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Colleen Mondor

@chasingray.bsky.social

3.6K followers 400 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 · 8d

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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Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1h

It's so damn frustrating.

Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1h

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 · 21h

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 · 1h

Desperately trying to understand why this article exists.

Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1h

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 · 1h

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 · 2h

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 · 2h

Exactly what I'm wondering.

Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 2h

Shocked. Shocked. Shocked.

Mike Elk @mikeelk.bsky.social · 3h

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 · 2h

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 · 2h

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 · 2h

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 · 2h

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

Reposted by Colleen Mondor

Anchorage Daily News @adn.com · 3h

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 · 3h

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 · 3h

“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 · 4h

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 · 4h

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 · 4h

Holy Crap.

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 4h

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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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Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

I've always considered Joan Kennedy to one of the more interesting and underrated members of that sprawling family. This obit does a good job of writing about her life. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

Joan Kennedy, Who Married Into a Dynasty, Dies at 89

www.nytimes.com

Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

For sure.

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Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

Meanwhile Powells Books has author events scheduled almost every night for the rest of the month at their massive downtown Portland store. (Pretty much every kind of book you can imagine, including Kids' Storytime.)

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump: "I don't know what could be worse than Portland. You don't even have stores anymore. They don't even put glass up. They put plywood on their windows."

Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah - it's ridiculous. (And more evidence of how the FAA and DOT get way too political.)

Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 1d

Attention, Alaska.....

Will Guisbond @willguisbond.com · 1d

Inbox: DOT secures $41 million to fund the Essential Air Service through early November, a program that was expected to lapse during the shutdown as soon as Oct. 12.

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