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Colleen Mondor

@chasingray.bsky.social

3.6K followers 410 following 3.5K posts

Aviation journalist, especially on Alaska. Never met a federal database I didn't love. "Probable Cause" newsletter is here: https://colleenmondor.substack.com/

colleenmondor.substack.com

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Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 10d

Shutdown impacts
Accelerating procurement for the ATC contract
Why aren't we talking about Alvin Brown being fired from the NTSB?

AND MORE

I'm back on track, y'all. Here's the newsletter......
colleenmondor.substack.com/p/33-talking...

#33: Talking about aviation as shutdown looms

NTSB photo of Alaska Airlines flight 1282

colleenmondor.substack.com

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Reposted by Colleen Mondor

Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 12h

Friday late afternoon storm info on Alaska Public Media. #akwx #weather #ExtremeWeather

alaskapublic.org/2025-10-10/w...

Western Alaska in crosshairs for major storm, with high wind and flooding expected

That's according to the National Weather Service, which has issued weather warnings or watches along most of Alaska's west and northwest coast, from the Kuskokwim Delta all the way north to Utqiagvik.

alaskapublic.org

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Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 19h

FAA update. As to the # of staffers working without pay, for context there are ~14,000 controllers. that means another ~9,000 employees at all sorts of other FAA jobs are also having to work with no paycheck in sight.

FYI, I take issue with all attempts to blame the minority party for this fiasco.

Will Guisbond @willguisbond.com · 20h

NEWS: No planned firings at FAA as a part of the Trump admin’s purge of federal workers announced Friday afternoon.

As seen on @theaircurrent.com’s new intelligence platform, TAC/Intel:

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Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 20h

You should read this.

Dan Kennedy @dankennedy.net · 23h

Bari Weiss' biggest challenge at CBS News is the unprecedented dominance of David Muir at ABC, writes @michaelsocolow.bsky.social. And yes, as I tell my students, everything — everything — goes back to Richard Nixon. linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/bari-weiss...

Bari Weiss's Greatest Challenge at CBS

It's not the Murrow-Cronkite Legacy. It's not the newsrooms & bureaus filled with journalists more experienced than her. It's not the scale of the operation. It's David Muir's incredible dominance.

linttrapofhistory.substack.com

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Reposted by Colleen Mondor

Craig Welch @craigwelch.bsky.social · 21h

Journalism, he said, is how we know what's happening in troubled lands. "These extraordinary eyewitness accounts are the culmination of the daily efforts of countless people who work to ensure that information isn't manipulated for ends contrary to truth and human dignity“
apnews.com/article/pope...

Pope urges news agencies to stand as bulwark against lies, manipulation and post-truths

Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the “ancient art of lying” and manipulation.

apnews.com

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Reposted by Colleen Mondor

The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 1d

Things are happening at Portland's ICE facility tonight.

Read more of our protest coverage here: www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

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Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

It's so damn frustrating.

Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

Proposing an investigative article on history of air traffic control modernization failures and man - this is keeping me sane. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkBL...

Mavis Staples and Sam Moore - Take Me To the River (Al Green Tribute) | 2014 Kennedy Center Honors

YouTube video by The Kennedy Center

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Colleen Mondor

Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 2d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

Desperately trying to understand why this article exists.

Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

This one surprised me. www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8Vn...

Hollywood Vampires 'Heroes'

YouTube video by earMUSIC

www.youtube.com

Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

Let's be clear on this - politicizing flight safety is always bad.

Stressed and tired air traffic controllers are going to make mistakes and in an aviation environment already rife with politics, we need to stop this rhetoric and support the folks doing their jobs. www.forbes.com/sites/suzann...

Sean Duffy Warns Air Traffic Controllers They Won’t Be Paid If They Call In Sick

The Transportation Secretary’s threat is not going over well with aviation safety experts.

www.forbes.com

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Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

Watching on repeat. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cma_...

The Killers & Bruce Springsteen: Encore At The Garden

YouTube video by TheKillersMusic

www.youtube.com

Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

Exactly what I'm wondering.

Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

Shocked. Shocked. Shocked.

Mike Elk @mikeelk.bsky.social · 1d

Air traffic controllers are enaging increasing sickouts around the United States to protest the government shutdown

paydayreport.com/air-traffic-...

Air Traffic Controller "Sick Out" in Atlanta, Chicago and Nashville

Air Traffic Controller sick outs grow around the United States

paydayreport.com

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Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

I'm just staying in my aviation reportage lane and trying to figure out if the FAA & DOT programs are considered "democratic" or republican.

