Thursday, October 15, 2026
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Senate Finance approves $3,000 PFD

Suzanne Downing
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14
Senate Finance approves $3,000 PFD

COMMITTEE ALSO MOVES TO BEEF UP PERMANENT FUND CORPUS

The Alaska Senate Finance Committee approved amendments boosting this year’s Permanent Fund dividend to about $3,000 and transferring $12 billion from the Permanent Fund’s Earnings Reserve Account into the fund’s constitutionally protected corpus. The Permanent Fund Earning Reserve Account currently has more than $18.6 billion.

“We must take effective action to protect the Permanent Fund,” said Sen. Bert Stedman, who co-chairs of Senate Finance Committee. “Today’s proposals recommend paying the full, statutory dividend amount this year, locking up $12 billion into a vault and throwing the keys away.”

Including a $3,000 dividend in the Senate’s version of the budget creates the possibility for a House and Senate conference committee to negotiate up to the full, statutory dividend amount.  Gov. Michael Dunleavy has said the state must return to the statutorily defined Permanent Fund dividend to avoid the mistakes of the past, which made the dividend a political football.

The Alaska Permanent Fund currently has about $65 billion in assets. The $18.6 billion in the earnings reserve account can be spent by the Legislature with a simple majority vote. The amendment adopted by the Senate Finance Committee today would move $12 billion from the earnings reserve into the corpus, which cannot be accessed without changing the Alaska Constitution.

“This amendment moves $12 billion into the Permanent Fund’s corpus, protecting those funds for future generations,” said Senator Natasha von Imhof, co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee. “It imposes a spending cap on state government and forces the conversation on a sustainable dividend calculation.”

Once the operating budget is moved out of the Senate Finance Committee, it will be considered by the full Senate.

The House has approved a budget that leaves about $1,200 for the Permanent Fund dividend. The differences between the House and Senate budget are worked out in conference committee.

“The Permanent Fund is not for us to squander,” Sen. Stedman added. “Our generation has been very fortunate over our working lifetime with the oil boom. We need to ensure this fund is available for our grandchildren and great grandchildren.”

MRAK Almanac: Miss Amazing, Talkeetna Fly-In

Suzanne Downing
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0
MRAK Almanac: Miss Amazing, Talkeetna Fly-In

April 26, 1899: In Dawson City,  Yukon Territory, a devastating fire broke out when a saloon caught fire in the middle of a strike by the newly established fire brigade. Most major landmarks in the town burned to the ground, including 117 buildings destroyed, and damage was estimated at more than $1 million ($810 million in today’s dollars). 120th anniversary of the fire. Check out the historic sepia photos here.

April 28, 1959: Former President Harry S Truman announced at Columbia University that he had made the decision to drop nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and on Nagasaki, because an invasion would have cost millions of lives. 60th anniversary.

 * * * *

April 27: Healy Community Appreciation Day, hosted by Alaska State Troopers, at the Tri-Valley Community Center

April 27: Miss Amazing Alaska, with co-emcees Charisse Millett and Megan Baldino. A pageant for those with developmental disabilities. Dimond High School. 4:30-9 pm.

April 27: Spring graduation, UAA, Wendy Williamson Auditorium, 10 am.

April 27: White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C., and guess which U.S. president still isn’t attending? Read this Politico story about how the glitz and glamor is gone from the annual event.

April 28: Fairbanks Concert Association presents Overture to Don Giovanni, Symphony No. 36 “Linz” Mozart Requiem Mass,  C.W. Davis Concert Hall Fairbanks Symphony. 4 pm.

April 30: Emperor Akihito will abdicate his throne after 30 years, becoming the first emperor in Japan’s modern history to see his era end without ever going to war. He succeeded to the Chrysanthemum Throne upon the death of his father Emperor Shōwa on Jan. 7, 1989. According to Japan’s traditional order, he is the 125th member of the world’s oldest reigning dynasty. Crown Prince Naruhito will immediately succeed him and start a new Imperial Era.

May 2: National Day of Prayer. Practice makes perfect.

May 9: Boys Scouts of America honor Urban Rahoi and Cliff Everts for the “Legends and Heroes” Banquet at the Richard Wein Hangar, 3694 Hagberg Drive, opposite Northland Aviation in Fairbanks. Kenny Broker Prime Rib and Pulled Pork. $100. 6 pm Social, 7 pm Dinner.

