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Here's Part I of a synopsis of a press conference held at 11 a.m. today with Gov. Sarah Palin, when she offered Capitol reporters a chance to ask questions in her office.

For a half hour she fielded queries on a range of topics from a handful of regular Capitol correspondents, plus a reporter from the New York Times recently arrived in Juneau.

On a Juneau senator:

Palin said it "was a disappointment" that a very experienced, educated, young, dynamic, Native leader was notaccepted by Senate Democrats.

She offered Joe Nelson as a candidate to fill a Senate seat vacated with Kim Elton's mid-session resignation. The nine Senate Democrats couldn't gather the five votes needed to confirm Nelson, creating a repeat of the situation earlier this week when they failed to confirm Palin's first-pick, Tim Grussendorf.

When asked if Rep. Beth Kerttula was out of the question, Palin said, "nobody is just out."

Kerttula was the pick by Juneau Democrats to replace Elton.

On Wayne Anthony Ross for attorney general:

Palin's nomination for attorney general, controversial and colorful attorney Wayne Anthony Ross, spent hours this week fending off sometimes heated queries from lawmakers opposed to his appointment.

"I don't agree with probably many things he has done or said ... he probably doesn't agree with a lot of things that I have done," Palin said. "We're never going to find anybody we 100 percent agree with."

She said she did vet her pick.

On the Senate slicing her capital spending plan:

"We do have about $37 million in priority projects for infrastructure that will help build our gas line," Palin said.

That includes about $8 million for Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority activities and millions for improvements to the Dalton Highway linking Fairbanks and the North Slope.

She wants to see those dollars knitted back into the budget, but is willing to cut the same dollar value from other projects.

Gas development will be critical to developing resources that will build future revenues for the state as oil production declines, she noted.

Palin applauded senators for keeping government spending in check with the capital budget.

On her relationship with lawmakers:

Palin insisted she has an open and good relationship with lawmakers in the Capitol.

That's somewhat contrary to what the press has been hearing through the session.

"Our door is always open; we meet with lawmakers every single day," Palin said.

While some said they meet with her regularly, others claim the third-floor doors are closed to them, or at least were for weeks into the session. At House and Senate majority press conferences, legislative leadership has routinely professed uncertainty about the governor's positions and plans.

On stimulus spending:

From the start, Palin has opposed blanket acceptance of the estimated $930 million Alaska is eligible for under the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

She called the plan a "bailout," for many states and insisted strings are attached to "every single federal dollar that comes our way. The biggest, fattest string is that we are tying ourselves to the problem of the nation's growing debt."

Palin got a bit of a pass on accepting the stimulus money as lawmakers passed resolutions saying Alaska would take its full share, then sort out whether to keep the money.

"It grows the national debt and it forces the state to be in this deficit spending mode and I don't like that," Palin said. "I think the worst thing a governor can do is be part of this problem of growing national debt ...

"But, having said that, understanding reality, our lawmakers have, both bodies, have gone around me, to resolve to accept the stimulus package dollars anyway."

(Check back later for more from Palin on her legislative priorities as the session winds down)