The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Surveyreleased this week revealed that the median household income in the United States fell by 0.8 percent in 2022, even while inflation ate away at that income, with an annual 3.7% inflation, as officially calculated.
But Alaska was one of five states, including Alabama, Delaware, Florida, and Utah, that saw median household incomes increase last year. Seventeen states saw decreases in income, and 28 states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico showed no significant change.
The median household income last year across all states was $74,755, when adjusted for inflation.
Alaska’s median income in 2021 was $87,490. In 2022, it rose to $89,740.
The top median income is found with the “rich men north of Richmond” in Washington, D.C., where there is an average household income of $101,027.
Among actual states, New Jersey has the highest median household income, at $96,346, and Mississippi anchored the bottom, with $52,719.
Although Alaska has seen an uptick in household income, price increases continue apace.
Prices in the Anchorage area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, increased 1.3 percent for the two months ending in August 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this week. The August increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and gasoline, according to the Department of Labor.
The American Community Survey collects and releases new data every year, including estimates, tables, tools, and analytical reports.
Memorial services for Eugene Peltola, Jr. will be held Saturday, Sept. 16 in Bethel at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. The service starts at 2 p.m. followed by a celebration of life and potluck at 5 p.m. at the Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center.
Peltola, 57, the husband of Rep. Mary Peltola, died in a plane crash while flying moose meat out of a hunting site about 64 north of St. Mary’s in his small plane. Gene “Buzzy” Peltola was piloting the Piper Super Cub and was the only person on board.
The National Transportation Safety Board has arrived at the crash site at about 2 pm on Friday to delve into the causes of the crash, which some hunting guides and aviators have speculated was a result of a heavy or poorly distributed load of meat in the cargo area of the plane.
Gene was supporting a moose hunt. He had flown out three or four hunters from the area, and two hunters stayed behind.
Gene then made one trip with moose meat, and then left with a second load, with what has been characterized as a large amount of moose meat. That was when the crash occurred on Tuesday evening. The two hunters reached him and tended to him until he died.
A rescue flight from the Alaska Air Guard was unable to reach the site for a few hours due to night conditions and the distance and remoteness of the area. The helicopter was sent from Anchorage on a day when the Alaska National Guard had four other life-and-death incidences to respond to.
The NTSB reported that the the investigative team left Nome early Friday morning and flew to the site via chartered helicopter.
“The team plans to document the wreckage and collect evidence, including devices that may contain important information about the flight. The wreckage will then be removed, by helicopter, to an offsite facility for further analysis,” the NTSB said in a statement.
“Investigators have also received new information about the sequence of events after speaking to witnesses. According to those interviews, the pilot had returned to the area to transport a load of moose meat from hunters he had flown to the location on an earlier flight. The accident occurred when the airplane was departing,” the agency said.
A preliminary report will be available within 2-3 weeks from the date of the accident. It will be available on the NTSB website and posted to the NTSB Newsroom Twitter. The preliminary report will contain factual information gathered during the initial phase of the investigation. A probable cause of the crash and any contributing factors will come in the final report, not expected for another 12-24 months.
Rep. Mark Green’s bill to protect shooting sports in K-12 schools passed out of the Education and the Workforce Committee unanimously on Thursday.
The bill from the Tennessee congressman is in response to the Biden Administration withholding funds from schools that provide hunting, marksmanship, and archery activities for students.
The Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act was introduced in the House on Aug. 1, as H.R. 5110.
“This is a win for our nation’s students who choose to participate in shooting sports. Defunding shooting sports in schools would be a disservice to students. These extracurricular activities are keeping kids out of trouble, making them more focused at school, helping them build community, and giving them scholarship opportunities. Sports like archery and trap shooting are some of the fastest-growing sports in the country,” Green said.
“If applied equally, this interpretation of this law should also restrict funding for other school activities like fencing, track and field activities, and even the culinary arts. But instead, shooting sports are being targeted. This isn’t right or fair,” he said.
Green’s bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to clarify that the prohibition on the use of Federal education funds for certain weapons does not apply to the use of such weapons for training in archery, hunting, or other shooting sports that are part of school programs.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has ordered major Canadian grocery companies to come up with a plan to “stabilize” prices of food. He has ordered them to come to Ottawa to meet with him, and given them until November to come up with a plan for lowering prices, or he will institute even higher taxes.
