Saturday, June 6, 2026
Home Blog Page 1058

Suzanne Downing: We’ve come to expect so little of the Alaska Democratic Party, but this week they slapped the faces of our fallen heroes

By SUZANNE DOWNING / MUST READ ALASKA

The Alaska Democratic Party is whistling past the graveyard of the 13 Americans who died in Afghanistan, pretending that it’s not their problem or the problem of the president they ushered into office.

The official organ of the Alaska Democratic Party is an e-newsletter that goes out regularly. It’s called “Tall Tales from Juneau.” It’s full of snark and vinegar, always saving its best attack lines for the Republican governor, and now the Republican mayor of Anchorage.

Partisan to the core, Tall Tales is their official propaganda written by their official propagandist, and we have come to expect very little of substance, because it’s generally a divisive and mean-spirited screed.

But this week? The Alaska Democratic Party newsletter was twice its usual toxic self, while making no mention of the horrific collapse of Kabul, and no acknowledgement of the women and children being raped under President Joe Biden’s failed attempt to rush U.S. forces out of Afghanistan before Sept. 11, his arbitrary deadline.

What’s worse, the Alaska Democratic Party newsletter was stone-cold silent on the 13 U.S. servicemen who lost their lives trying to save people from the Taliban. The party pretends that nothing just happened.

Instead, the Alaska Democratic Party harped on about Gov. Dunleavy, Mayor Bronson, and even Lance Roberts, who is an assemblyman running for reelection in Fairbanks, jeering at his faith and his interpretation of Holy Scripture, something about which the Alaska Democratic Party now has an opinion. Who knew?

The Democrats sneered at the Mat-Su residents for having an outbreak of Covid-19, and blamed it on the people’s choices to not wear enough layers over their noses and mouths. (For the Democrats, the only layers enough for the Mat-Su Alaskans are whatever layers it would take to smother them out of existence). No mention was made of Covid running rampant in Juneau, where 78 percent of the population is fully vaccinated against it, and 83 percent of the population over 12 has had at least one shot, yet the city is still is in the red zone.

Must Read Alaska got a cameo in the newsletter, as this conservative publication and the companion MRAK newsletter irks the Democrats to no end on a regular basis. They huffed and puffed over a “balls of steel” MRAK headline about the Mayor Dave Bronson’s hiring of a new chief of staff.

Meanwhile, the official organ of the Alaska Democratic Party makes no mention about the Democrat Biden-Harris Administration leaving hundreds of millions of dollars in weaponry for the Taliban to use against the Afghan people, including over a hundred Blackhawk helicopters, hundreds of Humvees, tanks, U.S. military uniforms, body armor, Howitzers, drones, night vision goggles and the biometric information for every member of the Afghan Army, whose remaining members will be hunted down and executed by the Taliban, while their wives are forced into sexual slavery, their children are raped, and their homes ransacked.

The Alaska Democrats signed off on a newsletter to its membership that ignores that the Biden Administration gave the Taliban a list of names of U.S. citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies, supposedly because the Taliban would ensure safe passage for those individuals, who are now sitting ducks.

Instead, Democrats attacked Alaska Republicans in Juneau for refusing to rush through a bill that was fundamentally flawed – H.B. 3003. They lectured about, of all things, empty chairs.

There are a lot of empty chairs in homes across America today — chairs at the tables, held in reserve for the sons we sent to protect our people from terrorism. Not to mention that it was their own legislative membership of Democrats and turncoat Republicans who could not muster a quorum because they don’t actually have a real majority.

While the worst humanitarian crisis of many generations is taking place under Commander-in-Chief Joe Biden, and while the entire world sees that the emperor has no clothes, Alaska Democratic Party officials are so fixated on petty attacks against Republicans that they forgot to take off their hats and bow their heads for even a moment, to mourn the loss of the Marines, the Army soldiers, and the Navy medic who will never come home.

“Tall Tales” this week was a shameful disgrace to the Alaska Democratic Party. Normally, I wouldn’t waste ink on it here at Must Read Alaska, but with a nation in shock and mourning, with flags lowered and prayers being whispered in homes across America, and with many of us expecting more terrorist attacks to come due to the actions of this weak and feckless president, someone needs to call out the Democrats for losing their moral compass.

The Alaska Democrats can do better, and for the sake of our country, now is surely the time for all Democrats to reassess who they are and what they stand for, and to decide if the Tall Tales Party is still right for them.

Suzanne Downing is publisher of Must Read Alaska.

Anchorage schools suspend bus service over shortage of bus drivers

Grandpa isn’t the only one who had to walk a mile in the snow to school. Anchorage students may be able to tell their own grandchildren about the travails of getting to class during the time of Covid.

Due to a lack of bus drivers, the Anchorage School District Student Transportation Department has suspended bus service on some routes starting Monday.

