Alaska has been a cesspool of public corruption. Investigations of both federal and state officials are currently underway. Against that backdrop, the Governor signed a new ethics bill into law yesterday:

An ethics reform package for state officials was signed into law Monday by Gov. Sarah Palin, just minutes after a former state representative was convicted on seven federal counts of extortion and bribery.

Palin said the law will help re-establish trust between the public and elected officials by improving on existing statutes. The conviction of former Rep. Tom Anderson, an Anchorage Republican, makes the law more necessary than ever, she said.

"I believe it could be a precursor for what's to come, and it's unfortunate," she said. "This bill is a good start to getting the comprehensive ethics reform that we need here in Alaska."

Three more current or former Alaska lawmakers face corruption trials this fall. The former top two officers of Veco Corp., an Anchorage oil field services company, have pleaded guilty to bribing lawmakers.

We have a feeling that the we haven't heard the end of the Alaska corruption story.