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District E provides more names for Senate seat

Suzanne Downing
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5
District E provides more names for Senate seat

On Thursday, after three days of political grief and grumbling, Gov. Bill Walker asked the Alaska Republican Party to provide him with additional names of people to serve as the senator for District E. The seat has been vacant since Sen. Mike Dunleavy resigned to run for governor on Jan. 15.

Walker made the request to Alaska Republican Party Chairman Tuckerman Babcock through his chief of staff Scott Kendall on Thursday night.

By Friday evening, Babcock had worked with House District 9 and 10 chairs and the Republicans forwarded these names:

  • Christopher Kurka of Palmer, District 9, former executive director of Alaska Right to Life and owner of an accounting business
  • Vicky Wallner of Palmer, District 9, a businesswoman and founder of Stop Valley Thieves Facebook page
  • Mike Shower of Wasilla, District 10, a FedEx pilot and former USAF pilot
  • Doyle Holmes of Palmer, District 10, a businessman and Republican Party District 10 chair.

Babcock had already forwarded Wallner’s name to the governor.

* * *

The drama began last Friday, when Walker appointed Randall Kowalke to fill the vacancy. Kowalke didn’t have the support of the districts or the volunteers who had spent hundreds of hours looking for candidates. They were insulted that Walker dismissed their efforts, refused to communicate with them, and and then picked someone they had not put on the short list.

Senate President Pete Kelly then sent word that he’d rather the governor work with the district. But Walker shot back, demanding that Senate Republicans vote Kowalke up or down.

They voted him down and provided this statement:

“This morning, Gov. Bill Walker’s nominee to the District E Senate Seat, Randall Kowalke, failed to be confirmed after Senate Republicans met to decide the issue.

This morning’s decision followed efforts yesterday by Senate Republicans encouraging the governor to reconsider his choice and work through the traditional process in support of the people of District E.

On behalf of Senate Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Peter Micciche (R-Soldotna) released the following statement.

“We believe the people of District E should be given an opportunity to fill the seat with a candidate they support through the traditional process, which is designed to respect the will of the voters. The seat does not belong to us in the Senate, or the governor. The seat belongs to the people of District E.”

Within hours Walker named US Marine veteran Tom Braund to fill the seat. But Braund withdrew within the day, and the governor’s chief of staff sent out a blistering statement about the Republican Party.

“To be clear, the Governor absolutely does not endorse any of the three nominees sent to him by the Republican Party, including Thomas Braund. The Senate Republicans rejected the Governor’s nominee—Randall Kowalke—and then publicly demanded that he appoint one of the three nominees endorsed by Party officials.  Essentially, they announced they would deprive the people in Senate District E of representation unless this demand was met.  The Governor does believe that District E is entitled to representation.  Accordingly, all questions regarding Mr. Braund’s fitness and qualifications for office should be directed to the Republican Party— who did vet Mr. Braund and, by vote, endorsed his beliefs as acceptable to them—as well as to the Senate Republicans who rejected Mr. Kowalke and specifically requested such a Party-approved nominee.  The Alaska Republican Party and the Senate Republicans now have the nominee they demanded.” – Scott Kendall, Chief of Staff

 

The governor’s work to replace former Rep. Dean Westlake in District 40 took a much different and more friendly tone:

“Under state law, the governor could appoint any democrat from the district, but he has certainly been committed to engaging in a conversation with the district leaders in House District 40 and has been very appreciative of the process they went through, because the end result is to find the democrat who represents the values of House District 40 and is prepared to serve. So, he’s definitely been engaged in trying to find a path forward that will lead to that.” – Austin Baird, press secretary to Gov. Bill Walker, as quoted by the Arctic Sounder

 

 

 

Nixle leads to arrest of homicide suspect

Suzanne Downing
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0
Nixle leads to arrest of homicide suspect

GOT ONE

On Friday afternoon, police received a tip that homicide and robbery suspect Aarron Settje was inside the Target store on West 100th Avenue.

Settje was wanted in connection with a homicide of 33-year-old Kortez Brown, who died of a bullet hole after being shot on Jan. 13. A warrant was issued for Settje’s arrest on Jan. 27.

