Governor Sarah Palin Issues Disaster Declaration For Areas Of Interior Alaska Affected By Ice Jam Flooding; Eagle Particularly Hard Hit

View all posts on the 2009 Interior Alaska floods HERE, in inverse chronological order. The most recent post will appear first.

A View of Eagle, Alaska, partly engulfed by ice jam flooding

On Wednesday May 6th, 2009, Governor Sarah Palin issued a disaster declaration for areas of Interior Alaska affected by flooding. Area covered includes the drainages of the Yukon, Kuskokwim, Kobuk and Susitna rivers. A National Weather Service list of current flood watches and advisories for Interior Alaska is available HERE (link also posted on my sidebar)

The verbal declaration cuts red tape and allows greater coordination between state agencies. It also will provide easier access to state disaster relief funds and receipt of federal funds if there is a federal disaster declaration. But Governor Palin says a formal written declaration will be issued when spring flooding is over and ice is free from rivers. That way, the total number of people affected and the total damages can be assessed by state and local governments.

The community of Eagle, located on the upper Yukon River (see map HERE), has been hit exceptionally hard. On Tuesday, the Yukon River spilled over its banks, inundated the old part of Eagle Village, breached a retaining wall, and spilled into parts of the city. Ice chunks, some the size of houses, which were pushed out of the river bank by the floodwaters, damaged buildings along the city's Front Street, knocking several off their foundations. Officials say many others can't be salvaged. An estimated 10 homes in Eagle were damaged or destroyed and an estimated 30 of the area's 125 residents are homeless. View a Fairbanks Daily News-Miner photo gallery HERE. Read another News-Miner story HERE. KTUU Channel 2 news video embedded below:



A stubborn ice jam on the Yukon River just below Eagle is the culprit, and is keeping water levels well above the river banks. And water levels have fallen only slightly since Tuesday in the community about 200 miles east of Fairbanks. As of 10 P.M. Wednesday night, the river has risen another three feet and has flooded more homes on Front Street. And the threat is spreading downstream to the west. Residents of Circle, downstream of Eagle, have been warned of possible flooding before Saturday. Water levels there are starting to rise, and river ice has started to lift and shift. A large volume of water is expected to move down the river toward Circle when the ice jam downstream from Eagle releases, making Circle vulnerable to what could be the worst flooding in its recent history. And there's also been a report of rising water levels farther downstream, at Fort Yukon. So it's an areawide problem.

Area residents unaffected by the flooding have been quick to open their hearts - and their wallets. As river levels on the Chena River began to recede, and the flood threat to Fairbanks abated, Fairbanks residents sent donations to flood victims in the village of Eagle - so many that Everts Air Alaska asked that people hold off with more donations until further notice. As of Wednesday afternoon, Everts had received more than 7,000 pounds of donations.

Why was Eagle hit so hard? Some flooding along Interior rivers is a ritual springtime occurrence during breakup. But exceptionally warm weather, on top of a cooler-than-normal early April, turned millions of acres of above-average snowpack to liquid within a few days. The National Weather Service warned that this could be a bad year for flooding if the weather played out in this fashion. All the water might have fit through the Yukon River canyon, if it hadn’t been mixed with thousands upon thousands of acres of still-firm river ice. That ice jammed in the bends somewhere below Eagle and held, despite an unfathomable head of pressure behind it. Result - disaster. Nothing you can really do about it. The National Weather Service actually conducts flights along these rivers, and when they see an ice jam, they'll land at the nearest upstream villages and warn them in person so they can take protective measures.

One other area of Interior Alaska of some concern is Kotzebue, which had more than twice its normal annual snowfall this winter. But Tundra Tantrum says that while breakup is messy, there's no major flooding, although trucks are going about pumping out some wet spots which have flood potential. But only half their snow has melted.

These communities may not have as many people as Fargo, North Dakota, but the communities are just as important to those who live there. And one additional complication; unlike Fargo, they're not on the state road system. So everything must be flown in.

