In a heart-stopping video released by U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Russian fighter jet recklessly came just a few feet away from an American Air Force jet patrolling Alaska’s coastal defense zone on Sept. 23.
The reckless and unprofessional maneuvers of Russian fighter aircraft—within just a few feet of our Alaska-based fighters—in Alaska’s ADIZ on September 23 put the lives of our brave Airmen at risk and underscore the escalating aggression we’re witnessing from dictators like… pic.twitter.com/uutqZYBaYn
“The reckless and unprofessional maneuvers of Russian fighter aircraft—within just a few feet of our Alaska-based fighters—in Alaska’s ADIZ on September 23 put the lives of our brave Airmen at risk and underscore the escalating aggression we’re witnessing from dictators like Vladimir Putin,” Sullivan noted on social media. The video demonstrates that the act was an intentional provocation.
“These tactics stand in stark contrast to the skill and discipline of our Alaska-based service members who are on the front lines at all hours in defense of our entire country. I want to commend our Airmen for consistently and professionally executing these complex intercept missions. We need to answer force with force and continue building up America’s military presence in Alaska and the Arctic with more infrastructure, like the strategic Arctic port at Nome and reopening the Adak Naval Base, and more military assets,” Sullivan said.
The video was also provided by NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
“The conduct of one Russian Su-35 was unsafe, unprofessional, and endangered all – not what you’d see in a professional air force,” Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of the United States Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, said in a statement.
NORAD deployed jets to fly a “safe and disciplined intercept” of the Russian aircraft in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, an area beyond U.S. sovereign air space, but where pilots are expected to identify their aircraft.
The video was released a week after NORAD said four Russian military planes were detected and tracked off the coast of Alaska. About 130 U.S. soldiers and a mobile rocket launcher were deployed to Shemya, a remote Alaska island, as an increase in Russian military activity off the coast has caught the attention of the Pentagon.
Eight Russian military planes and four Russian Navy ships, including submarines, have spent the month patrolling close to Alaska during joint Russia-China military drills. None of the jets came into actual U.S. airspace but have been detected several times before this Sept. 23 incident — Sept. 11, 13, 14, and 15.
The U.S. House Oversight Committee is investigating why the Federal Communications Commission fast-tracked a deal that allowed a billionaire Democratic donor to buy a wide swath of American radio stations just weeks before the presidential election.
The major radio company Audacy Inc. fell into financial straits, but through a complex business deal Democratic mega donor and billionaire George Soros has gained control of the stations. Deals of this size require FCC approval, but in this case the FCC expedited the approval process.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr raised concerns about the deal at a Congressional hearing, telling lawmakers that “… the FCC is not following its normal process for reviewing a transaction.
“We have established over a number of years one way in which you can get approval from the FCC when you have an excess of 25 percent foreign ownership, which this transaction does,” Carr said. ““It seems to me that the FCC is poised to create, for the first time, an entirely new shortcut.”
House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. and Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., sent a letter to FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel Friday raising concerns about the deal.
“Despite the unprecedented nature of this action, the FCC majority has apparently decided to approve licenses on an accelerated timeframe for a company in which George Soros has a major ownership stake, and with stations in 40 media markets reaching ‘more than 165 million Americans,’” the letter said. “By all appearances, the FCC majority isn’t just expediting, but is bypassing an established process to do a favor for George Soros and facilitate his influence over hundreds of radio stations before the November election.”
Critics of the deal say it gives too much power to a heavily political, and liberal, billionaire just before the election.
“I have no idea why Soros would do this unless it was to manipulate the thinking of Americans and the information they listen to,” author and former member of the George W. Bush administration Mike Gonzalez told The Center Square.
“Conservative talk radio is huge, and there is no left wing talk radio because it’s just not interesting,” said Gonzalez, who is now at the Heritage Foundation. “Conservative talk radio is one of the few communications that conservatives have not a monopoly on but have a strong handle on, and he has bought stations that have Mark Levin and Sean Hannity and Dana Loesch and Glenn Beck.”
Critics also point out that Soros’ business partners in the deal include significant funding from sources overseas.
“The Audacy, Inc. deal, which will lead to Audacy, Inc. being partially ‘directly or indirectly controlled’ by foreign individuals or entities holding ‘more than one-fourth of the capital stock’ will require FCC approval to determine whether ‘the public interest will be served by the refusal or revocation of such license,’” the letter said. “In carrying out this statutory mandate under the Communications Act, FCC has years-long established processes and procedures for adjudicating broadcast licenses in such situations, most recently updated in 2016.”