Trudeau told the heads of the five largest supermarket chains, including American stores Walmart and Costco, that they are to blame for high food prices.
“If their plan doesn’t provide real relief for the middle class and people working hard to join it, then we will take further action, and we are not ruling anything out including tax measures,” Trudeau said during meeting in London, Ontario, on Thursday.
“Large grocery chains are making record profits,” he said. “Those profits should not be made on the backs of people who are struggling to feed their families.”
The retailers have pushed back. While grocery prices have risen 8.5% in one year, retailers say the reason is higher costs from producers, suppliers, and transportation, as well as the war in Ukraine. Grocery stores typically work with extremely small profit margins of between 1 and 3%. They can stay in business only due to volume of sales.
“Rather than casting blame where the experts agree it does not belong, the federal government should look in the mirror,” the Retail Council of Canada said in a statement.“The government could take a number of steps to make food more affordable, including temporarily removing the carbon tax from farmers, food processors and distributors and cancelling government’s planned plastic packaging targets that could increase costs to grocers by $6bn a year.”
In addition to the plastic regulation, in 2021 Trudeau instituted a “carbon tax,” which he said would be capped at $50 a ton, but instead has tripled, driving prices up in Canada. He promised that 90% of the revenue from the carbon tax would be rebated to Canadians, but instead just 76% has been rebated.
Five main Canadian taxes increased in 2023 by hundreds of dollars per year for workers, employers, and consumers. According to the Fraser Institute think tank, Canada’s federal per-person program spending has reached unprecedented levels in recent years, “which puts a heavy burden on Canadian taxpayers who are ultimately responsible for footing the bill either through taxes today, or taxes tomorrow if the government allows debt to accumulate.”
The Centers for Disease Control has recommended another jab for anyone over the age of 6 months. CDC no longer wants to call it a “booster,” as it thinks that has a negative connotation. So instead, CDC describes it as your yearly Covid “vaccine.” It’s a matter of semantics.
The Food and Drug Administration authorized and approved the new mRNA vaccine for use in adults and children aged 6 months and older.
This new shot targets the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant, which currently makes up only 3% of cases in the United States. In fact, by the time this jab is put into arms, that variant will most likely no longer be active.
Why would anyone take a vaccine that is only effective on 3% of the current virus variant?
Why would one risk the side-effects of the vaccine?
And sadly, there are little data available on how “safe” this shot is.
Moderna stated it tested the new shot out on 100 people, none of whom were pregnant women or children.
Nor does the FDA and CDC know what effect this new shot would have on those who had horrible life-altering side-effects from previous shots.
The U.S. government’s Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, which only captures about 10% of adverse events, showed that over 1.5 million adverse events have occurred since Covid-19 “vaccinations” became available to the public.
According to the FDA’s own advisory, the latest booster underwent the minimal review and testing that is allowed under the current Emergency Use Authorization, which still exists even though President Joe Biden declared in May that the pandemic was over.
“It is unethical to continue to approve and authorize mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 when the pandemic has disappeared. It is unethical to promote these boosters as safe and effective when it is clear they are not, and the government is ignoring evidence that the vaccines can provide considerable harm. The fact that these vaccines were authorized for children when a public health emergency no longer existsis unconscionable.”
In a separate statement, the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) said, “By leveraging the unnecessary Emergency Use Authorization … the FDA is pushing forward with an experimental vaccine booster based on limited safety and efficacy data.”
None of this has stopped the government from pushing the “jab” that is no longer free. The decision to say everyone should get the jab was made to “ease” roll out and provide for “equity”.
“Let’s keep America strong, healthy,” said Dr. Camille Kotton, a panel member who voted in favor of the recommendation and who is an infectious disease specialist at Harvard Medical School. “Let’s do away with COVID-19 as best we can by prevention of disease through vaccines. Let’s make things clear.”
These “vaccines” have not done away with Covid-19, nor does it seem the best way to rid us of this illness.
There are other modalities of treatment that the mainstream media and medical community will not discuss. They seem to think everything should be hit with a hammer whether it is a nail or not.
Already schools are requiring children to return to masks even though research has shown children are relatively resilient if they contract Covid.
And now the Providence Medical System has told all employees they must get the latest “booster,” regardless of their current vaccination status. Once again the threat is laid out—get the shot or it may result in unpaid leave or even job loss.
We will have nationally recognized speakers who will discuss alternative therapies, side-effects of vaccinations, how to treat long Covid and what to do in the future.
