CBS This Morning has an incredible report on the predicted spike of COVID-19 cases around the country.
Incredible, in that the news show said that Alaska has seen a spike of 111 percent in cases of the coronavirus since the state reopened for most business.
In fact, there were 35 active cases of the coronavirus in Alaska on May 12, while there are 39 active cases today, May 26. On May 12, there were 345 cases recovered, while on May 26, there were 362 cases recovered. And no new deaths were reported due to COVID-19 in the past 21 days; the total death count is still 10, with some of those deaths considered only marginally questionably related to COVID-19.
Phase 3-4 of reopening began Friday, with Anchorage not reopened until Monday. But the mainstream news organization was twisting the math to fit the narrative.
405 cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in Alaska since early March, but the numbers have not been on the increase. If anything, there’s been a measurable drop in new cases over the past few weeks, since the spike in mid-March:
That’s not to say there won’t be another spike, now that out-of-state workers are arriving for the fishing season. But it just hasn’t happened yet.
The State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services is aware of the CBS report and Alaskans’ outcry, and are reaching out to the national newsroom to attempt to correct the record.
Former House Representative Bob Lynn died on Memorial Day, May 25, 2020. He was 87.
Lynn served as an Alaska legislator from 2003 until 2016, when he lost the primary for what is now District 26, Anchorage hillside, to the late Chris Birch.
In 2019, Lynn had packed up his life in Alaska and, with the help of his grandson Danny Aab, drove 4,000 miles to Ranch Cucamonga, California, to be closer to his family as he aged. He had been in the hospital in recent weeks as his health failed.
Lynn was born in East Los Angeles in 1933. In his long and interesting life, he served the U.S. Air Force, where he was an F94C fighter pilot. He served in Vietnam as a radar controller at Monkey Mountain and in Air Defense Operations (including Kotzebue), was an inspector general, and had been awarded 17 awards and decorations, including the Bronze Star and Vietnam Cross of Gallantry. He was a school teacher, a police officer, ambulance driver, and Realtor at different times in his civilian life, but he was always a Vietnam Veteran, and an advocate for veterans.
Lynn earned his bachelor of arts from University of Arizona, and a masters degree from California State University, Long Beach. He served as mayor pro-tem and city councilman of the City of Moreno Valley, Riverside County, California, where he was instrumental in the founding of that city in 1984.
He was married to his wife Marlene Wagner Lynn, whom he had met on a blind date, until her passing in 2016; the couple had six children and by this point more than 21 grandchildren. The family was close and Bob Lynn was the beloved patriarch. His family spent much time with him in recent months.
Lynn was an a prolific blogger, and kept an online journal during his service in the Legislature and afterwards, often writing about history with his interesting historic vignettes. He was also a gifted photographer, and posted many of his photos on Facebook over the years, where he kept in touch with friends and former colleagues. He was still writing notes and posting photos from his life on Facebook in April, and filling in the gaps of history about his experiences on his journey through life. His Facebook page is a treasure of historic notes that include many memories of Vietnam, as well as his time in the Legislature:
“I was the chair of the Alaska Legislature’s State Affairs Committee for several years,” he wrote last year. “We heard many highly controversial issues. But nothing was more controversial that the subjects of Daylight Savings Time and Traffic Circles. I must confess, when those two subjects came before my Committee, I had the urge to flee the scene. Attempting to change anyone’s opinions on Daylight Savings Time and traffic circles will always be more difficult than trying to change someone’s religion. I predict those two subjects will haunt the State Affairs Committee ad infinitum. I miss chairing the Committee, but I don’t miss that.”
In the House of Representatives, Lynn was a member of the Republican caucus, serving on numerous committees:
Chair, State Afffairs Committee: 2007 – 2008 Chair, Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee: 2005 – 2006 Member, Armed Services Committee: 2003 – 2008 Member, Economic Development, International Trade and Tourism Committee: 2005 – 2008 Member, Education Committee: 2005 – 2006 Member, Judiciary Committe: 2007 – 2008 Member, Labor and Commerce Committee: 2003 – 2006 Member, Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee: 2003 – 2004 Member, Resources Committee: 2003 – 2004 Member, State Affairs Committee: 2003 – 2006 Member, Majority Caucus 2003 – 2006
Do you have a fond memory of Rep. Lynn? You are invited to leave it in the comments.