Other wealthy media owners have faced scrutiny for potential abuse of their ownership power, such as billionaire Jeff Bezos when he purchased the Washington Post. However, Soros’ influence over so many radio stations may have even more influence over the country than one of the major papers, which Americans usually see as having a certain political leaning.
Soros is one of the most strategic and prolific funders of liberal organizations in the U.S.
“I don’t know why else he would plunk a pile of money this size unless it was to try to have influence over the thinking of Americans,” Gonzalez continued, adding that “this guy is committed to left-wing causes.”
What a surprise — Chuck Kopp is running for the Alaska State Legislature again, this time challenging conservative incumbent Rep. Craig Johnson.
But before we jump to conclusions about what Kopp claims he’ll do, Anchorage’s District 10 voters would be wise to remember the last time Kopp was in the Alaska Legislature.
Let’s discuss it.
Kopp wants us to believe he will prioritize education, improve teacher retention, and solve Alaska’s economic woes. But this is the same politician who was soundly defeated by Rep. Tom McKay in 2020 for his poor choices and failed policies in office. Voters in District 10 should take a hard look at his record, particularly his support of Senate Bill 91 (SB 91), ranked-choice voting (RCV), support of public employee defined benefits, reductions to the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD), and the expansion of the state bureaucracy.
One of Kopp’s most glaring failures was his leadership role in pushing SB 91, a disastrous criminal justice reform bill. SB 91 was meant to reduce prison costs, but what it really did was unleash a wave of crime across Anchorage and other parts of Alaska. The city saw an increase in property crime and public safety concerns skyrocketed. Who was at the helm advocating for this reckless policy?
None other than Chuck Kopp.
The result was chaos, making communities less safe. Kopp’s willingness to prioritize cost-cutting over public safety showed poor judgment. How can we trust him to make sound decisions on educational funding, workforce retention, or economic reforms when he was responsible for such a blunder?
Then there’s Kopp’s support for ranked-choice voting, a policy that has confused voters, complicated elections, and fueled concerns over election integrity. What was supposed to ensure more voter representation instead led to widespread disengagement and confusion.
Rather than offering transparency and reliability, Kopp backed a system that only adds more layers of complexity to the electoral process, making it harder for voters to trust the outcome. His support of RCV effectively removes our choice in the election process. If Kopp truly wanted an open and transparent government, why support a system that does the exact opposite?
Kopp’s support for reducing the PFD is perhaps the biggest slap in the face to Alaskans. The PFD is not just a bonus check — it’s a lifeline, especially for rural residents who face higher costs of living. Yet Kopp consistently voted to reduce the PFD, even while supporting more government spending. Billions of dollars that should have gone to Alaskans went instead to feed a bloated state bureaucracy.
Alaska is unique. While 66% of the state population is urban, a staggering number of rural Alaskans depend on the PFD to make ends meet — almost 250,000 Alaskans. And still, Kopp’s policies undermined their economic stability, robbing families of much-needed support. His promises of economic reform ring hollow when his actions have led to deeper financial insecurity for countless Alaskans.
Kopp also championed government expansion at a time when fiscal restraint was desperately needed. Because of Kopp’s time in the Alaska State House, he participated in laying the groundwork for a continuing pattern of increasing the state’s budget, rewarding the state bureaucracy but punishing his constituents. At every turn, he seemed more interested in growing the state bureaucracy than solving real problems. Whether it was backing unnecessary regulations or increasing state spending, Kopp showed time and again that he prioritizes the government machine over the people.
When the economy was on the brink during the Covid pandemic, Kopp aligned with restrictive measures that strangled small businesses and delayed meaningful relief. His decisions caused further financial strain on families and workers who were already struggling to survive. Instead of fighting for his district, Kopp dug in and sided with policies that worsened the economic fallout.
In his latest pitch, Kopp talks about diversifying Alaska’s energy sources and supporting new environmental initiatives. But where was this enthusiasm when Alaska industries were drowning under federal overreach? Many political figures, like Kopp, have supported federal funding, with its sweeping progressive regulatory requirements. This only harms Alaska’s future economic growth. Small businesses and large industries alike have faced unbearable costs and regulatory hurdles that stifled growth. Kopp’s track record shows little to suggest he would be any different.
