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Breaking: Six missing in Haines after major landslide

Suzanne Downing
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Breaking: Six missing in Haines after major landslide

A landslide on the Beach Road extension in Haines has resulted in six people unaccounted for and four houses destroyed, according to Capital City Fire and Rescue.

There is approximately nine feet of mud and trees covering the area, according to Alaska State Troopers. Search and rescue operations have been suspended for the evening due to “rumbling unstable ground.”

Juneau-based Alaska Wildlife Troopers, Alaska State Troopers, Juneau Mountain Rescue, SEADOGS, and Capital City Fire Department medics will be departing Thursday morning on an Army Guard helicopter for Haines to assist in coordinating search and rescue efforts.

Severe turbulence is preventing the Guard helicopter from conducting operations. The Alaska Wildlife Trooper vessel Enforcer has been diverted to assist and should arrive tomorrow midday. 

Breaking: Haines flooding, roads washed out, rescue under way, people missing

Breaking: Haines flooding, roads washed out, rescue under way, people missing

Suzanne Downing
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Breaking: Haines flooding, roads washed out, rescue under way, people missing

Update, 4:20 pm: The U.S. Coast Guard is sending help to Haines, after major landslides and road washouts.

“At this point we are aware that damage has occurred in the town of Haines following the report of multiple landslides in the borough,” said Capt. Stephen White, commander Coast Guard Sector Juneau. “The scope of the damage is unknown at this time but we are proactively moving several assets and personnel to provide assistance to local first responders and the residents who may have been impacted by the landslides.”

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Sitka has been launched to assist and the crews of the Coast Guard Cutters Liberty and Anacapa have been ordered to make preparations to sail to Haines. A Coast Guard Station Juneau 45-foot Response boat crew has also launched.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Juneau were contacted by the Haines Borough Police Department at 1:36 p.m. of the damage and began launching assets at 1:45 p.m.

Update, 3:40 pm: On Tuesday at 1:50 pm, troopers learned of a major landslide on Battery Hill in Haines. One house is destroyed and people are missing. The Alaska Wildlife Trooper from Haines is on scene assisting with evacuating people utilizing the local Trooper vessel.  Search and Rescue efforts are currently being coordinated. SEAdogs and Juneau Mountain Rescue have been activated and efforts are being made to get a helicopter out of Juneau to transport the teams to Haines, as the town is cutoff from both the border and the airport.

The Statewide Emergency Operations Center is working on sheltering and other disaster aspects. AST is working with many government and non-government partner agencies to coordinate logistics for getting the people in Haines the help they need.

Original story:

Many Haines residents are seeking higher ground tonight as waters rise due to torrential rains, and as streets wash out and sinkholes are appearing.

Haines police are using boats to evacuate residents along Beach Road and Lutak Spur Road, where residents were told to head to the beach and shine their flashlights so the rescue boat can see them.

Police advised people not involved with rescue to stay away from Beach Road, and advised people who could to leave the area immediately.

Alaska State Troopers are involved in rescuing stranded residents of from the beach before daylight is lost. There’s one wildlife Trooper in the area.

Those living along Young Road, Mathias Avenue to Picture Point are being advised to conserve water.

In Juneau, areas of Mountainside Estates have been flooded as a severe atmospheric river moves through the region. Haines has received up to 10 inches of rain in the past two days, similar to weather being seen from Ketchikan north. Pelican received a foot of rain, and Hoonah received 10 inches; all are experiencing flooding and washouts.

A state of disaster can typically be triggered at the state level once the local government requests it.

Photo from social media / source unknown.

Justice delayed…

Anchorage Daily Planet
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Justice delayed…

ANCHORAGE DAILY PLANET

It is more than a little unsettling to read criminal and civil trials, along with grand juries, are suspended again in Alaska until next year.

While case counts continue to rise, criminal jury trials are on hold until at least March 15, and in-person civil trials are suspended until Sept. 7, but the suspension does not apply to trials in which video conference proceedings have been approved, an order issued by Alaska Chief Justice Joel Bolger says. In-person grand juries are suspended until Feb. 1..

The courts have been closed since March 23.

We are left to wonder at the delay’s effect on those jailed and charged with crimes or those who feel they need to redress their grievances or differences before a judge or jury. And what about victims awaiting justice? What must they be going through?

This era of uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 virus is bringing with it unforeseen problems.

Still, despite the circumstances, justice delayed …

Read more at the Anchorage Daily Planet.

