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Listicle: What are the nation’s 2022 critical minerals?

Suzanne Downing
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Listicle: What are the nation’s 2022 critical minerals?

Frankincense, gold, and myrrh are the season’s essentials for a king of king you might meet on your life’s journey.

As for those high-tech gadgets, wind turbines, electric cars, and national security hardware going under the tree this year, there’s a list from the U.S. Geological Survey of the top 50 most crucial minerals for the nation, some of which are found in Alaska.

The top three critical mineral producing states are Nevada, Arizona, and Texas. Alaska ranks No. 7 for production of critical minerals.

Click a mineral’s name on the USGS list of critical minerals to find relevant statistics and publications:

  • Aluminum, used in almost all sectors of the economy
  • Antimony, used in lead-acid batteries and flame retardants
  • Arsenic, used in semi-conductors
  • Barite, used in hydrocarbon production.
  • Beryllium, used as an alloying agent in aerospace and defense industries
  • Bismuth, used in medical and atomic research
  • Cerium, used in catalytic converters, ceramics, glass, metallurgy, and polishing compounds
  • Cesium, used in research and development
  • Chromium, used primarily in stainless steel and other alloys
  • Cobalt, used in rechargeable batteries and superalloys
  • Dysprosium, used in permanent magnets, data storage devices, and lasers
  • Erbium, used in fiber optics, optical amplifiers, lasers, and glass colorants
  • Europium, used in phosphors and nuclear control rods
  • Fluorspar, used in the manufacture of aluminum, cement, steel, gasoline, and fluorine chemicals
  • Gadolinium, used in medical imaging, permanent magnets, and steelmaking
  • Gallium, used for integrated circuits and optical devices like LEDs
  • Germanium, used for fiber optics and night vision applications
  • Graphite , used for lubricants, batteries, and fuel cells
  • Hafnium, used for nuclear control rods, alloys, and high-temperature ceramics
  • Holmium, used in permanent magnets, nuclear control rods, and lasers
  • Indium, used in liquid crystal display screens
  • Iridium, used as coating of anodes for electrochemical processes and as a chemical catalyst
  • Lanthanum, used to produce catalysts, ceramics, glass, polishing compounds, metallurgy, and batteries
  • Lithium, used for rechargeable batteries
  • Lutetium, used in scintillators for medical imaging, electronics, and some cancer therapies
  • Magnesium, used as an alloy and for reducing metals
  • Manganese, used in steelmaking and batteries
  • Neodymium, used in permanent magnets, rubber catalysts, and in medical and industrial lasers
  • Nickel, used to make stainless steel, superalloys, and rechargeable batteries
  • Niobium, used mostly in steel and superalloys
  • Palladium, used in catalytic converters and as a catalyst agent
  • Platinum, used in catalytic converters
  • Praseodymium, used in permanent magnets, batteries, aerospace alloys, ceramics, and colorants
  • Rhodium, used in catalytic converters, electrical components, and as a catalyst
  • Rubidium, used for research and development in electronics
  • Ruthenium, used as catalysts, as well as electrical contacts and chip resistors in computers
  • Samarium, used in permanent magnets, as an absorber in nuclear reactors, and in cancer treatments
  • Scandium, used for alloys, ceramics, and fuel cells
  • Tantalum, used in electronic components, mostly capacitors and in superalloys
  • Tellurium, used in solar cells, thermoelectric devices, and as alloying additive
  • Terbium, used in permanent magnets, fiber optics, lasers, and solid-state devices
  • Thulium, used in various metal alloys and in lasers
  • Tin, used as protective coatings and alloys for steel
  • Titanium, used as a white pigment or metal alloys
  • Tungsten, primarily used to make wear-resistant metals
  • Vanadium, primarily used as alloying agent for iron and steel
  • Ytterbium, used for catalysts, scintillometers, lasers, and metallurgy
  • Yttrium, used for ceramic, catalysts, lasers, metallurgy, and phosphors
  • Zinc, primarily used in metallurgy to produce galvanized steel
  • Zirconium, used in the high-temperature ceramics and corrosion-resistant alloys.