Kopp’s support of the return of an Alaska state-defined benefit plan for public employees will bankrupt the state because it guarantees fixed lifetime payouts based on salary and years of service, regardless of the fund’s actual investment returns or state revenues. It will also install a permanent bureaucracy class in a natural resource development state. How will this benefit our communities and their people? With Alaska’s volatile oil-dependent economy, inconsistent revenues, and the growing number of retirees, the state risks massive unfunded liabilities. This burden would likely require increased taxes or cuts to other critical services, further straining the state’s finances and potentially driving Alaska into deeper fiscal crisis.
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.“
Chuck Kopp may sound like he has all the answers now, but we’ve seen this before. His previous tenure in the Legislature was marked by failures that hurt the safety, prosperity, and economic stability of Alaskans. Kopp claims to be a problem-solver, but when given the chance, he pushed policies that caused more harm than good.
District 10 voters should not be fooled again. We deserve a representative like Rep. Craig Johnson, who puts Alaskans first, who fights for our financial independence, and who works to keep our communities safe, not someone who will grow the government at our expense.
Michael Tavoliero is a resident of Eagle River and writes for Must Read Alaska.
North Pole City has been rocked in recent months over the “Candy Cane street light” controversy.
Former Mayor Mike Welch and the public works director were removed from office for procurement issues and cost overruns on a project to repaint the Candy Cane street light poles, which are iconic to the community.
Neither mayoral candidate is an incumbent, but both have served on the North Pole City Council. Both candidates are very personable and are men of faith, and both want to bring healing and trust back into city politics. There are subtle differences in campaign style and messaging that could give voters clues as to what they are choosing.
Councilman Larry Terch was elected last year to the city council. As a 46-year resident of North Pole, he has worked in real estate for nine years and is a fiscal conservative who is concerned about the aging city water and sewer infrastructure. The water system needs a substantial overhaul of equipment, which is bound to be costly. There are further concerns with the PFAS [per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances] contamination that is slowly migrating to the city’s source of water, and there are other contaminants that will need to be addressed soon.
Terch has expressed an interest in the role that taxes play in the community. Besides a property tax, North Pole has a city sales tax and a large share of the sales tax revenue that comes from people who live outside the city. The city has to remain attractive to draw those outside dollars into the retail core, and that means tourists and residents outside city limits, who can bring those dollars.
Terch has a few campaign signs out, but most of his campaigning has been going door to door. He does not have much of a footprint on social media.
Terch’s opponent, Councilman Anton Keller is a chiropractor who works in Fairbanks. He moved his family to North Pole from Ohio in 2018, according to his Facebook posts, although he says he has lived in North Pole for 14 years.
Keller does not have much in the way of specifics on his platform. Most of what he talks about the most is bringing “big stakeholders” to the table to come up with plans on what is best for the city. However, no one is really certain who these stakeholders are and what they would say beyond what has already been said at city council meetings.
Keller uses terminology that sounds like it comes from an International Council of Local Environmentalist brochure. However, it is uncertain if he actually understands the ICLE doctrine and aligns with it, or is just using words he has heard in liberal circles from people with globalist training. He re-posts things on social media from a known Fairbanks Marxist group called the Fireweed Collective, so perhaps Keller is far more left-leaning than it appears on the surface.
Keller’s campaign has been more focused on big signs and gimmicks, such as asking people to post selfies with Keller’s sign in the background. The person who can post photos with all his signs will be entered into a raffle to get a $100 dinner with him and his wife at one of North Pole’s fine restaurants. It’s unclear if this is covered by Alaska Public Offices Commission rules or is regulated by Alaska charitable gaming laws.
North Pole City Council
The City Council race in North Pole has two formally announced candidates and one write-in candidate. Santa Claus, a known socialist and “Bernie Bro,” is one of the contenders for a seat. He ran for Congress and has served on the council in the past, also as deputy mayor. Like Terch, he is concerned about the city water system. Claus would also like to see city services expanded based on what residents desire.
The other contender is Ellen Glab, a former city employee. She is more interested in lines of communication between the staff and leaders in the community. She is more focused on public employee issues.
The write-in candidate is Michael Mowery. Write-in candidates are often a long shot, but Mowery is a fiscal conservative and has experience with budgets from his businesses.
Mowery grew up in the North Pole area, is the owner of an apartment complex, and is and a heavy equipment operator. While Mowery is significantly younger than Santa Claus, he has extensive experience in property management. Mowery would bring a new skill set and perspective to the council if he was elected.
The North Pole municipality’s election will end Oct. 1 at 8 p.m.
