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Ash fall from Shiveluch volcanic explosion drifts from Russian Far East

Suzanne Downing
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13
Ash fall from Shiveluch volcanic explosion drifts from Russian Far East

A volcanic eruption of Shiveluch in Russia’s Far East has sent ash up into the stratosphere as high as 26,600 feet, according to the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team.

The volcano has been restless for decades, spewing steam regularly. But explosions are now occurring continuously, and the suspended ash ultimately may impact aviation in Alaska.

Ash has covered 41,699 square miles of Russian territory, according to a report from the of the Russian Academy of Sciences Geophysical Survey, which reports it as the biggest ash fall in 60 years. The village of Klyuchi, 30 miles from the volcano, is covered with three inches of ash and is currently experiencing low visibility, the agency said.

Although Russia is off limits for international aircraft due to its war on Ukraine, Russian aircraft still will have to be wary of the hazards. It’s also likely the winds will push the ash plume to the east and over the Pacific Ocean, where it could become an international air traffic concern.

Shiveluch is a a steep-sloped volcano composed of alternating layers of solidified ash, hardened lava, and volcanic rocks, according to NASA. It is one of the peninsula’s most active volcanoes, with 60 substantial eruptions in the last 10,000 years. A major eruption of a volcano like this can have dramatic impact on weather, warming or cooling the climate down for years to come.

“When Indonesia’s Mount Tambora erupted in 1815, it unleashed the most destructive wave of extreme weather the world has witnessed in thousands of years. The volcano’s massive sulfate dust cloud enveloped the Earth, cooling temperatures and disrupting major weather systems for more than three years,” a researcher at the University of Illinois reports.

War on women: House Bill 99 puts target on women’s shelters

Suzanne Downing
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43
War on women: House Bill 99 puts target on women’s shelters

In House Bill 99, men will be able to demand admittance into women’s shelters, simply by stating that they are women. If shelter operators refuse them, they can sue for discrimination.

HB 99 will be heard in House Community and Regional Affairs Committee at 8 am on Tuesday.

The bill adds gender identity to the list of conditions that may not be discriminated against in Alaska. The author, Rep. Jennie Armstrong, is a recent leftist transplant from Louisiana, who moved to Alaska, declares herself to be a pansexual, and successfully ran for House in 2022.

The language of the bill is simple: It adds new paragraphs under AS 18.80.300 to define sex to include “gender identity or expression” and “sexual orientation.”

That means, if the bill passes, that males can once again sue to gain admittance to the Downtown Hope Women’s Shelter in Anchorage, or any women’s shelter in the state. Males would be able to use women’s and girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms legally. The shelters will be unable to enforce gender-separate quarters for their guests.

Critics see this as a continuation of the war on women, who have had their athletic competitions taken over by men who take on the appearance of women. Faith-based shelters that house male-only and female-only dormitories will have to comply with the state law or will close and leave the homeless and victims of violence to their own struggles. It also means a single elderly woman who rents out a room in her house cannot say that she prefers a woman roommate.

Hope Center sues city again to keep transgendered men out of sleeping area

Read the details of HB 99 at this link.

Armstrong said in her sponsor statement that the legislation will stop outmigration from Alaska.

Alaska State Commission on Human Rights recently clarified that its jurisdiction only applies to employment in regards to discrimination based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation. If the commission is to also litigate against landlords and public accommodations, the law would have to specify that.

“The State of Alaska should be a place where businesses can invest without fear of their employees being discriminated against and where active duty military members don’t have to worry about being stationed in a place where they may face discrimination. The first step to reversing outmigration and creating a business-friendly environment is making sure that everyone feels safe and welcome in Alaska,” Armstrong said.

The committee hearing, which features invited testimony only, can be watched at this link.

Alliance Defending Freedom, which defended Downtown Hope Center, called hate group by senior Justice official
Transgender files complaint against shelter for abused women
Targeting the Hope Center, Assembly passes measure to force women’s shelters to accept biological males
LinkedIn censors MRAK story about Hope Center’s lawsuit against Anchorage
Hope Center women’s shelter won’t be forced to admit transgendered

Tycoon Trading mastermind won’t appear in court this week after all

Suzanne Downing
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20
Tycoon Trading mastermind won’t appear in court this week after all

Garrett Elder, who has been accused by the Justice Department of defrauding at least 130 victims of up to $34 million through his companies, Tycoon Trading and The Daily Bread LLC, was set to appear in court this week.

