The Northern Light

08/07/2025

Satire column: ‘Right Answers Only’

America is the greatest nation — that is a fact. Out of all the states in the union, Alaska stands alone as the best. Like exemplary states before it, Alaska wasn’t always this perfect.

Pioneers and rugged leaders worked tirelessly to shape the state into what it has become today — a utopia. One leader in particular has had an immeasurable impact on our great state. It’s time we looked back at his achievements and properly honored him.

Thank you, Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

One of Gov. Dunleavy’s many accolades is becoming the first incumbent Republican governor of Alaska to be reelected since 1978. Dunleavy’s achievement is even more impressive when the efforts to unseat him during his first term are considered.

One year into Dunleavy’s term, radical leftists across Alaska attempted to cobble together a farcical recall petition in 2019. Reasons for the recall were usual liberal gripes about elected officials doing their jobs in a way that the snowflakes don’t approve of.

The initial petition gathered enough signatures to be certified by the Alaska Division of Elections, but organizers were unable to gather — or forge — enough signatures to trigger a recall election.

The left subsequently failed to elect someone whose policies they approved of, leading to continued whinging throughout Dunleavy’s second term.

Another area where Dunleavy has excelled is the Permanent Fund Dividend — or PFD.

Dunleavy has worked tirelessly to promote major spending on securing full PFD payouts for residents of the state. After all, Alaskans deserve $3000 checks every year for having a pulse.

Detractors of the governor claim he has not accomplished these goals and that proposing to spend $1.5 billion of the state's savings on one PFD payout is foolish.

However, the fault actually lies with a group of individuals hell-bent on making Governor Dunleavy’s job impossible — the state legislature.

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America is the greatest nation — that is a fact. Out of all the states in the union, Alaska stands alone as the best. Like exemplary states before it, Alaska wasn’t always this perfect.

02/07/2025

Alaska residents can expect changes to Medicaid and SNAP benefits, as well as public land being leased out for oil and gas projects

On July 1, the U.S. Senate voted to pass the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which is currently on its way to be passed into law, according to the White House.

In a clip provided by Time, J.D. Vance is seen reading off the tabulated votes, 50 yeas, 50 nays — a divided Senate. He affirms that the bill, as amended, is passed.

This bill highlights numerous issues that the Trump administration seeks to tackle.

Some key issues mentioned in the 887-page document include Medicaid and food stamp restrictions, various tax credits and deductions, environmental funding cuts, and thousands of other concerns.

U.S. citizens can expect changes, with some provisions lasting until 2034, such as an increase in 11.8 million Americans losing SNAP benefits, as reported by PBS.

On June 28, The Hill stated that Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah initially proposed selling large portions of public lands within the U.S., but ultimately withdrew the measure, citing concerns of budget and foreign entities — such as China or BlackRock — wanting to purchase U.S. land.

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On July 1, the U.S. Senate voted to pass the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which is currently on its way to be passed into law, according to the White House.

02/07/2025

What the 2025 NBA Finals mean for the league

The NBA has had a chaotic year. Between surprising trades, improbable playoff runs and devastating injuries, the 2024-25 season had it all. Now that a seventh unique champion in a row has been crowned, the NBA Finals between the Thunder and the Pacers will have a lasting impact on the future of the league.

Since there are no NBA games to watch until Oct. 21, there’s no better time than now to analyze the two conferences heading into next season.

Eastern Conference: In short, the Eastern Conference is up for grabs.

Following the confirmation that Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles in Game 7 of the finals, the Pacers are confronting the reality of what losing a star player to injury means in the modern NBA. They don’t have that much cap flexibility, so the team will have to wait and hope to win without Haliburton as he recovers.

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The NBA has had a chaotic year. Between surprising trades, improbable playoff runs and devastating injuries, the 2024-25 season had it all. Now that a seventh unique champion in a row has been crowned, the NBA Finals between the Thunder and the Pacers will have a lasting impact on the future of the....

