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People news: Human Rights vice-chairman resigns

Suzanne Downing
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People news: Human Rights vice-chairman resigns

Marcus Sanders, a commission member of the Alaska Commission for Human Rights, has resigned from the commission, Must Read Alaska learned today.

Sanders has accepted a position with the Department of Labor that will have him advocating for employment of  disabled Alaskans. It creates a conflict of interest, he said.

“I will be working with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation staff to coordinate our efforts to help Alaskans with disabilities find competitive and gainful employment,” Sanders said.

The Alaska State Commission for Human Rights enforces the Alaska Human Rights law, and has seven commissioners who are appointed by the governor, and a staff that carries out the investigations that are brought to it. Sanders served in the capacity of vice chairman, after being appointed by Gov. Michael Dunleavy earlier this year.

The commission has had a tumultuous year, after its former executive director was accused of violating the free speech rights of a contractor who had parked his truck in the parking lot of the building where the Human Rights Commission offices are located in Anchorage.

The truck had a “Black Rifles Matter” sticker on it, and former Executive Director Marti Buscaglia through a colleague had a note placed on the truck telling the owner to remove it from the parking lot, due to what she said was an “offensive” sticker. The owner of the truck took the matter to social media, and the event became a national story.

[Read through the Black Rifles Matter archive at Must Read Alaska]

After Buscaglia was disciplined, she quit and most of the commission also resigned, allowing Dunleavy to replace most of the governing board. The commission then hired Marilyn Stewart as executive director but then released her after less than a month.

The commission is currently without an executive director and has six of seven commissioners, now that Sanders has resigned.

University budget cuts will harm Alaska’s economy

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
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University budget cuts will harm Alaska’s economy

By MARK MYERS

Alaska’s economy is facing a serious threat due to the governor’s cuts to the University of Alaska.  While these effects are very broad-based, I focus on the proposal of the Office of Management and Budget to delete 100 percent of the general state funding for UA research.  These cuts will have very negative impacts to Alaska’s economy.

Enacting this proposed cut will put at risk more than $100 million a year in non-state funding which makes possible the ongoing research and graduate student support at UA.  Research grants and contracts are highly competitive and almost always require matching funds.

The OMB cut would eliminate the source of these matching funds making UA non-competitive.  This would effectively eliminate UA’s ability to attract and support graduate students and professors, maintain the research institutes, and purchase necessary equipment and instrumentation. UA will no longer be able to undertake the research necessary to make Alaska’s current and future economy successful.

Without research, Alaska will have to go “outside” to attempt to recruit the trained scientists and engineers needed in industry and government.  Alaska will rapidly lose its role as the world leader in developing new technologies, methods, and information for development of non-renewable and renewable resources in the Arctic. The University’s important partnerships with key federal agencies including the Department of Defense, Department of Interior, Department of Commerce and the National Science Foundation to address natural hazards will be greatly diminished or ended. Alaskans will be more vulnerable to future earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, fire, and flood.

OMB argues that the cuts can be absorbed because UA should be able to follow the example of the wealthy and elite private outside Universities including Harvard, Yale and Stanford who don’t require general fund money from their respective states.  What OMB fails to acknowledge is these universities have endowments ranging from $26 billion to $39 billion which have built up over generations.  I’m quite confident that UA wouldn’t need state general funds for research if it was gifted an endowment that is equivalent to more than half the permanent fund. OMB’s unfounded assumptions that UA can find alternative funding to offset these proposed cuts in the next year are pure fantasy. I maintain hope that the ultimate decision makers will understand the reality and true impacts of these cuts to Alaska.

I have been involved with research and development in Alaska from many different perspectives (oil and gas exploration, state government, University of Alaska, federal government, technology start-up and private consultant). In all these roles I, like thousands of others, relied upon the products of UA research.

As an energy and natural resources consultant who has worked with governments across the world, I have seen this pattern of slash and burn budgeting result in long term economic downturn and associated mass exodus of the skilled worked force.  I hope that it is not too late for Alaska to avoid this fate.

Mark Myers received his PhD in Geology from UAF and was an exploration and development geologist, Director of Division of Oil and Gas, State Geologist, Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, Vice Chancellor of Research for UAF and the Director of the United States Geological Survey.  He is currently an energy and natural resources consultant.

