Anchorage’s House District 27 has been a nail-biter of a race. On Sunday, Democrat Liz Snyder slipped ahead of Rep. Lance Pruitt by 17 votes.
Must Read Alaska has learned that there are between 114 and 120 absentee votes left to be counted. Pruitt would need more than 57 percent of them in order to overcome Snyder’s lead.
Pruitt was first elected to the district in 2010. But the East Anchorage district has grown more progressive over the years. This year in the presidential race, Joe Biden won the district over Donald Trump, 4,476 to 4,072. But four years ago, Trump won the district with 4,085 to Hillary Clinton’s 3,729 votes.
Check back for further updates on whether this house seat has flipped to the Democrats.
In a letter from Alaska Gasline Development Corporation Board President Frank Richards, the state-owned agency has declined to meet with the former governor of Alaska, who has put together a consortium that proposes to take over the Alaska Gasline project from the agency:
November 11, 2020
The Honorable Bill Walker Mr. Keith Meyer Mr. A.J. “Joey” Merrick II Mr. Bernie Karl
On behalf of AGDC’s Board, I am responding to your letter dated November 9, 2020. Thank you for your continued interest in the Alaska LNG Project.
In April 2020, the AGDC Board of Directors authorized our current strategic plan to transition leadership of the Alaska LNG Project to a third party or parties with the qualifications and capitalization to successfully unlock the benefits and value of Alaska’s North Slope natural gas.
AGDC is already collaborating with parties with whom we have an existing relationship to potentially achieve this goal. These parties have provided significant funds and in-kind contributions during the recent economic reevaluation, which successfully reduced the estimated cost of the Alaska LNG Project to a more competitive level. Collectively, we are working toward identification of a new lead party that can advance the project to Front End Engineering and Design, the next appropriate stage gate.
In early 2021, the Board will assess whether there is sufficient interest and progress towards our leadership transition goal. In the event that new Alaska LNG leadership is not identified, AGDC may formulate an open solicitation of interest to present to other qualified parties. Should AGDC offer such a solicitation in 2021, we will be sure to notify Alaska Gasline & LNG LLC.
Accordingly, we respectfully decline your request to meet until such time that we are ready to share a formal solicitation of interest. AGDC and the Board appreciate your keen interest in the success of the Alaska LNG Project.
According to KDLG and KUNM, reporter Hannah Colton died last week. She was 29. The reports of her passing suggest the cause was suicide.
“KDLG is heartbroken by her passing. Colton came to Dillingham in 2015. She dedicated a year of service as a journalist to the people of Bristol Bay, lifting their voices with compassion and going to bat for the concerns of this community. Colton constantly pursued the truth, and she will be deeply missed,” the Dillingham public radio station reported.
Colton’s stories appeared frequently in the Anchorage Daily News during the year she lived in Alaska. She wrote about Katmai bears, fishing, hydro power at Chignik Lagoon, and the Pebble Project.
National Crisis Hotline: 1-800-273-TALK (8-2-5-5). Call 24/7
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Colton accepted a job as the education reporter and news director at KUNM, a public radio station in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
There, she had been a champion for social justice.
“She was passionate about equity and racial justice. She fought those fights in the field, in news content and on behalf of her staff,” KUNM wrote.
“Hannah loved being a reporter. She was a gifted storyteller. She was great at meeting people and talking with them, asking good questions and really listening to the answers.
“She well-understood the urgency of this moment, and she gave it her whole heart, working around the clock to cover equity and education, the dangers of the virus for people who are incarcerated, protests and the pandemic’s impacts on people without shelter,” the station wrote.
Colton was said to have suffered from depression.
She recently wrote, “The older I get and more work I do, the more convinced I am that most or all of us are traumatized to some degree by this messed up, unjust, patriarchal, white supremacist society. Healing is possible, but we cannot heal alone. And that’s why I love making pieces about mental health. Especially when I get to speak with compassionate, expert elders.”
Of her passing, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall wrote, “Heartbroken to learn of the loss of Hannah Colton of @KUNMnews. Hannah was an incredible person dedicated to independent, thoughtful reporting. This is a devastating loss for the journalism community in New Mexico. Jill and I extend our deepest condolences to Hannah’s loved ones.”
A call from Assembly member and House candidate Suzanne LaFrance to winner-apparent James Kaufman put an end to the suspense for District 28 today. LaFrance left a message on Kaufman’s answering machine conceding the race.
