Alaska News Source (KTUU) news reporter and anchor Rebecca Palsha vacationed with the daughter of gubernatorial candidate Bill Walker in Hawaii recently, and talked about their close friendship in a Facebook post that featured both of them sitting on an embankment over the Pacific Ocean.
In Alaska’s newsrooms, relationships between liberal candidates, politicians, and news providers can be notorious. In October of 2020, Democrat former Mayor Ethan Berkowitz of Anchorage resigned after becoming entangled with a local news anchor, once the news of their flagrante delicto became known.
Palsha and Lindsay Walker-Hobson are well-known gal pals and have hiked and adventured together in the past. Hobson was the spokesperson and “ethics advisor” for the Walker-Mallott gubernatorial campaign in 2014. A lawyer like her dad, she now works for Enstar.
Palsha is married to Kyle Hopkins, who writes political material that shapes the narrative for the Anchorage Daily News.
After losing badly to Gov. Mike Dunleavy in 2018, Walker is back for a second bite of the apple under the new ranked choice voting system, hoping that Democrats and Republicans will pick him as a first or second-place choice on the new experimental ballot to be revealed in November.
In advance of his budget roll-out on Wednesday, Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced tourism grants to continue the momentum of recovery for the $4.5 billion annual Alaska visitor economy.
A $5 million federally sourced grant will be part of his proposed 2023 budget, which will be directed to the Alaska Travel Industry Association, which is in addition to the $10.5 million federal grant he designated to ATIA in September.
“Last summer, visitors began returning after ATIA launched a national marketing campaign that engaged travelers to visit in the COVID-safe spaces of vast Alaska,” said Dunleavy. “In many parts of the state, we saw more travelers moving through our airports, staying in hotels and bed & breakfasts, fishing, and staying at facilities in state parks.”
A study by McKinley Research Group showed visitor volume fell by an estimated 82 percent between April and December for 2019 and 2020. From 2.4 million visitors, it dropped to just 427,000 visitors.
The economic loss from a canceled cruise ship season for Alaska is estimated to total $3 billion alone. In 2020, zero visitors arrived by cruise ship.
Early last year, when many tourism businesses were considering closing their doors, Governor Dunleavy directed $5 million in emergency CARES Act funds to ATIA to attract independent travelers to Alaska through different modes of transportation.
“ATIA is Alaska’s statewide tourism marketing leader. I appreciate how the nonprofit has collaborated with other tourism promoters and my Administration to keep Alaska top of mind for potential travelers,” Governor Dunleavy said. “I applaud the outreach work of the many other tourism visitor centers, chambers, and bureaus as well. Our joint work may be credited with bringing in tourists after the disaster and saving many small tourism businesses.”
Competitive tourism marketing grants for the Covid-safe campaign were issued to the following entities:
Tourism marketing grants:
Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau $170,385
Explore Fairbanks Alaska $348,640
Discover Kodiak $31,107
Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Center $253,489
Seward Chamber of Commerce $179,000
Visit Anchorage $1,630,000
Ketchikan Visitors Bureau $527,790
Cordova Chamber of Commerce $376,000
Koahnic Broadcast Corporation $451,580
Alaska Travel Industry Association $1,999,279
Kenai Peninsula Tourism Marketing Council $410,000
Visit Sitka, Sitka Chamber of Commerce $235,000
Travel Juneau $574,000
Kawerak, Inc. $941,885
Valdez Convention and Visitors Bureau $88,290
Spruce Root, Inc. $1,560,000
Copper Valley Development Association $140,000
Haines Economic Development Corporation $88,355
The funding will help Alaska’s tourism industry remain competitive, the governor said. “There’s more pent-up demand to travel globally, and we want Alaska to compete for it and to capitalize on it,” Dunleavy.
Visitors’ dollars circulating in the economy support tourism businesses, restore jobs, and generate revenue for Alaska communities.
During his announcement, reporters were told that the number of returning cruise ships is expected to hit an all-time high. Thirty ships make up the normal season. 2021 saw eight ships, the industry reports. International air service returns in summer 2022 with Iceland, Germany, and Canada restoring connecting flights in Anchorage and a potential for new service to Seoul, Korea, and Japan.
“In preparation for growth in visitors, my budget will also seek an extra $1 million for the State Parks to make sure our facilities are clean and accessible for both in and out-of-state visitors,” Dunleavy said.
The Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) virus has been detected in an Anchorage resident.
The case was identified today through genomic sequencing performed at the Alaska State Public Health Laboratory from a person who recently tested positive in Anchorage following international travel in November.
Alaska joins at least 30 other states and more than 60 countries that have already detected the Omicron variant. Protective measures against the variant remain the same as for the other COVID virus variants.
