Recently, the Alaska State Board of Education and Early Development made changes to many of the cuts-scores that define proficiency rates for the English/Language Arts and Math under the new AKSTAR state test.
I supported the cut-score recalibrations. In the first year of the new AKSTAR test, the results showed a significant misalignment between the AKSTAR proficiency rates and the proficiency rates reported by the US Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
The biggest cut-score changes were made in the area of middle school math. A great example of why the changes were needed was difference in the NAEP 8th graders math results vs AKSTAR 8th grade math. NAEP reported a 24% proficiency rate in math for Alaskan 8th graders and AKSTAR proficiency rate was only 12% — in the same school year as the NAEP results.
The remaining cut-score changes, both up and down, were fairly minor, and the results will now more closely mirror the NAEP national standards.
For the first time, in a long time, Alaska had set our standards for testing much higher than national expectations — and it was appropriate to recalibrate.
I’ve also asked the department to recalculate the previous year’s proficiency rates, using the new standards, so year-over-year growth comparisons can be made.
Bob Griffin is the reading committee chair for the Alaska Board of Education.
In the wake of a door-plug blowout incident on a Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft on Jan. 5, the Federal Aviation Administration on Sunday issued an additional safety alert, urging airlines to inspect the door plugs on certain older Boeing 737 models that share a similar design.
The 170 Boeing 737-9 MAX planes have been grounded by the FAA until inspections on bolts are completed. No similar grounding has been announced on the Boeing 737-900ER, the model that the FAA wants inspected.
According to the FAA, the Boeing 737-900ER door plugs are identical in design to those found on the 9 MAX, and some airlines have reported “findings” related to the bolts during maintenance inspections.
Door plugs are panels that seal holes on aircraft where additional doors are not required due to the number of seats. They can be converted into exits if more seats are installed on the plane. The Boeing 737-900ER is not part of the newer MAX fleet but has the same door plug design, dependent on four bolts.
The FAA said “operators are encouraged to conduct a visual inspection to ensure the door plug is restrained from any movements through the two (2) upper guide track bolts and two (2) lower arrestor bolts.”
Alaska Airlines said its maintenance and engineering technicians completed preliminary inspections of a group of its 737-9 MAX aircraft as ordered by the FAA.
“We provided the data to Boeing, which will share it with the FAA for further analysis and consultation. We’re awaiting the next steps based on this collection of new information, including the final inspection orders so we can begin safely returning our planes to service,” the airlines said.
The ongoing grounding of the 737-9 MAX continues to impact Alaska Airlines operations with all 65 of its 737-9 MAX still out of service. The airlines has 231 of Boeing 737 aircraft.
“This remains a dynamic situation and we greatly appreciate the patience of our guests. We are notifying those whose flights are canceled and working to reaccommodate them. We also have a Flexible Travel Policy in effect,” the airline said.
Recently, in his second hit piece on the Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARRC), Alex Gimarc accused the corporation and its Board of Directors of being “feral.” Not being sure what Mr. Gimarc meant, I went to the online edition of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and found the following definitions for “feral.”
1) Relating to, or suggestive of a wild beast;
2) not domesticated or cultivated: wild;
3) having escaped from domestication and become wild.
Although I can only speak for myself, my parents might have agreed that in my youth I was not domesticated. Also, I suspect that there are those who might find me uncultivated. However, I don’t see what any of that has to do with my performance as a director of the Alaska Railroad Corporation. Ignoring my confusion about the use of the word “feral,” it is worthwhile discussing Mr. Gimarc’s complaints about the railroad.
The main issue is somewhat legally complex and involves the type of easement the Alaska Railroad holds for its railroad right-of-way. The right-of-way for the railroad was established by the federal government between 1914 and the driving of the golden spike in Nenana in 1923. The federal government owned and operated the Alaska Railroad from then until it was transferred to the State of Alaska in 1985.
In the meantime, in some areas, the federal government issued homestead patents for lands in the vicinity of the railroad right-of-way, which introduced private property interests into the railroad right-of-way. Those homestead patents expressly made them subject to the existing railroad right-of-way. This interesting and complicated history provides context for understanding our interactions with neighboring property owners.
