Alaska Airlines requested a “FAA ground stop” for Alaska and Horizon flights on Wednesday after a software upgrade caused problems with its weight and balance system, Must Read Alaska has learned.
“We’re working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience” the airline says.
At issue is a system that calculates weight and balance. The issue has since been resolved. after the ground stop, which was issued at 6:30 a.m. Alaska time and lasted for about an hour.
On Monday, pro-Palestinian protesters shut down roads and bridges across America. Passengers, pilots, and crew trying to get to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport had to walk a great distance. The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco was blocked. In Oakland, protesters chained themselves to traffic barrels on I-880, and others spread banners across the highway, blocking both north and southbound traffic.
The protest event, coordinated by a secretive pop-up group called A15action, was repeated in Miami, Chicago, New York, San Antonio, and other major cities. The leaders of the group have encrypted email addresses and are not revealing their identities. For all anyone knows, the coordinators of these blockades could be Russian, Chinese, or Iranian actors.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy saw this happening around the country weeks ago with similar road-blocking protests that were had climate change as a topic and has drafted House Bill 386 that makes such traffic-interfering actions illegal without a permit. At least two of these sudden road takeovers have happened in Anchorage recently.
Leftists say he’s trying to limit free speech. But Alaska is just one of just eight states that has no specific law on the books requiring a permit for taking over streets, bridges, highways, or runways.
“This legislation ensures that our public spaces remain safe and accessible for all Alaskans,” said Dunleavy, when he released House Bill 386 in February. “It is important to distinguish between peaceful expression of rights and actions that pose risks to public safety and emergency response efforts.”
The bill’s Senate version is SB 255.
Attorney General Treg Taylor was grilled by the Senate Judiciary Committee, dominated by far-leftists led by Chairman Sen. Matt Claman, about free speech violations and the fairness of the proposed penalties, which could include a class C felony in certain circumstances. The Alaska Senate is a Democat-run body, with a handful of Republican enablers.
Claman, a trial lawyer, made the argument that higher penalties do not deter people from committing crimes. His example was that states with the death penalty have higher murder rates.
Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, Alabama, and Illinois have the highest murder rates in the nation. They are among the 27 states that have capital punishment, (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.)
The state director for Planned Parenthood testified against the bill, saying it would criminalize homelessness and could be “weaponized by government.”
The bill says, in part, “A person may not place an object on the surface of a public use airport that because of its nature or location might cause injury or damage to an aircraft or person riding in the aircraft.”
It also addresses liability of those who obstruct roads, airports, and other infrastructure, especially if it impedes the passage of firefighters, emergency responders, or life-saving personnel, or if it causes substantial harm to others, such as the death or injury of a person who cannot get to a hospital because of the blockade.
The House Judiciary Committee will take public testimony on HB 386 on Wednesday at 1 p.m.
Information about the committee hearing is at this link.
Watch the public testimony on Gavel Alaska at this link.
By RYAN SHELDON
Some of you may already know me, and I figured I’d reintroduce myself. I’m Ryan Sheldon of Talkeetna and I’m excited about 2024.
Having recently been elected as chairman in Alaska’s District 30 Republican Party (spanning from Point Mackensie to Anderson and Healy), I am optimistic about the things that all Alaskans can be doing to be productive in this highly contested 2024 election season and beyond.
As you know, politics can be contentious struggles pitting brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, and Alaskan against Alaskan.
Whereas we all may disagree from time to time, perhaps we can take a different approach, a strong approach, an approach which embodies the very principles which Alaska was founded, and that Alaskans carried on through the many generations with which I share personal history. The approach: Unity.
When one says “Alaska belongs to the unified,” this is not a cute quip to be batted around with inaction. Rather, it something to be focused on. Unifying our state should be priority #1 and of the utmost importance if we plan on continuing prosperity in our great state. It is no secret that because of the contention of recent years, Alaskans have seen little success in building bridges among neighbors, friends, family members, etc.
