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Listicle: Alaska is No. 1 in smoking pot in fed’s survey

Suzanne Downing
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15
Listicle: Alaska is No. 1 in smoking pot in fed’s survey

STATES WITH HIGH POT USE ARE LEAST RELIGIOUS

Alaskans smoke the most weed per capita in America, with 16.29 percent of the population admitting to using pot in the past year.

That’s over 119,000 Alaskans consuming cannabis, if the numbers from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration are to be believed. Or one out of every seven man, woman, and child in Alaska.

Vermont comes in a close second at 16%, followed by Colorado at 15%.

All of the states on the list of “highest number of users” are either in the West or are in the northern part of the country.

The rest of the top states:

  • 4. New Hampshire: 14.88%
  • 5. Massachusetts: 14.55%
  • 6. Oregon: 14.44%
  • 7. Rhode Island: 14.32%
  • 8. Washington, D.C: 14.29%
  • 9. Maine: 13.56%
  • 10. California: 12.88%
  • 11. Washington: 12.84%
  • 12. New York: 12.83%
  • 13. Connecticut: 12.53%
  • 14. Montana: 12.21%
  • 15. Michigan: 12.16%
  • 16. Hawaii: 12%
  • 17. Delaware: 11.86%

GOT RELIGION, ALASKA? NOT SO MUCH

Not surprisingly, the states where pot use is the highest just about perfectly inverse in terms of religiosity, according to research from the Pew Research Center.

From most religious to least, Alaska ranks fifth from the bottom on Pew’s 2019 list:

  • 1. Alabama 77%
  • 2. Mississippi 74%
  • 3. Tennessee 71%
  • 3. Louisiana 71%
  • 5. Arkansas 70%
  • 6. South Carolina 69%
  • 7. West Virginia 64%
  • 7. Georgia 64%
  • 7. Oklahoma 64%
  • 10. Texas 63%
  • 10. Kentucky 63%
  • 12. North Carolina 62%
  • 13. Virginia 60%
  • 14. New Mexico 59%
  • 15. Utah 58%
  • 16. South Dakota 57%
  • 17. Missouri 56%
  • 17. Ohio 56%
  • 19. Nebraska 54%
  • 20. Iowa 53%
  • 20. Florida 53%
  • 20. Indiana 53%
  • 20. North Dakota 53%
  • 24. Arizona 51%
  • 24. Pennsylvania 51%
  • 24. Idaho 51%
  • 27. Kansas 50%
  • 27. New Jersey 50%
  • 27. Maryland 50%
  • 27. District of Columbia 50%, No. 8 for pot use
  • 27. Michigan 50% religious, No. 15 for pot use
  • 27. Illinois 50%
  • 33. Wyoming 49%
  • 34. Rhode Island 48% religious, No. 7 for pot use
  • 35. California 47% religious, No. 10 for pot use
  • 35. Colorado 47% religious, No. 3 for pot use
  • 37. Delaware 46% religious, No. 17 for pot use
  • 37. Minnesota 46%
  • 39. Oregon 45% religious, No. 6 for pot use
  • 39. New York 45% religious, No. 12 for pot use
  • 41. Nevada 44%
  • 41. Montana 44% religious, No. 14 for pot use
  • 41. Hawaii 44%, No. 16 for pot use
  • 41. Washington 44% religious, No. 11 for pot use
  • 41. Wisconsin 44%
  • 46. Connecticut 42%, No. 13 for pot use
  • 47. Alaska 41% religious, No. 1 for pot use
  • 48. Maine 34% religious, No. 9 for pot use
  • 49. Massachusetts 33% religious, No. 5 for pot use
  • 49. New Hampshire 33% religious, No. 4 for pot use
  • 51. Vermont 32% religious, No. 2 for pot use

Lawyers file suit over Pioneer Home rates

Suzanne Downing
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14
Lawyers file suit over Pioneer Home rates

Notorious blogger/attorney Libby Bakalar has asked a Ketchikan judge to certify a class-action lawsuit and stop the state Department of Health and Social Services from raising the rates at the Alaska Pioneer Homes.

Bakalar is the attorney who last year was released by the Dunleavy Administration and who is suing the governor and his former chief of staff Tuckerman Babcock over her separation of employment. She was an at-will employee, as most attorneys are at the Department of Law. Her own case is pending.

