U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason rejected a case by environmental groups who were trying to stop the lease sale scheduled for Jan. 6 for portions of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain. She said in her ruling that there is not sufficient likelihood of irreparable harm if the sale goes through on Jan. 6, and that the Bureau of Land Management has not yet made a reviewable final agency action.
The leasing on Wednesday is historic. It’s good news for the Alaska economy in the long run, as the oil will be taxed and subject to royalties.
For generations, Alaskans have fought to open ANWR, only to be stymied at every turn by the environmental industry.
At his town hall on Tuesday night, Gov. Mike Dunleavy said the decision is “good news for Alaska, good news for the United States. It will put oil in the pipeline, it will provide jobs for Alaskans and Americans, and further Alaska’s resource development mission.”
US Geological Survey estimated that ANWR reserve contains 10.4 billion barrels of oil, although only 7.7 billion barrels are thought to be within the proposed drilling region. That data is over 40 years old, however, based on seismic done by the Department of Interior.
The Alaska Industrial Export and Development Authority has said it will bid on the leases, but no one knows what other companies or entities will bid. The incoming Biden presidency may put a damper on the sale, because the major oil companies understand that the Biden presidency will be hostile to the development of ANWR, and make permitting difficult if not impossible.
According to Alaska news sources, Alaska’s African-Americans are skeptical of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Alaska Black Caucus is working with medical professionals to address that, however.
It’s a message that was first brought to the attention of the Anchorage Assembly by Assemblywoman Jamie Allard, who was shut down by Assembly Chairman Felix Rivera when she began talking about the concerns of different communities of color.
“Dr. Johnston, are you aware that almost 62 percent of black Americans aren’t willing to take the vaccine?” Allard said to the municipality’s epidemiologist in December during a regularly scheduled Assembly meeting.
Rivera interrupted her, spoke over her, and then ruled her out of order and pounded the dais with his gavel. Allard was trying to find out what the city was going to do to address the concerns of minorities. Rivera said it was inappropriate.
Allard has since said that many people of color are reluctant to take the vaccine and yet those same ethnic groups are being hit hard by the coronavirus.
A recent survey by the Pew Research Center showed that African-Americans are the most reluctant, when it comes to this new vaccine that is now being used under emergency use provisions only, due to being rushed to production.
“Black Americans continue to stand out as less inclined to get vaccinated than other racial and ethnic groups: 42% would do so, compared with 63% of Hispanic and 61% of White adults. English-speaking Asian Americans are even more likely to say they would definitely or probably get vaccinated (83%),” according to Pew.
The survey by Pew found that 60% of Americans overall say they would definitely or probably get a vaccine for the coronavirus if it were available today.
That was the information that Rivera did not want Allard to discuss in December, but that the Alaska Black Caucus is addressing in January.
More than 460 Alaskans signed an open letter to the Alaska Congressional delegation asking Congressman Don Young and Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan to not certify the Electoral College until an appointed commission reviews the evidence of election fraud in several key states.
The letter was posted on Sunday and will be sent to the delegation on Tuesday evening.
Other Alaskans have organized separate letter writing and calling campaigns, but this one was organized by a 19-year-old in Cordova, and has been signed by Alaskans from Fairbanks to Ketchikan.
With a large influx of citizens expected in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has called for the National Guard to arrive in advance.
Several Alaskans say they will be at the protest of Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral College vote.
If you’re there, send your citizen journalist photos to [email protected]
Americans who believe the election was stolen through election fraud in key states are arriving in D.C. already, and some arrests have been made; at least one member of Proud Boys was arrested, ostensibly for burning a Black Lives Matter flag. A New Year’s Eve letter from Bowser to the Commanding General of the D.C. National Guard asks for reinforcments.
During the Black Lives Matter riots over the summer, Bowser famously refused to call in the National Guard, while churches, monuments, and businesses were destroyed and vandalized by rioters, and members of Congress were physically attacked by rioters while walking in the nation’s capital. People were terrorized in their homes in neighborhoods, as BLM and Antifa rioters went from street to street.
In the years since Donald Trump’s Electoral College victory, Democrats have campaigned to dismantle the Electoral College system, which is in the Constitution, and move to a popular vote form of election. But since Biden has won the Electoral College, those calls for dismantling the system have disappeared. Now, Democrats are in the odd position of defending the system they have been trying to take apart.
