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Senate Candidate Dan Sullivan says He Passed 'Stand Your Ground' in Alaska: Politifact Truth-O-Meter Says 'False'

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Photo Credit: PolitifactIn his campaign for Senate, Republican front-runner Dan Sullivan touts his history of protecting Second Amendment rights in the hunting-loving state of Alaska.

But a recent pro-Sullivan ad might have stretched the rifle and pistol expert’s record a little too far.

“As Alaska’s attorney general, Sullivan successfully fought to protect our Second Amendment rights and passed ‘stand your ground,’ ” said a recent radio ad out of the Sullivan campaign.

Our ruling

We found that evidence of Sullivan’s support for “stand your ground” is dubious at best. We couldn’t find any public proof of his support, and multiple attorneys under him spoke out against the law. Even if he had publicly shown support for “stand your ground,” he wasn’t in a position to push the legislation forward when the law finally passed in 2013.

We rate this claim False.

Read more from this story HERE.

Could The Tea Party Be Taking Over The Senate? If So, Make Room For This Alaskan

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Photo Credit: Western Journalism Following House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s upset primary loss to Tea Party-backed challenger Dave Brat, many conservatives have become even more emboldened in their effort to replace establishment politicians with candidates more aligned with their ideological views.

Joe Miller, a U.S. Senate hopeful in Alaska, has earned the support of Tea Party activists over the past several years. This week, he also received the overwhelming support of the Alaska Republican Assembly.

According to recent reports, AKRA members voted “by a super-majority” to endorse Miller in the upcoming primary election.

“The bar for endorsement by the AKRA is high,” said Ron Johnson, vice president of the assembly. “A Republican candidate must receive the vote of two-thirds of the voting members at the endorsement convention.”

Reports indicate that only four of the 72 current state candidates received the required level of support…

Johnson, who described AKRA as “the Republican wing of the Republican Party,” said that through its activism and endorsement of candidates like Miller, the assembly “works to develop and promote true conservative Republican candidates for public offices.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Alaska Republican Assembly Endorses Joe Miller for U.S. Senate

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The Alaska Republican Assembly (“AKRA”) has voted by a super-majority to endorse Joe Miller for U.S. Senate.

The group’s Vice President Ron Johnson stated, “The bar for endorsement by the AKRA is high; a Republican candidate must receive the vote of two-third’s of the voting members at the endorsement convention.” Only 4 of the 72 candidates running for office in Alaska reached this threshold. “AKRA actively works to develop and promote true conservative Republican candidates for public offices. In short, we are the Republican wing of the Republican Party,” said Johnson. AKRA strongly identifies with the principles championed by Ronald Reagan.

Miller responded to the endorsement stating, “I am honored to receive the endorsement of the Alaska Republican Assembly. I am convinced that only a return to our constitutional foundations, along with the economic and moral principles that made this greatest on earth, will enable us to overcome this present crisis.”

Just this week, it was reported that the nation’s Gross Domestic Product decreased at an annual rate of 2.9 percent, significantly more than previously reported. Ronald Reagan and one of his chief economic advisors Milton Friedman could have easily predicted that outcome. When you tax and regulate something more, you get less of it. It’s as simple as that. As Friedman famously noted, “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there would be a shortage of sand.”

That is what Barack Obama and one of his most reliable lieutenants in the U.S. Senate, liberal Democrat Mark Begich, have done to our nation: higher taxes, more regulation, the takeover of our healthcare system, and the list goes on.

“It can be morning again in America, but it will require new leadership in Washington,” stated Miller. “I am committed to being part of the solution, not part of the problem. As Ronald Reagan said, ‘It is time for us to realize that we’re too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We’re not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline. I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing. So, with all the creative energy at our command, let us begin an era of national renewal. Let us renew our determination, our courage, and our strength. And let us renew our faith and our hope.'”

The 10 Most Corrupt States in the U.S.

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Photo Credit: Jimmy Emerson, DVM / Creative Commons When we think of government corruption (as one tends to do), our biased minds often gravitate to thoughts of military juntas and third world governments. But, of course, corruption is everywhere, in one form or another. And it’s costing U.S. citizens big time.

A new study from researchers at the University of Hong Kong and the University of Indiana estimates that corruption on the state level is costing Americans in the 10 most corrupt states an average of $1,308 per year, or 5.2% of those states’ average expenditures per year.

The researchers studied more than 25,000 convictions of public officials for violation of federal corruption laws between 1976 and 2008 as well as patterns in state spending to develop a corruption index that estimates the most and least corrupt states in the union. Based on this method, the the most corrupt states are:

1. Mississippi
2. Louisiana
3. Tennessee
4. Illinois
5. Pennsylvania
6. Alabama
7. Alaska
8. South Dakota
9. Kentucky
10. Florida

Read more from this story HERE.

Russian Bombers Fly Within 50 Miles of California Coast

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Photo Credit: APFour Russian strategic bombers triggered U.S. air defense systems while conducting practice bombing runs near Alaska this week, with two of the Tu-95 Bear H aircraft coming within 50 miles of the California coast, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) confirmed Wednesday.

“The last time we saw anything similar was two years ago on the Fourth of July,” Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Norad spokesman, told the Free Beacon.

Davis said the latest Bear H incursions began Monday around 4:30 p.m. Pacific time when radar detected the four turbo-prop powered bombers approaching the U.S. air defense zone near the far western Aleutian Islands.

