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With less than a week until the primary election ends, what do the poll aggregators and forecasters say about the governor's race?

Good Wednesday morning!

*National Weather Service preparing Juneau emergency management professionals for the glacial flood expected this week from Suicide Basin. NWS photo.*

It's shaping up to be a historic week, especially in Southeast Alaska. Juneau residents along the Mendenhall River are watching Suicide Basin and are busy packing go-bags, travelers on the Klondike Highway are stranded after a massive rockslide. And in the Capitol, another round of gasline games. Across Alaska, campaign season is heading into its final sprint before next Tuesday's primary. Seven-day reports (campaign finance reveals) are out and I’ll have more on that later this morning at www.thealaskastory.com.

Thanks for spending part of your Wednesday with The Alaska Story.

~ Suzanne

The Alaska Story is a reader-supported publication. Support my work by becoming a paid subscriber.

🎙️ Top story

🕵️‍♀️The Alaska Story investigation: Wealthy Massachusetts Democrat is bankrolling another anti-Sullivan campaign in Alaska. You’ll never guess which one. Read more.

🦊The foxes demand more access to the henhouse with latest Big Union endorsements. Guess who the federal employee union endorsed? Read more.

Also today…

🌊Suicide Basin is full and dripping over … and Juneau residents along the river are packing their bags. Read more.

Meanwhile, Juneau facilities along Mendenhall River, including the Mendenhall Valley Public Library, Dimond Park Field House, Dimond Park Aquatic Center, all nearby fields (Dimond Park, Melvin Park, Mendenhall River Community School), and nearby trails are closed today and Thursday.

🛘Breaking: A section of Klondike Highway was buried in rock Tuesday evening, leaving travelers stranded in the Yukon Territory. Gov. Dunleavy has offered help to clear the road. Read more.

Update: The Klondike Highway may be closed for a while. The mountainside is unstable. Multiple rock slides reported. This is the same area that took three days to clear in the 2024 slide incident, just to open one lane, and 44 days to clear completely.

📊Pollsmaxxing: Bernadette Wilson has 84% chance of winning in November. Read more.

Update: Nate Silver gives Tom Begich 71% chance of winning:

🩻Fauci’s words and actions are coming back for him, Linda Boyle writes. Read more.

🎣 Dunleavy vetoes bill that had targeted snowbirds who hunt and fish. Read more.

🗓️Breaking: Dunleavy to release gasline compromise bill that has S-corp tax. Read more.

Update: This bill to be released today, sources tell us.

🔪Kill Bill: AK Senate majority lays groundwork to kill gasline bill again. Read more.

👏Anchorage gives back: Fundraiser for legendary stolen vehicle hero. Read more.

Today’s Number

222.7 million

Acres of Alaska owned by the federal government.

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The Alaska Story Exclusives:

The Anchorage Daily News left off the leading GOP candidate:

Energetic conference: US Energy Secretary Chris Wright will deliver keynote remarks at the Alaska Oil & Gas Association’s 10th Annual Conference on Aug. 27 in Anchorage.

Suzanne’s notebook:

Total solar eclipse: Alaska won’t get a piece of today’s total solar eclipse, but the skies will put on quite a show elsewhere. The moon’s shadow will sweep across eastern Greenland, western Iceland, northern Spain and a sliver of Portugal, with totality lasting as long as two minutes, 18 seconds near Iceland. NASA will follow the eclipse with balloons and a high-altitude jet, while viewers across much of Europe, Canada and the northeastern United States will see a partial eclipse. For Alaskans, it will be another ordinary August day under the northern sun.

Shake and bake: August 12, 2018, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Alaska’s North Slope (55 miles southwest of Kaktovik). It was the strongest instrumentally recorded quake in that region and was felt at oil facilities around Prudhoe Bay.

“Sup, Virtual Democrat campaigners?

‘Sup, Anchorage?

‘Sup, Kenai?

Quote of the Day

Part of me is thinking “Wow, it's Wednesday already” and the other part is thinking “Wait … What do you mean, it's only Wednesday?!”

Today’s meme:

Oil out, money in

Alaska North Slope crude: ~$83.11/barrel / 464,239 barrels/day

Alaska Permanent Fund balance: Aug. 6: $91,858,600,000

Thanks for spending a few minutes with me this morning. If a friend forwarded this newsletter to you, I’d love to have you join us as a subscriber. Have a wonderful Alaska week. I'll see you back here Friday morning.

~ Suzanne

The Alaska Story is independent, Alaska-based and covers the stories legacy media misses and the angles the mainstream sheeporters won’t cover.

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Wednesday News Brief: Suicide Basin slushes over top, rocks bury Klondike Highway