The Juneau voters have spoken — again. The majority have voted no on a bond issue desired and pushed by the Juneau Assembly, for the second year in a row.
The no vote was 3,789. Yes votes totaled 3,395 as of the numbers released on Friday evening by the Juneau election office.
The Assembly had earlier this year approved a $50,000 appropriation for the city to use to try to lobby voters to approve the ballot measure that city leaders want. The cost of the building was estimated to be in excess of $43 million.
Recently, property owners had seen significant increases to the property assessments by the city assessor, driving property taxes higher and making some residents feel the city was punishing them for voting against building the city hall last year.
Others observed that the upkeep of the existing city hall appears to have been ignored, including a deteriorated exterior paint on the building that lends it a particularly slummy look.
Final results will be posted once the Canvass Review Board and Election Official certify the election on Oct. 17. At this writing, there are an estimated 1,500 ballots yet to be counted, but the trend is going against the bond measure. The election on the city hall question started with a no-vote advantage of 127 votes, and that has expanded to a 394-vote advantage as of Friday.
Ravn Alaska will stop service to two of its 12 current destinations this month. Daily service to Kenai and Aniak will end Oct. 21.
Ravn Air Group, which declared bankruptcy in 2020, reorganized, sold off some of its aircraft, and continued on. It overlaps with Grant Aviation in rural Alaska, although Grant has no current service to Aniak, which is a hub for even smaller villages in the southwest Kuskokwim River area.
Rob McKinney is CEO of FLOAT, which owns Ravn Alaska. This year he launched a new commercial air carrier for international service, called Northern Pacific Airways. The company invested $6 million into a passenger lounge project at the Anchorage Ted Stevens International Airport’s North Terminal.
Northern Pacific Airways is envisioned as a new long-haul airline serving Asia through Anchorage, but plans have been delayed by the Ukraine-Russia war and other geopolitical tensions.
The news of Ravn’s downsizing comes at the same time Alaska Seaplanes in Southeast Alaska announced it was ending daily service to Petersburg and Wrangell, two of its largest communities in Southeast Alaska.
Alaska Seaplanes started scheduled flight service to Petersburg on April 5, 2021 with two flights a day, seven days a week. It started service to Wrangell from Sitka on May 26,2022, offering flights three times a week.
But that was then. The airlines will end service this month, leaving Alaska Airlines as the only commercial airlines offering flights to and from those Southeast communities. For passengers, the last flights are Oct. 31, and for cargo, service ends Oct. 28.
The company says that ridership just didn’t justify the routes. Petersburg and Wrangell of two of its larger communities that it serves. Petersburg has a population of over 3,100, and Wrangell has 2,055 residents. But those communities have the Alaska Airlines option. Alaska Seaplanes also serves Angoon (pop. 349), Elfin Cove (pop. 17), Gustavus (pop. 642), as well as also small hamlets of Haines, Hoonah, Kake, Klawock, Pelican, Skagway, Tenakee and its largest hubs of Juneau and Sitka.
Presidential candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Democrat, and Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican, are scheduled to speak at the Conservative Political Action’s (CPAC) Save America Conference set for Oct. 18 in Las Vegas.
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a unique voice in advocating for the defunding of the weaponized bureaucracy and ensuring the constitutional right of medical freedom. Kennedy joining such an important event is a reflection of the splintering of the left-wing coalition that has gone full woke Marxist to the point that traditional liberals don’t feel welcome anymore. The breakup of the left-wing coalition is occurring while the conservative coalition has hopes of adding more blacks and Hispanics who reject gender insanity, the effects of the terrible economy, and the destruction of their once safer neighborhoods.” Matt Schlapp, the chairman of CPAC stated.
“We are also honored to have Vivek Ramaswamy – a true patriot and rising star fighting for the values of life and liberty for every American. Ramaswamy has made a massive impact on the political scene in a short amount of time. He comes from the world of business and is willing to courageously fight the woke agenda of corporate America. Ramaswamy continues to send a powerful message on the importance of the great revival of America, the fight against Communist China, illegal immigration, calling out censorship and big-tech, holding far-left institutions and the political establishment accountable.”