Mat-Su Borough has surplus, opens door to possible property tax rebate

Suzanne Downing
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Mat-Su Borough has surplus, opens door to possible property tax rebate

Unlike its neighbor in Anchorage, the Mat-Su Borough is not in a “civil emergency.”

In fact, the Borough Assembly says it has a surplus. That means,  under one circumstance at least, there could be rebates to property taxpayers.

In its budget built earlier this year, the Mat-Su Assembly presumed that Gov. Michael Dunleavy would indeed veto much of the school bond debt reimbursement, as a way to balance the State budget.

The Mat-Su Borough, where most of the growth has been in the state for families, also has the most school bond debt per capita — $18.4 million.

But through some program cuts and other measures, the Assembly has managed to balance its budget, and has a surplus of about $9 million, which the Assembly decided it’s not going to touch at this time.

If the governor decides to not veto more than the 50 percent he already vetoed from the school bond debt reimbursement, the Assembly agreed this week to rebate money to property taxpayers.

In years past, the State paid up to 70 percent of the bonds that voters in local sub-units of government approved; property taxpayers only paid 30 percent. Gov. Michael Dunleavy has cut that payment to 50 percent.

Although some have asked for a sales tax in the borough, there appears to be little support for or need for it at this time.

IBU union was offered better contract last year, but wouldn’t take it

Suzanne Downing
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IBU union was offered better contract last year, but wouldn’t take it

The state ferries are running again and all is right with the world for the coastal communities served by the Alaska Marine Highway System.

But Must Read Alaska has learned from sources knowledgeable with the recent union negotiations that the Inland Boatmen’s Union workforce got a whole lot less in the contract it ratified over the weekend than it had been offered by the former Walker Administration last year.

The 430 ferry workers in the IBU had not received a raise since it was unable to come to an agreement with the Walker Administration in 2017, when the last three-year contract expired.

According to MRAK sources, the Walker Administration, through Commissioner of Administration Leslie Ridle, had offered the IBU a 3-1-1 raise last fall.

That means they would have gotten a 3 percent raise in this year, and a 1 percent raise in each of the two following years.

A 3 percent raise in a contract’s first year is a solid raise. The following percentages for two years build on that.

Instead, after striking for nine days and being out of work during the high season of summer, the IBU negotiators settled for a 0 percent raise the first year and a 1-1/2 percent raise for the two subsequent years — a total of 3 percent over three years.

For a worker who makes $20 an hour, that means the union negotiators cost them 40 cents an hour over the three-year contract.

The 9-day strike has cost the Alaska Marine Highway System $4 million in direct costs, which includes lost fares. The cost of the indirect losses is immeasurable: The reliability, the cost to communities and businesses — these are all questions for an economist at the McDowell Group to look at.

The Alaska Marine Highway System budget had been counting on $3.2 million it had to refund to passengers to help cover some of the cost of the winter schedule, which had already been reduced due to budget cuts. The additional $5 million in ferry funds that Rep. Louise Stutes wedged into the budget will cover the cost of the strike, and not much more, but is subject to a veto from the governor, who is now considering a long list of budget items given to him by the Legislature.

Acid, incense, and balloons: How I almost made it to Woodstock

Art Chance
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Acid, incense, and balloons: How I almost made it to Woodstock

By ART CHANCE

This month some 50 years ago, a buddy and I started talking about going to a big concert in upper New York state: Woodstock, it was called.

We were starving college students and minor musicians back in the days before college students could borrow $50,000 a year so they could live like kings while going to school.

I won’t speak for my buddy, but now that the statute of limitations has run out, I’ll allow that I made a little money as a purveyor of “recreational substances” on the side.

While I had a well-worn Ford Econoline van that I didn’t think was up to a 1,000-mile trip, he had an Opel Kadett that seemed a little more fit.  We struck out for Woodstock, which was to start on Aug. 15, 1969.

Interstates weren’t complete in The South in those days, so we took to the two-lane highways. Somewhere near the South– North Carolina state line, the Opel died.

It was a broken tail shaft on the transmission. Try getting one of those for a German-made Opel in rural South Carolina in 1969. We spent couple of days of sleeping in the car, where it sat behind the mechanic’s shop and we had “friendly” chats with the local constabulary – it wasn’t easy to have long hair in the South in 1969.