A tentative plea deal has been reached between Elder, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Alaska Division of Banking and Securities, but today the hearing, scheduled for Friday, was postponed until May.

Must Read Alaska has learned the Department of Justice is settling for only a five-year sentence for Elder, who used a Ponzi-type scheme that involved his family and friends as victims, among others, to scam Alaskans.

However, some victims are dissatisfied with this proposed sentence. They have pointed out that the average investor with Tycoon Trading and Daily Bread Fund lost over $200,000 in this scam, which they believe warrants a harsher sentence.

While some investors in Tycoon Trading and Daily Bread Fund were able to recover their investments after becoming aware of the scheme’s fraudulent nature, others were not as fortunate to see what was coming. About $25 million is what the Department of Justice estimates the remaining injured parties were bilked out of and not made whole.

The scam started in 2016 and lasted until October, 2022. He started with between $10,000 and $20,000 from his own parents, which he was supposed to invest in stocks and foreign currencies. Elder lost all of the funds.

And yet, even as he continued to hemorrhage money, Elder raised more from other people to pay he told his family and friends he was a successful trader and got them interested in giving him money to invest. He was never registered with the State of Alaska as a securities trader and he concealed from investors his losing streak. Instead, he created false financial reports showing positive returns.

By March of 2018, Elder had less than $15,000 in his trading account, and he told his investors that their investments had failed. He did not tell them, however, that he had falsified their financial quarterlies.

In 2019, Elder created a new fund, called The Daily Bread Fund, LLC. He paid out dividends to some of the investors to make it look like he was successfully investing their money.

Meanwhile, there were lavish trips by Elder and his friends, and he kept brining in new investors.

“Defendant also used some of the victims’ money on personal expenditures, including real estate investments, vehicles, a boat, a camper, bicycles, tools, and jewelry,” the U.S. Attorney said.

Some of his victims are well-known business owners in Anchorage who don’t want their names revealed because they are embarrassed that they were bilked.

In total, the amount of funds transferred to defendant via Tycoon Trading, The Daily Bread Fund, and related entities is presently estimated to be approximately $30 million to $34 million from 138 victim investors.

By October 2022, although some money was distributed back to certain investors, defendant had lost the majority of investments while trading, resulting in approximately $25 million in losses to victims.

Garrett Elder agreed to the government filing an information charging him with wire fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  He has been cooperating with the Justice Department and has convinced the attorneys that he will help find any remaining assets, but the reality is, he will have little ability to do that since he appears to have lost all the money.

The plea deal hearing has been moved to May 15. Elder is represented by public defender Ben Muse. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael James Heyman and Seth M. Beausang are representing the government.

In October, Alaska securities officials ordered Elder and his Tycoon Trading firm to pay a civil penalty of $7.43 million and restitution of a the same amount, plus interest, for issuing and selling unregistered securities and for acting as an investment adviser without being registered. There’s no evidence Elder has made good on that fine.

War on the poor: If government decides your property is a ‘blight,’ it could levy huge tax under Dunbar bill

Suzanne Downing
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76
War on the poor: If government decides your property is a ‘blight,’ it could levy huge tax under Dunbar bill

Americans for Tax Reform has come out strongly against Senate Bill 77, a “blight tax bill” sponsored by Sen. Forrest Dunbar of Anchorage.

The legislation would allow local government jurisdictions to levy a “blight” tax on property deemed by local authorities to suffer from “blight,” and the tax could be as high as 50% of the property’s current tax.

This could be seen as a taking by the government of property, when there is no definition given by the legislation as to what constitutes “blight.”

“ATR opposes this new tax and its dangerous corresponding expansion of local regulatory authority,” the organization wrote on April 5.

“Seemingly intended to reduce the prevalence of unattractive buildings or those in disrepair, SB 77 implements a framework permitting municipalities to define blighted property and penalize them with a special tax. As written, however, this framework would prove to be one of the broadest local blight-tax authorizations in the nation. Municipalities could adopt virtually any definition of blight, while simultaneously slapping on a heavy new tax burden of up to 50% of existing property taxes,” ATR pointed out.