Campbell: The path to socialism has started

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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Campbell: The path to socialism has started

By CRAIG E. CAMPBELL

You might at first think Caretaker Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson is showing compassion in her announcement today to provide food vouchers to those in our community who are struggling because of the China virus.

It’s a trap.  

People are suffering because of her draconian measures. If she cared one iota about people, Quinn-Davidson would not be shutting down businesses left and right, forcing people into poverty and unemployment, thereby creating a need for this hand-out. AQD’s “compassionate” gesture to offer food vouchers to those she put out of work is sinful.  

Anchorage is no longer a business friendly city.  The crazy caretaker mayor has let power get into her head. Some might say she is “drunk on power.”  Close this, limit that, hand out money, and send out the Gestapo enforcement officers to ensure compliance with her unlawful emergency order mandates.  

Craig Campbell

Do as I say, or else!  Or else what AQD?  You were never elected mayor by the voters of Anchorage. You’re just a lawyer from California, with no executive experience in your background. We do not want your Californification of Anchorage. 

You’re a joke, a really bad joke that is killing our city and implementing socialist governance without the will of the people. Did you look out your window today? I saw on flyer that a group was outside City Hall letting you know we are fed up with you destroying our city.  Are you trying to ignite a revolution?  

Your overreaction to the China virus is straight out of the Marxist doctrine of creating panic in the people through your extraordinary illegal mandates and snuffing out small businesses.

Then you provide government-issued food vouchers to create more dependency on government. Unbelievable, but what else would you expect from one of our Leftist assembly members who is serving out the term of disgraced Mayor Ethan Berkowitz?

Let’s not forget, an emergency order is for a short term crisis that requires immediate action. It was never intended to be a management tool for government to use for the implementation of socialism.  

The China virus is no longer an emergency. We know what it is; we know who it infects; we know the recovery rate; we know the death rate; we know the drug therapies to manage the sickness; we know the basic steps to avoid infection (masks, social distancing, wash your hands); and we have reliable testing sites across the city to help confirm people who have the symptoms.  

With all this information, the medical response is manageable. When it is projected that more ICU beds are needed, we can expand capacity.  I seem to recall this past March, Gov. Mike Dunleavy converted the Alaska Airlines Center, adjacent to Providence Hospital, into a temporary medical facility for up to 150 beds. 

“When our local hospitals experience an overwhelming surge of patients as a result of COVID-19, we need decompression plans like an alternate care site at the ready,” said Anchorage Health Department Director Natasha Pineda at that time.  

Stop the drama. Manage this pandemic using the resources available to you from the local, state, and federal governments. Stop killing Anchorage, or would that be counter to your intended objective of a more socialistic city, modeled in the vision of that wacko New York congressional representative AOC?

Here’s an alternate plan. Stop building useless multi-million dollar trails and “quality of life” projects with CARES Act money and direct that funding to helping small business stay in business and hiring folks.    

Use CARES Act moneys to provide the projected medical facilities needed for the surge we are experiencing, like reopening the Alaska Airlines Center and purchasing additional personal protective equipment, ventilators, and support equipment.  Be prepared, not reactionary.

Accept the $20.0 Million in CARES Act funds being sent by Gov. Dunleavy and invest every penny into business enhancement programs to fund renovations, expansions, and interior modifications to make establishments better able to accommodate customers under the new normal of social distancing.  

Stop wasting CARES Act funds on unnecessary homeless services, like buying the Best Western Golden Lion Hotel.  Austin Quinn-Davidson, you have not closed the deal yet.  It’s not too late to correct this flagrantly illegal purchase process. Use these funds to make a real difference by creating a comprehensive living and rehabilitation facility at one of the currently vacant big box stores. We have quite a few already available.

It’s almost hard to believe the damage you have inflicted on Anchorage in just one month as our caretaker mayor. Your feckless decisions are having an impact on our city, and it’s not good. I know you probably feel pretty important, sitting there on the eight floor of City Hall with an assembly that will do as you want. But maybe it’s time to start doing what the people want.  

Scaring people with pandemic lies and killing our economy with draconian mandates is not what we want. You have time to change course, but not much time.  

It’s time to get a grip on reality. Business are failing every day, so time is of the essence for you to start implementing policies that reverse this trend, support our civil liberties, and keeps Anchorage from economic ruin. 

Craig E. Campbell served on the Anchorage Assembly between 1986 and 1995 and later as Alaska’s Tenth Lieutenant Governor.  He was the previous Chief Executive Officer and President for Alaska Aerospace Corporation.  He retired from the Alaska National Guard as Lieutenant General (AKNG) and holds the concurrent retired Federal rank of Major General (USAF).

