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Alaska capital: Juneau

US Capitals
AK: Alaska

State Abbr.
Alaska Population, 2006 estimate:
670,053
Alaska Population, 2000 Census:
626,932
Geography
Alaska Land area:
571,951.26
(square miles)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alaska capital: Juneau

ALASKA News:

VECO Scandal

20080501

Don Young - Connie Mack - Money - Investigation - Road - Construction - Florida - Alaska - Federal - Law - "‘Liar’ comment cranks up Coconut Road earmark controversy." ... "Two U.S. [United States] congressmen who spent a day touring Southwest Florida roads three years ago — sharing the same car for a drive up Interstate 75, attending the same town hall meeting at Florida Gulf Coast University and going to the same fund raising party in Estero [Florida] — are now trading insults." ... "At issue is who deserves the blame for how and why $10 million in a 2005 federal highway bill got assigned to a Coconut Road [Fort Myers, Florida] interchange study after the $286.4 billion bill passed Congress, but before the president signed it into law." ... "There’s now a dispute over who’s telling the truth and who’s ducking between [Florida Republican Representative] Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers, the congressman who had invited a more senior house colleague to visit Lee County in February of 2005, and [Alaska Republican Representative] Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who took the floor of the House on Wednesday to defend his support for the Coconut Road interchange study." ... "Young said he backed the project because it was what people from the area told him they wanted, and those were views he heard at Mack’s invitation." ... "“It was supported by the congressman from that district,” Young said of the $10 million earmark to study a new place to access the interstate. “And there’s letters to back that up.”" -By Elizabeth Wright -NaplesNews.com

20080430

Don Young - Connie Mack - Money - Politics - Law - Alaska - Michigan - Florida - Road - Real Estate - "Young blasts Mack over Coconut Rd.." ... "[Alaska Republican Representative] Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) on Wednesday defended changes his staffers made to the notorious Coconut Road [in Florida] earmark, the third time in a year he took to the House floor in an attempt to justify one of his suspect pet projects." ... "Young also accused his GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] colleague, [Florida Republican Representative] Rep. Connie Mack (Fla.[Florida]), of first supporting the earmark in 2005, and then distancing himself from it once watchdogs and the media began raising concerns." ... "Ethics watchdogs have raised red flags over the Lee County, Fla., road project, the language of which was changed after that measure passed the House and the Senate but before it reached the president’s desk. Such a change may have violated House rules, which prohibit substantive alterations to bills during the enrollment process, the formal procedure in which a measure is recorded before it moves on to be signed by the president." ... "The earmark has been tainted by controversy. Lobbyist Rick Alcalde represented both FGSU [Florida Gulf State University] as well as the company owned by Daniel Aronoff, a real estate developer who owned 4,000 acres along Coconut Road and helped organize a fundraiser for Young during one of his visits to the area in 2005. Both entities requested the Coconut Road earmark." ... "Young flew to FGSU for a town hall meeting in 2005 on a chartered plane owned by a Michigan company; the owner told the Naples Daily News that the Aronoffs were among his biggest clients." ... "After the town hall, Young went directly to a fundraiser at the Hyatt Coconut Point, which Aronoff helped organize." ... "Young said Mack invited him to the town hall meeting." ... "Young also posted documents and photos on his website in an effort to demonstrate that Mack was deeply involved in the earmark. In one letter in March 2006 to FGSU’s president, Mack supported it." -By Susan Crabtree -TheHill.com

