Page 1529 – Must Read Alaska

Should her rapist-murderer go free? Tell the parole board

-

July 6, 2018

Should her rapist-murderer go free? Tell the parole board

On Dec. 10, 1972, Jody Stambaugh was strangled and raped in her University of Alaska Fairbanks dorm room, where she had been sleeping. The attacked occurred just before 7 am on a Sunday.

The killer, Allen Walunga, had a history of sexual attacks, and had gained secret entrance into her room, where he watched her sleep for 10-30 minutes before destroying her life and those of the many who loved her.

Jody’s roommate, an Alaskan woman living in Southcentral (who must remain anonymous because she fears the murderer to this day), was also injured, after she entered the tiny dorm room and surprised Walunga, who lunged at her and began choking her.

The roommate’s screams brought resident assistant Cindy Hutchins running. The assailant fought her off and then ran. Another resident assistant, Michael Hoge, called the State Troopers to Moore Hall.

Walunga was located in his second-floor room, covered in scratches from the women who attempted to stop his attacks. Meanwhile, up on the 7th floor, medics began providing CPR to Jody, until they determined she was, in fact, dead. Her parents, well-known 6th Street Juneau residents Wayne and Barbara Stambaugh, now deceased, were flown to Fairbanks to take their daughter’s battered body home, where she is buried in Evergreen Cemetery.

Judge Gerald Van Hoomissen would later say that this was “probably the most vicious crime that I have had contact with.”

In June, 1973, Walunga was found guilty of rape, murder in the first degree and assault, and attempted murder.

Judge Van Hoomissen found that Walunga “was an extremely dangerous offender who presented a clear and present danger of killing another person if ever released from prison.”

Jody had been all of 18, a graduate of Juneau-Douglas High School who was musically and artistically inclined and who had been an exchange student in Norway. She was well-liked by her classmates in Juneau, and she and her brothers loved to ski at the rope tow on Douglas Island’s Dan Moller trail. She was studying home economics.

Her brothers, Gary and Irl, have spent the past 46 years vigilant in their quest to prevent the State of Alaska from granting the repeated pleas by Walunga that he be released. This honors what their parents asked them to do. The Stambaughs had sued the university for allowing a known sexual predator to be placed in a co-ed dorm, but the court ruled against them.

In 1980, he challenged his conviction, saying he had been incapable of effectively waiving his constitutional right to a jury trial on that count because of mental illness, and that the Superior Court erred in failing to inquire into Walunga’s capacity at the time it accepted his written waiver of jury trial, which he had provided with counsel.

As soon as he could, Walunga applied for numerous others hearings and parole, starting in 1987. He wanted his sentence commuted in 1989. He wanted a parole hearing in 1991, then withdrew it after testing the waters. He applied for parole in 1992, then asked for a parole hearing in 1997, and again in 2008.

HE’S BACK AND HE WANTS OUT

In the summer of 2018, Walunga is asking again for parole, and the public has a chance to weigh in with the Alaska Parole Board.

Jody’s brother, Irl Stambaugh, already has written to the Alaska Parole Board and asked them to decline the murderer’s request for freedom. But so many people who were in Alaska during the murder and subsequent trial are gone. Will anyone remember?

This Alaskan is not gone, however. This Alaskan remembers.

Jody’s was the first funeral I ever attended. I was barely out of high school myself; Jody was a classmate of mine, and her brother Gary and I sang in high school choir and the Northern Lights Presbyterian Church choir.

A third-generation Alaskan, raised in Ketchikan and Juneau, Jody was kind, calm, and considerate of others. She would likely be a grandmother today, if not for a savage predator who should never have been allowed access to the dorms at the University of Fairbanks.

WALUNGA HAD A HISTORY OF PREDATION

Allen Walunga was described in the 1970s as an antisocial person. From a well-known family in the St. Lawrence Island village of Gambell, he reportedly made people ill at ease.

Later, he was determined to be possibly mentally ill, possibly possessed by demons, possibly schizophrenic, and possibly sociopathic.

Walunga was already a known sexual predator and had already sexually assaulted several underage girls. Later, he admitted assaulting young boys, as well.

His family shipped him off to Mount Edgecumbe High School in Sitka, where he took a gasoline-soaked rag and held it to the mouth and nose of a female student until she passed out. He thought he had killed her.

After that incident, his family moved him to Fairbanks, where he continued in high school.

There, he was charged with pedophilia and child molestation, and he was given probation. His juvenile records were sealed, however, and he enrolled at the University of Alaska, where he was housed on the second floor of Moore Hall.

Jody lived on the seventh floor. Jody’s brother Gary was also attending the university; the two were close. Gary later became a fireman/EMT. Her older brother Irl was a police officer in Anchorage when his sister was murdered.

*Moore Hall is the building on the left.*

Then came the horrific attack that made headlines across the state: A beautiful UA coed was strangled and raped in her sleep on a Sunday morning.

