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Change of command as Troopers get new director

Suzanne Downing
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1
Change of command as Troopers get new director

After 30 years of service to the State of Alaska, Col. Barry Wilson has hung up his Stetson. Department of Public Safety Commissioner Amanda Price announced Col. Bryan W. Barlow as the incoming director for the Alaska State Troopers. 

During his distinguished career, there was little Col. Wilson hadn’t touched in the Division of Alaska State Troopers. He served Alaskans in many assignments to include working patrol, conducting investigations, coordinating search-and-rescues, and mentoring other troopers throughout the department. As director for the past year, Col. Wilson was instrumental in improving morale, expanding training and staunchly advocating for the Division as a whole, according to the press release from the Department of Public Safety.

Col. Barlow is a lifelong Alaskan who began his career with the Alaska State Troopers in March 1999. He patrolled in Fairbanks, Ninilchik, Ketchikan, and Girdwood as well as Interior villages. Over the years, Col. Barlow supervised various units within AST, including the Criminal Intelligence Unit, DPS Recruitment, Office of Professional Standards, and the DPS Aircraft Section. He also held the duties of Department Pilot, Special Emergency Reaction Team member, Firearms Instructor, Crisis Negotiator, and Ethics Instructor. In October 2017, Col. Barlow joined the AST Director’s Office as a Major, the department wrote.

“I want to thank Colonel Wilson for his dedicated service to all Alaskans,” said Commissioner Price. “It was an honor to have Col. Wilson on my team. I also want to thank Col. Barlow for accepting to take the helm of the Alaska State Troopers and all the responsibilities that come with the job.”

The one thing schools must do first: Teach kids to read

Suzanne Downing
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40
The one thing schools must do first: Teach kids to read

THE REST OF EDUCATION SPENDING WILL THEN GO FARTHER

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has called for accountability in education since before bhe began running for governor in 2018.

As a former teacher and lifelong educator, he pointed out that the State of Alaska spends far more money per student than almost every other state in America, but students in Alaska are at the bottom in terms of standardized test scores. Alaska’s education budget is $1.5 billion per year.

The governor’s Alaska Reads Act is meant to address the one skill that will help students the most: Reading. Currently, fewer than four in ten elementary school children are reading at the expected grade level.

By focusing on reading, including sending reading professionals to schools to work with students and teachers, Dunleavy hopes to make his mark on that accountability problem that schools have.

Must Read Alaska reached Commissioner of Education and Early Childhood Development Dr. Michael Johnson, who said he wasn’t sure what the cost of the program would be, but that “there will be a modest fiscal note.” Some of the aspects of the reading focus can come from using existing resources and redirecting them toward reading.

“They key thing to remember is that whatever the cost, it has a multiplier effect throughout a child’s education. The $1.5 billion we spend on education across the state will be more effective if we address the basic foundation of reading,” Johnson said. “This is true throughout all the grades and even into our university system. The dollars we spend will be worth it when we have children reading at grade level.”

The University of Alaska system has found that 74 percent of high school graduates who attend one of the state universities are having to take at least one remedial class.

Alaska schools were not always like this. In the 1970s, students graduating from Alaska high schools were among the top in the nation. Today, they wallow at the bottom in terms of those national test scores, such as the SAT, (there are schools in Alaska where that is clearly not the case).

The key points of the Alaska Reads Act are:

  • Statewide teacher training on reading instruction and job-embedded training through State Department of Education reading specialists.
  • Focusing existing state and federal funds on reading.
  • Early literacy screening tool.
  • Timely parent notification.
  • Individual reading plans.
  • Monitored student progress.
  • Home reading strategies and/or programs.
  • Interventions.
  • Appropriate grade-level progression for students severely below grade level.
  • Multiple pathways to demonstrate reading proficiency.
  • Good cause exemptions.

