West Virginia Democrat Jay Rockefeller, who chairs the Commerce Committee, told Pritzker what to expect.

The always-affable Rockefeller ticked off a few of priorities within those 12 bureaus.

“The Department of Commerce serves very different constituencies in all parts of our country,” he began Thursday’s hearing. “From the Arctic Ocean, to fish, to telecommunications. Everything.”

If confirmed, Pritzker will oversee the National Weather Service, the country’s broadband and spectrum sales, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, cyber security efforts and much more.

She seems up to the test.

“I attended college at Harvard and then received my MBA and law degree simultaneously from Stanford,” she told the panel in her prepared remarks.

But fancy degrees don’t get people too far in D.C.

“Then I began working with my grandfather, my uncle and my cousins in the family business,” she went on. “In the 27 years since, I have worked as an entrepreneur both starting businesses from scratch, and growing existing ones.”

That family business is Hyatt Hotels. So Pritzker has always been wealthy, but by all accounts, she’s made her billions on her own, through real estate development and senior housing.

Pritzker’s business acumen drew praise from everyone on the Committee. She hails from Chicago, the president’s home town. Illinois Republican Senator Mark Kirk introduced her, and told the panel she’ll play a pivotal role in the administration – an administration that’s been criticized for its iffy status in the business community.

“I see her as a voice for business that the president will have to heed,” he said of his constituent.

Senators peppered Pritzker with all sorts of questions, many on the airwaves the government owns and sells, many on home state issues.

Senator Mark Begich said her conversations with Congress will revolve around one key issue.

“The calls you get will be about fish. You’ll think they’re going to be about trade, and tourism, and agreements. They’re going to be about fish,” he joked.

The Commerce Department regulates the nation’s fisheries. Later this year, Congress will need to reauthorize the Magnuson Stevens Act.

Pritzker drew negative press recently for working conditions for hotel employees.

“The notion of subcontracting out to keep minimum wage jobs as a way to maintain jobs is not something you support,” asked Senator Maria Cantwell.

Pritzker replied she does not, and as she did dozens of red-t-shirt-clad hotel union workers nodded in disbelief. Unite Here opposes her nomination because of what it sees as mistreatment of low-wage service workers.

Senator John Thune, the committee’s top Republican saved the most publicized issue for last.

“Some have criticized that you are the beneficiary of some offshore tax avoidance schemes, and that’s it hypocritical for the president to nominate members to his cabinet when he’s criticized that practice for others,” he said.

A prepared Pritzker sat stone faced and answered earnestly.

“Well senator,” she began. “I am the beneficiary of family offshore trusts that were set up when I was a little girl. I didn’t create them, I don’t direct them, I don’t control them.”

After the hearing, Thune said there are some tax issues he still wants more answers on, but he praised Pritzer for handling the hearing well.

The Senate is on recess next week. When it reconvenes in June, the Commerce Committee is expected to pass her on to the full Senate.

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The conical drilling unit Kulluk sits aground on the southeast shore of Sitkalidak Island about 40 miles southwest of Kodiak City, Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Wednesday, the man who was in charge of the Shell drilling rig Kulluk when it went aground New Year’s Eve testified at a Coast Guard hearing that he had never done a winter tow in Alaska, but he thought they were prepared for the weather ahead when they left Dutch Harbor to cross the Gulf of Alaska.

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Todd Case had worked for Noble Drilling for more than 20 years and can’t even remember how many tows he’s been involved with. He was aboard the Kulluk when it was towed through the Chukchi Sea in 2012, and he remembers weather bad enough to force the tugs pulling it to turn into the wind. He told investigators that the tug Aivik performed well during that trip. He arrived in Dutch Harbor a couple of days before the Kulluk was due to leave and he said he was confident they had a good tow plan and he and his tow master John Becker were looking at a window of good weather ahead.

“We talked about it in meetings. We didn’t none of us expect to have uh seas as rough as we had,” Case said.

