Alaska Gold and Copper Mine Project Moves Forward, Despite Environmentalist Objections

/0 Comments/in , /by

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its final environmental impact statement on Friday which found gold and copper mining in Alaska “would not be expected to have a measurable effect on fish numbers.”

That clears the final hurdle for the Corps to issue a permit this year to Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., the Canadian company that has proposed the mining operation in the state.

Environmentalists oppose the project and the Obama administration did what it could to keep the Alaskan wilderness off limits to energy production.

“In a scientific review conducted under the Obama administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that the mine could result in ‘significant and unacceptable adverse effects’ on fishery areas and ecologically important streams, wetlands, lakes, and ponds,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

Tom Collier, chief executive of Pebble Limited Partnership, the U.S. subsidiary of Northern Dynasty, said in the Times report that the Corps’ process was “extensive, rigorous and transparent,” and not in fact rushed, taking more than two years, about average for environmental reviews in Alaska. (Read more from “Alaska Gold and Copper Mine Project Moves Forward, Despite Environmentalist Objections” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Who Benefits from Alaskan’s Binding Caucuses?

/0 Comments/in , /by

We’ve had many interesting legislative sessions in Alaska this last decade, but these last two years have really highlighted a unique situation we’re in. When I say unique, I mean that no other state has a binding caucus in their legislature, and in fact, some have laws against the concept. So what is a binding caucus? A caucus is just a group of legislators that agree on one or more issues who want to work together to help advance those issues. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that. The best legislation comes through cooperation. There is usually one large caucus that determines leadership and the direction of each body of the legislature.

However Alaska’s type of binding caucus controls the whole body with a built-in commitment that says every member must vote for the capital and operating budget. They must also vote with leadership on every single technical process motion. The caucus is joined because of ‘quid pro quo’. The legislators joining the caucus get the benefits of powerful committee positions and extra staff. So what does this all mean?

First, the elected official must agree to vote for bills and motions up-front, up to two years in advance. This is before they’ve read the bill or heard the motion. Second, they have to vote that way even if it
hurts their district and constituents. Third, they must vote that way even if it violates their conscience. Finally, there is punishment for those who don’t vote as they are told. They can be thrown out of the
caucus, or as we saw this last session, lose most of their staff and their committee positions, which happened to three different Senators.

The main purpose for the binding caucus is to concentrate power in the hands of the leadership. Those who are accepted into leadership have the power to do anything they want. That’s how they were able to strip out the COVID stimulus that was voted into the budget. It’s how they were able to steal two-thirds of your PFD this year even though the votes were against them. The entire budget in the Senate was determined by the six members of leadership, so most districts had no say in the budget.

Alaska’s binding caucus is so much worse than that. The legislative leaders have decided that statute no longer applies to them. So when the Governor called a session in Wasilla in accordance with Alaska statute and Constitution, the Legislative leadership decided that they were above statute and they refused to meet anywhere but Juneau (where all their perks and lobbyists were). What’s “funny” is that that was the same statute that they had used a few years before to not meet in Juneau when Governor Walker called a special session and they voted to meet in Anchorage. So yeah, they obey the law when it works for them. After the governor changed his mind and everyone was in Juneau they punished the Senate Majority Leader for obeying the law and stripped her of her position. Remember, every time they choose to go over a 90-day session they are breaking statute, since the people voted in a 90-day session limit that hasn’t been revoked.

When I was on the Assembly, if we needed to do something different than what was in code; like waiving Title 16, then we brought forth an ordinance that said that, took public testimony on it, and voted on it publicly. In our Legislature, the leadership of the binding caucus just makes up rules as they go along, being completely unaccountable to the people and even breaking their own uniform rules of conduct.

This whole situation these last two years has really brought the integrity issues of the binding caucus to light, and so many of the Republican primaries around the State are happening because of the dissatisfaction with how our Legislators have been acting or how they have been cowed into inaction. For those in districts with these kind of primaries this is the critical issue that you need to ask your candidates about. It’s time to free our legislators to vote with integrity as representatives of the people in their districts. Please hold their feet to the fire.

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Alaska Man, Who Dressed as Sister, Is Charged With Murder After Friend’s Decomposed Body Found Under Floorboards

/0 Comments/in , /by

By K Newz. Five years after an Alaska man went missing, his decomposed body was found beneath the floorboards of his supposed friend’s home in Wasilla, the Daily Mail reports.

Daniel Roy Buckwalter, 46, hailed from Big Lake and vanished in August 2015. Later, his abandoned truck was found in the Houston area, his blood inside.

Now a grand jury in Palmer has indicted Jay Osmond Gardner, 55, beneath whose floorboards Buckwalter’s body, or what was left of it, was finally found. Gardner was arrested on March 25 at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International airport in Alaska as the man attempted to flee the state while dressed as his sister. . .

