A maintenance worker who was clearing street drains during a rainstorm in Ketchikan was identified as the person who died in the landslide on Sunday that went across the 3rd Street bypass.
Sean Griffin was raised in Ketchikan and worked for the City of Ketchikan Public Works Department for 17 years. He was a senior maintenance technician.
“Sean is remembered for his dedication, positive spirit, and unwavering devotion to hi s family, his friends, and to the community. The EOC sends heartfelt condolences to his family, and we bear this loss with them,” the city said in a press release.
Rep. Mary Peltola stayed far away from Chicago during the Democratic National Convention. It just was not “on brand” for her to be seen there, even though she is Alaska’s top-elected Democrat. Instead, during the middle of the historic convention, she posted a photo of herself working in a hotel room overlook a river in an undisclosed location, possibly in Alaska.
The liberal news organization POLITICO was quick to label hers as “the best in-home office setup,” never stopping to consider that the scene was implausible: It was neither Bethel, Alaska, nor South Anchorage’s Goldenview neighborhood, which is where she actually spends most of her time, when she is in Alaska.
Bethel is a flat part of the world, filled with swamps and tundra. Its housing is rugged and bungalow-like, with snow machines and four-wheelers parked outside next to the heating fuel tank. Unlike the photo that POLITICO supposes is her home, there are no travel trailers out in the Y-K Delta.
Bethel, Alaska
The liberal-leaning machine of the media, however, looks for moments like these to glorify its favorite politicians on the left, and Peltola is surely one of those.
Let us know if you recognize the location behind Peltola in the photo at the top of the page, so Alaskans can know where she hid out during the Democratic National Convention, refusing to show up as a delegate so she would not have to cast her vote for Kamala Harris for president.
French authorities over the weekend arrested 39-year-old Russian-born Pavel Durov, the co-founder and CEO of the social media messaging platform Telegram.
Durov, who holds dual citizenship in France and Russia, had disembarked his jet at the Le Bourget airport from a flight from Azerbaijan, when he was met by French police, who detained him in connection with allegations that Telegram was being used for illegal activities, such as money laundering, drug trafficking, and pornography involving children.
Telegram is an instant messaging app that is popular because of its security settings and encrypted privacy features.
France has extended police authority to keep Durov in custody, but where the tech billionaire is being held has not been disclosed. He is being interrogated by France’s National Anti-Fraud Office, which has vast authorities over a wide range of activity. While Durov has still not been charged with a crime, officials said that he is being held as part of an investigation “against person unnamed.”
“We live in a world where George Orwell’s ideas have completely triumphed,” wrote Boris Rojine on Colonelcassad, which is a popular military channel on Telegram.
LeMonde, a mainstream media outlet in France, reported that Russian social media networks are claiming the arrest came from orders from Washington, D.C., and relate to the U.S. presidential election, “in order to bring Telegram, which is popular across the Atlantic, under control; Paris is also said to be worried about Durov’s links with Azerbaijan, where he had just spent a few days and where, according to a rumor denied by the Kremlin, he even met Russian President Vladimir Putin; according to another rumor, Paris allegedly has genuine personal grievances against the Telegram founder.”
Elon Musk, who bought majority shares in X/Twitter to turn it into a free-speech platform, says the real motive behind Durov’s arrest is “Freedom of expression is being suppressed in Europe.” Musk may not be traveling to France in the near future.
Musk also used the X platform to post a video of an April interview Durov gaveTucker Carlson, in which Durov revealed that the United States government had tried to infiltrate Telegram’s servers through back-door channels to gain access without the company’s knowledge.
Musk also questioned why Instagram/Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has not been arrested, but answered his own question: “Because he already caved into censorship pressure. Instagram has a massive child exploitation problem, but no arrest for Zuck, as he censors free speech and gives governments backdoor access to user data.”
Suzanne (as usual) did our work for us uncovering the group behind the latest effort defending Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), the Conservative Majority Fund.
