Joe Miller-Endorsed Amy Demboski Pulls it Off, Will Face Liberal Berkowitz in Run-Off Election for Anchorage Mayor

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Amy Demboski-Campaign photoWith 99% of the ballots counted in the Anchorage mayoral race, Amy Demboski and Ethan Berkowitz are the top two vote getters and will face a run-off election in May as neither candidate passed the 45% threshold to win outright.

Ms. Demboski, a current Anchorage Assembly member, and Mr. Berkowitz, a former Democratic state legislator, are near-polar opposites with respect to a number of political issues. Anchorage voters will have a clear choice between a strong advocate for limited government and fiscal restraint versus a traditional, big government liberal.

On election night, Ms. Demboski stated that, “I truly believe the people of Anchorage were galvanized behind a truly fresh message. It’s going to be either big government and more taxes or less government and lower taxes.”

Mr. Berkowitz (37%) was endorsed by liberal Mark Begich in the race. One of Ms. Demboski’s (24%) first endorsements was from conservative firebrand Joe Miller, former U.S. Senate candidate.

The other top vote getters, Andrew Halcro (22%) and Dan Coffey (15%), were both registered Republicans but were not considered traditional conservatives. Halcro, who won a miniscule portion of the statewide vote in his bid for governor several years ago, has aligned himself with leftist issues and politicians for years, while ex-lobbyist and former assembly member Coffey had only been a registered Republican since this past January.

Undoubtedly, this will be a challenging race for Ms. Demboski. Given the low turnout anticipated in the run-off election, Ms. Demboski’s get-out-the-vote effort will be critical, and she must retain and expand her conservative base.

Alaska Parental Rights in Education Bill Set for Public Hearing

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Parental-rights-1160x480A bill ensuring a parent’s rights to direct the education of their child in regards to any instruction relating to “human reproduction, health, or sex education,” is scheduled for a public hearing in the Alaska Legislature on April 9 at 9 a.m.

Introduced by Sen. Mike Dunleavy, Senate Bill 89 requires local school boards to adopt policies that “promote the involvement of parents in the school district’s education program.”

According to the bill, the policies must include procedures allowing parents to object to and withdraw children from an activity, class, performance standard, test or program the parent believes is “harmful to the child.”

Accordingly, parents would be able to review the content of objectionable instruction or tests and to withdraw their child.

Schools would need to notify parents of any instruction or activities pertaining to sex education at least two weeks before the instruction is scheduled to begin. In order for the student to participate they would need written permission from the child’s parent. The bill would also ensure that when a child is absent from an objectionable activity or class they would not be penalized.

Additionally, the bill prohibits schools from administering questionnaires or surveys that inquire into “personal or private family affairs of the student” when such information is not a matter of public record unless there is written permission from the parent.

In administering any questionnaires, schools would first need to give parents an opportunity to review the questionnaire and provide them with a written notice regarding how the questionnaire will be administered and used, as well as who will have access to the results. (See “Alaska Parental Rights in Education Bill Set for Public Hearing”, originally posted HERE)

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Vote Today: Open-Carry Mayoral Candidate Explains Her Actions in Apprehending Sign Vandal [+video]

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Amy Sign and GunOpen-carry mayoral candidate Amy Demboski addressed the massive vandalism against her signs across Anchorage on The Joe Miller Show Monday afternoon. She talked about single-handedly nabbing one sign vandal, who was first seen in this surveillance video.

Ms. Demboski, tired of the losses of about four thousand dollars of campaign signage, finally took matters into her own hands, staking out one sign location. Within twenty minutes, the would-be vandal arrived in the same car, and matching the same description of the individual seen in the earlier surveillance video.

As the man approached her sign with a box cutter, Amy had a friend call 911. She then confronted the vandal and recorded the interaction. You can see that video HERE.

This story about Ms. Demboski’s apprehension of the vandal has gone viral, not just due to the video she took of the incident, but also due to the fact that she was open-carrying. As she explained in the below podcast from yesterday, she didn’t draw her gun – or even put a hand on it – but her open carry was enough to keep the peace with the “very agitated” vandal.

Today (Tuesday) is election day in Anchorage. Ms. Demboski is the only true conservative in the top four contenders for the Anchorage mayor’s office. If you are an Anchorage voter, make sure you take the time to vote. The election will likely be decided by a thin margin of registered voters. Every vote will count.

Bill to Legalize Assisted Suicide in Alaska Scheduled for Public Comment

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AssistedA bill to legalize doctor-prescribed suicide in Alaska has been scheduled for public testimony, via teleconference, on Thursday, April 9 at 3 p.m. House Bill 99, sponsored by Anchorage Democrats Rep. Harriet Drummond, Rep. Andy Josephson and Rep. Max Gruenberg, would permit doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to patients for the purpose of suicide.

