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Hunter Biden indicted on gun charges

Suzanne Downing
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Hunter Biden indicted on gun charges

The Justice Department on Thursday charged Hunter Biden with lying about his drug use when he purchased a handgun in October of 2018, which was during a time when he admittedly was addicted to crack cocaine. The indictment was filed in a federal court in Delaware.

President Joe Biden’s son is also being investigating for corruption involving business dealings, and failure to pay taxes.

A plea deal with the Justice Department fell apart earlier this summer after the judge would not allow Hunter Biden off on the felony gun charge, and after she scolded the Biden team for burying evidence and scamming the court.

That plea deal would have seen the gun charge dropped in exchange for pleading guilty for misdemeanor counts of willfully failing to pay federal income taxes.

Hunter Biden plea deal in jeopardy after his team caught scamming court

Election oversight agency recommends fines for group trying to repeal ranked-choice voting

Suzanne Downing
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Election oversight agency recommends fines for group trying to repeal ranked-choice voting

The Alaska Public Offices Commission has decided that the group trying to repeal ranked-choice voting in Alaska illegally moved money through a church in Washington State called the Ranked Choice Education Association.

According to APOC, Art Mathias, who is the leader of Alaskans for Honest Elections, sent some $90,000 to the Ranked Choice Education Association, which is registered as a church in Washington state, and some of that money then came back to Alaskans for Honest Elections as a contribution.

Another group, called Alaskans for Better Elections, which is responsible for bringing open primaries and ranked-choice general elections to Alaska, filed an extensive complaint with APOC about the efforts of Alaskans for Honest Elections, which is trying to undo the new voting method.

One of the key points of the complaint is that Matthias moved his money to a nonprofit church so that he could reap a tax benefit, knowing full well the church, which he controlled, would move the money to Alaskans for Honest Elections, which has no tax exemption from the IRS.

Kevin Clarkson, an attorney for Alaskans for Honest Elections, said the group will appeal the decision.

“The Respondents disagree in large part with the APOC staff’s conclusions and will file a response to the report within the deadline,” Clarkson wrote.

“With respect to the alleged donation in the name of another, APOC staff has (1) improperly charged Ranked Choice Education Association with a violation of the statute despite the fact that RCEA gave its donations to Alaskans for Honest Elections in its own name; (2) improperly double charged and fined both RCEA and Mr. Matthias with violations of the statute (AS 15.13.074(b)) as if there were two donations to AHE—one totaling $79,000 and another totaling $90,000–when there was only one set of donations going to AHE totaling about $79,000; (3) improperly charged Mr. Matthias with violating the statute for giving $90,000 to RCEA despite the fact that he made that perfectly legal donation in his own name—the point should have been only the $79,000 that went from RCEA to AHE in RCEA’s name; (4) has misapplied the statute—designed to prevent contributors from violating limitations and prohibitions of the campaign finance laws, like donation limits (think the old $500 limit) or donor prohibitions (think labor unions or lobbyists who aren’t permitted to donate)—to a situation where no limitation or prohibition was circumvented (Mr. Matthias could have legally given all the money to AHE himself, he announced publicly that he was giving the money, and RCEA even reported that Matthias was the “true source” of the $79,000); and (5) has applied the law in a way that violates the First Amendment. All non-profits (like RCEA or the Alaskans for Better Elections Foundation) raise their funds through donations and then they donate to the ballot groups they support (like AHE or ABE),” Clarkson wrote.

“The staff has made it impossible for a non-profit to make contributions to a ballot group without subjecting their donors to charges of donating in the name of another. For example, on June 26, 2023, ABEF [Alaskans for Better Elections Foundation] contributed $20,000 to ABE [Alaskans for Better Elections]. Does that mean that ABEF’s donors gave to ABE illegally in the name of ABEF rather than in their own names?” Clarkson wrote.

The matter appears to have First Amendment aspects to it, although Clarkson did not raise that in his explanation.

The staff of APOC will take their recommendations of fines to the commission, which makes the final decision. The staff says Alaskans for Honest Elections should be fined over $10,000, and that Alaskans for Honest Government should be fined over $3,000 for related violations relating to the group’s support for the repeal of ranked-choice voting. The staff recommends that Mathias and his Washington church be fined a combined total of $42,500.

Alaskans for Honest Elections is in the process of gathering some 26,000 signatures to put the repeal of the ranked choice voting method on the ballot in 2024. It has until early next year to turn in the signatures to the Division of Elections.