Their ads have been running since last week and are remarkable in their ability to pull mythical data out of the thin air of elections long past.
Following the standard warmup about wanting to elect conservatives, they try to paint all RCV opposition as a few unhappy activists, then go on to claim that the outcome would have changed the 1994 Knowles-Campbell and also magically changed the 2008 Stevens-Begich elections, claiming RCV would have resulted in Republicans winning an unspecified seven total elections while losing one in an unspecified period of time with unspecified other candidates on the ballot. The ad ends tying the knot nicely by claiming RCV is simple and saves money.
Note to self: Any time someone tells you a change in election law is for your own good, will simplify anything, or will save money, don’t believe them. Remember universal vote-by-mail here in Anchorage starting in 2018 has doubled the cost of each election and given us a veto-proof leftist Anchorage Assembly busily turning our fair city into Portland. That worked well (for Democrats). Not so well for everyone else.
The ad is a reprise ofJesse Sumner’s column of Aug 17, in which he makes all manner of unsupported claims ending with the laughable claim that:
“At the end of the day, open primaries and ranked choice voting are tools that allow conservatives to consistently control state government…”
Yeah, right. That’s why we have Mary Peltola in the House of Representatives twice. That’s why we have a Democrat-led majority in the State Senate.
They then go on to flash their designated shiny objects. The first of these, the 1994 gubernatorial race between Jim Campbell, followed by the 2008 race for US Senate between Ted Stevens and Mark Begich. Shiny, shiny, look here! They conveniently ignore our two most recent instances of RCV electing a Democrat – Peltola twice in 2022, not to mention Sen. Lisa Murkowski, for whom the entire system was custom-made.
Their technique in claiming both races would have different outcomes is based entirely on mind reading, magical thinking. If ranked choice voting was so useful to conservatives, why, pray tell, is it coming out of the Murkowski camp, one infested with big government leftists and Lisa sycophants? One would think you could select more recent elections to make your case than one 30 years ago and the other 16 years ago. Maybe RCV is not as useful to conservatives as these guys would want us to believe.
Their final admonition is to embrace the ranked-choice reality and simply “rank the red.”
Yet we know, painfully know, that doesn’t work, for whatever reason. This time around Republicans got their act together and are encouraging second place Republican candidates to drop out of the race: “Drop if not on top.” This is working well for the most part … so far.
Remember all the lies associated with passage of ranked-choice voting? The biggest reason was to run dark money out of state elections. What happened instead? RCV put dark money, outside money, into the driver’s seat for all important elections, the Dahlstrom run for U.S. House, and the various Peltola campaigns being two recent examples.
Ranked-choice voting also eliminated the ability of political parties to select their own candidates, something that most would conclude is unconstitutional as it violates the freedom of association of voters. But the Lisa-crats got what they wanted, so it must be good, right?
And defenders of ranked-choice voting are back once again, having failed via their lawfare campaign to get the state judiciary to toss the ballot initiative. The latest effort is yet another dark money outfit, this one calling itself the Conservative Majority Fund, running nicely timed ads in such a manner that that nobody will know who is funding them for weeks or months from today. This is not a coincidence.
Doing something multiple times and expecting different results is one definition of insanity, something the RCV supporters would have us do yet again. Chasing down the Knowles-Campbell / Begich-Stevens results of 30 and 16 years ago, arguing woulda, coulda, shoulda, only serves to help us ignore its very real damage to and destruction of elections here in Alaska by ranked-choice voting and its advocates.
And for what? Elect Lisa again? Some costs are simply too high.
RCV needs to be repealed. Sooner would be better than later.
Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He was a small business owner and Information Technology professional.
Must Read Alaska’s 24-hour survey asked readers on Sunday, Aug. 25 if the endorsement by former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. would make a positive difference in November for Donald Trump.
Here are the results after 24 hours:
Must Read Alaska quick reader polls are not scientific but the readership tends to be made up of conservative, politically engaged Alaskans.
