The annual tradition with Alaska State Parks waiving parking fees at all park-managed facilities the day after Thanksgiving continues on Friday, Nov. 24. It’s a way to encourage Alaskans to get outside during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
“The day after a Thanksgiving feast is the perfect time to get outside and appreciate some fresh air, rather than fight the crowds for holiday shopping,” said Ricky Gease, director of the Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation.
Alaskans can instead enjoy Alaska State Parks for free on Friday, and gift a 2024 parking pass, which are for sale online and at retail locations throughout the state, Gease said.
Annual parking passes make recreating in the state’s 157 unique facilities easier and more cost- effective all year long. Day-use parking decals will be $75 beginning Jan. 1, 2023, but early birds who purchase in 2023 will pay just $60 (the decals can also be used through the end of the year). Annual boat launch passes are $150.
The decals will be available in Anchorage at the DNR Public Information Center and REI, while in Fairbanks parking passes can be purchased at the DNR Public Information Center. In Kodiak, decals are available at Discover Kodiak. As other locations across the state receive the passes, they will be listed online.
For information and online parking pass or boat launch sales, see http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/asp/fees.htm. For information on 2023-2027 Disabled Veteran camping passes, contact the Anchorage Public Information Center at 907-269-8700.
The Alaska State Troopers changed the search and rescue strategy at the landslide in Wrangell from an active search to a reactive search.
On Nov. 20, a massive slide occurred, crossing the Zimovia Highway and reaching the shore, taking three homes with it. At least three are still missing: One adult and two juveniles. Three were found dead during initial search efforts.
After three separate active search efforts, including aerial searching with drones, helicopters, and planes; ground teams with K9 scent detection dogs and trained professionals; and water-based searching with K9 teams and sonar, search teams have reached all areas accessible without the use of heavy machinery.
With the assistance of the Alaska Department of Transportations and Public Facilities, the methodical clearing the roadway has begun, and responders will continue looking for the three missing people who may be buried in the slide area. If new evidence or information suggests that any missing people may be in a specific area in the slide zone, the Alaska State Troopers may restart the active search focused on that new area.
While the active search is concluding, it remains a priority of the Alaska State Troopers to locate the three missing Alaskans to help bring closure to their families and the community.
“Our deepest sympathies are with the families, friends, and loved ones of the three deceased and three missing Alaskans,” Troopers said in a statement. We appreciate all of the assistance that has made this search possible from our local, state, and federal government partners and the regional search and rescue teams that dropped everything to respond to Wrangell to help with this search.”
The Alaska State Troopers will release the names of the deceased individuals and missing persons on Friday, Nov. 24.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is a tragic and complex issue that warrants a comprehensive analysis of the various factors at play. While Germany is not directly responsible for the decisions of either nation or their leaders, as a significant player in European politics and economics, its actions inadvertently contributed to the escalation of conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Ric Grenell, Former U.S. Ambassador to Germany, joined STAND, to share his perspective on how Germany contributed to the Russia-Ukraine war and what he did to try to stop it.
One of the key aspects of Germany’s role in the conflict is its energy relations with Russia. Germany pursued energy partnerships, most notably the Nord Stream projects, as a means to ensure its energy security. While Germany took the position that energy relations should be separated from geopolitical conflicts, these projects long raised concerns regarding Europe’s energy dependency on Russia and the potential bypassing of Ukraine, which historically served as a significant transit route for Russian gas.
In a recent interview on STAND with Kelly & Niki Tshibaka, Ric Grenell, former Ambassador to Germany, emphasized that by promoting and supporting energy partnership projects with Russia, Germany inadvertently weakened Ukraine’s strategic importance and added to its economic and geopolitical vulnerability.
Specifically, the Nord Stream projects allowed Russia to circumvent Ukraine, reducing its leverage and significance in the energy transportation network. Consequently, this situation indirectly enabled Russia to pursue aggressive actions against Ukraine without the same level of economic consequences it might have faced had Ukraine remained a critical transit country for Russia’s energy exports.
Moreover, Germany’s hesitancy to take a more assertive stance against Russia during the early stages of the conflict may have emboldened Moscow. Germany, being a NATO country and a major economic partner with Russia, possessed the potential to exert substantial influence on Russian foreign policy decision-making. However, its approach of prioritizing dialogue over punitive measures arguably delayed a unified European response and inadvertently allowed Russia more room to escalate the conflict.
