The Alaska Permanent Fund Earnings Reserve Account, where the Alaska Permanent Fund dividend is drawn from, has dropped in value over the past quarter.
While in May, there was $17.6 billion in the ERA, a note from the Fund reports says it is down to $8.4 billion. But it’s actually down even more. A lot more.
The actual realized earnings of the account are now just over $3.09 billion, with unrealized gains at $1.3 billion.
That’s because on July 1, the state operating budget took a draw of $3 billion.
The ERA will have an estimated $5.3 billion available for future appropriation, according to the fund.
That is a seriously low number for state budgeters to work with over the coming years.
The rate of return for FY 2020, which ended in June, just over 2 percent. Markets in general have crashed across the globe due to the current pandemic, so the Alaska Permanent Fund is not alone in that regard.
At the end of the fiscal year, the entire fund, which is a result of oil royalties that go to the state, stood at $65 billion. But most of that is untouchable. Only the Earnings Reserve Account can be used to pay dividends to Alaskans and to shore up state services, via a method called the Percent of Market Value, or POMV.
The low balance in the Earnings Reserve Account means next year’s budget will have little to draw upon. Permanent Fund dividends will be competing with state spending. And in future years, with the fund’s low rate of return, Alaskans can expect smaller dividends. This year’s dividend was $992.
The memorial service for Rep. Gary Knopp, who died in a midair plane collision last Friday, is set for noon, Saturday, Aug. 8, in Soldotna at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish. The event is open to the public but space and seating will be limited due to the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Overflow seating will be available in the Fireweed Hall and O’Neill Hall with funeral live-streamed on monitors. Attendees are asked to wear face masks and practice social distancing.
A reception will follow immediately after at Hutchings Auto Spa, 44110 Sterling Highway. Food will not be provided due to the pandemic, but the Hearth Eatery food truck will be present for food purchases.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks donations be made to the church in Knopp’s name. Condolences may be sent to Helen Knopp, 50465 Patrick Drive, Kenai, Alaska 99611.
Republican House District 23 candidate Kathy Henslee announced a suite of important endorsements for her primary race for the Mid-South Anchorage seat.
Former Gov. Sean Parnell is perhaps the most well-known endorser of the political newcomer trying to unseat Democrat Chris Tuck.
“I’m happy to endorse Kathy Henslee,” wrote Parnell. “She is exactly the leader we need to create opportunities for all Alaskans.”
Former Rep. Ralph Samuels has also endorsed Henslee, as did the former Chairman of the Alaska Republican Party, Tuckerman Babcock.
Current Assemblywoman Jamie Allard met Henslee at Kriner’s Diner on Tuesday and the two had lunch at the cafe before walking the district with flyers. (photo above, Henslee is on the left, Allard on the right.)
Her opponent in the primary, Connie Dougherty, has an advantage; she ran in 2018 for this seat, and still has some valuable name recognition. A hair stylist, Dougherty lost to incumbent Tuck, 2,973 to 2,605.
The district should be winnable for Republicans but has been a stubborn one. It has 2,665 Republicans and 2,054 Democrats, but Tuck has held the seat since 2014, and also represented part of the district as District 22 before redistricting changed political boundaries.
Henslee is the former program director for “Priceless,” a faith-based group that works with women who have been rescued from sex traffickers.
The stampede for firearms and ammunition continues as Americans face coronavirus concerns, Democratic promises of draconian gun control, ongoing race protests and the realization cops generally only show up after the dust settles.
The FBI says its National Instant Criminal Background Check System in July, for the third month this year, reported record gun sales background checks.
July checks totaled 3,639,224, the third-highest monthly total ever. In June, there were 3,931,607 background checks. That was the most ever in NICS’ 14-year history. March was the second-highest ever, at 3,740,688.
So far this year, there have been 22,819,271 background checks nationally, up about 44 percent over last year at this time, and that includes only firearms sold through federally licensed dealers and checks for concealed weapon permits. Private sales do not require NICS background checks.
While those numbers give hoplophobes the vapors, we are encouraged that more Americans are enjoying their constitutional rights. We again point out that gun ownership is a serious responsibility and urge newly minted gun owners to get training in firearms safety and the laws of self-defense. Knowing when to shoot is as important as knowing how to shoot.
Firearms can offer responsible gun owners years of pleasure in the field and on the target range – and it allows them to defend themselves and their families, if needed, until the police arrive.
There has been extensive discussion over the last number of weeks regarding a plan put forth by the municipal administration for the purchase of four buildings which would be utilized for housing and treatment facilities for our ever growing homeless population.
The buildings include Beans Café off of 3rd Avenue, the Golden Lion Hotel on the corner of 36th Avenue and the New Seward Highway, the former Alaska Club facility on Tudor Road and Alaska’s Best Value Hotel in Spenard.