According to 11 KVTA, since being relieved of his drag disguise, Gardner has been stuck in a men’s jail. There he’ll have plenty of time to regret allegedly murdering the Alaska man and hiding him beneath the floorboards. (Read more from “Alaska Man, Who Dressed as Sister, Is Charged With Murder After Friend’s Decomposed Body Found Under Floorboard” HERE)

_____________________________________________________

Cops Arrest a Wanted Man, 55, Trying to Board a Flight Dressed as His Sister, Then Find Body of a Friend He ‘Murdered’ Five Years Ago Under His Floorboards

By Daily Mail. An Alaska man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering his friend who was missing for five years, after police discovered caught him trying to flee the state while impersonating his sister and then found remains under the floorboards of his home. . .

States Troopers took Gardner into custody at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport on March 25, 2020 and after it finding evidence that he was attempting to flee the state under his sister’s identity, he was charged with numerous counts related to fraud and identity theft.

Gardner’s true Alaska state ID card was issued in his birth name and identity of Jay Osmond Gardner on March 1, 2019. It is alleged that, on January 22, 2020, a renewal of an Alaska state ID was issued to Gardner after he fraudulently presented himself to be Cher Jammes, in name and appearance.

When confronted by an investigator, he told them to refer to him as ‘Janey’ because he was teased while growing up with the name Cher. (Read more from “Cops Arrest a Wanted Man, 55, Trying to Board a Flight Dressed as His Sister, Then Find Body of a Friend He ‘Murdered’ Five Years Ago Under His Floorboards” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Quirky Alaska Tourist Town Struggles for Survival Amid Virus

/0 Comments/in , /by

. . .It’s almost “ghost town-esque,” said Fernando Salvador, a hotel manager in Talkeetna, which lies about halfway between Anchorage and Denali National Park.

By late May, Main Street should be jammed with meandering tourists slurping ice cream cones and stopping at gift shops alongside original cabins built in this community of about 800. But the coronavirus has upended everything.

Communities across Alaska are feeling the financial squeeze, from cruise ship ports where major lines have canceled summer sailings, to Talkeetna, which bills itself as the Gateway to Denali and where the ship passengers arrive on buses for inland excursions. Nearly half of the state’s 2.2. million annual visitors usually arrive on those vessels. (Read more from “Quirky Alaska Tourist Town Struggles for Survival Amid Virus” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

The Last (And Final) Frontier: Why the Space Force Belongs in Alaska

/0 Comments/in , /by

As the sixth and newest branch of our nation’s military sets out to master the final frontier, it is my belief that Alaska, the Last Frontier, is the clear choice to base this historic mission. Alongside Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, I have submitted a joint request to station U.S. Space Command here in our nation’s 49th state.

In 1935, Gen. Billy Mitchell, father of the U.S. Air Force, called Alaska the “most important strategic place in the world.” From World War II, in which Alaska was the only place in North America to be invaded, to the depths of the Cold War, where Arctic radar outposts protected against Soviet missile launches, the truth of Mitchell’s claim has been well established.

Anchorage, home to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, is perfectly positioned to carry on this legacy. In addition, our state-of-the-art Pacific Spaceport Complex provides military launch capabilities just a short distance from Anchorage. The facility, run by the publicly owned Alaska Aerospace Corporation, has conducted successful space launches since 1998 and is quickly expanding to accommodate the current commercial space boom.

But Mitchell’s assertion extended beyond the realm of national security. Today, Anchorage serves as North America’s gateway to Asia-Pacific trade. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, which briefly held the title of “world’s busiest” airport earlier this year, lies within nine hours of 90% of the industrialized world. With a deep-water port that continues to grow in significance as Bering Sea ice recedes, the commercial importance of Anchorage will only increase in the years ahead. (Read more from “The Last (And Final) Frontier: Why the Space Force Belongs in Alaska” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Joe Miller Endorses Christopher Kurka in Contested District 7 Valley House Race

/0 Comments/in , /by

Former Republican US Senate Nominee Joe Miller has decided to jump into the District 7 State House race with both feet, endorsing Christopher Kurka as the clear conservative choice for Wasilla.

In January, Representative Colleen Sullivan-Leonard announced that she would not seek re-election to the Alaska State House seat in District 7, clearing the way for an open primary.

While three candidates have filed to replace Sullivan-Leonard, according to his Facebook page, Robert Yundt II has withdrawn from the race in favor of former Representative Lynn Gattis. His stated rationale was that he feared he and Gattis would “split the moderate vote and hand Kurka the victory.” Gattis, who liked the post, presumably agrees with his assessment.