Being too broke to keep going, I decided to abandon the Woodstock adventure. I stepped out onto US 1, and stuck out my thumb, heading south. A short ride or two later I was way out in the country, when a green Jaguar XKE coupe stopped beside me.  I’d only seen one Jaguar before in my life at the time.

A very handsome, very well-dressed man was at the wheel and he asked me where I was going. He was heading for Savannah, Georgia. I replied I was going to Statesboro or Swainsboro and could easily get to either from Savannah, and thanked him for the ride.

I had at most a vague notion of gay men at the time.  It turns out some fairly prominent men in my home town were gay, but they were very discrete; it never got beyond vague rumors.

This man was very friendly and solicitous, but never did anything untoward. Nevertheless, I got the idea where his interests were, and decided I needed another way home. I saw a sign for Augusta, Ga.,  and I told him he could let me out at the intersection because Augusta was closer to home.  Although he said he’d be happy to take me home, I thanked him and said I’d make my own way. I learned a little something that day.

There went my Woodstock adventure; I didn’t make the seminal counter-cultural event of the ’60s. That said, the Summer of 1969 was rockin’ and rollin’. There is a reason there are songs about the Summer of ’69.

If you clearly remember the Summer of ’69, you weren’t there – unless you were in Vietnam, in which case you probably remember it all too well.

From here on out, it is the way I remember it; it may or may not be what actually happened.

A couple of weeks after my failed Woodstock adventure there was a big outdoor music festival near Atlanta. I and some of my friends piled in my old Econoline and headed for Hampton, Georgia, the home of Atlanta Raceway, the site of the festival.

We went to Atlanta first because you had to in those days. That is where I met a lovely “Dixie Darlin’” named Laura Lee who tagged along with me for awhile – hook-ups aren’t a recent invention.  After a couple of days of partying in Atlanta, we took I-75 South to Hampton, 40 or 50 miles to the south.


I’ll confess to having hazy memories of the Hampton Festival, but I vividly remember that it was the first time I saw “the lighter” tribute at a concert. Tommy James and the Shondells had just performed  and the crowd wasn’t particularly impressed. It was dusk and the crowd was getting unruly.  Back in those days all the FM rock stations in big towns had a DJ with a basso profundo voice. The DJ came out and bought time as they set up the next act.   With that soothing voice he got everybody to light a match or a lighter and you looked around and saw a quarter million matches and lighters.

Then this band that hardly anyone had ever heard of, Led Zeppelin, came on stage. If you’ve never heard Led Zeppelin live, you’ve never heard rock ‘n roll music.I was maybe a little more susceptible than most because I knew the history and knew Zeppelin’s history going back to The Yardbirds in the early Sixties.

When the concert was all over Laura Lee and I went back to Atlanta and bought a copy of Zeppelin’s first album. We secluded ourselves in a stairwell in a “crash pad” on 14th Street, Atlanta’s version of Haight-Ashbury.  We fell asleep listening to Led Zeppelin and woke up the next morning to a house surrounded by crime scene tape. We slipped out through the coal chute.

There was another big music festival coming up in New Orleans in a week or two. Laura Lee and I struck out for Louisiana.  Again, my memories are vague but most everybody who was anybody in music in those days was there. My only vivid memory is of Janis Joplin. That was right after Hurricane Christine that came ashore in Louisiana and Mississippi with 200-mph winds, that strong even 100 miles or more inland.

I had to get back to school and get enrolled so I could keep my draft deferment. Laura Lee tagged along with me. On the way back, I diverted to my hometown to see my parents.  Just inside the County line I had a “social occasion” with the local law.   That’s how I found out that Laura Lee had a warrant for her arrest in Mississippi. I never saw her again but spent a year fighting with the Georgia law about search and seizure, warrants, and the like.

That’s the true story of the 1960s; it was a whole lot more like “Easy Rider” than some groovy myth. That said, I was a musician in those days, and if you wanted to empty a hall and never get invited back, all you had to do was play Woodstock music.   The real soundtrack of the 1960s  is more like “The Big Chill.”