The trial came and went and a judge imposed a life sentence on the murder with a concurrent 15 years for the assault on the roommate, with intent to kill count.

“At that time our family felt that justice had been done and Walunga would remain in jail for the remainder of his life. We continued with our lives and through time minimized our grief. Our father had a serious heart attack that I will always partially attribute to the grief and sorrow he lived with after our sister’s death,” the victim’s family wrote several years ago.

“Our father and mother have passed away, and our children have grown but we continue to attend hearings. As we promised our mother, we will continue to attend hearings. The other victim has raised a family, but continues to attend hearings fearing that Walunga will be released.”

During Walunga’s 1998 parole hearing, the board decided that letting him free was out of the question and that it would not ever again consider his application. But in 2005 a new parole board decided his case could again be heard and he applied for parole in 2008.

During that hearing, Walunga entered into the record a psychiatric report, but at the time the victim’s family was not allowed to see that report.

As a result of the 2008 hearing, an earlier evaluation came to light. It has been done by Dr. Martin Astrops of Tongass Community Counseling Center, who said Walunga had a high risk of again perpetrating sexual assaults on women and is a “sexually violent predator.”

Walunga, however, said he found God and said he would be no harm to others unless confronted with “his temptation to form adulterous friendships with abnormally large breasted women.”

It was an emotionally trying time for the Stambaugh brothers, but Walunga was successfully kept behind bars in 2008.

Walunga’s next parole hearing is schedule for the week of July 16, 2018 at Goose Creek Correctional Institution. At least one member of the Stambaugh family will attend.

On May 15, Walunga wrote to the parole board that “I am no longer the emotionally immature person I was, approximately 45 years ago. When I became a Christian, pastors and Christian volunteers to prison have helped me down through the years, to heal what led to my heinous crime. I will never commit murder again. I value human life and, throughout my imprisonment, have attempted to better the lives of fellow men.”

However, in 2015, he was evaluated to be a “high medium” risk on an assessment known as the Level of Service Inventory, with the risks identified as alcohol and drug problems, education, employment, emotional, and personal.

The Parole Board also takes comments from the public.

Now is the time for the community to speak. If you agree that Mr. Walunga should remain in prison, write to the parole board today.

The email address is [email protected] , and make sure to send a copy of your letter to the Office of Victim’s Rights at [email protected]

Sample wording for your letter to the Parole Board — use your own words:

RE: 1972 Stambaugh rape and murder

Dear Alaska Parole Board;

I urge you to not release a murderer coming up for parole who is a danger to society. Please do not release Allen Walunga.

It only takes a minute, but your voice matters to the safety of our entire community.

(Editor’s note: Thanks to the Stambaugh family for their help with this story.)

Alaska Medicaid expansion enrollees now nearly 50,000

Politics

Suzanne Downing

-

July 5, 2018

4

Alaska Medicaid expansion enrollees now nearly 50,000

Gov. Bill Walker’s experiment in universal health care coverage is expanding, and costing the State more each year. With the fiscal year 2018 ending on June 30, and a $100 million supplemental budget item needed to keep the program going, it was time to take a hard look at where Walker is leading. Some fast facts:

Gov. Walker announced in July of 2015 that he would accept Obamacare Medicaid expansion in Alaska.
Three years later, more than 30 percent of Alaskans — 219,734 — are enrolled in Medicaid, the federal- and state-funded program that pays for health care for Alaskans earning up to 138 percent of the federally established poverty level.
Of the babies born in Alaska this year, 50 percent will have their prenatal, birth, and postnatal care covered by Medicaid.
The total unduplicated “Medicaid expansion” enrollee population has grown to 49,719. These are able-bodied adults of working age, without children or disabled dependents, who are up to 138 percent of the federally established poverty level.
Some Medicaid expansion enrollees are Alaskans being released from prisons. As the incarcerated are shown the exit, the State enrolls them in Medicaid as part of a plan for re-entry into society.
The total number of enrollees — regular and expansion — is 21 percent higher than what Gov. Walker projected it would be in 2015, when he signed Obamacare Medicaid expansion into law by executive order.
Three years ago, he announced that 20,000 people would sign up for Medicaid expansion the first year. The Lewin Group, advising the Department of Health and Social Services, projected the total expansion enrollment would be 41,000.

“Medicaid expansion would reduce state spending by $6.6 million in the first year, and save over $100 million in state general funds in the first six years. Every day that we fail to act, Alaska loses out on $400,000. With a nearly $3 billion budget deficit, it would be foolish for us to pass up that kind of boost to Alaska’s economy.” – Gov. Bill Walker, July 2015

COSTS BALLOON

Foolish indeed. But those promised savings have not materialized.

In fact, the governor was off by $100 million in his Medicaid estimates for the fiscal year that ended on June 30.

To save the program from collapse this past fiscal year, the Legislature approved $73 million of the $100 million that Walker requested as a supplemental patch; the federal government came up with $27 million. The Medicaid program made it through June.

