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Alaska Democrats gear up to run their presidential primary

Suzanne Downing
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Alaska Democrats gear up to run their presidential primary

Alaska Democrats are abandoning the sometimes-unpleasant caucusing system, where people go to a local district gymnasium on a specified day to haggle for their favorite presidential candidate and rotate around the room raising their hands for their presidential picks.

For the first time, the Alaska Democratic Party is moving to the system pioneered by Alaska Republicans, the presidential preference primary, but with upgrades: Democrats will use electronic voting, rather than paper.

And they are not calling it a “Presidential Preference Poll” like the Alaska Republicans call theirs, but instead it will be a “Presidential Preference Party-Run Primary.”

Wordy but accurate.

[Read: Democrats may make dramatic change to their primary process]

A simple way to think of a PPP is that it is caucusing by ballot box in every House district, and it’s run by volunteers, which makes it a bit cumbersome, compared to elections run by the State of Alaska.

In Alaska, such a system of picking presidential candidates is hard enough in towns, but harder still in vast rural areas. It’s Jedi-level volunteer management, not without its hazards. Whether by caucus or PPP, a lot of rural Alaskans don’t have the opportunity to participate in these exercises.

After the voting period closes, the ballots are counted by volunteers at the district level and the results are called into Party Headquarters, which then uses them during the state convention to divvy up delegates going to the national convention.

Ensuring accuracy and instilling confidence in voters that the votes will be counted fairly is a challenge the Democrats will have to figure out. During their last primary process, they lost the confidence of many of their members, after Bernie Sanders voters felt disenfranchised by a system that appeared to pre-pick Hillary Clinton.

[Read: Wikileaks emails show Alaska Democrats fretting about Bernie rebels]

Here’s how the Democrats’ presidential preference primary will operate:

The Democrats are calling it a true primary, complete with electronic voting centers open for four hours on April 4, 2020. This date coincides with Hawaii’s Democrat primary.

Democrats will then gather by House district and elect delegates to the State Convention, which will take place May 15-18 in Fairbanks. That’s where delegates and alternates to the Democratic National Convention will be selected. Those delegates and alternates will be assigned who they must vote for at the Democratic National Convention.

In other words, if Bernie Sanders gets 50 percent of the vote and Joe Biden gets 50 percent, half of the delegates heading to the national convention would be required to vote for either Sanders or Biden.

[Read: the Democrats’ new plan for choosing delegates for the 2020 Democratic National Convention]

The Democratic National Convention is where the actual presidential candidate will be selected by the delegates from around the country. It will be held in Milwaukee Wisconsin from July 13-16, 2020.

Alaska Democrats say that any registered Democrat can participate in the Democrat PPP, and Alaskans can register as Democrats anytime up until April 4, 2020, to be eligible to participate. This had been the same for Republicans when they held their PPPs, but the rules are now that voters must be registered as Republicans 90 days prior to the PPP. It’s a way to grow your party numbers.

April 4, 2020 is a Saturday, a full month after Super Tuesday (March 3). Most of the Democrat candidates will be gone by then, but with electronic voting, the Alaska Democrats will be able to adjust their offerings to the few that remain.The locations that will be announced after Oct. 19, 2019, and voting will take place from 10 am to 2 pm on April 4.

The Democrats’ PPP will occur three days before the Anchorage Municipal Election ballots are due back in for the Assembly seats that will be on the ballot. It is likely the Democrats in Anchorage will use their PPP to assist in the get-out-the-vote effort to elect left-leaning Assembly members in Alaska’s largest city, and may even engage in ballot harvesting practices in conjunction with their PPP.

Why not wait until the Aug. 18 state-run primary? Neither Democrats or Republicans can do that, because the national conventions are July 13 for Democrats and Aug. 24 for Republicans. This is the main reason the parties have run their own preference-primaries and caucuses — they need to get through their district and state conventions and pick their delegates to send to the national convention.

WILL REPUBLICANS HAVE A PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE POLL?

The Alaska Republican Party will meet in September and decide on whether it will do a PPP for 2020. It has conducted a PPP for the last three contested presidential cycles, and this year, there’s no real contest, so turnout for such an exercise would naturally be low.

