Page 840 – Must Read Alaska

Mike and Karen Pence visit Alaska to support veterans

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August 1, 2022

Mike and Karen Pence visit Alaska to support veterans

Former Vice President Mike Pence and Karen Pence arrived in Alaska this week to spend time at Lake Clark with veterans at the Operation Heal Our Patriots retreat at the Samaritan’s Purse lodge at Port Alsworth, Lake Clark.

Every Sunday evening throughout the summer, a Samaritan’s Purse aircraft touches down on the gravel runway near the lodge to the sights and sounds of a small flag-waving entourage.

“In one way, it marks the end of a journey for weary military couples, but it’s the beginning of something, too. Many people across the country are praying for these wounded veterans and their spouses—that God will use the week in Alaska through Operation Heal Our Patriots to bring them both rest and a new start with God and each other,” Samaritan’s Purse explains on its website.

The Pences came to the lodge at the invitation of Samaritan’s Purse president and CEO Franklin Graham, who started the lodge over a decade ago to help heal up the wounds in marriages of military couples and bring them closer to the Creator.

More information about the program is at this link.

Murkowski files bill to make abortion legal

Suzanne Downing

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August 1, 2022

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Murkowski files bill to make abortion legal

U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the Reproductive Freedom For All Act, legislation to enact in federal law the essential aspects of Roe v. Wade and related cases. The legislation will make abortion legal and override state laws curbing the practice.

“This would undo the damage of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and would enshrine in federal law the fundamental right to reproductive freedom,” the press release from the senators said.

“Every American should have autonomy over their own health care decisions, and the Supreme Court’s decision inDobbs has made it imperative for Congress to restore women’s reproductive rights. I’m proud to introduce bipartisan legislation with my colleagues to write into law the protections provided through Roe and Casey as well as affirming access to contraception provided in Griswold and other cases,” said Senator Murkowski. “For five decades, reproductive health care decisions were centered with the individual – we cannot go back in time in limiting personal freedoms for women.”

“The Supreme Court’s recent abandonment of longstanding precedent erodes the reproductive rights on which women have relied for half a century. These basic rights need to be the same for American women regardless of the state in which they reside. Our bill would restore the right to obtain an abortion by enacting in federal law Roe v. Wade and other seminal Supreme Court decisions pertaining to reproductive freedom. In addition, our bill would protect access to contraception,” said Senator Collins. “By reinstating—neither expanding nor restricting—the longstanding legal framework for reproductive rights in this country, our bill would preserve abortion access along with basic conscience protections that are relied upon by health care providers who have religious objections.”

The Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health goes directly against the will of the majority of Americans, the senators said. According to a recent Pew Research Center poll, more than 60 percent of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Overturning Roe has resulted in immediate bans on all abortions in several states, the senators noted, “and in the future could potentially call into question other important rights, including the right to access birth control, which was outlined in Griswold v. Connecticut, Eisenstadt v. Baird, and Carey v. Population Services International. That is why the Reproductive Freedom For All Act would not only enact the core holdings of Roe v. Wade but also key subsequent cases: Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey and Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, as well as the holdings of Griswold v. Connecticut, Eisenstadt v. Baird, Carey v. Population Services International.”

The Reproductive Freedom For All Act:

Prohibits state regulations that impose an undue burden on a woman’s access to pre-viability abortions, while allowing states to enact reasonable restrictions on post-viability abortions – provided that states cannot ban abortions that are necessary to protect the life or health of the mother;
Protects access to contraceptives; and
Preserves conscience protections.
Full text of the legislation is available here.

Alexander Dolitsky: Understanding anti-Semitism and anti-Semites in America

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR

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August 1, 2022

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Alexander Dolitsky: Understanding anti-Semitism and anti-Semites in America

By ALEXANDER DOLITSKY

Recently, one of the active members of the Juneau Jewish Community, let’s call her Rebecca to protect her anonymity, wrote a private e-mail to me, as follows:

“Alexander, I enjoy reading your My Turn columns. Your last column, however, ended with a statement about racism that is simply not the reality. The U.S. has a long and sordid history of racism. I have lived and worked in communities of color and with Indigenous populations. I have witnessed with my own eyes and heard with my own ears, and experienced through my own work the insidious and pernicious institutional racism that still exists. Instead of denying it, we should be working toward eliminating it.

I love this country. It is the country both my parents fled to. One from Russia and one from Germany. And both because of antisemitism. It is the country where they could live freely and openly as Jews as long as they knew they couldn’t belong to certain clubs, live in certain areas, take certain jobs, send their children to certain schools or participate in certain activities along with any number of other things they were prohibited from doing. In the U.S. and other countries Jews still experience antisemitism. That is horrible. But it is not more horrible than what other communities experience.

