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Murderer Denali Brehmer pleads guilty to killing ‘friend’ Cynthia Hoffman at Thunderbird Falls

Suzanne Downing
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20
Murderer Denali Brehmer pleads guilty to killing ‘friend’ Cynthia Hoffman at Thunderbird Falls

Twenty-two-year-old Denali Brehmer pleaded guilty on Wednesday to murder in the first degree for charges stemming from the June 2, 2019, murder of 19-year-old Cynthia Hoffman near Thunderbird Falls in Chugiak.

Brehmer admitted the facts contained in the complaint initially filed in the case. The case was investigated by the Anchorage Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of multiple other State and federal law enforcement agencies.

The murder of Hoffman involved a group of three young adults who were “catfished” by an Indiana man to commit the crime for money. Catfishing is a term relating to people who adopt false identities online to lure or trick people. In this case, the friends of Hoffman lured her to a remote place near Thunderbird Falls, tied her up, and executed her. They rolled her body into the Eklutna River.

Darin Schilmiller, the man allegedly behind the murder-for-hire scheme, has pleaded not guilty to charges against him, which included him posing online as a self-described millionaire named Tyler and offering Brehmer $9 million to “rape and murder someone in Alaska.”

He is housed at Goose Creek Correctional Center. Schilmiller has been in court numerous times since his arrest and extradition from Indiana, and has a trial-setting hearing on March 15. Kayden McIntosh, who was 16 at the time and accused of pulling the trigger, has a trial-setting hearing on that date, as does Caleb Leyland, who was 19 at the time, and who is accused of driving the get-away car.

During the investigation of Hoffman’s death, Anchorage police confiscated the cell phone of suspect Brehmer, who was then 18 and who police said was intimately involved in the death and disposal of “CeCe” Hoffman’s body.

In Brehmer’s phone, investigators found clues to the murder, and also found child pornography involving Denali sexually abusing two children, which federal investigators said she had done at the behest of Shilmiller.

Who is Darin Schilmiller and why is he part of this murder investigation?

There is no agreement between the parties regarding a specific term of imprisonment. Judge Peterson may sentence Brehmer to a term of imprisonment of no less than 30 years and no more than 99 years. Sentencing is scheduled to begin Aug. 22, in front of Judge Peterson in Anchorage and is anticipated to last three days.

The charges against Brehmer for conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree, solicitation of murder in the first degree, tampering with physical evidence and two charges of murder in the second degree were dismissed. It’s unclear why there are no state charges against Brehmer related to rape and child pornography.

Investigators: Schilmiller offered $9 million for murder of Cynthia Hoffman

New Division of Elections director: Carol Beecher

Suzanne Downing
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32
New Division of Elections director: Carol Beecher

Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom appointed Carol Beecher as the new director of the Division of Elections. Beecher’s first day was Wednesday.

“After considering several candidates from across the state, I am pleased Carol has agreed to accept the position of director for the Division of Elections,” Dahlstrom said. “Her professionalism and extensive experience will ensure that Alaska is ready for the 2024 election cycle and beyond. I have every confidence that she is the right person for the job, and she will exceed all expectations.”

Beecher grew up in a logging camp on Zarembo Island in Southeast Alaska. She began her state service in 2005, working for Lt. Gov. Loren Leman. From there, she was intern in John Coghill’s office and then worked as a special assistant at the Department of Administration, and as the scheduler for Gov. Sarah Palin. 

She became deputy director of the Child Support division in 2011 and has served there as a director since 2014. Beecher graduated from Wrangell High School and has a bachelor’s degree in Justice and a master’s degree in Public Administration, Policy Analysis from the University of Alaska Anchorage. She lives in Anchorage, has four grown children, and enjoys spending time with her five grandchildren and family.

I have loved being the director of the child support division and the wonderful staff who work so diligently for Alaska’s families,” Beecher said. “Being selected to work in the Division of Elections is an honor and I am proud to serve in this new role. The Division is dedicated to ensuring secure, accurate and fair elections for all Alaskans and I am confident that this will continue under the Lt. Governor’s leadership. Over the next few months, I will be meeting with staff in the various regions and will continue their efforts to ensure that Alaskans can trust Alaska’s election process.”

Records show Anchorage Assembly members collude on votes, destroy evidence of secret deliberations

Suzanne Downing
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49
Records show Anchorage Assembly members collude on votes, destroy evidence of secret deliberations

A public records request by Anchorage citizen activist Russell Biggs shows that some Anchorage Assembly members have been destroying their text messages that they use to deliberate public policy and coordinate votes, a violation of the Open Meetings Act.