Odds are good that Republicans will skip the PPP process this time around and keep their volunteer focus on House, Senate, and the two statewide seats they want to protect: Sen. Dan Sullivan and Congressman Don Young.

DEMOCRATS START THEIR DEBATE SEASON

June 26 and 27: First Democrat Primary debate in Miami, (NBC News, MSNBC, Telemundo), moderated by Savannah Guthrie, Lester Hold, Chuck Todd, Rachel Maddow, and José Diaz-Balart.

Candidate qualifications: To qualify, Democratic candidates needed to get one percent in three national polls, or raise $65,000 or more from at least 200 donors in at least 20 states. If more than 20 candidates qualified, those with the lowest polling numbers are eliminated.

Qualified: Colorado Senator Michael Bennet; former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.; New Jersey Senator Cory Booker; South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg; former housing secretary Julián Castro of Texas; New York, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio; former Maryland Congressman John Delaney; Hawaii Congressman Tulsi Gabbard; New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; California Senator Kamala Harris; former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper; Washington Governor Jay Inslee; Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar; former Congressman Texas Beto O’Rourke; Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan; Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders; California Congressman Eric Swalwell; Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren; Marianne Williamson of California; and Andrew Yang of New York.

  • First night: Cory Booker, Julián Castro, Bill de Blasio, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, Jay Inslee, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Tim Ryan, and Elizabeth Warren.
  • Second night: Michael Bennet, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, John Hickenlooper, Bernie Sanders, Eric Swalwell, Marianne Williamson, and Andrew Yang.

IMPORTANT FUTURE DATES

July 13, 2020, the 48th Democratic National Convention, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Aug. 24, 2020, the 42nd Republican National Convention, Charlotte, North Carolina

July 30-13 : Second round of Democrat debates in Detroit, CNN

Sept. 12-13: Third announced Democrat debates, location TBD, and it will have a higher qualifying threshold. ABC and Univision

Defense Secretary nominee Mark Esper visited Alaska bases last summer

Suzanne Downing
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0
Defense Secretary nominee Mark Esper visited Alaska bases last summer

Mark Esper, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, spent time in Alaska last summer at the invitation of Sen. Dan Sullivan, who took Esper, the Secretary of the Army, on a familiarization tour of three bases.

Esper and Sullivan visited military personnel at JBER, Fort Greeley, and Fort Wainwright. During a press briefing, Esper spoke to the importance of Alaska’s strategic geography, naming Russia and China as “near peer threats.”

“What I like to say, our Army, our strategic location, our training, it sells itself,” Sullivan said last August, stressing the importance of getting military leaders to visit Alaska.

Last summer, Sullivan also hosted Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Karl Schultz, and U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson.

[Read: The Marines are coming, with Sen. Dan Sullivan]

Esper will take over as Acting Secretary of Defense on Monday. Other changes include David Norquist as Deputy Secretary of Defense, and Ryan McCarthy as Secretary of the Army. Norquist has been comptroller at the Pentagon, and McCarthy is the undersecretary of the Army.

After graduating from high school in Uniontown, Penn., Esper earned his bachelor of science in engineering at the United States Military Academy — West Point.  He received a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard in 1995 and a PhD in political science from George Washington University.

Esper was an infantry officer with the 101st Airborne Division during the 1990-91 Gulf War, and was awarded a Bronze Star, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, and other service medals. He led an Airborne Rifle Company in Europe and served as an Army fellow at the Pentagon. After 10 years of active duty he transferred to the Army National Guard and later the Army Reserve.

Esper was chief of staff at the Heritage Foundation and staffed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. He was also a senior policy advisor and legislative director for Sen. Chuck Hagel and was deputy assistant secretary of defense for negotiations policy in the George W. Bush Administration.

In the private sector, he lobbied for Raytheon and worked for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Aerospace Industries Association.

Since former Defense Secretary Gen. Jim Mattis exited on Jan. 1, the position has been filled in an acting capacity by Patrick Shanahan, who withdrew from consideration last week under less-than-ideal circumstances. Shanahan had gone through an ugly divorce during which his now ex-wife accused him of punching her in 2010. He denied the accusation and said that she, in fact, had thrown the punch during a domestic dispute.