The Anchorage Health Department in conjunction with the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services encourages Alaskans to get vaccinated against Covid-19 or boosted if eligible.
Layering on other protective measures, including masking, hand washing, physical distancing, and testing can also help to reduce transmission of the Covid-19 virus, including Omicron.
In many parts of the world, Omicron is now the dominant variant, taking the place of the previous dominant variant, Delta.
Alaska’s “model” Constitution is truly a model in some ways, like a preening beauty from the cover of Glamor magazine. It was crafted using a template from the Rockefeller-funded-and-founded University of Chicago.
It has received fawning reviews since before statehood. Sure, there are plenty of modifications, the best being the “common use” clause under Natural Resources. About the only thing that the Left really fears is the part about any new constitutional convention. The public gets to vote on that every 10 years.
It is not unreasonable for conservatives to worry about how a convention is put together and what its outcome might be. In the many queries I have received from citizens and the media, and again here, I have stated that in order for a true grassroots convention to occur, the Legislature must craft a precinct-structured system. If this is not done, it will likely be controlled by the very Leftists who fear the assembly of such a convention. And it ought to be done before the vote is taken, to assuage the concerns of the citizens.
Unlike what the media tells us, the most serious mistakes we are facing in the Alaska Constitution are found not over the Permanent Fund dividend, or even the Judicial Council, but in Art. XII, Sections 8, 12 and 13. Read them. They are chilling, and lie are the root of all our crises in economics and liberty.
Section 8 is nothing short of an “Anti-Tenth Amendment”, giving the state unlimited power. Section 12 and 13 defeat the very purpose of statehood, denying the state to ever claim title to its own real property, properties retained by the federal government in defiance of Article 1, Section 8, clause 17 of the U.S. Constitution and the ignored Tenth Amendment.
Such conditions were never imposed on the states east of the “middle border”, a term referencing the north-south axis running from North Dakota/Minnesota to Louisiana/Texas.
The other problems, like a rogue judiciary or a judicial council system, would not even exist if we ever had a governor or a legislature that understood proper constitutionalism, and that the judiciary is not a “co-equal branch,” whose opinions must be obeyed, but a weak sister, whose judgments need not be obeyed by an executive, and can be restrained by the Legislature.
Although the Federalist Papers are not part of even the U.S. Constitution, they did assist in getting it passed, and by a wafer-thin margin at the approving convention in the key state of New York.
Virginia, the biggest prize of all at the time, was also reluctant to approve, and reserved for itself, along with New York and Rhode island, a secession clause. You can look it up.
The Federalist Papers are a treatise on federalism and limited government philosophy. It is safe to say that they apply to our own state constitution, and this is reflected in many ways.
In Federalist #78, we read (with the emphasis entirely Alexander Hamilton’s): The judiciary, on the contrary, has no influence over either the sword or the purse; no direction either of the strength or of the wealth of the society; and can take no active resolution whatever. It may truly be said to have neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgments.
Allow me to cite some direct quotes, first from a governor. When told that he need not enforce a state Supreme Court decision, he said twice, and six months apart: “It’s going to take some time for me to wrap my head around this.”
And from a prominent legislator: “Bob, I don’t doubt your word, it’s just not the way I learned it.” My reply was, “Me too. But I un-learned it, just like we all can.”
So, let us shatter the law-school oligarchy’s vice-grip on constitutional interpretation, if not from The Federalist Papers, but from how our own state constitution was crafted.
The legislature is supreme. It can impeach any member of the judiciary or executive branch. Neither of them can do the same. Art. II, Sec. 20.
The legislature has the power of the purse. It can never be surrendered. Art. IX, Sec. 1.
It can override the governor’s vetoes. Art. II, Sec. 16. Both #2 and #3 have just been overthrown and claimed by the judiciary, an obviously impeachable offense.
The legislature controls the courts’ jurisdiction. It can disqualify the courts’ from whatever legislation is passed from their judicial review. Art. IV, Sec. 1.
So-called “case law”, the corpus of judicial decisions that are known only to lawyers, are no laws at all. True laws are defined in Art. 12, Sec. 11, and are applied only to what the legislature enacts, not the judiciary or executive orders.
As has been pointed out regarding the U.S. Constitution: “It is not that the Constitution has been tried and found wanting. Rather, it has been left untried, and found difficult.”
Constitutionalizing the PFD is worthy, but to truly limit federal power, we need to disown parts of Article XII. And to limit judicial overreach, while we might rearrange the way we choose our judges, we merely need to re-word what the constitution already indicates, so that it is clearly understood by the citizens, and can no longer be ignored by the case-law oligarchy.