New Hays Poll Shows Governor Sarah Palin's Approval Rating Skidding To Historic Low Of 54 Percent, While Senator Lisa Murkowski Rises To 76 Percent

The results of a new Hays Research Poll have been posted on the Anchorage Daily News' Alaska Politics blog (though not on the Hays website yet), and they show that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's approval rating has slid to the lowest point of her Administration so far.

The poll of 400 Alaskans paid for by Hays Research and conducted during May 4-5, with a margin of error of 4.9 percent, shows that Governor Palin now has an overall positive rating of 54 percent and an overall negative rating of 41.6 percent. Most significantly, 24.8 percent of respondents rated her as Very Negative, while 30.5 percent rated her as Very Positive. Thus Governor Palin continues to inspire a strong passionate and emotional response on both sides of the proverbial "aisle"; not many elected officials inspire that type of passion.

The previous Hays poll, taken during March 24-25, showed Governor Palin’s overall positive ratings at 59.8 percent and negatives at 34.9 percent at that time. Once again, a plurality of responses were either Very Positive or Very Negative. So her approval rating has skidded nearly six percentage points in only six weeks, not a good sign. And it's a long way down from her stratospheric 86 percent positive and 9 percent negative Hays reported in a poll almost exactly a year ago.

No single "catastrophic" event seems to be responsible. Instead, it's the cumulative effect of a series of relatively minor setbacks - almost a "death by a thousand cuts" if you will, which are eroding Palin's support. These include:

-- Continued spamming of the Governor with so-called "ethics complaints" for the purposes of political warfare.
-- The seemingly-endless and pointless television feud between Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin.
-- The unsuccessful nomination of Wayne Anthony Ross as Attorney General.
-- The Alaska Senate Democrats deliberately sandbagging and protracting the process of filling the vacancy in Senate District B simply to get back at Palin.

Each of these actions weakened the Governor's support within different constituencies, contributing to the overall decline in approval.

In her analysis posted on the Huffington Post, KBYR 700AM progressive talk show host Shannyn Moore, whose show airs 5-7 P.M. every Saturday, also cites Governor Palin's reluctance to accept Federal stimulus funds as a possible factor in the decline of Governor Palin's popularity. But while this may have been a factor at one time, it has been since superseded by the fact that the Governor has now decided to accept all but $29 million of the $930 million in Federal stimulus funds available to the state.

Since this post, conservative talk show host Dan Fagan has posted his analysis on The Alaska Standard. Fagan believes that part of the reason for Palin's declining popularity was her decision to appoint Judge Morgen Christen, a former Planned Parenthood board member, to the Alaska Supreme Court. While this decision originally alarmed the Alaska Family Council, it was soon revealed that Christen left Planned Parenthood before they actually started performing abortions in Alaska, thus allaying the concerns of social conservatives. In addition, Fagan suggests that Governor Palin is also battling the growing perception among Alaskans that she is more concerned about her presidential ambitions than governing the state, but I also consider this to be inconsequential. Conservatives4Palin have over-reacted to Fagan's analysis; I actually consider it one of the most fair and balanced assessments of Palin that he's ever written.

The Hays poll also measured Senator Lisa Murkowski's support, and shows that her popularity has increased from 72 percent to 76 percent during the six week period. However, unlike Palin, Murkowski doesn't trigger as strong of an emotional response; very few respondents are either Very Positive or Very Negative. Supporters of Senator Murkowski respect her much more than they actually like her; they view her as being quietly competent, efficient, and professional.

Governor Palin is a long way from being in any serious political trouble. She still has a strong and vocal core constituency. But she needs to slow or even halt the decline in her approval rating, or else it will take on a life of its own. In particular, the Governor needs to let her hired guns be the hired guns and not try to be a hired gun herself. She also needs to figure out how to put a leash and a muzzle on both Bristol and Levi; these two are becoming an embarrassment to themselves and the state. It's time for those two to quit playing celebrity and get back to being parents.