QUICK WORK BY CITIZENS AFTER OFFICIAL CEREMONY CANCELED
As many as 200 Alaskans gathered around the flagpole at the Delaney Park Strip on Monday to take part in a hastily organized Memorial Day observance, after the annual Municipality of Anchorage event was unceremoniously canceled late last week by Mayor Ethan Berkowitz.
Bernadette Wilson, a local business owner and activist, was the force of nature that brought all the elements together. The diminutive, lifelong Alaskan, niece of Gov. Walter J. Hickel, told attendees that they could expect a bobble or two in the proceedings, and that the big-name politicians were not in attendance. Today, it was just the people saying thank you to their heroes and telling living veterans that they, too, will never be forgotten, pandemic or no pandemic.
“This is not a state event. This is not a municipal event. … To be honest with you, I kind of thought they might show up today and attempt to tell us we couldn’t be here,” Wilson said.
“This is a ‘We the People’ event,” Wilson said, speaking into a low-powered sound system, without a stage or large speakers to amplify her message.
Talk show radio host Eddie Burke came up with the idea last Thursday to have an alternative “People’s Memorial Day” event, but it was really Wilson who took the idea and ran with it on Saturday and Sunday.
“This event was planned 48 hours ago by a few patriots who felt a great responsibility to keep our promise to never forget,” said Wilson, who has never missed a Memorial Day visit to her grandfather’s gravesite at Fort Richardson — until this year, when JBER canceled the public participation.
“We are missing some the things we have all come to know and love and associate with Memorial Day,” she said.
There would be no 21-gun salute. No military jet flyover. No presentation of colors.
“I cannot even tell you I have all the protocols down 100 percent,” Wilson said. “But what I can tell you, and I really and truly believe, is that hundreds of thousands of solders are smiling down on us from heaven above, stretching from Arlington to Fort Richardson National Cemetery. So while there may be a couple of hundred of us here, every single one of those souls is with us right now. Whether it’s your grandfather, your dad, your sister or your best friend, they are very much with us today.”
Wilson said that at some point in each person’s life they have the call to duty to defend the nation’s freedoms. “Today, as those freedoms hang so delicately in the balance, you answered the call and fulfilled your promise to never forget. This Memorial Day — especially — will be a day we never forget.
Wilson said that she had no grand dignitaries to introduce, and the crowd warmly received that news with applause.
“The mayor will not be joining us,” she said, and then had to stop for a moment to wait for the applause to die down.
“We can find certain excitement in the reminder that indeed it is not government that has solved our problems, it is everyday average Americans that became heroes,” she continued.
“So despite what the municipality of Anchorage has not sponsored, today ‘of the people, by the people, and for the people,’ we remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice,” Wilson said.
“We’re bringing a message loud and clear to our veterans: We will never ever — with or without government — in the good times or in the times we have the virus, we will never ever forget you.” – Bernadette Wilson
Vocalist John Teamer sang the National Anthem and the Alaska Flag Song, as well as the official songs of the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force, and Lt. Gen. Craig Campbell, Air National Guard, Alaska National Guard (ret.), gave appropriate, not lengthy keynote remarks. A bugler played “Taps.”
Then several wreaths were solemnly presented for fallen members of each of the branches of service. The wreaths, too, were quickly assembled over the weekend by a volunteer.
Among those attending were former Lt. Gov. Loren (and Carolyn) Leman, Attorney General Kevin Clarkson, and former Mayor Dan Sullivan, but none had speaking roles.
Legislators in attendance included Reps. Chris Tuck, Lance Pruitt, Gabrielle Ledoux, Laddie Shaw, Mel Gillis, Sharon Jackson, and Sen. Josh Revak and Bill Wielechowski. Only one Anchorage Assembly member attended: Jamie Allard of Eagle River. They, too, did not have speaking roles at the “People’s Memorial Day” observance.