Two U.S. Air Force F-22 jets were scrambled and intercepted the bombers over the Aleutians.

After tracking the bombers as they flew eastward, two of the four Bears turned around and headed west toward the Russian Far East. The bombers are believed to be based at the Russian strategic base near Anadyr, Russia.

Read more from this story HERE.

FBI Agents Join Search for Missing Alaska Family

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Photo Credit: Chip Porter / Getty ImagesFBI agents have joined the search for an Alaska family of four, including two small children, whose disappearance almost two weeks ago is being described as “mysterious,” authorities said on Monday.

Investigators have not ruled out foul play in the case of Brandon Jividen, 37, his girlfriend, Rebecca Adams, 22, and her two daughters, aged 5 and 3, who went missing May 27 in Kenai, a coastal community 65 miles southwest of Anchorage.

The Kenai Police Department reached out to the FBI over the weekend and a team of agents is now helping look for the family.

Read more from this story HERE.

Alaska Volcano Erupts with New Intensity, Prompting ‘Red’ Alert

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Photo Credit: REUTERS / PAUL HORN / ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAMEAn Alaska volcano that has been spewing ash and lava for years began erupting with new intensity this week, pushing a plume of smoke and ash as high as 24,000 feet (7,315 meters) and prompting scientists to issue their highest volcanic alert in five years, authorities said on Tuesday.

But the intense action at the Pavlof Volcano, located in an uninhabited region nearly 600 miles (966 km) southwest of Anchorage, has so far not disrupted any regional air traffic, thanks to favorable weather that has made it easier for flights to navigate around the affected area.

Still, the eruption was intense enough for Alaska Volcano Observatory scientists to issue their first red alert warning since 2009, when the state’s Mount Redoubt had a series of eruptions that spewed ash 50,000 feet (15,240 meters).

Read more from this story HERE.

Wildfire In Alaska Is Bigger Than the Entire City of Seattle

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Photo Credit: MARK THIESSEN / APA wildfire in Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula south of Anchorage has grown to cover more than 193 square miles, but it was only 20 percent contained as of Sunday, fire officials said.

The Funny River Fire threatens about 150 cabins, vacation homes and year-round residences in three communities. Authorities have told people in those areas to be ready to leave but had not issued an evacuation order.

The fire, named after a road near its northern edge, was burning in the 1.9 million-acre Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and grew by about 42 square miles on Saturday but did not get any closer to structures. No buildings have been damaged and no injuries have been reported. The size of the blaze is not unusual for Alaska but the state does not usually see such large fires this early in the season, said Michelle Weston, spokeswoman with the

Alaska Interagency Management Team, which includes the state Division of Forestry and federal and local officials. For size comparison, as of Sunday morning, the Funny River Fire was larger than Seattle (143 square miles) but smaller than Anchorage (1,961 square miles).

Read more from this story HERE.

If You Are Pro-Family, Pro-Life, This Alaska GOP Candidate Is Deceiving You

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Ever wonder why so-called pro-life, pro-family candidates never lift a finger for family values once they get to Washington? Maybe if the pro-family community did a better job of vetting their pro-family candidates, this wouldn’t happen.

This weekend, Alaska’s Lt Governor Mead Treadwell (right in photo above) is in Washington DC seeking the support of the pro-family movement for his campaign to become Alaska’s new US Senator. I doubt he will tell the gathered conservative leaders what some simple research exposed about his true core beliefs.

Mead is like many GOP candidates who in every election cycle tout so-called “Family Values” while campaigning to win Republican primaries; but for them, it is an exercise of guile and deceit.

Treadwell is running for the Republican nomination in Alaska as a pro-life, traditional values kind of guy. The only problem is, as it turns out, he’s been working for the other side too.

As recently as 2010, Treadwell supported liberal pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage Republican Lisa Murkowski, who was defeated in the Republican primary by a Joe Miller, a staunch supporter of the pro-life cause and advocate for traditional marriage.

Treadwell let the proverbial cat out of the bag in a March 2013 article with Politico Magazine.

“I voted for Lisa Murkowski in the primary and in the general, and I think Alaskans made the right decision,” Treadwell said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Murdered Alaska Troopers Remembered in Memorial

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Photo Credit: AP / THE FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS-MINER

Photo Credit: AP / THE FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS-MINER

Law enforcement officers from as far away as Florida on Saturday mourned the loss of two Alaska state troopers killed earlier this month in a remote village while trying to make an arrest.

A memorial for Sgt. Scott Johnson and Trooper Gabe Rich began with a procession and a drum cadence at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks.

Col. James Cockrell, head of the Alaska State Troopers, said Johnson and Rich touched many lives during their careers, and their deaths will strengthen the bonds between officers.

“This is a time to begin the healing process and come together as a community to provide strength to those who are still feeling the pain of their loss,” Cockrell said. “For in times like this, true Alaskans stand together.” The Anchorage Daily News said some 4,000 people attended the memorial.

A Fairbanks grand jury on Thursday indicted Nathanial “Satch” Kangas, 20, on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths May 1 of Johnson and Rich. The two were assigned to rural law enforcement in 23 remote communities and were occasionally featured on the National Geographic Channel show “Alaska State Troopers,” which shows officers patrolling the state’s wild terrain.

Read more from this story HERE.