VICTORY IS SWEET PARTY: About 50 happy folks gathered at the home of Cherie and Scott Curry of Anchorage to celebrate the Nov. 8 conservative victories and raise some funds to recharge the Alaska Republican Party. (Photo credit: Yolanda Clary, ARP photographer)
ANCHORAGE ASSEMBLY AND SCHOOL BOARD RACES: Craig Johnson may file for Bill Evans’ South Anchorage seat, John Brassell is running for Bill Starr’s vacant seat in Eagle River /Chugiak. Other names being floated for Assembly seats include Liz Vazquez, Adam Trombley, Terre Gales, Kevin Smestad, and Kevin Kastner. And everyone wants most-likely-to-succeed Marilyn Stewart to run for something. Anything. Just so we can see that smile.
Meanwhile, Dave Donley has announced he is running for one school board seat and Kay Schuster may run for the other one.
WHEN REPORTERS GET PHILANTHROPIC: Juneau Empire reporter James Brooks made a small contribution to the Juneau-Douglas City Museum — the first gram of marijuana purchased from the first marijuana store to open in the capital. That donation may be tax-deductible, James. Good luck explaining it to the IRS, however.
INTERIOR SECRETARY MIGHT BE A FRIENDLY: Cathy McMorris-Rodgers is the opposite of incumbent Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. McMorris-Rodgers favors drilling. She wants to lift the Obama ban on coal leases, and she’s fought federal overreach.
McMorris-Rodgers is from Eastern Washington. In the U.S. House she serves on the Natural Resources Committee and chairs the National Task Force on Improving the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA, as it is administered by the Obama administration, has far ranging and debilitating economic impacts throughout Alaska.
McMorris-Rodgers has benefited from Rep. Don Young’s support during her rise as a leader. The two are allies on the Natural Resources Committee. This looks promising for Alaska.
