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NOTN- A 28-year-old Juneau woman was seriously injured early this morning in a single-vehicle crash along Egan Drive, according to the Juneau Police Department.
Police said officers were called at about 6:10 a.m. to the outbound off-ramp near the U-Haul building, where a gray Ford F-150 had gone off the road. The woman, who was the only occupant of the truck, was partially ejected and sustained life-threatening injuries.
She was taken to Bartlett Regional Hospital and later medevaced out of town for further treatment.
The intersection and right outbound lane of Egan Drive were closed for several hours during the investigation but have since reopened.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Police said details released so far are preliminary and subject to change as the investigation continues.
AP- The government shutdown is poised to become the longest ever this week as the impasse between Democrats and Republicans has dragged into a new month. Millions of people stand to lose food aid benefits, health care subsidies are set to expire and there are few real talks between the parties over how to end it.
President Donald Trump said in an interview that aired Sunday that he “won’t be extorted” by Democrats who are demanding negotiations to extend the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies. Echoing congressional Republicans, the president said on CBS’ “60 Minutes” he’ll negotiate only when the government is reopened.
Trump said Democrats “have lost their way” and predicted they’ll capitulate to Republicans.
“I think they have to,” Trump said. “And if they don’t vote, it’s their problem.”
Trump’s comments signal the shutdown could drag on for some time as federal workers, including air traffic controllers, are set to miss additional paychecks and there’s uncertainty over whether 42 million Americans who receive federal food aid will be able to access the assistance. Senate Democrats have voted 13 times against reopening the government, insisting they need Trump and Republicans to negotiate with them first.
The president also reiterated his pleas to Republican leaders to change Senate rules and scrap the filibuster. Senate Republicans have repeatedly rejected that idea since Trump’s first term, arguing the rule requiring 60 votes to overcome any objections in the Senate is vital to the institution and has allowed them to stop Democratic policies when they’re in the minority.
Trump said that’s true, but “we’re here right now.”
“Republicans have to get tougher,” Trump told CBS. “If we end the filibuster, we can do exactly what we want.”
With the two parties at a standstill, the shutdown, now in its 34th day and approaching its sixth week, appears likely to become the longest in history. The previous record was set in 2019, when Trump demanded Congress give him money for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
A potentially decisive week
Trump’s push on the filibuster could prove a distraction for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Republican senators who’ve opted instead to stay the course as the consequences of the shutdown become more acute.
Republicans are hoping at least some Democrats will eventually switch their votes as moderates have been in weekslong talks with rank-and-file Republicans about potential compromises that could guarantee votes on health care in exchange for reopening the government. Republicans need five additional Democrats to pass their bill.
Thune told reporters Monday that he was “optimistic” that the Senate could vote to reopen the government by the end of the week.
But he also added, “If we don’t start seeing some progress or some evidence of that by at least the middle of this week, it’s hard to see how we would finish anything by the end of the week.”
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday there’s a group of people talking about ”a path to fix the health care debacle” and a commitment from Republicans not to fire more federal workers. But it’s unclear if those talks could produce a meaningful compromise.
Far apart on health care subsidies
Trump said in the “60 Minutes” interview that the Affordable Care Act — often known as Obamacare because it was signed and championed by then-President Barack Obama — is “terrible” and if the Democrats vote to reopen the government, “we will work on fixing the bad health care that we have right now.”
Democrats feel differently, arguing that the marketplaces set up by the ACA are working as record numbers of Americans have signed up for the coverage. But they want to extend subsidies first enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic so premiums won’t go up for millions of people on Jan. 1.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said last week that “we want to sit down with Thune, with (House Speaker Mike) Johnson, with Trump, and negotiate a way to address this horrible health care crisis.”
No appetite for bipartisanship
As Democrats have pushed Trump and Republicans to negotiate, Trump has showed little interest in doing so. He called for an end to the Senate filibuster after a trip to Asia while the government was shut down.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that the president has spoken directly to Thune and Johnson about the filibuster. But a spokesman for Thune said Friday that his position hasn’t changed, and Johnson said Sunday that he believes the filibuster has traditionally been a “safeguard” from far-left policies.
Trump said on “60 Minutes” that he likes Thune but “I disagree with him on this point.”
The president has spent much of the shutdown mocking Democrats, posting videos of House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in a Mexican sombrero. The White House website is now featuring a satirical “My Space” page for Democrats, a parody based on the social media site that was popular in the early 2000s. “We just love playing politics with people’s livelihoods,” the page reads.
