Craig Compeau sells snow machines and four-wheelers at Compeau’s in Fairbanks, a family business that has operated since 1945.
His spring promotion of 2021 SkiDoos comes with $1,000 in-store credit, a four-year warranty … or a 30-pack of Charmin toilet paper. Take a look:
COURTS CANCEL CRIMINAL TRIALS, BUT RECALL CASE STILL SCHEDULED FOR ORAL ARGUMENTS
The Recall Dunleavy Committee put a pause on “static” and “pop-up event” signature gathering at Anchorage gatherings due to the pandemic COVID-19 virus.
The unstated reason is that there are no longer any public events that the committee can collect signatures at, with almost all events cancelled right now in Anchorage. This is a practical decision by the group.
But individual signature gatherers, most of whom are paid per signature, will still be allowed to collect signatures on their petition to recall the governor. Those people will still be found at the doors of stores and inside the aisles of Walmart, or wherever they determine they can meet up with possible signers.
Recall Dunleavy Committee says it is advising the staff to observe sanitary practices.
The sanitary practices described by health officials include avoiding contact with people and maintaining a six-foot distance from others, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It’s unclear how this will work for the Recall Dunleavy signature gatherers and the pens they offer people.
Brendan Spees, field manager at Recall Dunleavy Committee (and former field manager for the Alaska Center for the Environment), sent an email notice out about the Anchorage “pause,” but advised that all other locations in the state are still up and running, including signature stations in Juneau, Fairbanks, Bethel, and dozens of other locations around the state where the petitions are located.
On a sunny Saturday in Anchorage, the streets are nearly empty and the stores are seeing little foot traffic.
People in Anchorage have taken the coronavirus seriously and many are self-quarantining until it passes, which could take several weeks. Schools and universities are closed, and all public events have been cancelled.
This could have an effect on the signature gatherers, who need to get more than 71,000 signatures in order to take their recall to a general election or special election ballot. If nothing else, it will have an impact on their momentum, especially as the public begins to wonder if this is the best use of the public’s time right now.
The well-funded group also is preparing for a date at the Alaska Supreme Court, also coming during the middle of a national emergency.
Criminal jury trials that were to begin on March 16 in Palmer, Kenai, and Anchorage have now been suspended, according to the Alaska Court System.
[Read: New Jury Trials in Anchorage Suspended Week of March 16, 2020]
Chief Justice Bolger of the Alaska Supreme Court has not yet said if he will allow a purely political trial to take place during a national emergency, as is scheduled for March 25 in Anchorage.
That court date is when oral arguments will be made to determine if the claims made by the Recall Dunleavy Committee are legal reasons for a recall of a duly elected governor.
But this is the same Supreme Court that already decided that, even without the oral arguments and decision, the gathering of signatures could proceed.
Therefore, even if the court delays the oral arguments, the signature gatherers can continue their efforts and hope for a break in their luck, which has been hampered by public health concerns.
YOU HAVE 10 DAYS TO GET YOUR BALLOTS TURNED IN
Alaska’s registered Democrats — all 74,690 of them — should have their ballots by now for the Alaska Democrats’ first ever caucus-by-ballot primary.
It’s not an official state-run primary, but is a preference poll that the party is running for the first time. There will be no gymnasium caucuses this spring, but in-person voting will take place on April 4 for those who didn’t get a ballot mailed back in time. Ballots must be postmarked for return by March 24.
Although the race is really down to two individuals — Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden — the ballot has 12 names on it, and the Democrats are experimenting with “ranked voting,” in which people rank their top choices, rather than just vote for one person. They’ll be ranking Biden and Sanders, but also can choose between Sen. Michael Bennet, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, former Rep. John Delaney, and former Gov. Deval Patrick, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg, businessman Tom Steyer, and businessman Andrew Yang.
Following the primary, district conventions are scheduled for Saturday, April 18, to elect delegates for the state DNC convention, which is Saturday, May 16 in Fairbanks. That is when the party elects delegates to the July 13-16 national convention in Milwaukee, Wisc.
Those meetings of large groups of people — from in-person voting to conventions — are subject to change due to the rapidly evolving situation with the coronavirus. Already Louisiana has postponed its primary that was scheduled for April 4.
DEMOCRAT DEBATE IS SUNDAY, BUT NOT IN ARIZONA
The Democratic debate scheduled for Sunday at 8 pm has been moved from Phoenix, Arizona to Washington, DC, the Democratic National Committee announced Thursday. The debate will air on CNN, CNN en Español, CNN International, and Univision.
Univision’s Jorge Ramos may have been exposed to the coronavirus and has stepped away from moderating the debate. Ilia Calderón will join CNN’s Dana Bash and Jake Tapper as a moderator.
In this edition: First health mandate issued, the person who tested positive stayed at the Sheraton Hotel, Gold Medal tourney cancelled.