But although it survived, Medicaid cost the State of Alaska (including federal dollars) $2.34 billion this past year, once the supplemental funds are added. That’s $10,649 per enrollee, or about what it would cost to buy each of them a bronze plan in the Obamacare private health insurance exchange.

This was the second time the Legislature has kept the Obamacare program from collapsing. The first time was in 2016, when the Senate realized that with the departure of all but one health insurance company, it would have to jump in and save the individual insurance market from imploding.

The problem then was that Alaska lacks enough healthy people buying insurance on the individual market created by the Affordable Care Act to offset the high cost of chronically sick Alaskans.

The Alaska Senate passed a high-risk reinsurance subsidy that covers the sickest people. Some 500 individual Alaskans account for $53 million or more in health care costs that are now paid for by the State. This allows the rest of the 18,000 Alaskans who buy their insurance from Premera Blue Cross to have insurance.

Premera is still the only insurer offering coverage in Alaska’s individual market. The number of people enrolling in the individual market dropped 4 percent year over year, from 19,145.

BY THE NUMBERS

Prior to Gov. Bill Walker’s Medicaid expansion, 163,505 Alaskans were enrolled in the Medicaid health care program — many of them poor families with children.

Today, out of the total of 219,734 Alaskans enrolled, only 7,000 are “regular” enrollees of the very poor. The other nearly 50,000 are the expansion population of the able-bodied adults without children.

Defense lawyer’s constitutional argument cost her a judgeship

Suzanne Downing

-

July 5, 2018

5

Defense lawyer’s constitutional argument cost her a judgeship

WHEN A CASE BECOMES POLITICALLY TOO HOT TO HANDLE

Criminal defense attorneys are sworn to represent their clients as vigorously and ethically as possible.

But doing so might cost them a judgeship with Gov. Bill Walker. [See the original story here.]

Juneau defense attorney Julie Willoughby found that out the hard way. After applying for a seat on the Juneau Superior Court, Willoughby received glowing reviews from her fellow lawyers around the state. She went through a rigorous scoring process. Lawyers around Alaska were allowed to weigh in on the quality of her work and the content of her character.

She was the highest scoring attorney to apply for the Juneau Superior Court seat being vacated by Justice Louis Menendez.

By all accounts, she is an outstanding criminal defense attorney.

Gov. Bill Walker offered her the job: It would be Superior Court Judge Julie Willoughby.

But then a member of Walker’s staff showed him a legal brief associated with Ty Grussendorf. Walker quickly rescinded his offer, before it was even announced.

TY GRUSSENDORF

Grussendorf is standing trial this fall for seven counts of sexual abuse of a minor — six of them were first-degree assaults. Willoughby is no longer his lawyer, but she was when she filed a memorandum with the court that Walker says he was shocked by.

The governor’s chief of staff, Scott Kendall, said that the arguments Willoughby had made in defense of her client portrayed a victim as a 12-year-old girl and a man engaged in a “mutually satisfying sexual adventure,” in which Willoughby argued the girl had not been harmed.

Instead, according to Willoughby, the girl had “solicited” the sexual assaults.

Kendall provided a statement to the Juneau Empire: “Each of these statements is disturbing individually. Collectively, these arguments shocked the conscience of Governor Walker and his advisors. The governor understands that criminal defense attorneys must be zealous advocates. In fact, he has previously appointed defense attorneys to judgeships, including to the Alaska Supreme Court. However, an attorney can be zealous without attacking a child victim and misstating statutory rape laws.”

The case was high profile because the perpetrator was the son of a legislative aide, and the case became fodder for the media. It was a political case at one point. Ty Grussendorf was the grandson of former Rep. Ben Grussendorf, and the son of legislative aide Tim Grussendorf.

Tim was legislative staffer to Sen. Lyman Hoffman, and reporter Austin Baird alleged that Tim worked to change state law in a way that could have helped his son’s defense.

Baird raised questions about potential abuse of position.

Baird is now the governor’s press secretary.

The Grussendorf case is so politically charged that it even impacted Rep. Cathy Munoz’s re-election, after she raised questions. Rep. Justin Parish beat her in November, 2016; he later was forced to not run for reelection due to his unwelcome advances toward a woman.

WAS WILLOUGHBY CORRECT IN HER ARGUMENT?

The governor got caught not doing his homework, and not thinking through what the actual argument was before the court.

It is a constitutional argument at its core. Willoughby was not arguing the facts, but about whether our system is so harsh in a “one-size-fits-all” punishment for sexual offenses, that we’re condemning sexually active 18-year-olds to life in prison.

