US Sen. Lisa Murkowski is once again carving out a solitary path in Washington, this time over the sudden firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez. While most Republican leaders are echoing the White House’s call for “radical transparency” at the troubled agency, Murkowski instead suggested the ouster was proof that “politics are taking precedence over policy.”
“The firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez just a month after her confirmation, along with the departure of other high-level disease experts the day after her termination, raises considerable questions about what is happening within the agency,” Murkowski said. “Americans must be able to fully trust that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rigorously adheres to science-based and data-driven principles when issuing policy directives.”
But Murkowski’s analysis pointedly ignored the rationale provided by both the White House and Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican and medical doctor who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Cassidy, a physician and the first to lead HELP, has embraced the administration’s pledge to overhaul the CDC with accountability and transparency.
“The President and Secretary are right. We need radical transparency. We need to protect the health of our children. The two go together,” Cassidy said this week. “I am committed to the President’s vision, which is why the HELP Committee will conduct oversight.”
The president’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated the same message: “The President and Secretary Kennedy are committed to restoring trust and transparency and credibility to the CDC … We’re going to make sure that folks that are in positions of leadership there are aligned with that mission.”
Murkowski interpreted it her own way. She struck a discordant tone, suggesting political interference but offering no specific evidence. While aligning herself with Cassidy’s call for oversight, she stopped short of embracing either the White House’s stated mission or Cassidy’s endorsement of it.
Her remarks underscore a familiar pattern: Murkowski frequently distances herself from both her party and the Trump Administration, always seeing the worst in all-things-Trump, often to the frustration of colleagues who see her equivocation as muddying the message at a time when Republicans are seeking clarity and strength on public health reform.
Wikipedia, one of the world’s most visited websites and a key source for both the public and artificial intelligence systems, is at the center of a new congressional investigation into whether foreign governments, corporations, and paid operatives are secretly shaping its content. Wikipedia has an open editing model that makes its content a target of manipulation that goes undetected for long periods of time.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has launched an investigation into organized efforts to manipulate Wikipedia content in violation of the platform’s policies. Chairman James Comer of Kentucky and Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Chairwoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina have requested documents and information from Wikimedia Foundation Chief Executive Officer Maryana Iskander concerning the foundation’s response to coordinated editing campaigns.
Conservative politicians, political figures, and organizations, even in Alaska, have found their profiles subject to repeated political editing attacks, requiring constant monitoring.
The inquiry follows reports that Wikipedia articles have been subject to manipulation by foreign governments, corporate interests, and individuals seeking to influence public opinion. Because Wikipedia is widely relied upon by the public and increasingly by artificial intelligence systems for training data, the Committee is examining how disinformation campaigns may distort access to credible information.
Wikipedia has a record of misconduct on its platform. In 2012, the site investigated Wiki-PR, uncovering more than 250 “sockpuppet” accounts that were used for paid editing, which resulted in bans. A year earlier, the UK-based public relations firm Bell Pottinger was found editing Wikipedia entries for its clients, with changes traced directly to company offices. More recently, in 2023, Wikipedia’s community newspaper The Signpost reported that India’s Adani Group allegedly used sockpuppet accounts and undeclared paid editors to reshape its pages, inserting favorable content and removing conflict-of-interest warnings.
Political and ideological disputes have spilled into Wikipedia. In 2023, historians Jan Grabowski and Shira Klein argued that a small group of editors pushed a distorted narrative on Polish-Jewish relations, influenced by nationalist propaganda. In response, other researchers, including Piotr Konieczny, challenged those findings, underscoring the contentious nature of editorial battles on sensitive historical topics.
Nation-states have also been linked to manipulation campaigns. In 2021, the Wikimedia Foundation banned seven accounts tied to Wikimedians of Mainland China after accusations of vote-stacking and doxing, raising concerns about possible state-backed infiltration. In 2025, the House Oversight Committee cited reports of pro-Kremlin and anti-Israel narratives being inserted into articles on conflicts involving Russia and Israel, framing the issue as a matter of national security.
Instances of self-promotion have further complicated Wikipedia’s credibility. In 2024, an editor operating under the name “Swmmng” created or modified 235 articles across projects to promote artist David Woodard, violating rules against conflict of interest and sockpuppetry. Earlier cases include reports in 2010 that IBM advocates edited the History of IBMarticle to soften references to the company’s ties to the Holocaust.