We also have Michael Ashley, coauthor of “Neuromined: Triumphing over Technological Tyranny,” discussing technofascism and how we can change that story as well as James Taylor of Heartland Institute discussing Covid policies as a trial run for future government control.
Pay attention—your life may be at risk. Visit our web page at www.alaskacovidalliance.com to register for this exciting event.
Linda Boyle, RN, MSN, DM, was formerly the chief nurse for the 3rd Medical Group, JBER, and was the interim director of the Alaska VA. Most recently, she served as Director for Central Alabama VA Healthcare System. She is the director of the Alaska Covid Alliance.
Mayor Peter Micciche of the Kenai Borough declared a local state of emergency due to rising water infrastructure on the Western Kenai Peninsula.
Reports of areawide flooding along the Kenai River, neighborhoods in Kenai Keys, Kalifornsky Beach Road, and the Eastern Kenai Peninsula have detailed damage to residential structures and some public infrastructure on the Western Kenai Peninsula.
“My utmost priority as the mayor of the KPB is the life, health, and safety of our residents. I will take any steps necessary within my authority and through our Emergency Management Team to respond and help mitigate damage to private and public property and the infrastructure we all count on daily,” Mayor Micciche said. “A disaster declaration also approved by the governor would help us in our efforts to continue to provide the resources needed to effectively respond and to return life to normalcy as soon as possible in affected areas.”
The disaster declaration allows access to emergency borough funds and the expansion of authority to respond to the high water conditions being experienced.
In the event that the governor also declares a disaster as requested, the borough would have the assistance of State of Alaska subject matter experts and potential resources and state funds to address the impacts of flooding, the mayor said in a statement.
The request has been formally submitted to Gov. Mike Dunleavy. With the governor’s approval, the State of Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management would also provide assistance to the Borough and to affected areas as directed.
President Joe Biden told students in Maryland on Thursday that he used to “teach political theory: at the University of Pennsylvania.
In fact, he has never taught a single semester-long class there.
“Our democracy is under attack, and we got to fight for it,” Biden told an audience at Maryland’s Prince George’s Community College.
“I taught at the University of Pennsylvania for four years and I used to teach political theory. And folks, you always hear, every generation has to fight for democracy.”
Biden, who is 80, was awarded an honorary professorship at UPenn, when he was named the Benjamin Franklin Presidential Professor of the Practice from 2017 to 2019, years he was not vice president or senator, and as he launched his campaign for president. He was the first person to ever hold that honorific title.
The role involved no research, teaching or publishing. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Biden made about a dozen appearances on campus, for which he was paid $900,000. It was always about prestige for the university.
“The former vice president collected $371,159 in 2017 plus $540,484 in 2018 and early 2019 for a vaguely defined role that involved no regular classes and around a dozen public appearances on campus, mostly in big, ticketed events,” the newspaper wrote in 2019.
“Penn’s payments to Biden raised eyebrows and questions among some in the community when they were revealed this week as part of the financial disclosures for his presidential campaign. The average salary for a Penn professor was $217,411 in the 2017-18 academic year, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education,” the paper reported.
Read the Philadelphia Inquirer report from 2019 here.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum filed a stockholder derivative lawsuit against the board of directors of Fox Corporation this week.
Rosenblum filed the suit against the corporate parent of Fox News for breach of fiduciary duty because the Oregon Public Employee Retirement Fund is a Fox investor.
The Attorney General is representing the fund and Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read, whose office partnered in the investigation into Fox.
“The board of Fox Corporation took a massive risk in pursuing profits by perpetuating and peddling known falsehoods,” Rosenblum said in a release. “The directors’ choices exposed themselves and the company to liability and exposed their shareholders to significant risks. That is the crux of our lawsuit, and we look forward to making our case in court.”
A joint investigation conducted by the Oregon Department of Justice and Oregon Treasurer’s Office earlier this year concluded that Fox’s management hurt investors, including Oregon’s public employees, with its actions.
As of the end of August, the state held 150,146 shares of Fox Class A stock and 76,169 shares of Fox Class B stock worth about $5.2 million.
Filed in Delaware Chancery Court this week, the lawsuit alleges that Fox’s Board knew that Fox News promoted lies without regard for whether they would result in defamation charges.