Conservatism Alive And Well In Alaska: Republican Dan Sullivan Cruises To Victory Over Democrat Eric Croft In Anchorage 2009 Mayoral Runoff Election

The Face of a Winner

Reports of the death of conservatism in America have been greatly exaggerated. And more proof of that statement is unfolding in Anchorage, Alaska on May 5th, 2009, as conservative mayoral candidate Dan Sullivan cruised to victory over the more liberal Eric Croft. With all 119 precincts now counted, Sullivan leads by 57-43 percent (well over a 7,300 vote lead), so for all intents and purposes, it's over, and congratulations, Mayor-elect Sullivan. Also a hat tip to Eric Croft for running a spirited campaign. The Alaska Standard is live-blogging it from the Millenium Hotel at this time. KTUU story will be posted HERE. The Anchorage Daily News has now declared Sullivan the winner. Sullivan will officially be sworn in on July 1st. KTUU news video embedded below:



Sullivan's 17-month grand adventure began on December 19th, 2007, just six months prior to the expiration of his third and final term on the Anchorage Assembly. He nearly pulled off an outright victory on April 7th, 2009 when he ended up with 43.38 percent of the vote, just shy of the 45 percent necessary to avoid a runoff. There were simply too many marquee candidates in the race. Had Paul Honeman alone stayed out, it is possible that Sullivan would have got 45 percent. Afterwards, many of the losing candidates ganged up on Sullivan, with Matt Claman, Sheila Selkregg, and Paul Honeman all endorsing Eric Croft. In contrast, Walt Monegan kept his word and chose to endorse neither Sullivan nor Croft.

A KTUU "unscientific" poll conducted on April 9th showed 58 percent of respondents supporting Croft; now we know just how unscientific their polls are. Most other projections showed Sullivan winning up to 55 percent of the vote. On April 24th, Sullivan picked up a critical but potentially double-edged endorsement from former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens; in retrospect, that may have helped seal Sullivan's victory. He also picked up the Anchorage Daily News endorsement.

Also on April 9th, I decided to handicap the runoff election by projecting how the support of the defeated candidates would migrate. Here's what I wrote:

Here's a rough breakdown on the possible migration of votes in the runoff election. Note that this is unscientific, primarily driven by gut feel and precedence:

Dan Sullivan: Starts out with his 43 percent.
Eric Croft: Starts out with his 19 percent.
Sheila Selkregg: As one of the most progressive candidates, her supporters will overwhelmingly support Croft. Of her 16 percent, 14 goes to Croft, two to Sullivan. Selkregg has now publicly endorsed Croft.
Matt Claman: As another of the most progressive candidates, his supporters will migrate to Croft. Of his 6 percent, 5 goes to Croft, one to Sullivan. Claman has publicly endorsed Croft.
Paul Honeman: Most of his supporters likely to migrate to Sullivan; 4 percent to Sullivan, one percent to Croft. Honeman has not publicly endorsed either candidate.
Walt Monegan: A wild card. I'd say of his 9 percent, 6 percent to Croft, 3 percent to Sullivan. Monegan will not endorse either candidate.
Nine secondary candidates: More likely to support Croft, except for Billy Ray Powers' constituency.

And when I add up the totals, I get 55 percent for Sullivan, and 45 percent for Croft.

And how did we end up? 57 percent for Sullivan, 43 percent for Croft. It looks like this handicapping tactic worked better than KTUU's "unscientific" poll, at the very least.

Rarely has a newly-minted mayor been better prepared to take the helm of a city than Dan Sullivan. Not only is he the son of former Anchorage Mayor George Sullivan, but he also served three terms on the Anchorage Assembly, where he learned every possible trick Assembly Members use to sneak their pet projects through the mill. Thus Sullivan will be superbly prepared to cope with the Assembly should it slip into a spendthrift mode.