The 2022 list contains 15 more commodities compared to the nation’s first list of critical minerals created in 2018. Much of the increase in the new list is the result of splitting the rare earth elements and platinum group elements into individual entries rather than including them as “mineral groups,” the USGS explained. In addition, the 2022 list of critical minerals adds nickel and zinc to the list while removing helium, potash, rhenium and strontium.

Every three years, the Department of the Interior must review and update the list of critical minerals, per the Energy Act of 2020, and update the methodology used to identify potential critical minerals. The USGA must take interagency feedback and public comment through the Federal Register, and ultimately finalize the list of critical minerals.

The Energy Act of 2020 defines a “critical mineral” as a non-fuel mineral or mineral material essential to the economic or national security of the U.S. and which has a supply chain vulnerable to disruption. Critical minerals are also characterized as serving an essential function in the manufacturing of a product, the absence of which would have significant consequences for the economy or national security. 

Jan. 6 committee issues its final report, warns conservative media they may be investigated

Suzanne Downing
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Jan. 6 committee issues its final report, warns conservative media they may be investigated

The House Special Committee on the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol released its final report on Thursday. There are no surprises in the report that accuses former President Donald Trump of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The report says Trump and his inner circle “engaged in at least 200 apparent acts of public or private outreach, pressure, or condemnation, targeting either state legislators or State or local election administrators, to overturn State election results.”

The report comes after the committee formally accused Trump of inciting insurrection and other crimes and called for the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation.

House Jan. 6 Committee asks Justice Department to bring criminal charges against Trump

“Our country has come too far to allow a defeated President to turn himself into a successful tyrant by upending our democratic institutions, fomenting violence, and, as I saw it, opening the door to those in our country whose hatred and bigotry threaten equality and justice for all Americans,” wrote the panel’s Chair Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat. He was joined by Republican Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, and Democrats Adam Schiff, Zoe Lofgren, Pete Aguilar, Stephanie Murphy, Jamie Raskin and Elaine Luria.

The report makes several recommendations, including reforming the Electoral College with the Electoral Reform Act. In fact, on Thursday the Senate did pass that act, which was tucked inside the massive spending package that will cost taxpayers $1.7 trillion.

The report also advises pursuing criminal and civil actions against those accused of misconduct by the report. It would ask Congress to create a process to bar people from future office, using the 14th Amendment. It recommends more severe punishment for those attempting to impeded the transfer of presidential power and stronger sanctions for those making threats against election workers.

The report also goes after certain unnamed media, saying that Congress “should continue to evaluate policies of media companies that have had the effect of radicalizing their customers, including by provoking people to attack their own country.”

To read the report, click this link that takes you to the House Committee’s PDF.

Last-minute gift: Bear viewing raffle tickets for McNeil River State Game Sanctuary

Suzanne Downing
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Last-minute gift: Bear viewing raffle tickets for McNeil River State Game Sanctuary

Alaska Department of Fish and Game has a novel idea for a gift for that someone who seems to have everything. You can enter to win a trip to the world-famous McNeil River State Game Sanctuary. The package includes permits for four days of bear viewing and funds towards your transportation, lodging, and gear. But the drawing for the winner doesn’t take place until April 2.

The official official non-profit partner, the Outdoor Heritage Foundation of Alaska, is holding the third McNeil River State Game Sanctuary permit raffle. This fundraiser supports the conservation and management of non-game species in Alaska.

Learn more about the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary here.

The winner is entitled to a package of two guided viewing permits for McNeil River State Game Sanctuary June 15-18, 2023. The two permits enable access to the remote wilderness camp at McNeil River and award the winner two of the 10 highly coveted slots in the daily guided bear viewing group for all four days.

The raffle prize also includes $8,000 towards transportation to the sanctuary, lodging, and necessary supplies to make the trip to McNeil as memorable as possible.  During this permit window at the sanctuary, bears will be observed feeding on vegetation on the sedge flats in front of camp, fishing for sockeye salmon in Mikfik Creek, and pairing up for mating season. June is an exciting time to be at McNeil!. This is a perfect opportunity for photographers, adventurers, or anyone who appreciates wild Alaskan Brown Bears.

Every ticket purchased helps fund conservation and management of Alaska’s non-game species. Even if you don’t win a permit, we’re all winners when we contribute to conservation.

Cost: Raffle tickets cost $20 each, 6 for $100, 40 for $500, or 100 for $1000. An unlimited number will be sold.