In the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly Seat F race, voters can choose between Tammie Wilson, a former Assembly member with extensive budget experience, or high school gym teacher Garrett Armstrong. One of them — the Republican or the Democrat in what is ostensibly a nonpartisan contest — will replace departing de facto marxist Savannah Fletcher, who is attempting to join the state Senate in November.
It’s been a year since the Fairbanks Assembly took a hard tack to the left, and voters saw the results almost immediately, with lavish spending on an animal shelter followed by attempts to ratchet up taxes, and move Fairbanks to an all-mail-in ballot, so it can become like Anchorage.
Candidate Tammie Wilson brings to the table extensive experience with budgets, both on the Assembly and as a state legislator. While she was chair of the Assembly Finance Committee, Wilson delivered a budget well under the tax revenue cap, which resulted in a lower overall borough mill rate for taxpayers.
Since her departure from the Assembly last year, the budget instantly expanded, and spending has started to climb.
While the 2022-23 budget was $183,566,824, the budget by the new left-leaning Assembly was over $197 million, resulting in an estimated areawide mill rate of 10.599 mills, an increase of 0.158 mills from the FY23-24 budget. It taxes up to the Borough’s revenue cap.
Among the list of budget items Wilson has called out as excessive is the $33 million spent on the lavish “Puppy Palace” animal shelter replacement project. The proposed shelter has limited additional capacity, limited outdoor runs, and no drop off boxes, but does have a clerestory roof and extensive meeting rooms and facilities for borough staff along with other excessive amenities. Yet it cost as much as an elementary school in Alaska.
To compare, a new 33,000-square-foot elementary school (nearly twice the size of the Puppy Palace) was built in Kivalina in 2023 for $50.4 million.
The new Mat-Su Central School, at about 50,000 square feet, is being built for $25 million. But the 17,737-square-foot animal shelter in Fairbanks was a $33 million expenditure.
Wilson would have voted against the project at that budget level. She has called out the current Assembly members for failing to listen to the extensive testimony against what appears to be the most expensive animal shelter in the nation.
The Assembly not only voted to proceed with the enormous cost, it added another $236,700 to the project in September for a design change.
And yet, the Assembly needed money for schools, but it had spent so much on the puppy palace that it decided to try to blow through the tax cap and get the public to tax itself another $10 million for education. After six hours of testimony that went largely against holding a May 7 special election to increase property taxes, the liberal majority on the Assembly voted for the election, which cost taxpayers another $130,000. The taxpayers revolted and turned it down.
Wilson has noted that some Assembly members spend their time texting during Assembly meetings rather than listening to the public. Those who do testify are often treated with disrespect, she has noted.
Garrett Armstrong is on the board of the local chapter of the NEA — the National Education Association, which is one of the most powerful Democrat surrogate organizations in the country. On the Assembly, the NEA would be his master, as this is a playbook the NEA has run time and again in Alaska.
Armstrong has consistently indicated in forums that he doesn’t have enough information on issues to make an informed statement on a topic. However, he has made it clear in his newspaper commentaries and in social media posts that he is in favor of expanding the role of government. He endorses Democrat Grier Hopkins for mayor and indicates he will vote with the liberal side of the aisle to continue the march toward converting the Fairbanks North Star Borough into an Anchorage-style government.
One of his ads, claiming Wilson opposed the trails plan, had to be pulled because it was materially false. Wilson, along with Jimi Cash, voted to approve 2022-47, the trails plan; there is a difference between making sure easements are legal versus being “anti-trails.”
Armstrong, a registered Democrat, signed a petition to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy in 2019. That petition, organized by supporters of scandalized Gov. Bill Walker, including the brother-in-law of Grier Hopkins, failed to advance for lack of interest in the voters’ part. Most of the signers of the petition were Democrats.
Armstrong would be a vote for the liberal side of the spectrum for Fairbanks.
Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance has not yet issued an apology to the family of a man who reportedly lunged at a police officer while brandishing a knife, and ended up shot dead, as the officer pulled his weapon out and defended his own life.
Earlier in the summer, LaFrance immediately apologized to the family members of another knife-wielding person, but this time LaFrance has not yet issued a statement that police were wrong to shoot the perpetrator.
The incident went down starting at about 7:12 p.m. on Sept. 29, when Anchorage Police Department officers were dispatched to the 500-block of N. Park Street after a man called 9-1-1 and said there had been an emergency and that someone was hurt. The location of the encounter is in the Mountainview neighborhood, where violent crime is a regular occurrence. The University of Alaska says Mountainview is the most ethnically diverse neighborhood in America. Bystanders said the man was of Samoan heritage.