Someone inside the Target recognized Settje from a Nixle alert and called 911. Police observed him walking out of the store and driving away in a black Saturn sedan. Officers stopped the vehicle in the area of C and Dimond and took Settje into custody.

Nixle alerts are email and text messages from local police and give information about everything from closed roads and accidents, to persons of interest.  Sign up for them here.

Detectives are still searching for Stephen Settje, who is wanted in connection with an armed robbery at Sportsman’s Warehouse. For details click here: http://local.nixle.com/alert/6385951/

Wanted in connection with murder, and now robbery

 

Rauscher files for Dunleavy seat

Suzanne Downing
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0

Rep. George Rauscher, who defeated Rep. Jim Colver in 2016 in District 9, has filed to run for the Senate seat vacated by Mike Dunleavy, who is running for governor.

Rauscher, a 38-year Sutton resident, ran a scrappy “Rock Solid Rauscher” campaign against a well-funded and union-backed Colver in the August primary. He easily won over Pam Goode, the Constitution Party candidate.

Colver had been targeted for removal by the Alaska Republican Party because he was part of the Musk Ox Coalition with Reps. Gabrielle LeDoux, and Louise Stutes. That group broke from the House Majority Republicans and ultimately flipped the House to Democrat control.

Known for his casual, cowboy drawl, Rauscher represents a wide area that encompasses Big Delta, Delta, Farm Loop, Fishhook, Glennallen, Sheep Mountain, Sutton, Valdez, and Whittier.

Rauscher applied to be appointed to the seat, which became vacant in mid-January, but Gov. Bill Walker rejected his name, explaining through his press secretary that a small handmade sign Rauscher had put on his office door disqualified him to be a senator. The sign was a jab at Democrats who have gotten themselves into trouble with sexual harassment and dating violence.

Even though he was not going to be appointed to the seat, Rauscher had intended to run for it, so he was at the Division of Elections at 5 pm, filing his paperwork.

“This is a time when the people of District E need an experienced representative in Juneau who has the political understanding and historically holds the same values as their outgoing senator,” he said.

Rauscher has served on the Sutton City Council, Jonesville Public Use Committee, Alpine 31 Road Service Advisory Board, and Primary Ma-Su Borough Road Service Advisory Board.

During his first year in office, he sponsored legislation to restore the full Permanent Fund dividend to eligible citizens, and he sponsored legislation to create the Jonesville Public Use Area. That bill has been stuck in a drawer by Rules Chair LeDoux.

Randall Kowalke has also filed a letter of intent to run for the District E Senate seat. He was the governor’s first choice to replace Dunleavy, but the District E Republicans pushed back on the appointment, and he was not confirmed by the Senate.

Kowalke was elected to the Assembly in the October 2015, borough election, representing Assembly District No. 7, which encompasses Meadow Lakes west to the border of the borough; and the northern border of the borough up to the Denali Highway.

Compulsive car thief behind bars, but will she stay there?

Suzanne Downing
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1
Compulsive car thief behind bars, but will she stay there?

The courts can barely keep up with Saliloimanatu Toilolo. She keeps taking those five-finger-discount cars in the Anchorage area.

But the 32-year-old’s trouble with the law goes way back to her teens.

She was arrested for stealing a car in 2004, but pled to a less serious offense. Then there were a string of minor offenses, like driving on a suspended license.

In January of 2011, Toilolo was arrested for shoplifting, and by then she had a long record of lawbreaking.

Fittingly, she created the email address “lawbreaker_22@—.com.”

On Aug. 15, 2017, Toilolo “attempted” to steal another car. She was out of jail again.

On Oct. 26, 2017 she was apprehended by Anchorage police in a stolen silver 2003 Cadillac Escalade. The vehicle had been sought by officers for weeks.

[Read: Catch and release through the court system; Toilolo nabbed again]

That case hadn’t even gone to trial when she was again arrested Jan. 11 after leading police on a high-speed chase in a stolen car that had plates from another stolen car. They caught her after she slammed the blue Honda into a retaining wall.

The vehicle had been stolen in a home burglary committed on Dec. 31, 2017. The rear license plate belonged to a different vehicle reported stolen on Nov. 18.