May 12: Mothers Day. And also drag racing starts at the Alaska Raceway.

May 13: Prince William Sound salmon fisheries open in Copper River and Bering River districts.

May 14: 120th day of Alaska Legislature.

May 15: Last day of Alaska Legislature, per Alaska Constitution Article II, Sec 8

May 16: Elizabeth Pierce, former CEO of Quintillion, is scheduled to be sentenced for wire fraud. Read the story here.

May 17-19: Talkeetna Fly-in, hosted by Commemorative Air Force Alaska Wing (photo above). Details.

Dunleavy apologizes to Fish Board nominee for ‘appalling’ behavior of lawmaker

Suzanne Downing
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15
Dunleavy apologizes to Fish Board nominee for ‘appalling’ behavior of lawmaker
Gov. Michael Dunleavy on Tuesday sent a letter to retired Superior Court Judge Karl Johnstone, expressing his regret that the Legislature didn’t confirm his nomination to the Alaska Board of Fisheries, and thanking him for having gone through the process.
But then, Dunleavy went further:
“I am dismayed by the way our elected officials behaved during your confirmation,” he wrote.
“Sadly, we watched our elected officials forsake decorum and a fair process. In doing so, they trampled on your Constitutional rights and disenfranchised real victims of serious crimes,” Dunleavy wrote.
The governor was referring to a ruthless power play by Rep. Ivy Spohnholz and Rep. Louise Stutes to block the nomination of the judge, by accusing the judge on the floor of the House of sexual harassment of unknown persons described as “more than two women,” at unknown times, in an unknown place. Even the nature of the alleged harassment is still unknown. The accusation came just as the vote was about to be taken last week in a joint House/Senate session.
Johnstone had no opportunity to defend himself, and Spohnholz has, a week later, not revealed the secret accusers, whom she said wanted to remain anonymous, nor has she responded to reporters’ requests for even the slightest documentation. She has only stated that in the future, such allegations should be done in secret committee meetings.
Or, as some observers called it, Joseph McCarthy style.
“This is a disturbing example where politicians abandoned our sacred values and resorted to theatrics and character assassination,” Dunleavy wrote to Johnstone. “They left you without a voice, due process, the presumption of innocence, or the right to face an accuser and review evidence. It was appalling.”
“I pray that what you have gone through will be used as a wakeup call for our legislators and they will again take up the torch of vigorously defending all Alaskans’ rights,” he wrote.
Johnstone served two full terms on the Fish Board after retiring from the bench. He served as chairman and received a legislative citation that described him as the “Gold Standard” of board service.
But after being waived off the board by the Walker Administration, and then renominated by Gov. Dunleavy, Johnstone ran into heavy artillery fire from the powerful commercial fleet, which sees him as favoring sports fishing interests in Cook Inlet.
Johnstone has vigorously denied the allegations made against him by Spohnholz. In the contentious public hearing and committee process leading up to the floor vote, the commercial fishing community opposed him for policy, and no inference had ever been made that he had behaved inappropriately, until Ivy Spohnholz took the floor and made vague and unsubstantiated allegations.

The Marines are coming: Commandant nominee, with Sen. Dan Sullivan

Suzanne Downing
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2
The Marines are coming: Commandant nominee, with Sen. Dan Sullivan

Must Read Alaska has learned that David H. Berger, the incoming Commandant of the Marine Corps, will be visiting Alaska this week with U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, in advance of his confirmation hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee next Tuesday. Sullivan is a member of the committee.

Lt. Gen. Berger was nominated to be general and commandant of the Marine Corps by President Donald Trump on March 26. Upon final confirmation from the Senate, Berger would become the Corps’ 38th commandant.

Berger is a former infantry platoon commander and recon Marine. He is currently the commander of Marine Corps Combat Development Command and Deputy Commandant for Combat Development and Integration, at Quantico, Va.

Berger served Iraq in the Desert Storm operation. He also commanded Regimental Combat Team 8 in Fallujah, Iraq as a colonel. He commanded the 1st Marine Division in Afghanistan.