Want To Know What Swine Flu Is Like? None In Alaska Yet, But Utah's Steven Robertson Believes He Had It, And It Lasted A Week

So far, we Alaskans have escaped the swine flu that's circulated throughout parts of the Lower 48. But with flights coming in to Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau daily, it's only a matter of time before someone brings it here.

So what's it like? How long does it last? How sick do you get? And how will you know it is swine flu? For answers to these questions, we turn to Utah resident Steven Robertson, who believes he had it, and described his experience to KSL Channel 5 in Salt Lake City. In his case, swine flu has not been officially confirmed yet; he awaits the results of tests from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But Robertson told KSL that this flu, while no worse than any previous bout, distinctly felt different. "It seemed different; not necessarily worse, but a lot different from any illness that I've had before," he said. It lasted a week, and the onset was fast. It started with a cough and sore throat during the day on Monday April 27th. By Monday night, the symptoms dramatically worsened. "Very bad; bad body aches and a high fever. I was sweating," Robertson said. After a visit with a doctor, the state health department determined he was one of the "probable" samples to be sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But by Monday May 4th, he was back to work. Watch the embedded KSL video for the full story.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

In Utah, there is still just one confirmed case of swine flu and 17 "probable" cases. Distribution includes 10 cases in Summit County, 4 cases in Salt Lake County, 1 case in the Weber-Morgan Health District, and 2 cases in Utah County (both were out of state when they caught the virus and got sick). But as a precaution, schools were swine flu exposure is suspect are being shut down. All Park City schools are also closed until May 10th or later, and Redwood Elementary School announced Monday May 4th that it will shut down for 14 days. It appeared likely that the same precautions could have been observed in Alaska, but the state has published new guidance as of May 5th, and it appears schools wouldn't necessarily close.

For more Alaska information, visit the Pandemic Flu Alaska website. The Anchorage School District has already posted their contingency plans HERE, which include links to other official agencies tracking this outbreak. The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District has also posted information on their website.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization is backing off a bit now, saying that even if it raises its scale from 5 to 6, signs are the swine flu would result in a mild pandemic. Cases in Mexico, where it originated, are beginning to level off, and Mexican officials have lowered their swine flu alert. The Mexican origin of this outbreak generated some nasty rhetoric about Mexico, but despite its reputation as a "failing state" because of narcoterrorism, it seems like the Mexican government reacted well to the crisis. And many health officials in the United States are now starting to relax concerns.

But our turn in Alaska is invariably coming.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin To Support A Ballot Measure To Restore Parental Consent Mandate For Teenage Abortions, Since HB35 Stalled In The Senate

After a little over two years, the Sarah Palin I voted for in the August 2006 Republican primary and again in the November 2006 general election is finally manifesting herself in full. Governor Palin is now acting more explicitly like the pro-life, pro-family social conservative originally marketed. The Governor intends to back a prospective ballot measure which would allow voters to bypass the legislature and make it illegal for teenagers to get an abortion without telling their parents. And the Governor volunteers to be the first to sign the petition.

Story also picked up by the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (for the comments) and Conservatives4Palin. KTUU Channel 2 news video embedded below:



But mindful of the "ethics fascists" who are constantly on the prowl, looking for even the tiniest excuse to spam her with an "ethics complaint", Governor Palin, who briefly considered sponsoring the measure herself, decided otherwise after checking with the state's lawyers. "I got a preliminary opinion from Law (Department) just giving me a heads up that critics would certainly file an ethics charge against me if I were to sponsor an initiative. So though I maintain I have First Amendment rights just as any other citizen does, I won't flirt with the notion of giving critics more ammunition to keep filing wasteful ethics charges against me, but instead I'll volunteer to be the first signature," Palin said.