Want more? Watch Must Read Alaska’s drone video coverage of the event here:
The Alaska Veterans Memorial is located within Denali State Park at Mile 147.1 between Anchorage and Fairbanks.
It is the destination each Memorial Day for veterans, many of whom ride their motorcycles together to pay tribute to fallen heroes of war. Here are some photos from the year’s ride, thanks to Rep. Laddie Shaw, Navy Seal (ret.).
An outdoor memorial grove in Denali State Park in Interior Alaska, it honors Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Alaska National Guard, and Merchant Marine veterans from Alaska, as well as Alaskans who were awarded the Medal of Honor.
Relive the event at our slide show:
Those who are in Southcentral Alaska who wish to participate in a Memorial Day ceremony can find one led by citizens planning to lay wreaths at the Veterans Memorial on the Delaney Park Strip in downtown Anchorage (along 9th Street). The impromptu ceremony, organized over the weekend, will begin at 10 am, and is not sanctioned by the Mayor’s Office, which has canceled the traditional ceremony.
A new Facebook group has popped up in Anchorage to share information about which businesses are mandating masks — and which are not.
The mask shaming is strong with the group called “Anchorage Businesses that Wear Masks,” whose members call out businesses where masks appear to be optional, and then vow to boycott them.
This is the place to go to see the world of Karens.
The group’s purpose is benign enough: “Many of us would like to shop and support a business whose employees wear masks to help protect themselves and their customers. This is a group meant to share the places that are doing a good job, and those who could use some respectful encouragement to do better.”
But the execution of the policy results in a social media neighborhood busybody, scolding companies that are struggling to stay alive — from the House of Harley to hipster bakeries and cafes, and even drive-through burger joints.
“Though I have patronized the House of Harley for 17 years and my TriGlide is getting its 30k service now, unfortunately, not one staff member was wearing a mask, upstairs in sales are or in service department. I will not enter HOH again, except to pay bill today, until they wise up,” wrote one group member. The group response was predictably agreeable.
“Just called them…Happily Offered them 50 masks for staff and 75 for customers. They laughed and said no thanks,” wrote one member, who decided to follow up the lead.
“Just watched the grand opening of the Bear Paw restaurant on the local news. None of the staff was wearing masks! Not a good thing!” wrote another scolding group member. No more Bear Paw for her. The restaurant had been on the verge of its grand opening when the shut-down orders came down and closed dine-in restaurants.
“While I love this bakery so much, I was disappointed to see the employee handling all of the ToGo pickups at the Fire Island Bakery South shop was not wearing a mask yesterday. UPDATED: Fire Island responded and stated this was an accident. All staff should be wearing masks. Yay!!” offered one customer who had shamed a locally owned business. Fire Island Bakery owner quickly joined the Facebook group, apparently to protect his business’ reputation.
Businesses should be wary — their customers really could be out to get them. In “Anchorage Businesses that Wear Masks,” ninety percent of the members of the “mask spying” group are young- to middle-age women, most of them in the white genre, but MRAK notes that Forrest Dunbar, who aspires to become the next mayor of Anchorage, is also an early adopter of the “make Anchorage mask itself” tribe. An indication, perhaps, of how he will govern.
Just curious: With a shadowy effort underway to unseat Alaska’s duly elected governor for sins mostly imagined, why has the question of who is paying for it all not caused even a ripple in Alaska’s news media?
Where are the investigative reporters, the questions, the answers? We have a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper.
We have award-winning broadcast outlets.
They can find out almost anything – anything but who is paying for the 9-month-old effort to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
As of this morning, Alaska Public Offices Commission reports show nothing being spent, nothing being contributed, nothing being reported by the Recall Dunleavy effort. Big fat zeros across the columns.
But we all know that cannot be true. Somebody is paying the legal bills all the way to the Alaska Supreme Court. Somebody is paying to get the recall petitions out to Alaskans. Somebody is underwriting the campaign. Who are they?