Sullivan is also a member of the Marine Corps Reserves, where he is currently serves as colonel. Since 1993, Sullivan has had a variety of command and staff billets on active duty and in the reserves. In 2004, he was recalled to active duty for a year and a half to serve as a staff officer to General John Abizaid, the Commander of U.S. Central Command, spending substantial time deployed in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.  In July 2013, while serving as commissioner of Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources, Sullivan was recalled to active duty to serve with a Joint Task Force in Afghanistan focusing on dismantling terrorist networks and criminalizing the Taliban insurgency. He was executive officer of the 4th Marine Division’s Anti-Terrorism Battalion.

Alaska has significant military presence with the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Although Marines have trained in the state, there’s not a significant assigned presence for “the few, the proud.” Sullivan has said he’d like to change that. In 2016, Sullivan brought the now-retiring Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert B. Neller to Alaska and toured him around the state’s bases, training facilities and ranges.

“The Marines are looking at spending a lot more time in Alaska,” Sullivan last year an August trip around the state with Army Secretary Mark Esper.

Review: ‘Learning the Ropes’ by Mike Gordon

Suzanne Downing
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5
Review: ‘Learning the Ropes’ by Mike Gordon

‘Mountain Mike” Gordon has penned the ultimate bad-boy-finds-redemption story in his rollicking Alaska memoir, Learning the Ropes.

He was an Eagle Scout. His family was in the “normal” range.

But he was divorced twice. He married thrice. He was a philanderer. He was a cocaine addict, a 15-year smoker, and owned one of the most successful nightclubs in Alaska, if not the entire Northwest.

Then, he read the book, The Seven Summits by Dick Bass, and decided to climb them himself, starting with Denali. He also completed 15 marathons, and eventually six of the seven summits.

Gordon sold Chilkoot Charlie’s in 2015 and retired, now living the life of a writer with his wife Shelli in Kachemak Bay. For those who remember reading Johnny’s Girl by Kim Rich, this is another tale from seedy Spenard, with no gritty stone unturned. Shelli must be a saint to let him publish these stories.

“In truth, it wasn’t long before I was up to the old habits that would eventually lead to our separation and subsequent marriage counseling less than five years later. I had been unfaithful to both of my previous wives, so falling into the routine was almost natural for me. But this time I had myself convinced that misbehaving in Thailand was somehow different. Shelli was so young, impressionable and in love and I was such a callous bastard,” Gordon writes. Ouch. What wife wants to read that?

“I destroyed something pure and beautiful that can never be entirely repaired, but at least I had the wherewithal, plus the support of a woman stronger than me, to work my way through the issues that continued to put distance between us and damage the marriage I desired, but to which I was unable or unwilling to fully commit.” Yes, this is a story of bars, adventures, and romance. It’s a love story at its core.

The narrative jumps around a bit between his troubled romantic exploits and his mountain exploits but readers can keep up between the vignettes and where the tale is heading — the three attempts to summit Mount Everest, each one bringing him closer to the top. The stories aren’t sequential, and that’s how the author intended it.

Gordon has done a great job on this memoir and it’s easy to imagine that Hollywood might come calling to buy the movie rights of this “sex, drugs, rock and roll, and redemption” life story.

Learning the Ropes can be found at Barnes & Noble in Anchorage, or at www.mikegordonauthor.com.  The author is having book signings around the state,  where he’ll pen “Mtn. Mike G.” on your own copy. See him at these locations:

May 3: Georgia Blue Gallery, 5-7 pm

May 10: Barnes & Noble, 6-9 pm

May 24: Halibut Cove, Alaska’s Experience Gallery, during the evening.

Poll: Murkowski, Sullivan both up with voters

Suzanne Downing
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10
Poll: Murkowski, Sullivan both up with voters

SULLIVAN NOT SEEN AS VULNERABLE IN 2020

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who has been in the U.S. Senate since 2002 is still popular among Alaska voters, according to the quarterly poll from Morning Consult.

In the latest poll, 43 percent of Alaskans have a positive view of Murkowski, 36 percent have a negative view, and 21 percent have no opinion. Murkowski has a net positive of 7 percent with voters. She ranks 64th among all 100 U.S. senators in terms of popularity.

Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan is not quite as popular as Murkowski, according to the poll, with a 38 percent positive, 32 percent negative and 30 percent having no opinion. Sullivan has a net positive of 6 percent with voters. He ranks 87th among all 100 senators.

Sullivan was elected to his first term in 2014 and comes up for election in 2020, while Murkowski has until 2022 before she stands for reelection — if she does. Many political observers believe she will not run again for Senate.