The initiative sponsors, including former Lt. Gov. Loren Leman, former Anchorage school board candidate Mia Costello, and Kim Hummer-Minnery, who is the wife of Alaska Family Council President Jim Minnery, applied last week to start gathering signatures. Specifically, the proposed measure, which is more precisely described as a "parental involvement initiative", would require parental "notice or consent" before a woman under 18 could have an abortion, unless the teen convinced a court otherwise or there was a medical emergency. There would have to be a 48-hour waiting period after the parent is notified -- but that could be waived if the parent gave consent for the abortion.

The sponsors can start collecting signatures once Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell certifies the ballot language as legal. The goal is to get the initiative on the ballot for the next primary election, which will be in August 2010. That would require the sponsors to gather at least 32,734 signatures before the legislative session starts in January 2010. And Jim Minnery believes it will be a piece of cake to get the required signatures, since he describes it as a parental rights initiative rather than an anti-abortion initiative. A KTUU Channel 2 "unscientific" poll taken late on May 4th strongly corroborates Minnery's opinion; this poll indicates that 77 percent of respondents would vote in favor of this initiative.

Other influential supporters will likely include Pastor Jerry Prevo of the Anchorage Baptist Temple and North Pole-area Pastor Rick Sikma, who ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator in 2008. Many other Evangelicals, as well as Mormons and Catholics, are likely to support the initiative as well.

On the other side of the fence, Planned Parenthood will oppose the initiative. Many teens come from unhealthy families and could take dangerous steps to avoid the consequences that would come from facing their parents, said Clover Simon, the Alaska vice president of Planned Parenthood. "I'm afraid that young women in that situation are going to see this and they're just not going to get any help at all and they are going to take things into their own hand. ... If you Google abortion or self-induced abortion you can get all kinds of bad advice," she said. But Ms. Simon produced no statistics showing if this is a widespread problem or not; generally, such cases of egregious abuse tend to be few and far between.

Triggering the initiative was legislative posturing, grandstanding, and obstructing. During the 2009 session, many lawmakers, mostly Democrats, were much more interested in sabotaging Governor Palin's nominees and outing anonymous bloggers than they were in doing the business of the people. As a result, only 61 out of 440 introduced bills passed, a total of 14 percent. And one of the 87 percent not passed was HB35, which would have required girls under 17 to tell their parents they're about to have an abortion. Although it passed in the House, it subsequently stalled in the Senate thanks to Sen. Bettye Davis' obstructionism. Senator Davis (D-East Anchorage), who chairs the Health Committee, claims the bill needs "more work".

But setting this whole process in motion was the infamous decision by the Alaska Supreme Court in November 2007, when by a 3-2 vote, they invalidated Alaska's parental consent law, claiming that it robbed a pregnant teen of her "constitutional right" to make such an important decision herself and transfers that right to her parents or a judge. But Chief Justice Dana Fabe, in the majority decision for the court, offered some wiggle room, suggesting that a law requiring parents to be notified but not necessarily give consent would probably pass judicial muster.

It's good to see Governor Palin playing offense as well as defense on social issues once again. It is illogical to deny parents control over teenage abortions when their consent is required before their teenagers can receive other non-emergency medical treatment. While the ballot measure is not the best way to enact such a law, legislative inaction makes it necessary.

Anchorage Daily News Decries The Endless Spamming Of Ethics Complaints Against The Palin Administration For Political Purposes

What in the world is happening at 1001 Northway Drive? Did Paul Jenkins stage a coup d'etat in the boardroom, and kidnap Matt Zencey to hold him for ransom??? LOL!

One would almost think so. First, the Anchorage Daily News officially endorses conservative candidate Dan Sullivan for mayor. Of course, they did it more for situational reasons rather than ideological affinity; they believe his conservative approach is better suited to deal with a climate of increasing financial uncertainty.

Now the Anchorage Daily News has floored me - by publishing a rather pointed editorial column decrying the spamming of the Palin Administration with ethics complaints - a total of 13 at last count. The full editorial can be read HERE. Politico.com has also just published a lengthy article of its own about the complaints against Palin.

