Tom Anderson, a lifelong Alaskan and managing partner at Optima Public Relations, passed on Feb. 10 after a long illness.
Anderson had hosted a political talk radio show on KVNT in the Anchorage/Mat-Su since 2011. He had served on the Anchorage School Board, the Zoning Board of Examiners and Appeals, the Municipal Light & Power Commission, and the Anchorage Parking Authority. He was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives for two terms.
Although when he was younger and in the Legislature he became embroiled in a corruption scandal and was convicted in 2007 of corruption, he maintained that the courts had simply criminalized being a legislator.
He served a little more than three years in an Oregon prison, but he didn’t let that define his life. Upon his release, he became a partner with his father, Tom Anderson, Sr., at Optima Public Relations, and rehabilitated his career.
Anderson attended Muldoon Elementary School and Clark Junior High, and graduated from Bartlett High School in 1985. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration at University of Alaska Anchorage. He obtained his juris doctorate from Hamline University School of Law in Minnesota in his early 30s. He served as a legislative aide for six years for Rep. Terry Martin and as a House representative for East Anchorage for two terms. In 2000 he was on the transition team for Anchorage Mayor George Wuerch.
Anderson managed political campaigns for Republicans and was a political consultant as well as a writer, having had articles published in The Hill, Alaska Business Monthly, and other publications.
In his younger years, he was married to former Sen. Lesil McGuire. At the time of his death, he was married to Lailanie Garcia Anderson, whom he adored; he was deeply devoted to her and his children.
Because he was a former legislator, the Alaska flag will be flown at half staff at a day coordinated with the family through the Office of the Governor.
Recently, a federal appeals court in New Jersey shot down plaintiffs’ refusal to wear a mask during a school board meeting in 2022. New Jersey still had mandatory mask wearing in effect due to the “public health emergency” related to Covid-19. The plaintiffs’ position was they had a protected First Amendment right to decide whether to mask or not mask.
The suit involved two ordinary citizens attending a school board meeting, who stated they had been retaliated against by their school boards for refusing to wear the mandated face covering. Because they refused to mask, both were arrested for trespassing.
Was the court’s decision based on the fear of a non-masked person more than six feet away or made because it could—a power play to demonstrate you must comply.
The court’s decision stated, “A question shadowing suits such as these is whether there is a First Amendment right to refuse to wear a protective mask as required by valid health and safety orders put in place during a recognized public health emergency. Like all courts to address this issue, we conclude there is not.”
The gist of this is that a school board can mandate that people wear any FDA Class II medical device, which is what these surgical masks are, in order to attend its meetings.
Both plaintiffs are appealing the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
I am not a lawyer. What I wonder about, however, was what scientific data were used to push the coercive and mandatory use of masks?
What scientific data were used to abridge the plaintiff’s First Amendment rights?
Let’s take a trip down memory lane. Remember how at the beginning of this “pandemic,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, aka Dr. Science, said masks were not recommended?
Then Dr. Fauci reversed himself and believed masks were needed to help “flatten the curve.”
He said he changed his recommendation when he thought there was a sufficient supply for both the medical personnel and the public.
If masks were the “be all and end all,” why is it we are always running around without them (save some diehards) during all seasons when other respiratory diseases could easily infect us?
How effective was this “you must mask strategy” in the U.S?
Why, with all the mask mandates and social distancing, not visiting family at holidays, not being able to visit dying family members in hospitals, and running away from the unvaxxed, did the U.S. have one of the highest percentages of Covid deaths in the world?
Statistics from April of 2023 showed more than 1.13 million people in the U.S. died from/with Covid-19 over a three-year period, and during much of that time, masks were required in many public places.
There have been all types of studies on both sides as to why masks are either important or not needed. Many of these studies showed the negative effects of masking — social awkwardness for kids who couldn’t see the facial expressions of teachers and fellow students, and decreased oxygen levels, to name a few. I cannot find any compelling data to show that this was an absolute necessity to save the world during this Covid-19 experience.
What I can find is a country divided. The masks wearers and non-mask wearers. I still see people wearing a mask while driving alone in their vehicle.
A mask should be your decision, especially since there is no solid data that state the efficacy of masks. And even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in retrospect, said they weren’t effective at stopping the spread of Covid-19.
With that said, I will tell you I did wear one on airplane travel because the mask Nazis were everywhere. My mask was plain cloth that was too big so I was able to breathe easily. And I always made sure to eat my meals on the planes so I could ‘legally’ take it off.
That mask did absolutely nothing to protect me. But it made all the crazies happy.