This sets up a head-to-head primary race in District 7 between proven conservative and former Alaska Right to Life Executive Director Christopher Kurka and former Representative Lynn Gattis.

Christopher Kurka is a husband, father of four, businessman, and long-time political activist, serving multiple stints on the Alaska Republican Party’s State Central Committee, both as a Bonus vote and as a District Chair. He also served as Vice President of Alaska Right to Life, and subsequently as Executive Director of Alaska’s largest advocacy group dedicated solely to the Constitutional Right to Life. In addition to his duties as Executive Director, Kurka also ran the Alaska Right to Life Political Action Committees, and has volunteered on numerous candidate campaigns for both State and Federal office. Christopher and his wife Haylee met volunteering on Joe Miller’s 2010 US Senate campaign.

Kurka is promising to take on the State spending issue, advocate for a full PFD, oppose the binding caucus, vote against a State income tax, and stand up for conservative Wasilla values.

His opponent, Lynn Gattis, is a long-time politico in the Valley, serving in various capacities with the District and State Republican Parties, on the Mat-Su School Board, as State Representative, and as staff for the Democrat-controlled House Majority. For conservatives, her time in the State House was at best unremarkable, and at worst problematic. Having voted for some of the largest budgets in State history, and for the infamous SB 91 jailbreak, it would be easy to see her as part of the problem.

In the comment section of the aforementioned Yundt Facebook post, State Senator Mike Shower, who represents much of the mat-su in the State Senate noted: “Lynn is part of the system that got us here.” He went on to call for “new ideas and new people” to bring about “real change.”

Joe Miller’s full statement on the race is as follows:

“If you’re like me, you’re sick and tired of the games being played in Juneau. Conventional politicians tell you what you want to hear at election time, but when it’s time to gavel in they do what they’re told. What we need above all else right now are leaders who are willing to stand up to the Big Government Special Interests and deliver for the citizens they represent. Christopher Kurka is a proven conservative who has not just talked the talk, but has also walked the walk. He has invested years in conservative advocacy, fighting to reform the Alaska Republican Party, to elect conservative candidates, and to defend the weakest and most vulnerable among us as Executive Director of Alaska Right to Life. If you’re worried about the size and scope of government, runaway State budgets, the future of the PFD, proposed State taxes, the Right to Life, the 2nd Amendment, parental rights, private property rights, election integrity and a host of other important issues facing our state – I urge you to vote for a proven conservative. Don’t believe what the politicians say, believe what they do. Christopher Kurka is definitively the right choice for Wasilla District 7 conservatives looking for principled leadership in the Alaska Legislature.”

Christopher Kurka is a known champion of the Constitutional Right to Life, the 2nd Amendment, the Right to Work, parental rights, and private property rights.

The State House District 7 race seems pretty clear cut from the perspective of Restoring Liberty: a long-time Establishment politico versus a proven conservative challenger. Doing the same thing and expecting a different result is, well, less than rational. We vote for change, and so should you. Juneau needs a wake-up call. Vote Christopher Kurka in the Alaska Republican Primary on August 18th.

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

In Alaska, Summer’s Getting Too Hot for the Salmon Run

/0 Comments/in , /by

Last summer, across southwest Alaska’s Bristol Bay region—home to the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world—tens of thousands of fish washed up dead along riverbanks. Rivers running at temperatures above the threshold for salmon health were killing the fish even as record numbers of them were returning from the ocean to reproduce.

On the Ugashik River, a wide, muddy tributary of the bay, salmon schooled near the river’s mouth, hunkered down in the deeper, cooler water, but they refused to swim upstream into the too-warm waterway. Because no salmon were reaching spawning grounds upriver, the state closed commercial fishing on the Ugashik in early July, right at the normal peak of the run.

Unable to wet their nets and unsure when the fishery would reopen, Ugashik fishermen bided their time at seasonal camps, looking on as jumpers pocked the water all day long. “You’re pretty much watching your income go by,” Catie Bursch, a commercial setnetter on the Ugashik, said later. As Bristol Bay fishermen gear up for this year’s salmon season—one beset by fears that Covid-19 could overwhelm this remote region as thousands of seasonal workers from across the world descend on fishing communities with scant medical resources—they must also contend with a slower-moving hazard: the warming temperatures that threaten a $1.5 billion industry and the people it supports. . .

