First there was Alaska's Bridge to Nowhere, a pork-barrel project that eventually succumbed to public derision. Now comes the Izembek road - the Road to Nowhere - another boondoggle and a surefire environmental disaster.

By Anne Aurand, Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Nov. 13--CHIGNIK -- The Coast Guard and Alaska State Troopers reported searching Saturday night for a missing hiker on a mountain near Chignik. On Sunday neither agency would report the status of the hiker.

By Tim Bradner, Alaska Journal of Commerce, Anchorage Oct. 30--The state of Alaska opened a major new oil and gas province to exploration Oct. 26.

By Tim Bradner, Alaska Journal of Commerce, Anchorage Oct. 16--Shell has tipped its hand on its interest in oil and gas prospects in the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska in a briefing of fishing industry representatives in Anchorage Oct. 6. Shell International and Production Inc.

The state Division of Oil and Gas set Oct. 26 as the date for a planned oil and gas lease sale in Bristol Bay, in Southwest Alaska. The agency has also issued the Final Best Interest Finding for the sale, a required analysis to show that the leasing will have public benefits.