Wikipedia has also faced exposure to hoaxes and disinformation. In 2007, a false claim that television composer Ronnie Hazlehurst co-wrote a pop song was picked up by the British media before being debunked. In 2014, Russian actors planted a hoax about a chemical plant explosion, an incident that highlighted the risks of coordinated falsehoods spreading beyond the platform. In 2015, during the Gamergate controversy, Wikipedia’s Arbitration Committee intervened to ban editors engaged in manipulation of gender-related articles.
The Oversight Committee’s current investigation seeks to determine how frequently such incidents occur, what tools the Wikimedia Foundation has developed to prevent them, and how effectively it enforces accountability when organized campaigns target sensitive topics. Lawmakers intend to evaluate the platform’s ability to safeguard neutrality as it continues to shape public knowledge and influence emerging technologies.
The Alaska State Fair runs through Sept. 1, and there’s plenty to see and do for everyone. We share some of our best photos from the past 24 hours at the Alaska’s biggest state fair:
We don’t have his name, but we rate this kid as brilliant. Alaska State Fair on Friday (and he was doing ok).Gorgeous day at the Alaska State Fair, rated No. 7 in the nation for state fairs (but we know it as No. 1)
A thing of beauty and you can’t convince us otherwise.
No, thank you.
Historic cotton candy booth — this one has been around for a long time, so say the window words.
The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler in Anchorage. Vagrants who camp around the city will are now sleeping outside at 45-degrees. Soon the mayor will be activating the city’s cold-weather shelter program, providing mass shelter and hotel rooms for those who are ready to come inside. The program is required by city ordinance. Over the past five years, the municipality has spent well beyond $250 million in services and shelter for homeless, vagrants, and drifters. This does not count the indirect costs to taxpayers (fire suppression, camp clearing) or expenditures by nonprofits. In our ongoing gallery series about the vagrant crisis in Anchorage, we have photos from the past two days in downtown Anchorage:
Downtown across from City Hall.
Downtown doorway in Anchorage.
Visitors must step around bodies.
But at least they are flying an American flag.
Extinguishing a blaze in a vagrant encampment. Photo credit Anchorage Fire Department.
Fox News is reporting that Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy may challenge US Sen. Lisa Murkowski in 2028, citing only an unnamed source said to be someone who “once worked with Dunleavy.”
Dunleavy, whose second term as governor runs through 2026, would be 67 years old by the time of the 2028 general election. Murkowski, first appointed to the Senate in 2002, would be 71.
If elected to another six-year term, Murkowski would be 77 years old by its conclusion in January 2035. Dunleavy, if elected, would be 73 by the end of what would be his first Senate term. The ages of both politicians have fueled skepticism among political observers about whether either can count on long-term tenure in Washington.
The average age of senators in the US Senate is 64.7, but the average age of newly elected senators is 53.9.
Through a spokesman, Dunleavy responded cautiously to the Fox News report:
“Governor Dunleavy is focused on moving Alaska forward during the remainder of his second term by growing our economy through natural resource development, reforming public education and making Alaska an even better place to live and raise a family.”
The governor’s statement avoided confirming or denying the possibility of a Senate run. Morning Consult, a polling and survey firm that routinely measures the approval rating of governors, gave Dunleavy a net 18 positive approval rating in June. Alaska Survey Research polling shows Murkowski now has a negative rating, with 60% now viewing her unfavorably.
On national social media, speculation about a potential matchup spread quickly, with influencers treating the report as credible. But some Alaskans express doubt, noting that this is not a rumor in Alaska, but looks like a rumor mill operation with an unknown intent.
Murkowski’s political trajectory may be headed in another direction. In Alaska, speculation persists that she could run for governor in 2026, potentially closing her long career in elected office with a return to Juneau for four years, maybe with Mary Peltola as her running mate.
Still, with two years left in Dunleavy’s term and Murkowski’s seat not on the ballot until 2028, the political landscape could shift considerably before either makes a decision. For now, we rate this rumor as “highly speculative.”
The cultural assault to get children to see blurred lines between the sexes, question their own sexuality, and transition to the gender of their choice is now an assault by the public education system.