02/07/2025

The dilemma of fully guaranteed contracts

Major sports leagues are experiencing an unprecedented spike in the total value of player contracts.

On one end of the spectrum, the NBA has various rules that artificially limit contract values from ballooning. On the other end, the MLB just shrugs and allows astronomically large contracts to be handed out left and right.

In both cases, players are fully guaranteed their contracts will be paid out, regardless of injury or performance. The glaring exception in this pool of fully guaranteed contracts is the NFL.

At the time of writing, there is only one quarterback who has a fully guaranteed contract — Deshaun Watson. It’s a contract that many fans of the NFL mock due to Watson’s poor play and off-field controversy combined with the team paying him so much being the Cleveland Browns.

When this contract was signed in the 2022 offseason, fans were expecting other quarterbacks seeking new deals to get the same fully guaranteed treatment. Instead it appears, in the wake of arbitration, that the NFL and team owners may have colluded to keep fully guaranteed mega-contracts from becoming precedent.

Outside of avarice motivation for owners to avoid paying fully guaranteed contracts, why is it that the NFL is so against these guarantees?

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On one end of the spectrum, the NBA has various rules that artificially limit contract values from ballooning. On the other end, the MLB just shrugs and allows astronomically large contracts to be handed out left and right.

24/06/2025

‘Gamer Recognizes Game’ is a column that reviews older games to see how they stack up to modern releases

Recent releases in The Legend of Zelda series, “Breath of the Wild” and “Tears of the Kingdom,” are praised for their open-world exploration. This is largely due to the series featuring primarily linear exploration after the release of “A Link to the Past” in 1991. However, the shift from linear exploration to open-world didn’t happen overnight. It started with an indirect sequel to “A Link to the Past” released on the Nintendo 3DS.

Released in 2013, “The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds” initially seemed to be another HD remake of an old title from the “Zelda” series, similar to “Ocarina of Time 3D”.

Instead, “A Link Between Worlds” took the best parts of “A Link to the Past” and improved them, while also introducing new ideas to the franchise.

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Recent releases in The Legend of Zelda series, “Breath of the Wild” and “Tears of the Kingdom,” are praised for their open-world exploration. This is largely due to the series featuring primarily linear exploration after the release of “A Link to the Past” in 1991. However, the shift fro...

24/06/2025

It is undeniable that, compared to other eras, modern NBA games are high-scoring affairs. With the explosion of three-point shooting across the league, it’s rare for teams to remain under the 100 point threshold during a game.

Despite basketball’s pace becoming faster with each passing year, games are noticeably slowed more and drag on longer than they used to. How can that be?

The most commonly thrown out answer is free throws. Teams and players are clearly abusing the shot — just look at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder. For every foul that’s called, teams take what feels like an eternity to get to their spots, warm up their motion and then shoot a free throw.

This problem is exacerbated when multiple free throws are awarded to a player, or when a team substitutes players in the break between multiple free throws. One thing is for certain even if we disregard the issues that many fans have with free throws: Every second spent taking a free throw is a second that could be spent watching exhilarating offensive possessions.

One solution that could be used to speed up the pace of free throws could be a timer similar to the pitch clock in Major League Baseball. If a player takes too long to warm up and subsequently shoot a free throw, the player forfeits the privilege to shoot that free throw and possession is returned to the other team.

Another aspect of free throws that sullies the viewing experience of fans is the additional time loss that can come from them. Teams can elect to take a timeout between free throws, meaning more time will be spent waiting for the actual game to resume. Then, to make matters worse, ads will probably be run while the timeout occurs — once again adding to fan annoyance.

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It is undeniable that, compared to other eras, modern NBA games are high-scoring affairs. With the explosion of three-point shooting across the league, it’s rare for teams to remain under the 100 point threshold during a game.

16/06/2025

This is Sound and Sociology, a column that focuses on music, sociology — and sometimes both.