In her latest suit, she name three plaintiffs: Marion and Howard Rider and Eileen Casey. She names Commissioner Adam Crum and Pioneer Homes Director Clinton Lasley as defendants, along with Gov. Michael Dunleavy.

Bakalar and her co-attorney Vance Sanders of Juneau ask for an injunction and say the rate increases, which occurred in the same year as a $12.3 million cut to the Pioneers’ Homes, are adverse for the 497 residents of the elder-care facilities across the state.

Similar to the case going forward on the budget cuts to the courts system, this case asks the court system to override the role of the appropriators in the Legislature and the Executive Branch in running the State of Alaska. The lawsuit puts the courts in the driver’s seat for both appropriations and rates and fee schedules.

Rates at the Pioneer Homes are variable, depending on the level of care needed. They range from $3,600 per month to $15,000 per month; financial assistance is available for those residents who cannot pay those fees.

But many residents actually have the means to pay more than they are paying; they simply don’t because they are trying to preserve their estate for their heirs. The Pioneer Homes are setting new rules that ask their clients to be more forthcoming about their actual finances.

Without the new rates the State of Alaska is paying for most of the care of elders, rather than families helping out by liquidating their elderly residents’ assets to assist with their care, and then turning to Medicaid for help when their funds run low.

Bakalar-Pioneer-Home-lawsuitDownload

The State Department of Health and Social Services has already said existing residents won’t be forced to move out under the new rates.

If the injunction is approved by the judge, the State would have to return to the old fee schedule while the class action lawsuit got organized. Right now it has but three plaintiffs, but Bakalar says she could be representing as many as all 497 of the residents of Pioneer Homes.

It’s not uncommon to judge shop, but it’s just as likely that Bakalar filed in Ketchikan for other reasons, such as knowing that her reputation in Juneau is associated with her foul-tempered, man-hating blog, as well as her pending lawsuit to force the governor to rehire her as an assistant attorney general.

Court will hear dispute involving court budget cuts, Medicaid-elective abortion

Suzanne Downing
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5
Court will hear dispute involving court budget cuts, Medicaid-elective abortion

On Tuesday afternoon, in Courtroom 30A of the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Dunleavy Administration will cross swords over whether a governor has a right to cut the Alaska Supreme Court’s budget.

And at stake is whether judges can decide if a governor’s reasoning for a budget cut to their branch of government is legitimate.

Gov. Michael Dunleavy cut some $335,000 from the Alaska Supreme Court budget’s administrative budget, as part of his efforts to reduce state spending. That is less than half of one percent of the court’s budget.

In his budget veto explanation, Dunleavy said that the legislative and executive branch both oppose the State of Alaska paying for elective abortions with Medicaid funds.

“…the only branch of government that insists on state-funded elective abortions is the Supreme Court. The annual cost of elective abortions is reflected by this reduction,” the Dunleavy budget writers wrote in the explanation for the cuts.

The problem at hand is that the Alaska Supreme Court, even as late as February, has insisted on the State paying for non-medically necessary abortions.

The American Civil Liberties Union says these abortions are constitutionally mandated, and Joshua Decker, the executive director of the ACLU-Alaska, will make that case in court on Wednesday.

The Dunleavy Administration is likely to say it has the authority to veto funds, and the Legislature has the authority to override those vetoes — something that didn’t happen. The appropriation function is not in the jurisdiction of the courts.

Superior Court Judge Jennifer Henderson, a registered nonpartisan, will hear the case; she was a district court judge before becoming a Superior Court judge under Gov. Bill Walker. In 2016, she was retained by 61.2 percent of voters and doesn’t come up for retention until 2022.

Planned Parenthood put out the call today to supporters of abortion to head for the courthouse with signs to bring the court of public opinion to bear on the matter during the hearing. The oral arguments start at 3 pm, with Planned Parenthood planning to show up at 2 pm.

AG opinion: Recall grounds are insufficient

Suzanne Downing
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35
AG opinion: Recall grounds are insufficient

Attorney General Kevin Clarkson announced today that the stated reasons for a recall of Gov. Michael Dunleavy are insufficient, “failing to meet factual and legal requirements under the controlling statutes.”