The complaint by Kim Chatman, previously discussed HERE, seems to have pushed them over the edge. While ADN would prefer that Governor Palin's legal defense fund be named differently than the potentially-misleading Alaska Fund Trust, they acknowledge and assert her right to solicit funds to pay for defending herself against all these ethics complaints, inasmuch as she has run up $500,000 in legal costs and the state is not paying the bill.

But what's most encouraging is that ADN recognizes the negative effect that all these "sound-alike" unsubstantiated ethics complaints are beginning to have on public opinion. They recognize that people are becoming cynical, so that each time another ethics complaint is filed, people want to dismiss it as "wolf-crying". The inherent danger is that a genuine ethics problem may end up being unexposed and unresolved because people won't take it seriously.

What also concerns ADN is the double standard in confidentiality between ethics complaints against the legislative branch and those directed against the executive branch. Complaints against the legislative branch enjoy greater confidentiality; if the complainant publicly discloses the complaint after it's filed, the complaint automatically gets quashed. Not so with complaints against the executive. All ethics complaints should be covered by the same standard of confidentiality.

And to that recommendation, I'll add my own previously-stated suggestion: Attach a financial stake to these ethics complaints to screen out frivolous or nuisance complaints. A complainant would include a $500 deposit with each complaint filed. If the complaint is substantiated, the complainant gets the money back; if not, the money is forfeited to the State of Alaska. While this is somewhat extreme, it will discourage the use of the ethics complaint as a weapon of political revenge.

Besides, who really gives a shit what logo appears on Sarah Palin's jacket? Her wardrobe will have no impact on my PFD check. Speaking of which, the author of that particularly complaint, Celtic Diva, finally posted her reaction to the ADN editorial HERE, and as expected, disagreed with it.

One commenter to the ADN editorial suggested that ADN prepare a list of all ethics complaints against Governor Palin to date, providing all pertinent details including disposition and costs. While I won't go quite that far, I have prepared a partial list of links to some of the ethics complaints listed below, in inverse chronological order, using this ADN news search:

-- Previous post on Kim Chatman's complaint.
-- Previous post on Sondra Tompkins complaint, April 23rd, 2009.
-- Previous post on Linda Kellen Biegel's complaint, March 25th, 2009.
-- ADN story on Andree McLeod's fourth complaint, including separate PDF, March 18th, 2009.
-- Andree McLeod ethics complaint against Palin's communications director Bill McAllister, January 23rd, 2009. ADN story HERE, Alaska Politics blog post HERE, PDF document HERE.
-- Andree McLeod ethics complaint against Palin's Anchorage office director Kris Perry, January 23rd, 2009. ADN story HERE, Alaska Politics blog post HERE, PDF document HERE.
-- ADN Alaska Politics blog on Zane Henning's complaint (with PDF), November 19th, 2008.
-- CBS News report of Frank Gwartney's complaint, including PDF, October 24th, 2008.
-- ADN story on Troopers Union complaint (no PDF), September 5th, 2008.
-- Sarah Palin ethics complaint against herself, September 1st, 2008. ADN story HERE, PDF documents HERE and HERE.
-- ADN story on Andree McLeod's complaint (no PDF), August 7th, 2008.

Anchorage Running Out Of Developable Land, Knik Arm Bridge Needed To Open Up Point Mackenzie, And Only Dan Sullivan Supports The Bridge

Most Anchorage voters already know that on the issue of the proposed Knik Arm Bridge, Dan Sullivan supports it, while Eric Croft opposes it. So if you think building the Knik Arm Bridge is essential not only to the economic future of Anchorage, but also to optimize the land transportation grid of South Central Alaska, Sullivan is the natural choice in the May 5th mayoral runoff election.