That remains a secret. State law actually allows that, allows Recall Dunleavy to take in and spend undocumented wads of cash from anybody, except foreign interests – until the question reaches the ballot.
If signature-gathering money is rolled over into the ensuing special recall election campaign, backers would have to report every penny collected and spent since signature-gathering began. That is unlikely to happen based on the secrecy so far.
You would think that very lack of transparency, that secrecy would be a red flag for the media. You would be wrong. You have to wonder: Why is it not?
Fold3.com, a subsidiary of Ancestry.com, offers free access to its vast files of military records through Memorial Day.
This writer found her grandfather’s draft card — both sides — as well as documents and photos relating to his work as a Seebee involved in military construction on Adak Island during World War II. The records atFold3.com extend back to the Revolutionary War.
For those researching their family history, military records are a trove of helpful information. Happy genealogical hunting — for free!
Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz cancelled the Memorial Day ceremony on Monday out of an abundance of caution due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
But at the Veterans Memorial flag pole on the Park Strip, where the ceremony is held each Memorial Day, Anchorage citizens have taken things into their own hands.
A group is pulling together an unsanctioned Memorial Day ceremony, honoring the fallen war heroes of America.
Radio talk show host Eddie Burke came up with the idea late last week, after becoming irritated that the mayor cancelled the annual observance at the Veteran Memorial. Last year, Berkowitz was one of the speakers at the event.
This year’s observance will begin at 10 am and will be abbreviated from years past. It will be citizen-driven, rather than government organized.
While chairs cannot be provided for attendees — that would get the organizers in trouble with municipal code enforcers — people may bring their own folding chairs, said Bernadette Wilson, one of the organizers. She encourages people to practice physical distancing at the event and to bring nose-mouth coverings if they feel more comfortable.
Lt. Gen. Craig Campbell, (ret.), of the Alaska National Guard, will give the keynote address. He is also a former commissioner of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and former lieutenant governor.
John Teamer, a well known vocalist retired from the US Air Force, will sing the National Anthem and the Alaska Flag Song.
John Teamer
Wilson and Burke expect there will be a wreath-laying at the memorial, as is tradition, led by Assembly member Jamie Allard, who is a veteran. Dr. Jerry Prevo has been asked to give the invocation.
Those expecting a military band will find that Monday’s event will have a lone bugle player, who will give a rendition of “Taps.” Wilson said the purpose is not to celebrate, but to remember the sacrifices of the many who died while serving in the military.
“This isn’t a political event,” Burke said. “It’s about honoring the fallen.”
The Anchorage mayor said that a recent study in Hong Kong showed that hamsters with face masks were less likely to infect each other with the coronavirus.
Mayor Ethan Berkowitz has repeated A phrase that he is following the science and the data, not the calendar, in making decisions about when to allow Anchorage businesses to operate. He has Anchorage on semi-lockdown until Monday morning, but even when it opens, there will be rules, he said, not mere guidelines.
In his press announcement on Friday, he cited the study saying that the hamsters infected each other a lot less when using face masks.
The problem is the 52 hamsters in the study were not actually wearing the face masks. The researchers were using face masks as room dividers as they blew virus from one cage to another.
But that’s not how Berkowitz read the study.
According to Slate magazine, “Hamsters might reasonably use surgical masks as room dividers to slow the spread of the coronavirus, some unpublished research suggests. That is the real takeaway from a study that has gone a little viral, as studies are wont to do in this age of the coronavirus.
“Hong Kong University microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung first described his work to news outlets in Asia on Sunday. Fifty-two hamsters reportedly participated. Yuen and his team housed the hamsters in a series of cages, infecting the residents of half with the coronavirus (yes, a paper in reviewsuggests hamsters can get the coronavirus). The researchers paired infected cages with uninfected cages, putting each side by side, explains the South China Morning Post. In one scenario, the infected hamsters had masks shielding their cages “as if they were wearing a mask,” as a Radio Television Hong Kong story put it. In another scenario, the masks were on the cages of uninfected hamsters. Cages in a control scenario had no mask dividers at all. Fans blew air between the cages, to help the virus travel.”