Bronson asks for resignation of Information Technology director

Suzanne Downing
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Bronson asks for resignation of Information Technology director

Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson has asked for the resignation of Marc Dahl, the information technology director for Anchorage. But he also says that Dahl did nothing unusual regarding the April 11 election.

“Yesterday evening the Anchorage Assembly authorized the use of subpoenas to force testimony and the production of documentation to further investigate the events surrounding the April 11 election complaint. This motion is an extreme measure by the Assembly that is completely unnecessary,” Bronson said.

“My administration has been involved and active throughout the investigation process – both with the Ombudsman’s office and with the Assembly. We have been responsive to the public records requests and within the timeframe legally required to respond, we have fulfilled the public records requests by the Assembly, and provided our responses to the Ombudsman’s suggestions listed in his report,” he said.

“The Ombudsman’s report outlines no illegal activity conducted by Mr. Dahl, so I do not understand the Assembly’s extreme motion to use legal action to get information we have already been providing. The policy Mr. Dahl implemented is of sound practice and often used by governmental agencies, non-profits and private businesses and the Ombudsman acknowledges that in his final report,” Bronson said.

“I acknowledge the importance of safeguarding the election process and that any policy designed to do that should go through the formal MOA policy approval process. With that said, I agree that Mr. Dahl’s involvement in the election complaint is worth looking into. The timeline in which the events took place and the lack of MOA process followed is questionable,” he said. “I have asked for Mr. Dahl’s resignation and my team is working with him on those details.”

The Assembly month received a final investigative report from the Ombudsman, which said it found evidence of collaboration between a mayoral appointee (Dahl) and Election Observer Sami Graham “to subvert the electoral process during the 2023 Regular Municipal Election.” The Ombudsman referred the entire matter to the Department of Law.

Chilling effect on election observers created as Anchorage Ombudsman refers questions to Department of Law

The Assembly then held a work session on Friday and, in coordination with the Anchorage Daily News, came up with five questions it wants answered relating to unsubstantiated claims against the mayor, including leading questions:

  1. Who was involved?
  2. What is the administration hiding?
  3. Why hasn’t Mayor Bronson spoken about the incident?
  4. When will the administration take action on Dahl?
  5. Can Anchorage residents trust their government to do the right thing?

“Although they had weeks to prepare, the Administration did little at the worksession to provide the information that Assembly Members—and the public—have repeatedly requested,” said Assembly Chair Christopher Constant during the meeting, as quoted in a press release from Constant. “Assembly members compelled Assembly Leadership to produce legislation that could get us closer to the truth. We can’t propose a solution if we don’t understand the problem.”

The resolution authorizes the Assembly’s attorney to subpoena documents and testimony, and, if needed, pursue litigation to compel the production of records related to the alleged election tampering case, the Assembly wrote.

Rick Whitbeck: Biden betrays Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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Rick Whitbeck: Biden betrays Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

By RICK WHITBECK | POWER THE FUTURE

When Congress in 2017 approved exploration and development opportunities in Alaska’s Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, it marked an end to a 37-year struggle to open the plain. Originally authorized by Congress in 1980, the plain holds a tremendous reserve that could enhance U.S. energy security for decades.

President Joe Biden killed those opportunities with a stroke of his pen.

Invoking climate change, the president canceled already-executed lease contracts with the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority for its seven tracts of land on the Coastal Plain.

In doing so, Biden showed that his talk about well-paying jobs, national energy security, environmental and social justice, and addressing the “climate crisis” is completely without action. Environmentalist zealots, not rational Americans, are the most important people in the country to his administration.

Full development in the Coastal Plain could bring over 60,000 jobs to Alaska, as well as up to $50 billion in royalty payments to various government agencies. With the area estimated to hold between 5 billion and 11 billion barrels of recoverable oil, as well as untold billions of cubic feet of natural gas, it could fill for decades gaps between domestic supply and ever-growing demand.

Development of the wildlife refuge is strongly supported by Alaskans, including the Inupiat Eskimos living closest to — and even, in the case of the village of Kaktovik, inside the boundaries of — the Coastal Plain.

Oil and gas not only creates hundreds of jobs for villagers across the North Slope of the state, but royalty payments to local government have facilitated First World living conditions, a stark contrast to regions of Alaska without significant job opportunities.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, Alaska Republican, has tracked ongoing attacks on industry and opportunity, noting that this was the 55th executive order targeting the state’s resource projects.

