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Breaking: Brush fire causes evacuations in Anchorage

Suzanne Downing
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Breaking: Brush fire causes evacuations in Anchorage

Check back for continuous updates:

6 pm update: The brush fire is at about 15 acres. Commissioner of Department of Natural Resources Corrie Feige said that state crews are coming to help the Anchorage Fire Department. A hot shot crew from Glennallen is enroute. The winds are pushing it toward the southeast away from the denser part of the population.

Anchorage Fire Chief Jodie Hettrick said that JBER, Chugiak Fire Department, American Red Cross, Division of Forestry have been brought in to help. Three water drops have been made from aircraft so far. The fire is now 80 percent contained. (Correction: Police say they erred and it was 30 percent contained, not 80 percent contained at 6 pm). They are cancelling the evacuation order.

Road closures are still in effect.

The scene from Bear Valley at about 5:30 pm

Original story: A large and quickly moving brush fire in Anchorage has cause evacuations near the Campell Creek Science Center in Anchorage. The Manoog’s Isle Trailer Court near Dowling and Lake Otis has been evacuated. The 50th Street /Folker area is also now being evacuated due to brush fire.

The brush fire is located in an area that is known to be occupied by homeless camps, although the source is not yet known as fire fighters rush to the scene and evacuations are spreading. Those in the area of Tudor and Elmore need to be ready to evacuate.

Wendler Jr High opening as evacuation center for those who have been displaced due to fire.

Here’s the scene from the vantage point of the Legislative Information Office in Anchorage:

Meanwhile as the brush fire burns, members of the Anchorage Assembly and public sector labor unions led a protest at the Legislative Information Office this afternoon, calling for an override of Gov. Dunleavy’s vetoes:

Smoke from the fire is visible in the background as Vince Beltrami, AFL-CIO, left, and Forrest Dunbar and Austin Quinn-Davidson, Anchorage Assembly members, lead a rally against state budget cuts.

In addition to Forrest Dunbar and Austin Quinn-Davidson, House Speaker Bryce Edgmon was there to participate in the protest. About 350 union and public employee workers attended.

The scene at about 5:30 pm above and below:

 

Credit where credit is due

Suzanne Downing
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By THE ANCHORAGE DAILY PLANET

While the government-first crowd mewls over Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s budget cuts – which, by the way, still leave the state more than $700 million in the red -they should take a moment to blast the real culprits, spendthrift lawmakers.

Over the years, they put drunken sailors to shame when it came to spending money. They never saw a dollar they did not want to throw at something – anything..

They ran multibillion-dollar deficits. They blew hundreds of millions of dollars on mega-projects that went belly-up. They funded unnecessary programs. Since fiscal 2013 alone, they spent $16 billion more than the state took in. They drained state savings accounts to close those gaps.

Even as state oil revenue was drying up, they spent. But now the jig is up. A grownup finally has said “no more.”

If Dunleavy had not ripped the Band-Aid off the state’s budget gap, this batch of legislators would have continued the merry spending spree.

You can bet your bottom dollar on that.

http://www.anchoragedailyplanet.com/160989/credit-where-credit-is-due/

 

Planned Parenthood is wrong on Sullivan: He’s pro-woman and pro-life

Suzanne Downing
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Planned Parenthood is wrong on Sullivan: He’s pro-woman and pro-life

Planned Parenthood has attacked U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan for supporting bills that would protect an unborn child, arguably the most vulnerable life.

Good people can disagree about abortion, but voters knew that Sullivan was a pro-life Catholic when they voted for him. Traditional Christian views are not out of the mainstream of thought, however, what might come as a surprise are the details of the bills that he supported.

Planned Parenthood likes to gloss over horrifying details about late-term abortion by making general claims that any restrictions on abortion services are restrictions on the autonomy of women. These details are worth a hard look.

Most recently, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act was co-sponsored by Sullivan. It requires that a child born alive during an attempted abortion be given the same medical treatment as a child born naturally at the same point in a pregnancy.

All Republicans who were in Congress at the time voted for it. All Democrats except three voted against it.

The vote took place after Planned Parenthood-endorsed laws were passed in states that rolled back restrictions on late term abortions. When discussing a bill introduced in Virginia, Delegate Tran was clear that the bill would allow an abortion if the woman was about to give birth! “My bill would allow that,” she said.

The executive director of Planned Parenthood in Virginia called Tran a “champion for women in Virginia.”

Virginia Democrat Governor Ralph Northam described what would happen if, under that law, an infant managed to survive a late-term abortion: “The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired. And then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”

To be clear, he obfuscated about whether that infant would be killed.

