On Monday, the Department of Law released retired Superior Court Judge Patricia Collins’ independent investigation of the Alaska National Guard to the public. Like many Alaskans, I greet its release with a sense of anger and frustration that over several years some members of the Guard mistreated people and misused public funds. Also like many […]
Dear Neighbors: First, I get to gripe. Since when do you open a fortune cookie and get a medical warning?!?!?! Isn’t that a “Warning cookie”? Here’s what I got last night – I guess punishment for not cooking at home. Let me just say, I will not eat another fortune cookie at this restaurant. Now, […]
Dear Neighbors: On Saturday Senator Ellis and I will be in Anchorage to hear from you and discuss the legislative session. We’ll have pizza and time to listen to your thoughts. We hope you can come from 3 to 5PM at the Fairview Recreation Center, located at 1121 East 10th Ave. Now, sit down. Here’s […]
Anchorage, Alaska – Incoming leaders of the Alaska House Majority Caucus welcomed Alaska’s 11th Governor, Bill Walker, into office Tuesday, along with his Lieutenant Governor, Byron Mallott. “We congratulate Governor Walker and Lt. Governor Mallott on their win,” said Alaska Speaker of the House Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski. “Now, the work of governing begins. We look […]
The Sitka Tribe of Alaska (STA) is alarmed but not surprised at the recent press release by Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) that the Sitka Sound herring stock biomass is in sharp decline. The projected biomass of 44,237 tons is a 50 percent reduction from the 2013 post season biomass estimate and a […]
On September 2, 1945, V-J Day, the funeral-like solemnity of the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri was shattered by the thunder of 400 B-29 bombers flying overhead, accompanied by an additional 1,500 carrier aircraft. In a bay packed with 260 Allied warships, the effect of such an overwhelming demonstration of power could hardly fail […]
Recently Alaskans watched horrific images from a tailings dam failure in British Columbia that released a flood of millions of gallons toxic water and sludge into an important watershed, just in advance of the salmon return. We witnessed the devastated landscape and heartbroken people facing terrible unknowns about the future of their communities, their food, […]
Mead Treadwell is trying to create distance from the nine-figure profits his company Digimarc made by pushing a national ID card scheme to monitor and track Americans saying he “didn’t look into anybody’s window.” Treadwell is going to have a tough time convincing Alaskans he hasn’t spent years developing new way to monitor Americans after […]
Dear Friends and Neighbors: As with all laws, the devil is in the details. Laws that sound good are often loaded with special interest provisions. The publicly discussed sound bites – especially on the August 19 vote on repealing the 2013 oil tax rollback pushed by Governor Parnell – don’t help a lot. I wrote an Op […]