I hope you will take the time to learn the real history of the U.S. It is truly an incredible experiment that will be all the better if we learn our history and vow to not repeat some of our major sins.”

I promptly responded to Rebecca’s message:

“Rebecca, you must be referring to my column ‘Antisemitism in Russia’ published in Juneau Empire on June 2^nd of this year. In conclusion of my article, I stated that: ‘Unfortunately, there are anti-Semites in America, too—they are ignorant and narrow-minded people. But today America is not an anti-Semitic or racist country. Period!’

“In my 44 years of living in America, I witnessed various racist and anti-Semitic occurrences and institutions. I personally was subjected to few. But today (2022 CE), there is no institutional racism or anti-Semitism in America, unless you want to see yourself as a victim of your own imagination.

“And, please do not patronize me. I received several degrees in history and anthropology in the former Soviet Union (Kiev Pedagogical Institute) and in the United States (Brown University and Bryn Mar College). I taught history of the United States at the Alyeska Central School (Alaska Department of Education) for 20 years, and I wrote 2 courses of the U.S. History for the State of Alaska. I know history of our country, perhaps better than you do.”

In short, Rebecca’s message provides a perfect example of what I was trying to convey in my article: People growing up in today’s American society lack any serious perspective of what it is to actually live in a racist and anti-Semitic society. Rebecca is a well-to-do and socially active member of the Juneau community, including the Juneau Jewish Community. She has probably never experienced any significant discrimination or prejudice in her own lifetime, but seems to enjoy carrying her parents’ experiences of discrimination as her own.

Why does she do that? Does she prefer playing the role of a victim? Her message not only personified the point I was trying to make, but also seemed to talk “down” to me, inferring that I need a better understanding of American history. Of course, she stirred me up. I’m a political refugee from the former Soviet Union.

Today (2022 CE), people in America are free of institutional discrimination and racism when compared to that of many other societies throughout the world and throughout the history of mankind.

For Jews who play the victim card in our American, multi-ethnic society, it is imperative to distinguish three different categories of discrimination: (1) anti-Semitism, (2) anti-Semites, and (3) anti-Semitic countries, institutions and public policies.

Anti-Semitism is a concept that describes hostility and hatred against Jews by anti-Semites. I defined this term in various articles published in Must Read Alaska.

Indeed, Anti-Semites are ignorant and narrow-minded people who hate Jews; they are everywhere—on the left, right and center.

An anti-Semitic country is an entity that legally exercises and recognizes anti-Semitism via their constitution, public policies, civil segregation, and organized attacks on Jews (e.g., pogroms in the pre-revolutionary Russia), etc.

If Rebeca and her like-minded friends believe that the U.S. is an anti-Semitic country, then they have to be more specific—where, what and how is anti-Semitic behavior found in America? Is it in the policies and practices of the U.S. Forest Service, Alaska Legislature, Alaska Constitution, Anchorage Police Department, or any other public or private U.S. institution?

About two years ago, the Systemic Racism Committee was formed in Juneau to investigate institutional racism in Alaska, including anti-Semitism. As of today, to my knowledge, this committee has not discovered any anti-Semitic and racist practices or policies. If Rebecca and her followers feel and know for certain that there is institutional racism and anti-Semitism in Alaska, they should report the information to this committee or to any other relevant committee in Alaska.

Again, it is undeniable that there are anti-Semites and racists in America, but our country, as a whole, is not anti-Semitic or racist. For centuries, Jews from all over the world immigrated to the United States—our God-blessed country—in order to escape anti-Semitism, racism, repression and persecution in their own homeland. If Rebecca and her like-minded followers believe that our country is anti-Semitic then, in their eyes, the entire world, with the exception of Israel, is anti-Semitic.

