Posted by Jeanne Devon on July 29, 2021 · Leave a Comment
WHY THE LATEST LAWSUIT AGAINST DUNLEAVY IS A BIG DEAL Power Cost Equalization. Don’t leave! I know it sounds dull and wonky, but the implications of this one are far-reaching. Back in the 80’s Alaskans were trying to figure out how to help reduce energy costs for all Alaskans. Some regions got giant infrastructure projects like concrete dams for hydropower. Other regions didn’t, and their energy costs showed it. So, in 2000 a fund was established so rural residents got something called “power cost equalization” which means what it says – the state put some money in an account that would help…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Legislature, Alaska Politicos, Alaska politics, Ethics, Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Headlines, LGBT, Mike Dunleavy, Native issues, Republicans, Rural Issues, Sean Parnell, TALL Tales from Juneau · Tags Alaska Attorney General, Alaska Department of Law, Alaska Federation of Natives, Alaska PCE, DezNat, Donna Arduin, Matthias Cicotte, Power Cost Equalization, Treg Taylor
Posted by Jeanne Devon on November 21, 2020 · 2 Comments
THE BIG BREAKDOWN It took two weeks, but at last we have the final numbers in Alaska’s 2020 election! We can officially say that in 2020, Alaska had more voters turn out than in any other election ever. That’s something! It’s also worthy of note that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won in Anchorage, and performed better statewide than any presidential ticket since Lyndon Johnson! That means Democrats were motivated, showed up, and are a larger force in the state than ever before. The final was 42.8 Biden/Harris to 52.8 Trump/Pence. The state we match most closely with is Iowa,…
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Category Alaska, Alaska House Race, Alaska Legislature, Alaska Politicos, Alaska politics, Alaska Senate Race, Don Young, Election 2020, Elections, Headlines, Joe Biden, Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer, Nation, Ohio Dan Sullivan, Oil & Gas, SB21, Sean Parnell, TALL Tales from Juneau, Trump · Tags Alaska election 2020, Alaska elections, Alaska Joe Biden, Alaska Kamala Harris, Alaska state races
Posted by Jeanne Devon on April 3, 2019 · 4 Comments
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock Administration The End of the Road(show) That’s all, folks! The Dunleavy/Americans for Prosperity/Koch brothers’ roadshow hit the end of the road. Let’s just say it didn’t go quite as the sponsors or the governor had hoped. After a giant protest and a RECALL DUNLEAVY banner in Anchorage, and a schooling in civic engagement in Nome, the roadshow had its final stops in Fairbanks and Wasilla. There were notably zero stops in Southeast where the governor plans to gut the Marine Highway system. THE ROAD SHOW, FAIRBANKS – THE 400 Fairbanks was having…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Board of Game, Alaska Politicos, Fish & Wildlife, Headlines, Mat Su, Mike Dunleavy, Native issues, Oil & Gas, Public Safety, Sean Parnell, TALL Tales from Juneau · Tags Al Barrette, Alaska Psychiatric Institute, Amanda Price, Americans for Prosperity Alaska, Craig Tuten, Dermot Cole, Donna Arduin, Governor Mike Dunleavy, Jeff Landfield, John Aronno, Koch Brothers, Matt Buxton
Posted by Jeanne Devon on August 31, 2018 · 6 Comments
Alaska voters, we need to have a conversation. And I know this may hurt a little. It’s about Bill Walker and Mark Begich, the two “moderates” in the 3-way race for Alaska governor – the first, a former Republican and incumbent, the second, a Democrat and former US Senator. The third player in our little melodrama is Mike Dunleavy, a former Republican right-wing conservative state senator from Wasilla who quit in the middle of his term. In the end, your vote is your choice and yours alone, but I can’t let you step behind the red, white, and blue curtain…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Governors Race, Alaska Politicos, Bang it, Bill Walker, Chuitna Coal, Election 2018, Elections, Environment, Headlines, LGBT, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Ohio Dan Sullivan, Oil & Gas, Pebble Mine, SB21, Sean Parnell, Strategery, Walker-Mallott Unity Ticket, Your Head · Tags Alaska Governors Race, Begich for Governor, Bill Walker, Bill Walker PFD, Bill Walker pro life, Bill Walker vouchers, Bob Shavelson, Chuitna Citizens Coalition, Chuitna coal, Cook Inletkeeper, Hollis French, Joe Miller, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Mike Dunleavy, SCOTUS, Walker Chuitna, Walker education, Walker fish first, Walker for Governor, Walker LGBT, Walker oil, Walker Pebble mine, Walker vs. Begich
Posted by Shannyn Moore on August 12, 2018 · 2 Comments
Dear Reader, When last I wrote you, we were still waiting on salmon runs, the Red Sox were coming on strong, and the country seemed a little less insane than it does now. Sadly, too many of us are still waiting on the fish to come or have been shut down because of depressed returns. The Red Sox are first in the league and breaking their own records every week, and for this I am grateful. I’ve spent a few days wearing rain gear — not to keep dry, but to keep the mosquitoes from sending me to town for…
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Posted by Shannyn Moore on November 8, 2015 · 3 Comments