Most property owners are familiar with the type of easement generally reserved for utilities. In those easements, the utility has the right to place utility infrastructure on, over or under the landowner’s property, but, as long as the property owner does not interfere with that infrastructure, the owner is free to carry on other activities without the easement holder’s permission. This is the type of easement that many adjacent property owners believe the Railroad was granted.
The Alaska Railroad, on the other hand, believed it was transferred at least an exclusive easement when the Railroad was purchased by the state. When a railroad entity has an exclusive easement, it controls the activities in that easement thus allowing it to charge for uses that are not directly tied to rail operations and it can determine if a use interferes with its rights even if the entity is not the owner of the land involved. It is worth noting that many other railroads in the United States have this type of easement.
This issue began to fester in 2008 when the Railroad initiated regulations relating to the use of privately owned land interests within the Railroad’s easement. Without going into the history of the disagreement in detail, it was one of the first major issues I was made aware of when I was appointed to the Board of Directors in late 2019. Some property owners and their supporters met with me on a number of occasions to explain their position. Former Rep. Chuck Kopp was involved in many of these sessions, and I believe that they gave me a good understanding of their position that the Railroad’s easement rights were quite limited.
I also met with the ARRC management to get an understanding of their position that the Railroad was granted an exclusive easement with all the rights such an easement conveyed. Management explained that this position was consistent with the position historically maintained by the railroad.
Although Sen. Ted Stevens had left public office before this issue came to be fully developed, Congressman Don Young was well aware of it. At one point he and Sen. Lisa Murkowski suggested that the General Accounting Office review the issue, but later reconsidered that strategy as the GAO could not commit to a reasonable timeline to prepare a report. Twice in 2019 Congressman Young suggested the property owners accept the ARRC’s offer of a 20-year permit with no fee. That suggestion was not acceptable to the property owners.
After listening to both sides and reviewing the history of the issue, I became convinced that the only way to resolve the issue was through litigation. However, I had no opinion as to which side would prevail in such litigation. I believed that the property owners had strong arguments and might prevail.
In late 2019, the Flying Crown Homeowners Association, which permitted a small airstrip in South Anchorage, sent the ARRC a letter demanding it renounce its rights in a piece of property over which the ARRC has an easement. This action led to litigation in the federal court rather than the state courts because the issue is what kind of easement the federal government transferred to the state in 1985. The ARRC has prevailed in that case at both the Alaska District Court and in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 3 to 0 decision.
The Board did not take suing a homeowners’ association made up of Alaskan citizens lightly, but felt it was time to resolve this issue one way or the other. To that end, we agreed to pay all of Flying Crown’s legal fees for the litigation at the District Court level. It is also worth noting that during this process the ARR and the homeowners’ association reached a no-cost, long-term land use agreement for the Flying Crown taxiway and aircraft parking area. (In the case of residential adjoining land owners, we also have a no cost residential permit for existing uses such as lawns and gardens.)
Although I am not going to respond to every one of Mr. Gimarc’s accusations, I have a couple of other issues I would like to note. It is not relevant that two of the board members were involved in litigation with each other. My experience is that the past litigation has not interfered with either board member’s desire to carry out his fiduciary responsibilities as a board member.
Mr. Gimarc suggests that Gov. Dunleavy replace all the board members, as is clearly within a governor’s authority. However, it is worth noting that the Alaska Railroad Act adopted into law in 1985 requires that the board be made up as follows: the Commissioners of the Department of Commerce and Community Development and the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities; one person who is a union employee of the ARRC; a person with railroad management experience (currently held by an individual from outside Alaska who has extensive experience in short-line railroad management); and three public members. How this diverse group goes “feral” is a mystery to me.
Mr. Gimarc also alleges that the ARR charges exorbitant rates for leases. By law, we are required to charge the fair market value for any property we lease. We obtain a third-party independent appraisal to set that value. If a current lessee disagrees with that valuation, they can get their own 3rd party independent appraisal. If it is different, we work to come to an agreement on the valuation. If that still does not achieve agreement, there is an available arbitration process under our lease contracts.