Dates: Raffle tickets will be sold online until 11:59pm on April 2, 2023.

Drawing: One winner will be selected by random drawing and notified at noon on April 7, 2023.

Notification: The winner need not be present and will be notified by phone, email and published on the OHFA website: www.OHFAK.org

Who: open to all; void where prohibited.

Permits: Winner will receive two Guided Viewing Permits from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, valid for viewing bears at the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary on June 15 to June 18, 2023.  The winner may assign these permits through the ADF&G to anyone they choose.

Proceeds: The Outdoor Heritage Foundation of Alaska is a 501c3 charitable educational organization and the official foundation of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.  OHFA is offering this opportunity though ADF&G’s Special Access Permit program.  All net revenue generated from this raffle will be deposited in the ADF&G non-game conservation account.

Note: A person who won a McNeil River sanctuary lottery-issued permit from the ADF&G for the 2022 season is not eligible to visit the sanctuary in 2023; however, they may still purchase raffle tickets as a gift for someone else.   

Visit the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary website for more information on visiting the sanctuary: www.mcneilriver.adfg.alaska.gov

For more information on ADF&G’s Lands and Refuges Program, visit www.refuges.adfg.alaska.gov

Rick Whitbeck: AIDEA needs your vocal support

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
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Rick Whitbeck: AIDEA needs your vocal support

By RICK WHITBECK | POWER THE FUTURE

This state agency is self-sufficient and profitable, returning nearly half a billion dollars in dividends to the State of Alaska throughout its history.

This year’s dividend was announced this week at $17.046 million, a nearly 18% year-over-year increase.

The same state agency has provided hundreds of loans for micro-economic and entrepreneurial ventures across the state, leading to employment for thousands of Alaskans, who may not have had the chance otherwise.

And yet, this agency – misunderstood by most Alaskans – receives regular criticism for secrecy, working against Alaskans’ interests, bad investment decisions, and wasting money.

As I’ve gotten to know The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) over the past few years, I’ve seen with my own eyes that these allegations are misguided and false.  It is long past time to give credit to AIDEA for its wise business practices over the years, and its leadership in helping to secure jobs for generations to come.

Let’s start with the elephant in the room: While any investment firm will tell you that a perfect track record is unrealistic, AIDEA has made some poor investments over the years.  The Alaska Seafood International plant in Anchorage – now ChangePoint Church – was notable for its size and amount (a $20 million loss) in the early 2000s, and there have been other investment losses detractors could take exception with. However, AIDEA’s overall performance is significantly net-positive to the state and economy, with many more “hits” than “misses.” 

AIDEA was involved in the early stages of the Red Dog Mine in the Northwest Arctic Borough, the nation’s largest zinc producer, and a job-creating giant for Borough residents. They invested in the Ketchikan Shipyard, which has been a boon for the Southeast community and helped launch industrial opportunities throughout the region. 

Its investment in the Bonanza fuel farm in Nome, the More dock in Homer, a FedEx hangar at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and the Skagway Ore Terminal are all examples of AIDEA making wise decisions with its investment dollars. These projects are paying back, not only with monthly and annual payments, but with increased jobs and opportunities across the state. Plus, the total income generated from these family-supporting and long-term jobs far outweighs the amount of dollars from investments that haven’t had a positive return.  

AIDEA’s Board of Directors is tasked with overseeing the mission and overall scope of the agency.  It includes some of Alaska’s most successful business leaders, as well as the Commissioners of Commerce and Community and Economic Development, and Revenue.  Having attended the majority of AIDEA board meetings the past two years, I’ve heard the discussions and have seen the thoughtful deliberations. AIDEA takes its charge seriously.

This week, they announced a new Executive Director in Randy Ruaro, formerly Governor Dunleavy’s Chief of Staff, and an accomplished attorney and businessman. I’m excited to see AIDEA’s future with Ruaro at the helm, especially as it continues down the path with three investments that could pay huge dividends for the state. 

AIDEA is the only current leaseholder in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), having bid on and contracted for seven tracts, totaling just over 365 thousand acres, from the December 2020 initial lease sale. Although the area has been ruled off-limits by the Biden administration – in stark contrast to the Congressionally-approved development plan – the leases remain relevant to an overall energy plan for America, and AIDEA’s decision to plug ahead with plans to turn the leases into jobs and revenues down the road is commendable.

