BREAKING: Document Reveals Sullivan Misrepresented Escalating Port Cost
The Mudflats has obtained documents showing that Mayor Dan Sullivan is grossly misrepresenting the costs of completing the first phase of the controversial Port of Anchorage Expansion Project. Anyone who has been following the costs associated with the project can hardly help but liken it to that old tongue-in-cheek definition of a boat – a hole in the water into which you pour money. The cost of the increasingly controversial project has more than tripled since 2005 estimates. A draft of the Budgetary Cost Estimate Report for the Port of Anchorage Intermodal Expansion Project, jointly prepared by the U.S. Department of…
Is Alaskan Agriculture Ready to Feed Our School Children?
by Linda Kellen Biegel Tim Meyers stands at the front of room 306 at the UAA/APU Consortium Library. He’s the next guest presenter for the session: Sustainable Agriculture in Rural Alaska at the Alaska Botanical Garden’s Spring Conference. The title of the Conference is “Extend the Season, Expand Your Mind” in honor of guest gpeaker, former TV gardener and 40-year organic farming rock star, Eliot Coleman. But if Coleman is a national star, Tim Meyers is the hometown hero. Meyers’ cold-weather farming is being studied by the University of Alaska, who have provided him with interns to train in his…
‘Recess’ won’t set GOP-led House back
by Shannyn Moore ADN comment I remember sitting inside during recess in fourth grade. Mrs. Henwood, my favorite teacher ever, was tough as nails. Her sparkly glasses and no-nonsense teaching made me adore and fear her at the same time. My times-tables were giving me fits. “You don’t come to school for recess, Shannyn, you’re here to get your work done.” I learned more than my times-tables from her. Buckle down, get it done, then you play. When I’d passed all my timed tests she gave me a bag of jelly beans. I don’t like jelly beans, but it was…
Oyster Roundup – Jail Break, Flaming Pants, and Commie Frog
~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more! This is Alaska… A 30-year old man escaped from jail during a bathroom break in the remote Western Alaska village of Alakanuk. It’s been nine years since Kevin Patrick has escaped from the Alakanuk jail during a bathroom break. This time his arrest was for drunk driving. The last time it was for assaulting a police officer with a shovel. After the first jail break, he was caught and arrested by trooper Eric Spitzer in a now infamous case where Patrick sued the state for the trooper’s…
Back to the Sidewalk — Assemblyman Traini will introduce Repeal on Tuesday
(photo courtesy of Alaska Commons)By Linda Kellen Biegel A few days ago, Jeanne recounted the tale of Anchorage City Attorney, Dennis Wheeler and his role in the Mayor’s no-lying down/no-sitting sidewalk Ordinance. If you remember, Municipal Attorney Wheeler lied used “a poor choice of words” when he claimed the ordinance had been “run by” the Alaska ACLU to determine whether it was vulnerable to lawsuit. (As it turns out, “run by” is only a poor choice of words when it actually means “never spoke to the ACLU about it once.” It would only be an outright lie if…ummm when…uhhh…errr…well…back to our story…) Assemblyman…
City Attorney Lies to Assembly Regarding Sidewalk Ordinance (Update – Repeal)
Mayor Dan Sullivan is no stranger to controversy. Whether it’s creating a paid position for his personal “party planner,” cashing an illegitimate $193,000 check for a non-existent life insurance policy, pink slipping employees Christmas week, collecting $12,000 for being “mayor elect” before he actually started doing his job, vetoing an ordinance that would allow the LGBT community equal rights in housing and employment, disbanding vital firefighting services and axing public safety positions… I could go on. One controversy that’s been brewing since last summer has involved an ordinance that Mayor Sullivan has ushered through the Assembly. This particular ordinance is…
Sidewalk Sitting Has New Appeal
By Shannyn Moore I’ve never wanted to sit on a sidewalk so badly in my life. This week, seven members of the Anchorage Assembly voted for Mayor Dan Sullivan’s ordinance to create sidewalk sitting hours and rules. Ernie Hall, who has talked about being independent of the mayor, once again, with his vote, proved he is a lockstep lapdog. The most surprising, and disappointing vote was Dick Traini’s. Traini most certainly is not the mayor’s lackey, but he voted like one. The rest — Debbie Ossiander, Chris Birch, Bill Starr, Jennifer Johnston and Adam Trombley — voted as expected, right…
Twin Sons, Newt Gingrich & Dan Sullivan (New Sidewalk Ordinance–Public Testimony TONIGHT!)
by Linda Kellen Biegel (Homeless Anchorage protestor John Martin and his faithful friend) On the same day that the world is outraged by the pepper-spraying of peaceful UC Davis protestors, Newt Gingrich still manages to capture the attention of the media. Friday, his announcement of “extraordinarily radical proposals to fundamentally change the culture of poverty in America” which turn out to include a repeal of child labor laws. Then, as if trying to outdo himself, Newt decides to moralize at the country-wide Occupy Wall Street participants (the same ones who shout him down at his speeches) by telling them to…
Feds Say the Oil and Gas Industry’s “White Whale” is Endangered
As Thanksgiving approaches, let’s all give a big helping of thanks (and an even bigger ladle of sarcasm gravy) to Sean Parnell for yet again wasting our money. Thanks, governor. Cook Inlet has a problem. It used to have a large, healthy population of beluga whales. The population of about 1,300 animals was large enough, even, to support subsistence hunting. But back in the 80s, something started to happen. The population of these magnificent creatures began to decline. In the early 90s, it was still possible to drive along the scenic Seward highway, south of Anchorage and spot what at…
Party Planner Tries to Crash Alaska’s Filmmaking Party?
When I moved to Alaska more than twenty years ago, I was expecting something like the TV show Northern Exposure. I figured Alaskans would be really happy and proud that the show “put them on the map,” as it were. Invariably, when I mentioned it to anyone who had been in Alaska for a while, I got a big fat eye roll. “Yeah, they film it in Washington. They don’t even film it here. And we don’t have crickets, and we don’t have raccoons, and it doesn’t get dark in June…” They would have a list of all the mistakes…