Alexander B. Dolitsky was born and raised in Kiev in the former Soviet Union. He received an M.A. in history from Kiev Pedagogical Institute, Ukraine, in 1976; an M.A. in anthropology and archaeology from Brown University in 1983; and was enroled in the Ph.D. program in Anthropology at Bryn Mawr College from 1983 to 1985, where he was also a lecturer in the Russian Center. In the U.S.S.R., he was a social studies teacher for three years, and an archaeologist for five years for the Ukranian Academy of Sciences. In 1978, he settled in the United States. Dolitsky visited Alaska for the first time in 1981, while conducting field research for graduate school at Brown. He lived first in Sitka in 1985 and then settled in Juneau in 1986. From 1985 to 1987, he was a U.S. Forest Service archaeologist and social scientist. He was an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Russian Studies at the University of Alaska Southeast from 1985 to 1999; Social Studies Instructor at the Alyeska Central School, Alaska Department of Education from 1988 to 2006; and has been the Director of the Alaska-Siberia Research Center (see www.aksrc.homestead.com) from 1990 to present. He has conducted about 30 field studies in various areas of the former Soviet Union (including Siberia), Central Asia, South America, Eastern Europe and the United States (including Alaska). Dolitsky has been a lecturer on the World Discoverer, Spirit of Oceanus, andClipper Odyssey vessels in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. He was the Project Manager for the WWII Alaska-Siberia Lend Lease Memorial, which was erected in Fairbanks in 2006. He has published extensively in the fields of anthropology, history, archaeology, and ethnography. His more recent publications include Fairy Tales and Myths of the Bering Strait Chukchi, Ancient Tales of Kamchatka; Tales and Legends of the Yupik Eskimos of Siberia; Old Russia in Modern America: Russian Old Believers in Alaska; Allies in Wartime: The Alaska-Siberia Airway During WWII; Spirit of the Siberian Tiger: Folktales of the Russian Far East; Living Wisdom of the Far North: Tales and Legends from Chukotka and Alaska; Pipeline to Russia; The Alaska-Siberia Air Route in WWII; and Old Russia in Modern America: Living Traditions of the Russian Old Believers; Ancient Tales of Chukotka, and Ancient Tales of Kamchatka.

A few of Dolitsky’s past MRAK columns:

Read: Russian Old Believers in Alaska live lives reflecting bygone centuries

Read: Russian saying: Beat your friends so your enemies fear you

Read: Neo-Marxism and utopian Socialism in America

Read: Old believers preserving faith in the New World

Read: Duke Ellington and the effects of Cold War in Soviet Union on intellectual curiosity

Read: United we stand, divided we fall with race, ethnicity in America

Read: For American schools to succeed, they need this ingredient

Read: Nationalism in America, Alaska, around the world

Read: The case of the ‘delicious salad’

Read: White privilege is a troubling perspective

Read: Beware of activists who manipulate history for their own agenda

Read: Alaska Day remembrance of Russian transfer

Read: American leftism is true picture of true hypocrisy

Read: History does not repeat itself

Read: The only Ford Mustang in Kiev

Read: What is greed? Depends on the generation

Read: Worldwide migration of Old Believers in Alaska

Read: Traditions of Old Believers in Alaska

Read: Language, Education of Old Believers in Alaska

Readers ask: Where is the police report detailing Palin family brawl that went full-on ‘Jerry Springer’?

Suzanne Downing

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August 1, 2022

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Readers ask: Where is the police report detailing Palin family brawl that went full-on ‘Jerry Springer’?

Readers have asked Must Read Alaska to provide the full 26-page police report from the 2014 “Palin brawl” in Anchorage. Sarah Palin is a congressional candidate on the Aug. 16 ballot to fill out the remainder of Congressman Don Young’s term, and she is on the primary ballot for the two-year seat in Congress.

What is this about?

Context is helpful. It has been almost eight years since Sept. 6, 2014, when the fight occurred, leaving at least two men bloodied. While Sarah Palin, who was by then a media and news personality, was endorsing the Alaska Democratic Party’s ticket for governor of Alaska, she was also having to explain why members of her family were involved in a drunken brawl at a hillside home in Anchorage, where they had arrived in a stretch Humvee for a birthday party for her husband.

Palin, who had left the governorship in 2009, remained active in politics. Weeks before, she had endorsed 2014’s Ballot Measure 1, an effort to repeal the Alaska Legislature’s and Gov. Sean Parnell’s rollback of her punishingly high oil taxes known as ACES, a tax hike that was driving oil companies out of the state. That ballot measure failed with voters.

Palin was, after the defeat of Ballot Measure 1, fully onboard with gubernatorial aspirant Bill Walker/Byron Mallott, the ticket manufactured by the Alaska Democratic Party. Walker/Mallot won the governorship that year and went on to try to make a deal with China to build a gasline, and he shredded the Permanent Fund dividend formula, costing Alaskan thousands of dollars in dividends that were garnished by the government to grow government.

In the middle of Palin’s political involvement with oil taxes and Bill Walker, there was what became known as “the brawl.”