The public schools across Alaska have been closed for Spring break this week, but that will be extended to March 30, said Gov. Mike Dunleavy today during a press conference.
Other news items from the day around Alaska:
ALONG WITH LEDOUX, HER FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF
One of the key architects of the current Democrat-led coalition in the Alaska House of Representatives is accused by the Department of Law of felonies relating to ballot tampering in the 2014 and 2018 elections.
[Read the charging documents here]
Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, an original member of the “Musk Ox Coalition” rebellion against the Republican Majority in 2015, faces 18 counts of first- and second-degree voter misconduct and unlawful interference of voting.
Also facing charges is LeDoux’s former chief of staff, Lisa Simpson, and Simpson’s adult son, Caden Vaught.
LeDoux issued the following statement today: “Earlier today, I learned of the charges from the Department of Law. Because this is a pending legal matter, I cannot comment about the details other than to state that I am innocent of all charges and look forward to clearing my name in a court of law.”
The charging document says LeDoux and Simpson conspired to register voters — Simpson and Vaught, specifically — who were not eligible to vote in House District 15, the district served by LeDoux.
Simpson is co-chair of the Alaska Public Broadcasting Commission, but no longer works for LeDoux’s office. Her address for the commission role lists her at an address on Dorbrandt Street in Spenard; while some of her voter files list an address in Rabbit Creek. She is also listed elsewhere as living in District 15.
District 15 had an extraordinary number of absentee ballots and multiple irregularities associated with it, such as having as many as 17 people registered to vote who were purported to live in a tiny trailer in one of the trailer courts.
But none of those voter irregularities appear to be part of this set of charges. Instead, the document focuses on a very narrow set of people — LeDoux, her chief of staff, and her chief of staff’s son.
[Criminal investigation underway for LeDoux]
Prosecutors say that Simpson, her husband, and her son registered to vote in the district in 2018, although they had not lived in the district and were not eligible.
In 2014, LeDoux texted former residents of the districts with messages such as this one to a person named Dot: “This is going to b a VERY CLOSE election and I am going to really NEED your vote. Can u please request a ballot TODAY.”
Another message advised Dot, “don’t worry about the legality of this. Remember when I wanted to challenge people 4 years ago the division of elections was simply not interested.”
None of the charges by the Department of Law refer to the now-deceased Charlie Chang, who LeDoux paid to travel to Alaska to harvest ballots from people in her district; particularly of concern was the number of ballots cast by dead people.
That was a scandal of a different order that erupted after an abnormal amount of absentee ballots came from District 15. After the primary win, LeDoux travelled to Northern California. While she was there, Chang died, somewhat mysteriously.
[Charlie Chang is dead, LeDoux says]
LeDoux, Rep. Louise Stutes, Rep. Bryce Edgmon, Rep. Neal Foster, and former Reps. Jim Colver and Paul Seaton made up a “Musk Ox Coalition” that challenged Speaker Mike Chenault in 2015 over the Permanent Fund dividend. In a letter to Chenault, they said any change to the way the Permanent Fund dividend was handled should go to a vote of the people.
Muskox-Coalition-letter-May-20-2015-Page 1
Muskox-Coalition-letter-May-20-2015-Page 2
Since LeDoux, a Republican, helped put Democrats in charge of the House, her district political leadership and the Republican Party itself has sanctioned her and no funds may be expended to help her with her race; rather, the Party has looked for a legitimate primary challenger.
In 2018, that person was Aaron Weaver, who came close to beating LeDoux in the primary.
Today, Weaver said he was “gobsmacked” when he learned of the news, and said that District 15 deserves better than to have someone like LeDoux representing it.
Jake Sloan, who described himself as a “Hail Mary” candidate in 2018, ran as write-in campaign after Weaver lost the primary to LeDoux.
Today, he said that the damage she has done to the state is substantial, since she prevented the House from making the cuts to the budget that were needed last year, and with the price of oil dropping, the situation has just gotten more serious.
[Read: Jake Sloan: A most unusual candidate]
The charges against LeDoux will be heard in court at a later date, according to the Department of Law. They have, however, been reviewed by the U.S Department of Justice. These are just state charges. The matter of Charlie Chang would be federal because he came from California to assist in the committing of fraud, and the mail-in ballots constitute mail fraud, a federal offense.
Must Read Alaska has learned that LeDoux’s fingerprints are on ballots from various people in the district from 2018.
Must Read Alaska would not be surprised if there was some kind of action taken by the House of Representatives. The House has the ability to remove her, but Mason’s Rules requires due process. The Speaker is empowered to appoint a committee on committees to shake up LeDoux’s committee assignments, subject to a vote of the body.
Tuckerman Babcock, former chairman of the Alaska Republican Party, said “if you can’t trust the integrity of election then the entire faith in the system is in question.” He has called for her resignation.
