Alaska

The Sunday (Monday) Minefield – May 27, 2024

Published

8 months ago

May 27, 2024

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend! Don’t forget about all of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. This week’s Sunday Minefield is the Monday Minefield as I spent yesterday driving from Haines to Anchorage. I was there with some friends for Beerfest, which was awesome! Last week was fairly uneventful in Alaska politics due to the end of session. Legislators and staff were busy packing up and heading home from Juneau. Governor Mike Dunleavy’s (R – Alaska) Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference was held at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage. And the June 1 filing deadline to run for the Legislature is just five days away.

A friendly message and reminder to all our readers. The Landmine is made possible by myself and a team of awesome Alaskans. I just got back from Juneau for my sixth session in a row reporting on the Legislature. We will again be providing in-depth coverage for both the primary and general elections. If you enjoy the content we provide, please consider making a one time or recurring monthly donation. You can click here to donate. We have a donation system that makes it super easy. We would really appreciate it. And thanks to everyone who has been supportive!

Finally Back from Juneau

The trip back from Haines marked my official end of session. I moved out of my Juneau apartment on May 18 and flew to Anchorage to bring all my clothes back. But I still had some equipment in my Juneau office and I needed to drive a car I bought in Juneau to Anchorage. I flew back to Juneau on Wednesday and crashed at my buddy Forrest Wolfe’s place. I spent Thursday packing up my Juneau office.

We were booked on the 7 am Friday morning ferry to Haines, so I tried to get some sleep. But I only ended up getting about four hours because we had wake up at 5 am so I could check-in and get my car in line. The ferry ride to Haines took about four hours but playing cribbage made it fly by. The ferry was packed and there were several familiar faces from the Capitol on board.

This was my second year in a row attending the Haines Beerfest. Last year I drove a buddy’s car from Anchorage to Haines, and took the ferry to Juneau after. I’m glad I was not relying on the ferry back to Juneau on Sunday because it was cancelled (see this week’s Loose Unit for more on that).

Last year I thought it wise to camp at a park in Haines where hundreds of attendees camp each year. In addition to the cold weather and rain, the boozing, drug usage, and music made that experience not great. So this year I thought better and booked a hotel room at the Aspen Hotel with my buddy Forrest Wolfe. That was a much wiser decision! Big shout out to the Aspen Hotel for being such a great place to stay. It was clean, the staff were awesome, and it didn’t cost an arm and a leg. If you plan on attending Beerfest next year, make sure to book a place in January.

We attended the Brewer’s Dinner on Friday night. Tickets for that sell out fast. This was my first time attending and it was definitely worth it. They served a five course meal and there was plenty of different beers to sample.

I also happened to meet Lee Ellis, a Republican running to replace Representative Laddie Shaw (R – Anchorage) – who is not seeking re-election. Ellis is the president of Midnight Sun Brewing and was in Haines for the Beerfest. He actually met his wife there in 2012. He ended up giving her a ride to Anchorage and they hit it off. They got married in 2016.

Two friends from Anchorage flew to Juneau on Friday night and took the Saturday morning ferry to Juneau. We all went to Beerfest on Saturday and had a great time. While it was not hot and sunny, it was not pouring rain like last year, so it felt like a win.

We all woke up and headed out of Haines around 11 am. With the exception of a delay at the Canadian border (lots of Canadians attend Beerfest so there was a long line) the drive back was uneventful. It was sunny most of the way and we saw four bears in Canada! We got back to Anchorage just before 1 am after a nearly 14 hour drive back. I look forward to not going back to Juneau until January. That is unless there is a special session… Which I think we are all hoping does not happen.

Filing Deadline Approaching

The June 1 filing deadline to run for one of 40 House or 10 Senate seats is fast approaching. A lot of incumbents remain unchallenged. All ten incumbent senators have filed for re-election, though there has been some speculation Senator Click Bishop (R – Fairbanks) may not end up running if he decides he wants to run for governor in 2026. Three incumbent representatives won’t be returning:

Representative Jennie Armstrong (D – Anchorage) is not seeking re-election. Democrat Carolyn Hall is the only person who has filed for that seat so far.
As referenced above, Representative Laddie Shaw is not seeking re-election.
Representative Ben Carpenter (R – Nikiski) is challenging Senator Jesse Bjorkman (R- Nikiski). I predict Carpenter wins that race.