The state stipulates that water temperature must not exceed 59 degrees Fahrenheit in order for salmon to stay healthy during upstream migration. Last summer, however, river temperatures in Bristol Bay reached 76 degrees. That spells problems for the fish: When salmon can’t avoid warm water, they can sicken or die. Warm water adds stress at a time when fish are already tackling the herculean task of returning to headwater lakes and streams to spawn, making them more susceptible to diseases and speeding up their already-taxed metabolisms. Something like a heart attack can follow: Warm water holds less oxygen than cooler water, but at higher temperatures, salmon actually need more oxygen to survive. Under those conditions, their hearts can’t pump blood fast enough to support their brains and bodies. (Read more from “In Alaska, Summer’s Getting Too Hot for the Salmon Run” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Lisa Murkowski Celebrates Mattis’s Attack on Trump, Says She Might Not Vote for Trump; President Hammers Lisa Following Joe Miller’s Tweet to @realDonaldTrump

/0 Comments/in , , /by

By Lauren Fox, Manu Raju and Ali Zaslav. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska broke with many of her Republican colleagues Thursday, applauding an op-ed by General James Mattis that condemned President Donald Trump’s actions this week.

“When I saw General Mattis’ comments yesterday I felt like perhaps we are getting to a point where we can be more honest with the concerns that we might hold internally and have the courage of our own convictions to speak up,” Murkowksi said on Capitol Hill. . .

“I was really thankful. I thought General Mattis’ words were true, and honest and necessary and overdue,” Murkowski said. “And, I have been struggling for the right words, and I was encouraged a couple of nights ago when I was able to read what President Bush had written. And I found that to be empowering for me as one leader.”

Murkowski . . . told reporters Thursday that she was still “struggling” with a decision about whether she would support Trump in November. (Read more about Lisa Murkowski and her criticism of the President HERE)

___________________________________

President Trump Hammers Lisa Murkowski After Joe Miller Tweets @realDonaldTrump

By News Editor. Maybe it was coincidence, maybe not. But shortly after Joe Miller called on President Trump “to call out corrupt Lisa Murkowski,” he did:

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

ZOOM Meeting NOW: Election Integrity in Alaska, Will It Ever Be Fixed?

/0 Comments/in /by

There will be a presentation by Joe Miller and Brian Endle about Election Integrity in Alaska tonight, June 1, 2020. Lt. Gov. Meyer will be present and participate. All will be available to answer questions.

The waiting room will open at 6:30 pm on Zoom. The host will add you to the meeting. The meeting begins at 7 p.m.

Invite Link: HERE

Meeting ID: 854 5924 2565
Meeting Password: 5E20gB

Lisa Murkowski Supports Fraud-Laced Mail-In-Voting For Any Purpose, Zero Accountability

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Why Using Mail-In Ballots is a Bad Idea

By Hans von Spakovsky. If a state switches to all-mail elections (as Ore­gon has) in which the state mails ballots to all regis­tered voters, such ballots will unquestionably be sent to the addresses of registered voters who are dead or who no longer live at their registered addresses. Most states are notoriously slow in cor­recting their voter registration lists, and the num­ber of registered voters in some, as shown by Census data, is greater than their voting-age popu­lations. When the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s voter identification law, it pointed out that “as of 2004 Indiana’s voter rolls were inflated by as much as 41.4 percent.”

Thus, there will be thousands of blank absentee ballots arriving in the mail that individuals will use to cast bogus ballots. For example, in 2000, a sur­vey of just one county in Oregon reported that about 5 percent of residents admitted that other people marked their ballots and 2.4 percent admit­ted that other people signed their ballot envelopes. The professor who conducted the study suspected that the real numbers were higher since most peo­ple are reluctant to admit being a party to a crime.

When the author of this paper attended a meet­ing of the Board of Advisors of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission in Oregon several years ago, an Oregon election official gave a presentation on how “secure” their voting system was. As he was speaking, an election official from another state leaned over and told the author that his sister-in-law, who lived in Oregon, had admitted to him that she had voted three times in the last election. She voted her husband’s ballot, her own ballot, and a third ballot that had been mailed to her house in her maiden name.

Mailed-in votes are often cast in unmonitored settings where no election officials or independent observers are present to ensure that the registered voter is actually the person voting and that there is no illegal coercion or payment for a vote. As a result, the secret ballot is under siege; it is too easy for wrongdoers to request absentee ballots in the names of registered voters, particularly poor resi­dents and senior citizens, and then either intimi­date them into voting a certain way or fraudulently completing their ballots for them. Such intimida­tion is much more difficult to achieve when indi­viduals vote in a polling place by casting a secret ballot under the supervision and observation of election officials and poll watchers. (Read more about why Lisa Murkowski’s love of mail-in ballots is a bad idea HERE)

__________________________________________

Lisa Murkowski Loves Mail-In Ballots

Lisa Murkowski put out the following YouTube on her Senate webpage explaining her view that mail-in ballots should be permitted for any purpose. Given Lisa Murkowski’s historic reliance on vote fraud to win her past elections, this should not surprise anyone: