Although the federal government is technically “not in service at this time,” Alaskans from King Cove have travelled to Washington, D.C. to witness the historic signing of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge land swap.
The land exchange will allow an 11-mile road to be built to access an all-weather airport at Cold Bay. The road would be a one-lane gravel road for emergency evacuations.
With a bit of work and a touch of luck, the signing will go on, although Department of Interior officials may be moving the venue from DOI offices over to the Senate side of Capitol Hill. Perhaps. They are still working out the details. The federal government is largely not operating until House and Senate Democrats agree to move forward on a budget.
Della Trumble of King Cove Village Corporation, Gov. Bill Walker and Alaska’s entire congressional delegation will join Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Assistant Interior Secretary (and Alaskan) Joe Balash at the ceremony.
Interior has been working on an agreement with the King Cove Corporation to exchange land.
Environmentalists call the road controversial, but it’s far from controversial in Alaska. The state has been fighting for the road for decades and at least 18 people have lost their lives because they were not able to be evacuated from King Cove, which is buffeted by heavy weather regularly. The Cold Bay airport, however, is open most of the year.
During the Obama Administration, Sec. Sally Jewell signed a Dec. 23, 2013 decision to deny the road. That order has been reversed by Sec. Zinke.
Anchorage mayoral candidate Rebecca Logan opened her campaign office this weekend.
On Saturday, Logan welcomed more than 75 Anchorage citizens to her open house, located inside a vast building at 329 East Fifth Avenue, near the corner of Fifth and Cordova.
During the three-hour event, visitors dined on fried chicken from the Lucky Wishbone, and picked up her blue and white yard signs, buttons, bumper stickers, and t-shirts.
“Thank you to everyone who turned out on Saturday,” Logan said. “Now let’s roll up our sleeves and get this city back on track. Logan for Mayor is ready for volunteers!”
The media was covering the women’s march elsewhere in downtown and did not attend the grand opening. But the municipal election starts March 13, when all registered voters in Anchorage will be sent their mail-in ballots.
The Logan campaign office is set up to accommodate community forums — events where subject matter experts will give presentations and answer questions for voters who want to learn more about key issues. The sprawling space can easily accommodate such events, with classroom-style seating and a microphone.
Anchorage’s record-breaking crime streak, which has citizens nervous and on edge, is certain to be one such topic.
In fact, Logan reports that several crime victims whom she had never met visited her campaign office out of frustration with what they perceive as an unserious and lackadaisical attitude about crime from the current mayor, who infamously told Anchorage citizens that as long as they aren’t involved with drugs or leave the house after midnight, they have nothing to fear. He uttered those words the day after a beloved family man was gunned down inside his small business in broad daylight.
The incumbent mayor may want to change his story for a couple who visited Logan’s campaign office on Saturday. They told Logan that their car had been stolen three separate times in the course of the year.
Logan reported several people unknown to her walked into the campaign office, told her they were fed up with crime, made a donation, and walked out.
Logan’s campaign office will be open Monday through Friday from 1-5 p.m. beginning Feb. 5. The space will also be used for campaign activities like phone banking. Volunteers are needed and welcome. People interested in helping elect a fiscally responsible candidate for Anchorage mayor can visit loganformayor.comand fill out the volunteer form.
Juneau has hosted a plethora of New Age charlatans throughout the years.
They come with Buddhist beads and all manner of amalgamated spiritual teachings: Eckankar, aura balancing, crystal healing, astrologers, numerologists, wiccans, warlocks, and Hare Krishna acolytes.
At one time or another, they’ve all traipsed through Juneau, a wealthy and liberal enclave with a weak tether to religious traditions, a place ripe for neo-spiritual movements. They hold workshops and retreats, and then move on.
Brant Secunda is the most recent iteration. He’s from New York and New Jersey, and has been leading shamanistic rituals and workshops for much of his adult life. He and his retreat goers travel the world to commune with nature in the most beautiful places on earth. His teachings allow him to journey, and retreats pay his way.
So naturally, he comes to Juneau, Alaska, home of whales, salmon, and eagles. He comes at the height of summer as he’s done many times before, he says, and in 2018 he will have a retreat once again at a lodge somewhere on the road system in Juneau. A place with cabins and tent camping. That doesn’t leave many choices.