AIDEA is also leading the way for investment in two roads to resources – something Alaska desperately needs – as both the Ambler mining district and West Susitna development areas hold tremendous promise for strategic and critical minerals, copper and other deposits necessary for the U.S.’s plans to transform our nation’s energy mix. The two projects would allow world-class environmental stewardship to work hand-in-hand with world-class mining technologies and strategies; bringing jobs to rural Alaska, revenues to the state and establish a domestic supply-chain for what industry and eco groups alike are clamoring for.

Alaska, I hope you’re more aware of the positive impact AIDEA has had on our economy with this article. Now, it’s time for you to get involved. The Board and staff need Alaskans to stand up and provide support for AIDEA’s ongoing efforts, as its enemies in the environmental and ‘let’s shut down Alaska’ movements are regularly lambasting the agency. Their Board meets every month, with a public comment opportunity as the place for you to have your say. The 2023 schedule can be found here.

Join me in supporting an agency that has been – and will be – a job and revenue creator for Alaska’s bright energy future.

Rick Whitbeck is the Alaska State Director for Power The Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @PTFAlaska.

Sullivan votes no on $1.7 trillion omnibus spending monster, while Murkowski votes yes

Suzanne Downing
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39
Sullivan votes no on $1.7 trillion omnibus spending monster, while Murkowski votes yes

Alaska U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan voted against the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill today, filled with controversial earmarks and gun control measures. Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted in favor of it, and it passed on a vote of 68-29 for the 4,155-page appropriation package.

Sullivan released the following statement:

“End of year omnibus votes are always difficult because of the looming threat of a government shutdown and the fact that some of the provisions in these bills inevitably are ones that benefit Alaska. However, these massive spending bills are usually crafted through backroom deals with no debate and no time for Senators to do their appropriate due diligence on what is actually in them. This dysfunctional process is not worthy of the country and people we represent.

“There are a number of things in this bill that I support and strongly advocated for, such as robust funding for our military to counter the threats of this new era of authoritarian aggression led by Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping. Specifically, this bill increases defense spending by $45 billion above the President’s anemic request, which is something I fought for as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and will continue the significant buildup of the U.S. military in Alaska. This bill also addresses other important Alaska priorities, including items I authored and coauthored, like the Alaska Salmon Research Task Force Act, the Visit America Act, language granting the University of Alaska’s land transfer, and funding to provide disaster relief for Alaska fishermen.

“However, this is a more than $1.7 trillion dollar spending bill consisting of 4,155 pages, with thousands more in supporting documents, negotiated and agreed to only by House and Senate leadership, and their staff. We were given approximately 48 hours to read and analyze it. Decisions were made behind closed doors, many of which are clearly beyond the expertise of those making them, and the legislative process once again provided no meaningful opportunity for further input from Senators. 

“Case in point: The final package we’ve been asked to support undermines national security in the Arctic by cutting funding for the building of Polar Security icebreakers and striking funding for the purchase of an icebreaker that the Coast Guard is planning to home-port in Juneau. This was a priority for the Alaska delegation. We have worked hard to get both the Trump and Biden administrations to support these critical American Arctic assets, and we were able to get them included in President Biden’s budget request, as well as in appropriation and authorization bills. But in the final hours of this opaque omnibus process, these funds were removed. By whom and for what reason, is not clear. This decision could further set back our nation’s ability to provide persistent presence in the Arctic for years. This is a major disappointment for our state and country. 

“As I have repeatedly emphasized, we need to fix our broken budget process that is not serving our military, government or the American people well.” 

Sullivan has a reputation for wanting to read the bills he votes on. This bill was the equivalent of more than three of Tolstoy’s War and Peace.

In addition to Sen. Murkowski, 16 other Republicans voted for the passage of the bill, including: Blunt, Boozman, Capito, Collins, Cornyn, Cotton, Graham, Inhofe, McConnell, Moran, Portman, Romney, Rounds, Shelby, Wicker, and Young.