Details of how the Department of Education plans to achieve these goals include:

  • Prioritize early reading in all elementary schools, including K–12 schools.
  • Adopt and implement effective reading programs and materials.
  • Incentivize districts to adopt and implement effective curriculum and teaching strategies.
  • Adopt 60- or 90-minute reading blocks in grades K–3 in all districts.
  • Encourage district review of different K–3 models, including movement through individual grades.
  • Create and disseminate materials for parents and community members on how they can support the development of their children’s reading skills.
  • Provide consistent, ongoing professional development for educators and community members on the effective use of adopted reading curricula.
  • Implement effective early screeners in K-3.
  • Train teachers on state standards and on how to align instruction to these standards.
  • Assist school leaders in using data and classroom walkthroughs to ensure implementation of aligned curricula.
  • Use valid and reliable formative assessments to monitor students’ progress.
  • Identify and implement effective interventions for struggling readers.
  • Inform and train educators, parents, and community members on how to understand reading data and on how it can be used to support students in their reading skills attainment.
  • Establish voluntary district reporting to the state on K–3 reading measures.

Al Gross sets up campaign HQ, staffs up in Fairbanks

Suzanne Downing
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5
Al Gross sets up campaign HQ, staffs up in Fairbanks

The doctor running for U.S. Senate has decided to make Fairbanks the base for his campaign headquarters. It’s an area of the state where he is least well known and it is home turf for incumbent U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and his wife, Julie Fate-Sullivan, who was born and raised there.

Gross, from Juneau and Petersburg, already has a home in Petersburg and Anchorage, both of which he can use for regional headquarters.

He is beefing up his staff, too. He named Mindy O’Neall, a Fairbanks North Star Borough assembly member, as his campaign’s political coordinator.

That’s not to be mistaken for a campaign manager. Gross’ actual campaign manager David Keith, who has been on campaign payroll since July, is from out of state, but in his last job he developed a reputation for unprofessional conduct at the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

[Read: Progressive Caucus hires first director]

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Keith frequently used crude language and derogatory terms to describe women and gay people.

[Read: Progressive Caucus staffer accused]

“Seven sources, including some former Bryce staffers, told the Journal Sentinel that Keith routinely made inappropriate sexual comments to and about female staffers and volunteers, used crude language and had angry outbursts — at times yelling and throwing things at his subordinates. 

“In one incident last year, sources said Keith screamed at staff and threw a water bottle during a meeting after learning some campaign workers left before 9 p.m., which is the time Bryce campaign staffers were required to stay to make fundraising calls,” the newspaper wrote, adding that he used crude and derogatory words to describe women and gay people, and threatened to punish staff who didn’t obey his orders, sources said. Several recalled him telling them, ‘If you cross me, I’ll destroy your career.'”

Controversial campaign manager for Al Gross onboard with “me too” baggage.

Keith will meet his match in O’Neall, who is an avowed leftist and union organizer for Laborers’ Local 942. O’Neall is a registered Democrat and has enough Laborers behind her to keep Keith, who has been on the payroll since July, in line.

And Keith will also have to contend with the likes of Gross’ senior campaign advisor, former Sen. Johnny Ellis, an aging Democrat who knows where all the bodies are buried in the state. Ellis won’t take kindly to anti-gay slurs.

Gross said last year that his campaign staff would be unionized, but has made no further announcement about the union the three are in.

Gross, running on the issue of universal health care and whatever else pops into his mind, has the support of the Alaska Democratic Party. At the same time, he is trying hard to convince voters that he is independent, yet he will appear on the Democrats’ primary ballot and is funded with national Democrat money. He is opposed to building a wall on the southern border with Mexico, and blames Sen. Dan Sullivan for the drop in Alaska’s population over the past three years.

Candidate Gross, and his three staffers — Keith, O’Neall, and Ellis — are also politically opposed to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, as all four signed the recall petition. It appears Keith’s name wasn’t counted, however, because he wasn’t an Alaska voter.

The actual location for the Gross for Senate headquarters hasn’t been announced, but it appears to be shaping up as a lively place to work.

Fairbanks schools considers adding ‘just LGBTQ’ lit. class

Suzanne Downing
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10
Fairbanks schools considers adding ‘just LGBTQ’ lit. class

AGENDA LITERATURE: READ ALL ABOUT IT

The Fairbanks North Star Borough is seeking public input on a new curriculum offering for high school students: LGBTQ Literature.