The police report from the event has interviews with several witnesses, including some of the Palins. Some of the excerpts:

“Five police officers compiled a 26-page report after interviewing more than 15 witnesses — including the Palin children in attendance — and most of the accounts (except for those given by the Palins) say that Bristol Palin had repeatedly punched Mr. Klingenmeyer in the face,” the New York Times reported.

“The Palins lay the blame for the fighting on others. Some of the witnesses, including the host, say that the Palins, particularly Bristol, were the instigators of several fights that broke out, all of which involved members of the Palin family,” according to the Times.

“Officer Benjamin Nelson said in his report that when he arrived at the home he found Sarah and Todd Palin arguing with other partygoers. He said that he also witnessed Todd, Track and Willow confronting Mr. Klingenmeyer in his driveway, and that officers had to separate the parties,” the newspaper reported in a story by Amanda Coyne of Anchorage. Coyne was the writer who broke the story initially in her own news website.

Here are some of the actual highlights from the police report:

“Bristol said they were at a birthday party when her younger sister, Willow Palin, told her an older lady pushed her. Bristol said she went towards the woman to confront her about pushing her sister, but Korey, the owner of the house, came up to her and pushed her down to the ground, calling her a “slut” over and over.

“Bristol said someone then pulled her around on the grass by her feet and someone stole her shoes and sunglasses.”

[Matthew] McKenna said their buddy, Steve Lebida, was sucker punched by an unknown person and knocked to the ground. As he was trying to help him out, four people jumped on Todd Palin.

“As McKenna moved to help Todd, Todd’s son, Track, jumped in began fighting with the people who bumped his father.”

“McKenna said he witnessed Bristol hit Corey in the face multiple times. Two females pulled Bristol away from Corey and that was when she went down to the ground. McKenna said Bristol was out of control.”

“They were leading a WMA to the limo and pushing him in as I approached. They appeared intent on keeping him away from me. I saw that he did not have a shirt on and there was blood around his mouth and on his hands and he appeared to have an injury under his left eye, on his upper cheek …

“He appeared heavily intoxicated and he acted belligerent at first but I was able to get to step out of the car and a female who turned out to be his mother told him to talk to me. He came out of the car to talk … and identified himself as Track Palin.

[Track Palin] “said that while they were there, some guys were talking rudely to his sisters, making them cry and they decided to leave and go back out to the valley …

“He says they were walking away from Kory’s driveway when someone sucker punched Steven from behind and knocked him to the ground. Track said he then confronted one of the guys and said he would fight him, so Track took off his shirt to fight.”

[Bristol Palin] “appeared heavily intoxicated and upset … She stated she didn’t know who Korey was and then said that Korey had dragged her across the lawn by her legs and was calling her a “c***” and a “slut.”

[Korey Klingenmeyer] “was angry that the Palins had showed up and were causing the problem …

“Several minutes later Bristol, and he believes Willow Palin, came around to the back of the house. Bristol said she was going to beat that girl’s a**. Kore told her that he wasn’t going to have any of that here and told her to go home.

“She then asked, “Who the f*** are you?” and he told her he was the one who owns this house and there’s no fighting going on here. She then told him that he doesn’t own this place and that she will kick his a**.”

“Willow Palin was extremely agitated, saying she did not understand why we let the people walk away that were involved.”

“She then started talking about how Corey assaulted her sister Bristol and that several guys were on top of her sister when she was on the ground.”

“She alleged an older lady pushed her and that people were saying things like ‘F*** the Palins’.”

“After I spoke to Dishion, Todd Palin came walking back to the driveway and confronted Corey, asking him if he called his daughter a “b****.”

“Willow Palin also walked up and flipped Corey off.”

“Marc [McKenna] said he had witnessed Bristol Palin come up the driveway, yelling about how she was going to kick someones butt.”

“Marc said he then witnessed Korey confront Bristol and watched as Bristol began assaulting Korey, punching him 6 times in the face before Korey restrained her.”

“Marc said other men saw Korey restraining Bristol and got involved and that the whole thing was one big misunderstanding due to too much alcohol and people.”

Read the first account of the fight at AmandaCoyne.com.

Eyewitness comes forward on ‘Palin brawl’

Read the account of the fight in the Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/oct/09/sarah-palin-family-drunken-brawl-police-report

Read the account of the aftermath in the New York Times.

New York Times: No charges pressed.

Watch interviews of the account on ABC News.