Neighborhood group requests recount of House District 27’s close race

Suzanne Downing
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Neighborhood group requests recount of House District 27’s close race

On Wednesday morning, a group of Anchorage residents requested a recount for the results of the general election, which Liz Snyder has won by 13 votes over Rep. Lance Pruitt in House District 27.

Snyder won 4,575 to 4,562 on Nov. 3, but the group asking for a recount needed to wait until the Division of Elections certified the election, which it did on Monday.

The group has finalized the signatures of 11 constituents who are requesting the recount. Jeff Garness, who lives in the district, is the chair of the group. Other signers on the request are Carolyn “Care” Clift, Robert Edward Clift, Donald Crafts, Susan M. Kent-Crafts, Lynn Vaughn, James Marks Vaughn, Margaret Nelson, Brad Campbell, Shannon Carte, and Lisa Garness. The group’s filing says they believe mistakes were made during the initial count.

They also say that the Division of Elections made last-minute changes in polling locations and did not notify voters, which caused confusion.

Representing the group for the recount in Juneau on Friday are attorneys Stacey Stone of Anchorage and Joe Geldhof of Juneau.

“I appreciate the support my neighbors have continued to show over the years and that they show even now. This seat was never about myself, but about supporting the community and neighbors, hence the reason why the community has stepped up. It’s important that everyone has been given the opportunity to not only vote, but that their votes are counted,” Pruitt said.

2020-12-02-Application-for-Recount-District-27Download

Chief Justice Bolger to retire

Suzanne Downing
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13
Chief Justice Bolger to retire

Chief Justice Joel Bolger notified Gov. Mike Dunleavy last week of his plan to retire from the court, effective on June 30, 2021. The announcement was published Nov. 30 on the Alaska Court System website.

Bolger said he gave early notice of his retirement because the process for filling a judicial vacancy can take months, and he wishes to ensure a smooth transition.

Bolger spent the majority of his professional career in rural Alaska, serving as a VISTA volunteer attorney in Dillingham, as an assistant public defender in Utqiagvik, and in private practice with the firm of Jamin Ebell Bolger & Gentry in Kodiak. Bolger was appointed to the Valdez District Court by Gov. Tony Knowles in 1997, to the Kodiak Superior Court by Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2003, to the Court of Appeals by Gov. Sarah Palin in 2008, and to the Alaska Supreme Court by Gov. Sean Parnell in 2013.

Judges are not actually appointed by governors, however. A small selection of nominees are offered by the Alaska Judicial Council, a liberal-dominated group that gathers recommendations from the Alaska Bar Association, which is dominated by Democrats. A governor must pick from the list.

Bolger took on an adversarial role to the Dunleavy Administration, including issuing statements shortly after the election of Mike Dunleavy that threw shade on the governor and emphasized the independence of the judiciary.

He became entangled with the effort to recall the governor, which is led by Democrats and political operatives, by making statements about the case before the challenge of the recall came to the Supreme Court. Those statements he made pertained to the delay of appointing a judge to the Palmer court, which became one of the prongs against Dunleavy that is part of the Recall Dunleavy group’s effort to remove him from office.

Refuse to recuse? Chief Justice Bolger was material witness, deeply entwined in recall question

Later, he recused himself from the recall question, but only after pressure.

At a conference of the Alaska Federation of Natives, Bolger asked the group to help him resist political influence in the judiciary.

Dunleavy had cut the court system’s budget, and an Alaska Superior Court judge subsequently ruled the governor may not do so for any reason.

The appeal of that decision will be before Bolger and the Supreme Court likely prior to his retirement.

Bolger’s three-year term as chief justice began in July 2018. Bolger is the first person in Alaska to be appointed to all four levels of the Alaska judiciary. His final State of the Judiciary speech before the Alaska Legislature this January will be watched with interest.

Judge rules governor has no authority to veto Alaska Court System’s budget

Grants from CARES Act money going to drag queen classes, virtual gender-bend performances in Juneau

Suzanne Downing
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Grants from CARES Act money going to drag queen classes, virtual gender-bend performances in Juneau

Juneau Municipal government has released its list of CARES Act grants that it has awarded to artists, and it includes funding for online drag shows and drag queen classes. The total going to artists in Juneau is about $300,000.

