Alaska’s governor won a showdown on Wednesday with lawmakers trying to reverse his bid to slash spending on higher education by 40%, but opponents vowed to keep fighting the unprecedented cut, which university officials have warned would wreak havoc. Republican Mike Dunleavy, in his first year as governor, wants deep cuts in education and other programs to help pay for his chief campaign promise – a sharp increase in the annual oil revenue dividend Alaska pays to each resident. A group of nearly 40 Democrats, Republicans and independents that forms a controlling coalition in the Republican-majority legislature sought to block the cuts, which Dunleavy pushed through last month, using dozens of line-item vetoes. But the coalition fell eight votes shy of […]