Sanctions, as a diplomatic tool, have been employed to curb Russia’s actions in Ukraine, and Germany has supported these measures. However, the interdependent economic relationship between Germany and Russia has made the imposition of substantial sanctions more challenging, underscoring the complex balance between economic interests and geopolitical concerns.
In conclusion, Germany’s inadvertent role in contributing to the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict lies in its energy partnerships, diplomatic approach, and economic ties with Russia. While Germany’s intentions may have been focused on its national interests and energy security, these actions had indirect and tragic consequences on the geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe.
Moving forward, a nuanced and comprehensive approach of international relations must also consider the implications of energy partnerships and economic interdependence in order to foster a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Kelly Tshibaka is the host of the podcast, TV, and radio show STAND, and the 2022 Alaska Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. She co-hosts the show with her husband, Niki Tshibaka.
WOKE WILL GO THEIR OWN WAY, BUT THANKSGIVING ISA TRADITION WORTH PRESERVING
On Thanksgiving in 2023, it is evident that the world is facing a multitude of challenges. There is a war in the Middle East, inflation at home, corruption among government officials, and widespread confusion regarding the biology of gender. In addition to these global issues, many of us also grapple with complex family situations. These challenges are shared by us all.
In Alaska, we contend with our own set of natural adversities, including unpredictable weather and shifting geology. While these occurrences are annual events, each year brings its own unique dangers. In recent times, we’ve experienced Typhoon Merbok battering the coast of Western Alaska, as well as incidents like landslides and rockslides in Haines and Skagway. Just this week, a deadly landslide occurred in Wrangell, and it’s been a heartbreaking week for many.
Residents of the Prince William Sound area are acutely aware of the potential devastation that could result from the large slope in the Barry Arm fjord. While the exact timing of its collapse remains uncertain, history tells us that, much like the 1958 Lituya Bay earthquake and tsunami, and the 1964 earthquake and tsunami, the forces of nature will ultimately prevail. After all, this is Alaska, a land in the perpetual process of reshaping itself.
(On that note, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to all our first responders, including our police and firefighters, paramedics, emergency room professionals, and those diligently monitoring the switchboards and computers that keep our lights on today.)
In the midst of our tumultuous and ever-changing world, some individuals with excessive free time have sought to undermine Thanksgiving by instilling guilt over a tradition rooted in gratitude and family togetherness. Websites like Greenmattersclaim that “Thanksgiving Glorifies the Abhorrent Colonization of Indigenous Peoples.”
It is clear that the Left is downplaying Thanksgiving, as if it were a source of shame. There is a noticeable decline in the once cherished national holiday’s recognition.
However, for those of us who cherish this tradition, we will persevere. The world has always been a complex place, filled with conflicts, dangers, and trials. Like those who came before us, we practice humility and express gratitude for all that is virtuous, benevolent, and nourishing to both body and spirit. We offer thanks for our families and, when separated from them, we are immensely grateful for the friends who stand by our side and fill the role of family in our lives.
Here at Must Read Alaska, our gratitude extends to all our readers and supporters. As we undergo a transition in ownership and transform this news platform into something that will endure for generations, it is Alaskans like you who have built something worth preserving for conservative news and perspectives. Our appreciation for you is a daily practice.
If you have contributed to this publication, you have played a vital role in shaping Must Read Alaska. Here is your report for the month of October:
In October, Must Read Alaska‘s website attracted 507,150 unique readers and garnered 1,072,760 page views. Additionally, our stories are distributed on platforms like NewsBreak and Facebook, which expands the content’s reach, although these readers are not reflected in our site’s overall statistics.
The Must Read Alaska newsletteris read in 49 states and 71 countries, with a total of 174,000 views over the past 30 days.
The Must Read Alaska podcast, hosted by John Quick, has had one 2,700 downloads this month alone, and over 225,000 downloads since we launched it.
With this in mind, we extend our gratitude to all contributors, including writers, tip-senders, and those who have provided financial support to this publication. Your contributions have a discernible impact, as demonstrated by these numbers. Thanks to all who send in a kind word now and then, and thank you to all the commenters on stories.
We hope that you will continue to support this project as we welcome new writers and broaden our offerings in the coming months. If you have contemplated supporting Must Read Alaska, now is an excellent time to contribute, so that what began as a newsletter in 2015 and evolved into a website in 2016 can continue its growth in 2024.
Senators Bert Stedman, Click Bishop, and Cathy Giessel — I’ll call them the “Three Amigos” — run the Alaska Senate. The power divide is always over money that protects the union-backed deep state, which means your Permanent Fund Dividend check.