The US Department of Education is conducting investigations into public school systems in two states – Kansas and Massachusetts – because those school systems are ignoring federal regulations by allowing teachers and administrators to administer sexually explicit surveys and keep parents from knowing that their children are being allowed to identify as another gender.
Let’s be honest: It isn’t surprising to hear Massachusetts is up to such nefarious activities, but Kansas, the literal middle of America? Next thing you know, it’ll be reaching us way up here in the great Northwest. Sadly, it already has, thanks to the Anchorage School District. More on that a little later. Let’s take a closer look at Kansas and Massachusetts.
The Kansas schools in question are in Shawnee, Olathe, Kansas City, and Topeka (the middle of the middle.) State Attorney General Kris Kobach alerted Education Secretary Linda McMahon about the situation and McMahon initiated an investigation for violation of Title IX and the Family Educational Right and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Title IX is best known for giving women and girls equal access to athletic activities; an extremely successful piece of legislation that is now under assault by men and boys who want to compete as females and use female locker rooms. FERPA was designed to give parents the right to access their children’s education records and control the disclosure of their children’s personal information. Intentionally withholding information from a parent about their child’s gender transition infringes on those rights.
Secretary McMahon’s belief – and that of her boss, President Donald Trump – is that parents, not public school teachers or principals, are, by natural right and moral authority, the primary protectors of their children.
FERPA was again cited in Massachusetts after the Massachusetts Family Institute, a sister organization of Alaska Family Council, became aware that Burlington school officials thought it a swell idea to administer a sexually explicit survey to school children as young as eleven. The survey asked students to answer questions involving drug use and sexual activity, including their sexual experience and the ever important utilization of sex toys. Parents were not made aware of these surveys, even though they were supposed to have been given an opt-out option before their children were exposed to them. Now, MFI is pressing for an opt-in policy, meaning students will not be exposed to such activities unless the child’s parents opt to allow it.
That’s where American society is now. Public school officials, and the teacher’s unions that back them, are pushing gender ideology with the self-imposed arrogance that they have the authority to do so without informing parents. No matter how they argue their right to do so, it comes down to the same thing: they feel they know what is best for children. Parental rights be damned.
Secretary McMahon put it succinctly:
The practice of encouraging children down a path with irresersible repercussions – and hiding it from parents – must end. Attempts by school officials to separate children from their parents, convince children to feel unsafe at home, or burden children with the weight of keeping secrests from their loved ones is direct affront to the family unit. When such conduct violates the law the Department will take swift action.
The action her Department will be taking may very well be coming to a school district near us. Anchorage School District has their own guidelines, published on Aug. 20, 2020, and titled, “Working with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students and Employees,” it provides direction to promote gender bending among students and staff. “These guidelines,” it states, “are intended to be a resource that is compliant with district policies, local, state and federal laws,” but they are running afoul of laws, particularly those of the federal government.
It is obvious that the goal of these guidelines are to “address the needs of transgender and gender nonconforming students and employees,” as that is a direct quote from the document. The impact of these bending over backwards accommodations on the majority of straight, stable individuals is addressed as follows: “For example, a non-transgender student who is uncomfortable about sharing a restroom [with a member of the opposite sex identifying as transgender] can request access to an alternative restroom.” The priority is clear: transgender students can use the restroom they want to use, but if a straight student objects then that straight (read, transphobic) student must request an alternative.
But let’s get to the crux of the matter, that of hiding information from a student’s parents. Administrators and staff are to respect the rights of individuals to be addressed by and pronoun that corresponds to their gender identity. This information is to be obtained from the student in private, so the staff knows how the student wants to be addressed in the classroom, in correspondence with their parents, or during parent-teacher conferences.
To keep the process in order – and keep a student’s parents from knowing how their child prefers to be addressed when his/her parents are not around – the guidelines instruct staff when contacting a transitioning students’s legal name and pronouns that correspond to the student’s gender assigned at birth . . . unless the student, parent, or guardian has specified otherwise. In other words, construct a façade and stick to it unless the parents are on knowledgeable and on board with Johnny’s desire to be known as Sally.
There is some give on the District’s part when it comes to informing parents about their transitioning child. The grade level of the student is taken into consideration. For elementary students (keep in mind, this means children from ages five to twelve who decide they want to change genders) whose transition is creating difficulty for the student at school, approaching the parents is appropriate.