I’m dusting it off for the next round that I know is coming. Will the next “pandemic“ also require us to wear gloves because it the contaminant is caused through contact? Maybe we need a full biohazard suit.
They are looking for just how far they can push us with their fear agenda.
Linda Boyle, RN, MSN, DM, was formerly the chief nurse for the 3rd Medical Group, JBER, and was the interim director of the Alaska VA. Most recently, she served as Director for Central Alabama VA Healthcare System. She is the director of the Alaska Covid Alliance.
The board of Chugach Electric Association, the leading electric utility serving the Anchorage area, has called for a special meeting of its board members on Monday, Feb. 12, starting at 4 p.m. The meeting will be in the boardroom at the Association’s headquarters, 5601 Electron Drive in Anchorage.
The primary focus of the meeting was initially about the future of the Eklutna Dam, a vital energy source contributing 6% of Southcentral’s power supply as well 90% of Anchorage’s drinking water, a hydro project that has garnered attention from environmental activists and the liberal majority of the Anchorage Assembly, which advocates for its removal and the restoration of salmon runs to Eklutna Lake.
Chugach Electric Association is a major shareholder in the Eklutna Hydropower Project along with Matanuska Electric Association, having bought out the Municipality’s shares during the sale of Municipal Light & Power to Chugach Electric in 2019. The sale was approved by voters in Anchorage in 2018.
The Eklutna Hydroelectric Project is the lowest cost power in Southcentral Alaska and is about approximately 25% of Chugach’s renewable generation portfolio. It helps establish reliability in the electric grid in Anchorage and supplies 90% of the domestic water supply for Anchorage.
However, the agenda has expanded to include discussions regarding the Nominating Committee, with additional items concerning interviews, deliberations, and voting procedures.
Last week, nominating committee member Leslie Ridle resigned from the committee because it was conducting interviews for potential board of director candidates in closed session.
According to sources familiar with the situation, the inclusion of the Nominating Committee topic on the agenda could signal a debate about the Chugach Electric board’s internal decision-making processes.
“Given the significance of both the Eklutna Dam and the nominating committee’s role in ensuring that the co-op is run by solid, qualified individuals, this special meeting holds substantial importance for Chugach Electric and the broader Anchorage community,” said a source close to the organization.
The Nominating Committee’s proceedings, specifically regarding interviews, deliberations, and voting, are done privately for several reasons:
Historically, interviews have been conducted behind closed doors to prevent unfair advantages for candidates who might tailor their responses based on preceding interviews.
Concerns have been raised about the potential for Chugach members, media representatives, or special interest groups to report on candidate responses, compromising the integrity of the selection process.
Maintaining confidentiality during interviews safeguards candidates from potential embarrassment or reputational harm.
Committee members seek the freedom to engage in candid discussions without fear of reprisal from external stakeholders, including the media, the board, employers, and Chugach staff.
Previous incidents of candidate volatility have underscored the importance of ensuring the safety of committee members.
Allowing candidate supporters to observe deliberations might unduly influence the decision-making process.
While voting is slated to occur in an open session, the decision to conduct it via secret ballot aims to shield committee members from external pressures and potential repercussions.
Julie Kitka, who has served as president of Alaska Federation of Natives for 33 years, is retiring, the board announced on Friday.
The board of directors of the highly political Alaska Native organization has developed a succession and search committee “and will be casting a wide net to seek diverse candidates with strong commitments to serving the Alaska Native community”
The position will be announced and open for application in March, with the new president in place by the time the 2024 AFN convention convenes Oct. 17-19 at the Dena’ina Civic & Convention Center in Anchorage.
AFN was started in 1966 to address Alaska Native land rights, and was formally incorporated in 1967. Over the past few years it has become stridently leftist and anti-development, to the point where some Alaska Native corporations, such as Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, Doyon, and Aleut Corporation withdrew from the organization. Tlingit and Haida Tribal Central Council and Tanana Chiefs Conference, which represents 39 Alaska Native villages and 37 federally recognized tribes in the Interior, also left in 2023. The village of Barrow also withdrew.
Kitka was born in Cordova to a father of Eskimo and Chugach lineage and a mother who was of German descent. After graduating from Alaska Pacific University, she started as a bookkeeper at AFN, and rose to become its president within eight years; she is the longest-serving president in the organization’s history.
During her time as president, the storied organization has drifted into national missions, such as support for Black Lives Matter, in spite of unlawful and violent riots during 2020 in the lead-up to the elections. Kitka called for the resignation of President Donald Trump after some of his supporters made a surge into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The organization endorsed then-Sen. Mark Begich in 2014 for Senate, rather than his Republican challenger Dan Sullivan, and Democrat Mary Peltola for Congress during 2022’s election cycle. It also endorsed Sen. Lisa Murkowski over Kelly Tshibaka that year.