Stedman, Bishop, and Giessel formed a coalition with every Senate Democrat, rather than bring fellow Republicans Mike Shower, Shelley Hughes, and Rob Myers into the fold. This, after Alaskans had elected an 11-Republican majority in the Senate. Talk about dysfunction; this is where it starts.
Senate President Gary Stevens is a nice guy, but make no mistake about it, he is a weathervane politician. But the utter vindictiveness against the Republicans in the unofficial Senate Minority by the Three Amigos over the PFD is palpable.
Giessel recently returned to the Senate after losing her seat to Roger Holland in 2020. Remember her infamous campaign ad when she and her husband talked about politicians stealing your PFD? Well, she’s back! Hold on to your wallet!
Stedman and Bishop, Finance Committee co-chairs, craft the Legislature’s fiscal policy with impunity. Cross these co-chairs, and one ends up like Senators Mike Shower, Shelley Hughes, and Rob Myers. You pay to play in the Senate majority — with your silence on the PFD and tacit oath to the binding caucus.
After endless Senate Finance “agency overviews” and hearings, the co-chairs dropped their behind-closed-door budget at the last minute during the last session and invoked the “my way or the highway” rule. In the previous session, their arrogance ignored decades of protocol and they didn’t even seek the concurrence of the House on critical budget votes. They rolled the capital budget into the operating and shoved it down their throats.
The Senate Majority Caucus is not supposed to be as “binding” as it was historically. Then, the co-chairs got rolled two years ago by a coalition of Democats and the now-exiled Senate Republican Minority, who supported a full PFD.
Curiously, rather than align with Pro-PFD Republicans, Democrats like Sen. Scott Kawasaki and Sen. Bill Wielechowski, who voted to fund a full PFD two years ago, are now mostly complicit and accept a mini PFD. It boils down to majority power and influence over principle. Those chairman offices and extra staff are really nice. It will be interesting to see who continues to play by the rules set by the Three Amigos during a pre-election session.
The political and policy price for sanctioning fellow Republicans was high. Following, is a list of the critical policy positions ceded to Democrats by the “Republican” Three Amigos and Senate President Gary Stevens, to consolidate their absolute power, absolutely:
Sen. Matt Claman is a liberal Anchorage attorney former Anchorage Assembly member, and the powerful Judiciary Committee chairman. Claman assures the Alaska Bar will continue to have a stranglehold on judgeship selections in Alaska, and is a partisan barrier for any Republican House bills that end up in his committee. Sen. Shower figured out a partial statutory fix to provide more balance to the judge selection process. Prediction: It’s DOA in Dem controlled committees.
Sen. Forrest Dunbar is a former Anchorage Assembly radical leftist and is the Community and Regional Affairs Committee chair. His views on the U.S. Constitution are interesting. He has run for virtually everything. Ranked choice voting finally gave him a platform. Oh, Boy, need I say more?
Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson is the chair of the Legislative Council Committee. A well-spoken, nicely dressed woman, the Legislative Council chair makes big decisions like spending millions to remodel an office building across from the Capitol for legislative housing, a move to strengthen Juneau’s stranglehold on where the Legislature meets. It also empowers sleight-of- hand maneuvers that would not survive the light of day, if legislators met where constituents could watch. The after-session booze party will be right across the street. At least it will move out of the watchful eye of Capitol security cameras. Watch for police reports.
Sen. Scott Kawasaki is the chair of the State Affairs Committee. Election reform is now his game, and he supports same-day registration voting with no identification required and no meaningful proof of residency. Illegal aliens, who cares? Data breach? There is nothing to worry about here. Artificial Intelligence threat to election integrity? What could go wrong? He gives lip service to working with Shower and Vance but pulls sleight-of-hand maneuvers on bills. See this? Watch out for that!
Sen. Bill Wielechowski is the chair of the powerful Rules Committee. He is more of a libertarian than most of his Senate D counterparts. The Rules Committee makes the rule on which bills get scheduled for the floor. If a bill moves at lightning speed in and out of his committee, watch out for fast ones from Wild Bill.
Sen.Jesse Kiehl is the vice-chair of Senate Judiciary Committee: intelligent, well-spoken, respectful, has very good staff, and is from Juneau. He backs up Judiciary Chair Claman effectively and keeps the stranglehold on our judges intact. Every commander needs a solid lieutenant, and he serves this role to Claman well.
