Tim Bradner, Alaska Journal of Commerce, Photo by Dave HarbourBill Walker, Governor, Alaska, budget cuts, Photo by Dave HarbourAlaska Journal of Commerce by Tim Bradner (NGP Photo-L).

 

Gov. Bill Walker (NGP Photo, above) and his new administration are still settling in as state legislators are packing up to head to Juneau for the 2015 session.

Mike Chenault, Speaker of the House, Alaska, budget, Dave Harbour PhotoKeven Meyer, Alaska State Senate, Senate President, ConocoPhillips, Photo by Dave Harbour

The annual political poker game begins Jan. 20 when the state Legislature convenes.

 

Walker will be at the table. So will House Speaker Mike Chenault (NGP Photo-Far R)​; Senate President Kevin Meyer (NGP Photo-R)​; House Democratic Minority Leader Chris Berta Gardner, Alaska State Senate, Senate Minority Leader, State Budget, Democrat, Anchorage, Photo by Dave HarbourChris Tuck, House Minority Leader, Alaska State House of Representatives, Alaska State Legislature, State Budget, Photo by Dave HarbourTuck (NGP Photo-R)​; and Senate Democratic Minority Leader Berta Gardner (NGP Photo)​.

 

Alaska Dispatch/AP by James MacPherson.  

Forget South Dakota. North Dakota's most similar sister state these days is some 2,000 miles away.

Alaska and North Dakota — which once had little more in common than wintry weather and elbow room — have for the past several years been locked in a state sibling rivalry ….

"It shocks me how much we have in common with Alaska, and it's not just the cold," said Kevin Iverson, manager of ….

North Dakota is bettering Alaska on crude production and the number of residents now….  The United States' unlikely economic darling that is North Dakota comes in contrast to slipping crude production on The Last Frontier.

…North Dakota recaptured the 47th most populous state from Alaska, which …. North Dakota had an estimated 739,482 residents in 2014, up more ….

Alaska lost more than ….  (Read more)