Some senators balk at omnibus spending bill: $1.7 trillion, 4,100 pages, and full of earmarks to shock taxpayers

Word police: Stanford wants you to stop saying ‘American’

Suzanne Downing
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Word police: Stanford wants you to stop saying ‘American’

Stanford University has entered the brave new world of language policing. Only you can’t use the word “brave” in this colorful new world. You can’t say “tribe.” You can’t say “he,” but should say “they” to refer to s singular male.

The university wants its campus community to stop using certain words and use other words that it says are not offensive. For instance, people should not say dumb, and should not say someone is an addict. They should not say someone committed suicide, when it’s more accurate, according to Stanford, that they “died by suicide.”

Among the more controversial entries in the new language guideline is the discouragement of the word “American.” Instead, the university wants you to use the word “US citizen.” Why? “This term often refers to people from the United States only, thereby insinuating that the US is the most important country in the Americas (which is actually made up of 42 countries).”

This “Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative” is a project to address what the campus sees as harmful language in IT at Stanford in fulfillment of the “Statement of Solidarity and Commitment to Action” published by the Stanford CIO Council and People of Color in Technology group in December 2020.

The goal is to eliminate many forms of harmful language, including racist, violent, and biased (e.g., disability bias, ethnic bias, ethnic slurs, gender bias, implicit bias, sexual bias) language in Stanford websites and code, the university report states.

Some of the words that are now discouraged are:

addict – say person with a substance abuse disorder

addicted – say hooked, devoted

basket case – say nervous

blind review – say anonymous review

blind study – say masked study

committed suicide – say died by suicide

confined to a wheelchair – say person who uses a wheelchair

crazy – say surprising/wild

cripple or crippled – person with a disability

dumb – say non-vocal, non-verbal

handicap parking – say accessible parking

insane – say surprising or wild

lame – say boring or uncool

mentally ill – say a person living with a mental health condition

OCD – say detail-oriented

The list goes on. You cannot say “Karen,” but should say “demanding or entitled White woman,” the document says.

Read all about the dumbing down of America by the language police at Stanford University at the PDF below:

stanfordlanguageDownload

House passes bill naming volcano after Don Young

Suzanne Downing
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21
House passes bill naming volcano after Don Young

Alaska Congressman Don Young, who died on March 18 at the age of 88, will be honored by having a volcano in the Aleutian Islands bear his name.

S.5066, the Don Young Recognition Act, passed the Senate earlier this fall, sponsored by Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan. On Wednesday evening, the bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives, renaming Mount Cerberus, on Semisopochnoi Island, “Mount Young.” It is one of Alaska’s most active volcanoes.

The bill also designates the Jobs Corps center at 800 East Lynn Martin Drive in Palmer as the Don Young Alaska Job Corps Center; and the federal office building at 101 12th Avenue in Fairbanks as the Don Young Federal Office Building.

The bill now will be sent to the desk of the president for signature.

Some senators balk at omnibus spending bill: $1.7 trillion, 4,100 pages, and full of earmarks to shock taxpayers

Suzanne Downing
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Some senators balk at omnibus spending bill: $1.7 trillion, 4,100 pages, and full of earmarks to shock taxpayers

The Wall Street Journal calls it the “ugliest omnibus bill ever.” Congress will pass a 4,155-page bill most members will never read.

That’s more than three times longer than a copy of Tolstoy’s War and Peace.

The spending bill is full of $8,500 per American adult. Or in other words, that $8,500 in taxes per adult.

But since only half of adults in America pay taxes, it’s really about $17,000 per taxpayer for one year of government spending, not counting military spending.

In fact, it’s such an expensive package that you’d have to spend $2.3 million every day for over 2000 years before reaching $1.7 trillion. It’s going to add $15 trillion to the U.S. debt, bringing it to $47 trillion.

Some senators are balking at the bill to be voted on on Thursday.

“This process stinks. It’s an abomination. It’s a no good rotten way to run government. We’re standing up and saying NO,” said Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who joined a few others in making a statement on Wednesday that the bill circumvents the proper spending process, ramming through wasteful earmarks.