Lastly, it is important to note that the ARR is not without some fault in how it has handled the relationships with adjacent landowners. Some of these actions have exacerbated the tensions between us and our neighbors. With that in mind in 2022 the board set up an External Issues Review Committee which will allow individuals and organizations to go to a committee of the board (which also contains one non-board member) if they think they have been mistreated by management. It’s one more way to ensure that ARRC is responsive to local communities and businesses.
Alaska is a unique place, a fact that the railroad reflects in a number of ways. I believe I speak for my fellow board members when I say we are committed to a strong and resilient Alaska Railroad that operates with respect for our neighbors and for the long-term benefit of Alaska.
John Shively is chairman of the Alaska Railroad Board of Directors.
Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola is crisscrossing the state with campaign meet-and-greets this week, just days after a glossy mailer was sent from her official office, paid for by taxpayers, and customized by region, extolling the virtues of her first 18 months in office.
Her campaign launch started in Fairbanks on Monday, with both Fairbanks and North Pole on Tuesday’s schedule, Eagle River on Wednesday, Palmer on Thursday, Anchorage on Friday, and Juneau on Saturday.
She also sent a text message to all voters in Alaska on Monday, asking them to donate to her campaign.
Peltola has transitioned the look of her campaign website. Before, she went with a light blue color with brown, the exact colors used by the Alaska Democratic Party’s website. Now, she’s using a rusty red, perhaps in an effort to disassociate with the party and influence voters to see her as not a Democrat.
Other changes including moving her deputy communications director, Shannon Mason, completely out of the official congressional office and into the campaign office, where she now serves as the communication director for the campaign. It’s not surprising: Mason has been drawing a Peltola campaign salary since September. Peltola’s official office chief of staff, Anthony McParland, was also paid over $46,000 from the campaign last year, in addition to his $139,000 taxpayer-funded salary.
Mason has a good relationship with the liberal stable of reporters who follow Alaska. The mainstream media, in general, has been highly helpful to Peltola from the start.
Although she votes with Democrat Nancy Pelosi 90% of the time, Peltola’s campaign rollout ad only refers to Republicans who are dead, specifically the late Sen. Ted Stevens. She says, “To hell with politics…,” a line she borrowed from the late senator, who was a lifelong Republican.
Nowhere in her campaign rollout does she mention her endorsement of Joe Biden for president or her dozens of votes for Queens, N.Y. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries for House Speaker, or any of her Democrat fundraisers held for Outside politicians. She doesn’t mention she got First Lady Jill Biden and Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland to come to Bethel for an event, or that she flew on Air Force One back to the nation’s capital after an appearance with President Biden.
According to Republican candidate Nick Begich, Peltola is polling with 42% of Alaskans supporting her. She needs 50% plus 1 in order to win in November, and she has at least $1 million in her campaign account.
Some of her bigger campaign expenditures from last year include Strategies 360 of Washington, which has reorganized under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and NWF Strategies of California, which represents climate activists and anti-Israel political candidates.
Jared Goecker, a conservative and longtime Eagle River resident, filed with the Alaska Public Offices Commission to run for State Senate for the seat now occupied by Sen. Kelly Merrick, who is also a Republican who has chosen to be part of the Democrat-dominated Senate majority caucus.
Born in Montana to an Air Force family, Goecker has lived all over the world, but has lived primarily in Eagle River.
While in college, he interned in the nation’s capital and then became the regional field director for Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, before Pence was chosen as President Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick.
In 2016, Goecker started working for Weidner Apartment Homes and volunteered on Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s campaign. He was hired by Dunleavy and eventually became the deputy director of Labor Relations, where he led negotiations with the state’s most powerful labor unions.
He joined the Municipality of Anchorage in 2022 as deputy human resource director, and said he has overcome many challenges related to a polarized political environment.
Goecker said he is pro-family and pro-life. As a father, and husband he knows how important it is to honor your word and protect those you love. The tragedy that struck the Goeckers last year, when his brother was murdered, has motivated Jared to make real changes in Alaska’s criminal justice system so other Alaskans don’t have to endure what his family has suffered.