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/palin-family-asked-leave-party-brawl-breaks-25453619

Read the police report here:

apd.reports.case_.14-36989 Download

Notes from the trail: National writers ponder ranked choice ballot, Murkowski’s chances improving with Democrats, and Palin’s polling predicament

Suzanne Downing

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July 31, 2022

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Notes from the trail: National writers ponder ranked choice ballot, Murkowski’s chances improving with Democrats, and Palin’s polling predicament

An unusual number of national writers have focused on Alaska political and election analysis stories over the past few days. Must Read Alaska is summarizing a few of them here and providing links, in case you missed them:

Ken Rudin’s Political Junkie

The podcast by a former political editor of NPR is a lot of fun, even if the host Ken Rudin is an unrepentant progressive. The first half of the show was liberal handwringing over Liz Cheney’s chances of winning in Wyoming. That’s worth listening to in order to understand how the Left thinks about Cheney. But once Rudin gave Must Read Alaska‘s Suzanne Downing the microphone halfway through the show, he didn’t get a word in edgewise as she went through the Alaska ranked choice voting mess, Sarah Palin, Nick Begich, and Mary Peltola on the ballot for the special general election. The podcast is here.

What It Will Take For Lisa Murkowski To Win Reelection In Alaska, at FiveThirtyEight, the polling analysis website

“If anyone could be called a political survivor, it’s Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. She’s held office for three-plus terms while never winning a majority of the vote in a general election. She even overcame a primary defeat with a write-in campaign in 2010. And despite anger from some in the state’s GOP, she has operated as one of the more independent-minded members of the U.S. Senate since she was appointed in December 2002.

“Now seeking her fourth full term in 2022, Murkowski faces a fresh challenge: Defeating a fellow Republican in Alaska’s new electoral system that combines the nation’s first top-four primary with ranked choice voting in the general election. Helpfully, recent polling has given us some insight into how Murkowski might defeat her GOP challenger, former commissioner of Alaska’s Department of Administration Kelly Tshibaka, whom former President Donald Trump has endorsed. With support from Democrats, independents and possibly just enough Republicans, Murkowski could still be in the Senate come 2023.” Read the story here.

A Win for the GOP Looks Like a Defeat for Palin, at the New York Sun

Behind the paywall, this story by Russell Payne in the New York Sun predicts that Sarah Palin could lose her quest for Congress:

“With Alaska’s special House election coming up on August 16, the race is looking closer than expect — and is shaping up as a likely defeat for Governor Palin. Key to this story is the mechanics of Alaska’s new ranked choice voting election system, which the Last Frontier is using after voters approved the change in the 2020 election.”

“This creates a system with ’rounds’ of voting — though voters only cast one ballot. If any candidate wins a simple majority in the first round, he or she is declared the winner.

“If no candidate wins a majority, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their votes are redistributed to the voters’ second choices. This process repeats itself until only two candidates remain and the candidate with the most votes wins.
The current race is to fill the seat of Congressman Don Young, who died in March after serving as Alaska’s representative for 50 years. Three candidates remain in the race: Mrs. Palin, Nicholas Begich III, and an Alaska state representative, Mary Peltola.

The independent candidate Al Gross placed third in the primary but dropped out on June 20, saying that ‘it is just too hard to run as a nonpartisan candidate in this race.’

“Mr. Begich is the grandson of Representative Nicholas Begich Sr. Young took his House seat after Begich Sr. disappeared during a flight to Juneau from Anchorage in 1972. Mr. Begich’s family is a political dynasty in Alaska. Two of his children — Senator Begich and an Alaska state senator, Tom Begich, are both Democrats.

“Mr. Begich, the son of Nicholas Begich Jr., is himself a lifelong Republican, arguing that ‘Don Young and I share many of the same views on a number of policies.'” Behind the paywall, the story is here.

Woke billionaire trashed founding fathers, but profited off Eskimo oil, in the New York Post

This story by New York Post writer Dana Kennedy talks about the woke history of David Rubenstein, former Anchorage Daily News owner Alice Rogoff, Ellie Rubenstein, and the Rubenstein financial legacy here in Alaska, which stretches back to the Carter Administration, where David Rubenstein first gained an understanding of Alaska’s oil riches and the indigenous people who could be persuaded to make him a lot of money.

The author quotes Dan Fagan of the Dan Fagan Show on KENI radio, and Suzanne Downing of Must Read Alaska. It discusses Alice Rogoff’s creation of Bill Walker as governor in 2014. The whole story is at this link.

Why Trump is wrong to call Alaska’s ranked choice system rigged, by the Poynter Institute

“Alaska voters this year are using a new method to elect members of Congress that former President Donald Trump dismissed in remarks in Anchorage as ‘ranked choice crap voting.’