The Aldersheim Lodge would be such a place. It has cabins. It has places for tent camping. It has whales and eagles and salmon.
Last year, Secunda’s Dance of the Deer Foundation advertised his Juneau retreat as the organization’s 23rd annual shamanic retreat in Alaska, where participants could, “Delve into the study and practice of ancient indigenous spirituality to embrace the life force of Mother Earth in one of the few remaining WILD places on this planet. Surrounded by countless eagles, breaching whales, spawning salmon, and the tranquility of the Inside Passage, this is the perfect setting to refocus your intentions and explore the connection between your inner and outer world.”
The retreat promised to deepen participants’ connection with nature, empower their dreams through daily ritual, approach sacred places of power to internalize their energy, connect with the four directions to find their center in the fifth direction, and celebrate life through the Dance of the Deer Ceremony.
It seems pretty standard for New Age offerings.
TLINGITS SAY NO
Except that Tlingit Elder Rosita Worl doesn’t want him to come. She is calling him out as a charlatan who appropriates Native culture and she finds his teachings offensive.
And Worl is a force to be reckoned with, as the president of the Sealaska Heritage Institute. She is telling Secunda to stay out of her people’s territory. The Juneau Empire wrote about Worl’s letter disinviting Secunda from visiting Alaska.
Here is the full statement from the Institute:
It has come to our attention that a foundation called Dance of the Deer is planning a shamanism retreat in Juneau led by a person originally from New York who claims to be a Huichol shaman mentored by the tribe, which is based in Mexico. (http://bit.ly/2DmvetJ).
This person is charging up to $3,735 per person to attend the retreat. Fees include tuition ($1,700 per adult); lodging ($775 to $2,275, depending on whether you opt to camp or book a private suite); and a whale watching excursion ($90).
This is another form of appropriation from Native cultures and societies that began with the taking of our lands and our ceremonial and sacred objects, and now our spiritual practices. Shamans played an important role in our societies in caring for the welfare of the tribe. Shamanism was not a commercial enterprise. SHI will contact this “shaman” and request that he cease the appropriation of the most sacred and spiritual practices of the Huichol Indians. We support the people who have called his practices an exploitation of their people’s ancient traditions and we will request that he not come into Aak’w Ḵwáan, the ancient homeland of the Auk people.
Sealaska Heritage Institute is dedicated to perpetuating and enhancing Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. It promotes cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding through public services and events, according to its website.
Dance of the Deer Foundation is Secunda’s group, and is associated with the Huichol Indians of Mexico, a 35,000-person indigenous tribe in the Sierra Madres. He’s one of their shamans.
But cross-cultural politics can be perilous, even for shamans. He’s white. And he’s from Jersey.
Secunda didn’t mean to offend Tlingits when he called them “Indians” in some of his retreat promotional material, but that was one of the key offenses that Rosita Worl locked onto. He has since apologized.
Secunda says he is a highly trained shaman. He teaches people about being one with the earth. His events center around the Deer Dance Ceremony, which he says has its origins in Huichol cosmology, dating back to the birth of the sun.
“The dance is a reenactment of creation itself and honors our sacred relationship to the light. Kauyumari (The Magical Deer Spirit) is representative of our super-conscious mind and acts as an intermediary between our hearts and the spiritual world of nature,” his literature states.
Brant Secunda, screen shot from a YouTube interview.
Whatever shamanism is, Secunda has made a career of it. He owns the web site shamanism.com and he associates his work with the legendary (and perhaps mythical) Carlos Castaneda, who wrote about shamanism with the Huichol.
People are attracted to these pseudo-religions out of a desire for supernatural experiences, and some spiritual teachers are gifted at communicating a web of cosmological beliefs in a convincing way.
This is what the New Age spiritualism accommodates, as seekers drift from one vague teaching to the next, from one guru to the next incarnation. It can be dangerous — and expensive — for those who are lightly hinged to reality. From such teachings, cults are born.
Secunda doesn’t exactly say he is quite a healer, a curandero, but he does perform healing rituals. And he doesn’t quite say he’ll use peyote in his rituals, because that would be illegal. But it would also be the Huichol way. He does promise to put on a show for the willing consumer.
Brant Secunda’s Dance of the Deer Foundation would be laughable to most Alaskans, but to Worl, it is a crime against shamanism.
She has the ability to make enough of a stink about it to drive him and his handful of paying participants to some other place, which would cost the local lodge owner revenue.
YELP SAYS BUYER BEWARE
Yelp.com is not normally where spiritual seekers would go to get their shaman reviews, but sure enough, Yelp has write-ups about Secunda. They are mixed. Some called Secunda a fraud, others said he is a true healer. Then again, some Yelp reviewers call the Baranof Hotel “great,” while others call it “run down.”
One reviewer who identified herself as Tlingit, wrote that Southeast Alaska is for Tlingits. She had just read the Juneau Empire article about the kerfuffle over Secunda, and although she had never met the man, added her two cents:
“What Brant doesn’t seem to understand is that Juneau is Tlingit territory. We have lived in Southeast Alaska for thousands of years. Tlingit culture is rich, vibrant and alive! To have an outsider come with his band of New Age hopefuls to our land and describe us as “Indians” on his website is highly offensive.”
It has come down to this: Sealaska Heritage Institute is claiming shamanism for Southeast Alaska as its area of jurisdiction. No other shamans, real or imagined, need come this way.
In the magical world of shamanism, there are sorcerers and witches, spells and incantations. There is flying through parallel realities and shape-shifting. Will the dispute over shaman territory bring metaphysical warfare to the peaceful hamlet of Juneau? And if so, who will get the reality TV show rights?
More than 70 Interior Republicans gathered at the Monroe High School in Fairbanks on Saturday to hear gubernatorial candidates Scott Hawkins and Mike Chenault describe their campaigns and views on the state budget, economy, crime, and the Permanent Fund dividend, and to say why they want to be governor of the state.
It was the first time the two had met on the same stage to speak to their respective campaigns and visions for the state.
Moderated by Sen. Pete Kelly, the forum was not quite a debate, but did offer a chance for the audience to compare and contrast the two on topics of concern to Interior voters.
Hawkins said he has been a business owner for over 20 years but also has been involved leading political action committees in helping to win campaigns for pro-economic growth conservatives.
He wants a shrinking public sector and a growing private sector, and a restoration of the tens of thousands of high-paying jobs that support Alaska families. He also wants to return the Permanent Fund dividend to a formula-driven amount, and not leave it as a political tool, as has occurred under Gov. Bill Walker.
One of his first acts as governor would be to immediately revise and slim-down the governor’s proposed budget, which would have been developed by Walker for the Dec. 15 deadline.
Mike Chenault speaks during the candidates’ forum.
Chenault said he has been in the oilfield construction business on the Kenai Peninsula and first ran for office at the encouragement of his Nikiski neighbors. He was the longest serving House Speaker in state history.
He said that his years as a member of the House helped him develop the ability to talk with both sides of the aisle in the Legislature, something that he thinks a governor needs to do. He criticized the current governor for not being able to work effectively with the Legislature. Chenault supports downsizing government and putting in place meaningful spending caps. He would make tackling the opioid and heroin crisis a top priority.
Both candidates support operating budget cuts and restoring capital budgets to healthier levels. In fact, they agreed on almost all topics, so it came down to a comparison between the one with years of government experience — Chenault — or an outsider from the private sector who has never served inside the system — Hawkins.
Others who attended the meeting were District 1 candidate for House Bart LeBon, and Lieutenant Governor candidates Edie Grunwald and Steve Wright.
Mike Dunleavy, also a candidate for governor, was not present, as he was attending Republican district conventions in Anchorage. Michael Sheldon, who is exploring a run for governor from Petersburg, didn’t respond to a question about his weekend plans.
Tuckerman Babcock, chairman of the Alaska Republican Party, also spoke about the importance of the platform, and the importance and respect for the primary process, and how the two work together.
“The platform states who we are and we try to attract the best people to help represent who we are,” he said. That is the work of 400-500 grassroots volunteers statewide. Then we have a primary election and tens of thousands of voters decide who will represent us in the general election,” he said.
