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‘Beset with problems’ Dispatch goes on Auction block Monday

Suzanne Downing
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‘Beset with problems’ Dispatch goes on Auction block Monday

BUT THURSDAY WILL BE TELLING

A court filing by Alaska Dispatch News owner Alice Rogoff details “terms and assumptions” associated with the sale of Alaska’s largest newspaper to the Binkley Company of Fairbanks.

The paper goes on the auction block next Monday morning.

Only one bidder is known at this point — the Binkley Company, headed by Ryan Binkley, his siblings and business partner Jason Evans. Two other groups are rumored to be circling, but whether they will ultimately bid will only be known at the close of business this Thursday.

In the meantime, Sept. 8 will tell media observers a lot about the future of the newspaper.

That’s when the Binkley Company will file details of its up to $1 million loan to Rogoff to keep the newspaper afloat while it undergoes Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

That same $1 million is also the Binkley Company’s opening bid for the newspaper, which was sold to Rogoff by McClatchy Co. three and a half years ago for $34 million.

Any other interested buyers must offer up $1 million cash by then in pre-qualification funds — money that would be held in escrow by Rogoff’s bankruptcy attorney, Cabot Christianson. The funds would be forfeited if the successful bidder didn’t close within three days of bankruptcy court approval. Serious earnest money, indeed.

If another bidder besides the Binkley Company is successful, it would have to pay Binkley some $1 million plus $100,000, and 3 percent of the purchase price, money that would offset the time, trouble and treasure Binkley has gone through to rescue the paper, which was on the verge of complete collapse in mid-August.

Anything above that $1 million opening bid would start at $1.2 million, and then would continue in $100,000 increments.

What is not purchased by the new owner of the Dispatch will likely be placed into a Chapter 7 bankruptcy process and liquidated by the court to partially repay Rogoff’s debts, which are in excess of $20 million.

WHAT ABOUT THE EMPLOYEES?

The 212 employees of the Alaska Dispatch News are understandably nervous. The new owner, whoever it is, is not likely to continue the pattern of losing $5-8 million a year, as Rogoff has done since she purchased the paper.

Through her lawyer, Rogoff has made it clear that any employees the new owner doesn’t want to continue employing (or employees who don’t want to continue) will be covered by her existing severance policies, and that the buyer will pay the payroll, health insurance and other benefits, as well as the severance pay, “until such time as all of Debtor’s employees have either become Buyer’s employees or have been paid their severance pay.”

For an employee who has worked at the newspaper for 20+ years, that’s six weeks of severance pay. Between 10-20 years, the severance pay is four weeks.

Some employees have already started the search for other work, such as executive vice president Margy Johnson, who was spotted at a Gov. Bill Walker campaign fundraiser on Tuesday — a fundraiser that she co-hosted.

 

Margy Johnson, vice president of Alaska Dispatch News, cohosted a fundraiser for Gov. Bill Walker’s re-election on Sept. 5. She is reportedly staying on with the Dispatch until the sale is complete.

WHAT ABOUT GCI PRESS?

GCI has “no interest whatsoever in the having the press remain at the Northway location for more than a few months,” according to Rogoff’s bankruptcy attorney.

Rogoff has personally guaranteed the cost of removing the press, which is estimated to be a $1.2 million job.

[Read: Upside down world: Rogoff says newspaper owes her $8 million]

But if Alaska Dispatch News is converted from a Chapter 11 to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the press could become part of that auction, even while the Binkley Company is using it to print the paper.

Binkley has made arrangements to continue printing at GCI’s Northway location for several months.

Meanwhile, at 5900 Arctic Blvd., things are still a mess. Rogoff began installing presses in space she leased from Arctic Partners, but that construction came to a halt when she stopped paying her bills at the beginning of 2017.

“That construction was beset with problems. The installation of the press has not been completed and there is no path towards that press ever working,” according to her attorney.

The building is now part of separate-but-related litigation. M&M Wiring has a lien on the building because the work performed there for the tenant, Rogoff, has not been paid in full, and the electrical company is seeking compensation from the building’s landlord. It’s just one of several lawsuits now under way concerning Rogoff’s Dispatch dealings.

[Read: The summer of Alice Rogoff’s discontent]

[Read: List of debts owed by Dispatch goes into millions]

Domestic violence group issues apology for social media post

Suzanne Downing
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5

The head of one of the state’s leading agencies that addresses domestic violence and sexual assault has issued an apology to her organization’s board of directors and stakeholders, including the commissioner of Public Safety and deputy commissioner of Corrections.

