Corinne Smith

In my Capitol reporter era ✌️ Get in touch with questions, story ideas & feedback - csmith@alaskabeacon.com

Last night, I thought I would be safe standing off to the side with the TV news teams and vans, away from all the protesters. Nope. The feds started firing "less-lethal" rounds at us as they dispersed the crowd, and we all ran. I got hit with multiple pepper balls. @LATACO

Once I saw this video last year, I had no doubt Alan Mittelstaedt would be one of the most impactful people I’ve learned from. Honored to have had him as a professor every semester at USC. A standup human being, a believer in JOURNALISM and finding the truth in every situation.

@thebenroyer @TheMatthewRoyer Hell yeah. Allen is the best of the best!

Alaskans lost millions after a state-backed deal with a seafood company went south. A @ProPublica investigation reveals that state leaders and the management firm they hired ignored or overlooked warning signs leading up to the deal. akpub.io/4b3TS2V

Follow me for Alaska Legislature news + politics 🦋 @corinne-smith.bsky.social

In my Capitol reporter era ✌️ Get in touch with questions, story ideas & feedback - csmith@alaskabeacon.com

ICYMI: Arizona paid at least $120,000 in cash to executioners and it was totally off the books. The state has no tax records for the payments. The Governor and Department of Corrections won't comment.

Today's front page

Today I was granted access to speak with incarcerated firefighters. They told me: - they hadn’t showered in 5 days - they were not provided regularly meals - they were working 24 hours in a row - they feel under appreciated and underpaid

Josie Huang, tireless chronicler of SoCal's Asian American communities among so many others, lost her home in the Altadena fires. Please help her family if you can. buff.ly/4fR5XsX

After school funding dispute, four Alaska districts are moving on without federally-promised money. (via @AlaskaBeacon) akpub.io/3WdmikC

@ryanjhaas @viajoshhunt Great reporting, seen in Western Alaska as well - kyuk.org/science-and-en…

Last month, I fell down an absolutely bizarre rabbit hole trying to figure out who was ripping off articles from Oregon journalists. What I found was identity theft, plagiarism and an absolutely terrifying future for local journalism led by AI scammers. opb.org/article/2024/1…

Daily Trojan demands transparency in response to budget cuts USC’s 112-year-old newspaper fights to keep their print edition alive. Read more: uscannenbergmedia.com/2024/12/06/dai…

Interesting to watch, and see if this representation translates to policy action. Alaska has a dynamic history of women in governance, as it was described to me: men would leave for seasonal work - fishing, oil, mining - women would stay & run local govts alaskapublic.org/2024/11/22/for…

OK, so since this morning it's been reported that the Washington Post is ousting its senior politics editor, the Wall Street Journal has laid off its politics editor and the New York Times' Washington bureau chief is stepping down. None of this feels good.

women died because they received no life saving care as they were having miscarriages in Georgia and the state responded by simply eradicating the committee that investigated deaths of pregnant women.

In addition, one thing Trump I did, and Trump II will likely do, is cut back on press releases. That sounds petty, but one study by @DukeU economist @mslater_johnson found that each press release achieved as much compliance as 210 #OSHA inspections. 15/ tinyurl.com/2xjcs6xw

OSHA has always been severely under-resourced. Currently, the agency can inspect every US workplace once every 186 years. 13/ aflcio.org/reports/dotj-2…

COVID killed 4 workers, hospitalized 43 & sickened 1300 at the Smithfield Foods in Sioux Falls, SD. OSHA fined Smithfield $13,494. After 290 workers at the JBS beef factory in Greeley, CO were infected and six killed, OSHA fined the firm $15,615. 10/ tinyurl.com/y5ewu3ny

What about inspections? Past Republican administrations have maintained OSHA inspection protocols and efforts, although often with lower fines, and shifting some resources to focus more on voluntary compliance. I think this is likely what will happen under Trump II. 7/