Assembly members are prohibited by law from making agreements in private about how they will vote in public. They are also prohibited from destroying records of their communications.

“We’ve suspected for a long time that several assembly members have been destroying public records that showed the extent of their collusion in driving policy within the assembly meetings – specifically messaging between themselves and/or individuals outside the meeting in order to coordinate the vote. After several months and lots of money, we now know that Forrest Dunbar, Chris Constant, and Meg Zaletel are using several methods to evade the Alaska Public Records and records retention laws, and that the municipal clerk has not enforced the compliance with those laws,” Biggs said.

Biggs had requested all electronic messages sent in the last 90 days during the Assembly meetings, and he has paid thousands of dollars in fees to the Municipal Clerk to get those documents. Assemblyman Chris Constant only revealed that he deletes messages automatically after every seven days. Deleting  communications that pertain to legislation would be a violation of public records and retention laws.

Anchorage Assembly members secretly discuss ending the half hour of public testimony that was allowed at the beginning of meetings until September, 2022.
Shutting the public down: Anchorage Assembly eliminates public participation at start of meetings

Former Assemblyman Forrest Dunbar, who is now a state senator, admitted that he uses the app known as Signal (a secret message auto-delete app) and claimed it was because he had been cyber-attacked. However, he also said he emails frequently … but did not provide any emails or deleted texts to meet the requirements of the records request.

Assemblywoman Meg Zaletel claimed that a software update deleted her texts, and failed to provide an explanation why those public records would not be easily recoverable (or why they were not saved to begin with), also violating the public records retention laws.

“Finally, the clerk has not enforced compliance on these legislators, which is her job,” Biggs explained. “This is exactly the same type of behavior that has landed a slew of state legislators in legal trouble over the last few years, because they believe that 1. These cases won’t end up in Superior Court (or Supreme Court if necessary) and 2. that Signal won’t produce those records under a subpoena (they will). “

Biggs has already won three legal actions against the clerk and says he is confident this unlawful attempt by Zaletel, Constant, and Dunbar to evade the AK public records is headed for a fourth date in court.

“What that will look like is uncertain, but you can bet that the same legislators that redacted hundreds of pages of their communications with the Blue Alaskan/AK Dems Communications Director and then sealed the executive sessions indefinitely without disclosing why are going to fight this tooth and nail,” Biggs said.  “As invested members of the media, I’m forwarding this info along. The ADN has chosen not to report on any of the prior public records settlements involving the clerk, or two separate letters to the editor that explained the circumstances that forced the muni to settle these cases for several thousand dollars.”

Anchorage Assembly adding 160 hours of parental leave for employees via new ordinance

Suzanne Downing
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25
Anchorage Assembly adding 160 hours of parental leave for employees via new ordinance

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected.

Former Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson, on her way out of the executive office she held while serving as unelected mayor for eight months in 2020-2021, enacted a parental leave policy for municipal employees.

Elected Mayor Dave Bronson undid that policy when he came into office in July of 2021. Now, the Assembly is planning to put the parental leave policy back, but as an ordinance of the assembly. It is nearly the exact format that was signed as an executive order by Quinn-Davidson.

The ordinance will be formally proposed at the Feb. 21 regular Assembly meeting. It is sponsored by Quinn-Davidson, Meg Zaletel, and Suzanne LaFrance.

Under the proposed ordinance, workers asking for parental leave could get up to 160 hours of paid leave after a child is born, adopted, or brought into the employee’s family through foster care. The fiscal impact of this is unknown for taxpayers, as the Assembly majority views it as a productivity loss.

“Parental leave is a productivity loss issue rather than a cost increase. A full-time employee is paid for 2,080 hours a year. In whatever manner those 2,080 hours are allocated the cost is the same. However, there may be some costs if overtime is anticipate to be used/requested to cover the productivity loss,” the Assembly analysis says.

This new benefit is in addition to normal vacation leave, sick leave, 12 existing paid holidays, and voting leave, as the Assembly prepares to add one more holiday to the work schedule of municipal employees: Juneteenth and Indigenous Peoples’ Day, while removing Seward’s Day.

Anchorage Assembly plans to remove Seward’s Day as paid time off, add Juneteenth and Indigenous Peoples’ Day

The parental leave ordinance says that the Assembly may skip sending the proposal to the Personnel Rules Committee prior to a public hearing.