In writing in support of dismissing the case on constitutional grounds, Willoughby was seeking to reform the law itself that could bite any sexually precocious 18-year-old boy or girl in the legal butt:

“The constitutional arguments in this case – due process, cruel and unusual punishment, equal protection and the goals of criminal administration – are all interconnected. This motion challenges the rigidity of a system designed to punish sexual predators. It is patently unfair to apply these charges and the resultant mandatory sentences and restrictions to high school students on an unfortunate but consensual sexual adventure. There is no humane reason to sentence Mr. Grussendorf to a slow death in the Alaska prison system. And there is no rational reason why the community would want to spend millions of dollars needlessly incarcerating him. The system is broken. Only by declaring the charging and sentencing structure for sex offenders unconstitutional may the system be brought to rationality.”

Willoughby’s memorandum detailed the encounters — blow jobs and all — which started when the victim contacted Grussendorf via a social media site called “Kix,” which minors are prohibited from using, according to the company’s rules. A few sexual encounters later, the girl broke off the relationship after being bullied by friends at school.

Normally, Willoughby said, such arguments relating to sentencing would happen after conviction. But in this case, she wanted to address it before trial because a guilty verdict would lead to death in prison for Ty Grussendorf, something that she argued was excessive punishment. That would force the young man into a plea bargain, and pressure him to admitting to things he may not be guilty of, in order to avoid life — and death — in prison.

Willoughby was arguing that locking a young man up for a sexual encounter he had at 18 with a 12 year old and throwing away the key until he was 76 or dead is not justice.

The entire legal argument is posted here. Caution, salacious material ahead:

1JU-15-364CR

That Willoughby, who teaches constitutional law, didn’t see that as a barricade to her judicial appointment, and that no other lawyer in the dozens who responded to the judicial survey saw this argument as an issue, indicates that someone close to the governor was going to dig something up on Willoughby to ensure that Amy Mead was offered the judgeship.

That’s exactly what happened. Only Gov. Bill Walker saw it as a problem, because it could be an election year scandal for him.

The cautionary note here is that now any defense attorney that makes a constitutional argument in defense of an admittedly guilty defendant could have their legal brief used against them if they ever apply for a judgeship.

WHAT WOULD AMY MEAD HAVE DONE?

Mead, who is the nominee to be sworn in as a Superior Court judge, may have only ranked in the middle of the pack of applicants, but her career has never put her in a position of defending an almost indefensible client, other than the City and Borough of Juneau. She has never had a case like Ty Grussendorf to defend. The public doesn’t know how she views constitutional questions.

This turn of events could put a chill on applicants, and limit judgeships to those with only corporate or municipal law experience and little to no criminal defense, trial experience, or constitutional scholarship.

Grussendorf’s trial is scheduled for Juneau Superior Court on Oct. 22, with Judge Phillip Pallenberg presiding.

Original story:

Walker flips: Offers Juneau Superior Court judgeship to lower candidate

Parades showed volunteer army strength for campaigns

Suzanne Downing

-

July 5, 2018

0

Parades showed volunteer army strength for campaigns

GUBERNATORIAL TEAMS FANNED OUT ACROSS THE STATE

Across the state, the powerhouses of political campaigns showed how strong they are in the “boots on the ground” department during Fourth of July parades.

Snapshots from Fairbanks to Ketchikan indicate that gubernatorial candidate Mike Dunleavy took the parade grounds in terms of most volunteer numbers, with more than 300 Alaskans taking part for Dunleavy with their trucks, candy, and multi-colored signs in at least eight parades, including Fairbanks, North Pole, Ester, Homer, Kenai, Chugiak, Juneau, Ketchikan.

Other gubernatorial campaigns were more modest, except for Gov. Bill Walker. His press release said he had people in parades in 13 communities.

*Gov. Bill Walker watches the Mount Marathon runners in Seward on July 4, 2018.*

Walker’s supporters marched in Bethel, Homer, Juneau, Kenai, Ketchikan, Kotzebue, Nome, Sitka, Unalaska, Valdez, Wasilla, Willow, and Yakutat. In Seward, Walker didn’t have an entry in the parade, but pressed the flesh and had a booth where volunteers gathered signatures for his petition to appear on the November General Election ballot.

Walker had a booth in Anchorage, where volunteers also gathered signatures.

In the biggest parades — Seward, Wasilla, Fairbanks, Juneau, and Anchorage — the sitting governor didn’t attempt to have a parade entry. With the exception of Willow and Wasilla, Walker’s campaign stuck to smaller, rural, coastal communities where his support is more certain.

In Kenai and Homer, Walker volunteers had a robust showing, with three vehicles and a little “barrel train” that had children in it. About 30 people were in the Walker entry that did both parades.

Mark Begich appeared in Seward in the parade, walking with his wife Deborah Bonito.

The Mat-Su Democrats’ parade entry carried signs for Begich, but not Walker, an indication that the party has fully transitioned back from the Walker-Mallott “Unity” ticket it supported in 2014 to the “Party Purity” ticket of Democrats Mark Begich-Deborah Call.

*Mark Begich and his wife Deborah Bonito walk in the Seward parade, right in front of the Stand for Salmon entry.*

There was no sign of Begich volunteers in Kenai or Homer, according to observers. Begich only joined the race on June 2 and has been trying to muscle in on Walker votes.