“For a resident of Anchorage paying the median property tax, a 50% blight-tax hike translates to an additional $1,782 in annual property taxes,” the organization wrote.

The opportunity for abuse are significant. Blight-tax legislation in other states overwhelmingly include specific definitions of what may constitute blighted property, or at the very least offer parameters that a municipality must adhere to when creating and enforcing the tax, ATR noted. “Narrow definitions are critical to preventing overzealous city councils from arbitrarily broadening the blight- tax base in search of more revenue.”

SB 77, with cosponsor Sen. Matt Claman, has been fast-tracked through the Senate and may be heard in the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee as early as this week.

“Unfortunately, SB 77 fails to provide even one such limitation on what might constitute a blighted property. The framework before you is ripe for abuse by city officials and county governments, leaving low-income Alaskans to suffer any number of consequences, including foreclosure on their homes,” ATR said.

It’s not hypothetical. As an example, ATR pointed to how last year in Springfield, Ill., a resident was charged $63,000 in repair costs to his home. Unable to pay the bill, his home was placed in receivership and ultimately foreclosed.

Anchorage Assembly public hearings for Tuesday including ban on facial recognition technology

Suzanne Downing
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16
Anchorage Assembly public hearings for Tuesday including ban on facial recognition technology

The Anchorage Assembly will hold a public hearings on the following legislation at its regular meeting of April 11. The public hearing portion of the meeting begins at 6 p.m. and is held in the Assembly Chambers, Z.J. Loussac Library, 3600 Denali Street:   

Resolution No. AR 2023-74, a resolution approving Administrative Agreement (IAFF AA# 2023-01) between the Municipality of Anchorage and the International Association of Firefighters Local 1264 regarding tour trades, Human Resources Department.  ​ 

Ordinance No. AO 2023-33, an ordinance authorizing a Revocable Use Permit on a portion of Lot 7, Section 4, T12N, R4W, Seward Meridian between the Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility and Vertical Bridge S3 Assets, LLC, Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility.  

Ordinance No. AO 2023-35, an ordinance of the Anchorage Assembly amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 3.102, Municipal Use of Surveillance Technologies, to ban the acquisition, use, or accessing of facial recognition technology with limited exceptions, and to reorganize the chapter, Assembly Members Sweet, Rivera and Volland.  

Resolution No. AR 2023-91, a resolution of the Municipality of Anchorage appropriating $2,020,000 from earnings within the MOA Trust Fund (730000) for expert financial management and support services provided in Calendar Year 2023, Finance Department.  

Resolution No. AR 2023-92, a resolution of the Municipality of Anchorage appropriating Opioid Settlement Proceeds in an amount Not To Exceed $898,366.77 in 2022, to the Opioid Settlement Fund (207000), and appropriating Opioid Settlement Fund (207000) Fund Balance of said amount in 2023, all to the Anchorage Health Department, Opioid Settlement Fund (207000), and for allowable Opioid Remediation Uses.    

Resolution No. AR 2023-95, a resolution of the Anchorage Municipal Assembly amending the 2023 General Government Operating Budget and appropriating Not To Exceed $1,070,000 for public safety and snow removal needs and adjusting property tax revenues, Assembly Members Quinn-Davidson and Zaletel.    

Ordinance No. AO 2023-36, an ordinance of the Anchorage Municipal Assembly amending Anchorage Municipal Code section 3.70.140, Unfair Labor Practices, to specify that a complaint is to be filed with the Municipal Clerk, Assembly Member Zaletel.  

Ordinance No. AO 2023-37, an ordinance of the Anchorage Assembly repealing and reenacting Anchorage Municipal Code section 1.15.060, Conflicts of Interest, Assembly Chair LaFrance, Assembly Vice-Chair Constant and Assembly Member Petersen.  

Ordinance No. AO 2023-38, an ordinance of the Anchorage Municipal Assembly amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapters 3.20, 3.30, 3.35, and 14.60 to update the municipal health and safety program, establish the director of health and safety as the principal workplace safety officer for the municipality, and enforce through civil fines to ensure compliance with federal, state and municipal occupational health and safety regulations to protect the employees, assets and interests of the municipality, Assembly Chair LaFrance.

Ordinance No. AO 2023-39, an ordinance of the Anchorage Assembly amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 12.05 to add a new section establishing parameters for content of municipal property tax bill mailings, Assembly Vice-Chair Constant and Assembly Member Zaletel.​  ​

How to Testify: The Assembly receives public comments during Audience Participation, as well as public testimony on all open public hearing items.