I'm sure reporters on other issues are trying to figure out if the agencies they cover, and laws they write about, are "democratic" or republican as well.

Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

Sooooo...

Alaska currently has a GOP governor, GOP senators & GOP congressman. So, in theory they are in the clear from Trump attacks on "Democratic programs". But what if the gov & any other seats flip next year? What happens then? Do we, for example, lose EAS funding? Is that what happens?

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Reposted by Colleen Mondor

juneauindependent.bsky.social @juneauindependent.bsky.social · 1d

This week’s Alaska Science Forum looks at the future of the Mendenhall Glacier, which may not be touching its namesake lake within a few years.

www.juneauindependent.com/post/alaska-...

Alaska Science Forum: Mendenhall Glacier to pull toe from lake

In the near future, Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier will withdraw its icy toe from the lake of its making, scientists say.

www.juneauindependent.com

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Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

I really like Seb Emina's exceedingly eclectic newsletter. sebemina.substack.com/p/read-me-16...

Read Me #16: I should de-escalate

Dark Tin Tin, Dial-a-Poem, Blood Orange, Johny Pitts, mouth guards, Eszter Balint, Jude Law, Yeats, Alien: Earth

sebemina.substack.com

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Reposted by Colleen Mondor

Anchorage Daily News @adn.com · 1d

Coastal residents and state officials are preparing for another strong storm system, after hundreds of Northwest Alaska residents spent Wednesday night in shelters to avoid high waters and coastal flooding.

Incoming coastal storm looms as Northwest Alaska evacuees return home amid receding floodwaters

State officials said they hadn’t received immediate reports of major damage but were continuing to assess the situation as water began to recede on Thursday.

www.adn.com

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Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

And again, I'd really like to know where the FAA falls on the GOP vs "Democratic programs" paradigm. Will Essential Air Service and ATC be cut in states with Dem governors? Will controllers be fired based on political registration? What about blue state offices that handle red state carriers?

Arizona Mirror @azmirror.com · 1d

“We’ll be making cuts that will be permanent and we’re only going to cut Democrat programs. I hate to tell you. I guess that makes sense, but we’re only cutting Democratic programs,” Donald Trump said today

Trump threatens 'permanent' cuts to Democratic programs on day nine of shutdown gridlock | Arizona Mirror

President Donald Trump said Thursday he’s prepared to cancel funding approved by Congress that he believes is going toward programs supported by Democrats, though he didn’t share any additional detail...

azmirror.com

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Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

Historically, consistently, we expect air traffic controllers to work longer hours, and potentially with no pay, and never ever make a mistake because if they do it is because then it's only because didn't know how to do the job in the first place.

I have receipts on this going back to the '60s.

Jetwhine @jetwhine.bsky.social · 1d

Between a Rock and a Hard Spot: Demands on air traffic controllers during the shutdown. bit.ly/42BjfGh

Between a Rock and a Hard Spot

How much stress do we expect air traffic controllers to handle before something breaks?

bit.ly

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Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

Holy Crap.

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 1d

BREAKING: The U.S. says it's sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor Gaza ceasefire deal.

US sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor ceasefire deal in Gaza

The United States is sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor the ceasefire deal in Gaza as part of a team that includes partner nations, nongovernmental organizations and private sector players, U.S. officials say.

bit.ly

Reposted by Colleen Mondor

KTOO Public Media @ktoopublicmedia.bsky.social · 2d

The campus is getting rid of out-of-state tuition for all undergraduate students as part of the Alaska Unlocked program. Out-of-state students made up 12% of the entire student population last fall.

University of Alaska Southeast offers in-state tuition for all undergraduate students next fall

The move is part of efforts to improve student enrollment at the university system’s smallest campus.

www.ktoo.org

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Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 2d

A kid whose father died of an overdose, his mother is in & out of jail on drug charges, he's trans and trying to get a welding certificate in community college so he can get his siblings out of foster care, all while working fulltime at MacDonald's. Here's why he didn't vote.

Among the 30 million poor and low-wage Americans who didn’t vote in the 2024 election was Silas. He was about to be directly affected by President Trump’s executive orders, which included multiple attacks on transgender people. But Silas didn’t believe what the candidates said on the campaign trail. Besides, he had plenty of other things to worry about: “Between work and his teenage charges, Silas said, he hadn’t had time to devote to politics.”

Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 2d

Another NF book I plan to read - the final paragraph in this review is a gut punch. (See replies for a clip of it.)

The book is PAPER GIRL by Beth Macy. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/b...

Revisiting Her Hometown, a Journalist Finds Anger, Addiction and Despair

www.nytimes.com

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