Unifying ourselves does not mean agreeing on every item, nuance, or thing. But rather it is a choice, similar to the fact that love itself is a choice. For when we choose to love, we see fruit born from our actions. And when we want to bear fruit in our communities we must make the choice to unite ourselves.
For example, the chairs of the Republican-drawn Region 2, which encompasses Districts 25-30, have decided to have an incredible open line of communication with one another across all districts within the region in hopes of furthering the efforts of our communities engagements. Certainly, each chair may have alternative views on differing subjects, but it is our choice to see past these differences and communicate with one another to usher in a better Alaska, deeply engaged in our respective communities.
As we approach the 2024 Alaska Republican Convention, I encourage my fellow party members to take a deep breath and assess what we are about to embark upon as Alaskans looking to improve our State’s posture and serve our fellow neighbors via the Republican Party. After all, elected officials of any rank and kind are indeed servants of those with no voice who have entrusted us all — delegates, chair, or governor — to speak on their behalf, and fight for their general welfare.
As I take my own deep breath and pause I see two landscapes. One which looks much like our beautiful, pristine Alaska territory, harmoniously existing. The other, a landscape similar to that described by J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Mordor” from Lord of the Rings, inspired by Tolkein’s time in the First World War.
The former, beautiful landscape is the scene of a peaceful display of power and debate among the four giants that stand before us, hoping to win the chair’s seat and lead our party and state forward toward a better and purposeful future.
It is my hope that the ARP convention be a place of encouragement to all 40 districts across our vast territory. Alaskans will be traveling hundreds if not thousands of miles to join fellow delegates in Anchorage for a time of reflection and leadership as we pave the way for success in our party and servitude to all Alaskans.
The latter scene — Tolkien’s Mordor — is a product of choosing to be hostile toward fellow Republicans and Alaskans, purposefully not communicating with those that are equally ept and deserving of each other’s respect. This scene of demeaning and damning imagery is of itself a choice. A choice to be brash and inhospitable.
A choice to refuse the help of others, solely searching for personal gain, forgetting the basis of servitude to those that elected us to our seats? I pray and am of hope this does not become a reality. When egos strain and tensions roar, may we be the people (and body of elected persons) that are discerning enough, to say no to such things.
Fellow Alaskans, may we be the guiding light for our current generations and generations to come. May we rise to the occasion that brings forth fruit, making the active choice to unite together as a party that will be a force to be reckoned with and understanding we have many things that in fact unite us; putting aside the things that drive rifts between us Alaskans.
I am hopeful and optimistic to be writing to you all today, that we may prepare ourselves to elect a chairman or chairwoman of the ARP that embodies ALL of Alaska from Utqiagvik to Kodiak, from Metlakatla to Unalaska. By doing so we will elect the future.
Ryan Sheldon is District 30 chairman of the Alaska Republican Party. He was born and raised in Alaska and is proud to be a 4th generation Alaskan. He enjoys investing his time in the community and betterment of Alaska. Ryan lives in Talkeetna, loves Alaska, and believes the state can be a viable option for young Alaskans to thrive while carrying on his family’s legacy from the well-known Alaska town. You can typically find Ryan leading fellow Alaskans in song.
Rep. Thomas Massie, a conservative member of the U.S. House of Representatives Republican majority, announced Tuesday that he will cosponsor the motion to vacate the speakership, effectively removing House Speaker Mike Johnson. He is the first Republican to cosponsor the motion, and he did so less than 24 hours after the motion was made by Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene of Georgia.
“I just told Mike Johnson in conference that I’m cosponsoring the Motion to Vacate that was introduced by @RepMTG. He should pre-announce his resignation (as Boehner did), so we can pick a new Speaker without ever being without a GOP Speaker,” Massie wrote.
With a thin Republican majority, it appears likely that Johnson will lose his gavel, as the conservative wing will be joined by most, if not all, Democrats, if only to create chaos in the House Republican majority.