Democrats have repeatedly said that they need Trump to get serious and weigh in. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said that he hopes the shutdown could end “this week” because Trump is back in Washington.
Republicans “can’t move on anything without a Trump sign off,” Warner said on “Face the Nation” on CBS.
Record-breaking shutdown
The 35-day shutdown that lasted from December 2018 to January 2019 ended when Trump retreated from his demands over a border wall. That came amid intensifying delays at the nation’s airports and multiple missed paydays for hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on ABC’s “This Week” that there have already been delays at several airports “and it’s only going to get worse.”
Many of the workers are “confronted with a decision,” he said. “Do I put food on my kids’ table, do I put gas in the car, do I pay my rent or do I go to work and not get paid?”
As flight delays around the country increased, New York City’s emergency management department posted on Sunday that Newark Airport was under a ground delay because of “staffing shortages in the control tower” and that they were limiting arrivals to the airport.
“The average delay is about 2 hours, and some flights are more than 3 hours late,” the account posted.
SNAP crisis
Also in the crossfire are the 42 million Americans who receive SNAP benefits. The Department of Agriculture planned to withhold $8 billion needed for payments to the food program starting on Saturday until two federal judges ordered the administration to fund it.
The Trump administration indicated in court Monday that it will only partially fund SNAP this month by using a $4.65 billion emergency fund. That left the program in uncertainty with no clear indication of how much beneficiaries will receive or when their cards will be loaded to buy groceries.
House Democratic leader Jeffries, D-N.Y., accused Trump and Republicans of attempting to “weaponize hunger.” He said that the administration has managed to find ways for funding other priorities during the shutdown, but is slow-walking pushing out SNAP benefits despite the court orders.
“But somehow they can’t find money to make sure that Americans don’t go hungry,” Jeffries said in an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
NOTN -City officials provided an update Monday on the controversial Telephone Hill redevelopment project, as eviction notices for the final tenants took effect on Saturday Nov. 1.
Mayor Beth Weldon said four residents remained on the hill at the end of October, and according to Deputy Mayor Greg Smith the city believes a few residents remain, though one individual was granted an extension for medical reasons.
Weldon said city contractors will next assess the historic homes for asbestos and lead paint before demolition and take geotechnical samples to confirm the stability of the bedrock beneath the site.
“We do have a plan,” Weldon said. “It just might not be the plan that some people want us to have.”
“People had said, why not second and Franklin? or other properties in town, those are significantly smaller than Telephone Hill.” Said Deputy Mayor Smith.
Although other CBJ-owned properties, like 450 Whittier Street, are being evaluated for development, city officials say none have the same size or potential impact.
Demolition and environmental testing are expected to proceed through the winter.
Weldon also mentioned an FAQ on the project attached to the meeting packet, a summary can be found below.
Telephone hill is city-owned and an assessment found the homes ranged from fair to hazardous condition, with likely mold, lead, and asbestos. Officials said the buildings are unsafe and prohibitively expensive to rehabilitate.
The Assembly approved $5.5 million to fund demolition and site preparation, including hazardous materials disposal, grading, excavation, and utility trenching. Most of the funding comes from voter-approved 1% sales tax revenue and the Lands Special Revenue Fund, with $1 million coming from the general fund.
After demolition, site preparation will begin in 2026 to establish buildable lots, utilities, and new subdivisions. The city expects the site to be “ready for vertical construction” in 2027, with a developer partner selected in early 2026.
Plans call for up to 155 housing units across four new buildings, with 20% designated as affordable housing.
The remaining units would be market-rate. Officials said the redevelopment could double the number of affordable units previously available on the hill.
City leaders say the site, one of the largest undeveloped parcels in downtown Juneau , is already zoned for mixed use, with utilities and road access in place.
The Telephone Hill park, switchback trail, and adjacent parking garage will remain unchanged. Developers will be encouraged to include green spaces, pocket parks, and community gathering areas as part of redevelopment.
Officials said no additional parking is required due to the property’s location within Juneau’s downtown “zero-parking zone.”
NOTN- The Juneau Assembly is considering new ways to manage the city’s visitor industry, which saw an increase this summer, including the possibility of formal passenger limits on cruise ship arrivals.
At Monday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting, officials discussed formalizing mooring agreements for docks and potentially advancing caps on visitor numbers, moving beyond current memorandums of agreement with the industry and making it official legislation.