So, a modicum of common sense is in place at the elementary level. It’s at the secondary level, however, where the district guidelines stray and the government-run school asserts is dominance over parents. It reads:
“In some cases, however, notifying parents carries risks for the student if the family does not support the student’s desire to transition. Prior to notification of any parent or guarding regarding the transition process, school staff should work closely with the student to assess the degree to which, if any, the parent/guardian will be involved in the process, considering at all times the health, well-being, and safety of the transitioning student.”
All hail the transitioning students. If they don’t want their parents finding out what they’re up to, then they can rely on the school staff to keep it a secret. Teachers, superintendents, and counselors apparently know what’s best for children, especially when it comes to life altering decisions like choosing to act like a member of the opposite sex.
If this concerns you – and it should – then let the person in charge know. Dr. Jharett Bryantt is the superintendent of Anchorage School District, and can be reached at [email protected] or 907-742-4312.
Superintendent Bryantt is as left-leaning as they come. When the base student allocation debates were raging earlier this year, it was he who announced the ultimate Alaska threat – hockey programs would have to be cut . . . but then turned around and requested an increase in DEI funding. Nevertheless, he needs to hear from concerned citizens, especially parents of ASD students. Sitting by passively will not make a difference. Parents all over the country are finally speaking out, and it’s time Alaskans did the same, especially now that we have a supportive federal administration.
Tim Barto is vice president of Alaska Family Council and a regular contributor to Must Read Alaska.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy told Alaska legislative leaders Friday that he will not extend the special session past its 30-day limit, sharply criticizing lawmakers for failing to take up his proposed education reforms.
The special session, which began Aug. 2, will end this weekend. In a letter to Senate President Gary Stevens and House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, Dunleavy said he was “disappointed” the Legislature ignored the education items he placed on the call.
“The fact that Alaska ranks 51st in the nation in educational outcomes should have been addressed years ago,” Dunleavy wrote. “It should have been addressed in the last regular session. It should have been addressed in this special session. Yet it is clear that under the current leadership, there is no real interest in confronting the condition of Alaska’s public education system.”
Instead, the governor noted, lawmakers focused on additional funding without requiring improvements in performance. “The only result produced from this special session was additional money being appropriated to education with no expectations, no accountability, and no measurable outcomes required. That is not reform. That is not leadership. That is not what Alaska’s children deserve,” he wrote.
Dunleavy warned that if the Legislature again fails to enact reforms during the upcoming regular session, he is prepared to call lawmakers back into one or more special sessions.
“I have noted public statements from legislators that they intend to take up meaningful education policy in the next regular session,” he said. “I hope that proves true, but if past inaction is any indicator, I have serious doubts.”
The governor said his administration will watch closely when lawmakers reconvene in January.
“Our children’s future is at stake. They cannot afford more years of delay,” Dunleavy wrote.
For those who are reading this outside of where I live: To understand life in Nikiski, Alaska, picture this: 5,000 people spread across an area the size of Rhode Island. Folks here are independent, practical, and community minded in ways that come naturally when you live in a place with no stoplights. We have one elementary school and a combined middle and high school under a single roof. Student numbers are small, and community ties are strong. Teachers aren’t just names on a roster; they are the people you see at the grocery store, in church, or coaching at the football field. Accountability isn’t abstract in a town like this; it’s face-to-face.
Not long ago, I talked with a new family in Nikiski who homeschools their kids. It reminded me of something I once didn’t know myself, and realize many others don’t know: Homeschooling here doesn’t mean cutting ties with the local schools. Now, I understand that some families do not want anything to do with public schools, and I respect and understand that.
Did you know that homeschool families can still send their kids to welding, shop, or math classes, and students can participate in sports? At the elementary level, homeschoolers can even attend a couple of subjects each day. It isn’t an all-or-nothing choice.
For years, I thought there were two kinds of parents in Alaska: The homeschool crowd and the public school crowd. It turns out, I was wrong (and I’m good at being wrong.) In reality, many families do both. They homeschool and still engage with the public schools. And in a place like Nikiski, that mix can work really well.