Alaska Life Hack: Forewarned – TSA is about to get even busier

Suzanne Downing
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Alaska Life Hack: Forewarned – TSA is about to get even busier

ANCHORAGE AIRPORT WILL SEE 80,000 A WEEK

The Transportation Security Administration says it will be the busiest summer travel season ever, with a record number of passengers departing Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

Alaska’s biggest airport will see a 6 percent increase in travelers this summer over last, higher than the national air travel projection, which is expected to grow 4 percent over last summer.

TSA is now screening an average of 50,000 passengers a week in Anchorage, but starting in mid-July, the number will increase to 80,000 a week and stay that way through mid-August.

The busiest days of the week at security checkpoints are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Travelers are still advised to arrive two hours prior to departure, especially if you have to check luggage, which generally must be checked 40 minutes prior to departure.

The TSA’s busiest time blocks in Anchorage are projected to be:

  • 4-6 am
  • 12 noon to 3 pm
  • 9 p.m. to midnight

TSA had its busiest day ever on May 24, when it screened nearly 2.8 million travelers across the nation’s airports.

Anchorage’s airport has some of the shortest lines for the security checkpoints of major airports, according to reporting by the 24/7 Wall Street, which wrote in January that the standard screening line maximum wait is about 10 minutes, and the TSA Precheck line wait is 3 minutes at Ted Stevens International.

In addition, Anchorage air traffic controllers make a concerted effort to make sure that once you’re aboard your plane, there’s very little delay in getting the plane on the runway. In airports such as Atlanta, those wait times can exceed 20 minutes as planes line up for takeoff.

Alaska fliers heading south will find that Seattle-Tacoma International Airport will be extremely crowded, with a 5 percent increase in passengers over last summer. TSA’s passenger screening volume in Seattle is 12th in the nation out of 427 airports.

The heavy travel through Sea-Tac is driven, in part, by the increase in the number of people taking Alaska-bound cruises out of Seattle.

Helpful tips from TSA to make it easier:

  • Unpack your bag before you pack it – at home. By unpacking your bag fully and re-packing it before coming to the airport, you will avoid bringing items to the airport that are prohibited in carry-on luggage. This includes knives; stun guns; self-defense and martial arts items. Use the “What Can I Bring” feature at TSA.gov to help determine if an item is allowed in a carry-on bag or if it needs to be checked.
  • Dress for security screening. Simplify your screening experience by wearing slip-on shoes and avoid bulky jewelry and clothing, scarves, hair accessories and large belt buckles. These types of items may require additional screening. Remember to remove all items from your pockets – including cell phones – and secure them in your carry-on bag.
  • Standard screening preparation. In the standard screening lanes, non-TSA Pre✓® lanes, organize your carry-on bag so electronics larger than a cell phone can be quickly and easily accessed when at the security checkpoint. All electronic devices larger than a cell phone should be placed in bins for X-ray screening with nothing on top or below. Common examples of these devices include laptops, tablets, e-readers and handheld game consoles. Also, in the standard screening lanes, remove your bag of travel-size liquids, gels and aerosols.
  • TSA Pre✓® screening preparation. TSA operates dedicated TSA Pre✓® lanes at checkpoints 1 (south end of airport) and 4 (north end of airport). When screened through a TSA Pre✓® lane, there is no need to remove any items from your carry-on luggage. In addition, you do not need to remove your shoes, belts and light jackets.
  • Enroll in TSA Pre✓®. It is not too late to enjoy the benefits of a streamlined security process at airports nationwide this summer. In May, 92 percent of travelers screened through a TSA Pre✓®lane waited five minutes or less to be screened through the security checkpoint at Sea-Tac.

Amazon establishing beachhead in Anchorage; what follows?

Suzanne Downing
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12
Amazon establishing beachhead in Anchorage; what follows?

Amazon Air will fly into Anchorage starting June 27. Online shoppers will find their Amazon Prime orders will be delivered a lot sooner — within two days perhaps, rather than two weeks.

