By SCOTT LEVESQUE

President Donald Trump jumped on Twitter this afternoon to pen a glowing endorsement of Rep. Don Young as the Congressman seeks re-election this November to the U.S. House.

In his tweet today, the President touted Rep. Young an “incredible Congressman who loves his State and works tirelessly for it. Strong on Public Lands, Energy, and our Second Amendment.” 

In May, Donald Trump Jr., the President’s eldest son, endorsed Rep. Young, calling him a “protector of the Second Amendment and a strong supporter of our President.” 

As the longest-serving member in both the House and Senate, Congressman Young has been a stabilizing fixture for Alaska. Today’s endorsement from the president comes at a crucial time as the Congressman seeks a 25th term.

His opponent, Alyse Galvin, is endorsed by Planned Parenthood, BOLD Democrats, Democratic Congressional Committee, Progressive Turnout Project, and the George Soros-funded J Street Political Action Committee. 

A signed affidavit from a media professional in Juneau says that Sen. Cathy Giessel, during a live interview in 2016, said that our military men overseas are raping women.

The document says that Giessel was a guest on a Coastal Alaska Television show when out of the blue, she made disparaging statements about the military.

It would not have been the first time. She also disparaged Rep. Laddie Shaw during the interviews she conducted for Senate Seat M, after the untimely death of Sen. Chris Birch.

The affidavit document was discussed on the Mike Porcaro Show on KENI radio during drive time this afternoon.

In the affidavit, Dorene Lorenz says that her show was meant to focus on positive topics, projects, and ideas. She says Giessel suddenly brought up “an astonishing declarative statement that it was her belief that all UN Peacekeeping forces — including Alaskan troops did was rape third-world women.”

Giessel’s challenger in the Republican Primary election is Roger Holland, a Coast Guard reservist and veteran. He was deployed to the Persian Gulf as a tactical coxswain operating 25-ft machine gun boats in 2002 and 2003-2004. In 2007, he served as Chief of the Boats in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. For his distinguished service, he was awarded the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Global War on Terror Service Medal, the Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal, and the Special Operations Service Ribbon.

A referendum application was filed with the Municipal Clerk today to prevent the Berkowitz Administration from using the CARES Act funds to buy four buildings around Anchorage and turn them into services and rooms for Anchorage street people.

The application would put on the April 6 ballot a question to voters to decide whether the action of the Assembly on Aug. 11 will stand.

The Wednesday decision took $12.5 million from the CARES Act funds the city received form the federal government through the State of Alaska and would purchase four buildings around town and then roll out services and shelters to be paid for somehow, in ways certainly not disclosed to the public yet. The rest of the $22.5 million for the buildings would come from the sale of ML&P to Chugach Electric.

Former Mayor Dan Sullivan was one of the 10 signatories on the referendum application, which now must be accepted or rejected by the Clerk’s Office within 10 days.

If accepted, then the proponents of the repeal of AO66 would have to collect about 7,500 signatures, or 25 percent of the votes cast in the last election.

The group backing the referendum passed the hat last month to raise money from homeowners in various neighborhoods in Rogers Park, College Village, Heather Meadows, Geneva Woods, and Spenard. The effort was coordinated with grassroots participants, many of whom are new to the political process.

The signature collection effort will be conducted by the same group, said a source close to the network of neighbors.

Earlier in the day, the U.S. Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Treasury told the Berkowitz Administration in no uncertain terms that the use of CARES Act money to buy the buildings is not following the intent of the Federal CARES Act, which is intended to help bridge economic hardships felt by homeowners, renters, businesses, and municipalities, but is not intended to solve preexisting problems or pay for projects that have nothing to do with the economic and health crisis resulting from the pandemic.

Inspector General of the United States Department of the Treasury is not happy with Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and his homeless hotel plan, not if it’s using CARES Act funds.

A call today with the city ended badly for Mayor Berkowitz and the nine Assembly members who just last night voted to spend $12.5 million of the CARES Act money — which is intended for COVID relief — to complete a $22.5 million deal for four buildings around Anchorage. Those buildings would be used to house street people and treat their drug addiction.

The vote came even though the Assembly knew the Inspector General was wise to the scheme to divert money that is intended to help with rents, mortgages and businesses.

In fact, there is almost no part of AO66 that the federal government agreed with on the phone call.

The municipality cannot use the money to backfill pay for fire and police, for expenditures the municipality already had voted for before COVID hit.

The municipality also cannot spend $1 million on a union project offered by Rep. Zack Fields that would funnel money to union bosses, who would hire people to build trails for the next few weeks. That is not a COVID need.

But the biggest blow was the omnibus plan of Mayor Berkowitz to create a network of services and hotels for vagrants. The feds said the city cannot buy buildings with the COVID money.

This puts the entire AO66 in peril.

It appears the mayor and the liberal Assembly members wanted to move forward quickly and then ask for forgiveness, but Delmar gave them no hope, telling the municipality’s attorney Kate Vogel that he, too, is an attorney and can very well read the law.