I have heard rumblings that a few incumbent representatives who have filed for office are planning a last minute bait-and-switch. Recall that in 2022 then-Senator Tom Begich told no one of his plan to essentially give now-Senator Löki Tobin (D – Anchorage) his seat. Tobin had worked for Begich, so the scheme was not hard to pull off. Tobin filed right before the filing deadline and then Begich withdrew. It sounds like a few House members are planning to do something similar. I have never agreed with this, regardless of who is doing it. It treats the seat like it belongs to the person and not the people living in the district. It gives the ordained ones an unfair advantage over others who may otherwise run.

Stay tuned for a Landmine article after June 1 that breaks down all the races and looks at how both bodies may end up organizing next year.

Other Happenings

A few people sent me the Alaska Watchman article claiming a National Park Service (NPS) employee had told some people to remove the American Flag from their truck in the park. I saw hundreds of people sharing the story and attacking the NPS superintendent. I found the whole thing far fetched and ignored it, figuring it was fabricated. I mean how in the hell would the NPS tell someone to remove an American Flag? It made no sense. Low and behold the NPS put out this statement yesterday. Sadly, even Senator Dan Sullivan (R – Alaska) was duped by this. Social media can be a really toxic sometimes.

This Week’s Loose Unit

The Alaska Watchman were definitely in the running for this week’s designee. I mean that flag story was fucking loose. But they got beat out due to a development late in the week. This week’s Loose Unit is the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS), specifically the vessel LeConte. During the Haines Beerfest, the AMHS quietly put out a notice saying the LeConte would be out of service until May 29. This is the ferry that was supposed to take a ton of people and cars back to Juneau on Sunday afternoon.

It doesn’t get much looser than hundreds of people getting trapped in Haines during one of the busiest summer weekends. For the people who did not have to take a car back, many ended up buying a plane ticket back at the cost of $200-$250. Those with cars dealing with a nightmare. One person told me they were able to get on a day cruise to get back, which cost $165 per ticket. But her car is stuck in Haines until at least June 7. Her car was put on a waitlist and they can’t even guarantee when her will get back to her. Maximum loose. Another ferry is leaving Haines tonight but I hear it’s pretty full. Imagine the people who bought a ferry ticket months ago and ended up getting stranded in Haines. It’s really too bad the AMHS has become such an unreliable joke. Shame on all of those who have contributed to this.

If you have a nomination for this week’s Loose Unit, or if you have any political news, stories or gossip (or any old pics of politicians or public officials) please email me at jeff@alaskalandmine.com.

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Alaska

Rural Alaska schools face funding shortfall after U.S. House fails to pass bipartisan bill • Alaska Beacon

Published

7 hours ago

January 11, 2025

Press Room

Rural Alaska schools face funding shortfall after U.S. House fails to pass bipartisan bill • Alaska Beacon

Rural schools, mostly in Southeast Alaska, are facing a major funding shortfall this year after the U.S. House of Representatives failed to reauthorize a bill aimed at funding communities alongside national forests and lands.

The bipartisan Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act was first passed in 2000, and enacted to assist communities impacted by the declining timber industry. It provided funds for schools, as well as for roads, emergency services and wildfire prevention. The award varies each year depending on federal land use and revenues. The legislation is intended to help communities located near federal forests and lands pay for essential services. In 2023, the law awarded over $250 million nationwide, and over $12.6 million to Alaska.

But this year, the bill passed the Senate, but stalled in the House of Representatives amid partisan negotiations around the stopgap spending bill to keep the government open until March. House Republicans decided not to vote on the bill amid a dispute around health care funding, a spokesperson for the bill’s sponsor, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, told the Oregon Capital Chronicle, which first reported the story.

Eleven boroughs, as well as unincorporated areas, in the Tongass and Chugach national forests have typically received this funding, awarded through local municipalities. According to 2023 U.S. Forest Service data, some of the districts who received the largest awards, and now face that shortfall, include Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Sitka and Yakutat, as well as the unincorporated areas.

“We’re already at our bottom,” said Superintendent Carol Pate of the Yakutat School District, which received over $700,000 in funding, one of the largest budget sources for its 81 students.

“We are already down to one administrator with six certified teachers,” Pate said in a phone interview Thursday. “We have a small CTE (career and technical education) program. We don’t have any art, we don’t have any music. We have limited travel. Anything that we lose means we lose instruction, and our goal is for the success of our students.”

Yakatat is facing a $126,000 deficit this year, a large sum for their $2.3 million budget, Pate said. “So that’s a pretty significant deficit for us. We do our best to be very conservative during the school year to make up that deficit. So wherever we can save money, we do.”

