Kline to Release 'No Child' Legislation This Week in the House. House Republicans will begin a more comprehensive approach to overhauling the federal education law known as No Child Left Behind by revealing two draft bills this week. The bills will address teacher effectiveness measures and the law's accountability system, according to House Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline. The Minnesota Republican announced his timeline Thursday on "Morning in America," a conservative radio show hosted by Reagan administration Education Secretary William Bennett. Language from two proposals passed last year by the committee will be incorporated into the new bills, Kline said last month in an interview. The measures, which have yet to be taken up on the House floor, would eliminate more than half of the programs under the Education Department (HR 1891) and would provide nearly 100 percent flexibility for how states can use federal education dollars (HR 2445). Congressional Quarterly

Pentagon Plan Will Affect Personnel; Detail to Come in Budget Request. A strategy to downsize the Pentagon's budget over the next decade unveiled by Obama administration officials Thursday deferred details about possible reductions in military salaries and benefits, but the Defense Department made clear the new approach would include reductions affecting personnel. The review, released weeks before the Pentagon unveils its fiscal 2013 budget proposal, emphasizes smaller conventional ground forces as troops return home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Many details were deferred until the release of that budget proposal. "I want to make clear we are going to protect the quality of the benefits that are provided to our troops and to their families," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said. "At the same time, as I said, we have some responsibility to try to control costs in this area. I think the troops understand that we've got to control those costs." Government Executive 

Barents Oil Transport Down 3 Million Tons. It is the Norwegian Coastal Administration that publishes the statistics of oil transport from Russia passing outside Norway's Arctic coast. From their Vessel Traffic Service in Vardø all tankers are monitored as they enter Norwegian sector of the Barents Sea and all along the coast towards the south. Barents Observer 

Arctic Sea Ice Coverage Third Lowest on Record. The Arctic sea ice extent in December 2011 was the third lowest on record, says the University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Centre. The sea ice extent - which describes how much of the Arctic Ocean is covered by ice - remained unusually low through December, especially on the Atlantic side of the Arctic. The eastern coast of Hudson Bay did not freeze entirely until late in the month, while the bay is normally completely frozen over by the beginning of December. Montreal Gazette 

In Northern Europe, an Arctic Raw Resources Boom. The job market is bright in Norrbotten County, fuelled by growing global demand for iron-ore and other industrial and precious metals. And while the ground under the city of Kiruna is sinking because of the iron ore mine, it is precisely because of that iron ore, that the job market is soaring. "In Kiruna we have 2.8 percent unemployment," says Terje Raattamaa, the head of the Employment Office in Kiruna. "That is one of the lowest unemployment rates in Sweden."  Just outside the small mining town of Pajala, Northland Resources, an international mining company, is currently building two new iron ore mines. Alaska Dispatch 

Narwhal Ban Lifted for Five Nunavut Communities. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has partially lifted a ban on the international trade of narwhal products. Previously, international shipping of narwhal products was banned in its entirety. But with the partial lift of the ban, Inuit in Arctic Bay, Qiqiktarjuaq, Pangnirtung, Clyde River, and Iqaluit can now resume the narwhal trade. APTN 

No Arctic legislation was formally considered last yesterday.

Alaska Marine Science Symposium, January 16-20, 2012. The symposium was first held in 2002 to connect scientists in Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, and beyond in an effort to collaborate and communicate on research

activities in the marine regions off Alaska. There will be plenary and poster sessions featuring a broad spectrum of ocean science on issues of climate, oceanography, lower trophic levels, the benthos, fish and invertebrates, seabirds, marine mammals, local and traditional knowledge, and socioeconomic research. There will also be speakers, workshops and special sessions. Click here. 

Workshop: Responding to Arctic Environmental Change: Translating Our Growing Understanding into a Research Agenda for Action Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2012.   Queen's University, Kingston, Canada. Co-sponsored by International Study of Arctic Change (ISAC) and the School of Policy Studies at Queen's University. Endorsed by the International Arctic Science Committee, this workshop is the first in a planned series of meetings that aim to collectively shape and coordinate initiatives for research that directly addresses the needs of stakeholders who are affected by change or who are addressing arctic environmental change. The long-term objective is to enable local people, the arctic nations and the wider global community, including the scientific community, to better respond to a changing Arctic. This workshop is a pre-IPY 2012 Conference event. It is intended to develop a science plan that will feed into and further evolve at IPY 2012 Conference "From Knowledge to Action". For more information and to register for the workshop go here.