A few of those superfluous spending items include:

  • $410 million for border security for other countries, such as Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Oman, and Lebanon.
  • A specific prohibition on spending for border control for the United States’ southern border.
  • There’s also $45 billion in military and other aid for Ukraine. The United States has already given $68 billion to Ukraine in earlier military, economic, and humanitarian appropriations.
  • “If an additional $47 billion in Ukraine funding isn’t enough for you, the bill also authorizes a “Ukrainian Independence Park” right here in DC,” Sen. Dan Bishop wrote.
  • $3.6 million for the Michelle Obama trail in Georgia, under the Department of Transportation’s budget.
  • $200 million for “gender equity and equality,” with some funds to be spent to promote gender equality in Pakistan.
  • $447,000 for an Equity Institute, stuffed into the Department of Education budget. That’s anti-racism funding.
  • $3 million inserted into the Housing and Urban Development Department budget for an LGBTQ museum in New York.
  • $1.2 million for student services for DACA students at San Diego Community College.
  • There’s a $25 million funding increase for the National Labor Relations Board, a payoff to Big Labor.
  • Child Care and Development Block Grant Program gets a 30% increase.

“Congress is jamming through major changes in public-land management; a plan to phase out large-scale driftnet fishing; new oversight on horse-racing; a restructure of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; changes to help Boeing meet aircraft-certification deadlines; and alterations to lobster regulation. That’s before lawmakers shoe-horned in sweeping healthcare changes on everything from Medicaid eligibility to the Children’s Health Insurance Program to Medicare provider payments,” the Wall Street Journal notes.

“The political process here is as bad as most of the policy. Major changes in law deserve their own debate and vote. Instead, a handful of powerful legislators wrote this vast bill in a backroom. Members can use the need to fund the government as an excuse to say they supported, or opposed, specific provisions as future politics demands,” the Journal says.

It’s almost certain that Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski will vote for the massive spending package that will create even more hardship for the grandchildren of America, who will have to pay for a spending package that was spent long before they were of age to even know they were being shackled by more taxes for a spendthrift generation.

It’s almost as certain that Sen. Dan Sullivan, who has tacked hard to the left lately, will vote for the package, although conservatives might still be surprised at his occasional show of independence from the liberal forces that are increasingly bending him to their will.

Anchorage Assembly plans investigation of accusations made by former city manager over contract improprieties

Suzanne Downing
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51
Anchorage Assembly plans investigation of accusations made by former city manager over contract improprieties

Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance and Vice Chair Christopher Constant issued a statement regarding the termination of Municipal Manager Amy Demboski and her subsequent revelations to reporters regarding the circumstances of her termination, which she has indicated is retaliation for bringing contract irregularities to the mayor’s attention.

The Assembly is taking the incident “very seriously and are gathering as much information as possible before drawing a final conclusion. However, some of the accusations that have been made are alarming and we plan to conduct our own inquiry into the matter,” the Assembly leadership wrote.

While they said that personnel matters are the jurisdiction of the mayor, LaFrance and Constant said the Assembly is planning to investigate the allegations made by Demboski that contracts and purchasing rules and laws may have been broken and that there appears to be misconduct regarding public funds.

“As the stewards of the municipal treasury, it’s our duty to ensure that taxpayer funds are spent legally and effectively. We’ve already seen this administration put millions of dollars at risk due to alleged personnel and contract improprieties. We can’t afford to let any more poorly executed contracts put the municipality’s strong financial footing in jeopardy. Therefore, we as Assembly Leadership are committed to doing everything in our power to safeguard the municipality’s finances and protect the interests of residents,” they said in a statement.

The Assembly leaders also reminded Municipal employees that there are avenues for reporting further improprieties, including the Municipal Ombudsman’s Office (907-343-4461 or [email protected]), as well as Municipality of Anchorage Labor Relations, the Municipality of Anchorage Office of Equal Opportunity, the Anchorage Equal Rights Commission, the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights, and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The Assembly wasted no time in turning up the heat on Mayor Dave Bronson, whose firing of Demboski did not go well. Bronson’s staff leaked confidential personnel information to a blog that was damaging to Demboski and appeared to be motivated by malice.

In turn, Demboski gave interviews to KTUU and the Anchorage Daily News, detailing accusations about improper contracts being signed without the approval of the Assembly, and her attempt to alert the mayor to the situation. Bronson is running for mayor for his second term that would start in 2024, and has already begun fundraising for his reelection. Any investigation into illegal contracts would coincide with his campaign efforts and create a distraction from his accomplishments.

At Anchorage City Hall, not a Merry Christmas, but hopefully a better New Year

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