Last month, the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault posted an item on Facebook that categorized the slogan “Make America Great Again” in a column with other white supremacy advocates, such as the KKK.

Must Read Alaska wrote about it and the item was shared widely on social media.

“If we’re serious about eliminating domestic violence, then it is vital to understand and eliminate all forms of subjugation including sexism, racism, homophobia, and xenophobia and thus eliminate hate and bigotry,” ANDVSA stated on August 20.

ANDVSA called for confronting “Make America Great Again” as a “covert form” of white supremacy:

“We can take action to end hate in our communities by working to understand and confront the socially accepted expressions of white supremacy,” the group wrote.

On Aug. 31, the director of ANDVSA apologized profusely for that social media post:

“This letter is to express the Network’s deepest apologies for the impacts of a Facebook post we made on 20 August, 2017. To clarify, a post was made that contained messages about white privilege and the intersections of overt and covert racism. This post had a visual that ANDVSA had received from a sister coalition, and in that visual, the slogan make America great again was listed as an act of racism.”

The letter continued to explain that the organization is nonpartisan and in no way wishes to create divisions or offense to those who support its mission. It explained that Must Read Alaska had spread it across social media and questioned the organization’s mission.

“We have reviewed our external communications strategies, and to that end have instituted a strict policy that all external communication must first be vetted through the ANDVSA Executive Director to ensure out key messages are firmly situated within our mission.

“We deeply value our relationship with the CDVSA [Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault], and with the people who look to you for support and leadership in eliminating sexual and domestic violence in Alaska. We apologize to you if our actions have cause others to question your role, or if our actions have put the CDVSA in a questionable position.” The letter was signed Carmen Lowry, the executive director of ANDVSA.

Member programs of ANDVSA include AWAIC in Anchorage, the AWARE shelter in Juneau, TWC in Bethel, CFRC in Cordova, SAFE in Gillingham, AIC in Fairbanks, SPHH in Homer, WISH in Ketchikan and several others across the state who give shelter and aid to abused women.

ANDVSA is not the only group to claim that Make America Great Again is a racist slogan. A university professor in Kansas who describes herself as a “brown feminist” also labeled it racist this summer. And claims in left-leaning publications have also inferred that white racism is behind the slogan, which was first made popular by President Ronald Reagan.

Elvi Gray-Jackson files, but Sen. Berta Gardner doesn’t

Suzanne Downing
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3

Former Anchorage Assembly woman Elvi Gray-Jackson has filed with the Alaska Public Offices Commission for statewide office. She hit her term limit on the Assembly last year.

Elvi is a reliable Democrat. Is she planning a run for House, since Rep. Harriet Drummond has health issues and is on a cane most days.

Or will she run for Senate? Sen. Berta Gardner’s father passed away, and she is said to be re-evaluating family life vs. public life. Berta is usually one of the first to file, and takes campaigning seriously. She is one of the top Democrat fundraisers and yet has not filed for re-election, which raises a question about whether she has other plans.

The Democrats do a good job of coordinating these things.

Readers may remember Elvi as the Assemblywoman who sought to make it illegal for people to park their campers overnight in parking lots belonging to companies like Cabela’s or Walmart. She abandoned the idea after getting some serious blowback from the public.

Jason Grenn, a nominal Indie who caucuses with Democrats, filed his letter of intent on Monday.

He’s said to be driving Lyft when not legislating others out of a job. Word is he only picks up passengers from his political neighborhood — District 22.

According to his ethics legislation, shouldn’t this disqualify him from voting on anything that relates to his work zone — District 22?

Other Democrats who filed letters of intent last week: Ethan Berkowitz filed for Mayor for the April 3 municipal election, which clarifies he won’t be running for Congress.

Berkeley-bred Gabrielle LeDoux, who is still (improbably) claims to be a Republican, filed for her District 15 House seat, and then she went rafting somewhere in the West — perhaps the Grand Canyon — with Rep. Matt Claman as her guide.

Word is there is a likely primary opponent, but LeDoux, who moved to Muldoon to run for the seat, is a fierce campaigner and she has her own political action committee, where she soaks lobbyists for money that can help her.

North Korea’s environmental disaster; Gov. Walker calls for Navy base in Alaska

Suzanne Downing
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3

For 24 years, North Korea vowed to give up its nuclear ambitions in exchange for aid packages, and yet it carried out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sunday. The politics of appeasement may not be the way forward.

Is North Korea at risk of an environmental disaster? It has detonated nuclear weapons five times under the same mountain. Scientists in China worry the mountain will implode, and radiation will escape and drift across the border.