Sullivan also recently co-sponsored a bill that would ban abortions after five months. The bill provides exceptions for cases where the mother’s life is threatened or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

Planned Parenthood opposed this bill claiming that late-term abortions are too rare to legislate — that they are done to protect the mother’s life or when the fetus isn’t viable.

It is hard to think of women in this situation, but hard cases make bad law. To prove that adage, Planned Parenthood’s statements are just flat false. According to available research, somewhere between 8,000 and 12,000 abortions occur in the U.S. after 21 weeks. It is a small percentage of the total number of abortions performed every year, but is roughly the same number of people who died on our roads in 2017 due to drunk driving. This statistic usually causes concern; the abortion number for Planned Parenthood, not so much.

This begs the question as to why women seek abortions so late in their pregnancies. The research is scarce, but Diana Greene Foster, the lead investigator on one of the largest studies on the issue, and a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, shed light on this. She said that abortions for fetal anomaly “make up a small minority of later abortion.”

She concluded that those abortions performed as a result of life endangerment are even harder to characterize. This is probably because modern medicine is so good at saving mothers and unborn babies.

We are left to conclude that just as there are women (and men) who are nonchalant about their children outside of the womb, there are women who are similarly indifferent about life inside the womb. These unborn children are the vulnerable lives, which deserve to be protected.

The solution is to help women to deal with these tough situations for which they are unprepared. What is not a solution is to kill a baby born alive as the result of a late-term abortion or full term delivery because mom’s intent was to do so. This is outright murder. Infanticide (killing one’s own baby) is illegal just as is matricide (killing one’s own mother).

Planned Parenthood’s suggestion that Sullivan is against women because he supported protection for babies born alive is offensive to women who value innocent life. Instead, we should appreciate all that he is doing for women — such as working diligently to help victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.

Ann Brown is the Vice Chair of the Alaska Republican Party and has lived in Alaska for over 35 years. 

Huge protest planned for Anchorage LIO Tuesday evening

Suzanne Downing
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Huge protest planned for Anchorage LIO Tuesday evening

A massive protest is in the works for Tuesday evening at the Anchorage Legislative Information Offices. It is timed for the same timeframe as a “listening session” planned by Democrats. Here are the two events that overlap in time and place, an indication that the Democrats will control the “Listening Session.” These events are coordinated.

Those with alternative opinions may want to rethink their plans for attending this event, cosponsored by Rep. Harriet Drummond, whose husband recently called for violence against Republicans:

Rep. Drummond’s husband calls for violence against administration

Suzanne Downing
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Rep. Drummond’s husband calls for violence against administration

In a post on social media today, a possibly overwrought husband of Rep. Harriet Drummond, a Democrat representing midtown Anchorage and Spenard, has called for pitchforks and tar and feather for Department of Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka, who is the featured speaker at a meeting of the Mat-Su Valley Senior Services annual membership meeting on July 10.

“PITCHFORKS, TAR & FEATHERS are encouraged!” Elstun Lauesen wrote:

Is Jim Johnsen the right leader for the university system?

Suzanne Downing
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Is Jim Johnsen the right leader for the university system?

THE UNIVERSITY NEEDS LEADERSHIP NOW. CAN HE BE THAT LEADER?

University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen announced on Monday that 2,500 staff and faculty were receiving 10-day furlough notices as a result of the budget cuts from the State of Alaska.

Gov. Michael Dunleavy vetoed $130 million from the university system on top of the $5 million already cut by the Alaska Legislature.

Johnsen — and all UA administrators — have known this was coming since February, when the governor submitted his budget to the Legislature.

[Read: University professor gets students to write protesting budget — for credit]

Dunleavy has cut state spending by 12.9 percent this year, but the budget cuts to the university system are 17-18 percent of the university system’s overall budget. A bigger hit, to be sure, but with plenty of notice.

A SPENDING MACHINE

Last year, the University received an unrestricted general fund (UGF) appropriation of $327 million. It allocated this appropriation to its three core services as follows:

As the table shows, the University of Alaska has access to non-UGF sources in the form of federal funds, tuition (which is designated general funds – DGF), fees and receipts (DGF/Other), as well as donations.

The University also has reserve funds and an endowment. The FY2019 Management plan was 888.5 million — over three quarters of a billion dollars being spent for 17,555 students — more than $50,000 per student.

The University is and has been heavily dependent on state funding, far more than its peers, and far more than what is needed to account for the higher cost of living and expenses in Alaska. The State of Alaska provides more than double the per-student funding, as compared to Lower 48 state-funded universities.

The cuts to the university system brings the per-student subsidy down to 145 percent of the national average.

WHO MOVED HIS CHEESE?

Such cuts — 17 percent is not insignificant — demand reimagining the university system and its 17 campuses, restructuring, and leadership. Does Johnsen have what it takes?