“Trump has perpetuated dangerous falsehoods for years that elections are ‘rigged.’ Now he says the use of ranked choice voting in Alaska is another part of rigged elections.

“Ranked choice voting is a system by which voters rank candidates in order of preference, rather than choosing a single candidate. Election democracy experts say the system is not rigged; instead, it maximizes voter satisfaction by elevating the most widely supported candidates, rather than extreme candidates who are able to win races with large fields of candidates based on small bases of support.

“Trump held a rally July 9 to promote Kelly Tshibaka, the state’s former Department of Administration commissioner, who is running against fellow Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot…” All the goods are at this link.

Ranked-Choice Voting Makes Joke of Alaska Politics, by Sarah Montalbano, in the Wall Street Journal

Behind the Journal’s paywall, this story by Alaskan writer Montalbano says “Advocates of ranked-choice voting say it elevates centrist candidates, keeps campaigns positive, and promotes debate of important issues. That isn’t how it’s going in Alaska. The Last Frontier is in the middle of an experiment that has confused voters, popularized fringe candidates and could lead to unrepresentative outcomes.”

Montalbano explains: “In November 2020, voters in Alaska approved a ballot initiative eliminating traditional partisan primaries and implementing ranked-choice voting in general elections. The measure, which was financed by national progressive advocacy groups, passed 50.55% to 49.45%—a margin of about 3,700 votes. The new format’s debut was scheduled for the Aug. 11 primary elections, but was advanced when Rep. Don Young died in March, triggering a special election.

The race to fill Young’s seat attracted a field of 48 candidates, including former Gov. Sarah Palin and City Councilman Santa Claus of North Pole. (Mr. Claus, who describes himself as a democratic socialist, in 2005 changed his legal name from Thomas Patrick O’Connor.) Primary voters on June 11 were asked to pick one candidate, with the top four vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, moving on to the ranked-choice general election on Aug. 16.”

Montalbano is a Robert L. Bartley Fellow at the Journal, on loan from the Alaska Policy Forum.

You may be able to break through the Wall Street Journal paywall at this link.

Assembly plans to override mayor’s veto of ordinance they wrote giving them permission to remove mayor without approval of voters

Suzanne Downing

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July 31, 2022

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Assembly plans to override mayor’s veto of ordinance they wrote giving them permission to remove mayor without approval of voters

The Anchorage Assembly on Monday plans to override a veto by Mayor Dave Bronson of Ordinance 2022-60, a new authority that the Assembly has granted itself to remove the mayor for nearly any reason, so long as the Assembly determines it to be a breach of the public trust.

This is a special meeting of the Assembly that will take place Aug. 1 from 3 pm to 3:30 pm at City Hall in Conference Room #155, 632 West 6th Ave. Live Streaming and Archived meetings can be found at http://www.muni.org/watchnow .

AO-2022-60 was written and sponsored by Assembly Vice Chair Chris Constant, who has said several times that Bronson is not qualified to be mayor. Only three members of the Assembly voted against it — Jamie Allard, Kevin Cross, and Randy Sulte. The ordinance says that the Assembly can remove the mayor for a breach of the public trust. The method for removing him involves appointing a third-party hearing officer, and then taking the recommendations of the hearing officer to a vote of the Assembly.

The hearing officer could, for example, be the Assembly’s own attorney-on-contract Bill Falsey, who helped Constant author the ordinance and who was the municipal manager and municipal attorney for former Mayor Ethan Berkowitz.

The ordinance has been widely criticized as a power grab and a violation of the separation of power between the executive branch and the legislative branch of government. It’s well understood by observers that the ordinance is merely a preamble to an impeachment attempt. At the very least, it will have a chilling affect on the Mayor’s Office.

Members of the public have not spoken in favor of the ordinance, but many have spoken against it — at least they did until their testimony was ended prematurely by rule of the chair of the Assembly, Suzanne LaFrance.

The ordinance as passed is at this link.

The mayor’s veto is at this link.

The meeting agenda is at this link.

F-bombs away: Anchorage Assembly fast-tracks its plan to remove mayor without approval of voters

Early voting for primary and special general election for congressional seat starts Monday across Alaska

Suzanne Downing

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July 31, 2022

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Early voting for primary and special general election for congressional seat starts Monday across Alaska

The General Election may be 100 days away, but the Alaska primary election takes place on Aug. 16, and Alaska voting in-person locations open begin 15 days prior to each Election Day and remain open through Election Day. This year early voting starts on Monday.