The public may participate in person, through written comments, or by phone. There is no sign-up for in-person testimony – the Chair will invite the public to speak on a first come basis during the Assembly Meeting. Please do not sign up to provide phone testimony if you plan to attend in person.

If you would like to provide written or phone testimony, you may do so by completing the Public Testimony Form.

If you would like to provide written comments or testimony over the phone, please complete the above form by 5:00 p.m. the day before the meeting. 

The documents for all these ordinances are available for examination at the Municipal Clerk’s Office, City Hall, 632 W. 6th Avenue, Room 250, Anchorage, Alaska and at http://www.muni.org/Residents/Pages/MuniMeetings.aspx. To find the document, click on the agenda link for the meeting date on which the public hearing will be held. 

Factory trawler Kodiak Enterprise burns at dock in Tacoma

Suzanne Downing
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7
Factory trawler Kodiak Enterprise burns at dock in Tacoma

A shelter-in-place order was lifted Monday morning as the factory trawler Kodiak Enterprise, which caught on fire while at the Trident Seafoods dock in the Hylebos Waterway of Tacoma, continues to smolder.

The Kodiak Enterprise had made a trip to Unalaska and left there on March 19, heading across the Gulf of Alaska to Tacoma, where it arrived March 25.

The reason for the fire is unknown but there are about 55,000 gallons of diesel on board and another 19,000 pounds of freon refrigerant in tanks.

The City of Tacoma Fire Department had issued a temporary shelter in place order for Northeast Tacoma, Browns Point and Dash Point neighborhoods as the fire is still threatening the freon tanks.

The tanks are designed with built-in heat-activated pressure relief valves which are designed to release the freon tanks’ pressure in an emergency situation, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release. “While freon can be toxic if inhaled in large quantities or in a confined space, the release of freon into the atmosphere is not expected to pose any health and safety risks to the public.”

The fire on the 276-foot vessel started at around 3:30 a.m. Saturday. Black smoke filled the air and could be smelled from miles around. The three people on board were able to escape without injury.

King County spent $11.6 million to buy 36 apartments for homeless

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
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King County spent $11.6 million to buy 36 apartments for homeless

By TIMOTHY SCHUMANN | THE CENTER SQUARE

King County has spent $11.6 million on a property in Seattle to house the homeless.

The property in question resides at 1010 East Republican Street in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and stands on a 0.07 acre lot that is made up of two parcels, according to King County property records.

The $11.6 million means roughly $322,222 per unit for the 36 unit building, which is a substantial increase over the $8.9 million appraisal valuation.

Contrast this with a recent sale between two private parties, such as 915 E Harrison Street a mere block away, which sold for $7.05 million, or roughly $163,953 per unit for the 43 unit building. This is actually $6.7 million below its total appraised value of $13.8 million.

This purchase is the latest to use funds from the Health Through Housing Measure which “aims to house up to 1,600 people experiencing chronic homelessness,” which passed the King County Council unanimously in December of 2021.

“The plan anticipates expending $333.7 million for capital financing and site improvements, $309.5 million for emergency and permanent supportive housing operations, $67.2 million for behavioral health services outside of Health through Housing sites, $3.7 million to build capacity of agencies who represent communities disproportionately experiencing chronic homelessness, and $5.5 million for evaluation and performance measurement,” according to the county’s website.

According to the program website, properties will also include 24/7 onsite staff, case management, employment counseling, and access to health and behavioral health services.

The timeline for the property opening to residents at 1010 East Republican is unclear, and the King County Department of Community and Human Services did not immediately reply when asked for more information on the matter.

Alex Gimarc: What just happened in the municipal election?

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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Alex Gimarc: What just happened in the municipal election?

By ALEX GIMARC

As of this writing, just about all the ballots have arrived at the Municipal Clerk’s Office and a few are still being counted. 

The election will be certified in a few weeks. At the top level, it appears we conservatives once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. From here, it looks like conservatives (Republicans) stayed home in droves. The question is: Why?

That being said, there was a lot of things going for us Disgust with the Homeless Industrial Complex the Assembly is busily constructing; disgust with the CRT / equity / grooming factory the Anchorage School District is turning itself into; Assembly redistricting — all of that should have helped and motivated our voters. Yet it didn’t.

