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Judicial thumb on scale?

Suzanne Downing
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6
Judicial thumb on scale?

THE ANCHORAGE DAILY PLANET

What we first thought was a return to common sense in the misguided recall effort aimed at Gov. Mike Dunleavy turns out to only be a reaffirmation of earlier silliness.

For reasons only he knows, Superior Court Judge Eric Aarseth on Jan. 10 ordered the Division of Elections to issue signature booklets to the Recall Dunleavy group – even as its case against the state pends in court. The state had rejected the group’s recall petition as having insufficient grounds.

The order allowed the group to begin another round of signature-gathering to force a special election to replace Dunleavy.

Tuesday, the judge signed an order, at the request of the Stand Tall with Mike group, that halted that booklet distribution until the Alaska Supreme Court gets a chance to look at the case. From where we sit, that only makes eminent good sense. In the end, it could save the state money and time.

All that was out the window Wednesday when Aarseth said “the court inadvertently issued an order” on Tuesday that paused his ruling ordering the Alaska Division of Elections to distribute signature booklets to Recall Dunleavy. He vacated his Tuesday ruling. Turns out, the judge was out of town, and says he approved the wrong order by telephone.

Stand Tall with Mike gets another chance to argue its case for suspension of the booklet distribution, but who knows how that will turn out?

Aarseth’s ruling that the booklets must be distributed seems to us no less than a judicial thumb on the scale of justice. The Recall Dunleavy group saves precious time by Aarseth’s decision allowing it – despite its case being unresolved in the court system – to proceed as if everything is copacetic.

It would seem to us that holding up the booklets until the all judicial remedies are exhausted would only make good sense.

Whatever the eventual outcome, this bit of on-again, off-again judicial dither is enough to make Alaskans begin to wonder about their court system.

If the Recall Dunleavy group’s ridiculously low bar for recall, if the same level of mis-, mal- and non-feasance it applied to Dunleavy were applied to Aarseth’s handling of his booklet order, he might well find himself looking for a new job.

Read more at the Anchorage Daily Planet.

Nadler attacks Senate GOP, and Murkowski slaps back

Suzanne Downing
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33
Nadler attacks Senate GOP, and Murkowski slaps back

Sen. Lisa Murkowski had a few choice words for Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee leading the charge on impeachment.

Nadler had been arguing in favor of having former national security adviser John Bolton testify during the Senate trial.

But Nadler could not resist his impulses — he had take it a step further and accuse all Senate Republicans of conducting a “cover up.”

Nadler had said, “I see a lot of senators voting for a cover-up, voting to deny witnesses, an absolutely indefensible vote, obviously a treacherous vote,” essentially putting Republicans on trial for corruption.

Even Sen. Chuck Schumer accused Republicans of taking part in a cover up.

That didn’t go over so well with Murkowski.

“As one who is listening attentively and working hard to get to a fair process, I was offended,” Murkowski told reporters who asked her to comment on Nadler’s needling.

Murkowski, considered a moderate Republican by most political observers, plays a key role in the proceedings because she is never in lock-step on any issue. People on the far right are often frustrated by her unwillingness to state her position on impeachment.

And now, she is starting to frustrate Democrats, as they continue to put pressure on her to vote to convict the president.

But Murkowski is process-oriented lawmaker, a trait that sometimes drives her conservative critics to distraction.

Murkowski was voting with McConnell and the rest of Republicans, except Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, in favor of taking things in steps. Witnesses could come later and Murkowski wasn’t going to be bullied into pre-judging whether witnesses are warranted.

The pressure is on, however. Murkowski’s office has received thousands of phone calls from around the country from Democrats encouraging her to vote with Democrats in favor of guaranteeing appearances by the Democrats’ witnesses.

Her siding with McConnell has the Left uneasy, so now they have taken to Twitter, a platform dominated by leftwing voices:

“Murkowski can take her righteous indignation and shove it,” one woman wrote.

“I find it ironic that Lisa Murkowski is outraged at Nadler for calling it a cover up! Well, Lisa what would YOU call it when every single republican voted down 3 different amendments to allow witnesses and documents? A COVERUP! Spare the outrage! The House deserves to be outraged,” wrote another.

“Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and the other ‘very serious’ GOP phonies can feel free to go to hell. All these bastards are dragging us closer to totalitarianism, vote by vote,” wrote another angry leftist.

It’s new territory for Murkowski to be criticized by the Left for being too thoughtful and deliberative. These are usually the sentiments of the right wing.

The trial schedule has the issue of witnesses coming up six days after the opening arguments by the House Democrats and the Trump defense lawyers. For Murkowski, it seems to make sense, and appeals to her process-oriented nature.

“I went on to explain more fully what it is that we’re dealing with. And what has been proposed, at that point in time, was the same thing that we have in front of us right now, which is that we should follow this Clinton model …” Murkowski told reporters.

The Left is now as mad at Murkowski as the far right appears to be much of the time.

The “process-oriented senator” who works across the aisle to get bills passed, is not giving the Left the assurances they want, and their talons have come out. The entire scene is reminiscent of the criticism she faced when she refused to be a “yea” vote for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, only back then, the rebuke was coming from the other side.

It’s a reminder that in politics, “there are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends, only permanent interests.”

 

Gasline agency has enough cash to continue a few years

Suzanne Downing
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9
Gasline agency has enough cash to continue a few years

The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation has $20 million left in its funded account, enough to continue at its current level of activity for several years.

Last year, the agency laid off several members of the staff to conserve funds and curtail the rampant spending that occurred under the reign of Gov. Bill Walker, who had taken over the project when he became governor in 2014, and had developed it in such a way that the private sector stepped out of it.

The agency, now operating with a more modest ambition, is asking the Legislature for “receipt authority” for $20 million more in Fiscal Year 2021, so that it can continue to solicit investors. Receipt authority is not an appropriation but the permission to bring in investment money.

The agency anticipates it will have $15 million in the bank at the end of the year.

AGDC is trying to find a way to to develop a gasline from the North Slope to tidewater at Nikiski, on the Kenai Peninsula. It’s a challenge because the world is awash in natural gas, which is now selling at a record low amount, at times trading at below $2.

[Read: Has natural gas hit rock bottom?]

Natural gas prices are so bleak for industry that Chevron took a $11 billion write down in the fourth quarter of 2019, a reflection of devalued natural gas assets.

Agency leaders gave the House Resources Committee an overview of the project during the committee’s first hearing of the year.

The original appropriation for the agency was through appropriation to a fund, and AGDC can spend money out of the fund to progress the project. The agency does have to come to the Legislature for its operating budget, but capital expenditures come out of the fund, without additional appropriations.

The history of the project was outlined by AGDC President Joe Dubler today, without mentioning the hundreds of millions of dollars that had been drained off during the Walker Administration. Those details are explained in a story by Craig Medred, published this week.

The sanitized history outlined today, however, gave just the legislative turning points and a few other pivotal details. It did not talk about the $800,000 in annual compensation that the former head of the agency, Keith Meyer, was earning, nor the $120,000 a month contract that Walker awarded to Rigdon Boykin, his old colleague from the failed Alaska Gasline Development Authority.

Under Walker and Meyer, the Administration promised Alaskans the gasline construction would begin in 2019.

[Must Read Alaska’s story from 2016 about the direction the gasline was going in midway through the Walker Administration.]

In 2013 HB 4 created the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) in A.S. 31.25, giving broad powers and funding to advance the Alaska Stand Alone Pipeline Project (“ASAP”)

In 2014 SB 138 gave AGDC authority to represent the State of Alaska in the LNG terminal of the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas Project (“AKLNG”)

In 2016 DNR bought out Trans Canada and AGDC was granted the entire 25 percent State share in AKLNG

In 2016 the Pre-Front End Engineering and Design was completed and the producers, based upon the economics resulting from that work, stepped aside to allow AGDC to continue working the project.

In 2019 AGDC focused its efforts on the AKLNG Project.