“I asked the legal team to do a deep dive into the Alaska constitution, discussions at the constitutional convention, the statutes, legislative history, and case law, including looking at authorities from other states, in order to understand what standards must be met in the recall context,” said Attorney General Clarkson in a statement. “As a matter of law, recall cannot be premised upon disagreements with the elected official’s policies.” 

With respect to the application to recall Dunleavy, Clarkson stated, “in order to meet the ground for neglect of duty, which is the only legally pertinent ground here, applicants must show an inability, willful neglect, or outright illegal intent on the part of the elected official.  They must also show that this inability or intent is directly related to carrying out the substantive duties of the office.

“Mere procedural or technical failures are not enough. The violation must be substantial in order to qualify. Moreover, applicants must show that the elected official was personally responsible. Elected officials cannot be recalled for the acts of subordinates of which they were not aware and did not specifically authorize.  The recall application failed to make these showings. The grounds of incompetence and lack of fitness, as a matter of law, were not applicable here.”

Click here to review the Attorney General Opinion.

The recall application was submitted on September 5, 2019. Director Fenumiai requested that the Department of Law complete its legal review within 60 days, despite the lack of any statutory timeline to make a decision. The Department of Law met the requested timeline and submitted its opinion to the director on November 4, 2019.

Director of the Division of Elections Gail Fenumiai notified the sponsors today that, based on the conclusions in the Attorney General opinion, certification was denied. Recall Dunleavy and any other interested party have 30 days to challenge the denial of certification.

For more information, see the Division of Elections website.

Check back, as this story will be updated.

Mike and Rose Dunleavy off to Japan on trade trip

Suzanne Downing
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8
Mike and Rose Dunleavy off to Japan on trade trip

Gov. Michael Dunleavy and First Lady Rose Dunleavy are in Japan this week to promote Alaska’s wild seafood and natural resources, meet with leaders in the energy, minerals, and seafood industries, and build upon the long relationship between Japan and Alaska.

“Alaska has long and mutually beneficial business and cultural relationships with Japan – my goal is to strengthen our existing trade relationships and pursue new opportunities for investment,” said Gov. Dunleavy in a statement. “When I say Alaska is open for business, that includes pursuing international opportunities in the Pacific Rim and elsewhere around the world. Alaska has so much to offer.” 

The Dunleavys will participate in several events while in Japan:

  • The 50th anniversary of the introduction of Alaska LNG in Japan.  Gov. Dunleavy will tour the Negishi LNG Receiving Terminal, where the first delivery of Alaska LNG was delivered 50 years ago today. The governor will meet with executives from Tokyo Gas.
  • Dunleavy will speak at an Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute Seafood Trade Luncheon and give interviews to seafood trade newspapers about Alaska’s sustainable and healthy wild seafood industry.
  • Dunleavy will tour the Toyosu Smart Energy Center, a cutting-edge redevelopment near Tokyo producing hot and cold water and steam from a high-efficiency, environmentally friendly centralized plant to residential and business buildings in that area.
  • The governor will meet with representatives of DOWA Metals and Mining, the company that is a major investor in the proposed Palmer Project outside Haines. DOWA purchases ore concentrate from the Red Dog Mine in the Northwest Arctic region and the Greens Creek Mine on Admiralty Island.
  • [Read: Doctors in Haines oppose mining, miners]
  • Dunleavy will be interviewed by Nikkei, the leading daily financial newspaper in Japan.

Tshibaka: Public Defender Agency sits on vacancies, over-counts caseloads

Suzanne Downing
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3
Tshibaka: Public Defender Agency sits on vacancies, over-counts caseloads

STILL RECEIVED A 10 PERCENT INCREASE IN ITS FUNDING

After being on the job for less than a year, Commissioner of Administration Kelly Tshibaka and a group of her assigned investigators in the Oversight and Review Unit have completed a 65-page study on the Public Defender Agency that shows the agency was not filling up to 20 percent of vacancies and, because of its quirky way of counting cases, was over-counting the caseloads of staff attorneys.

In fact, the report shows the Public Defender Agency is offloading much of the work that is primary to it; it’s handing it over to the Office of Public Advocacy, a little-known legal agency that focuses on legal work for elders, youth, and other vulnerable Alaskans.

[Read the entire 65-page report here]

Alaska’s Commissioner of Administration goes after data. As a former federal Acting Inspector General for the Federal Trade Commission, she looks for inefficiencies, waste, and fraud. She says her findings of the Public Defender Agency aren’t the worst she’s seen in her career, but there are structural problems that the agency has the power to correct. If it wants to.