In 2023, the organization approved a resolution supporting the new ranked-choice voting and open primary system now implemented in Alaska elections, which is also supported by liberal entities.
ConocoPhillips Alaska reported the following earnings for 2023, with net income of $1.8 billion, and taxes and royalties of $1.8 billion. The State of Alaska got $1.2 billion of that, and $600 million went to the federal government.
Also in 2023, ConocoPhillips Alaska invested $1.7 billion in capital projects.
Additionally, for the full year of 2023, ConocoPhillips Alaska invested $1.7 billion in capital.
“On December 22, 2023, ConocoPhillips announced that it will move forward with development of the Willow project. The Final Investment Decision, which approves the project and funds construction needed to reach first oil, is a significant milestone for Alaska and the company,” said Erec Isaacson, president, ConocoPhillips Alaska. “Winter construction season is underway supporting thousands of jobs and the Alaska economy.”
“ConocoPhillips remains committed to investing in projects on the North Slope that will deliver new barrels and contribute significantly to the State’s economy through job growth and revenue generation. Alaska’s existing fiscal regime is key to promoting a stable environment for ongoing investment and helped make the Willow project a reality.”
Since 2007, ConocoPhillips Alaska has incurred more than $44 billion in taxes and royalties to the State of Alaska and the federal government. Of that amount, about $34 billion went directly to the state. In that same period, ConocoPhillips Alaska’s earnings have been approximately $26 billion.
President Joe Biden was the butt of jokes far and wide on Friday, after his Thursday press conference mixup, when he confused Mexico’s president with Egypt’s president.
He was trying to do damage control after a special counsel assessed him as “an elderly man with a poor memory” who failed to recall basic facts of his life and career, even momentous ones, such as when his son Beau died and when he was vice president.
Biden only gave more kindling to the fire growing around him as the public begins to realize how far gone his mind really is.
The critics of social media were way ahead of him, including Western Lensman, a X/Twitter account that put together a montage of Biden flubs.
“An Elderly Man With A Poor Memory” | A Tribute to The President of the United States pic.twitter.com/4fSWKlOnDQ
Yet while others are piling on, Alaska’s Rep. Mary Peltola is a Biden loyalist.
On Meet the Press in late December, Peltola defended Biden as mentally sharp and that “as a native person, I think age is a good thing. Wisdom and experience are a good thing.”
“I think that Joe Biden’s mental acuity is very, very on. He’s one of the smartest, sharpest people I’ve met in D.C.,” Peltola told the camera.
The White House came out blasting on Friday, with a rarely heard-from spokesman from the White House, Ian Sams, saying that the special counsel’s report assessment of Biden’s mental frailty was “inappropriate” and “gratuitous.”
Although the report that details Biden’s decades-long sloppy storage of classified documents, it recommends that charges against Biden would be difficult to prove because of his age and loss of memory.
“When the inevitable conclusion is that the facts and the evidence don’t support any charges, you’re left to wonder why this report spends time making gratuitous and inappropriate criticisms of the president,” Sams told reporters.
The report by Robert Hur also was criticized by Vice President Kamala Harris as politically motivated.
“So the way the president’s demeanor in that report was characterized could not be more wrong on the facts, and clearly politically motivated. And so I will say, when it comes to the role and responsibility of a prosecutor in a situation like that, we should expect that there would be a higher level of integrity than what we saw,” Vice President Harris said.
Hur initially was appointed by President Donald Trump to a position in the Department of Justice, but it was Attorney General Merrick Garland who appointed him as special counsel. In effect, Vice President Harris was criticizing her own attorney general’s pick.
A former White House doctor has now wondered aloud whether it is time to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution and remove the president.
Rep. Ronny Jackson, who was the White House doctor for 14 years, said the Hur report is “validation” that Biden is suffering from a “significantly limited” memory issues, and that “we’re at the point now where they should be thinking about” invoking the 25th Amendment.
“He’s our Commander-in-Chief, our head of state and you know, if he can’t stand trial, because of his cognitive issues, I mean, it goes without saying that he can’t be the president of the United States. And so then he gets on TV and he tries to refute this. And he makes it even worse,” Jackson said to Breitbart News.
Sen. Rand Paul, jesting on X/Twitter, noted, “Gonna build a wall with Gaza and make Mexico pay for it and boy are they gonna be confused.”