During this primary election, there’s also a special general election on the reverse side of the ballot to determine who will serve out the rest of the late Congressman Don Young’s term in office.

The special general election ballot looks like this and will be on the back of every primary election ballot:

Early voting is similar to when a voters visits his or her polling place on Election Day. Their eligibility to vote in that election will be verified by the absentee voting official. The official will look up the voter’s name in the voter registration database to verify his or her registration is active and current. The official will print a voter certificate with your information that the voter will sign. Voters will then be given a ballot to vote that is dropped into a ballot box after voting.

Early voting is available at certain absentee voting locations that the division can establish a secure connection with the voter registration database system.

Early voting is available in Juneau, Homer, Soldotna, Anchorage, Eagle River, Palmer, Wasilla, Fairbanks and Nome at designated locations.

For example:

Fairbanks, early voting is at the Region III Election Office, 675 7th Avenue, Suite A2, from 8 am to 5 pm Aug. 1-15. All ballots, from House District 1-40, are available at that location.
Palmer, early voting is at the Mat-Su Borough Building, 350 E Dahlia Avenue, from 8 am to 5 pm Aug. 1-15. Ballots for House Districts 25-30 (new district numbers) are available at that location.
Soldotna, early voting is at the Soldotna Prep School, 426 W Redoubt Ave, from 9 am to 4 pm, Aug. 1-15. Ballots for House Districts 5-8 are available at that location.

There are many more places to vote, these are just examples. For a complete list of early voting and absentee voting locations, visit this Division of Elections list.

Absentee in-person is available at many locations throughout Alaska, and is done when there is no secure connection to the voter database to allow for in-person voting. When voting using this method, voters are asked for official identification (often a couple of electric bills address to the voter can do the job) and to complete the outside of an in-person voting envelope with their information. After voting your ballot, you will place it in a secrecy sleeve and then seal it inside the in-person voting envelope. The absentee voting official will mail your voted ballot to their assigned regional elections office. The ballot will be reviewed and processed by a bi-partisan review board.

It’s important to note that some early and in-person absentee voting locations will have all district ballots available, while others (typically the small communities) will have a single district ballot for that community.

Early votes cast through the Thursday before Aug. 16 Election Day will be counted on election night after 8 pm. All Early votes cast after that Thursday, Aug. 11, will be counted on the seventh day after Election Day. Some absentee ballots (mail, online, fax, in-person, special needs) will be counted Election Night after 8 pm.

Must Read Alaska will have an election night livestream on Facebook starting at 8 pm, with analysis and results as they come in. We will have a roster of election experts, candidates, and activists who will discuss what unfolds on election night and what may be expected in the months leading up to Nov. 8. Hit the follow button on the Must Read Alaska page so the evening broadcast will pop up in your Facebook feed.

To learn about how ranked choice voting will work for the special general election, which will be on the reverse side of the primary ballot, consider attending this seminar by Americans for Prosperity Alaska:

Craig Medred: Unhappy fishermen in Cook Inlet

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR

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July 30, 2022

25

Craig Medred: Unhappy fishermen in Cook Inlet

By CRAIG MEDRED

KENAI – Friday found the beaches at the mouth of Alaska’s most fought-over river woefully short of dipnetters willing to help stop the possible “over-escapement” of sockeye salmon so feared by the commercial fishermen of Cook Inlet.

Meanwhile, the commercial fishermen themselves, or at least their official representatives, were meeting with a state court judge to demand a reversal of an Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s decision to close setnet fisheries to protect a struggling run of Chinook salmon.

Carl Bauman, the attorney representing them, wanted a temporary restraining order (TRO) imposed on Commissioner of Fish and Game Doug Vincent Lang because he has, according to Bauman’s court filings, “violated so many points of applicable federal and state laws (constitutional, statutory, regulatory, and case law)” that there is a need for “TRO and injunctive
relief to the Court to stop the continuing harm.”

Bauman’s went on to list all the bad things Vincent-Lang has done, the most interesting of them being the suggestion that Vincent-Lang and the state Board of Fisheries have violated the interstate commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution by allowing the dipnet fishery to help provide food security for ordinary Alaskans.

“Does the Board have the authority to establish a new and expanding fishery for Alaska-resident-only, personal-use (dipnetting) that is at odds with Alaska Statute 16.43, CFEC, which has decimated the interstate commerce and the commercial fishery that CFEC was established to protect,” Bauman’s TRO filing asked.

All this acronym-laced gobbledegook will here need some unpacking for the average reader…

Read this column in its entirety at CraigMedred.news.