When Johnsen was hired in 2015, he appeared to realize that the spending couldn’t continue. He told the Alaska Dispatch News that one of his missions was to diversify revenue streams, and he acknowledged that getting 45 percent of the systems funds from the Legislature was problematic:

“We rely for 45 percent of our revenue on the state Legislature and, of course, that revenue source is in trouble, given low oil prices and gradually declining productivity. That’s a challenge for us, so we’ve really got to try to diversify our revenue sources as much as we possibly can. At the same time, we’ve got to grow where we’re strong. The idea that we’re going to just sort of hunker down and take incremental cuts is, I think, irresponsible. There are so many strong programs at the university linked up with powerful and compelling needs of the state. Health care workforce. Teachers. … We’ve got to double down on that. We’re producing something like only 25 percent of the teachers hired each year. We’ve got to really step that up,” he said.

Four years later under his leadership, the teaching program at the University of Alaska Anchorage lost its accreditation. Graduation rates are at 10 percent for four-year students, and enrollment is down.

Johnsen, rather than pivot and look for ways to fundamentally change the business model, persisted with misinformation, using precious treasure and time to fight the inevitable. He has told the media repeatedly this year that the governor’s budget was cutting 45 percent of the system’s entire budget.

That’s not so and he knew it wasn’t so. Even after challenged, he persisted in telling the lie. The $135 million cut is only 17-18 percent of the system’s entire budget.

But the lie gets repeated around academia. Take a look at this story from a science blog, which says the cut is 40 percent of the university system’s entire budget:

 

While Johnsen has been battling with an expensive PR campaign, and asks the public to contact lawmakers to urge them to override the veto, he needs 45 of the 60 members of the House and Senate. That is a high hill to climb when his statements to the public have been less than truthful.

Then there’s the warning signs that have been showing up for years since he took over at the University of Alaska.

Since 2015, Moody’s credit rating services has downgraded the university after several years of warnings about the over reliance on State money:

 

Back in 2015, in answer to a question from the Alaska Dispatch News, Johnsen said the challenge of UA is a three-legged stool:

He said … “cost-effectiveness — we’ve just got to drive it. It’s one of our critical priorities. Access — whenever we have the opportunity to expand access, we expand access. And third, is quality. We can’t compromise quality. We’ve got to invest in quality because that’s why students will come here. It’s really all three of those. I would hope that students say, ‘Wow, it’s cost effective. It’s right here, I’ve got access and man, is it good.'”

Johnsen elaborated on efficiencies and cost savings in that interview:

“When you want to get specific, however, we’ve got to streamline processes and reduce costs, so that we can invest in our academic priorities. So sort of administrative streamlining — critical. It falls under the cost-effectiveness line. Teacher education, teacher education, teacher education — it’s just critical for us. … And then I’d say right off the top — very important — is how do we support the state? How do we support the state making very difficult decisions? That’s where ISER (UAA Institute of Social and Economic Research) falls in and providing our researchers to the state government. But we have to free up their time to do that. They have to be paid to do that. So that’s going to take some resources from us and perhaps from the state.”

But in 2019, Johnsen appears to be in full battle mode, refusing to transform an institution that has been losing students, has had its teaching program at UAA lose accreditation, and has not been producing nearly enough graduates.

“With a four year graduation rate of 8.0%, first-time students in the University of Alaska Anchorage class of 2013 who attended classes full-time were among the least likely in the nation to graduate on time. After six years, the graduation ratewas 31.0% and by 2017, 37.5% of this class had completed their degree,” according to CollegeFactual.com.

The question is: Can Johnsen lead this university into becoming a sustainable institution? Because he’s had four years to do so and he’s run out of runway.

Twitter: Left-leaning journos savage each other over AK budget cuts

Suzanne Downing
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Twitter: Left-leaning journos savage each other over AK budget cuts

The editorial page editor of the Anchorage Daily News couldn’t help himself. Tom Hewitt just had to respond to the critiques of his former newspaper colleagues Dermot Cole and Pat Dougherty, in this lively exchange, during which he tried to explain his position without explaining it and without actually endorsing his newspaper’s position.

In doing so, Hewitt distanced himself from the owners of the largest newspaper in Alaska, and he also distanced himself from the “wait and see” editorial he had penned on their behalf, basically saying he wrote it, but he doesn’t own it.

All of these nocturnal discharges came over what amounts to a 13 percent cut to state government, (and still a deficit of over $750 million.) The Left is beside itself and they’re staying up all night.

Here’s the Twitter exchange, in part, to give you a sense of what the Newspaper Boys do with their spare time:

 

Did Hewitt really just say that? Yes, he did.