The oversight report comes not long after former Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth accused the Dunleavy Administration of budget cuts that “bleed” the agency’s ability to take care of indigent legal defense needs.

Not so, said Tshibaka today. In fact the the Public Defender Agency received a $1.16 million budget increase in the Dunleavy budget than it did in the FY19 budget approved by Gov. Bill Walker. That equates to a 5.2 percent increase in one year. It allows the Public Defender Agency to hire 10 more positions. 

There was more. Gov. Michael Dunleavy signed HB 49, to roll back the lenient provisions in the much-maligned “crime wave bill” Senate Bill 91. HB 49 had another $1.3 million for the Public Defender Agency to hire 10 more positions, nearly another 5 percent increase.

But wait, there was more. Another $900,000 in supplemental funding was authorized by Dunleavy for the FY19 “indigent defense service caseload.” The Administration also agreed to pay each attorney’s $660 Alaska Bar Association annual dues.

And yet, the agency operated with a vacancy rate of 8-20 percent in some sections.

“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 says.

Tshibaka said that if the vacancies were filled, the caseloads would come down, but since the agency operates independently the Dunleavy Administration cannot force the Public Defender to hire those positions.

She also said that although it was difficult to accurately determine the caseloads of attorneys in the Public Defender Agency due to inconsistent reports, the range is between 145-154 cases per attorney, within professional standards across the nation.

Thus, the claim that the agency is constitutionally out of compliance because of caseloads is false.

The assessment of the Public Defender Agency shows that it counts cases differently than the Office of Public Advocacy. One case is often counted two or three times, and handled inefficiently, making it appear that the workload is more than it is.

For example, if a client is assigned a Public Defender at PDA, but the agency decides it has a conflict because it is representing another client involved in the case who has an adverse interest, the first client is referred to the OPA, but the PDA gets to count it as a case.

The OPA is taking on more and more conflict cases, when it was really set up to do guardian ad litem work.

Examples include the murder of David Grunwald in 2016, involving five teens; and the murder of Cynthia Hoffman at Thunderbird Falls, which involved six people, three of them teens.

Between those two murders, nine of the 10 cases were sent to the OPA.

The Public Defenders Agency uses a weighted system when counting caseloads, and it “conflicts out” of cases because the agency does not put silos around its work so that attorneys can work on cases without having a conflict with another client.

“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 report summary says.

The legal agency also has attorneys doing work that should be done by assistants or paralegals. Because the Public Defender has total control over his or her budget, he/she can add more attorneys or restructure to add more paralegals, who could handle many of the functions now being done by attorneys.

“The PDA would operate more efficiently if it hired more support staff to assist its attorneys and provided better training for those staff. This would reduce the felt-caseload burden on the PDA’s current attorneys by leveraging more effectively the skill of the paralegals and other support staff,” according to the investigators.

The agency, being examined by the Department of Administration for perhaps the first time, began to make changes after the former Public Defender Quinlan Steiner quit in April, one day after an interview with Commissioner Tshibaka.

The new Public Defender, Sam Cherot, was careful in her response, but attended a press conference held in Anchorage this morning by Commissioner Tshibaka.

“The PDA actively cooperated with DOA in their review of the Agency’s workloads, management, and operations,” Cherot said in a prepared statement. “In my new role as Public Defender, I am committed to considering the findings and recommendations of this report, and the part they may play in the development of long-term solutions and goals for the agency.”

Watch for Part II: A deep dive into recommendations by the Department of Administration’s Oversight and Review Unit.

And for the toddler, a book for learning your ‘Gay B Cs’

Suzanne Downing
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23
And for the toddler, a book for learning your ‘Gay B Cs’

Hearthside Books in Juneau is promoting books for the holiday season, and its catalog features a book for the grand-babies: “Gay BCs”.

“The GayBCs,” released last month by Quirk Books, is authored by a gay graphic designer who wants to ensure parents are having a dialogue with their children about their sexual orientation at a very young age.