Johnson is an invited speaker at this week’s Alaska Republican Party convention, where he was scheduled to appear by video to speak to Alaska Republican officers who will gather at the Hotel Captain Cook on April 29 and 20. It’s unclear if, considering the coup under way, he will appear.
Massie joined Congress in 2013 after serving as Lewis County judge executive. He represents Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, across Northern Kentucky, covering a large portion of the Appalachian region and the banks of the Ohio River.
On Friday, he signaled his intention to move against Johnson, writing, “we have one less Republican in the majority as Rep Gallagher leaves instead of finishing his term. As a going away gift, Speaker Johnson plans to force the senate to take up Gallagher’s bill to ban tiktok and give Presidential power to ban websites. But still no border.”
He was obliquely referring to a plan Johnson was moving to push foreign aid packages through the House as three separate bills — one for Ukraine, one for Israel, and one for other national security measures. Johnson did not tie border security to the plan.
It would be the second time in six months that the Speaker was fired. On Oct. 3, 2023, the U.S. House voted to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California. That motion to vacate was filed by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, another member of the more conservative side of the House. McCarthy then left Congress later last year after having been the first Speaker in history to be removed by a motion to vacate. Johnson, of Louisiana, became Speaker after a contentious process that ended in a vote on Oct. 25, 2023.
Johnson is a conservative, having worked as an attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom. But his recent tendency to work with the Biden Administration has irritated his former supporters.
The Alaska delegation had mixed reaction to Iran’s weekend attack on Israel, in which it lobbed 120 missiles at Israel, and the reaction was from soup to nuts.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called out the Biden administration for appeasing a terrorist regime and declining to enforce oil sanctions against Iran, while at the same time shutting down oil and gas development on more than 10 million acres of land in Alaska.
Sullivan, a retired U.S. Marine, reiterated how it’s important for the United States to stand with Israel.
“One thing that was in my view disturbing, President Biden at least to the press that they were saying, hey, there should not be any more retaliation. I think we need to give Israel the rights. As a sovereign nation, they can retaliate if it is in their own interest,” Sullivan told CNBC’s Brian Sullivan.
“I will tell you this, the other thing we need to do, the Biden administration needs to stop appeasing Iran. You were talking about the policies as it relates to energy. This administration came in after the Trump Administration’s very successful, comprehensive approach to sanctions against Iran. The Biden Administration came in from day one and essentially has not enforced those sanctions. I think it is time to do it again. There would be bipartisan support, there is no doubt in the U.S. Senate to do that,” Sen. Sullivan said.
“The real irony is, as you know, right now, as opposed to sanctioning Iran or Venezuela with regard to oil, this administration is getting ready to sanction Alaska. They are sanctioning my state, my constituents, a lot more than they are sanctioning the terrorist regimes in Tehran or Venezuela,” Sen. Sullivan said.
“As you know, that is what this new proposal they are thinking about with the national petroleum reserve of Alaska, to shut that down. It’s one of the most prolific oil basins anywhere in the world. You have a policy, in my view, that is upside down. Hopefully they will finally recognize how this undermines America’s national security interests, and energy security interests as well,” he said.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski posted a message on X/Twitter: “I’m in the northernmost community in the United States – Utqiagvik – today, but our eyes are on the unprecedented events unfolding in the Middle East. I condemn Iran’s actions in the strongest terms and reiterate the United States’ firm commitment to stand with Israel. Godspeed to all who are working tirelessly to repel Iran’s senseless drone and missile attacks.”
On Monday, Murkowski added a new thought on X/Twitter: “After the events of this weekend, it’ll be interesting to see whether the Biden administration does more to restrict oil production in Alaska or from Iran over the next few weeks. This has never been a close call, but at this point, it’s completely indefensible to get it wrong.”
Rep. Mary Peltola was silent on Iran’s attack on Israel. She posted on social media the availability of fish shirts and promoted a bill she is sponsoring to provide mental health services to fishermen.