*Mead Treadwell poses with pirates from the Nauti Otter Inn in Seward at the start of the Fourth of July Parade.*

As for gubernatorial candidate Mead Treadwell, who also joined the race for governor on June 2, his volunteers got up to speed with a good showing in Homer, Kenai, and Ketchikan, and he appeared in the Seward parade with his daughter Natalie.

“We had a great response in Seward,” Treadwell said this morning from a breakfast he was attending.

One of the more surprising entries was the 50 people who joined the Dunleavy parade entry in Juneau, with a diverse group that included some former public officials. Although Juneau is a government town, there were lots of cheers for Dunleavy’s truck that was covered with signs and festooned with red, white, and blue banners. Volunteers said they were “over the moon” with the support their candidate received in Juneau.

*Dunleavy parade walkers muster with their truck entry in Juneau.*

While Treadwell, Walker or Begich didn’t have a float entry in the Juneau parade, Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott and his family walked the route and waved the flag for his re-election.

Where was candidate Dunleavy during the Fourth of July?

He and his wife Rose were in the Wasilla and Chugiak parades with about 70 volunteers in Wasilla, the largest showing of any political campaign across the state. In Chugiak, his campaign had 50 volunteers walking and tossing candy.

*Tall guy in the back is Mike Dunleavy, with volunteer parade walkers in Wasilla.*

Parade entries don’t tell the whole story of a campaign, but they are a strong indicator of voter enthusiasm and also how well a campaign has been able to motivate volunteers going into the Aug. 21 primary. It’s also an organizational feat for campaigns to make a showing in a state the size of Alaska.

“We didn’t do a big push for volunteers,” said Brett Huber, campaign manager for Dunleavy. “We just let them know where we’d be, and then we were overwhelmed with them. The turnout was phenomenal.”

Of course, it helped that the sun shone on communities across the state in what was parade-perfect weather.

Quote of the day: Democrats celebrate Independence Day by calling for state taxes

The Social

Suzanne Downing

-

July 4, 2018

6

A letter, in full, from Hal Gazaway of the Bartlett Democratic Club in Anchorage, to the membership of the club is below, announcing that while there will be no meeting this week, due to the holiday, the fight against President Donald Trump must go on.

Cliff Notes: Gazaway has some things to say about the founding of our country (throwing off tyrants), likens our current national and state Republican leadership to aforementioned tyrants, and then uses his Independence Day message to tell his membership to “take out Don Young,” impeach the president, oppose any replacement to Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, and demand a state income tax:

Dear fellow Bartlett Club Supporters;

This day celebrates the day, 242 years ago, representatives from the American colonies, assembled in the name of the people, to declare the American colonies free and independent.

A fundamental principle guided them. All men are created equal, entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Governments are instituted to ensure these ends. When government becomes destructive to these ends; it is the right of the people to alter or abolish the government.

The declaration listed a litany of offensive acts by their current ruler. The colonial representatives who signed the Declaration of Independence dissolved their allegiance to the tyrant who had been placed on the British throne. They chose to replace that autocratic rule with a government by free and independent states. The 56 representatives pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. With that pledge they signed the Declaration of Independence.

Today, a no less tyrannical regime has gained control of the United States and Alaska – an oligarchy, composed of plutocratic, international conspirators focused on concentrating wealth and power in a few, at the expense of the people.

Nowhere has the threat of this oligarchy become more apparent than here in Alaska where we have been reduced to a Third World colony by our state government over these last 15 years.

Today it is time for people of principle to stand up.

To stand up for America.

To stand up for Alaska.

1.NATIONALLY:

Justice Kennedy‘s retirement opens the door for Donald Trump to appoint a sixth ultra conservative federalist justice to the Supreme Court Bench:

One who will swing all legal issues raised in Donald Trump‘s impeachment proceedings;

One who will decide all legal issues in Donald Trump ‘s challenges to:

Federal prosecution of political wrongdoing,
Immigration issues,
Environmental issues,
Protective designation of federal lands,
Corporate exploitation of federal lands,
Challenges to environmental laws,
Laws repealing a woman’s right to exercise her choice and control over her body,
Laws repealing people’s rights to chase who they love and spend their life with
Today we can do something about that.

TAKE ACTION

Call Senator Lisa Murkowski:

Tell her to oppose any effort to rush the appointment of Justice Kennedy’s replacement until a full vetting can occur or take place before the members of the Senate and the House elected by 2018 voters who now have the benefit of seeing the results of 18 months of Trump Rule.

Take out Don Young:

For 40 years hard-working Alaskans have not had the benefit of a respected congressman capable of working outside of a small political clique. Don Young has two ardent opponents.

TAKE ACTION

Work for Don Young’s opponents

Use social media, phone, letters, postcards to get their names and messages to your friends neighbors, and family.

ALASKA:

The person we elect as governor will have two appointments to the five-member redistricting Board.

