Lisa Murkowski

The Alaska Division of Elections has released the official certified list of write-in candidates -- including the names of about 160 protesters who registered for the U.S. Senate race Thursday evening, just before the 5 p.m. deadline. The new write-in candidates say their actions are a silent protest against the division, and add that they're throwing their names into the mix to confuse voters and make it more difficult to find write-in candidate Sen. Lisa Murkowski's name. Several of those who filed before Thursday's deadline say they got the idea from KFQD radio talk show host Dan Fagan, who encouraged listeners and offered prizes to whoever put the most Murkowski-like last name on the list.

The Pentagon announced on Friday plans to strengthen its missile defense system with Ft. Greely on deck to see a significant increase due to the potential threats from North Korea. Alaska's D.C. delegation, Rep. Don Young and Sens. Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski, have applauded the plan that would add 14 more interceptors at Ft. Greely. The base located near Fairbanks already has 26 interceptors. “From the 14 new ground-based missile interceptors, to the fish in supermarkets across the country, to gasoline in our fuel tanks, people often forgot how important Alaska is to this country,” said Rep. Young in an issued statement.

An Alaska judge ruled against Republican Joe Miller's challenge to write-in votes in the U.S. Senate race. Judge William Carey writes in his decision that state statute allows flexibility. The Miller legal team argues that a candidate's name must be written in as it appears on the individual's declaration of candidacy. Carey says use of the word "appears" does not mean exact spelling is required. "Appears does not mean 'exactly,' 'precisely,' or 'perfectly,' but rather 'close to,' 'like,' or 'resembles.

Lisa Murkowski says she's not a quitter. Murkowski met with members of the Alaska Libertarian Party this morning as she carefully decides what's next for her career. Alaska Libertarian Senate candidate David Haase and other party leaders met with Lisa Murkowski for about an hour. They talked issues and at the end of it all both Murkowski and the Libertarian party agreed not to make a decision on her candidacy right away. “I think her supporters, more or less, put her into this meeting with me. I couldn't say that Lisa sought out to talk to me, but we had a very nice conversation,” said Haase.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski is on her way back to Alaska, and plans to announce at Anchorage's Dena'ina Center at 5 p.m. Friday whether she's getting back into the U.S. Senate race -- but Alaskans are already weighing in on her political future. There are certainly many opinions, but most seem to think Murkowski should run a write-in campaign. “I think she should try to stay in the race if she can -- I think longtime Republicans have done a lot for this state,” said Anchorage resident Landon Lockhard.

The U.S. House passed a conference version Thursday of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2013, containing a number of amendments affecting Alaska's military forces made by the state's congressional delegation. Rep. Don Young's office says he voted for the bill incorporating changes from the Senate, which passed on a 315-107 vote, and now goes to the Senate. Sen. Lisa Murkowski's office says the Senate will probably take the bill up Friday, with Congress under pressure to send a final version of the NDAA to President Obama's desk this week before its Christmas recess.

by Channel 2 News staff Tuesday, May 4, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is threatening the coastlines of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. While engineers attempt to find a way to plug the leaks, BP and the Coast Guard are working with private citizens to protect the coast.  Recent developments in the weather and ocean currents have been favorable, keeping most of the oil offshore and giving coastal defenders time to prepare.

The Alaska Railroad could face some tough decisions after the U.S. Senate chose last week to cut $30 million in federal funds designated for the railroad from the Senate transportation bill. Alaska's senators, Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski, pushed for an amendment to include the railroad funding in that bill but it was ultimately unsuccessful. They still supported the overall package, however, because it also contains more than $1 billion for transportation investments and thousands of jobs in Alaska over the next two years.

The U.S. Department of Energy released a new report Thursday looking at how U.S. liquefied natural gas is exported, which is being hailed by Alaska's U.S. senators -- although Alaska wasn't included in it. The study's authors say they didn't include LNG export from Alaska, due to the state's specific circumstances being unique in the nation. "(T)here is no natural gas pipeline interconnection between Alaska and the Lower-48 states, the macroeconomic consequences of exporting LNG from Alaska are likely to be discrete and separate from those of exporting from the Lower-48 states," Begich's office quoted from the report in a Thursday statement.

by Channel 2 News staff Thursday, July 15, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Alaska's U.S. senators were split on Thursday's vote for financial reform. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 60 to 39. Sen. Lisa Murkowski was a no vote, while Sen. Mark Begich voted yes on the legislation. The 2,300-page document is expected to end the concept of banks being too big to fail, and adds new protections for millions of consumers. Murkowski says the legislation isn't what Alaskans expect from Wall Street reform.