Many of those projects, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, directly affect predominantly Native villages and residents who support the chance to work, live and play in their traditional and ancestral areas, rather than face outmigration to larger cities and towns.

Simply put, if the Biden Administration were truly concerned about giving Indigenous people a hand up, it would promote Alaska’s resource opportunities, not destroy them.

But Biden’s handlers and advisers want him to be reelected in November 2024. They know that recent decisions to allow oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico and to reauthorize development of Alaska’s Willow Project have damaged his credibility among environmental activists, a segment of the voting populace he can’t afford to lose.

It isn’t just failed energy policies that are hurting the president’s reelection prospects. Only 74% of Democrats support Biden’s candidacy, according to a recent poll. For a sitting president, that number is shocking, but even more so is the overall support, which hovers just below 40%. Polls show that he’s even losing to five of six leading Republican candidates in head-to-head matchups.

The numbers for Biden only get worse the deeper you dive, with polls showing that 58% of voters believe the economy has gotten worse over the past two years, whereas only 28% say it has gotten better, and nearly 3 in 4 say inflation is headed in the wrong direction.

Unless Biden can shift those numbers dramatically, he will be a one-term president.

In the face of this reality, it seems the Biden Administration’s plan is to double down on terrible decisions, hoping it will energize the president’s green supporters. Time will tell if their plan is right politically, but the facts are clear: Reelection is more important than Alaska and its working families right now.

And, if Biden is elected for another four years without the prospect of facing voters again, just imagine what he will do. The thought should make rational Americans shudder.

• Rick Whitbeck is Alaska state director for Power the Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates American energy jobs. Email him at [email protected], and follow him on X @PTFAlaska.

PeaceHealth, which has locations in S.E. Alaska, closing hospital in Eugene, Oregon, due to losses

Suzanne Downing
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PeaceHealth, which has locations in S.E. Alaska, closing hospital in Eugene, Oregon, due to losses

Eugene’s mayor has asked Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek to force the PeaceHealth hospital to keep open in the City of Eugene. The company is closing PeaceHealth University District Medical Center due to massive financial losses of up to $24 million a year.

The site serves homeless and druggies, which may be part of the cash flow problems. PeaceHealth built a massive new flagship campus 10 minutes away in Springfield in 2008.

Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis keynoted a rally on Monday, calling on Kotek and the Oregon Health Authority to deny the hospital its plans to close, since it is the only hospital in Eugene.

PeaceHealth, a not-for-profit, also runs a medical clinic in Craig and a hospital in Ketchikan, Alaska, as well as six hospital centers in Oregon and nine in Washington state, its home base.

But even as PeaceHealth has reduced its workforce, it reported a $240.7 million operating loss for the 2023 fiscal year, on top of $252 million the year before. Right now, its operating margin is -7.3%.

S&P Global downgraded PeaceHealth’s credit score in July.

“The downgrades reflect our view of PeaceHealth’s substantial and accelerating multi-year operating losses coupled with our expectation that improving its performance could take some time,” the ratings company explained.

Fitch, a bond ratings service, had earlier this year downgraded PeaceHealth, citing the company’s poor cash position and describing “the considerable operating stress PeaceHealth has faced recently. Despite these challenges, Fitch expects PeaceHealth’s operating results to show steady and significant improvement over time.”

According to the Lund Report, almost all of the system’s hospitals have either lost money or broken even for several years.

Document: Biden plans mass release of illegals into country, as processing centers fill to capacity

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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Document: Biden plans mass release of illegals into country, as processing centers fill to capacity

By BETH BLANKLEY | THE CENTER SQUARE

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on Tuesday published an internal Border Patrol email her office obtained that provides guidelines to release foreign nationals being held at Customs and Border Patrol processing centers because they are at near full capacity, at full capacity or are already over capacity.

President Joe Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “have become so brazen that they are now implementing mass-release quotas for immigrants surging into our country,” Moody said. “As a federal judge already recognized, these releases are unlawful, yet the Biden administration is ordering Border Patrol to release even more immigrants into the interior.” Moody is referring to a lawsuit Florida brought against the administration and won.

Despite Mayorkas claiming that the border is closed and secure, a record number of people are being processed through ports of entry using the new CBP One App. As a result, processing centers, where individuals, some families, and unaccompanied minors are held within a certain timeframe, as they are processed to be released into or removed from the country by federal agents, are at capacity.

