to publish a Notice of Public Hearing on Road Abandonment concerning an unnamed portion of road off Highway 93 West; took up the matter of authorization to publish a Call for Bids for the estimated $120,000 Fall, 2022 Pavement Striping Project; was due to hear from Liz Wood, of Mountain Climber Transit, on ridership increases, and from Ashley Cummins, Director of the County Library, who reported approximately 1,000 daily patron visits system-wide and who provided an update on the Library Board vacancy; planned to meet with Sheriff Brian Heino; and, among other County business, was tasked to sign a Behavioral Health Hospital Provider Agreement with Logan Health.
* School District News Briefs … The Marion Elementary School District, with the library closed during the summer due to remodeling, plans a Back to School Kick Off Event on September 1, with school starting on September 6. Earlier this month, the District posted a notice that it was hiring for full-time teaching positions in physical education and in the sixth-grade classroom. The School Board is scheduled to meet again on September 12. Meantime, in the Kalispell Public Schools District, Flathead High School announces that classes resume either on August 31 or September 1, depending on the grade level.
* Sports … The Flathead High School Boys Varsity Football Team is set to play Skyview on August 27 at 7 PM and is due to visit Gallatin on September 2 for a 7 PM kickoff.
* Weather … The National Weather Service reports that current conditions 17 miles west-southwest of Kalispell, as of 3:15 PM on August 17, are sunny, with a temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit, relative humidity of 15 percent, barometric pressure of 29.95 inches, visibility of 10 miles, wind out of the south-southeast at 3 miles per hour, and a dewpoint of 36 degrees. The over-night forecast calls for clear skies, northeast wind of 3 to 5 miles per hour and a low temperature of about 55 degrees. Tomorrow, look for sunny skies, with a daily high temperature of about 91 degrees, calm wind becoming east-northeast wind of about 6 miles per hour in the morning. Thursday night, expect mostly-clear skies, with a low temperature of about 56 degrees and northeast wind of 3 to 6 miles per hour.
* Community Calendar … August 19—Pachyderm Meeting of Flathead County Republicans (12 Noon-1 PM) at the Eagles (37 First Street W, Kalispell); August 27—Pheasants Forever Chapter #138 Banquet (5 PM-9 PM), at the Fairgrounds; September 16/17—Quilt Show, at the Fairgrounds; September 17—Glacier Rabbit Show, at the Fairgrounds; September 30—Kalispell Ski Swap, at the Fairgrounds.
Dry Tortugas [Reprinted and Updated] by Lee Snyder
Named “Las Tortugas” (the turtles) by 16th-century Spanish explorers who found the harmless reptiles nesting on its shores, the Dry Tortugas is a collection of several sandy spits and tree-dotted islands. Fort Jefferson, once famous as a 19th-century “American Devil’s Island,” remains one of the world’s largest brick structures. The red brick fort is most famous as the jail where Dr. Mudd was held after treating Lincoln’s assassin for a broken leg.
Fort Jeff, past National Monument, is now part of Dry Tortugas National Park, which, together with the water and island reefs, is one of this nation’s most remote and unique units of our National Park system. While sharks are still occasionally found swimming in the moat, tourists are more likely seen snorkeling around the fort’s outer boundary viewing a dazzling array of fish, coral and sponges. Today, the Coast Guard’s close scrutiny of increasing public pressure allows visitors to see what underwater Florida is supposed to be. Divers claim the park waters are the liveliest anywhere in the state. “Little Africa,” an unspoiled section of coral reef near Loggerhead Key, the largest island in the chain, boasts expanses of staghorn and elkhorn coral more like those found in Caribbean than in Florida waters.
Nearly 27,000 people—mostly fishermen, yachtsmen, and divers—visit the park by boat each year.
But, for a six-week period, the bulk of the visitors attend for another reason. Spring in the Tortugas is definitely a birdwatcher’s delight. Florida’s peninsular shape is like an appendage reaching out into the ocean. Its islands are the first safety offered travelers crossing the Gulf of Mexico…. The “funneling effect” allows for close inspections of the birds in their most colorful breeding plumage—an opportunity that draws enthusiastic birders from all over the world….On any given spring day in the Tortugas, birders with four, five and six hundred birds on their lists are found. Listers with seven and eight hundred on their lists are usually there as guides, having visited the islands years before. But, even so, an errant species from South America, the Bahamas or Cuba could fly by adding to all lists.
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