But her pretrial assessment under said she was low risk, and she was back on the street.

On Feb. 13, police caught her again in yet another stolen car. She scored a “7” on her pretrial risk assessment this time, just high enough for corrections officers to give her a cot at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center. Her risk assessment form is below:

 

Judy Brady steps down from ML&P Commission

Suzanne Downing
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6
Judy Brady steps down from ML&P Commission

By ANCHORAGE DAILY PLANET

‘TROUBLED BY THE PROCESS’ OF SALE TO CHUGACH

Judith Brady, longtime head of the city’s Municipal Light & Power Commission, has resigned, citing concerns about how officials are handling the run-up to the April election to decide whether Anchorage will negotiate a proposed $1 billion sale of the city’s electric utility to Chugach Electric.

In her Jan. 25 letter to Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, Brady said she supports the decision to “review” the sale, but, “As you are also aware, I am also troubled by the process.

“Two nights ago the Anchorage Assembly voted to put the question on the April ballot. This vote includes a change to the Municipal Charter to lower the required public vote from 60 percent to 50 percent. This vote was taken after a series of executive sessions by the Assembly, in which the details of such a sale were discussed and decided. These discussions and information on which they were based remain confidential.

“This is the first time in a Alaska’s history a transaction of this size has been put on the ballot based on confidential information and after only one public hearing

“While the Assembly made it clear, if the public voted ‘yes’ to approve the sale, there would be several months of continued negotiation, “my concern is that these negotiations would continue to be in executive session. I am also concerned the only information available to the public will be from a Chugach  PowerPoint in which only cites their benefits.”

Brady said she was “uncomfortable” serving on a “municipal commission and publicly expressing views that may not agree with Municipality’s position.”

[Read the rest of this story at Anchorage Daily Planet.]

[Read: Shadow mayor Begich behind sale of ML&P?]

War chest report: Campaign fundraising’s first big reveal

Suzanne Downing
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0
War chest report: Campaign fundraising’s first big reveal

The first wave of campaign fundraising reports are due today. To an extent, they show the strength of candidates to be competitive in the August primary and November General Election.

Must Read Alaska will update this report as the candidates file them; the deadline is midnight for filing with Alaska Public Offices Commission.

Readers can see the entire listing at the APOC web site and explore the donor listings.

RESULTS MAY VARY

The fundraising amounts do not tell the whole story, as candidates filed for office at different times; some filed only recently, but still must report through Feb. 1.

There are other constraints that skew fundraising results: Sitting legislators are prohibited from raising funds while they are in session, while in the case of Mike Dunleavy, a separate election effort has started with a well-funded independent expenditure group that has entirely different reporting requirements.

Here are the amounts candidates in some of the possibly competitive races have reported raising up until the Feb. 1 deadline (R=Republican, D=Democrat, UD=Undeclared Democrat):

GOVERNOR

  • Alaskans for Dunleavy, R, (campaign): $105,171
          Dunleavy for Alaska (independent expenditure group): $274,000
  • Scott Hawkins, R: $217,170
  • Bill Walker, U-D: $277,191
  • Charlie Huggins, R, withdrawn: $38,843
  • Mike Chenault, R: $32,804

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

  • Kevin Meyer: $83,305
  • Lynn Gattis: $42,255
  • Edie Grunwald: $41,878
  • Byron Mallott: $154,583
  • Stephen Wright: $2,283

SENATE

  • Pete Kelly, R, District A, Fairbanks: $71,445
  • Scott Kawasaki, D, District A, Fairbanks: $48,540

Click Bishop, R, District C, Fairbanks: $19,375

George Rauscher, R, District #, Sutton: $3,950

Mia Costello, R, District K, Anchorage: $28,257

Sam Cason, U-D, District K, Anchorage: $2,945

Elvi Gray-Jackson, D, District I, Anchorage: $67,814

Chris Birch, R, District M, Anchorage: $24,525

Peter Micciche, R, District O , Soldotna, Kenai: $40,355

HOUSE

  • Kathryn Dodge, D, District 1, Fairbanks: $27,569
  • Bart LeBon, R, District 1, Fairbanks: $25,375.00