The district offers other literature courses — American, World, Women’s, African-American, Native American, and even Holocaust literature. But educators want to add another genre, just for Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender-Questioning authors.

“LGBTQ+ Literature: This integrated course combines a survey of LGBTQ+ authors with composition. LGBTQ+ prose, poetry, and drama are used as vehicles for examining culture and improving writing skills. Formal literary analysis is required, as well as a variety of other writing experiences,” the summary provided by the school district reads.

The book list includes authors who have been studied for years in schools, without being singled out and categorized simply by their sexual preference: Authors James Baldwin, Alice Walker, Herman Melville, Virginia Woolf, and E.M. Forster, to name a few.

Many of the books to be used in the class are newer titles and may have questionable claims to literature. Parrotfish, written by Ellen Wittlinger and published in 2007, is about a teenage girl who cuts her hair, changes her name and proceeds to live as a boy. In other words, it’s about a transgender teen’s experience in an American high school.

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit,  by Jeanette Winterson, is a coming-of-age story about a lesbian girl growing up in a conservative Pentecostal community in England. The book’s themes include same-sex relationships and the role of religious oppression, as the girl’s parents perform an exorcism on her.

The reading list that is on the draft curriculum includes:

  • The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
  • Giovanni’s Room (James Baldwin)
  • Orlando (Virginia Woolf)
  • Maurice (E.M. Forster)
  • The Hours (Michael Cunningham)
  • Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (JeanetteWinterson)
  • Under the Udala Trees (Chinelo Okparanta)
  • The Great Believers (Rebecca Makkai)
  • Billy Budd (Herman Melville)
  • De Profundis or Picture of Dorian Grey (Oscar Wilde)
  • Boy Erased (Garrard Conley)
  • I’ll Give You the Sun (Jandy Nelson)
  • Trap Door (Ed. Reina Gossett, Eric Stanley, Johanna Burton)
  • The Bold World (Jodie Patterson)
  • Parrotfish (Ellen Wittlinger)
  • Immoral Code (Lillian Clark)
  • The 57 Bus (Dashka Slater)
  • Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (BeckyAlbertalli)

Some parents in Fairbanks are having none of it.

“Curriculum introduced by the Superintendent and Fairbanks North Star Borough School District employees seek to normalize homosexual behavior and go as far as to equate homosexuality with people of color and women. It’s under a false premise that homosexuals are to be considered disenfranchised and marginalized and given a minority status,” wrote one parent to Must Read Alaska, adding that the class fuels an emerging leftist doctrine that anyone who disagrees with the LGBTQ agenda in schools is a bigot, intolerant, or homophobic.

Parents seem to not be objecting to the incorporation of gay/lesbian writers into the curriculum, but have concerns that the topics in the books are mainly about sexual identity. The list does not include the lesbian classic, Rubyfruit Jungle, which would have been a controversial inclusion because of its extensive description of lesbian sexuality. Other school districts around the country have gone so far as to include it. Several books on the Fairbanks list are considered gay/lesbian standards.

The curriculum is not yet set in stone. The district is taking comment through Jan. 21 on the idea of a separate class for LGBTQ literature for high school upper-class students.

There are students who may embrace the course. According to a Gallup poll conducted in 2017, 4.5% of adult Americans identified as LGBT with 5.1% of women identifying as LGBT, and 3.9% of men. A Williams Institute survey of 2016, estimated that 0.6% of U.S. adults identify as transgender.

The curriculum choices in question are on Page 111 of the proposed curriculum, at this link. Comments on the curriculum can be provided at this link.

The next meeting of the North Star School Board is Jan. 21, 6 pm, 520 5th St Fairbanks. The board can be reached by email at this link.

Governor smokes out chair of Marijuana Control Board

Suzanne Downing
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9
Governor smokes out chair of Marijuana Control Board

Gov. Mike Dunleavy is ending the reign of Mark Springer, chairman of the Marijuana Control Board. Springer’s term ends on March 1.