Indeed, one of the grants has gone to the drag queen husband-partner of the City’s own finance director, Jeff Rogers. Gigi Monroe’s real name is James Hoagland, but the award evidently goes to his stage name. Details on the grants follow:

Drag Classes, a series of 4 virtual workshops, will be instructed by Monroe, pictured above from his Facebook page, for an award of $1,400.

“Drag Live”, two virtual shows produced, directed, hosted, and performed by Monroe, with performances by Shirley Wood, Lamia Lexicon, Lituya Hart Monroe, Dear Evan Handsome, Hoe-Say Queervo, Luna, Tyquan, Miss Guise, #Bob, Diamond de la Ghetto, Luke the Duke of Bell, Ryder Strong, Stevie Smalls, Roman Wilde, Blake Slate, for $9,965.

Other art projects funded by CARES Act money include:

Animation for the Juneau Commission on Sustainability by Sarah Asper Smith and Pat Race for $12,075.

Two paintings by Constance Baltuck for $5,000.

Digital illustrations, by Christine Carpenter, $8,780.

Regalia Basket by Della Cheney for $7,500.

“DZOOM – Lingít Language Learning and Revitalization in the time of COVID and beyond,” paintings by Barbara Craver, for $6,225.

Paintings by Crystal Cudworth for $2,665.

A coloring book for adults, by Kelsey Erickson-Kizer, for $5,000.

Sustainability promotional project, coordinated by Anjuli Grantham, Brian Wallace and Christine Carpenter, $12,075.

Online Live Music for Gallery Walk by Erin and Andrew Heist, $800.

Weaving: “Ancestral Indigenous Protectors”, woven by Lily Hope, for $13,814.

“Persevering through Covid”, Live Event, directed by Leslie Ishii, engaging 10 local storytellers and five theater technicians, for $10,134.

“Hidden Art/Hidden Messages” created by Rachael “Rachet Constructs” Juzeler, for $16,000.

Online Water Color Classes, by Hollis Kitchin for $4,300.

“Art and Safety Masks,” by Christine “Tide Watcher” Kleinhenz, and manufactured at Capital Copy, for $10,589.

Wooden Paddle, by David “Lou” Logan, for $800.

“Meditations” and “Views from a Distance”, a series of paintings by MK MacNaughton, for $11,260.

“One Square Mile” documentation of Covid-19 developed by Louise Manewall, with Larry West and Abel Ryan, for $10,550.

“Covid, Chaos, and String Theory”, a series of four paintings by Pua Maunu, $2,600.

Mental Wellness Zoom Painting classes, Find Your Fire Art Studio (Melissa McCormick), for $1,850.

Covid Quilt created by Mary McEwen, for $2,800.

Children’s coloring book by Mary McEwen, for $4,756.

Covid portrait painted by Louise Miller, for $1,920.

A 20-foot canoe, created by Robert Mills, with Brian Crapo, for $37,250.

Photographic portraits of Covid healthcare workers by Marc Mintz, for $3,900.

“Stories of Elders during Covid”, by Planet Alaska (Vivian Mork) working with four elders, for $10,000.

“Solace” modern dance, choreographed and danced by Anouk Otsea, music composed by Robert Newman, and videography and editing by Ryan Cortez, for $14,000.

“Virtual Strings and Stories,” by Linda Rosenthal, for $8,625.

“Recognizable Changes,” bentwood box by Abel Ryan, for $3,500.

“Animal Silhouettes” with messages of encouragement created by Aakatchaq Schaeffer, for $6,490.

“A Firefighter’s Holiday Tradition lives on”, a documentary film by Alaska In Motion (Madison Beau Sylte) with Kristan “Kris Kross Creatives” Barrill, for $3,900.

Covid Mask Scraps Quilt by Deborah Tempel, for $6,000.

“Gu Nu Ku” contemporary dance film choreographed and danced by Marissa Truitt, with Sydney Truitt and Austin Edwards, for $4,750.

“From Juneau With Love” a virtual two-hour performance produced by Taylor Vidic and Kelsey Riker with Annie Bartholemew, Cameron Brocket, Serena Drazkowski, Brita Fagerstrom, Michaela Goade, Jennifer Gross, Ryan Hicks, George Kuhar, Erika Lee, Taylour Marie, Tahir McInnis, Joseline Miles, Mercedes Munoz, Rochelle Smallwood, Chris Talley, Salissa Thole, Erika Tripp, Stewart Wood, Queens (Wendy Byrnes, Marian Call, Elizabeth Ekins, Allison Holtkamp, Rasha McChesney, Kristina Paulick, Cate Ross, Jessica Skiba), with videography and photography by Sydney Akagi, and with a graphic artist, and a stage manager, for $17,450.

