US Sen. Lisa Murkowski harped on President Donald Trump for deporting violent criminal Venezuelan gang members, arguing that he was violating the rule of law by continuing deportations despite a judicial order to halt them.
She stated that Congress needs to push back against what she called Trump’s illegal deportations, emphasizing that all individuals, including those here illegally and are killing Americans, are entitled to due process.
Speaking to a joint session of the Alaska Legislature, Murkowski also criticized Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for its role in reducing the size of government.
She expressed concern over what is in fact a minuscule number of job losses among the more than 15,000 federal employees in Alaska during Trump’s initial weeks in office. She described the impact as significant.
Previously, Murkowski has estimated that up to 100 federal jobs had been eliminated in Alaska, including approximately 30 positions in the US Forest Service.
This would account for less than 0.7% of the state’s federal workforce.
During the Biden administration, Murkowski did not publicly address the loss of thousands of private-sector jobs that resulted from the cancellation of oil leases on Alaska’s North Slope.
However, she made federal employment a focal point of her speech today, noting that Alaska has one of the highest per capita rates of federal workers in the country.
She acknowledged concerns about the $36 trillion national debt but did not directly link it to government spending.
Murkowski’s speech began with a list of her accomplishments, criticisms of the Trump administration, and calls for increased federal funding.
Some of the achievements she cited are more accurately attributed to Sen. Dan Sullivan, who serves on key committees such as Commerce (overseeing the FAA and fishing regulations) and Veterans Affairs (responsible for veterans’ cemeteries). Murkowski did not play a direct role in those initiatives.
Applause during her speech largely came from Democrats, while the Republican members of the Legislature remained silent.
Murkowski expressed strong support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, criticizing the Trump administration for cutting such initiatives. She cited the cleanup of toxic Native lands in Alaska, funded through the “Environmental Justice Program,” as a positive example of DEI-related work.
Murkowski also defended Medicaid expansion, making no mention of addressing fraud within the program. She noted that 38% of Alaskans are currently enrolled in Medicaid, a figure influenced by her vote to preserve the Affordable Care Act. Her support of Medicaid brought applause from the Democrats in the room.
She briefly mentioned Sen. Dan Sullivan but did not acknowledge Rep. Nick Begich, the newest member of Alaska’s congressional delegation. By contrast, in her speech to the Legislature in 2024, she effusively praised then-Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat.
Overall, Murkowski’s speech followed a familiar structure, closely mirroring her address from 2024. This time, however, she placed less emphasis on topics such as climate change and missing and murdered Indigenous women. And this time, she spent much of her time criticizing the Trump Administration.
Today, our primary and secondary schools, and society at large, should be discussing essential social concepts that provide a background, foundation, and historic context of the cultural and traditional landscape in our country, instead of advocating for divisive “Critical Race Theory,” “systemic racism,” “DEI,” and “gender identity” nonsense.
In this essay, I would like to address three imperative concepts as a guideline for common-sense educators: appreciation of history; interpretation of truth and fact; and understanding of the criterion of beauty and its social application.
APPRECIATION OF HISTORY
Many students of history ask an essential question: “What is a practical application of history?” Unfortunately, there is no simple answer because history is not just a recording of facts and events; nor is it merely a logical classification of data in chronological order. History is the development and evolution of mankind from the past through present and to future. History forms a picture of what has happened to mankind from its origins to the present moment.
History is functional in as much as it allows us to understand our relationship with the past and to other societies and cultures. History reveals a pattern of a nation’s emergence and growth. It gives us facts and allows us to search for underlying causes of historic events. It is also poetic, in the sense that we all have an inborn curiosity and sense of wonder about the past.
But what do the politics of the past matter to modern men and women in the 21st century? What relevance has Tsar Nicholas II, Woodrow Wilson, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin or Winston Churchill to modern concerns? Nowadays it is fashionable in many circles to deny that there is any intrinsic value in historical study. Yet, whenever statesmen, administrators, educators, politicians or journalists wish to convince the public of the rightness of their actions, they appeal to history. It is important, therefore, how history is written and who writes it. We need reliable and accurate guides to the past.