Our site this week for all things North Korea is 38north.org

Not to be outdone, Alaska has reported 30,580 30,672 earthquakes this year.

While we’re on the topic, check out the footage of the nuclear detonation at Amchitka, Alaska in 1971. It rattled the china, and then some.

GOV. WALKER CALLS FOR A NAVY BASE

Other leaders are calling for more missile defense, which would include beefing up those in Alaska, where we have a strategic advantage. Many are calling for more diplomacy, as well, and help from China.

Gov. Walker, however, is calling for a Navy base to be built in the 49th state. He did so in a statement that was sent to the media but not posted on his web site.

A Navy base in Alaska is not exactly a national priority, and is even lower on the list than our need for more ice breakers and Coast Guard presence.

Strong missile defense would seem the most important strategy.

Sen. Dan Sullivan has spent the past two years working hard to keep the Army’s 4-25 unit at JBER. We haven’t heard of our delegation advocating for a Navy base, but it doesn’t appear that Walker consulted with them before releasing his statement.

“Such a base would also provide key support for collaborative exercises and training with the maritime forces of our allies,” Walker said.

As one Washington-based expert put it, “Walker seems out of touch when he repeats the call for building a Navy base, but that’s his go-to stance.”

Walker’s statement in full:

Governor Walker’s Statement on Latest North Korea Development

September 3, 2017 ANCHORAGE —Governor Bill Walker today released this statement on the latest news of North Korean activity:

“North Korea has just completed its sixth test of a nuclear weapon, which may be its most powerful one yet.  It has done so after recent apparently successful tests of long-range missiles.  I am committed to doing everything in my power to keep Alaskans and all Americans safe from the growing threats of this rogue nation or others in the Pacific region bent on developing weapons of mass destruction. 

“Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.  He has called for ‘a comprehensive strategy that not only places an emphasis on deterrence but also empowers our allies and partners in the region, who must do far more to confront this threat.’  A navy base in Alaska can be a key part of this strategy.

“Our location provides the quickest access to Asia for any base which would also be under the protective umbrella of the missile defense unit at Fort Greely which protects most of North America.  This combination assures a powerful force for military deterrence will remain available to our Commander-in-Chief even if North Korea or another rogue nation were to launch a missile attack.  Such a base would also provide key support for collaborative exercises and training with the maritime forces of our allies. 

“As made clear during World War II, Alaskans understand what it means to be on the frontline of defending this nation.  Alaskans also understand what it means to be attacked on U.S. soil by a foreign nation.  The time is now to make our lands safer for today and for future generations.” -Governor Bill Walker

Labor Day in Alaska is for government workers

Suzanne Downing
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3

OUR SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR REFLECTS ON THE LACK OF SKILLED WORKERS IN ALASKA

By ART CHANCE
SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR

I spent much of my adult life across bargaining tables and in hearing rooms arguing with unions over wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment.

The unions, some of them anyway, like to accuse me of being anti-union, but I’m not anti-union, when they are in their role of representing employees in matters of wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment.  After all, I grew up in the South and I’ve seen how employers will behave in a friendly legal environment and with a labor surplus. I wouldn’t want to be an hourly worker non-union, even in Alaska.

Art Chance

I am, however, very anti-union when they assume the role of a Socialist workers’ party with the right to compel political contributions.

Today much of America’s unskilled and semi-skilled workforce would love to have an 8-hour day rather than the four- or six-hour day and two jobs to which Obamacare has sentenced them.

This Labor Day is a good time to think about the deteriorating Alaska workforce and working conditions.

Every time Pomp and Circumstance gets played, Alaska gets a bit dumber. Our best and brightest go Outside to college and the only ones who come back for more than a visit are those with a family situation they can step into.

We are graduating kids who are at best semi-literate and who have zero work skills. Throw in the amount of drug use and we’re producing a workforce that lacks fundamental work habits and skills, and because of drug use cannot be employed in any safety sensitive job.

Employers willing to put up with the low quality workforce can hire at the minimum wage and those with some concern for Workers’ Compensation costs can pay a dollar or two more and require drug testing. You cannot live on the minimum wage or even a dollar or two more anywhere in Alaska except in your parents’ house or piled in with a bunch of others similarly situated in an apartment in a bad part of town.

And, no, the answer isn’t to raise the minimum wage.

At this time of celebrating those who labor, we should be concerned that the last time labor force participation rate in the US was so low — in the early Seventies — a large number of women began to enter the workforce.