LaFrance was the plug-and-play candidate for the Democrats, skipping the primary, but being inserted in the General Election to take on the winner of the Republican Primary, Kaufman. Adam Lees had won the primary for the Democrats but ceded the position to LaFrance, who was thought to have a better chance of beating Kaufman.
Kaufman said he was out and about in the South Anchorage hillside neighborhood taking down campaign signs and missed the call.
342,624 votes have been counted in the state so far, with more to be counted on Sunday.
LaFrance tightened up the race with 5,416 votes to Kaufman’s 5,851, and in her message she admonished him that he needs to listen to the people she represents.
LaFrance had postured as a conservative to voters but, in fact, is part of the Anchorage Assembly’s progressive leadership group. Kaufman is a conservative.
District 28 is a high-engagement area of the state, encompassing Girdwood, Indian, Bear Valley, O’Malley, and Huffman neighborhoods. Many voters cast absentee ballots in the district, which is one of the last to have those absentees counted.
11,744 votes were cast in the race, including 463 that peeled off for a third candidate, Benjamin Fletcher. But Kaufman won nearly 50 percent of the vote.
If ranked-choice voting was being used in this race, it’s likely that LaFrance would have won, as both she and Fletcher were liberal candidates, while Kaufman is conservative. The most likely scenario would be that Fletcher’s votes would have been assigned to LaFrance. Ranked-choice voting passed with Ballot Measure 2 and will be used in the next election in 2022.
In the district, Joe Biden edged out Donald Trump 5,906 to 5,823, reflecting the overall “bluing” of Anchorage as resource and private-sector jobs have been driven out of the state, and government jobs become a greater share of the job market.
With this race completed, a couple of others are still waiting for a batch of votes to be counted on Sunday: David Nelson in District 15 leads Lyn Franks, and Rep. Lance Pruitt leads Liz Snyder in District 27.
Both Franks and Snyder are Democrats, Nelson and Pruitt are Republicans.
Nelson leads in District 15 by 116 votes, while Pruitt leads in District 27 by just 58 votes.
The Palmer City Council will take up the matter of a proposed mask mandate, offered by Council member and Deputy Mayor Sabrena Combs, at its Nov. 18 meeting.
Combs, a registered Democrat, has proposed Ordinance 20-016, mandating a face covering in all public settings for a period of no more than 60 days.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a public health emergency that threatens to overwhelm our health system, endangering the lives and well-being of our citizens. The governor has issued an emergency alert asking citizens to remain diligent in social distancing and masking,” the summary reads. “The CDC recommends wearing masks or face coverings in public settings in addition to maintaining 6 feet a physical distancing. In line with his recommendation, the city puts forth this emergency ordinance to preserve the health and safety of our community.”
In addition, employers would be required to ensure employees who are present in the workplace have access to and wear masks or face coverings when with others.
Children under two would be exempted and those under five years would be encouraged but not required to wear a mask, which is defined as a “medical grade” mask.
“The City reserves the right to use all available enforcement options to ensure compliance with this ordinance. Violation of this ordinance does not create grounds for residents to harass individuals who do not comply with it,” the ordinance reads.
The meeting is Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020, at 6 pm,City Council Chambers, 231 W. Evergreen Avenue, Palmer.
One death and 745 new people were identified with COVID-19 in Alaska over the past 24 hour reporting period.
They were located in Anchorage (433), Fairbanks (63), Eagle River (44), Wasilla (31), Bethel (19), Juneau (15), Soldotna (14), North Pole (13), Chugiak (12), Ketchikan (11), Delta Junction (9), Homer (9), Kenai (7), Bethel Census Area (6), Kenai Peninsula Borough South (5), Palmer (5), Utqiaġvik (5), Fairbanks North Slope Borough (4), Valdez-Cordova Census Area (3), Fritz Creek (2), Kenai Peninsula Borough North (2), Nikiski (2), Seward (2), Sterling (2), Yakutat & Hoonah-Angoon (2), Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area (2) and one each in Bristol Bay/Lake & Peninsula boroughs, Cordova, Denali Borough, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Kodiak, Kotzebue, Kusilvak Census Area, Metlakatla, Nome, Petersburg, Sitka , Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, and two in unknown communities still under investigation.
A total of 862,264 tests have been conducted, with 25,782 tests conducted in the previous seven days.
The average percentage of daily positive tests for the previous seven days is 8.94%.
In a letter to potential donors, mayoral candidate Forrest Dunbar said that “With regards to the Mayor’s race, my colleagues have decided to follow the Charter and NOT set a Special Election. The election will occur in April, as planned.”