The two presidential candidates will join other prominent conservative figures such as Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy; Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton; Steve Bannon, Host of War Room; former Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell; Utah Sen. Mike Lee; Dr. Robert Malone; Trump pollster Jim McLaughlin; Rep. Burgess Owens; Kash Patel; Mercedes Schlapp; Matt Whitaker, former U.S. Attorney General; and Republican Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake.
Ramaswamy has increased in popularity during the race for the Republican presidential ticket while RFK Jr. continues to make a stir as he is expected to jump from the Democratic party to the independent ticket, CPAC said in its announcement.
Those who need to do business with the Municipality of Anchorage on Monday are out of luck. Monday has been designated Indigenous People’s Day by Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and the Anchorage Assembly.
On Feb. 21, 2023, the mayor made it official after an unanimous vote by the Assembly.
In addition to closure at City Hall, the Anchorage Public Libraries, the Permit Center at 4700 Elmore Road, Anchorage Health Department, AWWU’s customer service, and APD’s front counter are all closed.
Emergency services like police and fire will continue as normal. Public transportation via PeopleMover, AnchorRIDES, and RideShare will also remain open. And people can still take their trash to the Central Transfer Station and Anchorage Landfill. Animal Care and Control will also continue operations. This is a paid holiday for all city workers, and those who have to work it will be awarded holiday pay.
The 32-year-old American pitcher is currently playing in the Japanese big leagues because he was suspended by Major League Baseball and released by his team, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Bauer is in the news lately because a sexual allegation from June of 2021 finally came to merciful end; well, at least the lawsuits surrounding it did.
Bauer is claiming vindication of his innocence, and is speaking out, as he has done throughout his career.
Trevor Bauer was a highly touted high school pitcher from southern California, who was also academically bright enough to graduate a year early and head to nearby UCLA to study engineering and play college baseball. His success with the Bruins was good enough for Arizona Diamondbacks to select him as the third overall pick in the 2011 Major League Baseball draft. By June of 2012, he was in the big leagues.
Bauer is an extremely confident person, either because he possesses both extraordinary athletic skills and intellectual abilities, or perhaps because possessing those attributes in abundance instilled him with confidence.
Either way, Bauer has always been sure of himself and willing to say what is on his mind, a trait that hasn’t always sat well with coaches and fellow players. After only a year in Arizona, the Diamondbacks traded him to the Cleveland Indians, where he used his brains to analyze and reconstruct his pitching mechanics, improving himself until he was a regular starter.
His stay in Cleveland ended when, being upset by his performance one day, he chucked a baseball from the mound over the outfield wall, a move that didn’t meet much favor with his manager, Terry Francona. A couple days later, the Indians traded Bauer to the Cincinnati Reds, where he finished out the 2019 season.
The Covid-shortened season of 2020 was a good one for Bauer, as he pitched well enough to earn the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in the National League, the result of which was an exponential rise in his stock as a newly declared free agent. Bauer entertained offers from the Reds and other teams, but it was the Los Angeles Dodgers with their home in his native southern California that offered him an incredible three year contract worth $102 million.
So, Trevor Bauer returned to SoCal, ready to earn thirty-four million dollars a year as one of the premiere pitchers in the game. His unique character and reputation as the smart but odd kid, now played in his favor
He continued to speak out, especially against sticky concoctions applied to baseballs by pitchers seeking to gain an increase in their spin rates (a measurement of the number of times a baseball rotates per minute after being released from the pitcher’s hand).
Ironically, Bauer was accused of that very thing shortly after the 2021 season began, and there was some credible evidence to back up the allegations, as his spin rate decreased significantly after the league announced a concerted crackdown on pitchers putting illegal substances on baseballs.
Which brings us to June of 2021. A woman, only recently identified as Lindsey Hill, accused Bauer of physically and sexually assaulting her after they dated, i.e., had sex, on two occasions.
Condemnation of Bauer was swift and extreme. The media pounced, convicting him based on a woman’s allegations in a world where guilt is presumed and arguments to the contrary earn the label of misogyny. The league placed Bauer on administrative leave for one week at a time until August, when he was suspended for the rest of the season. August also happened to be when Hill’s request for a permanent restraining order was denied.