20080421

Don Young - Connie Mack - Money - Politics - Real Estate - Transportation - Construction - Florida - Alaska - History - Federal - Law - Investigation - "Q&A: Don Young and the Coconut Road controversy: EARMARK: $10 million put in 2005 highway spending bill is coming back to haunt him." ... "Last week, the U.S. [United States] Senate voted to ask the Justice Department to look into what happened in 2005 when Alaska's sole congressman earmarked $10 million in unasked-for money to study a highway interchange in southwest Florida." ... "The 64 to 28 vote was an unprecedented request on the part of the Senate for a federal inquiry into the actions of a member of the House of Representatives." ... "At the center of it all: Alaska [Republican Representative] Rep. Don Young, who acknowledged responsibility last week for the 2005 earmark, which shifted $10 million pledged to help widen Interstate 75 to the interchange study. If built, the interchange promised to benefit one of Young's campaign donors, a family friend whose real estate company owned property nearby. The earmark was one of thousands overseen by Young when he was responsible for pushing a multiyear highway spending bill through Congress." ... "Young has maintained that there was nothing wrong with what he did, and that the earmark was requested by the community." ... "But Young is already the subject of a federal investigation, and many questions remain about how the earmark showed up in the spending bill -- after the House and Senate had already voted on an alternative proposal." ... "The obscure Coconut Road earmark first came to the attention of transportation planners in Lee County, Fla. [Florida], in 2006, when they tried to figure out why they had received $10 million in federal money for a study of an intersection that wasn't on their list of transportation priorities." ... "The transportation board thought it was getting a $10 million earmark to go toward widening of Interstate 75. Instead, the money was earmarked to the study of an interchange that improves freeway access to land owned by real estate developer Daniel Aronoff." ... "In 2005, the Alaska Republican oversaw the multiyear transportation bill, a $286.4 billion spending plan for some of the biggest infrastructure projects across the U.S. (The bill also included $452 million for the Gravina Island and Knik Arm spans that came to be known as the bridges-to-nowhere.)" ... "Local newspapers, including the Naples Daily News, picked up on the controversy, and posed the question to Young, at the time the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. In 2005, the Alaska Republican oversaw the multiyear transportation bill, a $286.4 billion spending plan for some of the biggest infrastructure projects across the U.S. (The bill also included $452 million for the Gravina Island and Knik Arm spans that came to be known as the bridges-to-nowhere.)" ... "Young refused to address the issue. The story failed to draw national attention until The New York Times wrote about it last spring. The article elaborated on the connections between the developers seeking the earmark and a 2005 campaign fundraiser Young attended in Bonita Springs, Fla., at the invitation of a local congressman, [Florida Republican Representative] Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla[Republican-Florida]. (The article also reported that when a Times reporter approached Young to speak to him about it, the congressman "responded with an obscene gesture.")" ... "Those donating money -- about $40,000 total -- to Young included Aronoff, whose family has long been friendly with Young. The earmark for the interchange study showed up not long after the fundraiser." -By Erika Bolstad -McClatchy via -ADN.com

20080420

Don Young - Abramoff - Bob Schaffer - Money - Politics - Mariana Islands - Chinese - Garment - Factory - Industry - Labor - Women - Abortion - Human Rights - Investigations - Government - Immigration - Law- History - US - Colorado - Alaska - "Records expose Young-Abramoff ties: MARIANA ISLANDS." ... "[Alaska Republican Represenative] Rep. Don Young has said he never allowed convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff to be an influential force over him in Congress." ... "But now a trove of old billing records from two of Abramoff's firms show that his team of lobbyists had more than 120 contacts with Young's personal and committee staffs over 25 months, including at least 10 with Young himself." ... "The available records cover a single Abramoff client, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. [United States] territory in the Pacific that Young oversaw when he chaired the House Resources Committee from 1995 to 2001." ... "The records show that one of the looming concerns of Abramoff and his fellow lobbyists at the time was a bill introduced by Young's fellow Alaskan, [Republican Senator] Sen. Frank Murkowski, to reform labor and immigration practices feeding the island's notorious Chinese-owned sweatshops. In 2000, Murkowski's bill passed the Senate unanimously, but Young stopped it cold in his committee, refusing to hold even a hearing." ... "Investigations by the government, media and human rights groups uncovered widespread abuses in the garment industry and among sex workers there starting in the mid-1990s, but Young asserted those investigations were bogus." ... "As a member of Young's Resources Committee, [Colorado Republican Representative and 2008 Election Colorado Senator Candidate Bob] Schaffer took a free trip to the Mariana Islands arranged by Abramoff's law firm, then played a central role in a 1989 committee hearing investigating Interior department officials in the [Democratic President Bill] Clinton administration who were trying to rein in the Saipan government [Saipan is the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands' capital]." ... "A growing number of reports spoke of near slave-labor conditions, with workers kept in sealed compounds, required to work seven days a week without overtime, and sometimes getting no paycheck at all. There were widespread reports of women coerced into getting abortions to keep their jobs. Some women hired abroad found themselves working not in garment factories at all, but sex clubs." -By Richard Mauer -ADN.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Alaska Republican Politicians:

