Preaching Politics from the Petroleum Pulpit
“Are you a pastor, elder or church leader? The Alaska Family Council would like to buy you breakfast at the Petroleum Club on Friday, October 5th at 9:00am. Pastor Voddie Baucham will be presenting on why pastors should be involved in matters related to civic engagement.” Because that’s where Jesus would invite you to breakfast… That, believe it or not, is part of the email that was sent out last month from Jim Minnery and the Alaska Family Council. “The Alaska Family Council and our legislative arm, Alaska Family Action, believes very strongly that church leaders should bring cultural issues,…
Bell’s Firm Got $1 Million+ from BP
Well, well, well. Ask not for whom Mr. Bell shills – he shills for BP. We practically needed the jaws of life to pry the truth out of candidate Bob Bell, but it has finally been liberated from the mangled wreck of his financial “disclosure” forms. If you remember from the other day, Mr. Bell decided first that he didn’t want to tell us who gave his engineering firm money. Then APOC told him he had to not only disclose who, but how much. Then he disclosed who, but NOT how much. Apparently it became more uncomfortable for Mr. Bell…
Bob Bell’s Oily Non-Disclosure
Oh, my. Remember Bob Bell? The muskox poachin’, campaign finance violatin’ State Senate candidate running against Hollis French? Well, he decided a while back that he was above the financial disclosure laws that applied to all those other candidates. And then a citizen complaint was filed against him with the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC). And APOC gave him the bad news that yes, the law actually applied to him, no matter how super-special he thinks he is. So, what’s he doing now? Stonewalling. Yes, Mr. Bell continues to violate Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) disclosure laws by failing to…
Help! Help! We Can’t Find Sarah Palin!
Exxon has had some challenges in Alaska in the past. Remember that whole oil spill thing? Well, that was no walk in the park. Exxon and their legal help (including now-Governor Sean Parnell) had a devil of a time with those annoying fishermen. But finally, they ruled the day, and the Supreme Court whittled down the original $5 billion settlement to a mere $500 million owed to those whose livelihoods were damaged by the spill. And if more than 20 years of fighting feisty fishermen wasn’t enough, now they actually have to try to find all those people to whom…
Treadwell Oversees & Meddles in Elections
‘Tis the season of the robocall. We all get them at some point – reminding us about a fundraiser, or from a candidate seeking our vote. Occasionally a candidate will get someone to call on his or her behalf. It’s usually not the sitting Lieutenant Governor. Yes boys and girls, if you live in the Valley, you may have gotten a robocall from Lite Gov Mead Treadwell singing the praises of local Tea Party types Larry Devilbiss for Mayor and Ron Arvin for Borough Assembly. Here’s what one of them said: “This is Mead Treadwell. The Mat-Su Borough has made…
A Tale With Backbone
It’s story time! I know we haven’t had Mudflats story time in a long while now, but things get busy, and life gets complicated, and sometimes we forget. But right now, it’s time to snuggle in, because I’m going to tell you an important story – a story with heroes, and villains, and big dreams, and treasure. Lots and lots of treasure. It’s a story that started a long time ago, and it’s also a story that has no ending yet, because the ending hasn’t been written. It’s going to be up to all of you to decide how it…
Bob Bell is Oh So Super Special
You know those politicians whom nobody can stand – the ones that think the rules apply to absolutely everyone? No exceptions. Except for them. I got one for you. Remember that scandal that had Director of the Alaska Division of Wildlife Conservation, Corey Rossi, in the headlines for weeks? Rossi and his croneys from the Board of Game got busted flying into rural Alaska and pretending to subsistence hunt muskoxen for food. You see, there’s a really really expensive way of hunting muskoxen, and there’s a much less expensive way. One way, you have to enter a lottery for a permit…
Audit Committee To Discuss ABT Tax Report
On Sunday, July 15th, the Anchorage Daily News ran a comprehensive story by Richard Mauer. It discussed a determination made by municipal tax assessor Marty McGee regarding accusations that the Anchorage Baptist Temple had violated the law relating to specific tax-exempt properties belonging to the church. Mel Green at Bent Alaska gives us some background: “The issue was first reported in a story broken by Bent Alaska on August 29, 2011, based on court documents in the divorce trial of ABT pastor Jerry Prevo’s son Allen Prevo and Holly Jo Jaggers (who returned to her maiden name after the divorce),…
Muni Played Favorites With Ballots (*Update*)
In last week’s installment of the Municipality of Anchorage’s continuing 2012 Election debacle, new Municipal Clerk Barbara Jones made a disturbing find while attempting to (quite literally) clean up the old Municipal Clerk’s mess…141 unaccounted-for ballots. This has led the trusty Election Commission to meet this coming Thursday and review the ballots they missed the first two times around. While all of that has been going on, members of our Recount Observation Team have continued to research and slowly pursue the auditing process the Municipality has refused to provide. …and it’s been free of charge… The latest bombshell was discovered…
Uncounted Ballots: A New Can Of Worms
I’ll admit it…I’m tired of the Anchorage Municipal Election of 2012. It’s a kind of migraine-inducing, bone-aching, paralysis-producing exhaustion that I’ve rarely experienced. I know that’s how I felt after our team of 10 qualified voters and fabulous volunteer observers worked their butts off on the hand recount. The team “observed” and went above and beyond to report the issues and the craziness that happened during this hand recount. However, they did not stop there. The Team also poured (and continues to pour) time and energy into further investigation of the election issues in general, going way-beyond their “job description”…