Among resource development and legal professionals in Alaska there’s a big topic this week: President Joe Biden is planning on shutting down access to the Ambler Mining District.
Word is that Biden will be playing to his environmentalist base on Monday, Earth Day, with the Bureau of Land Management issuing a decision on the right of way needed through federal land: It will be the “no build” option.
Earth Day in an election year means using public symbolism as a campaign asset. Since Biden polls poorly in Alaska and will likely not be getting any of the three electoral votes from the resource-rich state, canceling the Ambler Access Project comes at no cost to him with Alaska voters, but is a sure way to shore up his support in the powerful environmental community in major urban areas of the country.
It won’t be the only big symbolic gesture by the Biden Administration on Earth Day, but if sources are correct, it will be one of the biggest shutdowns in the nation announced that day. Due to the fragile state of global peace and Biden’s expanding wars, he may not attack oil and gas on Earth Day. But mining in Alaska? That one is easy and can gain him a lot of mileage with Democrats.
The Ambler Access Project is a proposed 211-mile, controlled industrial-access road that would provide access to the Ambler Mining District from Bornite to the Dalton Highway. The area currently lacks the transportation infrastructure needed for the development, construction, and operations of potential mines in the district. President Donald Trump’s administration issued an environmental impact statement for the road, but that EIS was suspended by Biden, pending further review. The Biden Administration wanted a different answer.
The large prospective copper-zinc mineral source has extensive deposits of critical minerals and other elements that are needed for the technologies Americans depend on, for green-energy products, and for military readiness. It will create hundreds of high-paying jobs for families in an area of the state where poverty is the greatest.
The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority has been working to get the road built for years.
The access to Ambler is enshrined in federal law through Section 201(4) of Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA.)
Violating that law will no-doubt draw a lawsuit from the State of Alaska, AIDEA, and others who will demand that Biden follows what was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter.
The draft supplemental environmental impact statement has gone through its public comment period in 2023, and many professionals in the mining field have predicted the announcement about the decision would come in the second quarter of 2024.
“Throughout 2021, the Ambler Access Project made significant progress achieving multiple land access milestones, including rights-of-way (ROW) between AIDEA, the National Park Service (NPS), and BLM as well as an AIDEA-Doyon land access agreement and an AIDEA-NANA land access permit. The agreement and permit with Doyon and NANA, respectively, are effective until December 31, 2024,” the agency said. “Note that these are not ROW agreements. Project resources were added to advance the project through Final Feasibility and Permitting, including a dedicated program manager, external communications manager, and a team of contractors to complete nine critical scopes of work.”
In 2021 and 2022, several key stakeholders published letters and resolutions in support of the AAP, including Northwest Arctic Borough, the Native Village of Shungnak, Alaska’s Congressional Delegation, the Alaska Chamber, the Alaska Miners Association, the Alaska Support Industry Alliance, the Council of Alaska Producers, and Resource Development Council for Alaska, Inc.
The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority has formally communicated with the Bureau of Land Management regarding the importance of including recent tribal support in the decision-making process for the Ambler Access Road Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.
The letter sent to BLM Alaska State Director, Steven Cohn, highlights tribal endorsements from several communities closest to the project – Allakaket, Ruby, and Hughes – and provides “good cause” for acceptance into the record along with the reminder of BLM’s commitment to meaningful consultation with tribal communities—a key factor in its previous decision to revisit the original EIS.
Tribal leaders and communities closest to the project area have expressed their support, highlighting how the project aligns with their community’s interests, AIDEA has pointed out.
“The Ruby Tribal Council is dedicated to ensuring jobs and opportunities for our children and grandchildren. The resolution stands as a testament to our village’s dedication to responsible resource development. We want to have a say over our future and supporting the Ambler Road is one way we can plan for future generations,” said Chief Patrick McCarty, first chief of the Ruby Tribal Council.