The campaign of Nikki Haley gave the news to Alaska Public Media: She has added Art Hackney, Alaska political consultant, to lead the effort to get Alaska Republicans to support her campaign. And she has assembled a team of supporters that includes former Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, Sen. Bert Stedman of Sitka, and Rep. Louise Stutes of Kodiak. The rest of the list was not revealed by Alaska Public Media, but Must Read Alaska has acquired it from several sources:
Haley’s Alaska Leadership Team:
Statewide Co-Chair: Art Hackney, Chairman Emeritus, American Association of Political Consultants
Anchorage Co-Chair: Curtis Thayer, Executive Director of Alaska Energy Authority
Anchorage Co-Chair: Sara Rasmussen, Former State Representative
Anchorage Co-Chair: Natasha von Imhof: Former State Senator, Co-Chair of the Senate Finance Committee
Eagle River Co-Chair: Kai Binkley-Sims, Businesswoman
Fairbanks Co-Chair: David Pruhs, Mayor of Fairbanks
Mat-Su Co-Chair: Glenda Ledford, Mayor of Wasilla
Kenai Peninsula Co-Chair: Tom Wright, Senior Legislative Aide, Commercial Fisherman
Bert Stedman: State Senator, Co-Chair of the Senate Finance Committee
Louise Stutes: State Representative, Former Speaker of the House
Jay Ramras: Former State Representative
John Harris: Former Speaker of the House
Mead Treadwell: Former Lieutenant Governor
Ralph Samuels: Former State Representative
Anna Mackinnon: Former State Representative, State Senator
Jennifer Johnston: Former State Representative, Co-Chair, Finance Committee
Charisse Millett: Former Statehouse Majority Leader
Lesil McGuire: Former State Representative, State Senator
Sheila Cernich: Officer, Anchorage Republican Women’s Club
Miranda Strong: Former General Counsel, Alaska Republican Party
Eddie Grasser: Director of Wildlife Conservation, Department of Fish and Game
John Sims: President, ENSTAR Natural Gas
Perry Green: Member, American Israel Public Affairs Committee
Lottie Michael: Commercial Real Estate Developer
Tyra Chandler: Anchorage businesswoman
Amber McDonald: Anchorage businesswoman
Athena Fulton: Real Estate Consultant
Ashley Reed: Government Relations & Public Affairs Consultant
Ginger Johnson: Former Legislative Assistant, Department of Transportation
Gale Vandor: Former Director, Alaska Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
Angela Rodell: Former Executive Director, Alaska Permanent Fund
Mike Welch: Mayor of North Pole
Madison Fagnani: Anchorage businesswoman
Cherie Curry: Media Consultant and Strategist
Mary Ann Pease: Regulatory/Government Affairs Consultant
Kati Capozzi: President & CEO, Alaska State Chamber of Commerce
The Haley team is going to focus on getting out the vote for the GOP Presidential Preference Poll, which is being held by the Republican Party on Super Tuesday, March 5.
Two days after Republican candidate Nikki Haley lost the Nevada Republican primary to “none of these,” in a primary run by the Nevada Secretary of State, former President Donald Trump won the Nevada Republican Caucus on Thursday, which means he will get all of the 26 Nevada GOP delegates to the Republican National Nominating Convention in July.
Trump received 97.6% of the vote. Only one other candidate was participating — Ryan Binkley, who had 2.4%. (Note: He is not the Ryan Binkley who is president of the Anchorage Daily News).
Trump didn’t take part in the non-binding primary that the state ran, but Haley did. She took second after “none of these candidates” received the most votes.
There was confusion in Nevada after the state decided to do a primary, but the Republican Party said it would stick to its own nominating process, via caucus. Primary ballots were mailed out to eligible voters and Nevadans were also able to vote in person. For the caucuses, voters had to attend in person from 5-7.30 pm PT at their local GOP polling location and provide photo ID in order to participate.
In the Nevada Democrat Primary, Biden won with 112,611 votes and gets 36 delegates at the Democrat Party’s national convention. On Thursday, Marianne Williamson, a self-help guru running as a Democrat for president, suspended her campaign.
“We did what we could to shed some light in some very darkened times. For that I will always be so grateful,” Williamson said on social media.
Trump is far-and-away leading in the delegate count in the march toward the national GOP convention.
The Virgin Islands also held their GOP caucus on Thursday and Trump won 74% of the vote, getting all four delegates. The vote was 184 for Trump, 62 for Haley.
There are 2,429 delegates total available for the GOP convention in Milwaukee, which takes place July 15–18, and 1,215 delegates are needed to win the nomination. With 157 days to go, Trump now has 62 delegates, while Haley trails at 18.