With the majority of agents pulled from the field tasked with processing record numbers of people, officials have expressed concerns to The Center Square that an unknown number of criminals are illegally entering undetected between ports of entry. This also could be why significantly fewer gotaways are being reported than in previous months.

With nearly 20,000 people currently in custody at CBP processing centers in the nine southwest sectors, Border Patrol agents were given a new directive on how to release even more people into the U.S., according to an email sent to agents obtained by Moody’s office.

The redacted email states it is from the Acting Deputy Chief, Law Enforcement Operations Directorate, at U.S. Border Patrol Headquarters. The name on the letter is redacted, but the acting deputy director of this office is Ricardo Moreno, according to official records.

The email was sent Aug. 8, 2023, to all Border Patrol field chiefs and field deputies as a follow up to a call to discuss how to “bring in-custody numbers to manageable levels.”

“Unfortunately, after leveraging all consequences to include referrals to ERO [Enforcement and Removal Operations], the rate of daily encounters continues to surpass the daily permanent bookouts and the in-custody numbers continue to rise creating significant risks to agents and detainees. This level of detention numbers has also resulted in increased manpower requirements impacting border security efforts,” the email states.

In addition to this, as of Sept. 11, “BP agents were instructed to reward and release over 6,500 illegal aliens who had committed a crime and crashed our lawless border. 6,500 in one day. Do the math. Joe Biden is destroying this country,” the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing Border Patrol agents, said on X.

This is also in addition to CBP ERO agents continuing to apprehend and process for removal violent criminals, including murderers, rapists, child sex offenders and others.

According to preliminary data The Center Square obtained from a Border Patrol agent, over 215,000 illegal foreign nationals were apprehended or reported evading capture at the southwest border alone last month. The data only includes what is reported by Border Patrol agents. It excludes Office of Field Operations data. So far this month, according to preliminary data, Border Patrol agents have apprehended nearly 76,000 illegal border crossers and reported over 12,300 gotaways.

The station with the heaviest traffic is in Eagle Pass, Texas, with nearly 10,000 people apprehended so far this month. Ajo, Arizona, is not far behind with over 7,700 people apprehended. Brownsville, Texas, Tucson, Arizona, and Santa Teresa, New Mexico are also among the busiest stations this month. Santa Teresa’s station, located roughly 30 miles west of El Paso, Texas, reported more gotaways than apprehensions, nearly 4,300 compared to over 3,700, respectively.

The Border Patrol email “is further proof of the disastrous cycle created by [President] Biden’s intentional destruction of our border with Mexico,” Moody said. “Biden cuts resources, opens the border, and then releases detainees while claiming there is not enough detention capacity to prevent the unprecedented flood of migrants entering the country because of his terrible policies. With every passing day it is becoming more obvious that the border crisis is being intentionally orchestrated by the Biden administration. We will continue to do everything in our power to push back and let the American people know what Biden is doing.”

Breaking: Gene ‘Buzzy’ Peltola Jr. dies in plane crash

Suzanne Downing
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Breaking: Gene ‘Buzzy’ Peltola Jr. dies in plane crash

Gene Peltola, the husband of Rep. Mary Peltola, died in a plane crash on Tuesday. The representative is flying back from Washington, D.C.

Update: The National Transportation and Safety Board wrote that it is ” investigating the crash of a Piper PA 18-150 Super Cub that crashed under unknown circumstances near St. Mary’s, Alaska on Sept. 12 at 8:48 PM AKDT. The pilot flew a hunter and the hunter’s equipment to a remote location 64 miles away from St. Mary’s. After leaving the hunter, the plane took off to return and appears to have crashed in an area of remote, mountainous terrain. The pilot was the only person on board.”

NTSB investigators are responding to the scene with the Alaska Air National Guard.

“We are devastated to share that Mary’s husband, Eugene Peltola Jr. — ‘Buzzy’ to all who loved him — passed away earlier this morning following a plane crash in Alaska,” wrote Anton McParland, chief of staff to Rep. Peltola.

“He was one of those people that was obnoxiously good at everything,” McParland said. “He had a delightful sense of humor that lightened the darkest moments. He was definitely the cook in the family. And family was most important to him. He was completely devoted to his parents, kids, siblings, extended family, and friends — and he simply adored Mary. We are heartbroken for the family’s loss.”

Gene Peltola was a director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Alaska and worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for decades. He had been community leader in Bethel.

After he crashed, he was being attended to by at least one hunter in the area. The Air National Guard launched to respond to the crash, which was near a well-known moose hunting lodge near St. Mary’s.