If you follow the national headlines, you might think conservatives hate public schools and public schools hate conservatives. But that’s not always the reality I’ve seen. Yes, conservatives often oppose the big teachers’ unions (as I do), but that’s not the same as opposing teachers themselves. And most teachers I know don’t dislike homeschool families; sometimes, they just don’t know how to reach them or understand their points of view.
My own family has lived in an area that overlaps. At one point, all of my kids were homeschooled. Today, one still is a homeschool student. But each has also stepped into public school classrooms, played on teams, and learned trade skills alongside their peers. What once looked like two separate worlds has become, in practice, a partnership.
That’s really the point. Education doesn’t have to be defined by rigid camps or either-or choices. Sometimes, the best path is a combination. Homeschooling and public school do compete with each other, but they can also complement one another, and kids often benefit from that mix.
In a world that seems intent on drawing lines, a town like Nikiski reminds me that life doesn’t have to be that way. We share the same roads, stores, two blinking lights, and most importantly, the same hopes for our kids. When we focus on that, the labels fade, and what matters most comes into view. If you are a homeschool family in Alaska, call your local school and see if you can bring your kid in for an art class. And if you’re a public school leader, reach out to homeschool families instead of assuming they don’t want anything to do with you.
That’s a lesson from a little Alaska town that’s worth remembering anywhere.
It can be true to support good teachers and not the big teachers’ unions. It can also be true to support homeschooling your family but also support your kids in a couple of classes in a public school. They don’t have to be either-or. They can be both.
John Quick is the former host of the Must Read Alaska Show podcast and now hosts his own national podcast, “Stories Worth Hearing,” in which he has had guests who have also been featured on the Joe Rogan podcast.
Legend has it that when Augustus Brown arrived in Juneau in the late 1880s he was on his way to strike it rich in the Klondike gold fields. Perhaps drawn to our majestic surroundings, he bought a downtown lot on the west side of Telephone Hill, overlooking Gastineau Channel and Douglas Island. Brown eventually built a 3-bedroom house there in 1915 and called it home for the next 25 years. He never made it to the gold fields.
Brown passed away in 1949. He left $30,000 for the construction of the indoor swimming pool, completed in 1973, which bears his name today. It sits next to Juneau-Douglas High School. Juneau kids, previously required to take a cold shower before entering the outdoor pool at Evergreen Bowl, were grateful for Brown’s generosity.
Today the 110-year-old house that Brown built on Telephone Hill is still occupied and well maintained. Its current residents have lived there for several years. A simple plaque by the front door proudly identifies their home as the “Augustus Brown House, c. 1915”.
Across narrow Dixon Street (20’ wide) from the Brown House and in the center of Telephone Hill stands the Edward Webster House, built 33 years earlier in 1882. Webster and his father established the first stamp mill in the Juneau Gold Belt. The Webster family owned and operated the Juneau and Douglas Telephone Company from 1893 to 1968, the first commercial telephone service in Alaska.
The current residents of the Webster House have lived there for nearly 40 years. Some locals think the home could be the oldest continuously lived in residence in all of Alaska.
Forty years ago, a Historical Site and Structures Survey by the State’s Archives and Resource and Records Management agency found the Webster House had “major historical significance”. Yet now, the Juneau Assembly wants to bulldoze it to the ground along with the Brown House, along with five other houses mostly over 100 years old, and one lilac tree of the same vintage.
The staggering cost to Juneau taxpayers for scraping historical Telephone Hill clean will be $9 million, according to the city’s estimate. Fiscally conservative local contractor Wayne Coogan believes the estimate may be too low. Coogan attributes the high demolition cost to regulations and procedures governing the disposal of encapsulated asbestos, PCVs, lead, and potential fuel tank contamination.
Coogan would like to see the Assembly reconsider their vote and let the free market decide what to do with Telephone Hill.
In 2023, the city became the owner of the Brown and Webster houses, along with five other historic houses situated on Telephone Hill. The city and borough government received title from the State of Alaska, which had acquired the homes in 1984 under threat of eminent domain for an intended new Capitol building expansion, which eventually fizzled out.
The homes are occupied by tenants who, since 2023, have made out their rent checks to the City and Borough of Juneau instead of the State. Some of the houses are multi-family. Altogether, 10 families would be displaced if Telephone Hill was bulldozed.
