School Board Candidate Wants to Outsource Orchestra Program? **UPDATE**
By Linda Kellen Biegel Observant earwigs noticed a little story in last Sunday’s Alaska Ear talking about a rather big boo boo perpetrated by the Municipal Clerk’s Office. That office works with the Anchorage Assembly and directly for the Chair, Debbie Ossiander. (She’s one of the Mayor’s “yes” men/women on the Assembly…the group I’ve nicknamed “Team Sully.”) WHAT’S IN A NAME … The muni clerk’s office is apparently confused about which of Starr Marsett’s names is her first name. Looks like it guessed, and got it wrong — at least on the ballot Ear got: Marsett is a candidate for School Board….
Don’t Bend Over Alaska II – Hilarious! (Video)
Coming on the heels of the $40/plate White Linen Tablecloth Oil Executive “Rally” yesterday, is another video from Bob Lester – Don’t Bend Over Alaska II. It’s hilariously funny, and right on target. Remember to tell your legislators that Alaskans aren’t buying the governor’s BS. It’s our oil, and we’d rather not give it away. And to the oil companies who made a trillion dollars in profit in the last five years, and who don’t think that’s enough? Enjoy!
North Pole Republican Wants to Eliminate Government Regulation… of Food
~Want some yummy fish? You’ve got to hand it to Alaska State Rep. Tammie Wilson. Right in the middle of the “pink slime” debacle that is turning stomachs across the nation, and increasing scrutiny on what we are putting in our mouths, she’s got a project – and it’s worse than pink slime. At least that gelatinous cow-part goo was designed to preserve food. She wants to deregulate food – even hazardous food. Just like many of her right wing cohorts, she thinks there’s just too much government regulation these days, specifically at your local farmers’ market. Sanitation is overrated…
It’s Time. Tell Lawmakers, “Don’t Give Away Alaska’s Oil!”
In the last weeks of the legislative session, the oil companies and their pet legislators have pulled out all the stops. Their bloggers are blogging, their mouthpieces are bloviating, their legislators are lying, and their money is cranking out ad after ad, and all of them are hoping to make you so afraid, you’ll ask lawmakers to give away our oil. Don’t fall for it. And, get this! This week the opposition is actually charging Alaskans $40 for a chicken lunch so they can have the privilege of listening to the oil company shills ask for billions more… They are…
Yes, House Majority, There is an Internet
By Michelle Scannell After giving their southwest Anchorage constituents less than a single day’s notice , some members of the House Majority abandoned their posts in Juneau for a weekend in Anchorage, calling a last-second town hall meeting Saturday afternoon with constituents as their excuse. I called around to some of my supporters, and about ten of us and my entire family went over to hear what Reps Johnson and Costello had to say for themselves. The answer? Not much. There were no presentations or slide shows for constituents. There were brief discussions about roads, the moose relocation project, and HB 110. And then…
Early Voting Starts Today, as Juneau Gets ‘Sullied.’
In Anchorage, home to more than half of Alaska’s sparse population, it’s a big deal when legislators come to town. No matter how much an Anchorageite loves Juneau, there is still a little peevishness that our capital city isn’t accessible by road, and takes a $500 plane ticket to reach. We cherish those opportunities (like the special session that happened in Anchorage a couple years ago) when we can pull our boots on, and get involved in the public process right in our own back yard. And so, hundreds packed the Assembly chambers at the Loussac Library a couple…
Help, Help! There’s an Elephant in My Uterus!
Alaska has become the latest state to fall victim to the Republican War on Women. It’s difficult to imagine today that Alaska was once at the forefront of women’s rights, and reproductive choice, but in 1913, the Alaska Territorial Legislature gave women the right to vote as its first official act. In 1970, a successful state-wide grassroots movement to reform Alaska’s abortion law, made Alaska the third state in the country to make abortion legal and safe, three years before Roe v. Wade. Alaska has a proud history of individual choice, privacy, and non-governmental interference in its citizens’ personal lives….
Florida’s “Walking While Black” Shooting — Could It Happen In AK?
by Linda Kellen Biegel I’ve been waiting to see what crappy legislation (considered to be “a lesser of evils” by legislators who desperately want to trade for votes on their own bills, or shore up their second amendment credentials) would show up this session. Ding, ding, ding, ding…we have our winner! House Bill 80 has cropped-up as one with a long list of sponsors in both the House and the Senate. As we are told, HB 80 sailed through the House and now has “broad bi-partisan support” in the Senate. What is HB 80? It is another bill that has…
Is Alaskan Agriculture Ready to Feed Our School Children?
by Linda Kellen Biegel Tim Meyers stands at the front of room 306 at the UAA/APU Consortium Library. He’s the next guest presenter for the session: Sustainable Agriculture in Rural Alaska at the Alaska Botanical Garden’s Spring Conference. The title of the Conference is “Extend the Season, Expand Your Mind” in honor of guest gpeaker, former TV gardener and 40-year organic farming rock star, Eliot Coleman. But if Coleman is a national star, Tim Meyers is the hometown hero. Meyers’ cold-weather farming is being studied by the University of Alaska, who have provided him with interns to train in his…