That’s not what the charter says, and the Assembly most certainly did not follow the charter, but instead the liberal majority made a decision that having a special election for mayor would be too costly and confusing, as it would come right in the middle of the regular mayoral election.
“A vacancy in the office of mayor shall be filled at a regular or special election held not less than 90 days from the time the vacancy occurs,” the Charter reads.
Mayor Ethan Berkowitz resigned effective Oct. 23, that means at some point in late January, Anchorage residents should, by law, be allowed to vote on a temporary mayor who would serve until July 1, when the mayor-elect from the regularly scheduled April 6 election takes office.
But that would crimp the term of Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson and the liberal Assembly majority, which did not want to lose power between January and July.
Dunbar is holding a teleconferenced Zoom fundraiser on Nov. 19 for his candidacy, and he has 100 Democrat heavyweights signed on as co-hosts, such as Assembly members Chris Constant, Suzanne LaFrance, Meg Zalatel, and Pete Petersen — all who voted to not have a special election for acting mayor.
Dunbar had recused himself from the vote because he is an announced candidate. He promises a revitalized downtown, better trails, and “embracing a sense of Indigenous place,” if he is elected.
The number of intensive care unit beds available in Alaska has dropped to just 38, with 125 Alaskans in hospitals now with either COVID-19 or a suspected case of the infectious coronavirus.
Alaska has 137 ICU beds, with 99 of them occupied with patients who have a variety of serious conditions.
But it’s not just about the beds. Staffing is equally a difficult issue right now as hospital workers are working under pressure. Every time a nurse or health care worker comes into contact with COVID-19, they must quarantine for two weeks, or 10 days if they have tested positive. Health care workers who are wearing surgical masks and goggles are not considered in “close contact.” But health workers are in short supply because of having to cycle out of the workforce.
Traveling nurses are hard for Alaska to attract. In some states, an ICU nurse can now earn $144 an hour, and Alaska is competing against those wages.
Alaska is not the only state feeling the pressure. In North Dakota and South Dakota, the cases are rising faster than anywhere in the country. North Dakota now has a mask mandate, has the highest per capita deaths and the highest per capita hospitalizations in the nation.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgam wrote, “the State Health Officer, with my full support, has issued an order requiring face coverings to be worn in all indoor businesses and public settings and outdoor public settings where physical distancing isn’t possible.” The order is in effect until Dec. 13.
The shortage of medical workers is so bad in North Dakota that announced that health care workers who are positive for COVID-19 but are showing no symptoms may continue to work in COVID-19 units.
Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota told the Argus Leader on Friday that she will not use state resources to enforce any federal COVID-19 orders that are expected to come from presumed President-elect Joe Biden.
Last week, Gov. Mike Dunleavy of Alaska pleaded with Alaskans to take extra precautions as positive tests have risen dramatically and the medical system in Alaska is at risk of collapsing due to the workforce shortage.
Must Read Alaska has learned that patients from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region have recently been transported to Fairbanks instead of Anchorage, because of the bed-staff shortage at Alaska Native Medical Center.
According to the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation, 100 cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in the Y-K Delta on Thursday.
It’s 17 percent of the 584 cases reported by the State of Alaska’s COVID-19 dashboard on Thursday. The delta is home to about 25,000 Alaskans, less than 4 percent of the state population.
The cases in the Y-K Delta are causing concern at the Alaska Native Medical Center, where the hospital says it worries it will run out of beds and staff to meet the needs of all the incoming patients.
“The Alaska Native Medical Center is experiencing a significant increase in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Concurrently, the rising numbers of people impacted by community spread of COVID-19 is impacting the staffing levels of essential health care workers, who must quarantine or isolate after infection or exposure. If this trend continues, our hospital will not have the physical bed space or staff available to provide the level of care our community will likely need,” the Alaska Native Medical Center wrote.
ANMC Administrator, Dr. Robert Onders said he supports Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s statements encouraging all Alaskans to stay home if possible, limit gathering sizes, and wear face coverings when in public.
The Bethel Region’s cases went from 10 to 50 to 100 in less than a week. Nov. 11, there were 29 cases. By Nov. 12, the number was 64 and one death.
On Nov. 13, the 100 cases were reported across multiple villages:
14 cases in Akiak
42 cases in Bethel
2 cases in Chevak
1 case in Hooper Bay
1 case in Kongiganak
21 cases in Kwethluk
Numerous cases in Napaskiak Village of Napaskiak states the total number of cases should not be publicly provided. (Math suggests that the number is 15).