(Oh, and if you don’t know where “Acid, Incense, and Balloons” comes from, you weren’t paying attention to  music. It’s from the Jefferson Airplane song, “Won’t You Try/Saturday Afternoon.”)

Art Chance is a retired Director of Labor Relations for the State of Alaska, formerly of Juneau and now living in Anchorage. He is the author of the book, “Red on Blue, Establishing a Republican Governance,” available at Amazon. 

Today: Spending, PFD bill heads to governor

Suzanne Downing
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Today: Spending, PFD bill heads to governor

A bill that started out as a Permanent Fund dividend bill became an omnibus spending package in the Legislature, with more than $300 million in what were essentially veto overrides — a slap back at Gov. Michael Dunleavy by the controlling Democrats and moderate Republicans in the House and Senate.

It will head to the governor’s desk today. Dunleavy can sign HB 2001, reject it, or use a selective red pen to trim it.

All three of those actions come with significant political risk: Dunleavy ran on balancing the state budget and ensuring Alaskans get the statutorily established amount in their Permanent Fund dividends, which is $3,000. HB 2001 only gives Alaskans $1,600.

Dunleavy has 20 days to make his decision on HB 2001, after which the Legislature can call itself into Special Session to override any vetoes — if it can find the votes necessary. It needs 40 members to agree to a special session and 45 votes to override vetoes.

Dunleavy said that he will not call the Legislature back into an immediate special session. Senate President Cathy Giessel and House Speaker Bryce Edgmon have requested one to tackle a restructuring of the Permanent Fund dividend formula going forward. They and many other legislators feel that the current formula is unsustainable, and that state programs must be prioritized over dividends. 

As for the Capital Budget, Dunleavy plans on signing SB 2002 this week. That bill has non-capital spending in it as well as road projects. Programs not previously funded by the Legislature include the Alaska Performance Scholarship, the WWAMI medical education program, power cost equalization funds (energy subsidies) for rural communities, and the state’s ability to draw in more than $1 billion in federal infrastructure dollars.

Dunleavy may use his line-item veto on the Capital Budget: “While I intend to sign SB2002, I will exercise my line-item veto authority where necessary,” he said last week. 

Dunleavy and his team have been in talks with the University of Alaska Board of Regents to look at an additional $40 million in transition funds to allow the university system to wean itself off of the enormous state subsidies that many feel are unsustainable for Alaska going forward.

MRAK Almanac: Fairbanks to become Purple Heart City

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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MRAK Almanac: Fairbanks to become Purple Heart City

The MRAK Almanac is your place for political, cultural, and civic events, events where you’ll meet political leaders or, if you are interested in getting to know your state, these are great places to meet conservative- and moderate-leaning Alaskans.

Alaska Fact Book

Question: How many miles of public roads are in Alaska?

Answer: According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, there were an estimated 15,535 miles of public road in Alaska as of 2017. Around a third of Alaska’s road miles are paved.

To put these facts into perspective: Connecticut, the country’s third smallest state, had around 21,500 miles of road in 2017. While Connecticut has about 150% of Alaska’s road miles, Alaska is 120 times the size of Connecticut.

8/7: Wasilla Farmers Market at Iditapark. Runs from 10 am – 6 pm. Come enjoy local produce and support the many farmers of the Mat-Su Valley.

8/7: Fairbanks will be added to the national list of Purple Heart Cities, by proclamation of City Mayor Jim Matherly. All are invited to the ceremony which begins at noon at the Fairbanks Veterans Memorial on Cushman St. Read more here.

8/7: Hazmat Days in Palmer, hosted by the Mat-Su Solid Waste Division. Drop all hazardous waste (oils, paints, chemicals, etc.) for free and safe disposal. Read more here.

8/7: Regular meeting of the Kenai City Council at 6 pm. Read the full agenda here.

8/7: Alaska Energy Authority board meeting in Anchorage at 10 am. This meeting will likely include executive session. More details here.

8/7: Metlakatla Founder’s Day Celebration. Learn more about the history and culture of Alaska’s only Native American reservation. Festivities will include a parade, food booths, and even fireworks (weather permitting). The ferry will be running to Metlakatla all day long.

8/7-8/9: The Alaska Board of Nursing will hold a quarterly meeting in Anchorage. Read the full agenda at this link.