While showing Springer the door, the governor reappointed Christopher Jaime, a State Trooper from Soldotna. And he added Casey Dschaak of Dillingham to the rural seat that is held by Springer for a few more weeks.

Springer, of Bethel, is a vocal opponent of the governor’s overall agenda and, critics say he loathes Dunleavy’s very existence.

In addition to signing the recall petition, he has used his time during board meetings to express his hostility toward the Administration and brags about the Recall Dunleavy sticker on his coffee mug.

Springer has been at odds with his fellow board members as well as the governor. When the matter of whether to retain former alcohol and marijuana agency director Erika McConnell came up, Springer, as chairman, refused to put it on the agenda until he was forced to by other board members.

McConnell had already been “fired” by the Alcohol Beverage Control Board, to whom she also reported, but it took a vote of the Marijuana Control Board to remove her. Springer voted against her removal, but she was fired anyway by a majority of the board, with only one other vote, from board member Loren Jones, favoring McConnell’s retention.

Dschaak, the incoming member of the board, he served in the U.S. Army and works in the field of logistics in Dillingham.

The Marijuana Control Board meets next week in Juneau and will select a new chair from the members.

Marijuana agency hits restart with new chief: Glen ‘fix it man’ Klinkhart

Sen. Sullivan on Fox News: Senate will conduct fair trial

Suzanne Downing
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2
Sen. Sullivan on Fox News: Senate will conduct fair trial

Sen. Dan Sullivan spoke to Fox News analyst Dana Perino today, using the televised platform to reiterate that, unlike what occurred in the House of Representatives, the Senate will conduct a fair process in looking at the charges being brought by House Democrats through impeachment of the president.

“The confounding delay of the Speaker (Nancy Pelosi) is finally over. The Senate is going to do its constitutional responsibility, I’m very confident of that, a fair trial, we’re going to take it seriously,” he said.

“The framers made sure, setting up not only our government but impeachment procedures, that the Senate is the place where partisan passions will cool. We’re going to do our job in a fair and honest way. This is going to be in direct contrast to what [Rep.] Adam Schiff and others did where they ran the most partisan, rushed and most unfair impeachment proceedings in the House that we’ve seen in modern history.

That we’ve seen in modern history.

Sullivan said the Senate has agreed to using the same rules that were in effect for the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998.

“Phase one, where we will be able to ask questions, and at the end, see if we need witnesses and additional information. Right now it’s premature. it would have been viewed as premature during the Clinton trial,” he said.

Brave Conversations: Abortion

Suzanne Downing
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33
Brave Conversations: Abortion

At Brave Conversations, host Leigh Sloan is cultivating a community of people who meet monthly to learn from those who think differently on a variety of topics. The purpose is to have conversations that are controversial, but civil, and create better thinkers and better communicators– ultimately creating a better community.

Brave Conversations takes place Jan. 23 at 6 pm in the meeting room of Coffee and Communitas coffee shop, 12100 Seward Highway, south of the 120th Street intersection, (which is south of the Klatt Road stoplight.)

The first half of the evening, the event features a “Red Chair Challenge,” which is a topic that two invited guests speak on two different sides of an issue. Questions from are taken at the end. This month’s topic is abortion.

The second half of the evening, participants can take part in a game designed to match you with your conversational “sharpener” who will stretch your perspective on one or more topics. You’ll have a discussion guide to help you along.

The goal in our conversations is not to win but to learn. Come with a friend and an open mind. Learn to enjoy honing the art of this kind of constructive, face to face conversation.

People of all viewpoints are welcome and encouraged to attend. “All we ask is that you maintain a respectful and non-disruptive demeanor,” Sloan says.

Beverages and food are available for purchase in the coffee shop, while the event itself is in the inner room of the building. Ask the barista to point you to the right place.

Brave Conversations typically meets every fourth Thursday of the month.

More information can be found at the group’s Facebook page.

Police union writes big check to Stand Tall With Mike

Suzanne Downing
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9
Police union writes big check to Stand Tall With Mike

RECALL PETITIONERS ALSO RAISING FUNDS TO GET SIGNATURES

PSEA, the Public Employees Safety Association, which represents Alaska State Troopers, local police, and other public safety professionals, today donated $5,000 to the Stand Tall With Mike committee, continuing their support of the governor. PSEA endorsed Dunleavy during the 2018 election cycle and Dunleavy has made public safety his top priority.