Loki Tobin is the ultra-liberal chair of the Senate Education Committee. She recently issued a public statement laced with profanity about the State Board of Education banning biological males from female sports. Tobin advocates for boys in girls’ locker rooms. Inquiring minds want to know if Tobin supports males exposing their genitals to female juveniles without consent, in light of the fact that it appears to violate Alaska Statute 11.41.458, Indecent Exposure, which can be charged as a felony? Does this criminal violation suddenly become legal by virtue of a person’s self-identification as a female who was born a male? Will the Three Amigos and their sidekick Senate president join Tobin in proposing to repeal Alaska Statutes aimed at protecting children from sexual predators in biological women’s and children’s locker rooms, domestic violence shelters, and public bathrooms? Watch for it!
The Three Amigos do not recognize minority Republicans as a formal minority and ensure that they are kept in a small penalty box without an equal voice for their constituents. It is just another abuse of their power against the tens of thousands of Alaska residents that Shower, Hughes, and Myers represent. Thus, the Three Amigos choose to not give them the decency of even minority support staff, like a press officer or even token representation on standing committees, with one exception: Myers was given a seat on the Transportation Committee. Will the Republicans ever regain control of the Alaska Senate? Not likely as long as the Three Amigos and their other complicit Amigos are not held accountable by their constituents. Elections have consequences.
Constituents who elected Republicans to the Senate need to ask very tough questions of the Republican members of the majority. Why did they give the most powerful policy committees to Democrats when a solid 11 Republican majority was elected?
Why do Valley Republicans keep reelecting other complicit Republicans like Sen. David Wilson from Wasilla? I can answer the Wasilla Senate seat question. Too many Republican candidates consistently pig pile on the ticket, giving incumbent Wilson the advantage. Just like they did when Republican infighting elected Mary Peltola. Will history repeat itself?
Meanwhile, Alaskan oil industry investors are watching nervously. Wielechowski is a champion of taxing the goose that lays the golden eggs. And Cook Inlet is running out of booked gas reserves.
Scott Ogan is a former House lawmaker who served from 1995 to 2004, and Senate lawmaker who served in 2003-2004. He is a legislative analyst for Must Read Alaska.
Rainbow Bridge, which spans Niagara Falls, N.Y., to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, closed shortly after noon Wednesday after a car explosion on the USA side of the border with Canada.
All other bridges in the Western New York area, including Lewiston-Queenston, Whirlpool, and Peace Bridge in Buffalo, were shut down about an hour later. The Buffalo International Airport was closed to flights to and from Canada.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is now investigating what was a fiery explosion, but which is being referred to as an “incident,” as of this writing. The explosion happened on what is one of the busiest travel days of the year and was in a vehicle coming into the United States.
2:20 pm Update: Eye witnesses say the vehicle rammed a concrete barrier at a high rate of speed and exploded. All other bridges in the area are now open except the Rainbow Bridge crossing.
“The FBI Buffalo Field Office is investigating a vehicle explosion at the Rainbow Bridge, a border crossing between the U.S. and Canada in Niagara Falls. The FBI is coordinating with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners in this investigation. As this situation is very fluid, that’s all we can say at this time,” the FBI said in a statement.
Fox News reports that the explosion was an “attempted terrorist attack” according to “high-level police sources.
A source with knowledge of the situation, who asked not to be identified by name, told The Buffalo News that “a vehicle approached the American side of the bridge at a high rate of speed while traveling in the wrong lane – the one in which vehicles from Canada would be entering the U.S. The speeding vehicle then hit an obstacle near a U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspection booth.”
Explosives were in the vehicle at the time and two people who were in the car are dead, the sources told Fox News. A border officer was injured and taken to a local hospital, where he has been released.
The Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo, on advice of law enforcement, has closed its facilities through the holidays.
The economic indicators report published last month by the Juneau Economic Development Council is a wake-up call for our community. The findings are worrisome, and should be the #1 reference in guiding the Juneau Assembly’s priorities and actions for 2024.
JEDC, a private nonprofit, receives $440,000 annually from the city to promote economic development and monitor economic data. JEDC Executive Director Brian Holst shared their latest report during a recent Juneau Chamber of Commerce presentation and outlined some alarming trends impacting our community. The report reflects changes between 2021 and 2022, some of which may have become even more pronounced in 2023.
While Juneau’s economy has generally recovered from the debilitating effects of the pandemic (thanks largely to the rebounding cruise industry), the community’s aging and declining population signal problems ahead. For the first time in Juneau’s history, residents over 60 years of age outnumber those under 20. Families moving out of Juneau coupled with low fertility rates have been the main reasons, but high housing and healthcare costs have discouraged new in-migration.