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Kohring, Victor

Kott, Pete

Murkowski, Lisa A

Stevens, Ben

Stevens, Ted

Weyhrauch, Bruce

Young, Don

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20071227

US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Worldwide - Military - Government - Accounting - Terrorism - Politics - History - Alaska - Ted Stevens - "Wars Cost $15 Billion a Month, GOP Senator Says." ... "The latest estimate of the growing costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the worldwide battle against terrorism -- nearly $15 billion a month -- came last week from one of the Senate's leading proponents of a continued U.S. [United States] military presence in Iraq." ... ""This cost of this war is approaching $15 billion a month, with the Army spending $4.2 billion of that every month," [Alaska GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican Senator] Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska), the ranking Republican on the Appropriations defense subcommittee, said in a little-noticed floor speech Dec. [December] 18." ... "While most of the public focus has been on the political fight over troop levels, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) reported this month that the [Republican President] Bush administration's request for the 2008 fiscal year of $189.3 billion [$189.3/12=$15.775 billion per month] for Defense Department operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and worldwide counterterrorism activities was 20 percent higher than for fiscal 2007 and 60 percent higher than for fiscal 2006." (1, 2) -By Walter Pincus -WashingtonPost

20071203

Ted Stevens - Government - Lawmakers - Politics - Alaska - Miss - "Sens. Cochran, Stevens lead in earmark tally." ... "Senior Republican appropriators in the Senate have collected more money in earmarks than any other members of Congress, even though [Republican] President Bush and GOP leaders have forcefully criticized “pork-barrel spending.”" ... "Not only have these lawmakers defied their leaders, they have also taken a much greater share of the pot set aside for rank-and-file Republicans than have senior Democrats. As a result, some on the Hill are grumbling privately that GOP appropriators are “not only the kings of pork, they’re outright hogs,” in the words of one Senate Republican aide." ... "[Republican Mississippi Senator] Sen. Thad Cochran (Miss.), ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has collected $774 million worth of earmarks in 12 spending bills. After Cochran, [Republican Alaska Senator] Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska), the second-ranking Republican on Appropriations, secured more money for special projects than any other member of Congress: $502 million." -By Alexander Bolton -TheHill.com

20071111

Don Young - Criminal - Transportation - Construction - Real Estate - Jet - Travel - Money - Politics - Alaska - New York - Florida - "Alaska lawmaker promoted earmarks, raked in cash." ... "As chairman of the House transportation committee, Alaska Congressman Don Young flew at least three times to upstate New York aboard a sleek jet owned by Robert Congel, an ambitious shopping mall developer seeking federal highway dollars." ... "With Young’s help, Congel got millions of dollars to boost his dream of building the largest mall in North America. The veteran Republican congressman got something, too: more than $33,000 in political donations from Congel, his family and his associates." ... "For Young, the Congel story was hardly unusual. Time after time, Young approved millions of dollars for highway projects for people who in turn fattened his campaign coffers." ... "With money pouring in from transportation interests, Young amassed $6.5 million in political contributions from 2001 to 2005. Facing weak political opposition at home, he didn’t need much for his campaign. Instead, Young tapped his campaign fund to travel the country, often lavishly and in corporate jets, to meet with more developers and view their proposed highway projects." ... "Now, though, Young’s campaign donations are going for another purpose. He’s spent nearly $450,000 on criminal defense lawyers after he learned of an FBI investigation into his relationships with political donors, who include a Florida real estate developer seeking a highway ramp near his undeveloped land." -By Greg Gordon and Erika Bolstad-McClatchyDC.com