Meanwhile, David Nelson has file to run against LeDoux in the primary this year.
CANADA CLOSES ALL PORTS TO CRUISE SHIPS, IMPACTING ALASKA
Today President Donald Trump declared the coronavirus outbreak a national emergency. Trump invoked the Stafford Act, a law that empowers the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster response and aid state and local governments.
This will open up access to up to $50 billion for states and localities.
The virus has now shown up in 46 states.
His announcement was made at the White House this afternoon and included such details as:
CANADA CLOSES PORTS TO CRUISE SHIPS
Canada has closed all ports to cruise ships until at least July 1. That means no Alaska cruises of ships holding more than 500 passengers will be coming to Alaska this year.
Several lines that are foreign flagged use Victoria, B.C. to meet the “foreign-port” federal requirement when doing 7-day runs out of Seattle.
NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE
The president said the country will fill the National Petroleum Reserves up to the top. This means the government will be buying oil at a low price to ensure the nation has enough oil reserves.
As announced earlier, the U.S. is suspending all travel from Europe today except for Americans. Those travelers will be screened and asked to voluntarily self-quarantine.
This story is being updated…Check back.
In what has to be one of the weirdest moments of a very weird week, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was on The Masked Singer, a show where celebrities face off against one another in a singing competition, while in a disguise that conceals their identity. Palin’s costume was a pink bear suit.
Because she was eliminated from a former round, her identity was revealed and she performed “Baby Got Back” unmasked. The song is a rap hit by by Sir Mix-A-Lot.
Palin was John McCain’s running mate in 2008 presidential election and resigned from office as Alaska’s governor in 2009. She has been a political commentator for Fox News.
Must Read Alaska is publishing updates relating to the Coronavirus COVID-19. Check for previous stories under the All Stories tab.
In this update: Anchorage, D.C. disaster declarations, ‘Meet Alaska’ cancelled, miners meeting called off
Anchorage: Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz announced an emergency declaration, allowing the municipality to request funds from the State of Alaska for services needed to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The first case was identified in Alaska today; the person is a cargo pilot who was transiting through the Ted Stevens International Airport.
The emergency declaration “allows the Municipality, through the Office of Emergency Management, to request assistance from the State of Alaska, including funds, services or materials deemed necessary to meet needs stemming from COVID-19.”
“Our strategy is to prepare and to position our resources to slow its advance and minimize its effect,” Berkowitz said.
D.C. emergency: Washington, D.C.vMayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency Wednesday. Also, officials have closed the U.S. Capitol and nearby congressional buildings to the public, through April 1.
Only staff, lawmakers, media, and official business visitors will be allowed inside the buildings on Capitol Hill.
Meet Alaska: The annual gathering of the Alaska Support Industry Alliance, which focuses on companies providing support services to the resource industries, has been cancelled. It was scheduled for March 20.
Alaska Miners: The Alaska Miners Association has cancelled its Fairbanks conference for March 30-April 4.
Canadian Prime Minister’s wife: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will work from home for the next 14 days, because his wife has tested positive for coronavirus. He has not been tested and has shown no symptoms.
THE FIRST CASE IN ALASKA IS A CARGO PILOT
The first case of COVID-19 coronavirus has come to Alaska . Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink announced the news today at a 5 pm press conference.
“This is no surprise, it’s not extraordinary,” said Gov. Dunleavy. “It was just a matter of time. We feel good about the protocols we have in place,” he said, saying that protocols will be continually reassessed.
“There is no reason to panic, no reason to get upset,” Dunleavy said.
The case was identified at Alaska Regional Hospital.
It was a foreign national individual, a male who is transiting through Alaska. He knew about the virus, he was monitoring himself, and as soon as he developed symptoms, he called ahead, was assessed, and tested in Alaska. The patient self isolated in an appropriate manner, Zink said.
“This is an isolated case we think we can contain,” Zink said, saying it is different from community transmission.
The person has not been wandering through the community, but Zink would not say where the person came from or through which countries. The person did travel to Alaska through the Ted Stevens International Airport in the past 48 hours. The person is an adult, but Zink would not say more about where this person may have been or what hotel the person may have been at.
Updated: Must Read Alaska has learned that it was a cargo pilot or crew and that he knew he was symptomatic when he landed. The Governor’s Office has confirmed that the person was on a cargo flight that was owned by a private company. This means the exposure to the general community at large was greatly reduced.
The person has been released from Alaska Regional Hospital and placed in a quarantined housing situation that Zink said would remain private.
Elsewhere in aviation, an American Airlines pilot who is based in Dallas-Fort Worth, has been diagnosed with the virus and is being treated. American Airlines has about 15,000 pilots; this may be the first case of a commercial airline pilot becoming infected.
This story is being updated, so check back…