The past could be viewed as a foreign country or different culture. The attitudes and behavior of historical figures are often alien to the present generation. On the other hand, we should remember that the past was also populated with foreigners—in the sense that most people lived in closely-knit national, regional or even tribal communities—with access to much less information about events and conditions elsewhere in the globe than we have today. To these people, the world outside their communities often looked exotic and strange.
At one level, this distance from foreigners could give a romantic zeal for exploration; at another, it could encourage xenophobic resentment and murderous hatred.
The 20th century saw the occupants of the planet Earth come to know more about each other than ever before. But it also witnessed genocide, holocaust and mass destructions. It is important, therefore, that we understand how these two contradictory developments came about in the historic context.
The crucial distinction is not the difference between fact and fiction, but the distinction between fact and truth. Fact can exist without human intelligence or interference (e.g., gravity, speed of light, or other natural laws of physics), but truth cannot; truth is a man-made narrative.
I don’t think truth exists in any significant or objective way. Reality is not about truth, but about the relationship of facts to one another. Indeed, modern journalists should rely and base their observations and reporting on facts, not on an abstract and often fabricated “truth” and manipulation of data, as it is extensively evident in the far-left and fake journalism in our country today—i.e., CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS broadcasting systems and our own progressive and convoluted Juneau Empire newspaper in Alaska under leadership of Mark Sabbatini.
The concept and criterion of beauty is subjective to every individual—for some, blue is beautiful, for others green. I enjoy classical music; heavy metal gives me a headache. This is why in America we exercise a freedom of individual choice and individual appreciation of beauty. Indeed, beauty is not a group phenomenon. Thus, for example, no government policy can make me prefer green to blue.
The world may be beautiful, or it may be dismal to us. It depends on the view we take or the way we look at things. We may see beauty in everything. We may see beauty in a truckload of wood that is just being unloaded at our door. Others may just see a dirty load of logs—lacking in beauty. But on the other side, it makes our house warm and cozy, and we appreciate this source of beauty, even in the truckload of wood.
In short, the appreciation of beauty is the ability to see the good and beautiful in the objects which on the surface may not appear attractive. It is important, therefore, that we cultivate this ability to see in other people qualities buried beneath the surface of what we may think is an “unattractive individual.” Beauty is present in every color, race, physical shape, and nationality.
Indeed, the most common purpose of education is to gain knowledge and skills that will prepare individuals to lead productive and fulfilling lives; and, certainly, not to indoctrinate and brainwash our youth in the far-left ideology intended to support corrupt politicians who enrich themselves secretly outside the rule of law through kickbacks, bribes, and special favors from lobbyists and corporations; or they simply direct public funds to themselves and their associates—as it has been recently revealed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Alexander B. Dolitsky was born and raised in Kiev in the former Soviet Union. He received an M.A. in history from Kiev Pedagogical Institute, Ukraine, in 1976; an M.A. in anthropology and archaeology from Brown University in 1983; and was enroled in the Ph.D. program in Anthropology at Bryn Mawr College from 1983 to 1985, where he was also a lecturer in the Russian Center. In the U.S.S.R., he was a social studies teacher for three years, and an archaeologist for five years for the Ukranian Academy of Sciences. In 1978, he settled in the United States. Dolitsky visited Alaska for the first time in 1981, while conducting field research for graduate school at Brown. He lived first in Sitka in 1985 and then settled in Juneau in 1986. From 1985 to 1987, he was a U.S. Forest Service archaeologist and social scientist. He was an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Russian Studies at the University of Alaska Southeast from 1985 to 1999; Social Studies Instructor at the Alyeska Central School, Alaska Department of Education from 1988 to 2006; and has been the Director of the Alaska-Siberia Research Center (see www.aksrc.homestead.com) from 1990 to present. He has conducted about 30 field studies in various areas of the former Soviet Union (including Siberia), Central Asia, South America, Eastern Europe and the United States (including Alaska). Dolitsky has been a lecturer on the World Discoverer, Spirit of Oceanus, and Clipper Odyssey vessels in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. He was the Project Manager for the WWII Alaska-Siberia Lend Lease Memorial, which was erected in Fairbanks in 2006. He has published extensively in the fields of anthropology, history, archaeology, and ethnography. His more recent publications include Fairy Tales and Myths of the Bering Strait Chukchi, Ancient Tales of Kamchatka; Tales and Legends of the Yupik Eskimos of Siberia; Old Russia in Modern America: Russian Old Believers in Alaska; Allies in Wartime: The Alaska-Siberia Airway During WWII; Spirit of the Siberian Tiger: Folktales of the Russian Far East; Living Wisdom of the Far North: Tales and Legends from Chukotka and Alaska; Pipeline to Russia; The Alaska-Siberia Air Route in WWII; and Old Russia in Modern America: Living Traditions of the Russian Old Believers; Ancient Tales of Chukotka, and Ancient Tales of Kamchatka.