One officer arrived near the scene and was waiting for backup. Additional officers were en route along with the city’s Mobile Intervention Team when a man suspect holding a knife began to approach the officer.
The officer backed away and directed the suspect to drop his weapon, according to Police Chief Sean Case. However, the suspect continued to move toward the officer with the knife, eventually running at the officer. The officer discharged his weapon striking the suspect in the upper body at least once.
This was the fifth fatal shooting by an Anchorage police officer in 2024. The incident was captured on both a body-worn camera and patrol car dash cameras. No officers or any other civilians were injured in this incident, police said.
Anchorage Police performed life-saving measures on the suspect until Anchorage Fire Department medics took over and transported the suspect to a hospital, where he was declared dead.
A reporter at the press conference held at midnight asked the police chief if the incident would contribute to the lack of trust that the public has in the police. Police Chief Case said the police officer did everything he could to avoid shooting the suspect.
Watch the press conference here:
According to policy, the Alaska State Office of Special Prosecutions will review the officers’ use of force and determine whether it was justified. Once that has been completed, APD Internal Affairs will review the officers’ actions to confirm whether there was any violation of policy. It is APD practice to place the officer who discharged his weapon on administrative leave for four days; his or her name will be released 72 hours after the incident.
Republicans were shocked on Sunday when House Democrat candidate Walter Featherly, running as a nonpartisan, announced he had the endorsement of a major pro-business association known as Associated General Contractors. That’s the group that represents commercial contractors in the state and it generally goes either right down the middle or to the pro-business side of the political spectrum. It’s part of a national group that is decidedly more conservative than Featherly.
Featherly is far from the center, which is why his announcement took Republicans by surprise.
But evidently, Featherly was peddling misinformation. No sooner had he posted his pride in receiving the coveted endorsement, than he took that information down. Someone reached him and made a demand that he pull down the claim. There is no such endorsement for Featherly, who was caught peddling misinformation.
This is the same Walter Featherly who was recalled from the Anchorage School Board in 1992, after he and his collaborators on the school board, including his future wife, started holding secret meetings out of the eye of the public. He lost his seat in a landslide that year during the special recall election.
Featherly is running against Republican Rep. Julie Coulombe for House District 11. Coulombe has served just one two-year term for the South Anchorage district and is part of the Republican majority in the House, while Featherly has aligned financially with the Alaska Democratic Party.
The general election is Nov. 5, with early voting starting Oct. 21 and running through Nov. 4.
In the race for Assembly Seat G, residents in the Fairbanks North Star Borough have a choice between a tax-pushing public employee — incumbent Kristan Kelly — and a private sector contractor, Jimi Cash.
Both have served on the Assembly but their records are different.
Kristan Kelly is a counselor for the Fairbanks North Star School District. On the Assembly this year, she has served as finance chair, and led to the borough to a budget that was on the brink of busting through the tax revenue cap.
In February, she voted as a member of the Assembly to hold a special election to raise taxes for the school district and never declared a conflict: Her salary comes from the school district.
Even worse, Kelly also participated in the secret “ad hoc” meetings that took place in January over Zoom, a videoconference web tool.
In those meetings, a group of Assembly members and school board employees, organized by School Board President Brandy Harty and Assembly Presiding Officer Savannah Fletcher, worked to draft a set of joint “legislative priorities.”
As the public records request made by Aaron Lojewski revealed, Fletcher was leaving voicemails for members and School Board member Erin Morotti would tell fellow school board members to check their voicemails from Fletcher.
Information among the “formal group,” which included Assembly members Kelly, Scott Crass, and David Guttenberg, among others in a texting chat, was relayed by Morotti in a separate private group Facebook Messenger Chat, which included Assembly member Liz Reeves Ramos. It was a daisy chain meeting, all in violation of the Open Meetings Act.
While the Borough Clerk and attorney Jill Dolan had ruled these meetings were “legal,” and refused to forward to the Ethics Committee, there clearly was a chain of activity that would qualify for violations of the Alaska Open Meetings Act, as well as school board policy in force at the time relating to Ad Hoc Committees and Legislative Committees.
Assemblywoman Kelly was a major proponent of the $33 million animal shelter replacement project, known more widely as the Puppy Palace. In a recent Assembly meeting she discussed how much she loved the current project and voted to give more money to the project, despite the assembly voting earlier to freeze spending on this budget-busting project.