Opponents of the practice believe that patients – including those with terminal illness – need proper care, not destruction.

Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz, who leads 30,000 Catholics across Southcentral Alaska, strongly opposes the bill, saying it is not about granting people a so-called “right to die,” but pushing “doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to kill people.”

“In a state with a suicide rate twice the national average, we are now proposing that it should be legal in some instances,” Archbishop Schwietz told the Catholic Anchor. “What kind of message does this send to our youth? In their young minds, they look at life without the practical experience that comes from age. They may view their situation as equally depressing or as terminal as someone with an illness. They see no way out. ‘If it’s okay for those who have no hope of regaining their health to kill themselves, why can’t I?’”

The proposed Alaska bill is part of a national drive by an outside group called Compassion & Choices, formerly the Hemlock Society. To date, doctor-prescribed suicide is legal in Oregon, Washington, Vermont and Montana.

In a press release on her HB 99, Drummond lauded the Oregon law in particular, which has resulted in over 300 deaths since 1998.

Access Alaska, a disability advocacy group in Anchorage, posted a strongly worded rebuttal to doctor-prescribed suicide shortly after Drummond introduced HB 99.

“What looks to some like a choice to die begins to look more like a duty to die to many disability activists,” Access Alaska posted to its Facebook page. “If the values of liberty dictate that society legalizes assisted suicide, then legalize it for everyone who asks for it, not just the devalued old, ill and disabled. Otherwise, what looks like freedom is really only discrimination.”

The post was a quotation from Diane Coleman, president and CEO of Not Dead Yet¸ a national disability rights group that opposes doctor-prescribed suicide. (See “Bill to Legalize Assisted Suicide in Alaska Scheduled for Public Comment”, originally posted HERE)

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Marine Sentenced to 26 Years for Rape, Kidnap of Anchorage Woman

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LawA U.S. Marine has been sentenced to 26 years in federal prison for the sexual assault and kidnapping of an Anchorage woman in August 2013, according to Anchorage police.

James Hale III, 35, was convicted Thursday of first-degree sexual assault, kidnapping and other misdemeanors.

Hale was a staff sergeant stationed in Anchorage at the time of the rape, police said. He was dishonorably discharged and stripped of his rank following a court-martial, they said.

The police department originally investigated the case. On Aug. 26, 2013, Special Victims Unit detectives began investigating the rape of a woman in the Spenard neighborhood the night prior.

“It was reported to police that the adult female was driven by the suspect to a location in Spenard and held at gunpoint while the male sexually assaulted her,” police said in a news release Friday. (Read more from “Marine Sentenced to 26 Years for Rape, Kidnap of Anchorage Woman” HERE)

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Anchorage Mayoral Candidate Open Carries, Catches Sign Vandal [+videos]

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On Friday evening, Anchorage mayoral candidate Amy Demboski encountered an apparent vandal preparing to destroy one of her 4×8 campaign signs.

What happened next may surprise you.

The 38 year-old Assemblywoman confronted the would-be perpetrator, despite the fact that he was obviously aggressive, and armed with a box cutter.

[Editor’s note: the first part of the video includes surveillance footage of the vandal. Watch until the end for pictures of the destroyed and defaced signs]

What the video may not show clearly is the reason why the vandal may have thought better of carrying out his plan.

Demboski was exercising her right to open carry. I bet the press didn’t tell you that.

Here’s the evidence, a photo taken by someone who witnessed Demboski talking with the police on site.

Amy Sign and Gun

Anchorage Police are investigating, and have apparently pressed charges.

Listen to why Joe Miller and other conservatives are supporting Amy Demboski for mayor:

UPDATE: There is some confusion as to whether mayoral candidate Amy Demboski actually drew her gun during the confrontation with the apparent sign vandal. During this interview today, Ms. Demboski confirmed that the gun remained holstered, and was never drawn or touched during the encounter.

Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski Votes with 100% of Democrats to Continue Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements

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LM[This past week], for the first time ever, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution containing language banning government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs).

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) offered amendment 665 to the Senate Budget (pdf) (S.Con.Res. 11) establishing a spending-neutral reserve fund relating to prohibiting the awarding of construction contracts based on awardees entering or not entering into agreements with labor organizations.

In short, Sen. Flake’s amendment would prohibit the government from mandating a project labor agreement (PLA) on federal or federally funded construction projects authorized by this bill. This good-government proposal would help to increase competition and curb waste and favoritism in the procurement of construction contracts.

The Flake amendment passed 51-49 (Senate Vote #120), with GOP Sens. Daines (MT), Kirk (IL) and Murkowski (AK) voting with all Democrats. . .