20070922

Government - Electronic - Surveillance - Data - Travelers - Flying - Driving - Reading - People - Civil Liberties - US - International - San Francisco - California - Alaska - Terrorism - Intelligence - Politics - Law - "Collecting of Details on Travelers Documented: U.S. Effort More Extensive Than Previously Known." ... "The U.S. government is collecting electronic records on the travel habits of millions of Americans who fly, drive or take cruises abroad, retaining data on the persons with whom they travel or plan to stay, the personal items they carry during their journeys, and even the books that travelers have carried, according to documents obtained by a group of civil liberties advocates and statements by government officials." ... "The personal travel records are meant to be stored for as long as 15 years, as part of the Department of Homeland Security's effort to assess the security threat posed by all travelers entering the country. Officials say the records, which are analyzed by the department's Automated Targeting System, help border officials distinguish potential terrorists from innocent people entering the country." ... "Officials yesterday defended the retention of highly personal data on travelers not involved in or linked to any violations of the law. But civil liberties advocates have alleged that the type of information preserved by the department raises alarms about the government's ability to intrude into the lives of ordinary people. The millions of travelers whose records are kept by the government are generally unaware of what their records say, and the government has not created an effective mechanism for reviewing the data and correcting any errors, activists said." ... "The activists alleged that the data collection effort, as carried out now, violates the Privacy Act, which bars the gathering of data related to Americans' exercise of their First Amendment rights, such as their choice of reading material or persons with whom to associate. They also expressed concern that such personal data could one day be used to impede their right to travel." ... ""The federal government is trying to build a surveillance society," said John Gilmore, a civil liberties activist in San Francisco whose records were requested by the Identity Project, an ad-hoc group of privacy advocates in California and Alaska. The government, he said, "may be doing it with the best or worst of intentions. . . . But the job of building a surveillance database and populating it with information about us is happening largely without our awareness and without our consent."" (1, 2) -By Ellen Nakashima with contributions by Julie Tate -WashingtonPost

20070914

Pete Kott - Ben Stevens - Ted Stevens - Secret - Alaska - VECO - Oil - Money - Crime - Politics - 2006 Election - "Witness in Alaska says he had oil company contacts: Ex-CEO who pleaded guilty says he talked with top unit officials" ... "Veco Corp.'s former chief executive told a federal jury Thursday that he was in regular contact with officials at ConocoPhillips and BP's Alaska divisions while bribing state lawmakers there to limit the state's oil production tax." ... "Bill Allen, ex-CEO of Veco, the [Alaska] Anchorage-based oil-services contractor, made the claim at the bribery and fraud trial of former Alaska state [Alaska state Republican Representative] Rep. Pete Kott. Allen told jurors in Anchorage federal court that he paid Kott about $8,000 to help fund the lawmaker's 2006 re-election campaign in exchange for his vote and influence with other representatives during a legislative debate over state oil taxes. Kott denied the charges." ... "Allen said he wanted to keep oil taxes low for his oil producer clients, whom he called "the three big boys" in secretly recorded conversations, and encouraged them to build a multibillion-dollar natural gas pipeline from Alaska to the lower 48 states. The clients were ConocoPhillips, BP and Exxon Mobil, he said." ... "On Thursday Allen claimed to have paid phony consulting fees to [Alaska state Republican Senator] Ben Stevens. Ben and [his father, Alaska Republican Senator] Ted Stevens have denied any wrongdoing and haven't been charged with a crime." -By Tony Hopfinger -Bloomberg via -Chron

20070912

Oil - Consumer - Money - Alaska - "Oil hits record over $80 on tight supply." ... "Crude oil prices vaulted to a record high $80 a barrel on Wednesday as dealers focused on tight inventories in top consumer the United States ahead of peak winter demand." ... "A rash of fires at BP's oil fields in Alaska's North Slope added to the record run, though BP said the accidents had minimal impact to production that was already being curtailed by routine maintenance." ... "Adjusted for inflation, prices are still below the $90-a-barrel peaks of the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and the start of the Iran-Iraq war the following year." (1, 2) -By Richard Valdmanis with contributions by Matthew Robinson in New York and Jane Merriman -Reuters

20070910

Global - Climate - Science - Air - Water - US - Russia - Alaska - "Scientist Measures an Overlooked Greenhouse Gas." ... "Alaska scientist Katey Walter studies an aspect of climate change that has been largely overlooked: methane emissions." ... "Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, which means it is much more efficient at trapping heat. As a result, methane feeds into a loop of global warming." ... "Thawing Yields More Methane." ... "As global temperatures rise, permafrost thaws. Ponds and lakes form in the depressions left behind by melting chunks of ice in the ground. In the bottoms of ponds and lakes, bacteria feed on the carbon that previously had been frozen underground and burp it out as methane." ... "And because methane emissions from lakes haven't been carefully studied, scientists worry that projections for global warming could be far worse than currently estimated." ... "Walter, who teaches at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, says that methane is being released from lakes in the far north — Alaska, Siberia [Russia], elsewhere — at a far greater rate than anyone has estimated." -By Melissa Block with contributions by Art Silverman -NPR/News