“We will be looking at supporting the community’s ability to assess and manage growth.” Mayor Beth Weldon said Monday morning.
Mayor Weldon also said the Assembly introduced a new Visitor Industry Task Force that will pick up where the previous group left off.
“The task force will basically take up where the last one dropped off, and also continue to look at managing community impacts with infrastructure. And if that’s working well or not.” she said, noting that whale-watching will be a particular focus.
More than 1.7 million cruise visitors arrived in Juneau this season, according to city data.
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.
Why can’t every country get along with each other? – Dale T., age 11, Helena, Montana
Countries often share similar goals, such as peace and prosperity for their citizens, so it might seem strange that they find it hard to get along. Cultural differences may sometimes cause countries such as China and the United States to compete for global influence, but even countries sharing similar values or cultures still find reasons to clash.
So why do countries compete or even go to war? As a political science scholar researching some of the most conflict-prone regions in the world, I find that the answer often comes down to three factors: scarcity, uneven distribution and perception.
Scarcity leads to hard choices
Scarcity is the reality that there are not enough resources – such as food, oil, water and land – to go around. While countries would prefer to pursue all the resources they need, they are forced to prioritize the resources that will make them most secure.
Eythar Gubara/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
For instance, the Nile River serves as a water resource for more than 300 million people in 11 countries in Africa. However, because water is a scarce resource used for drinking, irrigation farming and hydroelectric power, countries such as Egypt and Ethiopia have often fought about using the river.
Uneven distribution means relying on others
Uneven distribution means that not everyone starts off with the same resources. Nations have different levels of power and capabilities, and this shapes how they calculate risk and opportunity when dealing with each other.
For instance, countries concerned about the United States’ dominant power joined together in a rival international organization known as BRICS+ in 2009. Its founding members include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and several other countries have joined over the years.
Perception can lead to misunderstanding
Perception is how countries view each other’s actions. A nation can build up its weapons to be safe from potential attacks, but another nation might view this move as threatening rather than defensive.
For instance, India developed nuclear capability in the 1970s to protect itself, but neighboring Pakistan perceived this as a threat and soon developed its own nuclear weapons. The two countries have since engaged in occasional conflict.
Classroom international relations
Countries have leaders with different personal experiences and backgrounds. To understand how countries interact, it is useful to draw an analogy to a classroom simulation I use in my courses.
Annabelle and Morgan are two good friends who are taking a course in international relations. For a simulation game, their teacher assigns Annabelle and Morgan to lead two different groups. Their classmates are also assigned to be leaders of a handful of other groups. Each group must decide how to spend its resources, build its industries and form partnerships.
In the game, scarcity was represented by a set number of points both groups could use to purchase resources. Since there were not enough points to provide everyone with everything they desired, each group had to prioritize needs. Should they invest more points in defense, social goods or industry?
AP Photo/Kin Cheung
Annabelle’s team started with 100 points and Morgan’s team started with 30. That uneven distribution mattered. Annabelle’s group could comfortably invest in industry, while Morgan’s had to focus on survival. Morgan’s group had to decide whether to trust more resource-rich groups and grow their industry points through trade, or find allies among groups with lots of military resources to prepare for potential conflict.
Perception came in when Morgan’s team was not sure how Annabelle’s team was spending its points. If they were spending many points on military, they could attack another group and steal its points. To protect her group, Morgan decided to form an alliance with two other groups. In return, Annabelle’s group perceived the alliance as a threat and started spending more points on military.
In the final round of the game, Morgan’s new alliance invaded Annabelle’s group and took most of their resource points. Annabelle felt betrayed, since she assumed her friendship with Morgan would allow their groups to work together. Morgan felt uneasy but also justified. She did not know how other members of Annabelle’s group would decide to act, so she prioritized her own group’s safety.
By the end of the game, Annabelle and Morgan were angry and frustrated with each other and their friendship was strained.
Cooperation turns into conflict
Even countries that share common goals or values sometimes compete, and the motivations are rarely simple.
Nations cooperate because it helps them grow, but they also take actions to protect themselves. When two countries compete over similar resources, and when their power balance is not clear, they can get the wrong idea about each other’s actions and engage in conflict. At the extreme, they may even go to war.
Competition and mistrust can arise even among friends who share similar goals. Similarly, while every country might want peace and stability, the forces of scarcity, uneven distribution and perception make it impossible for everyone to get along all the time.
Still, understanding these realities can help countries to build trust and work toward a shared respect that makes peace more likely.
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Kaleb Demerew does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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