Amazon currently uses UPS, the U.S. Postal Service, and Federal Express for Alaska orders. Those who order through Amazon Prime get free shipping in exchange for a membership fee ($119 a year), but usually the goods take the slow route and not all goods are eligible for Prime free delivery. Those companies will still deliver packages to your door, but Amazon is taking away some of their air freight business.

With Amazon flying in and out of Ted Stevens International Airport, this is a big change for consumers. Look for many more Alaskans to sign up for Amazon Prime membership and for more items to be made eligible for free shipping.

But this also represents a new challenge for retailers in the 49th state, especially those along the Railbelt. With an Amazon order just two days away, Alaskans can shop from their easy chairs with even greater confidence. And there are cost-savings considerations in having items delivered to your door, rather than traipsing about looking for a specific “thingy.”

WHAT’S IN IT FOR AMAZON?

For Amazon, Alaska is still a fragment of a market. With only 737,000 residents in the state, why would Amazon establish a freight flight of its own, bringing goods north to a state with a population of less than Columbus, Ohio? And if the freighters come north filled to the gills with boxes, what will they take south with them?

This is clearly a beachhead focused on bigger markets, an investment in the future. What the Seattle-based company realized is that Ted Stevens International Airport is just hours from Asia — a huge market, not only for things coming into the United States, but also a market for Amazon goods heading to the Orient and the billions of people living there.

Look for Amazon to lease space at the airport for a maintenance hangar, and possibly a logistics facility. UPS and FedEx built their multi-million dollar logistics centers years ago because of Anchorage’s advantages.

Amazon Air now has 50 planes and flies into more than 20 airports. The company has increased its delivery network with 185 fulfillment centers globally, and over 10,000 truck trailers.

At the International Paris Air Show, Amazon announced a partnership with GE Capital Aviation Services to lease an additional 15 Boeing 737-800 cargo aircraft. These will add to the five it already leased earlier this year.

Amazon will also open new air facilities this year at Fort Worth Alliance Airport, Wilmington Air Park (Ohio), and Chicago Rockford International Airport. The main Amazon Air Hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport will open in 2021.

In Anchorage, Amazon Air will be using the Airport’s Kulis Business Park, south of the east-west runways, said Jim Szczesniak, Ted Stevens International Airport Manager.

“This is the second new airline we’ve welcomed to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport this quarter, and another business being added to the airport’s business park on the former Kulis Air National Guard Base,” he said on Facebook. “Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is perfectly situated to support the movement of e-commerce goods between Asia and North America, and this new business fits with our strategy of maximizing ANC’s potential for development.”

What do you think are the pros and cons of Amazon starting air freight service to Anchorage? Will it change your shopping habits? Leave your comments in the comment section below.

Alaska Life Hack: Solar energy growing in 49th State

Suzanne Downing
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8
Alaska Life Hack: Solar energy growing in 49th State

“Happy Summer Solstice” is the greeting of the day. Are we harnessing the power of the midnight sun? Not so much.

The 49th state may be almost dead last in the use of solar power (thank you, North Dakota for sparing us the embarrassment), but according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, Alaskans are starting to adopt this next-generation energy source.

As of the first quarter of 2019, there are 3.6 megawatts of solar power being used in Alaska, enough to power 410 homes. Nearly half of that capacity was installed in 2018, and most of it is residential. This chart shows the growth, through the first quarter of 2019:

Alaska has 14 solar energy companies total: 0 manufacturers, 8 installers, and 6 others, according to the trade organization, which says the total solar investment in the state is nearly $11 million. Prices for solar energy have dropped 34 percent over the past five years, which likely accounts for the growth in solar energy additions to homes and businesses.

Some villages and rural hubs are now installing solar panels. Take the Native Village of Hughes, which just installed the framework for a 120-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system that will cut diesel use and costs while advancing the village’s renewable energy goal of 50 percent by 2025.

Once the system is integrated with the local power system, this community of 110 people on the Koyukuk River, some 210 air miles north of Fairbanks, will boast rural Alaska’s largest solar project.

[Read more about the Hughes solar project here.]

