No Time for Tuckerman
Time. It is precious, they say. It flies, they say. And former Republican Party Chair, former Dunleavy Chief of Staff, and now former University of Alaska Regent Tuckerman Babcock has none of it. Again. As Alaska Republican Party Chair, Babcock was the chief architect of the cannibalization of that Party. He loved the purity test, and if you were a Republican in the legislature and you weren’t far-right authoritarian enough, you were in his crosshairs and some extreme fringy candidate would be drummed up to run against you. And those monsters wasted no time destroying their makers. “RINO!” they cried….
Greetings from the Rubble!
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock administration Dispatches from the Rubble… JUNEAU IT IS Governor Mike Dunleavy, having seen the error of his ways, has “amended the call” of the PFD-focused special session to include the capital budget. He’s also called the location as Juneau, instead of Wasilla. And so, the sparkly hopes and dreams of the Republican House Minority die on the vine. They were waiting and wishing for torches and pitchforks and arm-twisting and even arrests. But after a disastrous week, including the downgrading of the University of Alaska by Moody’s to two-notches-above-junk-bond-status, and the tidal…
Alaska Republicans Get What They Wish For. Aaaand it sucks.
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Babcock/Dunleavy Administration ‘Take it easy there, big fella’ Edition REPUBLICANS, BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU TELL EVERYONE YOU WISH FOR We’ve been hearing for years now from Republicans in the legislature (after Parnell gave away the farm to the oil companies, and signed budgets that drained our billions in savings) about how we need to cut. Cut, cut, cut our way to prosperity, they said! The budget was cut by 40 percent, and STILL they said more cuts! Well, guess what? Republicans now have that balanced budget they’ve been yelling about, 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…
Court Sees Value in Protecting Bristol Bay
Before the Bristol Bay Forever Initiative was ever printed on statewide ballots, it had to defend a legal challenge from an individual named Richard Hughes, the Alaska Miners Association, and the Council of Alaska Producers. The Alaska Supreme Court issued an oral decision allowing that initiative to go to the ballot. Today, the Court issued a written order justifying its decision, Hughes v. Treadwell, Slip Op. No. 6981 (Alaska Supreme Court, Jan. 30, 2015). In order for a citizen ballot initiative to be valid in Alaska, it must avoid certain prohibited topics. Under Article XI, section 7, it may not engage in an appropriation…
Melting Good; Feds Bad
So, insane flesh-eating bacteria is tied to BP spill tar balls, Fukushima radiation should be hitting the West Coast in the next year or so, and a SuperTyphoon that is perhaps the strongest storm EVER, just made landfall in the Philippines. So, last night I decided to go out and listen to a Republican Senate candidate bloviate about how federal overreach is destroying the country. SPOILER ALERT: This ends with drinking. Mead Treadwell, Alaska’s Lt. Governor, who in that capacity oversees elections, is running for U.S. Senate. Any time a Lt. Governor runs for something in the state (like Current…
Blimps in the Last Frontier!
Thursday, I attended the Cargo Airships for Northern Operations Workshop . That’s right, the Blimp Convention! Earlier this year, I reported that a blimp was coming to Alaska this July for the first time since the 1920s. And not just any blimp – we’re talking the 200-foot long Skyship 600. Even though, to my disappointment, it was not coming up to give people rides, I had still planned on trying to blog the event and get some pictures if it came to Anchorage. Sadly, that never happened. But the dream is not dead, my friends. And there are many smart and motivated…
Study Will Not Avert the Crisis
. One of our most dangerous self-deceptions these days is the belief that simply studying the impacts of climate change will somehow avert the crisis. It won’t. Studying climate change will not keep one carbon atom out of the global atmosphere. We already know enough about the disastrous impacts of climate change to know that we need to take bold, urgent action to solve it, and we know exactly what steps to take. Yet many in government, industry, and academia continue to insist that more study is needed before we take difficult steps to solve the crisis. Scientific uncertainty is…
Former UA Professor Receives Cook Inletkeeper’s Highest Award
A Commentary By Susan B. Andrews and John Creed KOTZEBUE—Finally, he’s getting a dinner. For almost 30 years, Rick Steiner toiled away at the University of Alaska, rising through the ranks to become one of the most accomplished, high-profile professors in the history of UA’s Marine Advisory Program. But when Professor Steiner left our state’s public university system earlier this year, the employer to which he dedicated virtually his entire career showed him less regard than it would a temp. Most UA faculty members who rise to the rank of “full” professor and serve as long as Steiner are conferred…