The disproportionate over-representation of Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives resulted from the gerrymandering by the four Republicans on the last redistricting board, loosely based upon the 2010 census.

The governor elected in 2018 will be able to appoint two of the five members to that redistricting board in 2020.

TAKE ACTION

Campaign for and vote for a governor committed to a balanced redistricting board

STATE GOVERNMENT

For six years Alaska has been a Third World colony. The legislature whines about not enough money to:

Fund our courts to be open more than 32 hours a week,
Fund public K-12 education even to the level the state had 1960 – 1964.
Fund public roads,
Fund the repair of bridges,
Fund professional law enforcement presence in 50% of Alaskan cities, towns and villages,
Fund public water and sewer in rural Alaskan villages to the level established by 1978,
Fund an effective public response to the opiate epidemic spiraling out of control in our city and the petty crime wave that funds it.

Today is the time to demand of our candidates for state Senate seats and state House of Representatives seats to commit to:

Adopt an income tax
Adopt an oil production tax that meets the Alaskan constitutional requirement to use Alaska’s natural resources for the maximum benefit of Alaskans
Repeal oil tax credits that are not for exploring and developing new fields.

Provide steady state income by a graduated income tax on all income earned or received in Alaska.

My wish for all our members is to have a happy and safe Fourth of July. It is my wish that we will renew our joy of life and living in the land of opportunity, left to us by generations before us. I am hopeful that we can bring that change necessary to ensure those that follow us will enjoy the same rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that we have enjoyed.

Hal Gazaway

Ross Soboleff passes; friend of Must Read Alaska

The 907

Suzanne Downing

-

July 3, 2018

1

Ross Soboleff passes; friend of Must Read Alaska

Sealaska Director Ross Soboleff died Monday after a battle with cancer.

He was the son of the Tlingit scholar, elder, and Presbyterian minister Dr. Walter Soboleff Sr. and Genevieve Ross, and was active in the Tlingit and Haida communities throughout his life in Southeast Alaska.

He served as the vice president for communications for Sealaska for several years.

In the past two years he was a strong supporter of Must Read Alaska, and sent several kind notes of encouragement, as well as financial support for the work of independent political reporting.

The last time this writer saw him was in the Capitol in January, and he was wearing a Must Read Alaska beanie, as he often did around Juneau during the final winter of his life.

Soboleff was elected to the Sealaska Board of Director as an independent candidate in 2014 and re-elected last year. He was known as intelligent and respectful, with a good heart and a wise soul.

Soboleff worked as an aide to former Rep. Eric Feige in the Alaska Legislature for two years. It was from Feige that he first learned about Must Read Alaska. He also worked for Rep. Dan Saddler while Saddler was vice chair of Finance for two years.

“He was a gifted writer,” Saddler recalled. “Ross was a gentle man with a gracious manner that masked a very keen mind and a great political sense. He was an excellent staffer, but after work hours he could play a mean mandolin, add sweet harmony to any song, and made the world a better place just by being there. I am blessed to have called him my friend, and tremendously saddened that I will see him no more, at least in in this life. My sincere condolences to Jane and the entire Soboleff family on his passing.”

*Kim Skipper with Ross Soboleff in Rep. Dan Saddler’s office.*

Kim Skipper, a longtime aide to Saddler, wrote: “I lost a dear friend yesterday, Ross Soboleff. He was a wonderful friend and co-worker. Ross was soft spoken and a sweet man. He was thoughtful and considerate. I enjoyed his texts during the interims and when he stopped by the Capitol office even when we didn’t work together. Rest In Peace Ross.”

Soboleff graduated from Juneau-Douglas High School in 1969, and the University of Oregon, was a gifted writer, small business owner, and a fisherman who recently had been living in Tenakee, building an addition on his house there, and running his communications consultancy, RVS Communications.

In November he wrote that he was finishing his 25-ton license with the U.S. Coast Guard.

Aside from his work with Sealaska and the Legislature, Soboleff was a writer, small business owner, and fisherman. He was Haida and Tlingit, Eagle/Sgalans, Killisnoo and Howkan.

He is survived by his wife, Jane Lindsey, his children and grandchildren.

BP sells interest in Kuparuk, satellite oil fields to ConocoPhillips

Politics

Suzanne Downing

-

July 3, 2018

0

BP sells interest in Kuparuk, satellite oil fields to ConocoPhillips

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT

BP and ConocoPhillips today announced agreements for BP to sell its non-operating interest in the Kuparuk and satellite oilfields in Alaska to ConocoPhillips.

In the deal, BP will also purchase a field from ConocoPhillips west of the Shetland Islands in the North Sea, giving BP a 45.1 percent interest in an area known as the Clair Field.

BP will sell to ConocoPhillips its entire 39.2 percent interest in the Greater Kuparuk Area on the North Slope of Alaska, and BP’s holding in the Kuparuk Transportation Company.