The Golden Lion Hotel is located adjacent to one of the highest traffic volume intersections in the state. Many have expressed legitimate concerns regarding the inherent danger of housing people with known substance abuse problems in such a high traffic area.
Just to the east of the hotel are large residential subdivisions, including Geneva Woods and College Village. The residents are rightly concerned about what may happen to the quality of life in their neighborhoods given the ever increasing level of crime attributed to some of the homeless population.
Similar concerns have been expressed by the residents and business owners near the proposed Tudor Road location, which is another high volume traffic area.
People testifying at the Assembly meetings have shared their horror stories of the vandalism, blatant disregard for private property and the fear felt by the owners and residents who have been threatened and accosted by the vagrants who wander through in various states of impairment.
These are not your typical NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) concerns, because the entire Anchorage community has seen what has happened in the Fairview neighborhood, including the large encampment that developed at the Brother Francis, Beans Café complex and the many years of property damage that the surrounding neighbors have endured from the habituates of these facilities.
Another area of concern is the lack of transparency in the development of this purchase plan. Apparently money from the federal CARES program will be the source of funds, although it is not clear that this is even a proper use of these funds. The way the proposal was put forth with the intent to bypass the Planning and Zoning Commission is also troublesome.
I believe there is a better solution. Out by Point Woronzof is the Salvation Army’s Clitheroe Center, a forty two bed facility that provides substance abuse treatment and recovery services. It has been successfully providing treatment for decades. Although the Salvation Army is a religious-based organization, their treatment is provided with a totally secular methodology.
The city owns thirty eight acres of undeveloped land surrounding the facility. With far less that the $22 million the mayor is proposing to spend buying buildings, we could expand and modernize Clitheroe to accommodate many more clients than their current capacity. Money from the recently passed alcohol tax could be used to help operational costs and I believe the Anchorage community would support a bond issue to pay for the expansion, leaving the CARES money for its intended purpose, helping businesses and employees affected by the pandemic.
Additionally, The Salvation Army also owns a building on East 48th Avenue that has been previously used as a treatment facility and has the capacity for 65 clients. It is now vacant and in need of repairs. There was an estimate provided a couple of years ago that the needed upgrades could be accomplished for around $1.5 million.
Apparently, the Salvation Army has presented these options to the municipality but were rebuffed. It makes no sense to be buying buildings that are ill suited for the mayor’s intended purpose, and without a defined operational plan, when there are existing facilities available that can be expanded and upgraded to accomplish the mission.
Former Assembly Chairman Dan Coffey recently wrote to the current Chair Felix Rivera and suggested the upgrade and expansion of the Clitheroe facility as well as utilizing the eighteen acre Native Hospital site on 3rdAvenue for additional housing. The municipality also owns this property
When I was in office, we would survey the camp population as we cleaned them up and discovered that about 50 percent of the illegal campers had other housing options but preferred their lifestyle of inhabiting and despoiling our public spaces.
To address this, Mr. Coffey also suggested re-establishing the Municipal Court to deal with the homeless population that are committing various infractions, including trespass, public indecency, petty theft, vandalism, panhandling in traffic, etc.
As he pointed out, it is a Class A misdemeanor to illegally camp in a park or public space, punishable for up to one year confinement. For repeat offenders, the court could confine them to one of the treatment facilities where there is a chance of rehabilitation. Mr. Rivera responded to Mr. Coffey’s thoughtful suggestion by saying that they’ve looked at extending services to Clitheroe and it didn’t pencil out. I don’t believe that to be true.
As for the Municipal Court, he said he and Assembly member Zalatel did not want to criminalize the homeless. He clearly doesn’t understand the difference between those who would welcome housing and those who will not voluntarily give up their dangerous lifestyle; dangerous to both them and Anchorage residents.
None of us should have to avoid our trails and parks because we don’t know who is in the woods and what condition they are in.
The bottom line is there are solutions other than spending $22 million of CARES funds. What seems to be lacking is the will of our elected officials to use and to expand the tools already available, which would be a win-win for the homeless and the Anchorage taxpayers.
Dan Sullivan was mayor of Anchorage from 2009-2015.
Assembly member Chris Constant, who represents downtown Anchorage, took to Facebook today to badmouth Kriner’s Diner, a popular midtown cafe.
In his pointed warning to the cafe, Constant referred to restaurant code violations discovered at the establishment in the past.
They were minor violations, such as inadequate lighting and food not being stored in its original container. They had nothing to do with cleanliness, but Constant told his Facebook followers that (wink wink) the health report would tell them everything they need to know about the restaurant.
Constant, who was recently reelected in April, was jabbing at a family-owned restaurant hit hard by the Mayor Ethan Berkowitz’ previous shutdowns.