The divorce between Alaska and TransCanada became final this week. The Legislature voted to buy TransCanada’s share of a prospective natural gas pipeline from the North Slope. How the state ended up in that shotgun marriage is a lesson in corporate power and Republican legislators’ willingness to kowtow to it. Our story begins with Gov. Sarah Palin’s attempt to encourage a natural gas pipeline. It wasn’t a terrible idea to try to get an independent pipeline company directly involved in the project. When the Legislature passed the Alaska Natural Gasline Inducement Act in 2007, the idea was to incentivize a…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Legislature, Alaska Politicos, Ethics, Headlines, Lisa Murkowski, Ohio Dan Sullivan, Oil & Gas, Sarah Palin, Sean Parnell · Tags AGIA, Alaska Gas Line, Alaska Legislature, Governor Bill Walker, Joe Balash, Sarah Palin, Sean Parnell, Sen. Dan Sullivan, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, transcanada
Posted by Jeanne Devon on September 2, 2015 · 6 Comments
As I drove, I imagined having to explain to a Secret Service agent that the reason my boots set off the sniffer dog is because the last two places I wore them were a pig farm and a gun show respectively. So, there was a perfectly good explanation why I smelled of gunpowder, and fertilizer. “No really! I swear! I still have the pictures on my phone!” I was glad I had allowed extra time. I had allowed so much extra time, it turns out, that I was the first member of the press at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson (JBER) and waited in…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Politicos, Bang it, Barack Obama, Environment, Headlines, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Military, Nation, Native issues, Ohio Dan Sullivan, Oil & Gas, Pebble Mine, Resource Development, Sarah Palin, Sean Parnell, Strategery · Tags Air Force One JBER, Barack Obama, Byron Mallott, climate change Alaska, Climate change arctic, GLACIER conference, Global leadership in the Arctic, Gov. Bill Walker, ice breakers, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Obama Alaska, President's speech on climate change, Senator Dan Sullivan
Posted by Jeanne Devon on September 2, 2015 · 16 Comments
As I drove, I imagined having to explain to a Secret Service agent that the reason my boots set off the sniffer dog is because the last two places I wore them were a pig farm and a gun show respectively. So, there was a perfectly good explanation why I smelled of gunpowder, and fertilizer. “No really! I swear! I still have the pictures on my phone!” I was glad I had allowed extra time. I had allowed so much extra time, it turns out, that I was the first member of the press at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson (JBER) and waited in…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Politicos, Barack Obama, Economy, Environment, Headlines, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Military, Nation, Native issues, Oceans, Ohio Dan Sullivan, Oil & Gas, Pebble Mine, Resource Development, Rural Issues, Sarah Palin, Sean Parnell, Strategery, Walker-Mallott Unity Ticket · Tags Air Force One JBER, Barack Obama Alaska, climate change Alaska, David Balton, GLACIER conference, Global leadership in the Arctic, Global warming Alaska, John Kerry Alaska
Posted by Shannyn Moore on February 22, 2015 · 4 Comments
New kids at my high school were rare. Most of us had been together since what felt like the beginning of time — and that wasn’t always a good thing. Remember the time Eric barfed in the lunch room? Yeah. Remember when the elastic in Kim’s sweatpants surrendered during fourth-grade dodgeball? She froze like a statue. New kids were suspect curiosities. It took a while to figure out if they were going to be one of “us.” I remember one in particular. He complained constantly about how lame Homer was. He was in town to live with his relatives for…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Politicos, Headlines, Health, Sean Parnell, Skulduggery, Strategery, Walker-Mallott Unity Ticket · Tags Alaska Medicaid, Alaska medicaid expansion, Don Young, Gov. Bill Walker, Jeremy Price, Koch brothers Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, medicaid expansion
Posted by Shannyn Moore on February 10, 2015 · 11 Comments
It’s politics as usual in Juneau. As Alaska burns, Alaska Republicans bloviate. We’re staring down the barrel of multibillion-dollar state budget deficits as far into the future as we can see. Are the Republicans majorities in the Legislature acknowledging that their misguided spending and tax policies got us into this fix? Are they prepared to set a new course? Not bloody likely. Rather than rolling up their sleeves, trying to come up with constructive solutions, they’re trotting out the usual gimmicks to divert public attention from their failures. So, by the lights of legislative leaders, what’s the big problem in…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Legislature, ANWR, Barack Obama, Economy, Environment, Headlines, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Nation, Ohio Dan Sullivan, Oil & Gas, Republicans, Resource Development, Sean Parnell, Veterans, Walker-Mallott Unity Ticket · Tags ANWR, Charlie Huggins, federal overreach Alaska, Governor Bill Walker, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, McHugh Pierre