Word reached Must Read Alaska early Wednesday that he dropped a hunter off and crashed on takeoff on Tuesday evening. Hunters reached him but couldn’t stop the bleeding.

The statement from the Alaska Democratic Party reads, “Our deepest condolences are with Rep. Mary Peltola and the Peltola family as they grieve the passing of Gene Peltola Jr. Please keep them in your hearts, thoughts, and prayers as we remember and commemorate Buzzy’s life.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski issued a statement on Twitter: “I am shocked, saddened and truly beyond words to express my grief at the loss of Gene Peltola Jr. Anyone who met Buzzy felt his warmth, generosity and charm. It was easy to see why so many Alaskans called him a friend, and how he was so loved by his family.”

Gov. Mike Dunleavy wrote, “Rose and I are shocked and deeply saddened by the passing of Gene Peltola. We will be praying for Mary, their children, and all of the Peltola family. Gene’s dedication to Alaska ran deep, and he will be dearly missed.”

“Words cannot express the pain of suddenly and tragically losing a loved one. Our team sends prayers and heartfelt condolences to Rep. Mary Peltola and her family in this time of grieving,” said Nick Begich, whose grandfather, Rep. Nick Begich, died in a plane crash in Alaska. Nick is running against Rep. Peltola for Congress.

Alaska’s former Congressman Don Young also died aboard a plane, although it was a commercial jet and his death was not related to a crash. He died March 18, 2022 coming home to Alaska. Former Sen. Ted Stevens’ former wife Ann Stevens died in a plane crash in 1978, and Sen. Stevens also died in a plane crash, after the small plane he was flew into a mountain Aug. 9,. 2010 in Western Alaska.

Rep. Peltola also lost her mother, LizAnn Williams, in May.

Pilot medevaced to Seattle after crash north of Juneau

Suzanne Downing
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2
Pilot medevaced to Seattle after crash north of Juneau

The Coast Guard rescued a plane crash survivor approximately 35 miles northwest of Juneau, Sunday.

Sector Southeast Alaska command center personnel launched an MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew from Air Station Sitka at 5:38 p.m. to respond to the last known position of an emergency locator transmitter alert near Excursion Inlet.

At 7:05 p.m., the aircrew located the single engine fixed wing crash site, which was a Piper PA-18 Super Cub, lowered their rescue swimmer, and extracted the survivor from the crash. The survivor was reported to be the only person on the aircraft and was transferred in critical condition to awaiting local emergency medical services at the Juneau International Airport.

Coast Guard District Seventeen command center personnel received the alert at approximately 5:31 p.m. and confirmed receipt of the alert with other aircraft in the vicinity before relaying the information to Sector Southeast Alaska command center personnel to respond.

“Massive thanks and a job well done to the expeditious work of the aircrew that conducted this rescue,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Matt Bitinas, a situation unit watchstander at Sector Southeast Alaska command center. “This individual’s life was saved due to their actions.”

The pilot of the plane, well known in bush flying circles in Southeast Alaska, was later medevaced to Harborview Medical Center’s trauma unit in Seattle, where friends said he is still in rough condition.

Popp makes it official, files for mayor

Suzanne Downing
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Popp makes it official, files for mayor

Bill Popp, the president of Anchorage Economic Development Corporation, a public agency, has filed for mayor of Anchorage.

He said in a statement that he will pivot away from his role at AEDC to focus full time on his campaign. It’s unclear if he is on paid leave at AEDC, since earlier he said he would remain at AEDC through December.

Popp said he is running to bring professional competency and decorum to local government. He said Anchorage cannot take another step back in improving business and public service availability.

Popp is considered a liberal. He served on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly and as a special assistant to two Kenai Borough mayors. He came to Anchorage with his family inn 1968, when his father was stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base.

Popp joins a race that has three other strong candidates: Incumbent Mayor Dave Bronson, former Assembly Chairwoman Suzanne LaFrance, and former legislator and school board member Chris Tuck.

His candidacy is not a surprise, as Popp has been telling people for weeks that he would officially file on Sept. 12.

He appears to be using the AEDC data base to reach possible contributors for his campaign, according to one resident who was reached out to by Popp.

The Anchorage mayor’s race may cost candidates up to $700,000 apiece, not counting the independent expenditure groups, which work separately.

The election ends April 2. Anchorage votes by mail, with ballots in the mail in the middle of March.

Bill Popp lets it slip: He’s running for mayor
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