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…
The Commies did it!
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Babcock/Dunleavy administration The Commies did it edition (Re-posted with permission by the Alaska Democratic Party) I DIDN’T THINK ANYONE WOULD SEE ME ON THE INTERNET Well, the latest float in the parade of caustic, hyper-partisan, and ill-advised appointments by Governor Babcock has already come and gone. Tammy Randolph, we hardly knew ye. Yes, she has removed her name from consideration to be appointed to the University of Alaska Board of Regents. She said she was shocked and surprised that anyone would see her “private” (not private) Twitter account. We need…
Alcohol is Taxing Anchorage Resources
On Wednesday, February 4th , I will be celebrating 30 years of continuous sobriety/clean time. I know too well the toll that abusing alcohol and drugs takes on body, mind, employment, relationships…basically the addict’s entire life as well as the lives of family and friends. I am also what is called a dually-diagnosed addict so I understand from personal experience that mental illness is a terrible combination with addiction. During my teenage years, substances probably kept me from killing myself but, as is the nature of addiction, my substance abuse gradually turned on me until I was mentally, physically, emotionally…
Mayor Sullivan’s Christmas Carol
Dan Sullivan, especially during his tenure as Mayor of Anchorage, could arguably qualify as “Dickensian.” In the past, Sullivan has funneled funds to his “friend” the “Party Planner,” made sure he got paid before he started the job, and signed a Municipal check for his family trust through a fake “insurance policy.” And that was just the first year! Scrooge would be so proud! Since then, he’s helped gut the schools by slashing the budget, lowering the tax cap and charging exorbitant fees; and caused Municipal employees to abandon city service like passengers on the Titanic, through the anti-union and…
Three Dans Too Many
An invitation! We got an invitation! And it’s pink and blue and calligraphied all fancy-like! Are Mayor Dan Sullivan and Bill and Michelle Bittner going to have a baby? Are Dan Coffey and his wife Pauline going to get married again? No, wait. It’s an “announcement of great importance to the future of Anchorage.” Wow. Hold on just a second… We’re getting a Red Lobster? Alas, no to all of the above. Instead, Dan Coffey, the former Assemblyman and Sullivan minion/mancrush, has decided to run for Mayor. Not really that surprising. You may recall Dan Coffey is the…
The Great GOP Cannibal War of 2013: News from the Front
I return to you breathless, stumbling into camp, clutching a piece of paper. Think of me as your scout, bringing the latest dispatch from the front. I report to you from the Great Cannibal War of 2013-2014, which some of you may know as the Alaska GOP Senate race. General Joe Miller’s’ forces are all in line. They’re hanging around, polishing their buttons, steam ironing their Snake Flags, and running a lint roller over their three-cornered hats. But the other side, the “moderate” side is in disarray. What could have been an easy primary battle, has turned into what the…
Assemblyman Admits Back Room Shenanigans
Tuesday’s Anchorage Assembly meeting promised to be more interesting than usual, but no one was expecting the jaw-dropping admission of blatant politicking by a supporter of the Mayor on the Assembly, and that the peoples’ referendum to repeal a draconian labor ordinance was being set up as a casualty of electoral manipulation. The Anchorage Assembly passed its anti-union, anti-public-employee Ordinance 37 back in March of 2013 despite hours and hours of testimony against it. In fact, Chair Ernie Hall even cut off testimony with many still waiting for an opportunity to speak. That led to the filing of a petition to…
Mayor Dan Sez, “Let’s Get Started!”
The world is going to Hell. And there’s not a damn thing we can do about it. But, do you know what we can do? We can mock bad campaign literature, that’s what. And at least it will make us feel like we’ve done something. I anticipate doing a lot of this during the next year, because many candidates have Print Shoppe Deluxe™ on their e-machines. And some of them even have the 16-CD set of “1,000,000,001 Clip Art Images You Can Use.” It’s still early, but let’s trot out our first example before the class. You’ll be glad to…
July 4th Parade Photos – Anchorage (Part 2)
Here’s part two of the Anchorage July 4th Parade and Fair photo essay. You can check out part 1 here. Even with the damp weather the crowds were out in force – many in some really cool costumes/uniforms – the 5 men in period uniforms were nice enough to pose for me out on the park strip.
Chicken & Waffles, & John Boehner?
STRANGE OMEN #1 I should have know something was afoot in the universe when this happened just down the road from my house, begging the question, “Why?” Just to be clear, I have never actually seen a chicken cross the road, nevermind in this visually perfect allegorical fashion. I have never even seen a chicken in my neighborhood at all, though clearly there is now photographic evidence that they exist. About a quarter mile and a few hairpin mountain road turns away from the chicken sighting, is something relatively new to Alaska – a fancy gated community. It is called…