At the Feb. 21 meeting, the Assembly will introduce the ordinance and set a public hearing for another time. The Assembly meets at 5 pm in the Assembly Chambers of the Loussac Library, at the corner of 36th Ave. and Denali Street.

Pertinent documents for this ordinance include:

AO 2023-20_1_PAID PARENTAL LEAVE BENEFIT.DOCX 

AO 2023-20_2_PAID PARENTAL LEAVE_AM 96-2023.DOCX 

AO 2023-20_3_EXHIBIT A PARENTAL LEAVE SEE.XLSX 

AO 2023-20_4_EXHIBIT B 2023-0206 PARENTAL LEAVE PRICEOUT.PDF 

AO 2023-20_5_AWC REPORT_AIM 54-2023.DOCX 

AO 2023-20_6_AWC_2020RECOMMENDATIONS.AIM ATTACHMENT.PDF 

Chinese flooding the southern border under Biden administration

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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4
Chinese flooding the southern border under Biden administration

By BETH BLANKLEY | THE CENTER SQUARE

The number of Chinese nationals illegally entering the U.S. has significantly increased under the Biden administration, beginning around the 2020 election, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. 

Nationwide, 18,395 Chinese nationals were apprehended in fiscal 2020; 23,471 in fiscal 2021; 27,756 in fiscal 2022; and 10,587 in the fiscal year to date. 

The vast majority are single adults. In fiscal 2020, 18,014 apprehended were single adults; 23,172 were single adults in fiscal 2021; 26,447 were in fiscal 2022, and 9,772 were so far in fiscal year 2023.

These numbers include Border Patrol and Office of Field Operations data, including in southwest Florida, where apprehensions continually increase, prompting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to declare a state of emergency last month. 

More Chinese nationals are illegally entering through the northern border than in the past, according to the data. 

At the northern border, in fiscal 2020, 1,464 Chinese nationals were apprehended; in fiscal 2021, 897 were apprehended; in fiscal 2022, 6,698 were apprehended; and in fiscal 2023 to date, 2,795 have been apprehended, according to the data.

Chinese nationals make up such a significant number of gotaways that rescue beacons were established along the southern border and have instructions in Mandarin. Gotaways are those who intentionally seek to evade capture from law enforcement after illegally entering between ports of entry. At least 1.2 million gotaways have been reported since President Joe Biden’s been in office, a record, although that number is expected to be significantly higher because not all gotaways are recorded. 

Rescue beacons positioned throughout the southern border help Border Patrol agents rescue foreign nationals attempting to make it through desert-like and remote areas. The structures are tall and white and look like antennas with a blue light at the top. About eye level is a red button and a sign with instructions in English, Spanish and Mandarin that reads: “If you need help push the red button. Help will arrive. Do not leave the area.”

The beacons also have instructions with a diagram to show people how to push the button. Once they push it a signal is sent to a nearby Border Patrol station so agents can come and rescue them. If the beacons weren’t there, those relying on them would likely die, law enforcement officers told The Center Square.

Since 2008, Border Patrol erected six beacons in Brooks County, Texas, for example, KSAT News reported in 2021, when dead bodies began to turn up in those areas. 

The burden of finding dead bodies has fallen primarily on the Brooks County Sheriff’s Office, whose deputies recovered a record 917 bodies of foreign nationals, according to data obtained by The Center Square from the sheriff’s office. In 2021, his staff found 119 bodies; in 2020, 34. 

The south Texas region stretching from McAllen to Falfurrias in Brooks County, for example, is largely barren ranch land full of rough, unforgiving terrain that’s especially dangerous in summer months when temperatures reach well over 100 degrees. By the time foreign nationals reach Falfurrias on foot, roughly 82 miles directly north of Reynosa, Mexico, they are dehydrated and can’t continue their journey on foot, officials told The Center Square. After illegally entering Texas between ports of entry near McAllen, officials say they travel north parallel to Highway 281 following pipelines and railroad tracks going through ranchers’ properties to avoid detection. By the time they reach Brooks County, dehydrated and exhausted, many don’t make it. Many are also left behind by smugglers, the sheriff’s office has explained to The Center Square. 

Fentanyl has also poured through the southern border in recent years, the precursors of which are commonly made in China and shipped to Mexico. Mexican cartels then manufacture the precursors into fake prescription pills and or lace other drugs with it. Through an elaborate trafficking network, they orchestrate the smuggling of fentanyl and other drugs into the U.S. primarily through the southern border. 