PLAs act as special interest kickbacks that typically require companies that have been awarded government contracts to recognize unions as the representatives of their employees on that job, use the union hiring hall to obtain workers and follow notoriously inefficient union work rules. Most importantly, PLAs discourage employers of 86.1 percent of the private construction workforce that chooses not to join a union from bidding on a project. This amendment will lead to increased competition, less litigation and more accountability on taxpayer-funded construction projects. (Read more from “Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski Votes with 100% of Democrats to Continue Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements” HERE)

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Senior Air Force Official Views Alaska’s Eielson to be Top Pick for F-35 Pacific Squadron

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Air ForceBy Military News. Eielson Air Force Base has “phenomenal assets” that make it attractive for basing new F-35 fighter jets, an Air Force official said Wednesday at a public scoping meeting.

“One of the reasons the Air Force is looking at Eielson is there used to be more squadrons assigned at Eielson Air Force Base than we currently have,” said Col. Michael Winkler. “We do have some decent capacity.”

Eielson’s 14,500-foot runway is long enough to land any aircraft in the Air Force, Winkler said. Ramp space can accommodate more than 130 aircraft. The base has good access to energy resources and a large munitions storage facility, he said.

“All of this current capacity has the Air Force thinking that Eielson is the preferred alternative in the Pacific,” Winkler said.

The Air Force considered eight other locations for the first Pacific squadron of high-tech F-35s, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. The Air Force in August announced Eielson as the preferred alternative for the 48 aircraft. (Read more from “Air Force Official Touts Eielson as Best Pick for F-35 Pacific Squadron” HERE)

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Budget Cut Would Hit ‘Every Part’ of Air Force

By Barrie Barber. The return of sequestration would impact “every part” of the Air Force while the service branch has called for an end to downsizing the number of airmen in ranks and pushes to restore readiness and modernize an aging fleet, the service branch’s top civilian leader said.

In an exclusive interview Thursday with the Dayton Daily News, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said sequester-imposed spending caps may cut $10 billion from the budget the Air Force wants.

The secretary toured Wright-Patterson on Thursday and addressed more than 200 Air Force Institute of Technology master’s degree and doctoral graduates and more than 1,000 others gathered at a ceremony at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

“Ten billion is a big chunk of money and it would mean every part of our Air Force would be touched in some way,” she said in an interview. “It’s impossible to predict what that means for Wright-Patterson,” but it could strike programs like advanced engine research and raise the potential for a return of furloughs, she said.

In 2013, thousands of civil service workers were sent home for days at Wright-Patterson because of furloughs officials blamed on sequestration. Without action from Washington, sequestration is due to return in October, the start of the 2016 fiscal year. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Alaska Senate Panel Advances Bill Regarding Pot Crimes

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potA Senate committee advanced legislation Monday that would update state laws related to marijuana crimes.

The Senate Finance Committee moved the bill after adopting a new version.

SB 30, would update state crimes now that certain recreational use and possession of marijuana is legal for adults 21 and older. It sets out the crimes for possession of larger amounts of marijuana, allows emergency responders under 21 to enter marijuana businesses, and prohibits delivery or transportation of marijuana for sale or barter.

It also would prohibit a commercial or retail marijuana industry in the state’s unorganized borough outside of municipalities, although it allows established villages to opt back in.

The most contentious of the amendments the committee discussed earlier in the month, which would have banned marijuana concentrates beginning in 2017, was not included in the version of the bill the committee advanced. (Read more from “Alaska Senate Panel Advances Bill Regarding Pot Crimes” HERE)

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Search for Missing Alaska Family of 4 Comes to Grim End

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Photo Credit: Chicago Tribune

Photo Credit: Chicago Tribune

A nearly year long search for a missing Alaska family has come to a grim end with the discovery of four bodies, a dead dog and a handgun just off a trail in a rural area near the family’s home.

Authorities said Monday they could not comment on the circumstances surrounding the deaths but there’s no reason to believe anyone else was involved.

Rebecca Adams, 23; her boyfriend, Brandon Jividen, 38; and her children, Michelle Hundley, 6, and Jaracca Hundley, 3, lived on a quiet street on the outskirts of Kenai, a fishing community of 7,100 about 65 miles southwest of Anchorage . . .

At the time, relatives said it appeared the family left without packing. The couple’s two vehicles were parked outside their duplex, and their rent for June had not been paid. The family’s dog — an English springer spaniel named Sparks — also was gone . . .

A gun found with the bodies matched the serial number from a box found in the family’s home, he said. Officers also discovered other items reported missing from the residence, and a dog was found dead at the scene. (Read more from “Search for Missing Alaska Family of 4 Comes to Grim End” HERE)

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