The next primary contest is in Haley’s home state of South Carolina, where she served as governor from 2011 to 2017. That primary will be held Saturday, Feb. 24, 15 days from this writing. Fifty delegates to the Republican National Convention will be allocated on a winner-takes-all basis.
Morning Consult, a polling firm, has Trump leading Haley, who served as his ambassador to the United Nations, among registered voters (of any party or those with no party) who say they will vote in the South Carolina Republican primary. Trump leads with 68% to Haley’s 31%. South Carolina allows anyone to vote in either the Republican or Democrat primary, but if they have already voted in the Democrat primary of Feb. 3, they will not be able to vote in the Republican primary.
The Democrats held their primary in South Carolina on a different date because they were instructed to do so by President Joe Biden, who wanted the Palmetto State to go first before New Hampshire, since blacks in South Carolina helped him win in 2020. He won the Feb. 3 primary with 126,336 votes, over 96% of those who voted, giving him 65 delegates.
On the website Fivethirtyeight.com, which aggregates polling, Trump is now polling at nearly 76% among likely Republican voters, and Haley is polling at nearly 18%, in polls done nationally.
In a surprise live video appearance on Thursday, President Joe Biden hit back at the characterization of him as a well-meaning but forgetful old man. His appearance at a podium in the White House was in response to a special counsel report to the Department of Justice concerning Biden’s decades-long habit of storing classified documents in his garage and other places.
The report said the president could not remember important details, such as when his son Beau died or when he was Vice President.
Yet Biden fumbled badly during the press conference.
In answering a reporter’s question he confused Egyptian Head of State Abdel Fattah El-Sisi by calling him with the president of Mexico.
“As you know, initially, the president of Mexico, Sisi, did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in,” Biden said, when asked about the border between Gaza and Egypt. “I talked to him. I convinced him to open the gate.”
He did not appear to realize he had confused the names of Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador with El-Sisi of Egypt.
In referring to the special counsel report, Biden said, “I’m well-meaning, and I’m an elderly man, and I know what the hell I’m doing. I’ve been president, and I put this country back on its feet. I don’t need his recommendation. That’s totally out –“
A Fox News reporter asked him, “How bad is your memory? And can you continue as president?”
“My memory is so bad I let you speak,” he replied.
A reporter asked him, “Do you feel your memory has gotten worse, Mr. President?”
“No, look, my memory is not — my memory is fine. My memory — take a look at what I’ve done since I’ve become president. None of you thought I could pass any of the things I got passed. How did that happen? You know, I guess I just forgot what was going on,” Biden responded.
He also commented on the report’s allegation that he could not remember when his son died.
“The decision to decline criminal charges was straightforward. The evidence suggests that Mr. Biden did not willfully retain these documents. The evidence, he said, I did not willfully retain these documents. In addition, I know there’s some attention paid to some language in the report about my recollection of events. There’s even reference that I don’t remember when my son died.
“How in the hell dare he raise that? Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself, it wasn’t any of their damn business. Let me tell you something. Some of you have commented I wear, since the day he died, every single day the rosary he got from our lady of — every Memorial Day, we hold a service remembering him, attended by friends and family and the people who loved him.”
He continued, “I don’t need anyone. I don’t need anyone to remind me when he passed away — or he passed away. Simple truth is I sat for five-hour interview over two days of events going back 40 years. At the same time, I was managing an international crisis. Their task was to make a decision about whether to move forward with charges in this case.”
The White House also published a written statement from Biden about the report. It says, in full:
“The Special Counsel released today its findings about its look into my handling of classified documents. I was pleased to see they reached the conclusion I believed all along they would reach – that there would be no charges brought in this case and the matter is now closed.
“This was an exhaustive investigation going back more than 40 years, even into the 1970s when I was a young Senator. I cooperated completely, threw up no roadblocks, and sought no delays. In fact, I was so determined to give the Special Counsel what they needed that I went forward with five hours of in-person interviews over two days on October 8th and 9th of last year, even though Israel had just been attacked on October 7th and I was in the middle of handling an international crisis. I just believed that’s what I owed the American people so they could know no charges would be brought and the matter closed.
“Over my career in public service, I have always worked to protect America’s security. I take these issues seriously and no one has ever questioned that.”
The Biden handlers do not put the president in front of the press corps for live press conferences often. In fact, Biden has held fewer solo news conferences with American reporters than any previous president except Reagan.
Presidents Barack Obama held 44 and Donald Trump 64 solo press conferences during their respective eight and four years in office. Biden has had a total of 14 solo press conferences in his three years, according to the American Presidency Project.