On the other side of the political issue, the Recall Dunleavy Committee is also busy raising money while waiting to get petition booklets issued by the State Division of Elections. Superior Court Judge Eric Aarseth ruled last week that the Division has until Feb. 10 to issue those booklets.

When they do get their hands on the petition booklets, the recall organizers will fan out across the heavily Democrat and liberal parts of the state, such as Juneau, Anchorage, downtown Homer, and Fairbanks, and gather the 71,252 signatures needed to get the recall onto the ballot in what they hope will be a special election.

The signature gatherers are looking for a slightly larger raw number — probably about 76,000, to be sure they have met the threshold of legitimate signatures. They must turn in 25 percent of the number of Alaskans who voted in the 2018 general election.

The group gathered 49,006 signatures during the first round when they applied for petition booklets, although they only needed to collect 28,501.

As it turns out, there are 74,424 registered Democrats in the state, most of which would be happy to recall any Republican governor.

Those trying to recall the governor have the contact information for each of them through their election database software that they can cross-reference with Division of Elections records.

They also have the contact information for the 125,739 “likely voters” who cast a ballot for Democrat Mark Begich in 2018. This information is fairly easy to determine with today’s sophisticated campaign software.

The Stand Tall With Mike group, opposing the recall, is preparing to appeal Judge Aarseth’s ruling to the Alaska Supreme Court. They may also ask for a stay to prevent those petition booklets from being issued while the matter is in court.

Getting a delay, while unlikely, would make it more possible that the recall question goes to the Primary or General Election ballot, although there is no guarantee. The Recall Dunleavy group is hoping for a special election.

The Recall Dunleavy group can gather signatures up until 180 days prior to the termination of Gov. Dunleavy’s first term in office. That means the opponents of the governor can continue their efforts up until about June 1, 2022, putting pressure on the governor for essentially his entire term. Those signatures, whether gathered now or later, will be used by the next Democrat Party opponent to rally forces to take the seat away from Republicans.

From the day that the Recall Dunleavy Committee turns in the signatures, the State would have 30 days to certify the signatures and the election would be held between 90 and 120 days.

The Alaska Supreme Court, with its liberal bent, is likely to allow the recall election to go forward.

While both sides are raising funds, the Recall Dunleavy group has been more aggressive. A fundraiser was held at the IBEW Hall in Anchorage on Sunday, and another one will be held Jan. 23 at the home of Eleanor Andrews of Anchorage.

Noel Rea, health expert, to serve as interim CEO at API

Suzanne Downing
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1
Noel Rea, health expert, to serve as interim CEO at API

Alaskan Noel Rea is the new interim chief executive officer at the Alaska Psychiatric Institute, according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.

Meanwhile, the department said that on Dec. 27, 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services notified DHSS that API is “in substantial compliance” with requirements and found no deficiencies.

API had been flagged by CMS by CMS in September after a complaint had been made about federal compliance.

The team at API addressed the deficiencies through a plan of correction and after the unannounced survey, CMS withdrew their notice.

At the same time, API’s “deemed status” through The Joint Commission, an independent accreditation organization, was restored and it was removed from the State Survey Agency Jurisdiction. 

Noel Rea comes to API with 30 years of experience in Alaska working for public, private and tribal health care delivery systems. He was a senior director at NetworxHealth, a health care consulting division of Virginia Mason Medical Center, and has served as an interim CEO for other Alaska hospitals, including South Peninsula Hospital, Cordova Community Medical Center and Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC). 

He received his Master in Business Administration in Health Care Administration from Alaska Pacific University and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Colorado State University. Rea is active in the community, serving as a current board member for Anchorage Project Access, an organization that works to increase access to health care for low income, uninsured individuals; past board member for the Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center; and he just completed his term as president of the Alaska chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

John Lee, who served as acting CEO, returned to his role as director of the Senior and Disabilities Services Division.

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