There are now over 660 solar installations in Alaska and 66 solar jobs, according to SEIA.org.

Of course, the use of solar energy still only comprises 0.04 percent of the energy used in our oil-consuming state. But in the north, whenever there’s more than 12 hours of daylight, that’s enough solar potential to power a home for half a day.

The problem is, it takes years to recover the savings from an installation, so most people who are installing solar cells are doing it for other reasons than cost savings. Maybe they live off the grid, or maybe they are early adopters of new technologies, but they’re making a big investment they might not recover in their lifetime.

A solar system in many parts of Alaska will actually produce more energy than the home consumes from April through September, according to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, which has a complete study of Alaska solar energy design practices here.

Read more about Alaska’s solar energy profile at the Solar Foundation.

Do you have a solar installation? Is your village or rural community installing solar panels? How is it working for you? Leave your comments below.

MRAK Almanac: The ‘sleep when we die’ edition

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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MRAK Almanac: The ‘sleep when we die’ edition

PRODUCED BY KOBE RIZK

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.

Summer solstice has arrived. The longest day of the year, and the sun will rise higher in the sky than it will any other day of 2019. It’s all downhill from here. (BLM photo of midnight sun from Eagle Summit, Steese National Conservation Area. It’s the highest point on the highway and you can see the midnight sun there, even though you are not at the Arctic Circle).

Ketchikan will clock in with 17 hours and 27 minutes of sunshine.

Juneau will receive 18 hours and 16 minutes of official daylight.

Kenai will bask in 19 hours and 5 minutes.

Anchorage will see 19 hours and 21 minutes.

Fairbanks will enjoy sun for 21 hours and 50 minutes.

Since the beginning of May, the sun in the northernmost Alaska town of Utqiagvik will be up all day, not setting again until the beginning of August.

6/20-6/23: The International Food Blogger Conference is ongoing in Alaska’s capital city of Juneau. Over 250 food bloggers, techies, and culinary enthusiasts of all stripes will assemble at this unique gustatory gathering. Read about the conference here.

6/20-6/23: Seldovia will celebrate the occasion at the 20th Annual Seldovia Summer Solstice Music Festival. The festival will include live music all weekend and many vendors and performances on Main Street downtown. Visit the Facebook page here for the full schedule.

 6/21: Alaska Goldpanners play the 114th Midnight Sun Baseball Game at Growden Park in Fairbanks. Tickets are $25 and first pitch is at 10 pm.

 6/21: Deadline to submit items for consideration by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board at their July 9 meeting in Fairbanks. Further information here.

 6/21: Deadline to submit applications and other items to be considered by the Alaska Marijuana Control Board at their July 10-12 meeting in Fairbanks. More info here.

 6/21: The State Medical Review Committee will hold a public meeting in Anchorage beginning at 10 am. The role of this committee is to review the cost and necessity of medical services provided under the Worker’s Compensation Act. Find the agenda here.

6/21: Solstice Cemetery Tour of the Anchorage Cemetery. Learn history through the lives of 10 notable Alaskans buried in the Memorial Park with graveside presentations about colorful pioneers, local business people, elected officials, activists, artists and admirable community leaders. Meet at 6 pm at the John Bagoy gate, 7th Avenue and Cordova Street.  The tour is free and is conducted rain or shine.

 6/21: Midnight Sun Open Market at the Mat-Su Resort in Wasilla. There will be live music, BBQ, and a beer garden—admission is free. Begins at noon with live music starting at 7 pm. Read more here.

 6/21: Music in the Park at Wonderland Park in Wasilla beginning at 6 pm. In addition to live music, there will be food vendors, prizes, and fun for all ages. Visit this link for details.

 6/21: Interior Alaska GOP will host their weekly luncheon at Denny’s in Fairbanks. Lunch begins at 11:30 am. The guest of honor this week is North Pole Representative Tammie Wilson. Should be interesting.

 6/21: Summer Solstice Outdoor Dance celebration at the Noyes Pavilion in Juneau. No prior dancing experience expected. Begins at 7 pm. Read more here.

 6/21: Interested in being a State Trooper? There will be a written test in Fairbanks for the spring 2020 Alaska State Trooper Academy. All testers must register in advance here.