8/8: Regular meeting of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly at 6 pm. This week’s agenda includes a vote on licensing procedure changes for local marijuana retailers. There will also be a period of public comment. Read the agenda here.

8/8: Want to celebrate Alaska’s delicious salmon? Come to Wild Salmon Day at the Anchorage Museum. This free event will take place on the museum lawn and includes live music, food trucks, and “salmon-y crafts” for the kids. Begins at 6 pm, read more here.

8/8: Regular meeting of the Soldotna City Council at 6 pm. The council’s agenda for this week includes a new ordinance relating to animal shelter services. Read the agenda here.

8/8: Alaska Gasline Development Corporation Board of Directors meeting at the Anchorage LIO starting at 9 am. There will be a period for public testimony, read the full meeting agenda here.

8/8: Regular meeting of the Kodiak City Council starting at 7:30 pm. The council will be approving the harbor and port fees for the upcoming year, as well as holding a period of public testimony. Read the agenda here.

8/8: Veterans Town Hall meeting in Anchorage at 6 pm. All veterans and their families are invited to attend this event to meet with Alaska VA officials and share their concerns about veteran’s services in Alaska. Read more at the Facebook link here.

8/8: Stop by the eccentric community of Ester to enjoy the weekly Ester Market from 4:30 pm – 7 pm. This outdoor market features fresh vegetables, local crafts, and much more. Only a 10-min drive from Fairbanks.

8/8: It’s Canned Food Day at the Tanana Valley Fair in Fairbanks. Bring four non-perishable food items to the fair and get free admission. It’s a great deal.

8/8: Are you a constituent of Sen. Jesse Kiehl, Rep. Sara Hannan, or Rep. Andi Story? These three Democrat state legislators will host a joint town hall meeting at Centennial Hall in Juneau at 5 pm.

8/8: AK Supreme Court Off the Record event at the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage. A great chance to hear from current and former Alaska Supreme Court justices about life on the state’s highest court. Further details at this link.

8/8-8/10: JUMP short film festival in Juneau. Free to attend, and all films have an Alaska or Juneau connection. Read more about the films here.

Alaska History Archive:

August 7, 1887—132 years ago: Metlakatla was established by Anglican missionary William Duncan and 823 Tsimshian people whom had recently migrated from nearby British Columbia. Metlakatla became a federal Native American reserve four years later in 1891. Read more about its history here.

August 8, 1931—88 years ago: Famed aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne landed in Barrow, Alaska as they embarked on their journey to the Far East. The couple had left New York on July 27 and ended up crossing the Bering Sea on August 14. Lindbergh’s aircraft was a single engine 600-horsepower Lockheed Model 8 Sirius.

There’s a new sheriff in town

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
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There’s a new sheriff in town

ADF&G photo: Doug Vincent-Lang

By GREG BRUSH

Acting responsibly. Embracing culpability for one’s actions. Admitting mistakes of the past and making conservative, albeit sometimes unpopular decisions, moving forward. Thinking of the future and what is best for longevity for the people of Alaska. And taking the heat for what are very hard, and often contentious, choices.

If you think I’m talking about what some call our most controversial governor ever, you’re mistaken… although there is a direct correlation. Rather, I’m referring to the man appointed by Gov. Michael Dunleavy to lead the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

A long time ADF&G manager with proven character, an approachable demeanor, and the oh-so-rare blend of a biology background (imagine that, an actual scientist in charge of our resource!) and the common-sense street smarts of someone who has “been there/done that”, the choice of Doug Vincent-Lang felt right to many from day one.

But some of his decisions have rocked the boat a bit lately.

You see, responsible fishery management can be as contentious as fiscal responsibility. This is because both are absolutely necessary to continue to prosper…but also painful in the short term when they directly impact you or me.

It’s not easy and it is the rare and special man who can make the tough choices, taking the criticism while remaining steadfast in his decisions.

Doug Vincent-Lang is that man.

As recently as late July, he proved his mettle and his resolve to all Alaskans.

When a surprisingly banner return of late run Kenai River sockeye continued to build, Commissioner Vincent-Lang and his biologists monitored the extensive data, both past and present, and weighed their options regarding the conundrum before them.

On one hand, the “red” salmon were there for the taking for all users including sport, guided sport, personal use and the Upper Cook Inlet commercial fleet.