I’ve never looked at Alaska specific workforce participation rates, but it must be abysmal Statewide and disastrous in rural Alaska. And it isn’t going to get any better unless we take steps to produce a more skilled workforce.

If you’re a entry level or low/semi-skill worker, only your personal pride causes you to take the jobs that are available to you in the private sector.  If you can’t get an entry-level government job, and the competition is intense, you’re better off on welfare than working two or three lousy jobs to try to support yourself.

Frankly, if you go to college and come out with some general studies/liberal arts degree, you’re still an entry level or low/semi-skilled applicant and they’re a dime a dozen, though the degree might give you a little advantage in getting a government job.

There really isn’t much to celebrate about labor in Alaska unless you are a high-skill worker or have a unionized government job. The unions, particularly the building trades unions that were once the most powerful force in Alaska politics, have all but abandoned doing anything other than protecting their niche. They should be desperately concerned about their diminishing ability to send a qualified employee when one of the few remaining unionized employers calls the hall.

Young people are trying to enter the workforce with no skills and no clue as to what is expected from an employee. Just as the University of Alaska has to provide remedial courses before Alaska graduates can even take college level classes, themselves dumbed down already, the unions that have apprenticeship programs have to teach their apprentices what work is before they can teach them the skills of their trade.

They need to help do something about it, but so far they seem content with the status quo and are allied with the teachers’ unions in maintaining that status quo.

Art Chance is a retired Director of Labor Relations for the State of Alaska, formerly of Juneau and now living in Anchorage. He is the author of the book, “Red on Blue, Establishing a Republican Governance,” available at Amazon. He only writes for Must Read Alaska when he’s banned from posting on Facebook. Chance coined the phrase “hermaphrodite Administration” to describe a governor who is both a Republican and a Democrat, but neither. This was a grave insult to hermaphrodites but he has not apologized.

A day off update for Must Read Alaska readers

Suzanne Downing
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0

Looking for your Monday morning Must Read Alaska newsletter in your inbox? Ah, shucks: It’s a day off and we’re with family, but your newsletter will arrive on Tuesday this week and you won’t be disappointed.

If you’re not receiving the newsletter, sign up at the right side of the page. More than 10,000 Alaskans read it every Monday morning (except holiday Mondays). It’s a bit different from this news site, but Alaskans like it that way — personal, folksy, and not politically correct. We also do books and poetry at the newsletter, and a bit of sass.

An update on this news site:

  • August set a new record for Must Read Alaska, with more than 112,000 views.
  • We’ve had more than one million views since MRAK’s launch in May of 2016. Thank you for reading!
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If you care to support the mission of Must Read Alaska, which is to provide a conservative view of current events, you can chip in on the right side of this page. Whatever amount is right for you.

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Thank you for helping us keep the lights on — and shine the light on the news!

Gasless governor fails to deliver on his own deadline

Suzanne Downing
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3

By CRAIG MEDRED
CRAIGMEDRED.NEWS

The first day of September came and went with nary a peep out of the office of Alaska Gov. Bill Walker as to the fate of his beloved Alaska natural gas pipeline. The anniversary would be hardly worth noting but for what Walker said at the end of August 2016.

It was then he drew a line in the sand and went out of his way to publicize it in the pages of the Alaska Dispatch News owned by friend and supporter Alice Rogoff. September 1 was to have been the drop-dead date for Walker’s LNG-export project if no buyers for gas signed on.

“Walker sought the interview after weeks of seemingly bad news about the gas line, including reluctance by the producers to move ahead with the current project and a consultant report saying the gas line wasn’t competitive with other projects around the world,” reporter Alex DeMarban wrote in the story.

“(Walker) said the state will have an answer within one year whether the project can move forward — or not. If the interest is not there, the state backs off.

“‘If the market says, ‘You know what, you should have been here 10 years ago, or 20 years ago and we would have signed up and we’re not interested, (then) that’s it,’ (Walker) said.”

The answer the state had received from buyers as of Friday was “thanks for the offer” and silence. Despite the lack of firm commitments, however, cash-strapped Alaska is on schedule to spend about $100 million on the project this year and next.

When Walker this week announced plans to call the Legislature back into session in October to confront the state’s revenue shortfall, he made no mention of possible cost savings to be found by closing the state-run Alaska Gasline Development Corp. (AGDC)

The AGDC plan is for the state to one day own and run a gasline costing  an estimated $45 billion to $65 billion to build.

High hopes

Over the past year, there has been little real progress on the gasline project, but plenty of public spin.