Goecker is active in his local community council, with the District 23 Republicans, volunteers with cleaning up Eagle River trails, and serves dinner weekly at the Downtown Hope Soup Kitchen.
While he lived in Japan duking the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown, he took part in humanitarian and recovery work with his parents and Air Force Base personnel (assembled and delivered food/supply packages to stricken areas, cleaned up/sorted through rubble, visited local schools to spend time with the children traumatized from the 9.1 quake/tsunami).
A bill to cut the tax on marijuana growers, and instead enact a sales tax for consumers, left the House Labor & Commerce Committee on Friday for House Finance Committee, after proponents made a compelling case that growers are being harmed by the current tax regime.
Marijuana cultivation and marketing was legalized by Alaska voters in 2014 and the industry started growing, regulated by the Alaska Marijuana Control Board.
HB 119 reduces the tax on cultivated marijuana from $50 an ounce to $12.50 an ounce. At the same time, a 6% sales tax would be levied on consumers who purchase cannabis at retail stores in Alaska. Proponents believe that a lower tax and restructuring will take some of the wind out of the sales that are currently being done on the black market.
Lacy Wilcox, owner of a cannabis business in Juneau, said that the tax is eating into profits.
“It’s a $50 An ounce tax, that translates to $800 a pound. If the going rate of wholesale cannabis sold to a store from my farm is $2,000, you do the math. It’s not very much leftover to pay for the lights, the water and the people who grow it. The margins [are] pretty slim,” she said.
Bailey Stuart, chief operations officer of The Green Jar and adjunct professor and developer of the CannaBasics Course at the University of Alaska Anchorage, explained some of the market dynamics at play in a letter to the committee:
“HB 119 will provide the State of Alaska with future revenue. As the excise tax stands, upon legalization, most cannabis will be imported into the state of Alaska and with our current tax structure will not incur taxation on the state level. The Department of Revenue is already reporting a decline in marijuana excise tax. When federal legalization occurs this drop will be substantial and as a resident of Alaska, I would hate to see programs under funded or completely terminated due to a lack of funding that could have been prevented with HB 119. Additionally, HB 119 will facilitate a more fluid working Alcohol & Marijuana Control Office. Per the request of the Director and Board this will change statue lanuage to establish biannual licensing. This is in par with the Alcohol industry and will facilitate in the operations of AMCO,” she wrote.
The Reason Foundation, a libertarian and free-market think take, also sent a letter in support of the change, saying “the tax reduction proposed in House Bill 119 could induce more marijuana transactions to shift to the legal market. A rate reduction from $50 per ounce to $12.50 per ounce should reduce revenues on existing transactions substantially but at least partially be offset by the additionally captured transactions.”
One of the more persuasive arguments was that if and when the federal government legalizes marijuana, it will be far cheaper to import it from out of state, if Alaska growers are being taxed at the current rate. Federal officials have already moved to work on reclassifying marijuana, a big step toward legalization.
There was no voice vote on the bill, which moved out of the committee without objection. Watch the hearing and hear the testimony at this link.
What single thing can legislators do to make everything better for the citizens of Alaska? Practice statesmanship.
Webster defines a statesman as “One versed in the principles or art of government…a wise, skillful and respected political leader.”A true statesman places Alaska’s interests before his or her own political agenda and self-interest.
Alaska is at a fork in the road — and some think evenly split. The political pendulum swung right in the House and left in the Senate after the last election (in spite of a Republican majority being elected in both bodies for the last several election cycles). Politics today demands statesmanship, so where is it?
Steering the “ship of state” is like a super tanker in this respect: Changing destination requires time and distance. There is the ship’s trajectory to overcome and if you need a few degrees course correction, visible references are few and one can’t observe that much has changed, except that eventually you arrive at a very different place.
Doing the right thing: Ogan’s four policy recommendations
There are four “right fork” policy course corrections that will benefit Alaskans for generations. These will retain existing investment in Alaska, attract new investment and improve our quality of life.
1. Take the PFD fight off the table and to the people.
Amazingly, the Permanent Fund dividend is something that unites Alaskans, but divides politicians.