The Alaska Democrats in the House of Representatives have, Must Read Alaska is told, rejected the three names offered by the Alaska Democratic Party to finish out the term of Dean Westlake.
Democrats offered Eugene Smith, Sandy Shroyer-Beaver, and Leanna Mack from the sprawling district that reaches both Kotzebue and Barrow. Gov. Bill Walker has interviewed all three of them. But there are problems.
Smith and Shroyer-Beaver are both from Kotzebue and they have an intense dispute between them over a contract that involves a construction company owned by John Baker.
The issue came to a head over a year ago, when the lucrative construction oversight contract was about to be awarded to Baker, but was withdrawn at the last minute when the math showed it to be far too generous for a public contract.
Smith, who advocated for Baker’s company to get the contract, then lost his job as chief of staff to the borough mayor.
The dispute has become quite ugly between the two in the hub community of Kotzebue.
It’s likely that both Smith and Shroyer-Beaver were too controversial to fill the job of state representative because of that dispute, which has gotten very personal. And Mack, of the city formerly known as Barrow, was too inexperienced.
Leanna Mack, Sandy Shroyer-Beaver, and Eugene Smith
Now, it looks like Reggie Joule, the former representative for the district, from 1997 to 2012, is likely to be pressed into service to rejoin the House.
Joule was succeeded by Ben Nageak, also a Democrat, but the Alaska Democratic Party targeted Nageak for removal in 2016, and put in place Westake, who was a known harasser of women.
Westlake’s habits eventually got him booted even from his own Democratic caucus. His forced resignation went into effect on Dec. 25.
Joule is a Democrat and he knows the process of legislating. Since leaving the Legislature, he became mayor of the Northwest Arctic Borough (2012-2015), and has worked on Arctic issues. He is a lobbyist for the Northwest Arctic Borough schools.
In 2008, Joule and two other Bush Democrats — Bryce Edgmon and Bob Herron — began caucusing with the Republicans and Joule sat on the House Finance Committee. Edgmon is now the House Speaker, leading a Democrat-controlled majority caucus with the help of three Republicans, who crossed over.
JUNEAU – Juneau resistance rally participants didn’t get the memo.
The pink “pussy” hats were fashionable when President Donald Trump was sworn in. But no more. The hats were not welcome at many of the second annual resistance rallies taking place around the nation.
“The Pink P*ssy Hat reinforces the notion that woman = vagina and vagina = woman, and both of these are incorrect,” the Facebook page of the Women’s March in Pensacola, Florida states.
But in Juneau, there were a hundred or more of the hats on display today during the rally in shocking defiance of non-binary people and women of color. The hats are the knit symbols of lady parts, and are now considered politically incorrect.
It seems that transgender people don’t have pink lady parts and neither do many non-Caucasian women.
The hats and the people who wore them gathered at the Alaska Capitol for music, speeches and a cathartic anti-Trump tribal experience. Participants even dressed the statue of William Seward in a pink hat, and draped him with a pink blanket.
Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott spoke at the Juneau “resistance” rally and was warmly applauded. The emcee reminded the crowd that “behind every good man is a woman telling him what to think.” So true, so true.
Legislators attending included Reps. Scott Kawasaki, Geran Tarr, Sam Kito, Harriet Drummond, and Justin Parish. Also, former Rep. Beth Kerttula was present.
Meanwhile, in New York City, Anchorage Assembly member Eric Croft donned his pink pussy hat, which essentially meant he is wearing a replica of a vagina on his head today, and attended the rally rather than going to the museum, which had been his original plan.
This photo provides Must Read Alaska with too many inappropriate thoughts. We are blushing.
John Aronno, who works as an aide to Assembly member Chris Constant, held down the men’s solidarity (can we say that?) fort in Anchorage, but chose a reddish color for his vagina hat for the rally:
In Detroit, women were discouraged from wearing the offending hats, so they would not make uncomfortable the “transgender women and gender non-binary people who don’t have typical female genitalia and to women of color because their genitals are more likely to be brown than pink.”