So the only remaining question - is the Knik Arm Bridge really important? Chris Stephens is a local associate broker specializing in commercial and investment real estate. And the Anchorage Daily News published his column about the newly-released Anchorage Industrial Land Assessment report, which provides an in-depth analysis of whether the amount of industrial land in Anchorage is adequate for the next 20 years. The report was produced by Economic & Planning Systems Inc. for the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation (AEDC), and it concludes that Anchorage is critically short of industrial land.

How short? The baseline projection shows a need for 720 acres of industrial land through 2030. But only 431 acres without soil limitations are available in Anchorage, including the land north to Eklutna, leaving a shortage of 289 acres. Optimization of industrial land use could increase the available land by 166 to 331 acres, but this would give us barely enough even in the best-case scenario.

Protecting industrial land from other uses is addressed in the proposed change in land-use regulations, Title 21. Under the existing code, industrial-zoned land may be used for other purposes such as retail. The proposed change will restrict industrial-zoned land use to industrial only. But the proposed changes in Title 21, while preserving industrial land, would be at the expense of other land uses, reducing their supply and driving up their prices, and does nothing to solve the underlying problem, which is that we are short on land. On the other hand, if industrial land is not protected, then industry would more likely shift to Mat-Su, where more industrial land is available, and cheaper.

Astoundingly, the study does not recommend considering adding to the supply of industrial land through construction of the Knik Arm Bridge to open up land across the inlet. Unfortunately, the bridge has become a political football. In April, regional transportation planners took initial steps to remove the bridge from the list of approved projects. If finalized, that would block needed federal funding of the bridge. The planners felt the bridge would use up funds needed more for other projects.

Chris Stephens believes that the Knik Arm Bridge is the most logical solution. While a bridge will use money that could be used for other projects, ignoring this possible solution to our land shortage has a very high cost that might well be greater than the benefits of projects that the bridge money might fund. Opening up land over at Point Mackenzie will not only provide an outlet for industrial development, but for additional residential development as well. This would reduce the pressure on Anchorage's treasured parklands.

The Knik Arm Bridge, as currently projected, is not perfect. Routing the southern terminus directly through Government Hill and into Downtown is not the smartest course of action; it would bisect Government Hill, diminishing the quality of life and property values there, and disgorge too much traffic directly into an already-saturated Downtown. However, routing the southern terminus through either Boniface Road or Hiland Drive are both viable alternatives which should be pushed more aggressively. These alternatives might make a key opponent of the bridge, Downtown Assemblyman Patrick Flynn, more supportive of the project.

By the way, Dan Sullivan and Eric Croft squared off in their last major debate on Saturday evening. Moderator Jason Moore was smart enough to give them a long leash and allow them to extensively interact with one another. Croft persistently tried to nail down Sullivan on his specific sales tax proposal, and Sullivan just as persistently maintained that he intends to find out from the community the potential impacts before he supports any specific proposal. The four videos of the debates are posted on the KTUU website, on the main page.

Both Eric Croft and Dan Sullivan obviously care about the community and have extensive records of public service. Both are second-generation politicians. But during a time of financial uncertainty, we need a mayor who will focus on making do more with what we already have rather than spend money on unnecessary ruffles and flourishes. Dan Sullivan fits the bill better than Eric Croft, and Sullivan is who I'm supporting. Even the Anchorage Daily News supports Sullivan. In addition, Planned Parenthood has also endorsed Eric Croft; that's just another reason to support Dan Sullivan.

But regardless of who you support, get out and vote on May 5th. Anchorage teems with polling stations; there is no excuse not to vote. Election information can be found HERE. Information on candidates at the following links:

-- Dan Sullivan:
---- Official campaign website HERE.
---- December 2007 press release outlining his vision HERE.
---- KTUU Channel 2 profile with video HERE.
---- Anchorage Press profile on Sullivan HERE.
---- KSKA Interview accessible HERE.
---- List of individual contributors to Sullivan's campaign HERE.
-- Eric Croft:
---- Official campaign website HERE.
---- Myspace website HERE.
---- KTUU Channel 2 profile with video HERE.
---- Anchorage Press profile on Croft HERE.
---- Alaska Dispatch profile on Croft HERE.
---- KSKA Interview accessible HERE.
---- List of individual contributors to Croft's campaign (3-7 thru 3-28) HERE.