A group of Republican senators say they’ll object on Wednesday during the joint session of Congress, but it would take nearly every Senate Republican to join the effort by Sen. Ted Cruz and several more to bring forth a special commission to audit the results.
Already Sen. Lisa Murkowski and several other Senators are on the record saying they will vote to certify the Electoral College. But the objection process will force a debate and delay the certification, which is normally just a formality. The House has a slim Democrat majority, under the gavel of Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
As The Washington Post describes it, that will force lawmakers to “choose between honoring the choice of the voters or standing with Trump.”
As for Trump, he has refused to concede and has challenges still active in six states. Over 50 lawsuits over the election have been thrown out.
Meanwhile, the control of the Senate rests on two runoff races in Georgia, which will be decided today.
The Trump administration released its final plan to open up land for oil and gas drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The plan covers 18.6 million acres in the reserve, closing 4 million acres to oil and gas drilling, according to the Bureau of Land Management.
“This action is a significant achievement in delivering on our commitment to provide energy for America, from America,” Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Casey Hammond said in theBLM statement. “With this decision, we are expanding access to our nation’s great energy potential and providing for economic opportunities and job creation for both Alaska Natives and our nation.”
President Trump promised to make America energy dominant, including opening up important areas of Alaska that environmentalists have kept locked away for decades, such as the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
A consortium of of environmentalist groups led by Earthjustice lawyers on Monday asked Alaska Federal District Court Judge Sharon Gleason to stop the lease sale in the refuge, which is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 6, at 10 am.
Gleason has said she would issue her decision by the end of Tuesday. An attorney for the federal government called the damage that the environmentalists claim will occur in ANWR are purely speculative and hypothetical.
The entire hearing was done telephonically, due to pandemic controls in the court system. Gleason has, in the past, given into environmental group’s demands and has ruled against Alaska’s resource economy on multiple occasions.
In 2019, she overturned Trump’s attempt to open vast areas of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans to oil and gas leasing, ruling to put back President Barack Obama’s policy that made the Chukchi Sea, part of the Beaufort Sea and a large swath of Atlantic Ocean off the U.S. East Coast off-limit to oil leasing.
A comprehensive review of the Alaska Public Defender’s Office staffing, caseloads, and budget is finished, and it shows that the burdens on the agency are within professional standards of others around the country, of about 145-154 cases per attorney. The report was made public on the Department of Administration’s website last week.
In contradiction to what was claimed by the previous Public Defender, the agency is fulfilling its ethical and constitutional obligations, said the Department of Administration’s report, which noted that the attorneys worked an average of 40 hours per week, and the estimated time to complete a case is 13 hours. The 40-hours-per-week assessment was done before the agency was fully staffed.
Alaska’s former Public Defender, Quinlan Steiner, warned for two years that his legal staff was overburdened and needed vastly more resources, but that is not what the official report found. It has shown that resources had not been used efficiently in the agency.
Steiner stopped traveling to Juneau to testify before the Legislature and lobby for a bigger budget, notifying Rep. Matt Claman that his travel had been cut by the Dunleavy Administration and he could only testify by phone.
Claman, himself a lawyer who was House Judiciary Chairman at the time, said that phone testimony was not good enough. He would put similar restrictions on other members of the Dunleavy Administration. If Steiner could only testify by phone before his committee, then all the other Dunleavy appointees could only testify before his committee by phone, too. It was Claman and Steiner against the Dunleavy Administration.
The standoff took a budget-trimming decision by the Dunleavy Administration into a deeply political spat with Steiner stuck in the middle. Ultimately, Steiner abruptly left the administration.
Commissioner of Administration Kelly Tshibaka started a deep dive into the complaints that Steiner had made about the budget being too small for the mission.
The Public Defender is a judicial-council-appointed position and oversees an agency whose mission is to provide constitutionally mandated legal representation to indigent clients appointed by the court.
“We found it difficult to accurately determine the PDA’s attorneys’ caseloads because of numerous inconsistent reports from the PDA. However, we found the range of 145-154 weighted cases between FYs18-19 to be the most accurate,” the Department of Administration concluded. “These weighted caseload numbers are within professional standards and those of other states across the nation. The PDA, therefore, is fulfilling its ethical and constitutional obligations within prevailing professional standards.”