As PFD advocate Jon Faulkner points out, there is tremendous agreement among Alaskans on key principles, and yet a handful of powerful committee chairs always manage to thwart the will of people. How does this happen?
The answer is simple: Union opposition. No other power dynamic explains how something so popular with Alaskans gets buried every year in a black hole of finger pointing and political gamesmanship. Alaskans understand this and stand ready to fire politicians who think the PFD is a ceramic pig they can break open.
What’s needed: Statesmen bold enough to orchestrate an up or down vote on a PFD constitutional amendment — by a roll call vote. How can this not be in the interest of Alaskans?
Statesman to watch: Rep. Ben Carpenter, representing North Kenai, is clearly the point man on a fiscal plan. He has excellent staff and has written a number of bills that constitute a comprehensive fiscal plan.
2. Adopt a comprehensive statewide energy plan
Alaska has never adopted a visionary statewide energy plan. Efforts to do life support on Cook Inlet gas is a start, but only kicks the “limited supply” can down the road.
Dreams of a state-owned mega gas pipeline have eluded us because economic feasibility has never been proven. We must think outside the box when considering how our vast North Slope natural gas resources can be developed to benefit all Alaskans.
Some ideas include but are not limited to:
· A small line to Fairbanks, with a liquified natural gas shaving plant at the Yukon River to barge LNG downriver to southwest Alaska hubs.
· Build LNG-fired electrical plants in key rural hubs with a grid to outlying villages.
· Build gas-fired generators in Fairbanks and connect to the existing electrical grid.
· Build a bullet line to Anchorage.
· Harden the electrical grid against an electromagnetic pulse attack.
· Alternatively, explore micro nuclear plants for rural Alaska.
· Hilcorp has already inked a deal with Fairbanks to truck North Slope LNG. Explore synergies associated with this effort. Can we transfer LNG containers to barges to ship downriver?
Sadly, we have squandered most of our one-time oil wealth on building bigger government while simultaneously creating a dependent class of citizens demanding better government union jobs and/or more entitlements. Personally, I’d gladly accept a smaller PFD in exchange for a solid energy infrastructure that will benefit all Alaskans for generations.
We extract energy from rural Alaska, but no statesman has risen to pioneer a sustainable energy plan that benefits ALL Alaskans. Who among our Legislators is willing to take on the task? We’ve talked until we’re blue in the face–it’s time for action! Gov. Walter J. Hickel was the last real visionary.
Statesmen to watch: Gov. Mike Dunleavy is tackling Cook Inlet gas and geothermal resources. Rep.Tom McKay is addressing oil and gas administrative appeals, and Rep. Carpenter is addressing corporate income tax. It’s a start, but it’s mostly reactionary. We still need a comprehensive energy plan.
The public must have confidence in their vote being fairly counted. Election data breaches have compromised our election system, leaving it vulnerable to fraud, and has undermined the public’s confidence as well. When hackers possess security identifiers that allow them to hack a non-voting citizen’s vote and the Division of Elections is in total denial, we have a problem.
Luckily, there is a comprehensive approach in the works. Rep. Sarah Vance, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has several bills, as do others. Election reform is a priority in her committee. The danger is that any one of these bills can be hijacked by Senate Democrat operatives and amended to allow same day registration, no empirical evidence of residency, and no ID to vote. See this, watch out for that!
Statesmen to watch: Rep. Vance has a suite of positive election reform bills and chairs a powerful committee to leverage getting the job done. Sen. Mike Shower led the original election reform charge and will help keep the Senate in check.
4. Adopt a sustainable fiscal plan
Then House Reps. Lisa Murkowski, Andrew Halcro, and Bill Hudson tried to do it in the late 1990s, citing the “ISER Soft Landing Study” analysis. The timing was not ripe. Oil prices rebounded, end of discussion.
In the previous session, a bipartisan group of legislators comprised of seven Democrats and five Republicans exhibited some statesmanship and hammered out a sustainable budget plan. Both sides moved toward the middle to arrive at a compromise. This included a constitutional and statutory spending caps, constitutional PFD protection and fixing the PFD amount in statute, a broad-based tax and economic stimulation measures.