Then he goes on to bicker with the most left-leaning writer in Alaska, by saying it’s not a decision he “gets to make,” which is a bit of virtue signaling to indicate he disagrees with what he wrote for the newspaper:

It went like this, back and forth, through the night as progressive journalists argued about whether this is Armageddon and whether the Binkley family ownership of the newspaper is essentially complicit in the scheme to destroy the state.

But the Twitter war didn’t end there with the journalists. Andrew Halcro, who is the executive director of the Anchorage Community Development Authority and an appointee of Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, had this to say about the governor’s budget:

 

University professor assigns writing students: Protest the cuts

Suzanne Downing
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University professor assigns writing students: Protest the cuts

THIS ASSIGNMENT IS FOR CREDIT AT UAA — WRITE LEGISLATORS AND OBJECT

A University of Alaska Anchorage writing professor, name unknown, has assigned to her writing students an unusual and questionable task: Write to their legislators to protest cuts to the university system. It’s an assignment for credit and the instructions are clear. Here’s the assignment:

The professor tells students that “no matter your position on the University Budget” they’ll get points. But she also makes it clear there is only one right answer to this assignment: They need to write about how bad the cuts are.

Gov. Michael Dunleavy last week, in an effort to balance the State budget, vetoed $130 million from the University of Alaska budget, which is 40 percent of the funds the system is used to getting from the state. Most of the university funds comes from federal money, tuition and grants.

Because it’s a summer class, it’s likely there won’t be a flood of letters. In fact, those letters will be lost in the tsunami of letters coming from national groups from the Lower 48, which are responding to a coordinated letter writing campaign by the university administration, led by UA President Jim Johnsen.

The Legislature currently doesn’t have the votes to override a veto, but in this high-stakes environment, anything could happen — even blackmail or bribery — and Johnsen has been engaged in a full court press to try to turn legislators. He needs 45 votes to override the veto and he is far from having that number.

But Johnsen has help from the Democrats, at least. In Anchorage on Tuesday, legislators will be holding “listening sessions” to hear from constituents about the budget, in an effort to build a case for overriding the governor’s budget and deliver a defeat to him during his first year. The Anchorage meeting is sponsored by Reps. Ivy Spohnholz, Zack Fields, Harriet Drummond, Matt Claman, Geran Barr, and Sen. Tom Begich.

 

Kenai Borough Assembly to consider move to manager-style government

Suzanne Downing
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Kenai Borough Assembly to consider move to manager-style government

INVOCATION IS BY ‘FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER PASTAFARIAN’

Another lively meeting is in store for Tuesday in Kenai.

Kenai Borough Assembly members Hal Smalley and Kelly Cooper are introducing an ordinance to get rid of the mayor’s authority at the regular Assembly meeting, which convenes at 6 pm at 144 North Binkley Street.

The ordinance in question would remove the mayor’s position as the chief executive and install a manager-style form of government for the borough.

Currently, voters decide every three years on who the administrator is for the borough. That person is currently Mayor Charlie Pierce, who succeeded Mike Navarre after Navarre was term-limited out of office.

Pierce has been a fiscal hawk and recently has vetoed items that raised the ire of some. In the spring, he vetoed $2.4 million in supplemental spending for schools in the borough, and the effort to override his veto failed, 3-6, with Cooper, Smalley and Willy Dunne the three voting to override the veto.

Pierce wrote a memo to residents of the borough in May explaining his thoughts about the extra spending for schools, and he mentioned the likely cuts of state funding as a major reason he wanted to be cautious about overspending in the current fiscal year.

If the Cooper-Smalley ordinance proceeds through the Assembly process, it would likely be referred to a committee and public hearings would be held before it’s put on the October ballot, when Kenai voters would make the final decision.

And if a manager form of government is established, then five people — a majority of nine on the Assembly — would be making that decision. This item has been brought before voters before and soundly defeated.

Read the ordinance at this link:

Ordinance 2019-16

In other Assembly business, the elected officials will take up an ordinance that would end the pre-meeting invocation. The invocation  at Tuesday’s meeting will be given by Greg Anderson, representing the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or Pastafarians, as they call themselves. During the last meeting, Iris Fontana a member of the Satanic Temple gave the invocation, causing several people to walk out.

According to the Pastafarianism website, “We believe religion – say Christianity, Islam, Pastafarianism – does not require literal belief in order to provide spiritual enlightenment. Much of the transcendent experience of religion can be attributed to the community. And while some members of religion are indoctrinated True Believers, many are not. There are many levels of Belief and each is no more or less legitimate than the other.”
The Assembly agenda is at this link:
The issue of the invocation has been testy, after Fontana last year gave a Satanic “blessing” that ended with the words “Hail Satan.”

 

 

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