Details of the transactions are not being disclosed but the transactions together are said to be cash neutral for BP and ConocoPhillips.

“These transactions are significant for ConocoPhillips because they continue our strategy of coring up our legacy asset base in Alaska, while retaining an interest in the Clair Field in the U.K.,” said Ryan Lance, chairman and chief executive officer. “We have a long history of creating value in Alaska and an ongoing commitment to invest in our legacy assets, as well as in the development of our recent exploration success. Likewise, we are committed to maximizing the value of our assets in the U.K. North Sea, including continued investment in our operated assets in the Central North Sea.”

BP was upbeat about the transaction and how it aligned with corporate goals:

“This is a further step in focusing our portfolio around core assets and developments which have the potential for significant growth. Clair is a key advantaged oilfield for our North Sea business, a giant resource whose second phase is about to begin production and which holds great potential for future developments,” said BP Upstream chief executive Bernard Looney.

“In Alaska, this transaction will increase our focus on managing our deep resource base at the massive Prudhoe Bay oilfield and help enable a more competitive and sustainable business for BP.”

The Greater Kuparuk Area is operated by ConocoPhillips Alaska. The Greater Kuparuk Area includes the Kuparuk oilfield and the satellite fields of Tarn, Tabasco, Meltwater and West Sak. In 2017, the Greater Kuparuk Area had average daily gross oil production of approximately 108,000 barrels a day. The agreement will also include BP’s interest in the Kuparuk pipeline, which transports oil from the Greater Kuparuk Area to the inlet of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAPS) at Pump Station 1.

The transaction will not affect BP’s position as operator and co-owner in the Prudhoe Bay oilfield in Alaska. The transactions are subject to State of Alaska, US federal and UK regulatory approvals and other approvals, which are anticipated later this year.

Celebrate your Alaskan Fourth of July

Columns

Suzanne Downing

-

July 3, 2018

0

A MOMENT TO CONSIDER HISTORY

As Alaskans, we treasure our uniqueness along with the common history that defines all Americans. We see ourselves as self-reliant, independent people with an intense pride of our state and country.

The history of Alaska and the history of America have similarities that are often forgotten amid the festivities surrounding the celebration of one of our most popular national holidays.

While July 4, 1776 is important as the date on which our country declared its independence, it was over a decade before America’s future was assured. Some historians believe that was when our national constitution was drafted from May 25 to September 17, 1787, in the old Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia (where our original Declaration of Independence was adopted – now known as Independence Hall).

Up to then, the nearly four million inhabitants of the new United States were governed under the Articles of Confederation, created by the Second Continental Congress and ratified by the original 13 states in the five years following independence.

Unfortunately, the chronically underfunded and weak Confederation government was inadequate for resolving conflicts that arose among the states. The Articles of Confederation could only be amended by unanimous vote of the states, so each state had effective veto power over any proposed changes. In addition, the Articles did not provide the federal government taxing power, being entirely dependent on the states for funding with no power to enforce collection.

Initially, while the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention was intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, many of its proponents felt, in order for our nation to progress, delegates needed to create a new government rather than patch up the existing one.

Under similar circumstances, on November 8, 1955, Alaska’s 55 delegates felt a sense of hope tinged with uncertainty when they gathered at the University of Alaska’s Constitution Hall in Fairbanks for Alaska’s first constitutional convention. The number 55 was no accident – the same number in attendance at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787.

In Philadelphia, delegates unanimously chose George Washington president of the Convention – who later became our first president of the United States.

In Fairbanks, delegates chose territorial senator, Bill Egan, to lead them. He was later elected as the first governor of Alaska after statehood was achieved in 1959.

While the Philadelphia convention delegates sweltered in hot summer temperatures, Fairbanks delegates faced a different challenge. During their proceedings, Bill Egan announced that “the temperature is now about forty below and if the delegates have their cars out there, they probably should start them in order that they will start.”

By avoiding minutiae and hyperbole, Alaska delegates were able to draft a short, general document, modeled after the U.S. Constitution. Rather than an elaborate document like many other state constitutions, they chose instead to leave broad authority to future state legislatures. The resulting document is thus only half the average state constitution length of 26,000 words.

Much like the U.S. Constitution’s correction of shortcomings in the Articles of Confederation, language in Alaska’s constitution was a reaction against weak territorial institutions and therefore provided for a strong executive and legislature.

Both documents’ preambles begin with the same words, “We the people…”, signifying the foundation of our system of government where citizen’s rights and privacy are paramount, and it is only through the people that government power is derived.

Despite the importance of our U.S. Constitution (including the first 10 amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights) it is July Fourth – Independence Day – that later became the official national holiday Americans celebrate each year.

For Alaskans, this date also has special significance. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the proclamation admitting Alaska as the 49th state on January 3, 1959, but, by executive order, the new national flag did not become official until July 4th of that year.

On that day, an estimated 3,000 people stood at attention as the first 49-star flag was raised slowly in the state capital by a military honor guard in an impressive ceremony.

