Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, visited Juneau Monday for a day full of meetings, but she also spent more than an hour visiting Thunder Mountain High School, talking with students and staff, and observing a couple of the school’s more popular classes.

Murkowski was guided on her tour of the school by three students in the Advancement Via Individual Determination program, or AVID.

“It’s essentially a college prep and career readiness course,” AVID teacher Annie Janes explained to Murkowski. “If you ask any of my AVID students, they’re working on going to college.”

Election Day is right around the corner, and the “I Vote, I Count” campaign is working to get out the vote among Alaskans with disabilities.

The Alaska Division of Elections website offers resources for disabled voters (http://1.usa.gov/PMo9Zk), including alternative options for voting.

Elections Director Gail Fenumiai said Friday that voters who are unable to make it to the polls can cast a “special needs” ballot.

“They can have someone go and get a ballot for it and bring it to them,” said Fenumiai.

Well, the votes are in, and it wasn’t even close.

President Barack Obama won almost 65 percent of all votes cast and swept to a massive 506 to 32 win in the Electoral College, utterly wiping out Republican challenger Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts.

But lest you think you have slept through Tuesday and woken up to either a nightmare scenario or an Election Day miracle, relax — Obama’s big win was among Juneau-Douglas High School students on Friday.

Teacher Gary Lehnhart said JDHS conducted an Electoral College vote simulation Friday.

For the first time in two years, the USCGC Healy, a United States Coast Guard Cutter, is at port in Juneau for its trip south from an eventful tour up in the Arctic.

The Healy, which is homeported in Seattle, made national headlines last winter when it guided the Russian fuel tanker Renda through sea ice to Nome, as the remote Alaskan port city ran low on its reserves (http://bit.ly/Sj9ikV).

Speaking Thursday afternoon about her ship and its recent missions, Capt. Beverly Havlik described the Renda escort as “the mission of a lifetime.”