The quandary however, as it has been for decades, was how to maximize opportunity on that which was abundant (sockeye) while conserving that which is special, genetically-unique, and far less abundant, namely late run Kenai River king salmon.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you likely know that our Kenai River king resource isn’t anything near what it used to be, in both numbers or size. The hurdles these giant salmon have had to face are many and the blame game of who did what, and who gets what, and what to do about the problem, is at a historic high.

Some sport anglers choose not to even target kings in the Kenai any more; some advocate for catch and release through forums like Fish For The Future; and some dig their heals in, harvesting “full throttle” every king they can get their hook into, while pointing their finger at the other user group, Commercial Fishermen.

Sadly, it’s always been this way.

Meanwhile, Vincent-Lang and his team of managers reviewed the data, consulted the complex management plan, and debated—often quite heatedly behind close doors—the options before them.

Liberalize the commercial fleet with maximum yield of sockeye as the sole objective due to the dubious “sky is falling” concept of over-escapement or restrict the net fishery to allow the necessary passage of Kenai kings to reach their natal spawning grounds. Allow more time for the UCI drift fleet or consider the deep impact it has on the struggling little rivers up north? Grant the use of bait for sport king salmon anglers or continue to hand-cuff their success rate with single hook, artificial lures only.

A small but vocal minority of short-sided anglers and guides screamed, “We want bait!” because the sonar chronicled a few decent days where 300-500 passed the sonar. Indeed it appeared that late run Kings were momentarily on track to hit the bottom end, ie the bare minimum, of the escapement goal. Some asked, is the minimum enough?

Meanwhile, the drift fleet wanted more hours to fish the central corridor of Cook Inlet. And some set netters pushed their “sky is falling” golden ticket mantra of over-escapement, whereas they claimed that “too many fish in the river will destroy the run” down the road.

Some people wanted to take, take, take… tossing sustainability aside.

But what those extremists forgot to consider is that Fish and Game is constitutionally charged with ensuring sustainability. Those yelling loudest also don’t realize that our “new and improved” escapement goals are now ranges, with clear lower and upper numbers instead of a fixed-point target figure. The lay person can visualize these escapement goals as two goal posts…whereas the kicker should prudently aim for the middle to give himself as much margin for error as possible.

And that’s what our commissioner tried to do. He put the resource first.

For far too long, managers have aimed left and aimed right, often bouncing the ball off the upright or missing the goal completely. Doug Vincent-Lang, realizing that barely hitting the low end of the KR king salmon escapement goal year after year after year will have catastrophic consequences later, heeded the advise of his staff who warned that heavy UCI commercial fishing could disastrously affect the returns of struggling salmon runs up north.

Knowing that bait in the Kenai increases mortality, and feeling the heat from the people of Alaska that were fed up with unsuccessful dipnetting trips and slow rod and reel success rates of years past, and believing that a season of good Kenai River late run sockeye numbers could help offset last years shockingly diminutive numbers… he did the unthinkable.

He remained conservative and opted to allow the people of Alaska to put some fish on their tables and in their freezers, but more importantly, he attempted to give the future of our fisheries, as well as the future of our fishermen (both sport and commercial) a fighting chance down the road. Ultimately, he attempted to err on the side of caution; on the side of the fish.

No bait for the sport angler, less than the maximum time for the East Side set net fishery, and a few extra salmon for the people of Alaska in the form of the first liberalized sport fish limit for late run sockeye in years.

And that is why he and the department that he leads got sued.

Upset about ADF&Gs attempt to protect a struggling run of Kenai River king salmon, Cook Inlet commercial fishermen recently went to court to order the ADF&G to let them kill more fish.

Among their legal arguments in an emotionally charged 15-page memorandum asking for an injunction against Vincent-Lang and his state agency is the claim that the national interest is threatened if fishermen gillnetting Upper Cook Inlet don’t catch as many fish as possible.

I’ll just leave that right there. Think about it; let it perk a bit. But don’t forget two very important factoids as you form your opinion.

First, consider that statewide, commercial fishermen are allocated 98 percent of the fish harvested in Alaska. Second, don’t forget that Vincent-Lang and ADF&G held back commercial as well as sport fishers in July, attempting the noble, contentious and precarious juggling act that emphasized the importance of the late run King Salmon resource.