Kriner’s Diner owner Andy Kriner is now defying the mayor’s order to shut down for an entire month. He says his business cannot afford to close down.
This week, Kriner had more customers than usual in his establishment on C Street, as the public has flocked in to support the renegade restauranteur. Some people are writing checks to him to help him cover the cost of the $500 per day fine the mayor has promised to levy against him.
The code enforcers arrived at Kriner’s today to attempt to shut it down with a stop work order. They were booed by the diners.
Kriner says he will open up again on Wednesday at 9 am in defiance of the mayor’s orders.
It will be Day 3 of the Kriner Resistance, with fines that could, at $500 per day, total $1,500.
He isn’t the only one.
Little Dipper Diner on West Dimond Blvd. also said it will be open on Wednesday for dine in.
“As most of our guest already know we are Family owned and operated. We are not trying to be unlawful, but we feel EO15 is just so unfair, we just will not survive this month of closure after the last one, we barely survived that.
“The municipality is not helping us or anyone other restaurant or bar in any way.”
“We have put our whole lives into this restaurant and don’t want to lose everything we’ve worked so hard to obtain,” the owners wrote.
Kriner and others who defy the mayor could find their restaurants subject to surprise health inspections, as it’s clear that Assemblyman Constant was already trying to dig up dirt on Kriner. Will he go after the others who defy orders as well?
As much as restaurant health inspections are important, they are also used as political weapons. The mayor’s three restaurants miraculously score 100 on their inspections.
Berkowitz’ restaurants also likely had forewarning that he was going to shut down indoor dining, and they’ve managed to get dining tents up to continue operations, even while Berkowitz whipsaws the local economy with his shut-open-shut policies..
The mayor and his minions are now lashing out, saying that his restaurants did not receive special treatment or have special knowledge.
But even the Cabaret, Hotel, and Restaurant trade group said that its membership was shut out of final discussions just before the latest shutdown, which lasts for the entire month of August. The restaurant group expressed its frustration in a letter to its membership statewide.
In spite of low numbers of coronavirus, the Juneau public school buildings will remain shuttered this fall, and students will start the year in their living rooms. The school year starts on Aug. 24, a week later than previously scheduled.
“This decision has been made with much stakeholder involvement and consideration of evolving guidance from the Department of Education and collaboration with CBJ Emergency Response leaders and local health officials. As we have communicated from the beginning of our SMART START 2020 discussions, the plan is designed to be a moving scale with decisions made dependent on current conditions,” the school district said.
On Wednesday, the district will release specifics at a public forum scheduled for 5 pm.
Juneau has had 92 confirmed cases since March of COVID-19, the coronavirus. There are no people on ventilators at Bartlett Memorial Hospital. The community has nine active cases of COVID-19.
“Our goal is to balance educational needs with health and safety for our staff, students, families and community. By beginning the year with the most stable plan possible, we increase our ability to focus on quality education and to maintain a consistent schedule that families can plan around. As health conditions evolve, plans may change,” the district wrote.
The district will reevaluate after Labor Day, by inviting small groups of students to return to the classroom for face-to-face learning. Those students will be the ones with the biggest challenges with distance learning.
The link to Wednesday’s informational meeting online at 5 pm is here.
Anchorage has also made the decision to keep children from school for the first part of the school year.
BUSY DAY AT THE DINER THAT WOULDN’T OBEY BERKOWITZ
A war of words over restaurant closures in Anchorage broke out on Facebook today, as more than one popular restaurant in Anchorage openly defied Mayor Ethan Berkowitz’ order to close and people took to social media to discuss it. But it was the one restaurant that got everyone talking, even though a couple of other ones looked like they defied the ban as well.
Kriner’s Diner turned on the “open” sign this morning as usual and by noon the code enforcers of the municipality had arrived and taped a “Stop Work Order” on the building. The code enforcers, who warned Kriner of possible jail time, were roundly booed by the diners inside.
In the end, Andy Kriner said he was more at risk of having to close temporarily at 3 pm because he was running out of food, not because of the stop work order. The restaurant will be open again at 9 am on Wednesday, he said.
On Facebook, people were posting pictures of themselves at the cafe on C Street, and business was brisk. Some people came in and left money on the counter for the Kriner family, to pay the $500 per day fine the mayor was threatening to levy.
Also on Facebook, incensed critics raged about the irresponsibility of staying open and the patrons who supported the restaurants.
Harriet Drummond, the House Representative for District 18, ranted about the “incredibly dangerous behavior,” while her husband, Elstun Lauesen said that the Kriner’s Diner crowd were “hopeless, miserable people.”
There were 40 new cases of coronavirus diagnosed in Anchorage in the last 24 hours.
Alaska has the sixth lowest case load per capita in the country.