Bob Bird is chair of the Alaskan Independence Party and the host of a talk show, the Bird’s Eye View on KSRM radio, Kenai.
Tara Sweeney, who was head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs during the Donald Trump presidency, is the new co-chair of Alaskans for Don Young, the congressman’s reelection campaign.
The news comes on the first day of the Alaska Federation of Natives annual convention. Sweeney joins Alaska State Senator Josh Revak, who was named as co-chair in November.
Sweeney was also co-chair of Dan Sullivan for U.S. Senate 2014, co-chair of Alaska Federation of Natives, chair of the Arctic Economic Council, and has a long history in Alaska Native corporations. She worked for 20 years for Arctic Slope Regional Corp., including as executive vice president of external and government affairs.
“I am honored to welcome my friend and respected Alaska leader Tara Sweeney to my team as my statewide campaign co-chair,” said Young. “Tara is a clear-eyed, determined leader who has dedicated her career to advocating for Alaska’s interests – advancing pro-growth policies, fighting back against an endless patchwork of federal bureaucracy, and standing up against Chuck Schumer’s despicable attacks on Alaska. I look forward to working with Tara Sweeney, Senator Josh Revak and a strong coalition of Alaskans to build a campaign focused on advancing Alaska’s interests and effectively challenging the Biden administration’s many failed policies.”
“I have worked alongside Congressman Young for over 20 years, and have seen firsthand his ability to build coalitions, bring people together and promote policies that move our state forward,” said Sweeney. “His work is not done, and he has the experience we need to navigate through these challenging times. As Alaska’s lone Congressman, Don Young has always carried the Last Frontier on his shoulders, and I stand with him.”
On Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast today, Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka said she doesn’t support Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell returning as Senate majority leader, when Republicans take back the Senate in 2022, which they are widely predicted to do.
“Mitch McConnell has repeatedly bailed out Joe Biden, giving him gifts of Senate votes, which are the only things keeping the Biden administration on life support. As an example, after rescuing Biden with the last debt ceiling increase, McConnell said he would never do it again. But he just did, and he had Lisa Murkowski’s help in doing so. The actions of McConnell and Murkowski on the debt ceiling show that it’s the political elites pitted against real Americans. When I defeat Murkowski and become Alaska’s next U.S. Senator, I will not support Mitch McConnell as leader. It’s time for new, America First leadership in the Senate,” she said.
The podcast is at this link:
Tshibaka is running against Sen. Lisa Murkowski as a Republican who will appear on the new open primary ballot. She has the endorsement of the Alaska Republican Party and former President Donald J. Trump. The Alaska Republican Party asked Murkowski to not run as a Republican, although she remains registered as one and has the support of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, chaired by Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.
Not vaccinated for Covid-19? Grocery retailers in New Brunswick, Canada now may ban you from entering.
New Brunswick Health Minister Dorothy Shephard said all businesses, including groceries, may demand shoppers display a vaccine passport before entering the premises.
Canadian provinces are allowed autonomy on decisions about vaccine passports, but grocery stores remained open to all across the country, regardless of vaccination status. With this new provision, people wanting to buy food may need to find someone to do it for them if they are refusing to take part in the vaccination program. 77 percent of Canadian residents eligible for the Covid vaccine are fully vaccinated. Canada is vaccinating people as young as 5 years.
The Canadian federal government has already banned unvaccinated people from domestic or international air or train travel, a rule that went into effect Nov. 30.
Facebook banned news and videos of protests of the development, saying it was misinformation. Those videos showed up on Tik Tok, however.
Protests on Saturday, which shut down the main streets in Moncton, N.B. for several hours. Some participants said it was one of the larger protests they had seen in the town of 85,000.
Image from Moncton, N.B. webcam for Dec. 11, 2021
Politifact, owned by the nonprofit Poynter Institute, disputes the assertion that people are being prevented from buying groceries in New Brunswick.
But Must Read Alaska’s Fact Check Desk found the New Brunswick government document that allows stores to discriminate against those who haven’t taken the shot. To date, one of the two major grocers in New Brunswick is requiring a vaccination passport.
Repressive measures against the unvaccinated are widespread in Canada. The Retail Council lists the restrictions by province at this link, which has not yet been updated to reflect the new New Brunswick grocery policy.
The New Brunswick government policy is at this link:
New Brunswick is on the Eastern Seaboard and shares a border with Maine. It has a population of about 751,000 people. The province is the only in Canada where both English and French are official languages.
Three weeks after President Joe Biden announced an internationally coordinated release of reserve oil to drive down prices for consumers, the other nations have not followed through.