Anonymous Donor Gives $7 Million To The University Of Alaska-Anchorage (UAA), But Most Of It Must Be Used Only For Minority And Female Scholarships

The University of Alaska-Anchorage (UAA) was one of several colleges nationwide which received an anonymous $7 million donation. Including the UAA donation, the same donor has now reportedly given $81 million in donations to 15 other universities across the U.S. in 2009. The common denominator - all the colleges are headed by women. One school checked with the IRS to make sure the money didn't come from an illegal source. The UAA student newspaper, The Northern Knight, has the most comprehensive story.

UAA Chancellor Fran Ulmer responded. "There are about a dozen schools in the lower 48 that have received similar gifts. Similar in the sense that they were anonymous, they were between two and 10 million dollars and that the majority of the money had to be used for scholarships," said Ulmer.

While $1 million will be applied to the new UAA Integrated Science Building opening in the fall of 2009, the donor specified that UAA must use the remaining $6 million on scholarships for women and minority students. As a result, UAA will establish the "Seawolf Opportunity Scholarship" or "S.O.S." The scholarship will provide tuition assistance for up to four-full years at UAA, include $2,000 worth of either on-campus housing or licensed childcare, and add $1,000 in Wolfbucks in their second, third and fourth years of attendance.

Similar demographic conditions were imposed upon the donations to other schools. From an earlier and now-somewhat outdated report posted by Fox 29 in Philadelphia, I've discovered the identities of some of the other schools, and the amounts given per school (additional information also posted on a NY Daily News story and WHO-TV in Iowa and the Detroit News):

-- Norfolk State University, $3.5 million.
-- Purdue University, $8 million
-- University of North Carolina-Asheville, $1.5 million
-- University of Iowa, $7 million
-- University of Southern Mississippi, $6 million
-- University of North Carolina-Greensboro, $6 million
-- University of Maryland-University College, $6 million
-- University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, $5.5 million
-- Penn State-Harrisburg, $3 million
-- Michigan State University, $10 million
-- Binghamton University, $6 million
-- Hunter College, $5 million
-- Montclair State University, $5 million
-- University of Iowa, $7 million
-- Kalamazoo College, $2 million

All reported 16 universities are now accounted for.

One person raised a bit of a ruckus about this on Stormfront. However, I'm not going to raise hell about it, for three reasons. First, people who otherwise might not be able to get a college education will benefit from these scholarships; that's certainly not a bad thing. Second, the scholarships, though oriented towards minorities and women, will still be needs-based; applicants will be means-tested in some fashion. And finally, there's the classic libertarian argument that a person has the right to dispose of resources in any lawful fashion.

And the latter principle applies to the rest of us as well. Consequently, instead of getting mad and venting about the tilt towards minorities and women, I can instead choose to balance the scales by contributing to the Nationalist Coalition's White Community Scholarship Fund. Because of the proven benefits to the various non-White communities of race-based scholarship funds (e.g., the United Negro College Fund’s positive impact on the Black community), the Nationalist Coalition has created the White Community Scholarship Fund to reward that driven student who has demonstrated commitment to helping the White community. One scholarship in the amount of $1,000 will be rewarded to the most deserving student in 2009. Information and applications available via THIS LINK; applications must be submitted by July 15th, 2009. An Alaskan could easily apply for and qualify for this scholarship. Here's a video explaining it further:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZQNPBq1ScE



A list of other race and ethnic-based scholarships, most of them for non-Whites, can be found HERE. The bottom line - don't get mad, get even and help someone who otherwise may not be able to get a college education.