The school has strong support from the borough, Pate said. However, last year they were forced to cut funding for one teacher and a significant blow for the school, she said.

“We’re trying very hard to break the cycle, but it’s a continuing cycle,” she said. “Every time we lose something, we lose kids because of it, and the more kids we lose, the more programs we lose.”

In the southern Tongass National Forest community of Wrangell, the school district received over $1 million in funds last year, and Superintendent Bill Burr said the federal funding loss is dramatic.

“It’s pretty devastating from a community standpoint,” Burr said in a phone interview. “Because that is very connected to the amount of local contribution that we get from our local borough, it has a dramatic effect on the school district, so I’m disappointed.”

“As these cuts continue to happen, there’s less and less that we’re able to do,” he said. “School districts are cut pretty much as thin as they can. So when these things happen, with no real explanation, the impact for districts that do receive secure schools funding is even more dramatic.”

Whether and how the funding loss will impact the district has yet to be determined, as budgets for next year are still in development, Burr said, but it could mean cuts to matching state grants, facilities projects, or staff salaries. He said most non-state money for the district comes from the federal program.

“Part of our funding does come from sales tax, but a majority of it comes from the secure rural schools (grant),” he said. “So without increases in other areas, the amount of money that can come to the schools is going to be injured.”

“We do have contracts, and a majority of our money is paid in personnel. So we would have those contracts to fill, regardless of the funding, until the end of the year. A major reduction really will affect our ability to provide school services and personnel, so it could have a massive impact on next year’s, the fiscal ‘26 year, budget,” he said.

The district is facing an over $500,000 budget deficit this year, Burr said, and so the loss puts further pressure on the district.

“So we’re continuing to find areas that we can cut back but still provide the same service. But that’s getting harder and harder,” he said.

The schools in unincorporated areas known as regional educational attendance areas, received over $6 million in funding through the program.

Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan supported the bill through the Senate.

Murkowski was disappointed that the bill was not reauthorized, a spokesperson for the senator said.

“As a longtime advocate for this program, she recognizes its critical role in funding schools and essential services in rural communities,” said Joe Plesha, in a text Friday. “She is actively working to ensure its renewal so that states like Alaska are not disadvantaged.”

Former Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola also supported the funding.

Alaska’s school funding formula is complex, and takes into account the local tax base, municipalities’ ability to fund schools, and other factors. With the loss of funding for the local borough’s portion, whether the Legislature will increase funding on the state’s side is to be determined.

The Department of Education and Early Development did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.

Superintendents Burr and Pate described hope for the upcoming legislative session, and an increase in per-pupil spending. “The loss of secure rural schools funding makes it even more difficult to continue with the static funding that education in the state has received,” Burr said.

“I really have high hopes for this legislative season. I think that the people that we’ve elected recognize the need to put funding towards education,” Pate said.

The funding could be restored, if the legislation is reintroduced and passed by Congress. Both Oregon Democratic Sen. Wyden and Idaho Republican Sen. Mike Crapo have said they support passing the funding this year.

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Alaska

Raised In Alaska Spotting Moose And Grizzly On Trail Cameras

Published

19 hours ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

Raised In Alaska Spotting Moose And Grizzly On Trail Cameras

We’re sharing some of the Last Frontier adventures of the popular YouTube account Raised In Alaska. This week: Moose and grizzly trail camera shots.

YouTube screenshot/Raised In Alaska

Subscribe to Raised In Alaska on YouTube. Follow on X, formerly known as Twitter (@akkingon).

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Alaska

Fatal vehicle collision left one dead, two injured at mile 91 of Seward Highway, APD says

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

Fatal vehicle collision left one dead, two injured at mile 91 of Seward Highway, APD says

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – On Thursday, a vehicle collision at mile 91 of the Seward Highway left one dead and two injured, according to an update from APD.

The collision involved two vehicles — a semi-truck and a passenger vehicle.

The Girdwood Fire Department responded at about 8:41 p.m. and pronounced the male driver of the vehicle dead at the scene.

APD says a male and female were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

At the time of publication, the southbound and northbound lanes of the Seward Highway remain closed.

APD is currently investigating the circumstances of the collision and the victim’s identity will be released once they have completed next-of-kin procedures.

Original Story: An incident involving two vehicles at mile 91 of Seward Highway leaves two injured, according to Anchorage Police Department (APD).

APD is responding to the scene and travelers should expect closures at mile 91 for both northbound and southbound lanes of the Seward Highway for at least the next 3 to 4 hours.

Updates will be made as they become available.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

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