“I personally won’t wear one because if it hurts even a few people’s feelings, then I don’t feel like it’s unifying. I care more about mobilizing people to the polls than wearing one hat one day of the year,” said Phoebe Hopps, who founded the Women’s March Michigan.
In Juneau, the rally was large, not surprising considering the demographics, and appeared to be a great catharsis for a multitude of angry women and gentle men, who clapped and had spurts of cheering, while carrying signs that “virtue signaled” their moral superiority.
Rep. Scott Kawasaki, bright green jacket, who is known around the Capital City for his dating activities with young and impressionable females, attended the resistance rally today. His menu choices were varied, but the odds were in his favor.
The music was loud and uplifting, some of the signs were funny (“Free Melania”) but many of the faces in the crowd were belabored.
The men who participated wore a submissive “beta-male look,” and didn’t smile much. They did get a lot of estrogen-fueled approval for being there.
The women were taking lots selfies and looking at pictures of themselves on their phones. Facebook will be filled with their images soon. For the grandkids, you know.
Mike Dunleavy, running for governor of Alaska, today said he is dismayed that Gov. Bill Walker during his State of the State Address on Thursday did not mention the scourge of domestic violence and sexual assault.
For the past several years, Alaska governors have focused on these problems in their State of the State speeches, because these crimes are worse in Alaska than in any other state. Gov. Sean Parnell made Choose Respect his signature cause and involved every department in the state in addressing it.
40 percent of women in relationships have experienced violence from their partner, 33 percent have experienced sexual violence, and a stunning 50 percent have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault or both.
Dunleavy wrote:
This message is to those men and women who have been victimized by domestic violence and/or sexual assault. I believe you. What happened to you is NOT your fault. The predator that hurt you must be held accountable and if you were failed by Alaska as so many victims are, I am sorry. You deserve better.
I am passionate about this, having worked with thousands of Alaskan kids and families in rural Alaska. I am not using this as a “platform” to get elected, as so many have before me. I want to be elected so I can help you, and put away those that hurt you.
I’m sorry, so sorry that our state leader didn’t even mention you as he addressed the state of the state. Didn’t even acknowledge the thousands of men and women and children whose lives are derailed by trauma, didn’t even acknowledge the serial perpetrators that hurt our villages, our neighborhoods.
I don’t know why Governor Walker has abandoned you, I can’t understand or fathom why he doesn’t think the epidemic of child abuse, child sexual abuse, domestic violence and rape that destroys our families doesn’t demand state attention. I do. I WILL do everything in my power to help you.
I WILL demand more from our state on your behalf. Predators, you’re on notice. I WILL believe the victims. I WILL make certain our law enforcement and prosecutors believe, investigate and lock you up. I will not let this break Alaska anymore. Domestic violence and sexual assault hurts our people. I love Alaska. I love our people.
Those that hurt our people, your time is up. – Mike Dunleavy
The Choose Respect initiative that was launched in 2009 has all but disappeared under Walker, who has shifted his focus to building a gasline.
Because Senate Republicans refuse to pass an tax on working Alaskans, the Democrat-controlled Alaska House majority is once again calling for higher taxes on oil.
Democrats introduced House Bill 288, which would increase the minimum oil and gas tax from four percent to seven percent.
That’s a 75 percent increase at a time when the most recent tax change, HB 111, has not even fully been implemented. HB111 was passed in July.
According to HB 288’s co-sponsor Rep. Andy Josephson, the change would raise about $225 million.
The Governor’s Office apparently didn’t know about the bill and the Department of Revenue has provided no fiscal note or analysis.
Speaker Bryce Edgmon also may not have known about the bill, as he told the Resource Development Council on Jan. 4, “An industry tax? I don’t see that being on the table next session.” Instead, he promoted an income tax to the group of business leaders.
And yet, here it is. HB 288 was introduced Tuesday by Reps. Geran Tarr and Josephson, who are the Democratic co-chairs of the House Resources Committee.
Rep. Paul Seaton, a Republican from Homer and co-chair of House Finance, is also a sponsor. He is a member of the Democrat-led caucus, and none of the Democrats would have their positions of power had not he, Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, and Rep. Louise Stutes joined the Democrats’ caucus. That makes Seaton extraordinarily powerful in the majority caucus and he has had a pattern of advocating for higher taxes on everything.