Steve Thompson, R, District 2, Fairbanks: $10,152

Colleen Sullivan-Leonard, R, District 7, Wasilla: $3,681

Pam Goode, R, District 9: $11,793

David Eastman, R, District 10: 15,026

Cathy Tilton, R, District 12, Chugiak-Wasilla: $9,531

Dan Saddler, R, District 13, Eagle River: $10,518.75

  • Gabrielle LeDoux, District 15, Anchorage: $66,624
  • Aaron Weaver, R, District 15, Anchorage: $1,970

Ivy Spohnholz, D, District 16, Anchorage: $45,641

  • Marcus Sanders, R, District 17, Anchorage: $2,554
  • Andy Josephson, D, District 17, Anchorage: $22,942

Anthony Lekanof, R, District 18, Anchorage: $1,665

Les Gara, D, District 20, Anchorage: $16,160

  • Matt Claman, D, District 21, Anchorage: $39,433
  • Marilyn Stewart, R, District 21, Anchorage: $6,490

 

  • Liz Vazquez, R, District 22, Anchorage: $7,516
  • Sara Rasmussen, R, District 22, Anchorage: $7,170
  • Jason Grenn, UD, District 22, Anchorage: $27,125

 

  • Chris Tuck, D, District 23, Anchorage: $3,500
  • Forrest McDonald, R, District 23, Anchorage: $1,272
  • Connie Dougherty, R. District 23, Anchorage: $6,755

 

  • Joe Riggs, R, District 26, Anchorage: $19,037
  • Al Fogle, R, District 26, Anchorage: $11,600

Lance Pruitt, R, District 27, Anchorage: $10,500

Jennifer Johnson, R, District 28, Anchorage: $5,148

  • Chuck Kopp, R, District 24, Anchorage: $15,911
  • Steve Duplantis, R, District 24, Anchorage: $5,556

Laddie Shaw, R, District 26, Anchorage: $11,792

  • Paul Seaton, District 31, Homer-Anchor Point: $32,760
  • John Cox, R, District 31, Homer-Anchor Point: $928

 

  • Justin Parish, District 34, Juneau Mendenhall: $8,067.45
  • Jerry Nankervis, R, District 34, Juneau: $23,932.54

Daniel Ortiz, UD, District 36, Ketchikan: $9,346.74

  • Bryce Edgmon, D, District 37, Dillingham, Aleutians: $14,020
  • William Weatherby, R, District 37, Dillingham, Aleutians: $2,462

Louise Stutes, District 32, Kodiak-Cordova, $13,100

ANCHORAGE MAYOR

  • Ethan Berkowitz, D: $102,090
  • Rebecca Logan, R:$50,026.29

ANCHORAGE SCHOOL BOARD

Deena Mitchell: $22,649

Alisha Hilde: $8,108

Tasha Hotch: $5,656

OTHER

FAIR ANCHORAGE NO ON 1: $415,747

Fairbanks utility interested in purchase of ML&P

Suzanne Downing
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1

ANCHORAGE DAILY PLANET EDITORIAL

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner is reporting this morning that the Golden Valley Electric Association is more than a little interested in the proposed $1 billion sale of Anchorage’s Municipal Light & Power utility to the Chugach Electric co-op.

The newspaper says GVEA sent ML&P a nonbonding letter of interest that “provides a purchase price range of $875 million to $1 billion and promises not to raise rates or lay off employees for 24 months.”

“It’s not an offer,” the newspaper reported GVEA CEO Corey Borgeson as saying. “This is a little bit of a defensive move. There is concern that if we lose one of our major suppliers that we may see higher costs of energy from the Anchorage area.”

The letter gives GVEA an opportunity “to work on issues and conditions of the sale,” Borgeson said.

Other entities also have submitted letters of interest, but Anchorage officials are blocked from discussing the proposed deal because of a nondisclosure agreement.

“I am very limited with what I can say,” Kristin DeSmith, communications director for Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, told the News-Miner.

Borgeson told the newspaper GVEA is interested in “buying components of ML&P, namely gas wells in Cook Inlet, a new power plant near Eagle River and the Bradley Lake Hydroelectric Project of which GVEA owns a 17 percent share.”