But don’t be confused as you digest this info: It is the Board of Fish that makes allocative decisions. The Department only implements them.

Now that August has rolled around, the gloves are off as Vincent-Lang only has X number of tools to use since “paired restrictions” whereas all users are intended to share the burden of conservation, basically go out the window.

In lay terms, that means sport king fishing on the Kenai is closed to conserve those all important Chinook arriving late to the party, but Cook Inlet netters can have at ‘em.

If it sounds like I’m taking sides here, you’re right. I am on the side of the fish, as is Vincent-Lang.

Of late, management is the most in favor of the “resource first” it has ever been and I believe that is what is in Doug’s mind, heart, and his actions.

It would be very sad if he doesn’t get some recognition for all the heat he has taken to further that belief and philosophy. And it would be a true tragedy if the people of Alaska didn’t band together at the next Board of Fish hearing to make the necessary changes to give Vincent-Lang and the department the tools needed to continue to put the fish first!

Indeed there is a new sheriff in town, and his name is Doug Vincent-Lang. Now let’s support him.

AUTHORS NOTE: before some irate readers heatedly google my name to find out my background, allow me to come clean. I’m a long time resident of Alaska, a sport fisherman and a small business owner who makes his living off our resources. But more importantly, I’m family man and a conservationist. I’ll take my lumps with no bait for Kings. I’ll fish total ‘catch and release’ on these big, wild salmon. I’ll quit fishing Kenai River king salmon entirely if need be. And I’ll endure the hardship that was a reduced sockeye bag limit and a total sport fishing closure last year at this time. Because first and foremost, I want fish for the future.

Like my neighbor and brother, the commercial fisherman who also desires to scratch out a living off our precious resource, my small business has taken some hits over the years. So I’ve adjusted my business model by not marketing Kenai River king charters, demanding a policy of strict C&R if/when we do target big, wild chinook and totally focusing our harvest on species of abundance, such as sockeye salmon.

Because, as I said, first and foremost, I want fish for the future more than anything; for me, my kids, my fellow Alaskans—whether they be sport, commercial or p/u users—and for visitors to what truly is, The Greatland.

~ Greg Brush, EZ Limit Guide Service

Sarah Palin’s lawsuit against NYT reinstated

Suzanne Downing
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6
Sarah Palin’s lawsuit against NYT reinstated

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s defamation lawsuit against the New York Times has been reinstated by a panel of New York judges in the Second Court of Appeals. The decision reverses a previous district court decision that dismissed her 2017 lawsuit.

The judges wrote that the lower court decision was based on an “unusual process” used to determine the validity Palin’s claim.

[Read the judges’ opinion at this link: 2019-0806-palin-nyt-opinion-2nd-circuit]

“This case is ultimately about the First Amendment, but the subject matter implicated in this appeal is far less dramatic: rules of procedure and pleading standards,” Circuit Judge John M. Walker wrote.  “We further conclude that Palin’s Proposed Amended Complaint plausibly states a claim for defamation and may proceed to full discovery.”

The case involves the Jan. 8, 2011 shooting at a political rally, when Jared Loughner shot Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Arizona, killing six people and wounding Giffords.

Shortly before the attack, Palin’s political action committee “SarahPAC” had produced a map that superimposed a target symbol on certain Democratic congressional  districts. Giffords’ district was in the crosshairs.

Although there was no evidence linking the image to the shooting of Giffords, and while there is a lot of evidence showing that Loughner acted on his own without being influenced by the political message, six years later an editorial in the New York Times, written after another political shooting occurred, blamed the Giffords’ massacre on the SaraPAC, saying it had incited the violence.

The decision to reopen the case comes at a time when Democrats are accusing President Donald Trump for the recent mass shooting outbreak.

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Anchorage launches ‘Crampground’ neighborhood

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The Municipality of Anchorage is preparing to break ground...

Fifty years after Saigon fell, one sailor’s memories still haunt him — and one unexpected encounter brought him peace

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At 69 years old, John Kersbergen lives a humble...

Bob Bird: The glaring inconsistencies of ‘pro-lifers’

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By BOB BIRD “Life begins at conception! Legal protection for...

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