The Board at Fox should have been more sensitive to the defamation risks the company faced, the release said. It cites examples of false news reported on Fox News, including that murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich provided hacked emails to WikiLeaks and claims that election technology companies U.S. Dominion, Inc. and Smartmatic USA Corp. rigged the 2020 presidential election in favor of President Joe Biden.
The lawsuit said Fox did not make a good-faith effort to monitor or mitigate defamation risk, unlike other major media organizations in America.
“Our responsibility to safeguard the retirement investments of Oregon’s public servants is of the utmost importance,” Treasurer Tobias Read, a member of the Oregon Investment Council, said. “We aim to hold Fox’s board of directors, including Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, accountable for their decisions. We believe that this action is necessary in fulfilling our obligation to our beneficiaries.”
Soon, Juneau voters will be receiving ballots in their mailboxes for the 2023 regular municipal election scheduled for October 3, 2023. This election will be watched closely for several reasons.
The ballot features the second attempt by the Juneau Assembly to pass a bond partially financing the construction of a new city hall. In addition, dissatisfaction with past CBJ Assembly actions has generated a record number of candidates competing for two open Assembly seats as well as challenges to two incumbents.
With the idiosyncrasies of vote-by-mail elections unilaterally imposed upon Juneau residents by the Assembly in 2022, we may not know election results until weeks after election day. The lack of transparency and opportunity for fraud inherent in vote-by-mail systems only adds to the distrust many people have with government and will remind voters how this Assembly has ignored community concerns by conducting their business with minimal regard for public process.
Voters need look no further than these recent examples:
Unwarranted, contentious, and exorbitant increases in property taxes
Non-disclosure of emails constituting public testimony
New city manager selection held almost entirely in secret
But the most glaring example of lack of transparency is the Assembly’s dogged pursuit of a brand-new city hall and their appropriation of $50,000 to advocate for it. The re-introduction by the Assembly of a previously failed city hall proposal without engaging the electorate or considering any modifications is inexplicable. The location and design remain unchanged with a $2 million increase in cost. It’s essentially identical to their 2022 failed effort but with a reduced bond amount and higher cost.
There’s no logical reason to present this to voters again unless, now unconstrained by the requirement to remain neutral (having passed an ordinance allowing an advocacy campaign financed city taxpayer dollars), the Assembly is free to play fast and loose with the facts.
That is exactly what is happening.
Apparently, Juneau city leaders hope no one will dive into the numbers, but instead accept their figures at face value.
During a Chamber of Commerce presentation on August 24th, Juneau City Manager Rorie Watt outlined the purported financial benefits of a new city hall.
In three years, CBJ will avoid spending over $1.1 million annually on rent and approximately $14M in repair and replacement costs.
In 32 years, cumulative savings will exceed $43.3M when the project would break-even.
CBJ will save $200 million+ in 70 years.
There is no independent third-party evaluation supporting these alleged financial savings. We only have the city-sponsored economic analysis, by Rain Coast Data in March of 2022, that had sharply different conclusions. That study assumed a project cost that was $5 million less ($38.2 million) and a bond amount that was $2 million lower ($25 million) than is currently proposed, with minor differences in bond rate and amortization.
Despite that, the city has now lowered the project break-even point to 32 years, 20 years less than 52 year break-even provided to voters just last year. Furthermore, net savings over 70 years of $200 million has been grossly inflated from the $33 million reflected in last year’s analysis.
Juneau voters should ask themselves: how did the city magically concoct a 500% increase in savings and an artificially low break-even point? Apparently by fiddling with their in-house modeling tool, assuming much higher projected rents, and conveniently omitting the hundreds of millions of dollars the $16.3 million downpayment would have earned after 70 years.
Beyond these financial shenanigans, voters should question the underlying assumption that the city needs brand-new office space for every employee.
The pandemic permanently changed the office landscape. State offices are shrinking, commercial vacancies are increasing, rental rates are falling (not increasing as CBJ would have you believe), and employers are transitioning to a hybrid work environment that increasingly allows work-from-home.
Ignoring these facts by adding another 46,200 sqft of office space to downtown Juneau is not a solution. A better approach would be to explore future possibilities as more vacant office space opens up and/or evaluate re-purposing under-utilized school buildings.
Before filling out your ballot, ask yourself, are Juneau voters really getting the facts on the city hall project?
The dollars don’t add up.
Will voters be swayed by spin or common sense?
After retiring as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in Alaska, Win Gruening became a regular opinion page columnist for the Juneau Empire. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is involved in various local and statewide organizations.