The report also said there was an increase of cases being assigned to the Public Defender, but then being referred by that agency to another agency — the Office of Public Advocacy.
Much of that referral issue arose due to two homicide cases involving juveniles — the murder of 19-year-old Cynthia Hoffman in June of 2019 at Thunderbird Falls in Eklutna, a case in which there are six mostly underage suspects; and the November, 2016 murder of 16-year-old David Grunwald in Palmer, where four teen assailants were involved.
The Office of Public Advocacy represents 9 of the 10 defendants in those cases.
The Department of Administration’s investigation said the number of cases sent to the Office of Public Advocacy from the Public Defender went from 2,813 to 4,224 between 2017 and 2019.
The transfers were due to conflicts that Public Defender lawyers had within their case loads, not because they had too many cases. The cases were not being assigned to attorneys in such a way that conflicts with other cases could be avoided.
“If the PDA cannot find ways to substantially reduce the conflict rate, it risks undermining its core mission of being the primary agency providing constitutionally mandated, court-appointed legal representation for indigent clients,” the Department’s report stated.
Between the two agencies, the reporting and logging of cases is handled differently, which makes it difficult to tell if the Public Defender is over counting its workload. It takes 25 percent credit for passing a file over to the Office of Public Advocacy.
“We found the PDA counts cases differently than OPA or the Alaska Court System. For example, the PDA counted more than 16,080 petitions to revoke probation and parole violations as new cases from FYs17-19, but OPA does not count these as cases,” the report said.
“It is difficult to use the PDA’s workload numbers in a way that’s effective for budgeting purposes,” the Department of Administration said.
The report concluded that the Public Defender has been budgeted for an appropriate number of attorneys for its caseloads under prevailing professional standards, but faces problems recruiting and retaining legal professionals.
“The PDA has experienced higher caseloads in offices where it has had staffing difficulties, particularly in regions outside of Anchorage.
“However, the PDA has been intentionally holding open 4-7 vacancies for several years, drawing from its personal services funds to pay for other expenses, like contractor services. This has intensified its staffing challenges, particularly in regional offices,” the report continued.
In the past 2 fiscal years, the Public Defender Agency has received nearly $2 million in additional appropriations, including 18 positions, most of which were funded in the Dunleavy Administration. The agency has a consistent rate of vacancies in its offices of over 8 percent, which is extra resource capacity that the report says the agency could use to handle cases in regional offices or provide more support staff for the attorneys.
State expenditures totaled approximately $27 million for the Public Defender Agency and $28 million for the Office of Public Advocacy.
For comparison, the Public Defender office in Vermont’s 2018 budget was about $18 million. Wyoming’s 2021 Public Defender budget is $27 million, even though its population is much smaller than Vermont’s. The comparisons are not purely an “apples to apples” situation since agencies and their missions are structured differently.
“The PDA has been resourced with more budget and staff positions than it is using effectively,” according to the report, which made 17 recommendations for ways the Public Defender Agency could increase efficiencies and use its budget more wisely.
Meanwhile, the new public defender-appointee has not yet been confirmed by the Legislature, which left Juneau last year without fulfilling its duty of confirming appointments. The Legislative Council is now suing the governor because he will not fire the appointees, such as Public Defender-designee Samantha Cherot.
The MV Kennicott was filled with legislative staffers and their vehicles and was supposed to leave at 6 pm Monday for Juneau, for the upcoming session, but is delayed for 26 hours. It will have to go to Cordova and then back to Whittier, and then head to Juneau. Evidently the waves and wind in the Gulf of Alaska are too strong for a crossing at this time.
Some legislative staffers stayed in a local hotel, others went back to Anchorage, and some just got on board the ferry and will ride it out.
Spotted in the boarding area at Whittier were Brian Webb (staff to Rep. Elect Mike Cronk, District 6), Konrad Jackson (staff to Sen. Peter Micciche, Senate Seat O) and Mary Jackson, (staff to Rep.-elect Tom McKay). Also Rep. Harriet Drummond and her husband Elstun Lausen, Heath Hilyard (staff to Rep. Cathy Tilton), Steve St. Clair (Tilton) and Abby St. Clair (staff to Rep. George Rauscher).
Legislators spotted dropping off vehicles included Rep. Sara Rasmussen, Rep.-elect James Kauffman, and Sen. Tom Begich. Also spotted dropping off a vehicle was former Commissioner of Revenue Bruce Tangeman and his wife Betty Tangeman, who is the staffer to Sen. Josh Revak.