The agency then shelved the Alaska Stand Alone Pipeline Project (“ASAP”) after receiving the Joint Record of Decision and the right of way on federal land. The agency re-initiated the “stage-gate process” for the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas Project (“AKLNG”).

Stage-gating is an industry standard for managing any large project or innovation rollout.

AGDC focused its activities on getting authorization to construct from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”).

AGDC committed to evaluating the competitiveness of the AKLNG project by reviewing costs and updating the economic analysis.

The agency committed to bringing back the private sector soliciting companies to build, own and operate AKLNG.

The complete presentation by AGDC President Joe Dubler and his staff is at this link:

1.20.20-AGDC-PresentationDownload

Breaking: Can Dunleavy get a fair shake from this court?

Suzanne Downing
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31
Breaking: Can Dunleavy get a fair shake from this court?

JUDGE REVERSES RULING AGAIN: PETITION ON RECALL CAN PROCEED

The judge who issued a “stay” to prevent petition booklets from being issued for the Recall Dunleavy effort, has now reversed his ruling — again. This is his second reversal on the same question.

He vacated his order that went out Tuesday. The Tuesday order was a reversal from his earlier order.

Judge Eric Aarseth originally said on Jan. 10 that he would allow the petition booklets to be issued to the Recall Dunleavy Committee.

On Tuesday, he changed his mind after the Stand Tall for Mike group asked for a “stay” in writing.

And today, he has reversed his ruling once again, saying he erred on Tuesday in an order that was stamped Friday, Jan. 16 and that was not made public until Tuesday.

The question is: While the legitimacy of the recall effort is being appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court, should the Recall Dunleavy group be allowed to collect signatures. Judge Aarseth, during the hearing on the case on Jan. 10, recessed for 10 minutes and then returned to issue a verbal ruling, allowing the petition to be distributed — a ruling that all in the courtroom could see he had decided before the hearing even started.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Tuesday’s story:

Breaking: Judge orders ‘stay’ on recall petition until Supremes decide validity

Bloody Tuesday: New org. chart leaves Senate conservatives out in cold

Suzanne Downing
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28
Bloody Tuesday: New org. chart leaves Senate conservatives out in cold

The more conservative members of the Senate’s Republican Majority lost some of their influence today, as Senate President Cathy Giessel and her leadership team reorganized the Senate, putting three Democrats into key committees.

The Senate went through a bruising shuffle, with conservatives being punished for either voting against the budget last year, being absent for the budget vote, or voting against overriding some of the governor’s budget vetoes.

The reorganization exercise came to a head after a several-hour negotiation, when at times the conservative Republicans were being dared to walk out of the Republican caucus altogether, or vote for their own “death sentence” on committees. They didn’t however, and won back some of the seats they were on the verge of losing.

In the end, Democrats had gained influence, while five most conservative Republicans lost positions.

The vote for the reorganization, called the “Report on Committees,” passed the Senate 13-7, with all five Democrats voting for it.

But the Republicans fractured on the vote. Less than a majority of Republicans voted for it, while most opposed the punishing of the conservatives; the vote was six Republicans in favor, and seven opposed to the reorganization.

That’s a dangerous signal for the Senate Republicans, to have the Senate Republican Majority surviving what could have been a leadership meltdown; Sen. President Giessel retained her gavel thanks to 100 percent cooperation from Senate Democrats.

Sen. Mike Shower of District E Wasilla was hit especially hard by the reorganization, being removed from five committees and one chairmanship and being added to just one committee.

Later however, at least some Democrats felt they left too much on the table and grumbled into the night about wanting a vote on Wednesday to rescind the action taken today and negotiate a better deal, now that they’ve seen the split in the Republicans.

Here are some of the highlights:

COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS

  • Sen. Mia Costello was removed from the committee. Sen. Mike Shower was named to the committee, while Sen. Peter Micciche named vice chair. Sen. Click Bishop remains chair.

EDUCATION

  • Sen. John Coghill, who is Rules chair, was appointed to the committee. Sen. Shelley Hughes was named vice-chair.