Alaskans may see things differently than the mainstream media. ABC News’ FiveThirtyEight.com poll analysis website says RFK Jr.’s endorsement will have little effect:
“Our analysis of the polling data suggests Kennedy’s endorsement of Trump will have a minimal impact on the race. Kennedy, who has consistently polled around 5 percent since Vice President Kamala Harris became the presumptive nominee, was drawing roughly equally from both Trump and Harris, with that support coming from both traditionally Democratic and traditionally Republican groups. His endorsement of Trump may marginally help the Republican among white, male, and older voters. But the effect of his departure on overall support for either candidate will be small,” the polling analysis says.
But 5% could be a make-or-break number in some of the battleground states, something that ABC does not acknowledge.
Kennedy said Friday that he is withdrawing his name in battleground states where he might prove to be a spoiler, but will remain on the ballot in other states. Yet he also suspended his campaign Friday and endorsed Trump.
The rescue operation continues in Ketchikan, with active search, rescue, evacuation, and sheltering operations ongoing.
Emergency personnel have concerns about the potential for another slide, and more wet weather approaches this week in Ketchikan, in Alaska’s southern panhandle. Alaska State Troopers are on scene supporting the search and rescue efforts and mutual aid has been requested from Juneau’s Capital City Fire and Rescue. Gov. Mike Dunleavy has declared a disaster and asked all departments to give whatever help they can.
The Alaska Division of Emergency Management said there were two fatalities reported and eight injuries. Later, the number of deaths was readjusted to the one death that had been reported.
The Ketchikan Public Health Center will not be seeing patients today, Aug. 26. If you had an appointment scheduled for today, reach out to the Public Health Center to reschedule. If you need immediate medical assistance, they advise calling 9-1-1.
Original story from Sunday, Aug. 25:
The City of Ketchikan has evacuated 3rd Avenue, 2nd Avenue, 1st Avenue, and White Cliff Avenue due to a major landslide and potential for secondary landslides. Ketchikan High School has been set up as emergency shelter.
Schools in Ketchikan were scheduled to start on Monday, but will not be opening, due to the landslide. One person is said to have died, three were hospitalized for injuries, and several people were missing, according to local reports. Update 4 a.m. Aug. 26: All missing are now reportedly accounted for.
The city is in the process of evacuating approximately 100-150 people in the surrounding area, according to reports. The weather in Ketchikan has been exceptionally windy and rainy.
“The low and associated front impacting the area will continue to hang over the southern panhandle for Sunday evening. Right now, the heaviest rains remain along the southern side of the front where we are still seeing heavy rain and strong winds. These conditions will start to diminish as we head into the evening allowing for improving conditions. But some wind and rain will be expected through tomorrow morning,” the National Weather Service said at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Ketchikan is Alaska’s furthest south major community, with a population of about 8,000. Fishing, tourism, and shipyard work are some of its main economic drivers. It is a naturally rainy community in the rain forest, with annual precipitation of about 140 to 160 inches of rain a year, much of it in the fall and winter.
In addition to the landslide, mud running under the pavement created some sinkholes around the area.
Former Democrat Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii has just endorsed Donald Trump for president, saying he will keep America out of endless wars.
“I am committed to doing all that I can to send President Trump back to the White House,” Gabbard said.
Gabbard ran for president in 2019 and is known for her brilliant take-down of Kamala Harris during a debate in which she criticized Harris for jailing hundreds of people for marijuana violations while she was attorney general of California, but bragged about her own use of pot. Harris went on to win not a single delegate vote that year and quickly dropped.
“She put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana,” Gabbard said of Harris during that debate.
Gabbard left the Democratic Party in 2022, declaring it an “elitist cabal of warmongers.”
Watch her endorsement at a in Michigan on Monday at the National Guard Association rally:
Her endorsement comes on the heels of an endorsement by another Democrat free-thinker, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who left the Democratic Party last year.