Republican US Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska is cosponsoring a bipartisan bill to curb investment in communist China. The Foreign Investment Guardrails to Help Thwart China Act or (FIGHT) would require Americans to notify the Treasury Department when they make certain investments in key Chinese tech industries like artificial intelligence.
The concern is that technology developed in the United States and transferred to China is being used to harm Americans. For example, a Chinese company installed intelligence gathering equipment on cranes used at seaports across the US that could allow Beijing to spy on Americans and cripple key infrastructure,according to a 2024 congressional report. Much of that technology used for spying originated in the US.
“Our country’s investments in innovative technology give us an enormous advantage over the Chinese Communist Party,” said Sullivan. “But this advantage is threatened when American financial institutions invest in CCP-controlled companies that develop technology—like advanced semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and hypersonics—that could ultimately be used to kill Americans at home and Marines in the Taiwan Strait.”
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas is the primary sponsor of the bill. Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto will serve as the minority Democratic lead sponsor. Cornyn’s dozen other allies in the effort include Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, and both parties’ leaders on the Banking Committee: Chair Tim Scott, R-SC, and ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
The FIGHT China Act would cover the following investments:
Acquisitions, including of limited partners, equity interest, property, or other assets; loans and debt financing; Joint ventures; And equity interest or debt conversions.
The new Senate proposal would also empower the Treasury secretary to block a longer list of related investments and to sanction some Chinese firms that partner with the government in Beijing. That provision would effectively leave further curbs or sanctions up to the White House, a shift that comes after business leaders quietly raised concerns with Congress’ initially more binding language.
The bill has some history in Alaska’s experience with China. In 2017, when Gov. Bill Walker was in office, he began deep negotiations with the Chinese to finance and build the Alaska LNG pipeline. The MOU he signed included loans from the Bank of China, construction management from Sinopec, and investment from the China Investment Corporation, all connected to the communist government, with no guardrails to protect the infrastructure from later being sabotaged by China. It’s one example of how technology transfer to China could be weaponized against Americans.
This is referred to as “Steal and Scale,” by those who understand how China steals technology. Steal and Scale is “Steal and Scale” is the sister of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which is investing in more than 150 countries around the world and allow China to control them. Belt and Road and Steal and Scale are the centerpieces of Chairman Xi Jinping’s economic and foreign policy, which is to stretch China’s influence through economic dominance. As of August, 2022, 149 counties were listed as having signed on the dotted line for the Belt and Road Initiative.
“The need to address capital flowing from the US to bad actor nations was first realized during the first Trump administration, and I look forward to finishing what we started then by getting this vital priority over the finish line,” Cornyn said in a statement that could very well apply to the Walker sellout of the gasline to the Chinese, something that was ended by Gov. Mike Dunleavy in 2018.
Republican President Donald Trump, who was supportive of the Walker-China project in 2017, has made it clear he plans on getting tough with China during his second term and will likely support the Sullivan-backed legislation.
The president has already doubled tariffs on Chinese imports, sparking retaliatory restrictions in a no-holds-barred trade war that has banks, farmers, retailers, and even GOP policymakers nervous.
The Senate is moving ahead on this legislation without waiting for the House version. Some analysts believe this could signal House members may take a different approach to disclosing investments in Communist China. In the end though, it’s Trump’s desires on the issue that will probably win out.