[Read more at the Anchorage Daily Planet]

Tom Braund withdraws, but not before governor lashes out

Suzanne Downing
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8

REPLACING MIKE DUNLEAVY PROVES TRICKY

Less than 24 hours after he was appointed, the second man chosen by Gov. Bill Walker to fill Senate Seat E has withdrawn, saying he needs to take care of personal matters.

The first man chosen, Randall Kowalke, was rejected by Senate Republicans, who asked the governor to work more closely with the district in finding a replacement for former Sen. Mike Dunleavy, who is now a candidate for governor.

In a long letter to Walker, Braund — a former Marine and retired safety officer — said that none of the media attacks regarding him had anything to do with his decision, and that it was simply personal choices involving the health needs of a loved one.

His letter to Walker indicates why District E people chose him in the first place:

“My decision has nothing to do with the media trying to smear me with anything they think is dirt in their quiver; even a joke can be turned into dirt by the low reporters.

“My decision is my own. I’m a Marine; this stuff rolls off my back like the dew. I’ve had professional gangsters try; they lost. So, nothing leftists try sways my decisions.

“My decision has little to do with the fact that I am somewhat unfamiliar with the processes in Juneau or any lack of knowledge of any issues at stake; I know enough. I would be on a big learning curve and am highly qualified to learn.

“To me, the most important thing anybody elected can do is whatever makes life better and easier for the People of Alaska. These days, that means your elected doing what it takes to keep your money in your own pockets, not funding government expansion or special interests. Politicians forget whose money it is.

“This State belongs to Alaskans, not government. The elected are supposed to be maintaining essential infrastructure, not luxury. That is the foundation of my decisions – the Constitutional job description.”

CHIEF OF STAFF GOES BALLISTIC

At the same time Braund was withdrawing his nomination, Gov. Walker’s Chief of Staff Scott Kendall, fired off an angry statement defending the nomination:

To be clear, the Governor absolutely does not endorse any of the three nominees sent to him by the Republican Party, including Thomas Braund.  The Senate Republicans rejected the Governor’s nominee—Randall Kowalke—and then publicly demanded that he appoint one of the three nominees endorsed by Party officials.  Essentially, they announced they would deprive the people in Senate District E of representation unless this demand was met.  The Governor does believe that District E is entitled to representation.  Accordingly, all questions regarding Mr. Braund’s fitness and qualifications for office should be directed to the Republican Party— who did vet Mr. Braund and, by vote, endorsed his beliefs as acceptable to them—as well as to the Senate Republicans who rejected Mr. Kowalke and specifically requested such a Party-approved nominee.  The Alaska Republican Party and the Senate Republicans now have the nominee they demanded.” – Scott Kendall, Chief of Staff

VICKI WALLNER’S NAME FORWARDED

Alaska Republican Party Chairman Tuckerman Babcock said he was forwarding the next name on the list of applicants to the governor for his consideration: Vicki Chaffin Wallner of Palmer. Wallner had come in fourth during the voting process in the district meeting in mid-January.

Wallner is the founder of a popular crime-fighting Facebook group in the Mat-Su Valley, “Stop Valley Thieves.” She is a businesswoman and small farm owner.

Governor lowers flags, reminds Alaskans of ‘fragility of life’

Suzanne Downing
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2

Gov. Bill Walker has ordered Alaska and U.S. Flags lowered to half-staff in remembrance of the victims of yesterday’s deadly shooting in Parkland, Fla. The directive to do so comes from the White House.

“Donna, Byron, Toni, and I are heartbroken, and share our prayers with the children, parents, educators and community members of Parkland, Florida,” Walker said in a press release. “Yesterday’s tragedy is a reminder of the fragility of life, and we join the nation in grieving with those who have lost their loved ones.”

U.S. and Alaska flags should be lowered to half-staff immediately, his order said. All flags should return to full staff at sunset on Monday, Feb. 19.

According to the Associated Press, a white nationalist group called the Republic of Florida, said that the 19-year-old shooter in Parkland was associated with the group, which wants wants Florida to become its own white ethno-state. He also had “trouble with a girl,” which may have led to his actions, in which 17 people died.

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