“The action is necessary due to a shortage of bus drivers resulting from driver attrition and the impacts of COVID-19 on the Transportation staff. The administration aspires to resume normal service as soon as possible but is presently unable to determine the duration of this program,” the district wrote.

The school system developed a rotating system of temporary service suspensions based on specific bus routes to allow families to anticipate and plan for alternative means of getting children to school.

The district has endeavored to not just impact one route, and one set of students, but to spread the pain among all, with the aim of impacting the fewest families practicable.

The bus suspension is not affecting special education students or those attending Title 1 (low income) schools.

The temporary schedule is at this link.

Earlier this month, the Mat-Su Borough School District suspended some bus routes.

Mayor Bronson hires Corey Allen Young for his press office

Corey Allen Young is leaving the governor’s media team and joining Mayor Dave Bronson’s office as his communication director. He has been deputy press secretary for Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and earlier worked in the Walker Administration in various communications capacities, including the Department of Corrections.

“Corey Allen Young brings a level of experience in media, government and non-profit communications that will prove invaluable for my team and the Municipality of Anchorage. His wealth of experience and knowledge for our community, particularly as a born and raised resident, will serve the Municipality well as we work to advance critical priorities relating to housing and homelessness, economic development, public safety and more,” said Mayor Bronson. “I want to personally thank Governor Dunleavy for sharing such a talented individual with our team and look forward to our continued work together on behalf of Alaska.”

Young has worked in television news as a journalist in Fairbanks and Anchorage with KXD, KIMO, KTVA, and KTUU. He has worked in Special Education for the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District at West Valley High School.

He has also worked in communications for Catholic Social Services Alaska and Charis Bible College, served on boards for Standing Together Against Rape, Children’s Meal Mission, and Alaska Adoption Services and has coached youth football and basketball with East Anchorage High School, West Valley High School, Boys and Girls Club Alaska, and the YMCA of Alaska for more than 20 years.

Young is a graduate of East Anchorage High School and Marquette University. He begins work at City Hall on Monday.

Matt Shuckerow will continue working as an adviser but will return to the consulting and communications with the firm he founded, Fathom Strategic Communications, after managing Sen. Dan Sullivan successful 2020 reelection campaign. Shuckerow was communications director during the Bronson transition and for the first seven weeks of his administration, as a temporary assignment.

Anchorage special election to recall Zaletel set for Oct. 26

The Anchorage Assembly decided today to move up the recall election for Meg Zaletel to Oct. 26.

Earlier, it had been looking for dates in November, but opponents of the recall had pressed hard for an earlier date in order to mobilize the leftist ballot harvesting ground game.

Ballots will go out about Oct. 10.

Zaletel is subject to a recall in District 4, which is midtown Anchorage.

Her critics are unhappy with her performance on the Assembly, where she prioritizes the needs of the homeless at the expense and danger of taxpayers and family neighborhoods. She was part of the move to purchase hotels for vagrants and drug addicts, a plan put in place by former Mayor Ethan Berkowitz last summer.

The effort to recall Zaletel began a year ago, but she blocked it with various court delays. Finally, the Alaska Supreme Court agreed that Alaska law allows lawmakers to be recalled for just about anything, and they gave the Municipality orders to proceed.

Russell Biggs and a loose group of grassroots activists under the banners of “Reclaim Midtown” and “Save Anchorage” mobilized to gather over 4,000 signatures from District 4.

Because the cost of a special election is significant, Assemblyman Chris Constant said that District 4 should have to pay for it. It was a suggestion that didn’t gain much support.

Balls of Steel II: Mayor vetoes Assembly’s latest ‘homeless board’ made up of homeless people

An ordinance passed last week that created a board of homeless people to talk about and advise the city on homelessness has been vetoed by Mayor Dave Bronson. It’s his first veto of an Assembly ordinance.

“As you know, the Municipality already has a Homeless. Housing. and Neighborhood Development (HHAND) Board specifically designated to ‘advise the Mayor and the Assembly on issues related to long and short-term housing, homeless and community development needs… and strategies to effect revitalization of lower-income and at risk neighborhoods,'” the mayor wrote.

“Moreover, the stated purpose of the proposed Houseless Lived Experience Anchorage’ resources should be used to focus on helping those experiencing homelessness rather than to just talk about it,” he said.

The “lived experience” homeless board is a pet project of Assemblyman Felix Rivera and Assemblywoman Meg Zaletel, who is facing recall.

It’s expected that the leftist Assembly will take up the veto and consider overriding it at their next Assembly meeting.

Breaking: Mayor Bronson appoints Judy Eledge as Anchorage library director

Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson today named Judy Eledge as the new director of libraries.

Last week the Anchorage Assembly refused to confirm Bronson’s first choice for Anchorage librarian. As an answer to their insult, the mayor made Sami Graham his chief of staff, and told the Assembly that her office would be located in the Z.J. Loussac Library.

But evidently that was a short-lived idea.