In the world of nations, there is only one America. And among the 50 states, Alaska’s statehood story is unique in terms of its origin and character.

Happy 4^thof July!

Win Gruening retired as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in 2012. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is active in community affairs as a 30-plus year member of Juneau Downtown Rotary Club and has been involved in various local and statewide organizations.

Interior Dept. withdraws opinion on Alaska Native ‘land into trust’

Suzanne Downing

-

July 3, 2018

1

Interior Dept. withdraws opinion on Alaska Native ‘land into trust’

ALASKA ‘INDIAN RESERVATION’ STATUS ON ICE FOR NOW

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s solicitor said Friday that it has withdrawn an 11th-hour Obama-era opinion that allowed the federal government to take land into trust for Alaska Natives.

The rule, made in the last few days of the Obama Administration, was “incomplete and unbalanced,” said the department’s acting solicitor, Daniel H. Jorjani. He said the department needs at least a year to reconsider it.

The Obama ruling was made on Jan. 13, 2017, by former DOI solicitor Hilary Tomkins, just before President Donald Trump was sworn into office. It was part of a flurry of last-ditch rulings of an administration set on “fundamentally transforming America,” as the president had promised.

Tomkins had issued opinion M-37043, an analysis of the effects of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar on the Secretary of the lnterior’s authority to accept land in trust in Alaska under the Indian Reorganization Act. It’s a complicated matter of Indian law that goes back as far as the 1930s.

Within days of the Tomkins decision, a tiny acre of land in downtown Craig, Alaska, became the toehold case to establish Indian Country in Alaska, essentially allowing the federal government to take land into trust for the Craig Tribal Association, and manage it as it does Native American reservations in the Lower 48. Its application was accepted by the Obama Administration immediately on Jan. 14, 2017.

Historically, Alaska has been an exception to the Indian Country style of federal management because of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and its creation of Native corporations for regions and villages throughout the state. Native corporations are designed to be run as profit-making corporate enterprises for the benefit of Alaska Native people, with the intent that they would be generally run by Natives. Today, most of the corporate jobs in Alaska Native corporations are indeed held by Natives and they are some of the largest corporate entities in the state.

[Read: One acre is newest reservation in Alaska.]

Upon being sworn into office, President Trump asked for a review of all of the last-minute actions of the Obama Administration. On Jan. 20. 2017, the president’s chief of staff announced a regulatory review process for any new or pending regulations.

The new solicitor general for DOI concluded that the previous decision omitted the discussion of important statutory developments, resulting in “an incomplete analysis of the Secretary’s authority to acquire land in trust in Alaska.”

[Read: The entire DOI solicitor’s opinion here.]

BACKGROUND

In 2006, four Alaska Native tribes and one Alaska Native person challenged the “Alaska exception” from Indian Country in a case called Akiachak Native Community v. Jewell.

The groups argued that the Alaska exception discriminated against Alaska Natives by prohibiting them from placing land in trust status.

In 2016, the D.C. District Court agreed with the tribes and held the Alaska exception to be void and unenforceable because it violated a law prohibiting regulations that diminish any privileges for Alaska Natives that other Native American tribes enjoy.

The Akiachak Case was widely considered the first step toward a tribal reservation systems known in the Lower 48 as “Indian Country.” Alaska has, since 1971, had an ANCSA exception to Indian Country, with no reservation land left except Metlakatla. The complete inventory of Alaska’s prior reservation status is here.

With reservation status, management of fish and game resources becomes complex and law enforcement jurisdictions become contentious. The self-governed reservations cannot be taxed or regulated by the state. They are sovereign. Tribal members and business entities would become exempt from state laws on marijuana, gaming, alcohol, tobacco, fireworks, or anything else that is regulated. Alaskans would also lose access to historic trails that still being contested with the federal government.

Mary Bishop of the Alaska Outdoor Council explained the challenges of Indian Country in Alaska more fully in an opinion that appeared in the Fairbanks NewsMiner.

[Read: More Indian Country ahead – in Juneau this time]

But for now, Indian Country in Alaska is on the back burner, pending further legal analysis by Trump’s Department of the Interior.

Should her rapist-murderer go free? Tell the parole board

Alaska Medicaid expansion enrollees now nearly 50,000

Defense lawyer’s constitutional argument cost her a judgeship

Parades showed volunteer army strength for campaigns

Ross Soboleff passes; friend of Must Read Alaska

BP sells interest in Kuparuk, satellite oil fields to ConocoPhillips

Celebrate your Alaskan Fourth of July

Interior Dept. withdraws opinion on Alaska Native ‘land into trust’

About us

The latest

Breaking: Attorney General Treg Taylor exits Dunleavy Administration, eyes Governor’s Mansion

Win Gruening: Juneau seasonal sales tax proposal is a permanent tax increase

Sharon Walls: AG Taylor puts the truth in a chokehold