Hospitals rooms are half empty in Anchorage. There are 27 reported COVID-19 cases in Alaska hospitals currently.
Then came a text message from Mayor Ethan Berkowitz to the owner of Kriner’s Diner. The mayor wanted to talk.
“Come on in,” Andy Kriner responded on text. There was a phone call. Evidently the mayor was trying to convince Kriner that the CARES Act money would cover his losses. Kriner did not seem to have time; there were people to feed.
The war was definitely on as diners enjoyed their meals and as a server bought meals for veterans. Former House Speaker Mike Chenault was spotted, and so was a local reporter, who shall go unnamed.
The patrons cheered when a group of veterans showed up for breakfast, and gave them and Assemblywoman Jamie Allard of Eagle River a standing ovation. Allard arrived with legislative candidate Kathy Henslee, who is running for House District 23. The two were having breakfast before hitting the road for the door-to-door campaigning.
After the code enforcers left, a patron exited the building and tore the stop work order off the wall on his way out.
Last August, teen sensation Greta Thunberg was aboard a sailing vessel heading across the Atlantic for the United States.
Powered by winds of rage, she was the international “it girl,” with her pigtails and scrubbed cheeks and righteous indignation, and would soon be named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year.
We noticed an uptick in the wearing of pigtails last summer amongst young girls. Greta taught them to say, “How dare you!” with conviction. It was a wearisome time for parents of teenage girls.
Climate change was, in the summer of 2019, the most urgent matter facing our planet. We know this because the media told us so. Forest fires fueled the narrative across the West that we were burning down the house. TV footage of burning forests were the proof.
How quickly we forget.
This summer we are living in the world the climate change activists envisioned — commerce is crippled, people live off the government, and no one is allowed to have a good time.
This summer, few recall Greta and her climate strikes. Forest fires burn, as they normally do in the West, and no one cares.
Now, Black Lives Matter is the new “it girl” in school. It’s the police who are the global menace. The young have moved on from wanting a more green and cool planet to wanting a more cans of spray paint and commercial-grade fireworks.
Portland rioters sport Soviet hammer-and-sickle motif on a map of Oregon that is on a homemade shield.
After these many weeks of race riots in Portland, where more than 80 percent of the residents are white and fewer than 3 percent are black, the city is still unsafe and the blocks around government buildings are still war zones. Violent crime is at historic highs, as it is in Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City.
The rioters are mostly white, mostly educated, and as “woke,” as a generation of kids who won participation trophies can be. They’re not part of an underclass by any means, but are the fingerlings of our ailing education system and parents who themselves have been protesting Donald Trump’s presidency since the day he was elected. The homes of these rioters are no-doubt filled with pussy hats left over from the protests against Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court.
Portland Antifa is keeping the fires burning under this anti-American movement, as riot organizers hope to warm enough of the embers until the next outrage sparks a new wave of street fighting. After all, school will not be in session and the endorphin rush of being part of an important movement is intoxicating for this generation, which has hormones and boredom to spare. Always a deadly combination.
Mainstream media continues to describe the mayhem as “mainly peaceful,” and consumers of the media are lacking fulsome pictures from these riot scenes.
Over the weekend in Portland, the riots settled to skirmishes, but criminality still ruled the downtown district:
Around 9 p.m. on July 31, Oregon State Police reported a crowd forming at the Multnomah County sheriff’s office building in the Southeast section of the city, a sprawling area of homes and businesses.
By 9:32 pm, 150 protestors were on site, demanding entry into the building and alternately chanting they wanted to burn the building down. The police declared it an unlawful assembly, somewhat of an understatement.
A short while later, the crowd had moved back to the federal Hatfield Courthouse, where for several weeks rioting has been the order of the day in the liberal city along the Willamette River.
Roughly 700 protesters surrounded the courthouse, and spread themselves throughout Lownsdale Square, Chapman Square, Terry Schrunk Plaza, and the Edith Green Federal Building, where someone threw a Molotov cocktail at the building, according to the U.S. Marshal. An Antifa was seen walking through the crowd with what federal officials called an AR-15 rifle.
Sometime during the course of the evening, rioters shot paintballs at courthouse security cameras. Others blocked the vehicle entrance to the Edith Green Federal Building and threw bottles at the windows.
Department of Homeland Security officers, trying to protect federal property in spite of the Portland mayor’s wish to burn it down, conducted no arrests and reported no new injuries during the evening.
Portland saw a record number of murders in July, and August is shaping up to be another violent month in the city.
It’s hard for everyday Americans, who are just trying to survive in these coronavirus times, to keep perspective on the unfurling of the events that cross their news feeds.
But when the Portland School District said it would not dock students for skipping school last September so they could participate in a nationwide climate change strike, the school administrators themselves were setting the stage for this year, when the activists moved on to their new target: Police.