Tribal compact for schools signed into law, and Alaska officially recognizes 229 tribes

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR

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July 30, 2022

24

Tribal compact for schools signed into law, and Alaska officially recognizes 229 tribes

By KIM JARRETT | THE CENTER SQUARE

A new law will allow up to five state-tribal compact schools in Alaska.

Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, sponsored Senate Bill 34, which authorizes the schools for five years.

“This is a historic opportunity to embrace our unique Alaska Native heritages, providing a means for local tribal governments to determine their own path for educating young Alaskans,” Stevens said.

The bill provides no funding, according to its fiscal note.

“Any costs associated with the negotiations and development of the report to the legislature will be absorbed within the Department of Education and Early Development’s operating budget,” the note said.

The tribes have until December to tell the Department of Education if they want to negotiate. The DOE will then submit the plans to the Legislature.

“We collectively want to maintain our language, culture, and traditional ways of life,” said Julie Kitka, President of the Alaska Federation of Natives in a statement. “Educational compacting is one way that we can improve education for our tribal children.”

Dunleavy signed the bill Thursday, the same day he signed legislation formally recognizing Alaska’s tribes.

“Today is a historic day for Alaska and one that is long overdue,” said Rep. Tiffany Zulkosky, D-Bethel, who sponsored House Bill 123. “While the inherent sovereignty of Alaska Tribes has been consistently affirmed in Federal policy, in rulings by the Supreme Court, and by Executive Order in 2018, the signing of House Bill 123 provides formal recognition in statute for the first time in our state’s history. I hope today is looked back on as the beginning of a new chapter of collaboration and partnership between the State and Alaska’s Tribes.”

The law is just a formal recognition of the state’s federal 229 tribes and does not change Alaska’s authority, according to a news release from Dunleavy’s office.

“House Bill 123 codifies in law what Alaskans have long recognized: the important role that Native Tribes play in our past, present, and future,” Dunleavy said.

A similar initiative was expected to be on the November ballot, but the bill’s passage has eliminated the need for voter approval.

“The formal recognition through this legislation is an historic step for us to have a successful relationship with the state,” Kitka said. “The cultural survival of our Indigenous people is dependent on our ability to maintain our values, practice our traditions, and maintain freedom to live our lives well with dignity and respect for each other.”

Dunleavy also signed a bill that causes the State of Alaska to formally recognized the 229 tribes in Alaska.

HB 123 does not impact the current legal status of Alaska tribes or change the State’s responsibility or authority. However, it does formally recognize Alaska’s indigenous people.

“House Bill 123 codifies in law what Alaskans have long recognized: the important role that Native Tribes play in our past, present, and future,” said Dunleavy. “I congratulate all the legislators who nearly unanimously voted for this bill and our hosts today, Julie Kitka with the Alaska Federation of Natives and Emily Edenshaw with the Alaska Native Heritage Center. I also want to thank Emil Notti and Willie Hensley for attending and speaking at this historic bill signing – we can’t tell the story of Native rights and unity without Willie and Emil.”

The bill signing ceremony was held at the Alaska Native Heritage Center and hosted by Alaska Federation of Natives President Julie Kitka and ANHC Executive Director Emily Edenshaw. T

he bill’s signing was celebrated by key authors and advocates of AFN and Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Emil Notti and Willie Hensley. The signing of HB 123 signifies the State’s desire to foster engagement with Alaska Natives and tribal organizations.

“Today is a historic day for Alaska and one that is long overdue,” said Rep. Tiffany Zulkosky, the bill’s sponsor. “While the inherent sovereignty of Alaska tribes has been consistently affirmed in federal policy, in rulings by the Supreme Court, and by executive order in 2018, the signing of House Bill 123 provides formal recognition in statute for the first time in our State’s history. I hope today is looked back on as the beginning of a new chapter of collaboration and partnership between the State and Alaska’s tribes.”

“The cultural survival of our Indigenous people is dependent on our ability to maintain our values, practice our traditions, and maintain freedom to live our lives well with dignity and respect for each other,” said Julie Kitka, president of the Alaska Federation of Natives. “We have strengthened our tribal governments and have initiated multiple efforts to continue our path to self-determination and self-governance. The formal recognition through this legislation is an historic step for us to have a successful relationship with the state.”

The bill is similar to an initiative intended to go to voters this fall; however, the bill and the initiative were substantially similar, eliminating the need for the ballot initiative.

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Craig Medred: Unhappy fishermen in Cook Inlet

Tribal compact for schools signed into law, and Alaska officially recognizes 229 tribes

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