Basic numbers for election turnout are available from the Municipal Clerk.  Ballot return data is found here. Election summary as of the April 7 count is located here.  As of this writing, it looks like turnout is down around 8,000 from 2022. My guess is that conservatives / Republicans (as usual), stayed home.

Multiple reasons for the conservative low turnout have been floating around. These include:

  • Irritation with Mayor Dave Bronson on the right.
  • The loud, public Amy Demboski resignation from the Muni along with the open letter to the Assembly appears to have taken down Brian Flynn in West Anchorage, perhaps our best candidate this cycle. The AFL/CIO / AEA affiliated 907 Initiative took part of that letter and used it to go after Flynn’s wife, purchasing officer at the Muni, for sole source contracts, which resulted in a 20% loss by Flynn to an Austin Quinn-Davidson clone.  
  • Interest in Scott Myers running in Eagle River was so poor that he was unable to fundraise and had to make a significant personal contribution to his campaign.
  • Finally, we have the out-of-state PR / campaign firm, Axiom Strategies / AX Media, recommended by both Jamie Allard and Mayor Bronson, rack up six losses in Assembly races this year. They managed to lose the Kathy Henslee race in Midtown last year too.  Tom Anderson has been arguing against using them for years. It might be time to listen to him.

By-mail elections are different, as once the ballots go out, for the most part both the candidate and the campaign no longer matter, with the exception of hammering someone with weeks of well-funded negative ads.

The thing that matters the most is getting voted ballots from your side returned to the Muni Clerk. 

The Clerk’s office provides a daily list of ballots returned with names, addresses, and precincts. Compare that list with the list of ballots sent and you instantly have a list of who hasn’t voted. The lists are available to anyone who requests them.  

I understand that such an effort was run on “our side” this election, albeit unsuccessfully.  Numbers are instructive, as our side needs to generate around 2,000 additional votes than they managed to do the last couple elections to win an Assembly seat. 

For an area-wide election like the School Board, that number is around 5,000. 

With around 173,000 unvoted ballots the last two Muni elections, that shouldn’t be too difficult of a task.  Note that Democrats, the unions, and their NGOs are perfectly comfortable badgering their voters into voting, even when they don’t want to do so. Our side and  voters? Not so much.  

Next Steps

We are well into the arm-waving and finger pointing part of the after-action analysis.  Rather than joining in blame placing, I would propose running a test, preferably two independent tests to find out why conservatives / Republicans stayed home. Was it Bronson? Was it the out-of-state ad agency? Was it something else? I think a Muni-wide survey of our voters who didn’t vote or donate would be in order to find out why they didn’t participate this year. Poll 2,000 – 4,000 of them, Assembly district by Assembly district, and get some real answers. I don’t care if the results are widely known outside the campaigns, as they would confirm what Democrats already know.  

There are those on our side that have been demanding we do this for the last several elections, but the smart guys on our side have not been supportive, so it was never done.  Turns out our smart guys aren’t all that smart, being predisposed to keep doing the same thing election after election expecting different results. Fools.  

Such a thing costs money and time. Who would fund this? The putative Reelect Bronson campaign should be one interested party. So would the Alaska Republican Party, as if they stand idly by and allow Anchorage to swing blue, there isn’t a lot of hope that the Legislature, governorship, and congressional delegations won’t quickly follow.  

Get some real answers. Then act on those answers.  nything else is arm-waving, chair throwing, and wishful thinking.  

Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He was a small business owner and Information Technology professional.

She has risen: Troopers, neighbors rescue moose from ice in Fairbanks

Suzanne Downing
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11
She has risen: Troopers, neighbors rescue moose from ice in Fairbanks

Troopers in Fairbanks were notified that a moose had fallen through the ice on the Chena River and couldn’t get out on Easter Sunday.

Troopers Jordan Chroniger, Jon Lindblom, and Derick Norris responded with Wildlife Trooper McDowell.

With the assistance of local neighbors, Troopers were successful in hauling the moose out of the water and relocating it to the riverbank.

Although tired and cold, the moose was able to stand on its own and appeared to be thankful for the assistance.

“Troopers wished the moose a Happy Easter and warned her of the dangers of thawing river ice,” the Troopers reported on social media.

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