The North Slope Borough Assembly and Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly stated a resolution the importance of “geotechnical work to proceed, and to promote responsible natural resource development that benefits our people for the long term.”
Governor Mike Dunleavy requested that the Bureau of Land Management consider the tribal support and project significance for Alaskans in the SEIS process.
“The resolutions from these tribal communities are a clear indication of the importance of this project. Their inclusion in the final decision process by the BLM is not only appropriate but essential for a project of this magnitude,” Dunleavy said in a statement.
“AIDEA expects BLM to recognize the weight of these community support resolutions as a critical element in the decision-making process,” said Randy Ruaro, executive director of AIDEA. “Honoring the principles of collaboration and respect are central to sustainable economic development. AIDEA is committed to responsible resource development on the Ambler Access Project, mirroring the success and approach of the Red Dog Mine, which exemplifies how economic development and environmental stewardship can both be achieved.”
The Ambler Access Project Subsistence Advisory Committee recently adopted protections for fish and wildlife which emphasize the balance between responsible resource development and the protection of subsistence resources.
Extreme environmentalists oppose the access because they say it will harm caribou migration in the area. The Sierra Club, based in Oakland, Calif., wrote, “The Ambler Road, 50 miles above the Arctic Circle, is the last thing Native hunters and wildlife need.”
By TIM BARTO
Hats off to House Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Sarah Vance and Vice Chairwoman Jamie Allard, who held hearings on three bills on Monday:
1) HB386, introduced by Attorney General Treg Taylor, would crack down on self-righteous miscreants who find it trendy to block traffic and obstruct other public places so everyone can be inconvenienced by their political protests.
2) HB105, introduced by Education Commissioner Deena Bishop, will empower parents to keep fully informed about what’s going on with their children in public schools, to include if information is being kept from them about their children’s use alternative names and pronouns; and
3) HB338, which will make medical practitioners liable for the damage they cause to children as a result of gender transition procedures.
All three of these bills have merit and are significant for their efforts to fight against the extreme actions of far left protesters, schoolteachers and administrators, and medical providers, but this article will focus on HB338, as it is a piece of legislation that will curtail the insanity and downright evil that is being perpetrated on children. It is an issue on which Alaska Family Council is leading the effort to educate Alaskans in order to protect children.
Introduced by Rep. Allard of Eagle River, the bill will make medical practitioners financially culpable for the harm they inflict on minors through puberty blockers and surgical procedures. Four rather unique individuals were invited to provide expert testimony, and their statements brought conviction to save children, and condemnation to those who promote and practice treatments that harm children.
Allard attempted to obtain testimonies from Alaska doctors and therapists who support the legislation, but these professionals feared becoming targets if they came forward. Some of them experienced threats during the Covid pandemic and they were worried their actions would be brought to vindictive medical licensing boards, jeopardizing their licenses to practice, as evidenced by what happened to some doctors in Alaska who held contrary opinions during the first two years of the pandemic. Allard turned to nationally known experts in the field.
The first testimony came from Stephanie Winn, a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist from Portland, Oregon. Winn describes herself as a “left-leaning therapist who was once trained to provide so called gender affirming care,” but who changed her mind about providing such care to children once she began to see the harm it caused.
Winn listened to the painful testimonies of de-transitioners and those who regretted their decisions to undergo the radical procedures involved in gender transitioning. Her 2020 pivot to being gender critical led to harassment and slander directed towards her, jeopardizing her reputation, income, and even her safety; however, she felt it her ethical duty to remove herself from further participation in the practice.
Winn decided that her personal safety was less important than helping young, vulnerable, mentally ill patients, so she joined colleagues from around the world who now favor therapy ahead of what she called “the most unconscionable medical scandal of our time.”
