The Senate Heros vs. Captain Zero – Get Ready to Rumble!
The internet is a beautiful thing. How else could a political junkie snuggle into the couch in jammie pants with a cup of coffee, and commiserate with other like-minded souls for an event that rivals all this baseball stuff that everyone else seems to be talking about. I speak to you of…. (dramatic pause) the Alaska State Senate Resources Committee Meeting to discuss the governor’s newest oil tax plan. Before you roll your eyes, and click to anything but this, hear me out. Especially if you’re an Alaskan, this is one of the best reality TV shows around. It’s got…
WAR Defends Ted Nugent for Illegally Hunting Bear in Alaska
*sniff* I’m sorry… I just get all choked up hearing Ted Nugent talk about the mystical circle of existence, and how nature is in balance, and how the Palins and all the good people of Alaska live off the land as God intended, and how when we kill stuff, we’re all joined together in this interconnected web of the miracle that is life, and… Wait. What? Activist and musician Ted Nugent has signed a plea agreement with federal prosecutors admitting he took an illegally shot black bear in Southeast Alaska two years ago, according to the agreement. Ted Nugent? A…
A Letter to My Senate Heroes
As the “not so special session” rolls on in Juneau, the Heroes of the Senate square off against the minions of Governor Sean Parnell who want to give away the farm (farm = $2 billion/year) with no strings attached. Senate Heroes vs. Captain Zero, if you will. Here’s a great letter to those heroes from Mudflats’ contributor Elstun Lauesen. To: Senator Bert Stedman, Senator Bill Wielechowski, Senator Joe Paskvan, Senator Hollis French, Senator Gary Stevens Dear Senators, I am a lifelong Alaskan well into his 60s and I have lately come close to losing hope that this State, which I…
Steve Aufrecht’s Interview with Guadalupe Marroquin, Former Anchorage Election Chief
by Linda Kellen Biegel Steve Aufrecht’s blog “What Do I Know” is an often in-depth look at issues dealing with politics, cooking, travel and snippets from everyday life. Yesterday, Steve came up with quite the “get” — he’s the first one who was able to publish an interview with Guadalupe “Lupe” Marroquin, former Deputy Clerk in Charge of Elections for the Municipality. (One of the first things an independent investigator should “investigate” is why the Muni Clerk’s Office never hired a replacement after Lupe left. Instead, the “additional duties” were given to Deputy Clerk Jaqueline Duke, even though there is…
Assembly Delays Independent Investigation – Election Commission Begins Investigation of Self (UPDATED)
More Questions Than Answers As we march ahead, trying to make sense of the Anchorage Municipal election of April 3, and as more citizens step forward to testify, we find that the questions and concerns have multiplied. Any one of several factors is cause for concern: Polling places running out of ballots, voters being turned away from their polling places, disenfranchisement of unknown numbers of voters, deliberate misinformation from a conservative group to cause chaos at the polls, naive confidence by the Election Commissioner regarding equipment widely known to be problematic, instructions to ignore or replace broken security seals on…
End of Session, Pre “Unspecial Session” Update – The Good, Bad and Ugly.
As the bulk of the blogging community continues our meditative practice of biting off pieces of the election debacle, chewing thoroughly, swallowing, digesting and then regurgitating, we thank Rep. Les Gara for pinch hitting with a great wrap-up of the legislative session. The “special” session marches ahead, but we must ask ourselves how many times you can have a special session before it just isn’t “special” any more. On a personal note, Rep. Gara is facing some health challenges (which you’ll read about below), and all of us here at the Mudflats wish him a quick and complete recovery. He…
Baked Alaska: Yet Another Election Crashes and Burns on the Last Frontier
By Brad Friedman [Read the entire excellent article at BradBlog.com. Extensive excerpts below] …And then there are the election officials of Anchorage, Alaska, where, on April 3rd, there was another disastrous election, held on Diebold op-scan systems, in a state becoming known for its disastrous elections. “Those are amazing machines – utterly amazing,” Anchorage Election Commissioner Gwen Matthews told members of the Anchorage Assembly last Friday night during a working session as they tried to unravel the latest disaster. “It is impossible for them to go haywire,” she misinformed the law makers. “They are highly accurate. I think that I could…
Anchorage’s Election Disaster Goes to the Assembly
~Lennie Moren and Jane Darden speak volumes at the Assembly meeting By Jeanne Devon and Linda Kellen Biegel First things first. If you have not yet signed the online petition asking the Anchorage Assembly to call for a fair and independent audit of the Anchorage election of April 3, 2012, then please do so HERE. It will give you the option to share it on Facebook, to your email list, and on Twitter. You are encouraged to do so. Tuesday Night at the Fights (aka the Anchorage Assembly meeting) was important this week. This was one of only two meetings…
Parnell Nominee to Board of Game Rejected by Legislature
Nominee to Alaska’s Board of Game, Lynn Keogh, was rejected Tuesday by the Legislature. He had the support of Governor Sean Parnell, and of the powerful Alaska Outdoor Council hunting lobby. He needed 31 votes to retain his appointment. He got 29. As reported earlier in the week, an email obtained by The Mudflats showed Republican Party Chair Randy Ruedrich forwarding an email from Rod Arno of the Alaska Outdoor Council threatening legislators with strong-arm tactics if they didn’t approve Keogh’s appointment to the Board of Game. From: Randy Ruedrich <xxxxxx@gci.net> Date: March 30, 2012 8:09:07 AM AKDT To: <xxxxxx@kpunet.net>, <xxxxxx@gci.net>, <xxxxxx@hotmail.com> Subject: Anti’s go…