It could take years before replacement housing is built. Leland Consulting Group, hired two years ago by the city to identify developers who can deliver the desired product, has come up empty. Their inability to locate a developer should tell the Assembly something, but apparently that message is falling on deaf ears.
In June, the Assembly voted 7-1 to move forward with their Telephone Hill redevelopment plan, despite fierce opposition from Juneau residents. Under the Assembly’s direction, the tenants were given eviction notices requiring them to vacate their homes by Oct. 1. Demolition is expected to commence shortly thereafter.
CBJ’s redevelopment plan is the product of First Forty Feet (“FFF”), an urban design and planning firm based in Portland, Ore. In July of 2024, FFF issued a draft Guide presenting four preliminary design concepts. Concept “C” called for the demolition of the seven historical houses followed by construction of five new mid-rise buildings containing 150 units. Concept “D” called for the retention of the seven historical buildings and the building of four new buildings containing 36 additional units.
An online survey conducted by FFF indicated that Concept C was slightly favored by participants over Concept D by a mere 13 votes. However, the legitimacy of that survey has been challenged by Juneau residents on at least two grounds.
First, the survey did not include an option to vote for no development and to leave Telephone Hill as it is. Second, the survey was conducted from mid-December to early January, when many residents were traveling or preoccupied with holiday planning and events.
Subsequent public outcry over the Assembly’s choices suggests that a neutral and more fairly administrated survey would have resulted in an overwhelming rejection of CBJ’s plan.
Led by a man carrying a sign that said, “Don’t Kill Telephone Hill,” protesters walk up to the top of the path from Egan Drive to Dixon Street in Juneau on Aug. 16, 2025.
On Aug. 16, a group of liberal and conservative minded citizens gathered for a protest rally starting at Marine Park on the Juneau waterfront. Carrying signs like “Don’t Kill Telephone Hill” and “Save the Hill” a group of at least 75 protesters peacefully marched to the top of Telephone Hill.
One of the protestors I spoke with is a conservative — Bob Jacobsen, the founder of Wings Airways, a local glacier flightseeing operator that operates principally out of downtown Juneau. On the issue of the Assembly’s demolition plans, Jacobsen told me he hasn’t talked to a single local who supports CBJ spending the $9 million to evict the current residents and remove the 10 units from our tight housing supply.
On the issue of the Assembly’s non-responsiveness to locals, Jacobsen said: “I regret being apathetic on this issue and not getting involved sooner. This could turn out to be a huge mistake that the Assembly and all of us will regret in the years to come. Let’s let the free market decide what happens with Telephone Hill. I’ve built a few things in Juneau. If multi-family is built on Telephone Hill, it will become the most expensive housing in the Borough.”
One of the organizers of the protest rally was Susan Clark, a gracious, friendly, energetic, and intelligent woman who has been a registered member of the Democrat Party for 55 years. Clark met me at the site an hour before the rally started to give me a personal tour.
The first area Clark showed me was a 100-year-old cherry orchard along the steep, rugged hillside below the Bosch-Carrigan House, built in 1913. This home was identified in the1984 State Survey as having “major architectural value.”
I had met Clark just a few days earlier when she came to a weekly breakfast meeting attended by conservative business owners in Juneau. Clark was there to request the group’s help in reversing the Assembly’s decision to kill Telegraph Hill. At the meeting Clark voiced her frustration and exasperation at the Assembly’s unwillingness to listen to Juneau voters, especially those who live downtown.
A lone liberal amidst a conservative crowd, Clark found common ground and open arms. After the meeting, I spotted Clark sharing a warm hug with long time Juneau conservative Jim Wilcox who often attends meetings wearing a red MAGA cap. In 2023, Wilcox and his wife Cecilia received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Juneau Chamber of Commerce for “decades of giving and volunteerism.”
Clark believes the Plan “C” and its 150 units that the Assembly has chosen is basically pie in the sky. She calculates that after the planned demolition the net buildable area of the site will be about 1.1 acres. If a traditional multi-family apartment building with at least 54 units is built, Clark calculates the net buildable area may be only .80 acres because Dixon Street would have to be widened from the current 20’ to 50’.
Clark is concerned that the Assembly and their planners have not taken site stability into account. She and her husband Jim wrote a letter to the Assembly stating neither the public nor CBJ have any idea regarding the competency of the rock and the depth from regolith to bedrock. As such, it is unknown whether the hill can support the weight of the 5-story and two 4 story buildings called for under Plan “C.”