 6/22: 12th annual Iron Pour Art Fest at the Alaska Transportation Museum in Wasilla starting at 10 am. This event features blacksmithing, glass blowing, food, and fun for the kids.

 6/22: Lace up for the 37th annual Midnight Sun Run in Fairbanks. The 10K begins at 10 pm at UAF and winds through several Fairbanks neighborhoods, eventually ending in Pioneer Park. Costumes are never required, but always entertaining. Register here.

6/22: Sealaska Shareholders Annual Meeting in Anchorage. Details here.

 6/22: Join the Kenai community at the Diamond M Ranch Solstice Music Festival at Matti’s Farm. Come out and enjoy many live musicians including Meghan Linsey (“The Voice”) and The Pepper Shakers. Starts at 11:30 am. Tickets required. For more info, visit the Facebook link here.

6/22: Zoolstice celebration at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage. There will also be a blood drive, and of course live music. Details here.

 6/22: Anchorage Mayor’s Marathon (and half-marathon) sponsored by ConocoPhillips Alaska. Register for the race here.

 6/22: Annual Solstice Brewfest at 49th State Brewing in Healy. Hundreds of campers and RV’s will descend upon the small community of Healy to celebrate this annual tradition, complete with live music and a sprawling block party. Read more here.

 6/22: Downtown Anchorage Summer Solstice Festival and Hero Games from noon to 6 pm. Grab your shades or sunhat and take a stroll through beautiful downtown while enjoying axe throwing competitions, an APD cruiser demo, a Harley-Davidson showcase, and so much more. View the full lineup here. 

 6/22: Dragonfly Day at Tanana Lakes in Fairbanks. This family friendly event open to all ages will offer nature walks aimed at catching and identifying native dragonflies. Nets provided. Begins at 11 am, read more here.

 6/23: Midnight Sun Festival in downtown Fairbanks, starting at noon. This annual event will feature 45 live performances and over 200 food and craft vendors lining the streets. It’s Alaska’s largest single-day event, with up to 30,000 residents expected to attend this year. Details here.

 6/21-6/23: First ever Seward Seabird Festival in celebration of the arrival of Alaska’s many species of seabirds, some coming all the way from the South Pole. There will be birding competitions, food and vendors, and plenty of fun for the whole family. See the detailed schedule at this link.

Plan to grill out? It’s always smart to brush up on your BBQ food safety knowledge, courtesy of the CDC. Visit this link.

Alaska History Archive:

June 20, 1940: 79 years ago—a Pan American Airlines flight left Fairbanks en route to Seattle with a special mission: to initiate the first ever next-day mail delivery from interior Alaska to the lower 48.

June 21, 1890: 129 years ago—President Benjamin Harrison dedicated the Sitka National Historical Park. The land was the site of the famed 1804 Russian-Tlingit Battle as well home to historically important totem poles. It was the first federally designated park in all of Alaska, and remains a favorite attraction in Sitka to this day.

June 21, 1906: 114 years ago—The first ever Midnight Sun Baseball Game was held in Fairbanks under the Midnight Sun, a tradition that lasts to this day. No artificial light was used, and the first game began at midnight sharp (today’s game starts a bit earlier, at 10 pm).

June 22, 1912: 107 years ago—The first full-time mayor of Anchorage George Byer was born. Byer served as Mayor of Anchorage from 1959 to 1961, and was instrumental in achieving the All-American City Award (not once, but twice) for Alaska’s largest city.

Victim of homicide: Chris Lebert

Suzanne Downing
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Victim of homicide: Chris Lebert

The man found dead in the road on Minnesota Drive on Tuesday in Anchorage has been identified as Christopher Lebert, age 36.

His death has been ruled a homicide, but police have not revealed how he was killed. They have said, however, that his motorcycle had been dragged for a half a mile by a stolen 2004 grey-black Chevy Tahoe, which was later found abandoned in the Turnagain neighborhood next to Lynn-Ary Park. The incident occurred just before midnight.

