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I see everything that is going on, but I’m not supposed to say anything about it. —  Sarah Brigid Newsham

I bought this painting at a gallery here a few months ago.   I felt it was done just for me.   I vaguely knew the artist at the time, but she became a better friend before she moved away.

I sent an email message to a lot of people a couple of days ago announcing my retirement.  The subject was “A Wing and A Prayer.”   No one understood what I meant with that phrase.

It is the title of a song and a line from a movie made during WWII.    Here’s the definition.  And here’s the song.

More than being about being damaged,  it’s about surviving.  The phrase is “With one motor gone, we can still carry on.”

I survived.

I’ve never met Juneau’s District Attorney David Brower, but I like him. The Juneau Empire has been following a story about a person who had been seen smoking marijuana, but swallowed the joint before the police could get to him. He will not be charged with anything. As Brower is quoted by the Empire as saying, “Our office has more serious charges to deal with than that.”
Thank you Mr. Brower. We don’t need the Zero Tolerance arguments any longer. Let’s deal with what’s important.

Reggie Joule from Kotzebue today announced he won’t run for another term in the House.  He’s been a member there for sixteen years.  Since his first election, Joule has been a strong voice for a large assortment of rural issues, from clean water to transportation.  For the past two years, he pushed for rural energy-related projects and chaired the Northern Waters Task Force that gave rise to the Arctic Policy Commission this year.

In recent years, Joule has also been the public face to efforts to restore the Bush Caucus — an informal group of legislators from coastal districts not on the state’s road system.

Joule is a Democrat, but allied his district with the Republican-dominated majority caucus in the House two years ago. His district includes most of Northwestern Alaska.

The governor sent out a press release that might make you think he has solved one of the state’s biggest non-monetary problems:  the horribly high number of suicides we see.

The press release says the state is stronger in its fight against suicides because the legislature,  in a bill sponsored by Anchorage Republican Anna Fairclough, agreed to put one more person on the now-17-member Suicide Prevention Council.  Do you really think that having another person on some Council will make many people will think twice before they … whatever?

With flowery words, he also signed a bill requiring all school personnel to have some sort of training in suicide awareness, prevention and intervention.

(You won’t get this from the governor’s press release, but the bill was sponsored by Bettye Davis,  a Democrat who is also a Senator – two unacceptable traits not worthy of a gubernatorial nod.)

It will be interesting seeing how this one develops – a telephone training session for over-worked people.   Most schools already have someone specifically trained in dealing with suicides – the Counselors. Problem is, there are not enough of them throughout the state.  And in too many places they are given odd jobs that do not use the skills they have.  Maybe the training will direct principals, teachers and other staff members to their in-house resources.

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By Dave Donaldson

Plans for a renewed Coastal Management program are before the Parnell Administration – the first stop on a path that could end up on next fall’s ballot.  Continue reading →

By Libby Casey

An executive of Alaska Native Corporation EyakTek was arrested yesterday for his alleged role in a major $20-million bribery and kickback scheme.  Continue reading →

By Libby Casey

After serving eight governors, the director of Alaska’s Washington D-C office is resigning.  John Katz plans to leave the post at the end of the year.  He’s worked for Alaskan governors of all political stripes over three decades, providing a consistency to the Washington office.  Continue reading →

By Dave Donaldson

Plaintiffs and the state have reached a settlement in a 1997 lawsuit charging that the state was neglecting its duty to provide adequate funds for rural schools in the state.   The litigation was brought by Willie Kasayulie of Akiachak and the Center for the Educational Advancement of Alaska’s Children – or CEAAC.  The case drew the attention of the executive and legislative branches of government when a Superior Court in 1999 ruled in Kasayulie’s favor.  Continue reading →

By Dave Donaldson

Legislative committees this week began looking at the steps needed to reduce the cost of prisons while maintaining a “tough-on-crime” posture.   The House and Senate Finance Subcommittees on Corrections on Monday heard of strategies used in Texas,  where state Representative Jerry Madden recalled how he was part of a bipartisan approach to prison reform. Continue reading →