Painting by Liyuan Zhang, for $2,000.

All of the physical artworks will be displayed in the Juneau Arts and Humanities website and eventually will be placed around town in vacant storefronts, no later than Dec. 30.

The Juneau Arts and Humanities building is now being used as a shelter for homeless, and many businesses in downtown Juneau have closed, so their storefront windows are available.

The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly allocated $300,000 of its CARES Act money for artists, in a project managed by Juneau Arts and Humanities. Some of the projects are highlighted at the JAHC website.

Anchorage open meetings lawsuit has Friday court date

Suzanne Downing
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5
Anchorage open meetings lawsuit has Friday court date

Alaskans for Open Meetings has a court date for Friday, Dec. 4, when the group is asking the court to force the Municipality of Anchorage to stop moving forward on any measures that took place during the time in August when the Assembly shut the public out of the public process.

The Assembly voted to stop the public from entering the Loussac Library during several meetings in August, during which time the body approved the purchase of buildings to house the homeless and care for vagrants, used CARES Act money for that purchase through a fund-swapping scheme, established a new position in the Mayor’s Office called an “Equity Officer” to address “systemic racism” in Anchorage, and voted to ban a practice known as “conversion therapy” for gay clients inside the municipal borders.

Under the Alaska Open Meetings Act, elected officials must meet in open session unless they call an executive session, which they did not do in August. Former Mayor Ethan Berkowitz had issued Emergency Order 15, limiting the size of gatherings in Anchorage, and the Mayor’s Office defended closing the meetings by saying telephonic participation was adequate to meet the requirements of the Open Meetings act.

Kate Vogel, the municipal attorney for the Anchorage mayor, has called the lawsuit “baseless.”

Open meetings group gathering funds for pending lawsuit against Assembly

The Alaskans for Open Meetings spokesperson, Frank McQueary, said the issues of open meetings are not partisan, but are important to the public process so that people can have confidence in their government and sure that their rights will be protected.

The hearing will be in the courtroom of Anchorage Superior Court Judge Una Gandbhir on Dec. 4 at 9:30 a.m. Alaska Courts are closed to the public and the hearing for a preliminary injunction against the city will be conducted via Zoom teleconferencing, with limited public participation available.

Those watching the court case say that because the courts are also closed to the public, by order of Chief Justice Joel Bolger, they may not look upon the Alaskans for Open Meetings lawsuit with much charity.

Lawsuit filed over Ballot Measure 2, ranked choice voting, jungle primary

Suzanne Downing
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Lawsuit filed over Ballot Measure 2, ranked choice voting, jungle primary

VIOLATION OF FIRST AMENDMENT AND MORE

A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Ballot Measure 2, which changes the manner in which people vote in Alaska, has been filed in Superior Court in Anchorage, the day after the 2020 General Election was certified by the Division of Elections.

Plaintiffs include Scott Kohlhass, the Alaska Libertarian Party, Robert M. Bird, the Alaska Independence Party, and Kenneth P. Jacobus, a Republican who is also the lawyer for the group. The court filing says that the ballot measure violates Alaskans’ right to free political association, free speech, right to petition, right to due process, and other rights guaranteed to Americans by the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution, and by Article One, Sections 2, 5, 6, 7 and 22 of the Alaska Constitution.

The lawsuit says that Kohlhass, as a member of the Libertarian Party, wants to take part in the selection of his party’s candidate to represent him in a manner consistent with the rules of his party. Ballot Measure 2 does not allow him to do so because it destroys the party’s ability to advance a candidate under the Libertarian Party primary process.

Bird makes the same complaint on behalf of his Alaska Independence Party, and Jacobus says he objects to people other than registered Republican voters participating in choosing Republican nominees for public office.

In addition, Jacobus says that Ballot Measure 2 requires him to participate in a process that violates his rights to free political association as member of a political party.

“All political parties may select their candidates in accord with the rules of each party. This right to do so is a right guaranteed to each party and its members by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, applicable to the defendants through the Fourteeth Amendment and the Constitution of the State of Alaska. This right of all political parties and their members has been confirmed by the Supreme Court of the Unitesd States,” the lawsuit claims, listing several relevant case laws that the Superior Court will be asked to review.

The lawsuit is attached below:

Complaint-PDFDownload

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