Hill alleged the incident took place in mid-May, at which time she went to an emergency room and met with filed a police report. She did not file a request for a restraining order until late June, when an ex-parte order was approved, but on August 20th, a judge – a female judge in southern California — denied the request for a permanent order. Nevertheless, Bauer’s administrative leave as ordered by Major League Baseball would continue for the remainder of the 2021 season and into the next.
In February 2022, the Los Angeles District Attorney declined to press charges against Bauer, citing lack of evidence. Bauer admitted having sexual relations — rough sex was the term used — with Hill, but denied he abused her, claiming all their activities were consensual. Nevertheless, in late April, Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred handed Bauer a two year suspension under the league’s domestic violence policy, meaning Trevor Bauer would not be able to play until the 2024 season. Bauer appealed and was able to get the suspension reduced so he could resume play in 2023.
The Dodgers, however, released Bauer in January of 2023, even though they still had to pay his salary for the season. That’s how badly they wanted to rid themselves of an alleged sexual assaulter.
This, by the way, is the same Dodgers organization that gave a community service award this past Summer to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of queer and “trans nuns” that satirize Christianity and mock Catholic nuns.
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
Bauer used his considerable wealth to lawyer up and sue not only his accuser, but her lawyer, a couple sports of sports media outlets, and a reporter, all of whom rushed judgment against him and declared his guilt without a criminal trial.
Hill countersued, and the two parties remained resolute until reaching a deal this week, agreeing to mutually drop their suits without any money exchanging hands. The agreement also dropped a gag order, meaning Bauer could now speak out, and speak out he has.
Bauer just released a series of text messages between Hill and her friend and a cousin, and they are pretty damning. The correspondence reflects Hill was blatant about her plot to get her hands on Bauer’s wealth, saying her plan lie in “being an absolute whore to try to get in on his 51 million.” Musing on how to accomplish the task, pondered whether she would need to have “. . . daddy choke me out?”
If that wasn’t enough, Bauer released a video that Hill posted of herself the morning after their second tryst, the one she claims left her with black eyes, a bruised lip, and scratches on her face. The video shows no evidence of these alleged marks, nor does it show Hill looking anything but calm and comfortable while lying in bed . . . next to a sleeping Bauer.
Metadata, Bauer claims, reveals Hill’s post occurred within “mere minutes” of her leaving his residence.
Scrambling to defend herself, Hill is taking to media outlets to claim that the lighting was not good when she took the video of herself lying in Bauer’s bed. That, and the bruises hadn’t had time to set in. The accuser, it has become known by her own admission, is a recovering alcoholic and baseball groupie who had previous relationships with two other Major League ballplayers.
It doesn’t appear that either Bauer or Hill will back down from their claims. Trevor Bauer is not over the hill, baseball wise, but this ordeal cost him two and a half seasons in his prime. He has pitched very well in Japan this season, and likely has good enough stuff to return to the Majors.
Whether any American baseball team is willing to take the flak that will come with hiring a man accused of sexually assaulting a woman – even though he was never criminally charged or found civilly liable – is the question. It would be wise not to hold one’s breath waiting for an answer.
Tim Barto is a baseball coach and was a fan of the professional game prior to MLB becoming woke. He is also Vice President at Alaska Family Council.
The Alaska State Troopers have been on the trail of an illegal gambling operation going on on the Kenai Peninsula. Now, after an extensive undercover operation, the Troopers have named the alleged perpetrators.
Last December, Troopers in Soldotna were alerted that an illegal gambling operation was occurring in the Kenai area.
Throughout the investigation, investigators determined that The Spot, a Kenai-based business, was operating multiple video gambling machines and that the Arctic Spot, a Soldotna-based business, was also operating several video gambling machines.
Although the games were advertised as games of skill, through undercover surveillance, the games were determined to be games of chance, which are illegal under Alaska law.
On Oct. 5, investigators from the Alaska State Troopers, along with Troopers from patrol and officers from the Kenai Police Department and Soldotna Police Department, executed multiple search warrants on the businesses and the homes of the individuals operating the illegal operations.
During the search warrant service, four money counters, financial reports, gambling games, accessories to the games, an AK-47 rifle with a removed serial number, and approximately $75,000 was seized from various locations.