Recompense is appropriate, she said, because of the litany of health risks involved: inability to have children or breastfeed, weakened bones, osteoporosis, painful or prolonged urination, loss of bladder control, loss of sexual sensation, increased cardiovascular disease and cancer, early onset Alzheimer’s and dementia, diabetes, and metabolic disorders. Furthermore, there are no accurate predictors of patients who will persist with their transition or who will opt for de-transitioning.
Winn’s testimony was followed by Dr. Ivan Abdouch, retired professor from the University of Nebraska Medical School. Abdouch served as the Medical Director of the Omaha Gender Identity Team, guiding the management of many gender transition individuals for various Midwest states.
Abdouch said the question of what to do with children experiencing gender identity issues is whether to medicate and operate, or wait. His advice is to wait. In fact, it should never be done, he added, especially since there are at least 18 mental conditions that can be confused as gender dysphoria.
Abdouch outlined three facts that should be considered when deliberating the issue of using drugs or surgery on minors:
1) There are no current generally accepted standards of care;
2) No one can determine with accuracy the gender trajectory of any child or adolescent;
3) Treatment effects are universal and lifelong.
Abdouch asked the legislators to keep in mind this question: What is an acceptable number or percentage of children who experience irreversible lifelong harm from gender treatment? Any answer other than zero, he advised, is indicative there are things other than safe medical practices involved.
Abdouch admitted he is not in favor of government management of medical practices, but when there is such potential harm to children at stake then someone has to step in.
The next expert to testify was Ari DeWolf, Director of Outreach for Do No Harm, an organization dedicated to speaking out against the harmful effects of gender transitioning of minors. Like the first two speakers, DeWolf described himself in a manner that most people would not expect to hear from someone speaking out against a topic so popular in today’s culture. He’s a gay, half-black, Jewish conservative.
His uniqueness defied stereotypes and would have made him susceptible to gender transitioning treatment as a minor. DeWolf spent a great deal of time studying this issue and focusing on the parents affected by the procedures. Parents are seeing their children turn against them by schools and medical professionals, and these institutions are taking advantage of young people.
Matt Sharp, Senior Counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, was the final expert to speak. His clearly stated goal is to protect children, and he feels that can be done better through compassionate, effective mental health care than through medical procedures promoted by activists and profit-driven gender clinics, though, have put an emphasis on drugs and surgery.
The legal recourse afforded by HB338 is necessary to put a stop to the irreversible effects of gender transitioning, which include preventing healthy puberty, radically altering hormonal balances, interfering with mental and emotional development, and removing healthy body parts.
Limiting freedom for minors is a legitimate function of government, as it is done with limiting or prohibiting children from signing contracts, voting, buying alcohol or tobacco, or getting tattoos. Minors lack experience and judgment, and if doctors are making these life-altering decisions for them, or at least leading them in that direction, then the state has the authority, indeed the obligation, to step in.
Public testimony on this bill is scheduled for 1 pm on Wednesday, April 17. Here is the email address to the Judiciary Committee: [email protected].
Tim Barto is a regular contributor to Must Read Alaska, and is vice president of Alaska Family Council, the Alaska organization leading the fight to protect minors from the harmful effects of gender transitioning treatments.
By RANDY RUARO
In accordance with the Tenth Amendment of the Federal Constitution and state rights, Congress promised Alaskans that, upon voting for statehood in 1959, Alaska would control resource development decisions on state land and have access to state resources.
Those promises are under attack from within the federal government (Biden Administration) and its’ left-wing political supporters. A battle is going on right now over control of resource development decisions and the ability of Alaskans to work and feed their families.
Alaska and AIDEA, the state’s economic and development corporation, are on the front lines in this fight.
Every time a group surfaces with a catchy Alaskan name claiming a need to stop resource development, jobs, and economic development, Alaskans should ask “Who is paying for this effort to influence public opinion?”
Research by AIDEA and others shines a light on Arabella Advisors and its’ many tentacles as a key player in the world of dark money politics. Connections between Arabella Advisors and influential funds, such as the “New Venture Fund,” and groups like “Salmon State” raise serious questions about the extent of their influence and motives.