FINANCE

  • Sen. Mike Shower and Peter Micciche were both removed from the Finance Committee. The committee, which started out last year with nine members, is now the traditional seven. Without those two extra Republican seats, there are just four Republicans on the committee, and three Democrats. Republicans Natasha Von Imhof and Bert Stedman, remain co-chairs.

JUDICIARY

  • Sen. Hughes removed as chair. Sen. Coghill, who is Rules Chair, named new chair. Sen. Micciche named vice chair.

LABOR AND COMMERCE

  • Sen. Lora Reinbold was removed from committee. She was the chair. Sen. Click Bishop is the new chair. Sen. Josh Revak was appointed to committee. Sen. Gary Stevens was added as vice chair.

RESOURCES

  • Sen. Micciche is the new chair, (replacing the late Sen. Chris Birch, who was the chair.) Sen Reinbold was removed from the committee.

STATE AFFAIRS

  • Sen. Shower was stripped of his chairmanship. Sen. Revak is added and is the new chair. Kicked off the committee were Sen. Micciche, Sen. Reinbold. Sen. David Wilson was added.

TRANSPORTATION

  • Sen. Shower and Sen. Hughes were kicked off the committee, and Sen Costello was added and is the new chair. Sen. Wilson is vice chair.

JOINT ARMED SERVICES

  • Sen. Shower and Sen. Hughes were removed from the committee. Sen. Josh Revak and Sen. Donny Olson, a Democrat, were appointed, with Revak becoming chair.

LEGISLATIVE BUDGET AND AUDIT

  • Alternate member Sen. Micciche was removed, while Democrat Sen. Bill Wielechowski was added to the committee.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

  • Sen. Costello was removed, and Democrat Sen. Tom Begich replaced her on the committee.

Elvi Gray-Jackson and the raft of virtue signaling bills

Suzanne Downing
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24
Elvi Gray-Jackson and the raft of virtue signaling bills

Among important bills read across today on the opening day of the Legislature the Senate are a handful of bills offered by Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson:

SB 139: Establishing the month of March as Women’s History Month.

SB 140: Establishing the month of September as Hispanic Heritage Month.

SB 141: Establishing the month of October as Filipino American History Month.

SB 147: Establishing the month of June as LGBTQ Pride Month.

SB 148: Establishing May of each year as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Of the 14 pre-filed bills, more than one-third of them were specially designated months offered by Gray-Jackson recognizing one or another group.

Last year, Gray-Jackson sponsored Black History Month legislation, which was signed into law by Gov. Michael Dunleavy.

Gray-Jackson’s virtue-signaling bills, if they pass both Senate and House, will force Gov. Mike Dunleavy to choose whether to continue making these several special months permanent fixtures in Alaska by signing them into law, or to allow one or more of them to simply go into law without his signature, (or, as some social conservatives would have it, veto the LGBTQ Pride Month legislation.)

LeDoux gets deal from House majority, gets committees

Suzanne Downing
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8
LeDoux gets deal from House majority, gets committees

DEM-LED MAJORITY REFUSES TO SEAT AFRICAN-AMERICAN VET ON ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE

Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux has rejoined the Democrat-led House Majority, and was given a seat on the Joint Armed Services Committee and Judiciary Committee. She also was restored “points” allowing her to hire an extra staff.

LeDoux says she did not, in fact, rejoin the majority.

With a 24-member Majority that has seven Republicans in it, that leaves the Minority with 16 members in the Republican-only caucus.

The deal LeDoux made to be allowed to return to the Majority caucus was not made public.

LeDoux left the combined Democrat-Republican caucus last May when it came down to voting for the Permanent Fund dividend, which was cut in half by the majority.

LeDoux was the only member of the House at the time to accept the first version of the budget from the Senate, saying she saw it as her only chance to get on record as voting for the full Permanent Fund dividend. Ultimately, the Senate cut the dividend in half.

LeDoux’s appointment to the Armed Services Committee came over the objection of the 15 members voting members of the minority, (Rep. Mel Gillis was absent).

Rep. Ben Carpenter of Nikiski pointed out on the record that there are six members of the House who are actual veterans, and he recommended that Rep. Sharon Jackson of Eagle River be given that appointment. She is an Army veteran and handled military issues for U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan when she was on his staff.