Kelly has a dim view of property rights. She stated in a recent Chamber Forum that if you bought land in the borough, your rights are subject to the needs of the borough, even for recreational trails going through your property. She seems oblivious to the 5th and 14th Amendments that provide assurances to American citizens on their property rights.
Kelly also appears to have violated campaign laws: Her recent ads had to be pulled off the air because certain statements were misleading and involved other campaigns. She has consistently tried to suggest that Jimi Cash was against trails when he actually voted for Trails Plan 2022-47.
Kelly claims she is for economic growth. Her votes show she is for tax growth. Kelly she sees growth of government as the path to growing the economy. She voted against a resolution stating that payment of the Permanent Fund dividend is important to the wellbeing of borough residents and is an important borough priority. She believes having more defined pension benefits for public employees like herself is a borough legislative priority.
In contrast, Jimi Cash has shown himself to be a champion of private property rights and fiscal conservatism in the borough. Cash traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with EPA officials on the subject of air quality to explain to bureaucrats in the nation’s capital that the EPA rules are detrimental to borough residents. Unlike Assemblyman David Guttenberg, who travels on taxpayer dime, Cash used his own funds, not the borough’s. He was successful in getting some of the restrictions on borough residents lifted.
Cash has been a supporter of trails, but wants it done right, respecting the rights of property owners. The original trail plan had some serious flaws that needed to be resolved; Cash voted to support 2022-47 the trails plan after significant changes had been made to protect the rights of property owners.
Cash has been a major supporter of putting property public lands in the hands of private owners. One of the biggest challenges the borough faces is revenue, and yet the borough has kept substantial amounts of land in its possession and not used that land to earn additional property tax revenue.
Cash has also supported the tax cap, and favors keeping the government small and efficient. For Cash, the key to economic growth is growth of the private sector, not growth of the government.
All Assembly seats in the Fairbanks North Star Borough are vote on “at large,” which means those who vote can vote on all of the seats. The election ends at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
In the Fairbanks North Star Borough, all Assembly seats are elected “at large.” As long as you are registered to vote in the borough, you can vote on a seat. The election ends at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
The race for Seat A could determine the balance of the assembly.
Incumbent David Guttenberg, long-time Democrat activist and career politician, argues that the tax cap is broken and needs to be tossed, while in reality he wants government to have an even bigger footprint.
On Feb. 15, he voted with the leftist majority on the Assembly to hold a special election to increase taxes, despite six hours of testimony and hundreds of emails opposing the election.
He was stalwart in his support for enacting “vote by mail” elections in the borough, despite three Assembly meetings filled with testimony opposing it.
Guttenberg then voted for the censure of Assemblywoman Barbara Haney, a conservative, despite the fact that the Ethics Committee had returned a “no punishment” recommendation after a political activist form the left launched a complaint about Haney writing a letter to the editor.
Guttenberg has supported the Marxist Assembly Presiding Officer Savannah Fletcher, a lawyer who fights for radical extremist causes, every step of the way.
Guttenberg uses his position on the Assembly to further his family’s well-known political fortunes. He attempted to use the borough’s attorney to go after the redistricting board to defend his nephew’s district.
Who is that nephew? Mayoral candidate Grier Hopkins, a Democrat who is son of the former mayor Luke Hopkins and who is related by marriage to notorious Alaska election attorney Scott Kendall.
Guttenberg has taken expensive junkets on the taxpayer dime to attend meetings of the Alaska Municipal League. He has been a driving force in keeping the borough involved with other expensive membership organizations, where he uses the platforms to damage conservative elected officials around the state.
Guttenberg, who was in the Alaska House of Representatives from 2003 to 2019, participates in activities that damage the relationship between the borough and the current governor. He was an active in the Recall Dunleavy effort.
He was also an activist with “Friends of Fairbanks Schools for PROP A,” the group that attempted to raise property taxes on local residents and he participated in protest marches to encourage residents to vote to increase their property taxes by $10 million.
Just this month, Guttenberg was on the street corner with a handful of protestors displaying their displeasure with the governor.
Guttenberg’s opponent is Miguel Ramirez, a retired combat veteran who served with the Marines and the Army with 20 years, including two tours of combat zone in Iraq and Afghanistan.He retired as a logistician, and understands government operations.
Ramirez works for the Department of Defense’s housing office. He has a tremendous knowledge of the needs of military housing in the civilian market. A fiscal conservative and a home owner in West Gate area of Fairbanks, he is new on the political scene. He supports preserving the tax cap and has a reputation for listening to the public.
The voters in the Fairbanks area have a clear choice in this race.