And they did get rough. The Kulluk’s operations manual says if the waves start tipping the vessel more than six degrees, the tow should be slowed down. The vessel’s log book says on the 27th of December that pitching happened for hours, and Case said he couldn’t remember if Becker discussed slowing down with the master of the tug Aivik or not. At about mid-day, Case was on his way to a lunch break when he got word that the tow had broken. He told Coast Guard investigator Josh Mc Taggart what happened next.

Case: Out on deck to look at it. Everybody was informed at that time. Somewhere around 11:30 I believe the tow line…parted, and some time right after 14:00 we got it back on the emergency line.

McTaggart: To your recollection, what actually failed on that tow gear?

Case: Shackle

A shackle is a heavy metal loop that a chain or cable is fixed to. This shackle was never recovered. It wasn’t on the Kulluk’s gear and it wasn’t at the end of the line when the Aivik pulled it in.

This was the beginning of a series of problems that would see tows re-established several times, the failure of the Aivik’s engines, the arrival of more vessels, and a plan to try to get the rig to safe harbor somewhere around Kodiak Island.

Ultimately an emergency line to the tug Guardsman parted, the storm was intensifying, and the drift toward the shallows was accelerating. It was worse than any situation Todd Case had ever seen, and Barry Strauch of the National Transportation Safety Board asked the inevitable question.

Strauch: At any point in this did you believe that your life was in danger?

Case: Again, be hard to say but if you’re driftin’ toward the bank at three knots and its three hours away, yeah, you would wonder.

Strauch: Well, what did you do, you and the other crew members do when you realized that your life may be in jeopardy?

Case: Well, wasn’t much we could do but wait on other resources to get there. We didn’t start cryin’.

But they might have wanted to start crying, when the Coast Guard helicopter pilot told them the deck was pitching so badly that it was too dangerous to attempt to lower a basket to start evacuating the 18 crew members in the dark. They had to wait for first light. Then on Dec. 29 a couple of helicopter trips removed the crew and efforts went on to try to divert the drifting rig. It grounded on the 31st.

During this lengthy probe, each witness has brought another part of the story to light. Case was asked to speculate several times and declined. But when Strach asked him what hindsight had taught him he did not hesitate:

“Knowing what we know now, we know we should have had multiple tugs,” Case said.

He has never had to be rescued before, he said. When asked if he felt any pressure to leave Dutch Harbor quickly, Case said no, he did not.

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Rep. Don Young cosponsored the bill, but was not there to explain his motives for it, because he’s big game hunting in Africa.

Jamie Connell, acting deputy director for the Bureau of Land Management, ticked off a list of reasons why the bureau opposes the bill, including:

“The timelines required by the bill, that my result in shortcuts to public involvement.” She added: “The suggestion that the Department pre-approve rights of ways on millions of ac res of land that industry may never seek to develop.”

Connell said the bill’s requirement of scrapping existing management plans for a new one undermines the work the agency has already done.

She told the subcommittee on mineral resources the BLM supports oil and gas drilling in NPR-A.

But that was met with disbelief from a troika of Alaskans who say the federal government is blocking development.

“Interior’s record of decision also made the ability to build a pipeline across NPR-A to pump station one of the Trans Alaska Pipeline more uncertain,” said Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan.

North Slope Borough Mayor Charlotte Brower told the subcommittee she worries NPR-A will receive the same treatment as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

“The concern that the North Slope Borough has is the record of decision that was made on the area that we felt would be better served for leasing and not made into a wilderness area,” she said.

And Richard Glenn, adding the corporate perspective, told the panel Interior did not involve tribes and Alaska Native corporations enough.

“Insufficient consultation with the Native landowners or municipalities in NPR-A,” he complained.

The future of the legislation is unclear. It needs to pass the House of Representatives – which is possible, then pass the Democratic controlled Senate, which is less certain.

As for the future of NPR-A, officials with BLM say it will hold another lease sale in November.

One last year drew bids from just two companies that totaled less than one million dollars.

An ice jam 12 miles upriver from Fort Yukon started to loosen Wednesday morning. Credit National Weather Service.