On Nov. 23, Biden announced a major coordinated effort that included a release of 50 million barrels from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, with China, Japan, South Korea, India, and the United Kingdom making similar releases from their reserves.
The U.S. has granted its first release of oil to ExxonMobil, according to Bloomberg News, and had another sale of 18 million barrels last week, but other nations have not acted.
“That’s starting to prompt some skepticism about whether they’ll go ahead at all, particularly after an outbreak of the Omicron virus variant led to a drop in global prices,” the news agency wrote.
The Energy Department said the U.S. release of oil will come from all four of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve sites according to a breakdown:
Up to 10 million barrels from Bryan Mound
Up to 10 million barrels from Big Hill
Up to 7 million barrels from West Hackberry
Up to 5 million barrels from Bayou Choctaw
SPR crude oil is supposed to be delivered to successful bidders between Dec. 16, 2021, and April 30, 2022, with priority given to bidders that can take the oil the earliest, the department said. Successful bidders will then have to deliver the amount of crude oil they received, plus a premium volume defined in the contract, back to the same reserve site where the crude oil was released during Fiscal Years 2022, 2023, and 2024. The longer it takes to return the crude oil back to the SPR, the more premium volume of crude oil will be required, the Energy Department said in its summary.
Companies interested in receiving crude oil through the exchange had to have submitted their bids no later than Dec. 6, and the contracts are to be awarded no later than Tuesday, Dec. 14.
No single commercial entity will receive an award for more than 10 million barrels unless all acceptable awards have been made and there are still barrels available, the Energy Department said.
Meanwhile Asian nations’ participation is lagging due to a buyers’ cartel, according to John Driscoll, chief strategist at JTD Energy Services. “They can’t afford to jeopardize their relationships with major producers to satisfy a U.S. president who’ll be up for reelection in a few years,” Driscoll told Bloomberg.
India pledged to release 5 million barrels, but it won’t say when, while Japan has stayed mum on when it will release some of its reserve oil. Bloomberg said South Korea is discussing volume and timing with partner countries, while a government spokesman from the U.K. said companies could do what they want to meet the terms of the agreement.
The Nov. 23 announcement has had little downward pressure on prices. Brent crude is selling for $75 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate is at $71.67.
In October, the vaccine breakthrough cases of Covid-19 comprised nearly 39 percent of all known cases, according to a State of Alaska report.
As the number of vaccinated people continues to rise in Alaska, the virus is breaking through the vaccine at an accelerating rate. In October, 6,984 of the 18,083 0- more than a third — of documented cases of Covid were among those who were fully vaccinated.
In September, the state reported, “The incidence of COVID-19 among vaccinated persons has remained consistently lower than among persons who were not unvaccinated.”
But the percentage of cases that are breakthroughs was already rising and rose even more, from 23 percent in June to nearly 39 percent in October.
Is it due to Delta?
In July, the CDC said that vaccine effectiveness dropped nearly 30 percentage points when the Delta variant became the dominant variant. The CDC said in December of 2020 that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were “approximately 90% effective in preventing symptomatic and asymptomatic infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in real-world conditions.” Study details here.
Delta is the dominate strain in Alaska.
The CDC now reports that:
“Vaccine breakthrough infections are expected. COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing most infections. However, like other vaccines, they are not 100% effective.
“Fully vaccinated people with a vaccine breakthrough infection are less likely to develop serious illness than those who are unvaccinated and get COVID-19.
“Even when fully vaccinated people develop symptoms, they tend to be less severe symptoms than in unvaccinated people. This means they are much less likely to be hospitalized or die than people who are not vaccinated.
“People who get vaccine breakthrough infections can be contagious.”
269 hospitalizations among fully vaccinated Alaskans were documented through Oct. 31, 2021 and another 82 hospitalizations were documented among partially vaccinated Alaska residents.
Fully vaccinated persons were much less likely to be hospitalized due to Covid-19 than persons who were unvaccinated, the State reported.
The median age among those hospitalized who were fully vaccinated was 72.4 years, and the median age of those who were not fully vaccinated was 62.0 years, or 10.5 years younger.
In the December Epidemiology Bulletin published by the Department of Health and Social Services, Alaska’s Covid-19 death rate increased substantially following arrival of the Delta variant.
Alaska’s death rates remain highest in males, older adults, and those with underlying medical conditions. Chronic cardio-respiratory diseases and diabetes mellitus were the most common underlying medical conditions identified among those whose deaths were attributed to Covid.
Approximately 67 percent of Alaskan adults are estimated to have underlying health conditions that put them at increased risk of severe Covid-19 illness, including obesity, diabetes, chronic obstructive lung disease, heart disease, chronic kidney disease and current or past smoking, the State reports.
