Parnell Chickens Out – Again
If you squint really hard, and clear your mind, you’ll be able to see a new sign in front of the Governor’s Mansion in Juneau. The author of the legislative fisheries newsletter Laws for the Sea, Bob Tkacz, is one of my favorite reporters in our state’s capital right now. He and several others attended the Governor’s press availability in the Capitol last week. He, like many Alaskans, had watched in dismay as the Governor’s Cruise Ship dumping bill as it sailed through the legislature, despite massive amounts of misinformation. One particular example Tkacz cited in his question for the…
Open Thread – Puppet Show!
Please remember this at the ballot box if you live in West Anchorage! We don’t need another Sullivan puppet on the Anchorage Assembly. Please consider donating to, and supporting Tim Steele, even if you live outside the district. He’s got the backing of former Assembly member (now House Rep) Harriet Drummond, and many of Anchorage’s top education professionals. There are only 11 Assembly members, and the decisions they make affect ALL of us, so do your part to get good people there! Tim Steele for Anchorage!
They Think We’re Idiots. Are We?
BY: SHANNYN MOORE I will admit to outrage fatigue. The “Shock and Fraud” campaign in Juneau is working. Legislators, drunk on one-party power, are trying to jam so much crazy through — well, it’s mind-boggling. We’ve just passed the halfway point of the session — think of it as solstice; Alaska’s future only gets darker from here. We had it too good for too long and didn’t even realize it. The petty, preposterous, personal-issue bills were ignored for years. But now that we’ve solved our energy issues, jobs are plentiful and every education challenge is behind us, the Legislature has…
The Running of the Reindeer! (PHOTOS)
For the past several years, I’ve shared pictures of the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. This year I thought I’d mix it up a little, and cover the event that happens just after the Iditarod starts. The last of the dogs and their mushers have headed down Anchorage’s historic 4th Avenue, and the snowy lane is ready for another kind of critter. Paws and wagging tails give way to hooves and antlers, as the Fur Rendezvous festival presents – The 6th Annual Running of the Reindeer! I’d always wanted to see this event, but never made it until today. It…
GOP Senators vs. Polar Bears
In case you missed it today, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the capital of our fair Republic (Washington DC, not Juneau) upheld the 2008 decision of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to include polar bears on the list of threatened species. Because they are. But like another Wasilla Republican we know, Senate President Charlie Huggins finds himself disappointed with the facts. “The federal appeals court decision is incredibly disappointing,” he sniffed. “America could be on its way to energy independence if only the federal government would free us to develop our vast natural resources. Federal overreach is…
HB69: A National Disgrace
The most controversial bill in recent Alaska history – and beyond – might be this session’s House Bill 69, sponsored by Speaker Mike Chenault. This House legislation was advertised as a declaration of state sovereignty as it related to owning firearms in Alaska. But that was more of a side note to the actual threat the language of the bill presents. HB69 includes provocative language stipulating that state authorities could, should the bill pass, arrest federal agents who attempted to enforce federal law regarding gun regulations. For instance, if Washington DC passed a law tomorrow stating that high capacity ammo clips are…
Good News for Chuitna Salmon
I present to you, in the middle of chaos and frustration… (drum roll please)… a small victory! In a decision issued February 25, 2013, the Alaska Superior Court ruled that the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) violated its own rules by denying Alaskans’ their right to keep water in streams to protect wild salmon runs. The decision in Chuitna Citizens Coalition vs. Dan Sullivan, Commissioner, Alaska Department of Natural Resources, takes on special importance as the Alaska legislature considers bills introduced by Governor Parnell (HB 77/SB 26) which will strip Alaskans of their right to protect “instream flows,” which are…
I love my city, and I love my job
“It’s starting to feel like a rock concert.” I agreed with the anonymous voice drifting over the mass of people, packed like sardines into the lobby of the Assembly chambers. Bright lights were on, TV cameras set up, and people were fanning themselves with folders, and papers. Everyone was here to testify on Ordinance 37, the mayor’s attempt to take advantage of the current makeup of the Assembly to push through a law that would restrict workers’ rights, and curtail collective bargaining for public unions. The turnout was impressive. I wasn’t sure if anyone had shown up to testify in…
Greg Palast asks, ‘How Do You Steal a Dream?’
How Do You Steal a Dream? Supreme Court hears suit to kill Voting Rights Act For Care2.com By Greg Palast, author, “Billionaires and Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps” Video Produced by The Mudflats’ own, Zach D Roberts. Sign the petition to Defend Martin Luther King’s Dream Act – here. Read Shannyn Moore’s piece on how Alaska plays into all this – at the Anchorage Daily News Jim Crow is alive and well — and he has mounted a new attack on the law Martin Luther King dreamed of: the Voting Rights Act. February 27, the…
Sen. Coghill Needs a Doctor STAT!
John Coghill can’t seem to find credible doctors to attack Alaskan women’s reproductive health. Imagine that. In a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, not a single doctor from Alaska was allowed to testify for or against a bill that would restrict access to safe and legal abortion for low-income women in our state. Gems of wisdom from the out-of-state doctors that the bill’s sponsor Senator John Coghill chose to testify on SB49 include these debunked falsehoods: “Abortion exacerbates existing mental health illness,” and “Women who have an abortion have an 81 percent increased risk for mental health problems.” –Dr….