20070907

Craig - Vitter - Stevens - DeLay - Ney - Cunningham - Sherwood - Renzi - Doolittle - Jefferson - Politicians - Lawmakers - Homosexual - Idaho - Louisiana - Alaska - Texas - Ohio - California - Pennsylvania - Arizona - 2008 Election - "House G.O.P.'s History Could Repeat in Senate." ... "The embarrassing [Idaho Republican Senator] Larry Craig episode combined sex and the justice system – always a potent political mix and one reason the Republican leadership moved so swiftly to jettison Mr. Craig." ... "Already, Mr. Craig is the star of a Web video from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee featuring a lineup of recent Republican scandals being shown to the tune of the “Bad Boys” theme song from the television show “Cops.” It seeks to ridicule Republican claims to hold the moral high ground." ... "Mr. Craig’s guilty plea to a sexually related disorderly conduct charge only served to remind people about Mr. [Louisiana Republican Senator] Vitter’s [alleged prostitution] case – and prompt accusations of a double standard since Republicans took no action against the Louisiana lawmaker for his heterosexual incident compared to Mr. Craig’s homosexual one." ... "Republicans can point to the indictment of Louisiana Democrat[ic Representative] William Jefferson, but Democrats can counter with the names of Senators Craig, Vitter and [Alaska Republican Senator Ted] Stevens not to mention those of former Representatives [Texas Republican] Tom DeLay, [Ohio Republican] Bob Ney, [California Republican] Duke Cunningham and [Pennsylvania Republican] Don Sherwood." ... "Representative Rick Renzi of Arizona, another Republican under investigation, has already announced he will not seek re-election [in 2008] and top aides to [Republican] Representative John Doolittle of California, a former member of the Republican leadership, were called before a grand jury this week." -By Carl Hulse -NYTimes

20070905

Larry E Craig - Ted Stevens - David Vitter - Idaho - Alaska - Louisiana - Oregon - Law - "Craig Moves to Block Senate Ethics Panel Complaint." ... "Lawyers for [Idaho Republican] Senator Larry E. Craig of Idaho delivered a letter to the Senate ethics committee today asking the committee to reject a complaint relating to his guilty plea in an airport sex sting operation." ... "Mr. Craig stunned Washington late yesterday with an announcement through his spokesman that he may return to the Senate despite announcing Saturday “my intent to resign from the Senate effective September 30.”" ... "A nonprofit group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington [DC], also said it filed a complaint last week against Mr. Craig. In that filing, Melanie Sloan, the group’s executive director, said the Senate ethics rules broadly cover “improper conduct which may reflect upon the Senate.”" ... "Ms. Sloan also called on the Senate to investigate [Senator] Ted Stevens, Republican of Alaska, who is under criminal investigation for financial dealings, and [Senator] David Vitter, Republican of Louisiana, whose name appeared in phone records of a Washington prostitution ring." ... "The [U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics] committee conducted a three-year investigation into alleged sexual harassment, abuse and assault by Senator Bob Packwood, Republican of Oregon, ending in his resignation under threat of expulsion in 1995." -By Duff Wilson -NYTimes

20070830

Larry Edwin Craig - David Vitter - Ted Stevens - Gay - Religion - Law - Enforcement - Idaho - Louisiana - Alaska - 2008 Election - "Craig Faces Growing Republican Pressure to Resign (Update3)." ... "Republican lawmakers and Christian groups are increasing pressure on [Republican] Idaho Senator Larry Craig to resign, saying he can't resurrect his political career after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct in connection with a restroom incident." ... "Three Republicans in Congress yesterday demanded Craig resign and party leaders in the Senate yesterday forced him to relinquish his committee leadership posts." ... "Craig, 62, was deciding whether to seek re-election [in 2008] before his arrest, and since has become the target of jokes, putting his immediate political future in doubt, said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster and strategist. In defending himself, Craig denied being gay." ... "Should Craig resign, [Republican] Idaho Governor Butch Otter would appoint someone to fill the seat until the 2008 election." ... "Still, Craig's troubles add to a list of Republican embarrassments, including Louisiana [Republican] Senator David Vitter's public apology after his phone number was linked to a Washington escort service, and Alaska [Republican] Senator Ted Stevens's acknowledgement that he is under an FBI corruption probe." -By Julianna Goldman and Lorraine Woellert -Bloomberg