Hence, they can learn their alphabet letters and also be discussing their sexual attraction through various terms and jingles:

  • C is for Coming Out
  • G is for Gay. “It’s a word that implies you’re a girl who likes girls, or a guy who likes guys.”
  • I is for Intersex. “Some are born with the parts of both a boy and a girl; bodies are works of art!”
  • P is for Pan. “You connect with a vibe. No matter the gender, it’s about what’s inside.”
  • Q is for Queer
  • T is for Trans.” It’s a brave step to take, to live as the gender you know is innate.”

An entire LGBTQ+ vocabulary of 26 words is taught in the book through rhymes and illustrations. The author says it’s meant for children ages 4-8, but at Amazon, it’s marketed “for children of all ages.” All the reviewers on the Amazon page for the book give it five stars and glowing accolades.

“A playdate extravaganza transforms into a celebration of friendship, love, and identity as four friends sashay out of all the closets, dress up in a wardrobe fit for kings and queens, and discover the wonder of imagination. From A is for Ally to F is for Family to Q is for Queer, debut author/illustrator M. L. Webb’s bright illustrations and lively, inclusive poems delight in the beauty of embracing one’s truest self. A glossary in the back offers opportunity for further discussion of terms and identities.”

Hearthside is featuring the book as part of a page of gay and feminist literature.

The children’s book is not to be confused with the adult book by the same name. Shoppers won’t want to accidentally purchase the adult book thinking it’s for kids. It’s much more adult.

“Gay BCs,” authored and illustrated by Canadian designer Rae Congdon, is marketed as a “A cheeky, progressive adult alphabet book that celebrates and illuminates LGBTQ terminology.”

According to Greystone Books, it’s “a playful, subversive alphabet book that aims to spread awareness and demystify gay and queer terminology for everyone. Instead of apple, ball, and chick, this book’s ABCs are ally, bisexual, and cisgender. A ladybug gains a matching girlfriend to become lesbian, kiss becomes kink, and tie gets a twist to become transgender. Using straightforward, accessible language, GAYBCs also defines less commonly known terms, such as “femme,” “Mx.,” and “ze,” and puts LGBTQ-friendly spins on words like “wedding” and “equality.” With clear definitions and clever illustrations, this book is accessible to everyone from teenagers to grandparents and those in the LGBTQ community as well as family, friends, and allies of all backgrounds. A fun and informative adult picture book, GAYBCs is a queer ABCs for our modern world.”

Unexploded ‘ordinances’ and other Palmer curiosities

Suzanne Downing
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2
Unexploded ‘ordinances’ and other Palmer curiosities

Rep. DeLena Johnson and her husband Steve took an eight-mile walk on Sunday along the riverbed of the Matanuska River, when the couple came across an artifact from yesteryear — a piece of riveted steel from when the railroad was torn up and rerouted north to Fairbanks.

There was a time, Johnson said, when the railroad went to Chickaloon because of the high-quality coal at Wishbone Hill. That coal was valuable because it was used to fire the warships in World War I.

But in 1923, when President Warren Harding drove the golden spike at the Nenana, signaling the completion of the railroad to Fairbanks, the tracks to Chickaloon had all been torn up and left to rust.

Rep. Johnson doesn’t know who took a can of yellow spray paint to the rusting steel with the words “DANGER UNEXPLODED ORDINANCE,” but she found it amusing, misspelled “ordnance” notwithstanding. It’s a bit of graffiti on a 10-foot-tall item of railroad trash that looks like … well, her friends on Facebook had all sorts of amusing theories.

The riverbed is littered with steel that was dumped by the railroad as they tore up the tracks to Chickaloon, but the “Apollo space capsule” behind her in the photo is an artifact that perhaps railroad historians will be able to identify.

Anyone?

Due Monday: Attorney General Kevin Clarkson’s decision on Dunleavy recall

Suzanne Downing
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25
Due Monday: Attorney General Kevin Clarkson’s decision on Dunleavy recall

Alaska Attorney General Kevin Clarkson has until Monday to announce his decision on whether the recall petition to remove Gov. Michael Dunleavy can move ahead to the second phase of signature gathering.

His decision will be to say whether the group wishing to recall the governor has adequate grounds: Misconduct, incompetence, or failure to perform duties prescribed by law.

The Recall Dunleavy group says the governor failed to perform his duties when he didn’t appoint a judge to the Palmer District Court seat within the 45 days mandated by law. Dunleavy was engaged in making the appointment, and was negotiating with the Alaska Judicial Council over their nominees. He appointed that post late, but not before it was vacated by the retiring judge.