Lebert is known to the criminal justice system. In 2018 he was charged with a Class B felony for making/distributing controlled schedule 1 drug. Typically that would be heroin, methamphetamine, or cocaine. That charge was dismissed but he pled guilty to giving false information to an officer.

He had other crimes on his record, including being found guilty of shoplifting and forgery. He also had some evictions.

Two years ago, a woman on Facebook accused him of stealing her purse at Walmart, and trying to register a truck in her name. Lebert was originally from Miami, Fla. and had worked as a hunting guide in Stony River in 2012.

[Read: Hit and run now considered a homicide on Minnesota]

Why no capital budget yet? Failure of Democrat-led Majority, or Republican Minority?

Suzanne Downing
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Why no capital budget yet? Failure of Democrat-led Majority, or Republican Minority?

WHAT REP. SPOHNHOLZ SAID

Rep. Ivy Spohnholz would have you believe that the 2020 capital budget failed because House Republican minority members voted against it. And because of that, drug addicts are going untreated. Here’s her take:

Spohnholz tells a partial truth: House Republican Minority members said no to breaking into the Constitutional Budget Reserve for a capital budget they had no time to discuss.

The House Majority needed those votes, but had treated Republican Minority members so poorly over the winter, they could not muster support to bust into the CBR, which has just $1.77 billion.

But for Spohnholz, it’s all about addiction treatment, specifically $10 million in matching grants for the construction of new addiction treatment centers statewide.

In the end, politics is about human interaction, and successful politicians, such as President Ronald Reagan, achieved their goals by treating others well.

The failure of the House Majority to produce a capital budget could be, in part, because of how Spohnholz and her majority members behaved over these many months. They took 30 days to organize their majority, peeling off Republicans to join them. Republicans such as Rep. Tammie Wilson, of North Pole, who negotiated a seat for herself at the table in the majority led by Democrat Bryce Edgmon, who agreed to reregister as an Undeclared, giving Republicans cover as they came over.

WHAT REP. WILSON SAID

Rep. Tammie Wilson of North Pole, who co-chairs House Finance, was in charge of getting the capital budget over the finish line. She is on the record saying she joined the Majority to help Gov. Michael Dunleavy advance his goals.

Gov. Dunleavy presented a fully funded capital budget in mid-February. But Wilson sat on it until Day 147. That’s 121 days of regular session and 26 days of the 30-day special session that was called to get the capital budget done, as well as legislation to fund the Permanent Fund dividend.

Then, with just three days before the end of the first Special Session, Wilson introduced it into the Finance Committee with some striking changes that none of the members had ever seen. She never consulted with Senate Finance about her changes — they were as surprised as anyone.

What Wilson did was in the weeds for most Alaskans, but those political insiders were scratching their heads: Was Wilson trying to kill the capital budget? Was this a poison pill?

Wilson funded the fiscal note on the criminal justice reform package with Power Cost Equalization Fund monies, which were supposed to be spent to help lower the cost of power in rural Alaska. Her capital budget uses that money to reopen the Palmer Correctional Center.

Wilson funded a large portion of the capital budget with the Constitutional Budget Reserve Fund, which requires a three-quarters vote — a vote that she was not able to coax out of a Republican minority caucus that she had deeply offended, bullied, and berated over the months since she had joined the Democrat-led majority.

Was Wilson doing what she said she would do, which was to help the governor with his agenda? The jury is still out, but the Republican Minority seems to think not.

The Wilson version of the capital budget was sprung on House Finance, rushed through with little discussion allowed, and hit the House Floor at lightning speed.

It passed with the votes of the Democrat-led Majority, but the funding mechanism — the Constitutional Budget Reserve, did not pass. House Republicans were not in the mood to help Wilson with the earmarks she had slid into the capital budget in place of projects the governor had requested for Senate District E — the Mat-Su.

And so, there they ended, and gaveled out without a capital budget.

WHAT SPEAKER EDGMON SAID

According to Speaker Edgmon, the Republicans are hamstringing the private sector at the height of the construction season. But budget experts know that the capital budget, in the main, is not for this summer, but next summer — it is needed this summer only to secure the billions in federal matching money for projects in the pipeline. Is Edgmon lying or does he just not know?