Compounding this problem is the continued loss of government jobs, once Juneau’s mainstay. The state workforce declined 2.6% year over year. Significantly, half those jobs were in administration or executive-level positions.
Plummeting student populations will soon force the Juneau School District to consider facility consolidations as state education funding is tied to school enrollment.
Most agree that making Juneau a more affordable place to live will help and encourage working families to stay or relocate here. Yet many of our Assembly’s priorities have served to do just the opposite.
These economic and demographic trends can’t be reversed anytime soon. Jacking up property taxes to untenable levels or spending more than $100 million on a new City Hall and civic center won’t make Juneau more affordable. Nor will warning the one private industry that is expanding their presence in the community that their efforts are no longer welcome. Yet the Assembly recently voted informally “thumbs down” as a signal they want the cruise industry to shrink.
This begs the question, what exactly will be the plan to replace the revenue losses when visitors are reduced? It was only a few years ago that the Assembly discussed exempting food from sales taxes and, despite almost unanimous support, they were unable to deliver a plan to replace the $6 million hole it would have created in the budget.
The 2023 cruise season generated over $34 million in sales tax and passenger fee revenue. Reducing it by just one ship per day would create a similar-sized hole in the municipal budget. And that doesn’t take into account other economic impacts related to employment and cruise line purchases.
Except for mining there’s no other realistic option to sustain our economy save the cruise industry. We can hope for more independent visitors or Coast Guard cutters, but other options are speculative and long-term. None come close to replacing the kind of employment and revenue now provided by the cruise industry.
Instead of demonizing the cruise industry, why not collaborate productively with them to expand opportunities for employment and revenue growth?
One such example is Huna Totem Corp.’s Aak’w Landing dock project. So far the city seems more interested in allocating an estimated $80 million in tax revenue to purchase Juneau’s private docks than approving this project, one that could pump an estimated $150 million in private investment into our community.
Juneau’s Tourism Management Best Practices (TMBP) program has been widely lauded and copied in other Southeast Alaska communities. Despite assertions 20 years ago that further tourism growth in Juneau was unsustainable, impacts as evidenced by resident complaints have been largely alleviated. The recent increase due to the uptick in passenger volume was not unexpected and is being addressed.
More importantly, the recommendations of the Visitor Industry Task Force are just now being implemented to include a five-ship daily limit and other congestion mitigation measures. It’s premature to consider other changes until those actions can take effect.
In the meantime, our Assembly can and should concentrate its efforts on how to grow the economy, streamline the budget to reduce taxes, and reverse Juneau’s demographic decline.
After retiring as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in Alaska, Win Gruening became a regular opinion page columnist for the Juneau Empire. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is involved in various local and statewide organizations.
The Supreme Court has denied an appeal by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted in the killing of violent repeat criminal George Floyd.
Chauvin had appealed his conviction on the basis that the jury was biased against him because they feared more riots in the city if they didn’t convict him.
Chauvin is serving a 20-year prison sentence for second- and third-degree murder of Floyd, whose death ignited protests and riots across the country, and claims of systemic racism. The incident spawned the Black Lives Matter movement and may have contributed to the election of President Joe Biden, as blacks across the country were motivated to vote.
“Mr. Chauvin’s case shows the profound difficulties trial courts have to ensure a criminal defendant’s right to an impartial jury consistently when extreme cases arise,” Chauvin’s attorneys argued to the high court. “This was particularly true here when the jurors themselves had a vested interest in finding Mr. Chauvin guilty in order to avoid further rioting in the community in which they lived and the possible threat of physical harm to them or their families.”
The court gave no explanation as to why it was not agreeing to hear the appeal.
Also this week, a documentary about the 2020 riots in Minneapolis was released. “The Fall of Minneapolis” is based on the book by Liz Collin, titled, “They’re Lying.”
In the book and the documentary, Collin uncovers what really happened on Chicago Avenue, through interviews with those who were there, including Chauvin and other police officers who have not spoken out about the incident before. The film contains body-worn camera video of George Floyd’s arrest, interviews with officers who served during the riots, key evidence from the autopsy, and important facts from the Chauvin trial.
“Liz exposes how the facts were manipulated to dupe and divide America,” the filmmakers say on their website. “After years of in-depth research, we show the evidence that others have ignored or outright censored. This is everything they don’t want you to see.”
