Favorite Links Friday Week of November 11, 2016

Juneau hospital offers counseling for post-election

Half of the country was able to envision a world where Hillary Clinton was president, and they were not about to protest or beat their chests if that result occurred on Nov. 8.

The other half evidently cannot envision a world where Donald Trump is president.

Juneau, a strong Democratic Party territory, may be struggling with the election results more than most. Bartlett Memorial Hospital is offering free counseling to all City and Borough of Juneau employees if they are depressed after the election

This is not a joke. Can you imagine the hospital offering counseling for conservatives if Hillary had prevailed?

Precious snowflakes are melting by the thousands. Hundreds of high school students in Seattle staged protest walk-outs Wednesday in protest of Trump’s victory. They chanted, “Let’s Dump Donald Trump” and “F— Donald Trump.”

Across the nation, students petitioned to have classes canceled. Loyola University in New Orleans, Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins University in Maryland saw hundreds of signatures gathered on such petitions, and at Yale University, professors made exams optional after receiving notes from depressed students. Who knew that there is yet another good reason to cancel classes! [Full Story]

Ketchikan School Board discusses pilot Native language class

It’s become traditional for the Ketchikan School Board to hold its November meeting in the Native village of Saxman, and to use that meeting to focus on concerns specific to the Ketchikan Gateway Borough’s Alaska Native population.

This year, the Board talked about implementing a new Native language program at the high school in cooperation with Ketchikan Indian Community. During public comment, Board members heard from many people who support that proposed program.

Tsimshian elder John Reese was one of the first to speak to the School Board.

“I am the last one in Ketchikan that can talk fluent Shm’algyack,” he said. “So, I’m in full support of having the school district teach the Native languages.”

The proposal from Ketchikan Indian Community is to start with a Haida language program, see how that goes and then add classes for the other two Native groups indigenous to the area: Tlingit and Tsimshian.

Superintendent Robert Boyle said his office will talk with KIC about what the school district would need to provide, and he’ll bring that information back to the Board at a later meeting.

The School Board also talked about restarting the Indian Policies and Procedures committee, which hasn’t met for several years. Board Member Misty Brown said that while the district no longer receives a grant that committee oversaw, the committee could address a variety of topics that affect Native students in the district. [Full Story]

Morning Headlamp — Alaska could be front and center in the “new world” ahead

“A new world.” Robert Dillon, communications director for Senator Lisa Murkowski’s campaign, said with Republican majorities in Congress, a Trump presidency opens up new possibilities for resource development in Alaska. Dillon said a big issue to watch is drilling in federal Arctic waters, Trump could reverse an Obama administration decision to halt drilling in Arctic federal waters.

Jason Hutt, of D.C. based Bracewell law firm, said “The election obviously — we wake up to a new world.” “But it doesn’t mean that there’s not a regulatory process that will be required to change or shift some of the policies — that will take time.”

Trump advisor and oilman Harold Hamm has made it clear that the removal of burdensome regulations on the oil and gas industry will be a principal goal over the next four years. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to boost the nation’s oil, natural gas and coal production by rolling back regulations and increasing drilling on federal lands. [Read the rest here]

Leonard Cohen Dies at Age 82

Portland police declare anti-Trump protest a 'riot'

An anti-Trump protest turned riot in downtown Portland escalated late Thursday and culminated with officers firing rubber baton rounds and arresting at least 29 people who refused to disperse after some protesters smashed windows, spray-painted buildings and lit a dumpster fire.

Portland Police said on Twitter they would have a complete update on arrests, charges and photos related to the hours-long incident which started peacefully Thursday with thousands of people.

The protest of about 4,000 people was declared a riot after "extensive criminal and dangerous behavior." By late Thursday police were calling it an unlawful assembly as repeated orders to disperse were ignored.

Police said officers used "less lethal munitions" in order to make arrests and move the crowd. By 11 p.m. police estimated the marchers at about 1,500 and by midnight crowds were thinning and splintering off. [Full Source]