The ferry won’t leave now until 8:30 pm on Tuesday, and arrive in Juneau on the evening of Jan. 7th at about 7 pm.
KEY INFORMATION:Alaskans 65 and older can receive vaccinations starting Monday, Jan. 11. Scheduling for those appointments begins Wednesday, Jan. 6
In an effort to more quickly vaccinate Alaskans, the Alaska COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force is opening up appointment scheduling and vaccination clinics for Phase 1b, Tier 1 – Alaskans 65 years of age and older. Scheduling appointments can be done on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at noon, with appointments starting Monday, Jan. 11.
Initially, those in Phase 1b, Tier 1 (Alaskans 65 years of age and older) were set to begin vaccinations in late January. However, after assessing how much vaccine remains to be administered, the Vaccine Task Force has adjusted the timeline forward. The vaccine is not being administered to as many health care workers as it could be because some are not taking the vaccine.
“All clinics who have received COVID-19 vaccine should continue to vaccinate the remaining health care workers from Phase 1a who wish to be vaccinated, but we are also excited to open up appointments for Alaskans who are 65 years of age or older,” said Alaska Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink.
NEW TIMELINE – Phase 1b, Tier 1 (Alaskans 65+)
Begin scheduling vaccinations at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 6 – Alaskans 65 years of age or older can schedule appointments starting noon on Jan. 6 by visiting covidvax.alaska.gov. Vaccinations for older Alaskans (age 65+) will now begin Jan. 11.
Choose an appointment for Monday, Jan. 11 or later – Alaskans 65 years of age and older can begin getting vaccinated starting Monday, Jan. 11. When scheduling an appointment, please choose a date on Jan. 11 or later.
A group of state retirees were notified last week that they could make appointments for their vaccinations, and several of them were able to get appointments as early as Tuesday, Jan. 5. The state is saying that for those in 1B, Tier 1 do not need to cancel those appointments.
“If you are not in health care or 65 or older as defined by Phase 1A or Phase 1B, Tier 1, please cancel your appointment so Alaskans in the earlier tiers can make appointments. New appointments will be added regularly as more vaccine providers sign up and more vaccine is available,” the state reported in a press release. Additional information about the COVID-19 vaccine and Alaska’s distribution plans may be found atCovidvax.Alaska.gov.
The annual migration of legislators and staff members to Juneau began today, starting with the cross-Gulf ferry from Whittier, which takes legislators’ cars and pets, clothes, NutriBullets, and Instant Pots to the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal, 12.8 miles north of Juneau. It leaves Whittier at 6 pm.
It’s a special trip each year just for the Legislature. This year it’s on the M/V Kennicott through what is expected to be moderate seas for this time of year — about 15 foot rollers.
The legislators and staff leaving today on the ferry will first stop at the Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, where they have to get a COVID-19 test before they can get on the ferry. Then they need to drive 55 miles on the Seward Highway to reach the Whittier Tunnel. The tunnel is open one way at a time in intervals, and vehicles need to be there in plenty of time to get through the tunnel and be at the ferry terminal by 3 pm for boarding.
Chances are the usual cafeteria services aboard the ferry will be drastically cut back this year, and so travelers will not be cruising in comfort.
Three days after they arrive in Juneau the legislators and staff will have to take another COVID test and quarantine for 10 days. Most, however, will head to the Fred Meyer store on Glacier Highway and stock up groceries, which will effectively break the required quarantine.
Alternately, those going to work at the Capitol can arrive by air today, Jan. 4, and quarantine for 14 days.
As for the eight legislators who have already had COVID-19, they’ll have to bring a proof of having the antibody.
The legislators, their families, and staff can also drive through Canada and pick up a ferry in Haines. Currently the Alcan Highway has packed snow, black ice, and rough sections, which is normal for this time of year. The drive can take one to two days, depending on conditions.
Fewer flights are going into Juneau this winter, and the schedule appears to be changing from day to day depending on the loads. Legislators who spoke with MRAK said their reservations have been altered by Alaska Airlines twice.
Another ferry will cross the Gulf with remaining legislative cars around Jan. 25th. Some legislators are postponing bringing their cars to Juneau in expectation that the session will be short, or that a rules change will be made that allow legislators to vote remotely.