“The threat China poses to the United States’ national and economic security continues to grow, and we have a generational opportunity to confront it with the FIGHT China Act,” said Cornyn. “By prohibiting and requiring notification of US investments in certain technologies in China, this bill would help ensure American ingenuity, innovation, and investment do not end up in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party to be weaponized against us. The need to address capital flowing from the U.S. to bad actor nations was first realized during the first Trump administration, and I look forward to finishing what we started then by getting this vital priority over the finish line.”
Insiders describe “The Foreign Investment Guardrails to Help Thwart China Act” a much less stringent version than the one the House working group first drafted last year — so it’s highly unlikely that multinational firms put up the same fight against it.
Dan Fagan reports and writes columns for Must Read Alaska. He’s covered Alaska politics for close to 30-years. He currently hosts a morning drive radio talk show on 1020 am 92.5 and 104.5 fm on KVNT. For news tips, email Dan at [email protected]
Margo Bellamy is once again running for the Anchorage School Board. She has served on the school board since 2019, some years as president. And she was employed by the district for 43 years.
So, what does Bellamy stand for? Let’s first look at the words she puts on her web page.
Here is her “Focus” per her web page:
Work with legislators and stakeholders to ensure consistent and predictable funding to the Base Student Allocation. (Translation: Get as much money as possible from the state and Alaskans’ PFDs).
Advocate for legislative policy changes that guarantee fair retirement benefits for educators. (Translation: Get as much money from the state even if that includes a state income tax).
Bellamy has been on the school board for six years. During that time our students have been short-changed in reading and math.
Here are the district goals for reading and math that she voted to approve:
No one should be proud of these goals. Why would a board member only want less than half of our young children to be able to read at grade level by 2028? That sure is setting the bar very, very low and our kids will suffer. But, hey, it is probably achievable.
And the math goal that Bellamy voted for is even less aspirational. She believes that only 41.5% of our 8th graders should be proficient in math by 2028. What happens to the other 58.5% of our 8th graders? What about their futures?
Ask Bellamy why the ASD cannot teach kids how to read. Ask her why more than half of our 8th graders should be innumerate. These are the important policy questions. These should be the focus of any board member.
Check out her answer to this question on her web page (Q&A): “What is the single most important issue facing the Anchorage School District?”
“I believe three interconnected issues are paramount: teacher retention, teacher recruitment, and increased public education funding.”
Notice that she doesn’t believe student achievement is the most important. If student achievement is not the number one mission of the district, then that board member does not deserve anyone’s vote. Her focus is on more, more, and more money.
Bellamy was instrumental in recruiting the new superintendent, Jharrett Bryantt from the Houston Independent School District. Bryantt did not even meet the minimum required qualifications for a superintendent. How does that happen?
One of the primary selection criteria was that the new superintendent support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Critical Race Theory was also included in the selection criteria: “Has a strong moral compass that is rooted in justice and equality” and “Is able to lead district diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.”
Bellamy was also instrumental in revoking the charter of the Family Partnership Charter School. The FPCS had the highest student population in the district — nearly 1,700 students. After she voted to revoke its charter, the school lost more than 600 students.
During her tenure, the ASD has dug itself a very deep financial hole every year. The district used one-time federal Covid funds to pay more than 400 teachers’ salaries and benefits. This is a no-no for those who practice fiduciary responsibility. Even the Department of Education and Early Development warned school districts not to use those funds for recurring expenses such as salaries.
Bellamy supports the superintendent’s “Administrative Guidelines” on transgender and gender identity issues. This leaves parents completely out of the decision-making process on gender transitioning, pronoun usage, gender identity, and bathroom usage.
Bellamy also said that these Administrative Guidelines were put into place in 2016, when she was in charge of the Equity office.
When a board member wanted to make these “guidelines” a policy, she did not agree. She wanted to keep the “Administrative Guidelines” in order to keep secrets from parents. Bellamy noted that they were guidelines only and not policy, because the board would not have to discuss the guidelines in a public forum, as it would actual policy.
