Reps. Cathy Muñoz and Beth Kerttula spoke and answered questions at the Juneau Chamber of Commerce lunch meeting Thursday. Muñoz spoke about the issues facing Southeast Alaska and Kerttula related these issues statewide.

In the final 25 days of the session, legislators are busy, Muñoz said. The House has already passed the operating budget.

Muñoz said she thinks about whether Alaska’s Legislature makes laws that help or hinder business.

“The issues that have broad support are really about creating economic opportunity,” Muñoz said.

U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., told oil giants BP, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil his natural gas export bills now in Congress would block a proposed $40 billion pipeline to export Alaska natural gas to Asia.

The bills, originally introduced in February, drew a sharp response from Alaska’s Sen. Mark Begich.

The $40 billion plan was covered by Financial Times reporter Ed Crooks on Wednesday (on.ft.com/GF4pMJ). Markey released an announcement the same day in which he “decried the plans” to allow export of “American natural gas to China.”

A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration undercover investigation led to the fining of local Asian cuisine restaurant owners $18,000 for illegally purchasing subsistence-caught Pacific halibut.

Cai Hu and Yao Hu, owners and managers of Zen Restaurant and Jaded Bar, will pay the fine over a year, according to a NOAA release.

Cai and Yao are equal partners in Yang Sing LLC, doing business as Zen and Jaded. They incorporated Yang Sing in 2008. It is currently in good standing with the state of Alaska.

Apple released its latest version of the popular tablet computer, the iPad, today. This version, dubbed iPad features a fist full of pixels in its new Retina display and faster broadband speeds with 4G connectivity.

Up until recently, Juneau residents would not have had access to the faster data transfer speeds provided by fourth generation cellular technology. AT&T has recently finished upgrades to its broadband service to provide 4G connectivity to customers in Juneau.