Through Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, Texas law enforcement officers have seized over 360 million lethal doses of fentanyl since March 2021, enough to kill more than everyone in the U.S. This excludes the record amounts seized by other states’ law enforcement officers and by Border Patrol and DEA agents since Biden’s been in office. Combined, the agencies have reported their totals could kill the entire U.S. population multiple times over. Two milligrams is considered a lethal dose.

Multiple attorneys general, led by Florida, have called on the Biden administration to classify fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. Abbott last fall, and now multiple attorneys general, has called on the Biden administration to designate Mexican cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. They’ve done so as members of Congress and state legislatures have filed bills to prevent Chinese entities from purchasing land in the U.S., led by Florida and Texas.

Anchorage Assembly plans to remove Seward’s Day as paid time off, add Juneteenth and Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Suzanne Downing
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53
Anchorage Assembly plans to remove Seward’s Day as paid time off, add Juneteenth and Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Anchorage Municipal employees are about to get another day off. The Anchorage Assembly plans to add Juneteenth and Indigenous Peoples’ Day to the employee holiday calendar, and take away a day honoring civil rights leader William Seward.

Read the ordinance and materials related to it here.

Currently, there are 12 paid holidays for municipal employees, in addition to the minimum 80 hours of annual leave that each employee is entitled to (many get more, depending on years of service). Employees also get sick, bereavement leave, and time off for voting.

In addition to the new benefit, however, the new holiday will add one more day when Anchorage citizens cannot access the services of their government, and where some workers who must clock in that day (plow operators, for example) will be awarded holiday pay.

Currently, the municipal offices are closed:

  • New Year’s Day.
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Day (third Monday in January).
  • Washington’s Birthday (third Monday in February).
  • Memorial Day (last Monday in May).
  • Seward’s Day (last Monday in March) effective 2015.
  • Independence Day.
  • Labor Day.
  • Veterans Day (November 11).
  • Thanksgiving Day.
  • The day after Thanksgiving.
  • Christmas Day.
  • One personal holiday.

The addition of holidays will be the subject of a public hearing at the regular meeting of the Anchorage Assembly on Feb. 21; meetings begin at 5 pm at the Loussac Library in the Assembly Chambers.

The ordinance, AO 2202-17, is sponsored by radical members of the Anchorage Assembly, including Austin Quinn-Davidson, Felix Rivera, and Meg Zaletel, and would go into effect April 1.

That would make this year’s Seward’s Day, March 27, the last time that Secretary of State William Seward, who served under President Abraham Lincoln and who is credited with the purchase of Alaska from Russia, from being honored by the Municipality of Anchorage.

Seward, who was a civil rights leader of his day, was instrumental in the ending of slavery in America, and hand-carried the Emancipation Proclamation to President Lincoln for his signature. When he was the governor of New York, he refused to extradite slaves who had escaped to his state from Virginia. His stance against slavery cost him greatly in his career as an attorney and lawmaker.

A statue of William Seward, seen above, stands in front of the Alaska Capitol, where leftists are known to adorn it with disrespectful items.

Juneteenth is a new-ish celebration that marks June 19, 1865, the end of slavery in the United States. In fact, slavery continued in the District and Territory of Alaska for generations after slavery ended in the South, as Tlingit Indians traded slaves in the Northwest Coast until the early 1900s. President Joe Biden declared Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021.

Quinn-Davidson noted that it’s important to her to pass the ordinance during Black History Month, which is observed in February.

“In the spirit of celebrations happening across town this month, we are pleased to introduce a proposal to formalize cultural celebrations as paid Municipal holidays throughout the year.”

The ordinance also changes the current designation of Washington’s Birthday to President’s Day, the third Monday in February.

The addition of an extra day for employees to have off is expected to cost millions of dollars, but there is no fiscal note available as of yet. The ordinance adds a clause that permits it to avoid going through the personnel committee, which the Assembly says is dysfunctional.

Unofficial results: Micciche appears to have won mayor’s race in Kenai Borough

Suzanne Downing
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12
Unofficial results: Micciche appears to have won mayor’s race in Kenai Borough

The special election for mayor, replacing former Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce, is over and the results are coming in. The unofficial results as of Tuesday night are:

  • Peter Micciche: 2,526

Linda Hutchings: 873

David Carey: 555

Zachary Hamilton: 242

Unresolved write-in: 807

Total votes cast: 5,004

These results are from 27 of 28 reported precincts. There are 54,212 voters in the borough, and, as of now, the turnout is about 9.23% for this special election, with 5,004 ballots cast.