A sustainable fiscal plan is the one thing that will calm the nerves of the energy industry and keep Alaska as a critical player providing energy for Alaskans and the country at large, plus keep high paying government and private jobs for Alaskans. Luckily, there are a suite of bills that limit spending, settle the PFD battles, and encourage economic development.
The winning Statesman of the Year award goes to: Rep. Carpenter, utilizing his Legislative Budget and Audit chairmanship and majority position to leverage the fiscal plan discussion.
The losing Statesman of the Year award goes to Senate leadership that marginalized some of the Senate’s best and brightest by refusing to give them — and ultimately all their conservative constituents — a voice at the table.
In Conclusion
Alaska is truly at a fork in the road. The “right fork” is not a necessarily conservative right-wing policy; it is a “pro-Alaskan” prescription for success. In subsequent articles, I will analyze each topic more comprehensively by breaking down individual bills. Clearly the Republican-led House is driving the not-so-common sense train.
I believe there are “statesmen” of all political persuasions. However, I witnessed it far more when I served 20 years ago. This Legislature has a choice. Partisans and power brokers can foist their agendas and keep driving the wedge over the PFD. Or, statesmen can rise above partisan dogma, and do the right thing, at the right time for the right reasons.
As Ronald Reagan said, “There is no limit to the amount of good you can do, if you don’t care who gets the credit.“
I welcome respectful comments Agree or disagree. These are my ideas, most of them old, some are new, meant to spur thought and discussion. Got a better idea? Share it. Think I am wrong? Enlighten us. There is wisdom in a multitude of good council.
Scott Ogan served in the Alaska House and Senate and writes for Must Read Alaska.
“Saturday Night Live” took on the Alaska Airlines incident in which the door panel of a Boeing 737-9 MAX experienced a blow-out mid-flight over Oregon on Jan. 5, forcing the pilot to turn Flight 1282 around and land at Portland International Airport.
The skit used actors Heidi Gardner, Jacob Elordi, and Kenan Thompson, playing the part of Alaska Airlines employees sharing the company’s new [fake] marketing slogan: “Alaska Airlines, you didn’t die and you got a cool story.”
Elordi says in the fake ad, “On other airlines, you can watch movies, but on Alaska, you’re in the movie.”
Watch the inaugural skit for the 2024 season of Saturday Night Live below:
Political observers are beginning to start their betting on who will be Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, should he win the Republican nomination. A lot of potential veep candidates are already in New Hampshire stumping for Trump.
Among those being mentioned as possibilities are former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, and Trump-era Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. Sen. Tim Scott, who dropped out of the presidential race earlier and endorsed Trump, is also mentioned.
And then there’s the dream of Alaska Sen. Scott Kawasaki, who wrote that he dreamt that Gov. Mike Dunleavy of Alaska would be the vice presidential nominee. And he has a record for being correct.
“I had a dream in the early morning in ’08 that Governor @SarahPalinUSA was going to be selected as a VP. Probably because the radio was on in the background. I had a dream last night that @GovDunleavy was going to be selected as a VP candidate last night! #akleg,” wrote the state senator from Fairbanks on his X/Twitter account.
Dunleavy was an early supporter for Trump, endorsing his candidacy in August, and has been mentioned by many as a possible choice for leading the Department of Interior.
If that happens, then Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom would become governor and Torrence Saxe, commissioner of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, would become lieutenant governor; Dahlstrom would have to appoint a “third in succession.” If Dahlstrom wins her bid to become a member of Congress, Saxe would become governor and he would have to appoint the third in succession, while whomever Dahlstrom had appointed would become lieutenant governor.
If all of that seems like a 76-yard field goal, it probably is. Trump hinted on Saturday that whomever he picks will not be a big surprise to people. Dunleavy would be a big surprise to Americans, although he is one of the most popular governors in America.
When asked by Fox News’ Brett Baier about his thoughts for a vice presidential candidate, Trump said, ““I may or may not really [decide] something over the next couple of months. There’s no rush to that. It won’t have any impact at all. The person that I think I like is a very good person, a pretty standard. I think people won’t be that surprised, but I would say there’s probably a 25 percent chance that would be that person.”