In other words, the option of 150 new units the Assembly has shoved down the public’s throat may turn out to be a pipe dream after CBJ wastes $9 million in taxpayer dollars to demolish historic homes.
A few days after my tour with Clark, I visited the site with Coogan and Wilcox. Both men expressed concerns about site stability. Wilcox pointed to cracks in the rock face and large chunks that had fallen off. When I asked Coogan how far the proposed buildings would have to be setback from the cliff face, he replied, “that’s a good question.”
FFF’s Guide shows the new buildings going right up to the edge of the sheer rock face that was formed by prior blasting and appears unstable. The splashy 56-page Guide contains the results of a structural conditions survey and a Phase I environmental survey but is silent on the stability issue.
Clark gave me a copy of the Guide where she had underlined portions of the Site Grading section which states “Its rugged terrain poses both challenges and opportunities for development, with its slopes requiring innovative engineering”.
Innovative engineering required? Perhaps that is one of reasons why Leland Consulting has been unable to locate a developer.
Clark agrees with Coogan and Jacobsen: Let the free market decide what is to be done with Telephone Hill. She believes the city should engage a real estate broker to list the properties for sale.
I also agree. The broker’s marketing plan should expose the houses to the billionaires who bring their boats to Juneau every summer and philanthropists from around the country. With the input of the community to guide them, the Assembly could explore putting restrictive covenants or conditions on the deeds to protect the houses with the most historical value.
Just like Augustus Brown made a positive lasting impression on Juneau, other philanthropists may become enticed by Juneau’s natural beauty and jump at the chance to own, restore, and preserve these unique historical homes for future generations. The rich and famous who have homes scattered around the world like having local caretakers; some of the current tenants might be a perfect match.
The Assembly and its consultants have created and promoted the narrative that high density housing on Telephone Hill is needed given Juneau’s current shortfall of homes. Juneau certainly needs more housing, but Telephone Hill is far less viable than other options Juneau has.
For starters, CBJ owns 3,400 acres between Outer Point and Point Hilda on North Douglas. Several years ago, the city put in a 2.5-mile road to help effectuate plans to build 2,000 new residential units there. These would be homes with yards and safe streets that families could raise kids on -– not cramped midrise units in a noisy neighborhood with limited parking, surrounded by tourists during the day and the homeless at night.
Goldbelt Corporation owns and is in the process of developing an adjacent 1800 acres on North Douglas and would like to have access to their property from the CBJ road. Goldbelt plans to build a wastewater treatment plant there. There could be a lot of synergy between the two projects that could solve Juneau’s housing needs well into the future if the Assembly cared to focus on that.
But they don’t. Instead, the Assembly is fixated on bulldozing historical homes and wasting more taxpayer dollars on what appears to be a very speculative development scheme. The Assembly can’t even manage to put in a gondola at Eaglecrest they purchased in Europe a few years ago. The equipment sits on the ground, rusting away, while Eaglecrest’s operating losses accelerate.
The organizers of the Aug. 16 Telephone Hill rally are gearing up for another one on Sept. 22, the date of the next Assembly meeting and the last one before the scheduled evictions. However, they plan on widening their protest to what they’ve identified as “broader issues of collusion and co-opting within our local government by outside interests, not just Telephone Hill.”
The protesters have their eyes focused on Assembly members seeking re-election. Of the three open seats, only one is contested. The protesters may want to consider a write-in campaign and/or signal an intention to mount a recall petition if the Assembly goes forward with their reckless plan.
FFF’s slogan is “a better city exists.” Perhaps unified Juneau voters will apply a similar rationale and adopt the slogan “a better Assembly exists.”
The unification of liberals and conservatives on Telephone Hill could have wide ranging impacts that reverse Juneau’s decline and make our community affordable, healthy and vibrant again.
Susan Clark, thank you for reaching out across the aisle and your tireless work in helping to unite Juneau.
David Ignell was born and raised in Juneau where he currently resides. He formerly practiced law in California state and federal courts and was a volunteer analyst for the California Innocence Project. He is currently a forensic journalist and recently wrote a book on the Alaska Grand Jury.
