WASHINGTON - The recent rush by gun enthusiasts to buy firearms could have a surprising consequence: millions more dollars to protect pheasants, deer and other wildlife.

House Republicans indicated in a House majority caucus press conference Friday morning that they may make changes to the oil tax reform proposal and fiscal year 2014 budget submitted by Republican Gov.

Gov. Sean Parnell unveiled his proposal for the fiscal year 2014 state budget, which weighs in at $1.1 billion "leaner" than the FY13 budget, he said, at an Anchorage Chamber of Commerce meeting Friday afternoon.

A new organization has formed to challenge the Coastal Management ballot measure, and make sure the Alaska Sea Party efforts get challenged before voters decide the issue in August.

Alaskans got a preview of next month's Coastal Management road show when Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell was joined Monday by those for and against the ballot measure to kick off the first-ever series of initiative public hearings.

Oil and other resource representatives, local politicians and a few Kenai Peninsula residents testified last week at the first of 10 hearings on a ballot initiative that would re-establish a coastal zone management program in Alaska. Lt. Gov.

WASHINGTON - Even as the country struggles with slow growth and high unemployment, America remains resilient, capable of tackling great challenges including the looming year-end "fiscal cliff" and the vast national debt.

The purpose of this commentary is to paint with a broad brush the new global ecosystem in which Alaska's economy will operate in the years ahead, make some suggestions to guard against the hubris of past success and Black Swans (i.e.

The Alaska Retirement Management Board Friday delayed making a decision on how much extra money needs to be set aside for future pension costs in the next year's budget. The minimum amount the board needs to allot is $610 million, actuarial firm Buck Consultants told the ARM Board, which met in Anchorage last week. Some board members, however, said the state should be setting aside an extra quarter of a billion dollars next year.

The following editorial first appeared in the San Jose Mercury News: Leon Panetta knows budgets. The respected California native was chairman of the House Budget Committee during his final four years in Congress, director of the Office of Management and Budget in 1993 and 1994 and President Bill Clinton's chief of staff from 1994 to 1997.