[Read more at CraigMedred.news]

Avast and desist, FCC warns Anchorage Baptist pirate radio

Suzanne Downing
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0

Who knew that Christians could be such outlaws?

In July, agents from the San Francisco and Los Angeles Offices of the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau swooped in on Anchorage Baptist Temple using sophisticated investigatory techniques, such as perhaps a car radio.

They confirmed that radio signals on 99.9 FM “were emanating from your church located at 6401 E. Northern Lights Blvd. in Anchorage, Alaska.

“The Commission’s records show that no license was issued for operation of a broadcast station at this location on 99.9 MHz in Anchorage, Alaska.”

Evidently the signal went just too far. Such as, as far as the street.

“The field strength of the signal on frequency 99.9 MHz exceeded the maximum permitted level of 250 microvolts per meter (μV/m) at 3 meters for non-licensed devices. Thus, this station was operating in violation of Section 301 of the Act.4”

The FCC issued a warning on Aug. 28: “You are hereby warned that operation of radio transmitting equipment without a valid radio station authorization constitutes a violation of the Federal laws cited above and could subject the operator to severe penalties, including, but not limited to, substantial monetary fines, in rem arrest action against the offending radio equipment, and criminal sanctions including imprisonment.

The FCC went with all caps: “UNLICENSED OPERATION OF THIS RADIO STATION MUST NOT RESUME.”

The trip made by federal agents coincided with the silver salmon run in Southcentral Alaska. No word on whether the agents caught any fish along with the Christian pirates.

Heads and Tails: Alaskans in Texas to help after Harvey

Suzanne Downing
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0

The Alaska National Guard has responded to the call and is actively engaged in rescue and recovery following Hurricane Harvey.

A 16-person team from the Alaska and California Air National Guard continue to provide support to the city of Vidor, Texas. As water levels begin to fall the mission has shifted focus to identifying the emergency and critical needs of the community.

Teams from the Alaska’s 212th Rescue Squadron and California’s 129th Rescue Wing were going door-to-door to conduct health and welfare checks and gather information on critical items. They also are providing paramedic care if needed. Teams were also operating out of the Orange County Emergency District Number 1 Fire Station responding to emergency medical calls.

Watch Sept. 1 video by Anchorage National Guard specialist Belinda O’Neal Dresel.

Belinda O’Neal Dresel, public affairs staff sergeant, Alaska National Guard, and videographer.
On the civilian side, Anchorage resident Renata Hoskins and three others from Alaska have been deployed as Red Cross volunteers to Texas this week providing help in response to Hurricane Harvey devastation.
Renata Hoskins, Red Cross volunteer
Hoskins is a finance and statistical information specialist. Her role will be to gather and track information to make sure materials are where they need to be. It’s her first deployment as a Red Cross volunteer. Hoskins is better known in Alaska for her dog and puppy rescue work.

Must Read Alaska is reporting from “somewhere in Texas” this weekend on family duty.

WANT TO HELP? Houston’s worst-ever flood is going to get worst-er. Stay away for the next few weeks, unless you’re with an aid organization. Updates from The Houston Chronicle. 

To help the victims of Hurricane Harvey, text HARVEY to 90999 to give $10 to the Red Cross. Or visit RedCross.org to give any other amount. Red Cross provides emergency aid.

Samaritan’s Purse is moving into Houston as conditions allow. Donate here. Samaritan’s Purse provides disaster relief to those in immediate physical need. It is a Must Read Alaska-recommended organization.

To use your skills as a volunteer, visit National Voluntary Agencies Active in Disaster, NVOAD.org. This is the gold standard for disaster volunteering.

BUZZ KILL 1: Well, this is not good. We’re ranked 50th for economic investment, according to a U.S. News story. While the rest of the country has come out of the Great Recession, Alaska has headed the opposite direction. But Must Read Alaska readers already knew that.

BUZZ KILL II: Some good reporting by the Alaska Dispatch News doesn’t sugarcoat the poor educational outcomes in Alaska schools. Short version: More than 60 percent of Alaska’s public school students who took this year’s statewide standardized tests failed to meet grade-level academic standards in English language and math. This, in spite of the fact that Alaska public schools are among the highest funded in the nation. See Buzz Kill 1 for the predictable outcome.

YOUR LABOR DAY DATA: Anchorage has gained 800 jobs this year, which is a .4 percent increase, and Fairbanks has lost 600 jobs, a 1.5 percent decrease, year-over-year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Anchorage building permits increased 4 percent over last year.
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