The group also says that the Dunleavy Administration made an error in a budget decision. That error was corrected quickly, but the group says it is evidence of incompetence.

Finally, the Recall Dunleavy group says the Governor’s Office used State resources to push partisan ads on Facebook. Those ads were actually targeted at legislators who were opposing the governor’s budget policies, but whether they were partisan in nature will be up to the courts to decide.

All of these are fig leaf reasons, critics say, to mask the real discontent with the governor for cutting the budget. In its own words on its Recall Dunleavy website, the group admits as much:

“His brief time as governor has brought us an atmosphere of fear and distress, as people worry about whether they will be able to care for special-needs children or whether they will lose their jobs, their homes, and their ability to live in Alaska.

“We cannot allow a governor who doesn’t understand the concept of the separation of powers to remain in power.  He cannot be allowed to attack the judiciary because courts make decisions he doesn’t like. He cannot be allowed to keep the legislature from upholding its constitutional responsibilities to fund programs that provide for the health, education, and well-being of Alaska’s people.”

In other words, it is really about things like cutting the court’s funding and shifting that money over to pay for court-ordered abortions.

This reason, along with the actual stated reason in the recall petition itself concerning a delay in appointing a judge, put the judges in an awkward position. They do, in fact, have a dog in the fight because the governor has made decisions about their budget — decisions that Alaska Supreme Court Justice Joel Bolger has already said on the record were adverse to the courts, and he asked the Legislature to reverse the governor’s decisions.

History gives no particular hint about how the judges would rule.

A recall campaign against a sitting governor in Alaska last occurred in 1992, when a group formed to recall Gov. Wally Hickel. The Department of Law and Director of the Division of Elections certified the application on Aug. 26, 1992, against the advice of outside counsel.

Lawsuits were filed in Juneau and Fairbanks Superior Courts on Aug. 27, 1992 and Sept. 25, 1992.

On Sept. 5, a judge instructed the director of the Division of Elections to cease petition activity. One year later, on Sept. 14, 1993, the Fairbanks Superior Court determined that certain ground for recall were not legally sufficient, while other grounds were, but overall the grounds were insufficient. The matter died.

[Read: A list of all the recall outcomes in Alaska, chronologically]

If Clarkson approves the recall petition language, the Recall Dunleavy group will be able to start collecting its 71,252 signatures needed to force the matter into a special election. The group has already shown its political clout by collecting an initial 49,006 signatures, which it submitted to the Division of Elections on Sept. 4. The Alaska Democratic Party is pushing hard to help the Recall Dunleavy group, and will be a staunch ally if there is a legal battle.

The Attorney General is in a slightly awkward position, as both legal counsel to the governor and the top attorney for the people of Alaska.

If he rules that the recall rationale is sound enough to take to the voters, then he would not be able to represent the governor, who would probably challenge that ruling, and have to rely on a private attorney to do so.

But Clarkson is more likely to rule that the recall campaign has not provided sufficient grounds; he’ll see it in favor of defending elections and not creating a condition where elections are immediately overturned by the disgruntled through a never-ending churn of costly court challenges.

If he turns them down, that would trigger a lawsuit being filed at Alaska Superior Court by the Recall Dunleavy group, which has already promised it will challenge the ruling.

After the decision is announced on Monday by Clarkson, Scott Kendall, Alaskans can anticipate that an immediate news release will come out from the Recall Dunleavy group, which is being funded by Ed Rasmuson. The details of the challenge will likely come at a press conference that Scott Kendall and his group will hold, for maximum exposure in the media.

Kendall, who is the group’s legal counsel and who was chief of staff to the disgraced Gov. Bill Walker, will probably file the appeal in Anchorage Superior Court. The hearings could take place within weeks, and the decision from the Superior Court judge would be appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court by whichever side loses.

STAND TALL WITH MIKE GROUP FORMS

Meanwhile, the Stand Tall With Mike group is beginning to get organized and is raising funds for the defense of the governor — eight full months after the recall group started its activities.

“Right now in Alaska, Mike Dunleavy’s opponents have near total control of the airwaves and the news most Alaskans are seeing, hearing, and reading. Your generous donation will allow us to get the other side of the story out. This will lead to increased public support for Mike and his conservative agenda that Alaska so desperately needs,” the Stand Tall With Mike website says.

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