Investigators arrested the following individuals following the search warrant service:
40-year-old Soldotna resident Richard Mauia, owner of The Spot. Mauia met with undercover investigators inside The Spot and instructed them on how to play the games. Mauia was observed at The Spot several times and was identified as being security while the gambling establishment was open. Mauia was arrested on charges of Promoting Gambling in the First Degree.
42-year-old Kenai resident Tom Papalagi instructed undercover law enforcement on how to play the game. He was described as being security for the gambling establishments. Papalagi was arrested on charges of Promoting Gambling in the First Degree, possession of Gambling Records in the First Degree, and Misconduct Involving a Weapon in the Third Degree.
31-year-old Kenai resident Weiqiang He, who also instructed undercover law enforcement on how to play the game and would pay out people as they played the game. He was arrested on charges of Promoting Gambling in the First Degree.
53-year-old Kenai resident Chengshan Liu was observed tending to the business and removing money from the gambling machines. Liu was arrested on charges of Promoting Gambling in the First Degree.
The investigation remains active and ongoing. Additional arrests may be made as the investigation continues. The Alaska State Troopers thanked the Kenai Police Department and Soldotna Police Department for their assistance.
On Friday, Oct. 6, and again on Tuesday, Oct. 10, the Department of Interior will have public meetings to hear what Alaskans have to say about the new regulations that will restrict energy development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
The new regulations were announced in early September and would drastically change the terms Congress set for the NPRA. The regulations were announced without consultation with Alaska Natives or their organizations.
The NPRA was set aside by Congress for natural resource development balanced with conservation. It’s one of America’s great national security assets.
But the Biden Administration is determined to shut it down, as it has shut down the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s 1002 Area, the part of the refuge set aside for oil and gas development.
Friday’s meeting, which starts at 11 am, is virtual. Link to it here.
Tuesday’s meeting, fom 1-3pm, is at the Dena’ina Center (600 W 7 th Ave, Anchorage, AK) in the Kahtnu 1 room.
The 60-day comment period, which is being rushed by the Department of the Interior, will close on Nov. 7, but could be extended if the public is successful in pushing back, since Native Alaskans had not been given an opportunity to be informed.
In fact, the publishing of the public comment period has been nearly secretive by the Department of Interior. Alaskans have been left out of the loop, and Alaska tribes and Native corporations did not receive any invitation to consult on the proposed rule. Instead, they received a letter informing them of the new rule, seven business days before the rule’s publication.
To provide comments, visit the Management and Protection of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska proposed rule at regulations.gov.
Rep. Mary Peltola is being ordered back to work by her Democrat caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she will be required to vote for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries for House Speaker.
Peltola has been missing from work for nearly a month, after the tragic death of her husband, Gene Peltola, in September.
An email went out from House Democratic Whip Minority Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, saying, “Each member of our Caucus must be physically present on the Floor for next week’s proceedings. Many of you have made tremendous sacrifices to continue to be in Washington, and these have not gone unnoticed. We understand that the uncertainty of this schedule is challenging. Any change to this expected timing will be communicated as soon as we receive it.”
Peltola has already voted for radical Rep. Jeffries of Queens, New York numerous times in January, when the House was trying to elect a new speaker. It’s certain she will again, as the House struggles for direction subsequent to the removal of Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker last week by eight Freedom Caucus Republicans who joined with all Democrats who were present and voting. Peltola was not present for the vote to remove McCarthy.
Rep. Clark thanked House Democrats for sticking together in unity and asked them to remain united next week. On Tuesday evening, the Democrat caucus will have an organizational meeting to nominate Jeffries.
Meanwhile, on the Republican side, both Rep. Steve Scalise and Rep. Jim Jordan have thrown their names in the ring for Speaker. Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Jordan, the leader of the Freedom Caucus. Scalise, of Louisiana, is the current House Majority Leader, making him the No. 2-ranking House Republican. He was shot and gravely wounded in an attempted assassination in 2017 by a Democrat with hatred of Republicans. After a long, slow recovery, Scalise was recently diagnosed with a form of blood cancer known as multiple myeloma and is going through aggressive treatment, which he says is going well.