I haven’t written about music recently — for the sake of my sanity — so I’ve dedicated the next few installments of “Sound and Sociology” to some of my favorite projects from the past year. The first project I am covering is Doechii’s newest mixtape, “Alligator Bites Never Heal” — “ABNH.

”Released Aug. 30, 2024, “ABNH” is 19 songs and spans approximately 46 minutes.

“ABNH” has three hit singles: “Nissan Altima,” “Boom Bap,” and “Denial Is a River.” Much of the album revolves around Doechii’s own experiences with depression, drug addiction, her newfound fame and wealth and the struggles of navigating adulthood.

A noticeable characteristic of this album is its lack of adherence to a specific tone. Many of the songs emulate the boom-bap sound that’s reminiscent of hip-hop's older era. While half the album has a brighter sound, the other half is dark and gloomy. Much of the album also utilizes modern sounding ambiance as to not stray too far from Doechii’s usual sound.

Different elements of her artistry and sound blend together seamlessly on “ABNH,” and it helps the album encapsulate how versatile and whimsical Doechii is.

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I haven’t written about music recently — for the sake of my sanity — so I’ve dedicated the next few installments of “Sound and Sociology” to some of my favorite projects from the past year. The first project I am covering is Doechii’s newest mixtape, “Alligator Bites Never Heal” .....

16/06/2025

As the NBA experiences a dynasty drought, many fans and analysts blame parity for a decline in viewership.

Since its inception, the NBA has always had at least one dynasty team in the league. The first dynasty to grace the NBA was the Minneapolis Lakers, who won five championships between 1949 and 1954. But since the Golden State Warriors dynasty won two championships in a row and made a finals appearance in 2019, dynasties have vanished from the league entirely.

Including this year, a different team has won the NBA Finals every year since the 2019 finals series. With this change, viewership of each NBA Finals has decreased every year, with the only increase coming when the Warriors were back in the finals in 2022.

This spike was partially caused by casual audiences tuning in to see whether the Warriors' fading dynasty could make one last push for another championship. Casual fans love seeing historically great teams win — and they also love seeing them lose.

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Since its inception, the NBA has always had at least one dynasty team in the league. The first dynasty to grace the NBA was the Minneapolis Lakers, who won five championships between 1949 and 1954. But since the Golden State Warriors dynasty won two championships in a row and made a finals appearanc...

12/06/2025

BREAKING NEWS
Protesters gathered in the parking lot of the Anchorage Correctional Complex on Tuesday night to oppose U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's detention of 42 men at the facility.

Several Anchorage Police Department officers arrived at the complex in response to the protest. The detentions are part of the Trump administration's immigration policy aimed at removing immigrants from the country, according to the Associated Press.

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Protesters gathered in the parking lot of the Anchorage Correctional Complex on Tuesday night to oppose U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's detention of 42 men at the facility.

10/06/2025

Pedestrians have the right of way

Pedestrians and less invasive transit options once dominated city roads, but as times evolved, roads transformed to conform to the modern vehicle, kicking pedestrians to the curb

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Jaywalking cartoon published in the New York Herald Tribune, created by Winsor McCay, dated 1925. Courtesy of Casino Ratings Copenhagenize.

10/06/2025

Evil Wizard performs at Refuge Coffee grand opening

On May 30, 2025, local jazz group Evil Wizard played at Refuge Coffee’s grand opening event. Local vendors such as 907 Bagel Company, Alaska Soft Serve Company and The Modern Indigenous also had pop-ups at the business throughout the day.

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http://www.thenorthernlight.org/stories/evil-wizard-performs-at-refuge-coffee-grand-opening

10/06/2025

Justice Live! at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

On May 21 and 22, French electronic duo Justice performed live at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. The show featured local singer The Dare as the opener, followed by a 90-minute performance from Justice. The music within the show encompassed the band’s entire discography, featuring many songs from the albums “Hyperdrama” and “Woman Worldwide.”

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http://www.thenorthernlight.org/stories/justice-live-at-the-bill-graham-civic-auditorium