When former ASD Superintendent Deena Bishop wanted to allow students to breathe freely by removing the mask mandate, Bellamy disagreed. She wanted our children to be masked for another month. Now we have students whose learning has been severely impacted as well as their emotional and social development. But Bellamy has a solution — grow the mental health function to solve the problems she helped to create.
Bellamy is a strong supporter of so-called “equity’ in every educational program. She recently penned an opinion piece where she said she supports the Academies of Anchorage model because “(it is) an important step forward in our efforts to create a more equitable education system in Anchorage.”
Bellamy also believes in bringing “restorative justice” to the district. This policy dictates that a student’s punishment should be based on race, ethnic group, or economic status due to past inequitable practices.
Thus, a low-income minority child would get a less harsh punishment than a non-minority child for the same behavior issue. Here is her statement on the preface to the 2023 budget:
Bellamy is supported by the NEA-PACE, the teachers’ union political action group. The teachers’ union has donated $1,000 to her current reelection campaign. Here is the teachers’ union donation, as shown at the Alaska Public Offices Commission:
It makes one wonder how she will vote on the teachers’ union contract, which will be voted on before the next school year.
This would appear to be a conflict of interest or even a “pay to play” ethical dilemma.
So, if you are pleased with the low student achievement in reading and math, pleased with the Transgender Guidelines and allowing boys to use girls’ bathrooms, pleased with hiding student gender transitioning from parents, pleased with the injection of DEI in the classroom, and pleased with the more than $900,000,000 the district spends, then you might want to even consider voting for the current board member.
Then you just might want to donate your PFD which she will take anyway to fund the Anchorage School District with little to no accountability for results.
David Boyle is an education writer at Must Read Alaska.
Sen. Loki Tobin, chair of the Education Committee in the Senate has an unusual politically charged mug on her desk in the Alaska State Senate chambers.
It says on it, in big letters, “THE FUTURE IS QUEER.”
While the term “queer” is historically considered a derogatory label, it’s been embraced by many in the LGBTQ+ community as a positive and inclusive term. But generally the LGBTQ+ community only accepts its use by they/them, and not by others.
Tobin has no known children but is the Senate’s point person for education policy and funding.
She has in the past been photographed wearing a hat that says “PROTECT TRANS KIDS.” And she said bathrooms reserved for girls is a form of terrorism agains trans kids.
Republicans are censured for having such propaganda in the Senate and House chambers.
An example took place in 2021, when then-Rep. Chris Kurka wore a face mask to the floor of the House Chamber, as required by Legislative Council.
But on his face mask were the printed words, “Government Mandated Muzzle.” He was ordered to remove the mask by then-Speaker Louise Stutes. Kurka ended up leaving the chambers, the government-mandated mask firmly affixed to his face.
Uniform Rules adopted by the House and Senate prohibit political messages on attire on the House floor, but evidently mugs with Democrat political messages, such as the one being displayed by Sen. Tobin, are acceptable in the Senate. At least the messages that are Democrat-approved are acceptable, since Democrats control the Senate due to the side switching of a handful of Republicans, such as Senate President Stevens, Sen. Cathy Giessel, Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, and Sen. Bert Stedman.
The Palmer City Council has hired former Anchorage deputy municipal manager Kolby Hickel Zerkel as the next city manager. Zerkel had applied for the job last year, but was passed over for Stephen Jellie, whose tenure in Palmer lasted less than two months before he and the City Council parted ways.
Zerkel will step into the role in April for a salary of $170,000.
She worked for the Municipality of Anchorage for former Mayor Dave Bronson and then for Mayor Suzanne LaFrance, leaving in January. She lists her current job as state operations director for US Sen. Dan Sullivan. Her past jobs include director of sales for Hotel Captain Cook, founded by her late grandfather, Gov. Walter J. Hickel.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem co-piloted a C-130 surveillance aircraft during her visit to US Coast Guard service members stationed at Air Station Kodiak in Alaska.
This visit was focused on supporting personnel stationed over 1,300 miles from the continental United States. And it gave her a chance to learn about the security challenges in the 49th state.