Recent reports highlight the influence of foreign billionaires, their donations, and murky financial dealings orchestrated by Arabella Advisors and its “New Venture Fund.”
For example, here in Alaska, Salmon State is funded in part by the New Venture Fund with donors such as George Soros and Swiss billionaire, Hansjörg Wyss. The largest foundations in the world are using this dark money lobbying network to influence policy in Alaska.
In 2018, the New Venture Fund spent $88 million to influence environmental programs. This dark money organization controls media through the “States Newsroom,” which, in Alaska, operates the Alaska Beacon, an online news organization, making it one of the biggest media influencers in the state.
The New Venture Fund is administered and overseen by Arabella Advisors. The New Venture Fund claims to be a tax-exempt non-profit with the IRS. A tax-exempt non-profit is not supposed to engage in partisan politics (IRS Revenue Ruling 2007-41).
The actions of the New Venture Fund, being so egregious in terms of acting as a blatantly political arm of liberal donors, have attracted the attention of prosecutors and are currently under investigation.
Organizations like the New Venture Fund, with hundreds of millions of dollars of donations from rich billionaires want to impose poverty and suffering on Alaska for a political agenda. They are a threat to this state. Because AIDEA’s mission supports resource development, jobs, and benefits Alaskans, it is a target. However, AIDEA’s commitment to jobs and economic development will not waiver.
The fight against dark money political and social engineering is not just a battle for Alaska; it’s a battle for the integrity of the democratic process. Alaskans must rally together to reclaim our autonomy and demand transparency and accountability from those who seek to undermine the promises made by the federal government to Alaska for statehood.
The Alaska Legislature should consider a bill next session placing donor disclosure requirements on entities such as the New Venture Fund and Salmon State to bring dark money connections into the light.
Randy Ruaro is the Executive Director of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), the State of Alaska’s economic development and finance authority. Ruaro most recently served as Governor Dunleavey’s Chief of Staff and Special Assistant for Statehood Defense. He has over 20 years of experience providing administrative oversight to state agencies and implementing policies supporting resource development, infrastructure, and job growth.
By PAULETTE SIMPSON, JUDY ELEDGE AND RHONDA BOYLES
Alaska is home to 140,804 voters who have chosen to register with the Alaska Republican Party. Our Republican coalition of like-minded voters is nearly double that of Alaska Democrats.
These 140,804 Republican voters present both a blessing and a challenge for Party leadership as it strives to give voice to our voters and convince independent voters to support our candidates.
As active, committed Party stalwarts, we have served with and under nine different Republican Party chairs and held leadership positions both within the Party and with Alaska’s Republican women groups.
Over decades we have devoted countless hours to the cause of conservative governance at the local, state, and national levels and have striven to remain faithful to our Party’s statement of enduring principles.
For a state party to function, our leaders must not only share our values, but be competent and professional in their management of our coalition, our finances, and our communications.
We also know that leaders cannot succeed if they are not deeply respectful, inclusive, and transparent – and that is why we are in full support of Carmela Warfield for state Party chair.
For several years, Carmela has been president of the Hillside Community Council, serves on the board of directors of HALO, and is a delegate to the Federation of Community Councils, the largest group of community councils in Anchorage. These are not easy groups to lead.
Carmela has earned the respect of numerous party affiliated volunteers, and never wavers from her commitment to the values we as Republicans share.
Carmela has served as both a district and regional chair, and most recently led one of the largest regional Presidential Preference Polls in the state and went on to successfully help guide her region’s district conventions.
Carmela Warfield is the competent professional our Party needs now. Please join us in supporting Carmela’s bid for Party Chair.
Paulette Simpson, Rhonda Boyles, and Judy Eledge are longtime members, officers, and activists of the Alaska Republican Party whose work on behalf of Alaska Republicans in the Interior, Southcentral, and Southeast spans over 75 years.