20070807

Minnesota - Political - Transportation - Construction - Gas - Legislation - I-35W Bridge Collapse - Disaster - Don Young - Alaska - Government - "Bridge Collapse Revives Issue of Road Spending." ... "In the past two years, [Minnesota Republican Governor] Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota twice vetoed legislation to raise the state’s gas tax to pay for transportation needs." ... "Now, with at least five people dead in the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge here, Mr. Pawlenty, a Republican, appears to have had a change of heart." ... "Even as the cause of the bridge disaster here remains under investigation, the collapse is changing a lot of minds about spending priorities. It has focused national attention on the crumbling condition of America’s roadways and bridges — and on the financial and political neglect they have received in Washington and many state capitals." ... "Despite historic highs in transportation spending, the political muscle of lawmakers, rather than dire need, has typically driven where much of the money goes. That has often meant construction of new, politically popular roads and transit projects rather than the mundane work of maintaining the worn-out ones." ... "The $286 billion federal transportation legislation passed by Congress in 2005 included more than 6,000 earmarks, which amounted to blatant gifts to chosen districts, including the [Alaska Republican Representative Don Young's] so-called Bridge to Nowhere in rural Alaska (that earmark was later removed after a political uproar)." ... "A study released in May by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young found that 83 percent of the nation’s transportation infrastructure was not capable of meeting the country’s needs over the next 10 years. The American Society of Civil Engineers, in its latest national report card, gave transportation infrastructure a D." (1, 2) -By Susan Saulny and Jennifer Steinhauer -NYTimes

20070801

Lisa Murkowski - Ted Stevens - Don Young - Alaska - Real Estate - Money - Politics - "Ethics Questions Plague Other Alaska Senator." ... "Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, has been drawn into a swirl of ethics accusations that have already brought F.B.I. scrutiny to the two other members of the state’s Congressional delegation and resulted in a raid this week on the home of [Alaska Republican] Senator Ted Stevens." ... "There is no evidence that Ms. Murkowski faces a criminal investigation, unlike Mr. Stevens and the state’s sole member of the House, Representative Don Young, both Republicans." ... "But she has been forced to defend herself publicly against conflict-of-interest accusations and announced last week that she would sell back 1.27 acres of riverfront land that she had bought for $179,500 from a local real estate developer who is tied to the investigation of Mr. Stevens." ... "Local real estate agents in Alaska said the property, on the banks of the Kenai River, had a value of up to $350,000." -By Philip Shenon and David M. Herszenhorn -NYTimes

20070731

Ted Stevens - Alaska - House - Money - Politics - Law - "Warrant served at Stevens' Girdwood home: FBI, IRS examine residence; remodeling job under scrutiny." ... "Federal law enforcement agents raided [Alaska Republican Senator] U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens' Alaska home in Girdwood on Monday, hauling off undisclosed items from inside and taking extensive pictures and video." ... "Neighbors said agents showed up between 11 a.m. and noon and that a commercial locksmith was called to open the front door. Some two dozen agents were still there at 9:30 p.m." ... "The agents were obviously cataloging the house and its fixtures, from light switches and electrical outlets to a big stainless steel barbecue grill on a second-floor deck that neighbors said was hoisted there with a crane. At one point, agents climbed on the pitched metal roof to take pictures of heat tape in the gutters." ... "A federal law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of not being identified by name, said the FBI is trying to determine whether Stevens has received a hidden benefit stemming from his position in Congress." ... "If Stevens received renovation work for which he did not pay, it could be deemed unreported income by the IRS. Receipt of unreported renovation work also could amount to an illegal gratuity. Or if it were performed in return for political favors, it could be considered a bribe." -By Richard Mauer and Erika Bolstad with contributions by Greg Gordon -McClatchyDC.com -ADN.com

20070730

Ted Stevens - Alaska - Oil - Money - VECO - House - Construction - Politics -