Carpenter’s remarks were backed up by Rep. Laddie Shaw of Anchorage, and Rep. David Eastman of Wasilla. All are veterans. Rep. Tammie Wilson also spoke in favor of putting another veteran on the committee; she is married to a Vietnam veteran.

Only two members — 20 percent — of the Joint Armed Services Committee are veterans.

But Rep. Louise Stutes of Kodiak objected to the notion that one must be a veteran in order to care about veterans.

“To suggest you need to be a veteran to support veterans is foreign to me. I’m not a veteran, but trust me, I support our veterans wholly,” she said.

Over in the Senate, chaos in the Senate Republican majority consumed much of the day. It appeared that Sen. President Cathy Giessel was preparing to remove Sen. Mike Shower from the joint military committee as punishment for his vote for a full Permanent Fund dividend. Shower is an Air Force fighter pilot veteran.

Comment period extended for National Petroleum Reserve Plan

Suzanne Downing
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1
Comment period extended for National Petroleum Reserve Plan

The Bureau of Land Management has extended the public comment period for the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (NPR-A IAP Draft EIS). The new deadline is 10 p.m. (Alaska Standard Time) Feb. 5, extending the previous timeline from 60 days to 75.

The BLM extended the public comment period in response to an abundance of stakeholder requests. In that spirit, the public is encouraged to examine the Draft EIS, including sections pertaining to their interests and share their feedback. Public input could impact the alternative or combinations of alternatives the BLM selects in a Final EIS and the subsequent Record of Decision.

“Public comments are a critical part of our environmental review process,” said BLM State Director, Chad Padgett. “We want to make sure that everyone with an interest in Alaska’s public lands have an opportunity to review our work and share their feedback.”

NPR-A IAP Draft EIS Comments can be submitted in a variety of ways:

Your comments on our environmental reviews matter. To learn more about BLM Alaska planning efforts and how to make comments that make a difference, visit www.blm.gov/alaska/comment123. 

Deadly Wuhan virus shows up in Washington State

Suzanne Downing
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5
Deadly Wuhan virus shows up in Washington State

Update, 2:28 pm: According to the King County Health Department, the person did not have symptoms while at Sea-Tac International Airport, and this makes transmission less likely. CDC is currently evaluating whether there were any exposures of concern. The man sought medical attention soon after experiencing symptoms and followed procedures to prevent exposure to others. He was quickly isolated in accordance with CDC guidance, so the risk of exposure from this case is low.

Original story:

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today that the first case of Wuhan coronavirus has been reported in the U.S. and it’s in Washington State.

The man is a resident of Snohomish County, who returned from a trip to the Wuhan region of China last week. His infection was identified on Monday.

The virus was first identified last month in Wuhan, China, and has infected more than 300 people in China. Now identified in six countries, it is responsible for six deaths.

Symptoms include pneumonia-like characteristics, including fever, cough, and chest pains. It is a strain of coronavirus that targets the nose, throat, and sinuses.

The CDC has implemented screening of incoming passengers at the three U.S. airports that receive most of the travelers from Wuhan, China: San Francisco (SFO), New York (JFK), and Los Angeles (LAX) airports.

A number of other countries are also actively screening incoming travelers from Wuhan. Exported cases have been confirmed in Thailand, Japan, and Korea.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing illness in people and others that circulate among animals, including camels, cats and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can evolve and infect people and then spread between people such as has been seen with MERS and SARS. Past MERS and SARS outbreaks have been complex, requiring comprehensive public health responses, the CDC wrote.

Many of the patients in the outbreak in Wuhan, China have reportedly had some link to a large seafood and animal market, suggesting animal-to-person spread. That market was closed down in early January for sanitization.

A growing number of patients reportedly have not had exposure to animal markets, suggesting limited person-to-person spread is occurring, according to the CDC.

On Jan. 17, the CDC deemed the risk to U.S. citizens to be low, but four days later announced that the first case had been confirmed stateside.

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