“Got the chance to fly a C-130 out of our U.S. Coast Guard base in Kodiak, Alaska,” Noem wrote on X/Twitter. “Air Station Kodiak is essential to our mission success for reconnaissance and search & rescue in Alaska and the Arctic.”
Got the chance to fly a C-130 out of our U.S. Coast Guard base in Kodiak, Alaska. Air Station Kodiak is essential to our mission success for reconnaissance and search & rescue in Alaska and the Arctic. pic.twitter.com/8HJ2lFj46a
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has introduced House Bill 131 and Senate Bill 124 to integrate Alaska into the multi-state Nurse Licensure Compact, as a way of strengthening healthcare and expanding nursing opportunities statewide.
The national compact is the longest-standing professional licensure compact in the country and includes 43 U.S. jurisdictions, with another seven considering similar legislation.
By joining the compact Dunleavy seeks to bring into the state new nursing graduates, provide more flexibility for practicing nurses, and remove barriers that discourage experienced nurses from relocating to Alaska.
“The Nurse Licensure Compact is an essential part of the state’s priority to ensure we have the most competitive licensing process that attracts professional talent and allows them to get to work quickly,” Dunleavy said. “It will increase access to healthcare for all Alaskans and reduce redundant bureaucracy, while still ensuring our state retains full jurisdictional authority over nursing practice within our borders.”
According to the 2024 Alaska Healthcare Workforce Analysis, hospitals in Alaska have a 22% vacancy rate in registered nurse positions, requiring the recruitment of more than 1,400 new nurses annually. Alaska’s nursing school at UAA produces around 325 graduates per year, many of whom leave for NLC member states to gain flexibility as travel nurses. Many nurses end up in Alaska due to their spouses being stationed in the military, and getting licensed to work as a nurse in the state is a barrier.
Alaska has about 22,752 registered nurses in Alaska. According to RegisteredNursing.org, Alaska is projected to be the state with the worse nursing shortage (percentage wise) by 2030.
“As the state projected to have the worst nursing shortage in the nation in the next five years, we need to do all we can to address this crisis now,” said Commissioner Julie Sande of the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development. “That is why the Nurse Licensure Compact legislation is my department’s top priority this year.”
The proposal also aligns with the state Senate’s workforce priorities. In a Jan. 28, press release, Senate President Gary Stevens emphasized the need for strategic workforce recruitment and retention policies.
The Alaska Board of Nursing unanimously supports joining the NLC. Surveys conducted with Alaska-licensed nurses in 2019 and 2023 indicated overwhelming support for the initiative.
Last year, Dunleavy signed HB 237, which addressed the state’s nursing shortage by allowing more quickly attainable temporary permits for nurses who retired but then decided to return to the profession and seek license reinstatement.
One man in dead in a shootout with Wasilla police.
Alaska State Troopers on Sunday night received a 911 call about a domestic disturbance involving a weapon at a residence in the Settlers Bay area of Wasilla. The call came in at 10:06 pm.
As law enforcement officers from the Alaska State Troopers, Alaska Wildlife Troopers, and Wasilla Police Department were responding – the victims of the disturbance were able to escape the residence and leave the area.
The suspect, identified as 34-year-old Wasilla resident Brett George, put on body armor, armed himself with a rifle, and left the residence in a vehicle, the Alaska Department of Public Safety reported Monday morning.
A Wasilla police officer conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle a short distance away from the residence. The vehicle briefly stopped, and then George fled in the vehicle and a pursuit was under way.
At the intersection of Knik Goose Bay Road and Settlers Bay Drive, George got out of the vehicle and fired at the fully marked Wasilla police car. The Wasilla police officer returned fire, striking George.
George was declared deceased at the scene. The State Medical Examiner’s Office took possession of George’s body, and his next of kin have been notified.
No law enforcement officers or other individuals reported injuries to law enforcement.
The Alaska Bureau of Investigation has assumed case responsibility. They are conducting a thorough investigation into the incident. Once their investigation is completed, it will be independently reviewed by the Alaska Office of Special Prosecutions.
In 2023, George had pled guilty to possession of a firearm while intoxicated.