With over 50% of the votes cast for Micciche, it appears there may not be a runoff, which would have been scheduled for March 7 if no candidate received a majority of the vote. However, there may be more ballots on the way, as the mailing deadline was Tuesday, Feb. 14. Every eligible voter in the borough was mailed a ballot.

Micciche is a longtime public servant on the Kenai. Most recently, he served from 2013 to 2023 in the Alaska State Senate, was Senate majority leader from 2017-2018 and then became Senate president, before retiring in January.

Micciche had previously served as mayor of Soldotna and on the Soldotna City Council. He earned an associate degree from Kenai Peninsula College and a bachelor’s in business management from Alaska Pacific University. For many years he was the manager of the Kenai LNG Facility for ConocoPhillips.

The special election may put Micciche in place until the regular election in October, when the seat was already scheduled to be on the ballot.

Drill down into the precinct data at this Kenai Borough Division of Elections link.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein announces her retirement

Suzanne Downing
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45
Sen. Dianne Feinstein announces her retirement

California Democrat U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced on Tuesday that she will not run for reelection in 2024. Feinstein is 89 and has well-known, short-term memory issues. In fact, she told reporters today she was not aware that the press release about her retirement had gone out earlier in the day, and told them she had not made up her mind yet about retirement. But her press release says otherwise.

Feinstein said she plans to work through the end of her term, which ends in January of 2025. She has served in the Senate since 1992.

“I campaigned in 2018 on several priorities for California and the nation: preventing and combating wildfires, mitigating the effects of record-setting drought, responding to the homelessness crisis, and ensuring all Americans have access to affordable, high-quality health care. Congress has enacted legislation on all of these topics over the past several years, but more needs to be done – and I will continue these efforts,” she said in a statement.

In her time in office, the homelessness crisis has exploded in California, and wildfires have increased, and drought has deepened. The national debt has exploded and schools across the country are churning out students who can’t read, write, or calculate.

“I also remain focused on passing commonsense legislation to fight the epidemic of gun violence, preserving our pristine lands and promoting economic growth – especially to position California for what I believe will be the century of the Pacific. And I will use my seniority on the Appropriations Committee to ensure California gets its fair share of funding,” she said.

Memorable to Alaskans, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was photographed cornered by Sen. Feinstein in the Capitol, seen above in a CBS News photo, during the contentious confirmation vote for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. The photo made it appear that Murkowski was being bullied by Feinstein to vote against Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Murkowski was a “no” vote for Kavanaugh but ended up voting “present” instead.

Feinstein has focused much of her career on gun control, famously saying,  “It’s simple logic: If you can’t buy a beer, you shouldn’t be able to buy an assault weapon. If you can’t buy a handgun, you shouldn’t be able to buy an AR-15.” She has long been an advocate of red-flag laws.

Covid shots for kids: U.S. lists them for six months and older ‘only’ so they can be given free to uninsured kids

Suzanne Downing
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28
Covid shots for kids: U.S. lists them for six months and older ‘only’ so they can be given free to uninsured kids

Great Britain several months ago ended Covid shots for young children, not offering the vaccinations to children under the age of 12 unless they are at high risk for complications from Covid.

The UK Health Security Agency joined Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark, and other countries that no longer recommend mRNA shots to healthy children.

Yet according to the most recent recommendation by the Alaska Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, babies as young as six months should get a Covid shot or two and continue getting boosters on whatever recommended schedule they are issued and approved by medical authorities. Alaska’s recommendation came out officially on Feb. 14.

“The updates to the 2023 Immunization Schedules reflect the schedule changes voted on and approved during the ACIP meeting that occurred in October 2022. The most cross-cutting change is the inclusion of the primary series and other details of authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccines for both children and adults in the Tables and Notes sections of the Schedules,” the Department of Health advised.

But, as Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of the CDC, told a Senate panel last week, the only reason the Covid vaccination was added to the schedule of “required” childhood vaccinations is that the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices determined “it was the only way it could be covered in our ‘Vaccines for Children’ program,” which pays for vaccinations for uninsured children. She emphasized the word “only.”

In June of 2022, the Denmark announced it was changing its recommendations for Covid vaccinations: “From 1 July, 2022, it will no longer be possible for children and youngsters under the age of 18 to receive the 1st jab, and from 1 September, 2022, it will no longer be possible to receive the 2nd jab,” the Danish Health Authority said. Fact-checkers from the AP and Reuters pushed back against news organizations that described this as a ban on the vaccinations for children under the age of 18, labeling that characterization as “false.”

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