Rep. Jesse Sumner, who was once considered a conservative in Wasilla, has now joined the cause to keep ranked-choice voting going in Alaska elections, something that few conservatives in the state support.
Sumner’s name showed up on the ad disclosures that are part of the public files at radio stations. He and Bryan Schroder (law partner of the father of Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system Scott Kendall), as well as political strategist Art Hackney make up the Conservative Majority Fund, which is not registered with Alaska Public Offices Commission but which is clearly attempting to influence voters to defeat Ballot Measure 2.
Ballot Measure 2 provides Alaska’s the opportunity to get rid of the jungle primary and ranked-choice general election system that installed Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Mary Peltola.
Schroder, some Alaskans may recall, is the former U.S. Attorney for Alaska, thanks to Murkowski, and is also part of the Lisa Murkowski’s extended family, through marriage. Ranked-choice voting, advanced by Murkowski surrogates, was designed to get her around the Republican primary election, which she was no longer able to win.
Earlier this month, Sumner submitted an opinion column that he signed his name to, which supported ranked-choice voting. Must Read Alaska ran it. Sumner did not disclose at the time that he was part of the group intending to sway elections.
The Conservative Majority Fund is telling people that “smart conservatives” will vote to keep ranked-choice voting, and claiming that if it had been in place in an earlier era, Sen. Ted Stevens would have beat Mark Begich. But the ads offer no proof, only wild speculation.
The group can run issue ads to influence the election and it doesn’t have to disclose where its funding comes from just yet because it’s not yet 60 days before the general election, when the matter comes before voters. But this ad is actually running within 30 days of the first military, overseas, and remote Alaska ballots being in the mail. Technically, the group may be advertising legally, but this shows the loophole in the APOC laws governing issue advertising and transparency.
Sumner recently dropped from his race for Alaska House after serving just one term.
Irony lives in 2024 — at least when Fairbanks politics meets Facebook.
In recent days, a business owner from North Pole, Alaska began educating the public about the donations to Senate candidate Savannah Fletcher’s campaign.
Recent filings with the Alaska Public Offices Commission show that Fletcher’s campaign for state Senate has indeed received more than $4,000 from Kristen Schupp, who is noted for filling the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly meetings with pro-Hamas testimony and resolutions, when she is not on a rampage about conservative Assemblywoman Barbara Haney.
North Pole resident Keith Fons posted clips of Schupp’s Pro-Palestine testimony and screenshots of her and her husband Robert Burgess’s donations to Savannah Fletcher, as well as to House candidates Joy Beth Cottle and Ashley Carrick. Burgess is a school board member in Fairbanks and works for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.
The donations to Fletcher are particularly large, as seen in these screen shots of filings with the Alaska Public Offices Commission:
In an attempt to silence Fons, Fletcher or her surrogates reported Fons’ posts to Facebook moderators as hate speech and had his comment blocked him from Facebook. She already blocks him from her Facebook campaign page.
He appealed the matter to Facebook management and his opinions were restored.
Fletcher is the presiding officer of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly and is a false-flag “undeclared candidate” for the Senate Seat being vacated by Click Bishop. She has paid the Alaska Democratic Party for campaign services and has been seen doing shifts at the Democrats’ booth at the Tanana Valley State Fair.
Savannah Fletcher holds down the fort for the Democrats at the Tanana Valley State Fair, while telling voters she is an “undeclared” candidate.
The matter is particularly pertinent, given the recent cases that Fletcher has been handling as a radical attorney on the behalf of the Northern Justice Project.
In two of these cases, she went after seated legislators who blocked opponents who had been trolling their official social media accounts. Now, Fletcher is doing the same thing, although to her campaign page, as differentiated from an official government page.
Keith Fons runs a delivery service in North Pole and helped organize the American flag convoy to Denali National Park and Preserve, after the park management told a private contractor to stop flying the American flag on vehicles driving the Park Road.