Instead, Bronson appointed a Republican activist to be his choice for libraries. Eledge is the president of the Anchorage Republican Women’s Club and has long been active in campaigning. She was one of two electors in the recent presidential election, and ran for school board this spring.

Eledge, like Graham, doesn’t have a master’s of library science degree, which the liberal members of the Assembly say is an essential requirement. Like Graham, Eledge is an educator by training and experience.

Eledge has lived in Alaska for over 40 years and spent 16 years as a teacher in the Anchorage School District.

While her children were in the school system, Eledge was was Chugiak High School PTA president and was honored as the Chugiak High School Volunteer of the Year. She also served on the Alaska State Board of Education, Anchorage Chamber of Commerce Education Committee, Municipal Health Commission, board of directors for Learning Disabilities Association of AK, and was recognized in the American Registry of Who’s Who in Education.

Since retiring as a rural principal in 2003, Eledge has worked all over Alaska in school improvement under four commissioners of Education. She was appointed the Alaska State Reading Council Coordinator to spearhead an Alaska K-3 Reading Plan. She has her bachelor of science in elementary education from Sul Ross State University, her master’s in teaching from Alaska Pacific University, and her administration certificate from the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Eledge most certainly will be rejected by the Anchorage Assembly’s leftist majority.

Fairbanks teen charged with arson

The Fairbanks District Attorney’s Office on Friday charged 17-year-old Jamison Gallion for his role as the arsonist in seven fires occurring in the Two Rivers-Pleasant Valley area this year. 

Gallion now faces multiple counts of arson, burglary, and criminal mischief, after making admissions to law enforcement about his conduct.

Gallion is charged with Arson in the Second Degree, Burglary in the Second Degree, and Criminal Mischief in the First Degree in each of three fires: the May 16, 2021 fire at the Pleasant Valley Thrift Store, the June 19, 2021 fire at the Pleasant Valley Community Center, and the August 18, 2021 fire at Wagons’ North. He also faces charges of Arson in the First Degree and Criminal Mischief in the First Degree for the fire that burned a residence on July 3, 2021, as well as charges of Arson in the Second Degree and Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree for the Community Center fire on July 24, 2021.

Gallion further faces charges of Arson in the Second Degree, Burglary in the Second Degree, and Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree for the August 19, 2021 fire at the structure on 3838 Chena Hot Springs Road. For the August 23, 2021 fire that burned the Two Rivers Lodge, Gallion is charged with Arson in the First Degree and Criminal Mischief in the First Degree.

Although a juvenile, Gallion is being charged as an adult, which is permitted by Alaska law when 16 or 17 year olds are charged with certain offenses, including Arson in the First Degree.

The charges in the charging document are only allegations and are not evidence of guilt. Gallion is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the prosecution must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Gallion was arraigned today in Fairbanks District Court. Bail was set at $1 million cash performance.  He is currently being held at Fairbanks Youth Facility.  The next court date is a preliminary hearing on Sept. 2, at 3:15 p.m. in courtroom 102 at the Rabinowitz Courthouse in Fairbanks.

Murkowski statement on Kabul attack

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski released a statement Friday about the Thursday attack that left at least 13 American servicemen dead and many others wounded in Kabul, Afghanistan:

“I have long supported withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, but the manner in which the drawdown has taken place has been chaotic and irresponsible and led to the horrific scenes we have witnessed over the last 12 days. It is devastating to see that American troops were targeted, injured, and killed while protecting the airport. My deepest condolences go out to their families and loved ones. It is important to remember that their mission has not been in vain as thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of allies and vulnerable Afghans have been safely evacuated. We must continue our focus on the mission our military were sent to defend: bringing our people home and helping those who have helped us.

“My office continues to respond to many, many constituents who have requested evacuation assistance for their family members, friends, colleagues, and loved ones. Due to this enormous evacuation effort, the State Department has not been able to provide updates at the individual level. In just the last 12 days, over 82,000 people have been evacuated from Kabul. My staff will continue to help constituents in need and when the timing is appropriate, I will ensure full accountability for the decisions made within this administration. The time now is to honor those who have fallen and ensure their mission is carried out. President Biden committed to the American people that he will ensure any American who wishes to leave the country is able to do so and that those terrorists that attacked and killed our service members will pay the price. They will not win. I intend to hold the president to those words.”

Read the statements of Sen. Dan Sullivan, Congressman Don Young, Gov. Mike Dunleavy and others at this link:

Flags at half-staff

President Joe Biden ordered U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff from Aug. 26 through sunset on Aug. 30 in honor of the victims of the attack on U.S. service members and other victims in the terrorist attack at the Kabul Airport on Aug. 26.

The flags on all federal buildings and grounds, military posts, naval vessels, embassies, consular offices and other places are under this proclamation. Typically, states and municipalities follow suit.

The number of U.S. servicemen who died in the attack has risen to 13.