A massive ice jam 12 miles upriver from Fort Yukon partially let loose early this morning. National Weather Service Hydrologist Ed Plumb says the ice sheet hasn’t broken entirely, but water backed up behind it is starting to move downriver.

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“With the ice jam partially open and water being released, this is definitely a good situation because now we don’t have water being built up back behind the ice jam so this will lessen the threat of a sudden release of water coming down the Yukon River and water levels rising quickly in Fort Yukon,” Plumb said.

Low lying areas of Fort Yukon are still seeing some flooding. Ed Plumb says communities like Beaver and Steven’s Village further downriver still face a serious threat of high water.

“There is still the in place ice from the winter that has not moved yet, so until all the ice is out even below fort Yukon there is still the threat of more jamming,” Plumb said.

The National Weather Service and the Alaska Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management flew over the river at Fort Yukon on Wednesday morning. They will continue to monitor the situation, but they haven’t scheduled an afternoon Riverwatch flight.

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Sgt. Daniel S. Alsdorf fires his M4 carbine from a kneeling position during the weapons qualification event as part of the Pacific Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition, May 18. Photo by Army Staff Sgt. Joseph Vine.

A Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson soldier is competing this week in the Pacific Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition in Hawaii. The week-long competition began Saturday and will end with the awards ceremony Thursday.

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Sgt. Daniel S. Alsdorf orients himself with his compass during the land navigation course as part of the Pacific Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition, May 19. Photo by Army Staff Sgt. Joseph Vine.

The past week has been exhausting for Sergeant Daniel Alsdorf.

From before the sun rises until after it sets, he and 10 other soldiers have been putting their entire military skill-set to the test….from land navigation, to hand-to-hand combat, to their overall fitness and more.

According to Alsdorf, the Hawaiian heat and humidity coupled with a simulated battlefield atmosphere haven’t made the tests any easier.

“It’s amazing when you get to a competition how some of the simple tasks become hard, you add a little sleep deprivation and a little fatigue to that, you know, a 6.5 hour road march in Hawaiian conditions can be pretty intense, especially coming from Alaska…these boys have a 30 degree temperature advantage on me,” Alsdorf said.

Despite the difference in climate between Hawaii and Alaska, he says he’s feeling pretty good about the competition so far.

Alsdorf is a combat medic, and he was able to put his life-saving skills to work during the combat casualty care exercise…where competitors had to take care of two injured soldiers and move them to a helicopter before time ran out…all while under simulated combat conditions.

Sgt. Daniel S. Alsdorf, completed 72 pushups for the Army Physical Fitness Test, May 18. Photo by Army Spc. David W. Harthcock.

“The sounds of battle are real, the sweat is in your eyes, you’re running through jungle, you can’t see 15-20 feet in front of you, you don’t really know what’s happening until you get around the next corner. All the while, you know that there’s someone in there bleeding, and it’s your job to get to them and save their lives before they lose all their blood,” Alsdorf said.

Even though the two “casualties” are mannequins, Alsdorf says it doesn’t stop the soldiers from doing all they can to save them.

“You have to sort of think on your feet…make sure you’re running through your fundamentals like: are they breathing? Can we stop the bright red stuff from coming out of their body? Can we get them to safety? All those things are a lot harder than it sounds whenever you’ve got 50 caliber rounds blasting over your head…it’s pretty exciting,” Alsdorf said.

Competitors won’t know where exactly they stand in the competition until Thursday at the awards ceremony.

The winners will go on to the U.S. Army Reserve Command’s Best Warrior Competition in Fort McCoy, Wisconsin later this year.

According to pilot reports today, the volcano is still erupting, but the ash plume has dropped from 20,000 feet to 10,000 feet or less and is blowing out to sea.

That’s good news for regional airlines, which canceled flights to southwest Alaska this week over concerns that the ash would damage their planes. PenAir President Danny Seybert says the airline restored all of its routes today and started adding some extra planes to work off a backlog of more than 300 passengers.

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Meanwhile, faced with no participation by the state government, and limited participation by environmental groups, the Tongass Futures Roundtable group has decided to shut down. The organization was formed to resolve Southeast Alaska forest-issue conflicts.

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