The company also posted results for governors, which shows Gov. Michael Dunleavy with a net 12 percent positive rating.

[Read: Polls says Dunleavy has net positive rating]

Poll: Dunleavy has net positive of 13 percent

Suzanne Downing
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17
Poll: Dunleavy has net positive of 13 percent

In the latest quarterly poll of how governors are doing, the polling company Morning Consult says that 42 percent of Alaskans approve of the job Gov. Michael Dunleavy is doing, 29 percent are unfavorable toward him, and 29 percent have never heard of him.

His net approval among all voters is +13 percent. Among Democrats, he’s not widely revered, with a net disapproval rating of -36. But Republicans hold him in a positive light with +56 percent approval, while those with no party still favor him slightly, with +9 percent approval.

Still, Dunleavy ranks second from the bottom of the list of all Republican governors, and is 42nd overall in popularity among the 50 governors. His “unknown” factor is fairly high on the list, with few other governors having a “who?”

View the sortable table at Morning Consult here.

Dunleavy was elected with 51.4 percent of the vote in November of 2018. Soon after taking office, he signaled he would have to cut the state budget dramatically in order to pay Alaskans their full statutorily determined Permanent Fund dividend. He also proposed three constitutional amendments:

  • Putting the Permanent Fund dividend into the Alaska Constitution.
  • Making no taxation possible without a vote of the people.
  • Instituting a constitutional spending cap.

Joe Biden picks up big endorsement — Michael Avenatti

Suzanne Downing
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0
Joe Biden picks up big endorsement — Michael Avenatti

Former Vice President Joe Biden announced his 2020 bid for president on Thursday morning.  He can already count on one vote: disgraced celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti.

“I am extremely happy that @JoeBiden has decided to enter the race. He offers Dems the very best chance in 2020, especially in key states. He has the fight, intelligence and fortitude to beat Trump and begin to make America, America again. He has my enthusiastic support,” Avenatti posted on Twitter.

Avenatti represented adult film actress Stormy Daniels in a lawsuit against President Donald Trump over a “hush money” agreement they had regarding a sexual relationship he was trying to keep quiet. The president rejects the allegations and his lawyers are suing Daniels.

In March, Avenatti was arrested in New York City on charges of trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike Corp.

Biden is at the head of the pack of dozens of Democrats vying for the opportunity to knock off Trump in 2020. Morning Consult and Politico released a poll on Wednesday showing that, as of now, Biden could beat Trump.

Murkowski tours DMZ in Korea, visits Vietnam

Suzanne Downing
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Murkowski tours DMZ in Korea, visits Vietnam

Sen. Lisa Murkowski has returned from a trip to South Korea and Vietnam with Senate members, where she visited the Demilitarized Zone, discussed energy related issues, and focused on topics including trade and the U.S. relationship with North Korea.

“North Korea remains one of the country’s primary security threats. This opportunity to visit South Korea, see the DMZ, and get briefed on the recent events happening in the region was an invaluable way to learn directly from the soldiers carrying out their mission,” Murkowski said.

“The important work that USAID and its NGO partners are doing in Vietnam, including dioxin remediation and disposing of unexploded ordnance, helps to build our relationship with that country. Vietnam is also an important trading partner, and strengthening these ties helps our country, particularly Alaska, on both the economic and security fronts by countering China’s influence in the region,” she said.

The congressional delegation trip included Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Rob Portman (R-OH), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Tom Udall (D-NM), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).

In South Korea, Murkowski toured the DMZ, including the Joint Security Area. Murkowski met with the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harrison and U.S. and Swiss military officials to discuss the U.S.-North Korea relationship, ongoing military relationships, and energy production.

In Vietnam, she discussed energy, trade, legacy of war, and other issues with Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary Nguyen Thien Nhan. Murkowski met with other top government officials as well as with representatives from non-governmental organizations involved with the disposal of unexploded ordnance to discuss clean-up options.  

Murkowski toured the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site at the Hue Citadel, which was a key battle during the 1968 Tet Offensive.

Murkowski attended the ribbon cutting event for dioxin remediation at Bien Hoa Air Base, the largest project of its kind that will reclaim lands contaminated during the Vietnam War. She also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of intent between the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Vietnamese government, which will focus on supporting health and disability programs for people with disabilities due to Agent Orange exposure.

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