Seaton was overheard telling oil company representatives on a flight to Juneau on Monday that they could avoid the tax if they would simply pressure lawmakers to pass an income tax. It was his way of leveraging them into working with Democrats to tax somebody else.
“The Senate’s unwillingness to consider new revenues has left Alaskans with limited choices for a sustainable budget future,” Tarr said in a press release. “This bill represents a modest, fair increase in oil taxes that benefit all of Alaska.”
The price of oil, she said has “stabilized in the $60 per barrel range.” Oil reached $60 a barrel in October and has been over $65 for months.
“Stability in oil taxes ensures that present and future Alaskans can share in the benefits of Alaska’s natural resource wealth,” said Rep. Josephson. “If we aren’t increasing the Permanent Fund, then we won’t have new revenues to share through the permanent fund dividend program. Even with all the increased oil exploration happening in existing and new locations, we can’t balance the budget with the existing revenue stream.”
The Permanent Fund grew by $300 million this week and over $6 billion since last June.
There have been seven major tax changes in the last 12 years. HB 288 would be the third oil tax change in three years, including HB 111, which was also sponsored by Josephson and Tarr.
“If the Senate refuses to address small steps to diversify revenue sources, then we must continue to rely on the oil and gas sector to fill the gap,” Seaton said.
“This slight but fair addition to the minimum tax will add a reasonable amount of money to the state’s revenue to help reduce the budget deficit,” said Tarr.
The Governor’s Office has based its budget on a projected oil price averaging $56 per barrel for 2018 (the fiscal year that ends on July 1) and $57 for 2019. Oil crossed over $56 in September and has climbed since. For every dollar it increases, the state receives another $30 million.
Meanwhile, Rep. Tarr is also co-chair of a bipartisan and bicameral working group that formed last year to examine all aspects of oil taxes. The working group was agreed to by the generally anti-tax Republicans in order to break legislative deadlock over the final version of HB 111, but it appears that Tarr is already out in front trying to change the oil tax structure before the group has a chance to finish its work.
Janet Weiss, president of BP Alaska, will shave her head on Saturday. She promised employees she would if they stemmed the decline and held Prudhoe Bay oil production flat in 2017. And they did. Weiss has been regional president since 2013, succeeding John Minge.
DISTRICT 40 CANDIDATES – A NO-GO?
The three candidates for the District 40 seat are said to be rejected by House Democrats. The two who were leaders for Dean Westlake’s vacated seat cancelled each other out with friendly fire — accusations between Eugene Smith and Sandy Shroyer-Beaver.
Is there any chance they’ll seat former Rep. Ben Nageak of Barrow? It would come with an agreement he would have to join the Democrat-led majority. That’s the talk.
DEAN WESTLAKE
We’re hearing rumblings that former Rep. Dean Westlake wants to appeal at least one of the findings of the Legislature’s human resources investigation into sexual harassment claims against him. And he may even want to sue, because private personnel information was released by Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux and the Legislative Affairs Agency. Does he have a case?
JOB OPENING
Sen. Lisa Murkowski is hiring a staff assistant. Desired qualifications include “two years of office experience with strong phone and reception skills. Outstanding written and communication skills as well as detail oriented. Must be able to work in a fast-paced environment and have a demonstrable understanding of Alaska’s unique issues and attributes.” The job starts in February. E-mail cover letter and resume to Angelina Estrada-Burney, Administrative Services Director at [email protected]
EGAN OUT?
Sen. Dennis Egan is thinking about retiring. The 70-year-old Democrat told the Juneau Empire he’ll announce his decision Feb. 6 on KINY, the radio station he owns.
Egan is 70 and “has health challenges.” Juneau tip-toes around what this means, but it’s not really a secret here in the Capital City.
In addition to Egan questioning his political future, Rep. Sam Kito isn’t sure he wants to continue if he doesn’t get per diem, as he has in the past.
For Rep. Justin Parish, however, $50,400 a year is the best money he’ll ever earn. He’s already running hard.
