IMPORTANT: TODAY — Redistricting Plan Public Testimony in Anchorage!
Redistricting is going on across the country as a result of the 2010 Census. It is the single most important political event happening this year because these are the districts we’ll all be voting in for the next 10 years. Lucky us…the way that Alaska’s Board selection is set up gave us 4 Republicans out of 5 members this time! So, you can imagine how some of the proposed districts look. Example: in Board Option 2, Sen. Wielechowski’s District J moves from Muldoon, Mountain View and Wonder Park (traditionally more Progressive areas) farther north to the military base and Eagle…
Open Thread: What a 9.0 Earthquake Sounded Like in Alaska plus a Friday Summary of Events
National Oceanic and Aeronautics Organization (NOAA) does regular scientific research all over Alaska but especially in the wildlife and Arctic areas. They frequently use sophisticated underwater recording equipment to gather information on marine mammals: However, on March 11, 2011 off of the coast of the Aleutian Islands, they happened to catch the sound of something very different…the 9.0 Japanese earthquake. The sound underwater was absolutely facinating while at the same time it gave me goosebumps. It’s amazing to me how clearly it can be heard, though I have occasionally heard a rumble or kind of rushing sound just preceding several…
Where is the Knik Arm Bridge REALLY Going?
Remember the “Bridge to Nowhere?” Remember the project that was possibly the single biggest contributor to the tainting of the word “earmarks?” That famous title was actually a misnomer. It referred to two Alaska bridges, both funded through the same “earmark” at the time. The actual “Bridge to Nowhere” referred to the Gravina Island Bridge, which was a link from Ketchikan to the island that holds its airport. This was only accessible by ferry and small plane and when hundreds of thousands of visitors pour into Southeast Alaska during the summers, it becomes a problem. This was also the bridge…
Commissioners to APOC Staff: Try Again.
Some of you have been following the saga here on Mudflats about my APOC complaint against Alaska House District 5 Representative William Thomas, Jr. (R-Haines) and his re-election campaign. The complaint (plus amendment) deals with 17 ads placed and designed by campaign Deputy Treasurer James Studley and charged to various Haines businesses. My complaint asserts that they should be considered illegal campaign ads in total, either illegal in-kind contributions because some of them were paid for by corporations, or illegal independent expenditures because they were coordinated with Studley as well as others campaign staff. We left the story at the…
The APOC Hearing Has A Part Deux: The Deliberation
A week ago Friday, I testified at the hearing for my first APOC complaint–Kellen vs. Thomas et al. It seemed to go very well…better than I’d hoped. I wasn’t planning on writing another post about it until there was a decision (I didn’t want to irritate the Commission until after they decided) but I also expected there would be one by now. To my surprise, we are still awaiting the “verdict” from the Commission. This is amazing, as today was the end of their 10 days. I actually believe that this is a very good sign…they wouldn’t need this amount…
Mudflats Chats – After the Election With Scott McAdams
I had the opportunity to sit down with former U.S. Senate candidate Scott McAdams and talk informally with him about the campaign. It was so informal, there was ice cream involved – the best way to interview someone if you ask me. It was only a few days after the election and I wanted to get his thoughts and reflections on the campaign while it was still fresh in his mind, and before he traveled back home to Sitka. The former Mayor has now resumed his job as the head of the local Community Schools program. His immediate goal? To…
Lisa Murkowski: She’s changed, we haven’t.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) released their latest commercial for the benefit of Scott McAdams, describing Lisa Murkowski’s mischaracterization of her political stances: The video is great and the message is spot-on. This gives me the opportunity to talk about a piece of Senator Frank Murkowski’s history where we can see Lisa following in her dad’s footsteps. During the Rachel Maddow Show’s visit to Alaska, Lisa Murkowski discussed the time (back in the 80’s) that the Moral Majority took over the Republican Party (5:20 on the video): What she does NOT discuss is how her father, then Senator Frank…
McAdams Full-Page Ad: “I’m Twice the Man Joe Miller Is…”
As a large girl myself, I’m infuriated but not surprised by the ignorant Conservatives, (or DINOs, or folks with mental health issues) who can find nothing to use against Sitka Mayor and US Senate Candidate Scott McAdams except his size: –ADN “AK-Voices” right-winger, Brian Sweeney forgoes credibility in lieu of insulting size-references to Mayor McAdams in at least two of his “articles.” (I have no doubt his sneering commentary is a throwback to some kind of High School trauma involving a football player and his head in a swirling toilet.) –Facebook fans obsessed with Lisa or Joe have become desperate now that…
APOC Complaint Against Rep. Bill Thomas Campaign (R-Haines)–The response(s).
Back on October 13th, I posted about the APOC Complaint I had filed against the re-election campaign of Representative Bill Thomas, Jr. (above, on the left, with Sen. Al Kookesh, who appears in several of the ads.) The complaint is in response to a newspaper advertising campaign consisting of 12 ads which ran in the Chilkat Valley News during the weeks leading up to the primary election: …Upon further research, it was impossible to determine exactly what category of legal contributions these ads were attempting to fit, if any: James Studley was the one who coordinated the entire ad buy….
Making History: Murkowski Candidacy Unites the AK Democratic Party & the GOP
Monday morning, I received an email press release that the Alaska Democratic Party was announcing that they would be joining the AK GOP in a lawsuit against the State of Alaska Division of Elections. The suit alleges that the Division of Elections is violating its own regulations (specifically 6 AAC 25.070(b)) by allowing voters to look at a list of write-in candidates with their names and political party affiliations: The DOE’s unprecedented listing and posting of Murkowski’s name violates Alaska law. The ADP filed the lawsuit seeking to prevent the State from illegally providing information about write-in candidates, to ensure that…