You Can’t Fire a Fetus & Other Lessons from the Alaska Legislature
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock administration It’s been a week since the marathon joint session convened and voted on Governor Mike Dunleavy’s appointees to boards and commissions – and there have been a few developments with some of the rejected nominees. “EAGLEXIT” First, there was Mike Tovaliero. He was the one rejected from the Board of Realtors for several reasons including: his seeming lack of understanding of which board he was nominated for; his losing interview strategy of being belligerent to legislators and not forthcoming when asked questions; and his problematic Twitter feed which featured both original…
Return of Bird of the Week: Crested Oropendola
While there are nine or ten recognized species of oropendolas,[^1] WC has only managed photos of five of them. The fifth and last WC has documented is the Crested Oropendola. WC wouldn’t usually use a feeder shot like this, but it’s the only image WC has that actually shows the “crest” that gives the species its common name. Most of the time, the signature “crest” is laid down against the top of the head. This is probably the most common and widespread of the oropendolas, ranging from Panama south to northern Argentina. It’s also probably the oropendola with the broadest…
Governor’s Appointments – Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock administration The Governor’s appointments and how they went down THUMBS UP/THUMBS DOWN Well, that was a whopper. The governor’s appointees to commissioner positions and to boards and commissions were up for confirmation yesterday, and the joint floor session with members of the House and Senate took 7 hours and 48 minutes to wind up. At the end, all of the governor’s picks for Commissioner positions (even the most controversial) were passed with a majority of votes, but 6 appointees to the many boards and commissions in the state were rejected. And…
Return of Bird of the Week: Russet-backed Oropendola
Another Oropendola species, this one a South American species near the southern margin of it range in central Peru. The Russet-backed is about the same size as its Crested cousin. The taxonomy of Oropendolas in general and Russet-backed in particular is undecided. There are presently six subspecies, but two of those subspecies – the Yellow-billed and the Black-billed Oropendola – have been proposed as separate species. This is probably the Alfredisubspecies, the proposed “Yellow-billed” Oropendola. Like its cousins, this is a colonial nester, with long, pendulous nests. The IUCN reportsthis is a species of least concern because of its comparatively wide…
Alaska House Republicans are Off the Rails
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock Administration The House Minority goes off the rails *Quick refresher: The House Majority is made up of a coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who came together because they shared the desire to get something accomplished, and together they represent the majority of legislators who couldn’t abide the thought of the far-right types running the show. The House Minority is made up of the leftovers (all Republicans) who think Dunleavy’s budget is super great (or doesn’t go far enough), that moderate Republicans are “traitors,” and Democrats are all socialists who are out…
Return of Bird of the Week: Chestnut-headed Oropendola
Here’s another Oropendola, this time a Chestnut-headed Oropendola. This is one of the smaller members of the genus, with a body length of about 14 inches (11 inches in the female). It’s fairly widely distributed, from the Caribbean coast of Mexico through Central America as far south as northern Ecuador. Like its fellow Oropendolas, it is a colonial nester, with long, pendulous nests on a tree at a forest edge. Unlike most of its fellow congeners, a typical colony may have a dozen or so female and just 3-4 males, a polygynous mating structure. Chestnut-headed Oropendolas are poorly studied; ornithology…
Governor/Koch Brothers’ Roadshow Ends. Alaska Shows Up.
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…
Return of Bird of the Week: Montezuma’s Oropendola
The largest of the four Central American oropendolas, the Montezuma’s Oropendola absolutely lives up to its big name. This is the big cousin of North America’s Red-winged Blackbird, is the largest member of the Icterid family of birds. Not only is its coloration spectacular; it’s a colonial nester and a dawn chorus of Montezuma Oropendolas will knock you right out of your bed. Together with Howler Monkeys, their calls are one of the signature sounds of the jungles of Middle America. Its name in both English and Spanish give tribute to the last Aztec emperor, Moctezuma II. The word “oropendola”…
Gov’s Koch brothers-sponsored road show hits rough road
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock Administration In which the governor meets Alaska Knock, knock. It’s Anchorage! (Photo courtesy of John Aronno, AK Ledger) 1-2-3 JUMP! What a week. I suppose we’d better just jump right in to the deep end of the pool. The governor has without a doubt violated his oath to uphold the Constitution of the State of Alaska. And he’s still doing it right now. He had 45 days to appoint a Superior Court Judge to a vacant seat in Palmer. See Article IV, section 5. And he didn’t. It wasn’t an oversight….
Return of Bird of the Week: Black Oropendola
Last week’s Brewer’s Blackbirdis a member of the family Icteridae. A more exotic member of that family is the Black Oropendola. This species has a fairly narrow range: northern Columbia and far eastern Panama. Like all of the oropendolas, it’s a weaver, building long, pendulous nests that hang is groups from a tree in the open, often in a meadow or at the edge of a field. This is a female working on a new nest. But what sets the Black Oropendola apart from its fellow species is the amazing facial coloration. The red and blue patches make this one…