On August 3rd, there was a regular meeting of the Municipality Budget Advisory Commission. (You remember, this is the commission that used to be two — the Budget Advisory Commission and the School Budget Advisory Commission. However, when the word “school” made people think twice about the appointment of one of the Mayor’s LGBT-hating wing-nutter [...]

Yes, you can still fight City Hall! The latest news from Rosemary Shinohara at the Anchorage Daily News is that Mayor Dan Sullivan has requested a “postponement” of consideration on the new sidewalk etiquette ordinance: The administration asked that it be referred to the city’s Public Safety Commission, said Ossiander. A public hearing on the [...]

Time to get the giant Caesar-sized bowl and the double Costco bag of Crazy Croutons. Sarah Palin delivered a monstrous serving of word salad after the Iowa premiere of “The Undefeated.”  It appears that the potential presidential candidate was unconcerned with having prepared remarks of any kind, and simply let all those buzz words out [...]

UPDATE: From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Greenbay WI man arrested for battery. Around 1 p.m. Tuesday, a group of protesters was participating in their daily singalong in the Capitol rotunda, when two men along with former state Sen. David Zien began interrupting their singing. According to Sue Trace, one of the participants in the singalong, Zien [...]

By Shannyn Moore I was 8 years old and Frank McMichael was the most curmudgeonly man I’d ever met. He was the first person I’d heard cuss. Oscar the Grouch had Frank McMichael eyebrows. Frank carried a .44 revolver. Instead of a mattress, he slept on stacks of cardboard. At the time, my family was [...]

Alaska is a land of extremes, both good and bad. We have the most coastline, the most islands, the best fishing, the most park land, and I can confidently say the most natural wild beauty of any state in the nation. On the flip side, we have the most earthquakes, the most infant botulism, the [...]

~Palin in the headlights at the MSNBC after party So, who is the most influential journalist in America today?  Not an easy question, perhaps. It’s one that requires some knowledge of who the journalists today are. And if you’re on camera, and a politico or media type, it might also require a little diplomatic forethought.  [...]

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, [...]

Here at Mudflats, we try to cover a variety of Alaska issues. Unfortunately, because of our individual projects and deadlines hitting at the same time, we haven’t been able to give as much attention to the Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) elections as we would have liked. So, on this day before the election I wanted [...]

We’re hearing that those who believe Alaska should continue to get their fair share of tax on the resource that belongs to us…we the people…MUST CONTACT THE REPRESENTATIVES IMMEDIATELY. As we’ve seen in the news, there has been a HUGE lobbying push by the Governor and the oil companies towards the Alaska House. DON’T LET [...]

~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more! Pass the Bree Hey, remember when Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan “favorited” a porn star on Twitter last year? It was quite an entertaining tale, and you can refresh your memory HERE. Little did we know that the story would have a Chapter [...]

Alaska is different. It’s said a lot, and it’s true. Things that work in the contiguous 48 states don’t necessarily work here. The lack of understanding by those “Outside” of this phenomenon contributes to Alaskans’ slightly xenophobic, and more than slight libertarian bent. “Get off my tundra, you meddlesome kids.” Nothing defines Alaska quite so [...]

My now-13-year-old daughter expressed a great deal of angst this past summer over attending middle school in a different school zone. She can be somewhat shy so my husband and I were a little concerned. As it turns out, my daughter is excelling in seventh grade! She has been on the honor roll both quarters, [...]

I’ve been regularly blogging about Sarah Palin since before she got the VP nod. And it takes a lot for me to be flabbergasted by anything she says. At this point, I kind of feel like I’ve pretty much seen it all. I have a big callous on my brain where all the Palin information [...]

Where to begin? It’s kind of like a hybrid of Sarah Palin’s “book” America by Heart, and a bad hangover. She was kind enough to dumb it down for the masses, though, to make it sound all “real” and everything. And it’s impressive how much tripe she was able to stuff in this delusion sandwich. [...]