The governor can add this undone task of the capital budget to the next special session, once the Legislature funds the Permanent Fund dividend. That session convenes July 8 in Wasilla.

The capital budget doesn’t really get to be a problem until the end of July. Those who say otherwise are looking for a political angle.

THE BLAME-SHIFTING

The capital budget has, in fact, been passed by the House and Senate. What hasn’t been passed is a mechanism to fund it. And yet, it has been transmitted to the governor for his signature. He will have to veto it, because he cannot add money back to a bill. What happened is the House put forth a spending plan that it could not fund.

Who bears the blame for this “no capital budget”? Spohnholz, Edgmon, and Wilson say it is 15 Republicans.

The governor did his work. The Senate did its work. The House Democrat-led Majority? Rep. Tammie Wilson? Do they bear responsibility? Add your thoughts in the comment section.

Pioneer Home rate increases? Public comment deadline approaches

Suzanne Downing
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Pioneer Home rate increases? Public comment deadline approaches

2-MINUTE READ

June 28 is the deadline for public comment on planned increases in rates at the state-operated Pioneer Homes, those Alaska-centric assisted living facilities where 450 older Alaskans call home.

The proposed rate increase comes as a result of an expected decrease in government subsidies, as proposed by the Dunleavy Administration.

The Alaska Pioneers Homes have been a budget worry for years. Because of fiscal constraints, the homes aren’t planning to close, a move threatened by the Walker Administration when faced with revenue shortfalls in 2017. Walker sent out letters that year to Pioneer Home workers describing the closures that would happen within months. It never happened, however, because it was all part of Walker’s orchestrated budget theatrics and his attempts to “stick it to” Sen. Peter Micciche, who had proposed a 20 percent reduction in subsidies.

[Read: Gov. Walker threatens to close Pioneer Homes]

But the state is still subsidizing the facilities to the tune of $30 million, and costs are rising.

Rates would increase between 40 and 140 percent to bring the rates closer to what it costs to provide services to the small and somewhat fortunate segment of Alaskan elders. Few Alaskans can even get in the homes, the waiting list is so long.

Statewide, there are over 6,281 Alaskans who are older than 85. Pioneer Homes take care of 7 percent of that elder population, with an average age of 87 at the homes.

As of July 1, 2018, 215 applicants were on an “active wait list” for a place in a Pioneer Home. That means they need a bed there right now. Another 5,135 individuals had filed 11,664 inactive waitlist applications, which helps hold their place in line for when they are ready. The date of a person’s application determines their order of admission into the Pioneer Home system.

The Department of Health and Social Services has proposed adding two more service tiers to the three already in the Pioneer Homes’ pricing structure, which is governed by regulation.

Those in the lowest tier, who receive housing, food, emergency help, and socializing events, currently pay $2,588 a month. That will rise to $3,623 a month, or $43,476 per year, under the proposed rate structure.

For those in the highest level of care, which generally is for a person with an intense amount of needs, the current rate of $6,795 per month would be increased to $15,000 per month. The tiers between those two would range from $6,569 to $13,333 per month.

Must Read Alaska has learned that there are no residents in the homes now that would be in the $15,000 range.

[Check out Must Read Alaska’s “Deadlines” feature, where you can find more public comment deadlines.]

The Administration says no resident of any of the six Pioneer Homes will be kicked out for inability to pay. The Department of Health and Social Services is working to restructure the homes to allow them to collect federal funds through Medicaid and other programs. Currently, only a fraction of the cost of the Pioneer Homes operations are funded federally.

The rules that apply to Pioneer Homes financial aid can be found at this link.

[Read the 2018 Pioneer Homes annual report here]

The original intent of the Sitka Pioneers Home was to create a place for aging indigent men who came to Alaska as fishermen, pioneers, and homesteaders.

Over time, during the years when Alaska was flush with oil money, the one campus grew to six. But, as in its early years, the vast majority of Pioneer Home residents are Caucasian; minorities comprise 12 percent of the population. Native health care corporations have established tribal-based long-term care units around the state for their members, who often prefer to stay closer to home.

[Read the proposed rate change and submit your opinion at this link]

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