Category Archives: news

Walker fires back at Parnell over Medicaid. ‘Debate me’ he says.

In a Facebook post, independent gubernatorial candidate Bill Walker fired back at Gov. Sean Parnell over what Walker said was a misrepresentation of his support of Obamacare. Last week, Parnell’s campaign manager Jerry Gallagher sent out a fundraising email, calling Democrat challenger Byron Mallott and Walker “two peas in a pod” when it comes to supporting Obamacare.

“Two peas in a pod? How about Parnell and Gallagher as two oil industry lobbyists?” Walker wrote. Gallagher worked with Parnell at ConocoPhillips, where they were both lobbyists.

Walker wrote that while Obamacare isn’t the answer to the country’s health care issues, he did support accepting federal funds to expand Medicaid and thereby insuring up to 40,000 Alaskans through federal funds.

“By rejecting the expansion, Parnell in fact, supports ‘Obamacare; by forcing uninsured Alaskans into the ACA exchanges,” Walker wrote. “I continue to have two words for you, Governor Parnell. ‘Debate me.'”

Here’s the Walker’s post:

Not only is Governor Parnell misrepresenting why he has thrust Alaska into deficit spending, in a desperate attempt he is also misrepresenting my position on “Obamacare” (ACA). In Facebook posts and donation letter statements by his fellow ConocoPhillips lobbyist/campaign manager, Jerry Gallagher, Parnell claims Byron Mallot and I are “two peas in a pod” supporting “Obamacare”. (Two peas in a pod? How about Parnell and Gallagher as two oil industry lobbyists?) Parnell is pulling a play from Gov. Hickel’s playbook when he ran a successful “two peas in a pod” campaign against his two opponents in his Independent run for governor. I knew Wally Hickel. Wally Hickel was a friend of mine and Governor Parnell is no Wally Hickel. Hickel always put Alaska’s interests first.

Is our health care system broken? Yes. Is ACA the answer? No. But in agreement with the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce and other fiscal conservatives, once ACA became law, I supported Medicaid expansion with the caveat of continued federal funding. My support is due to the sheer economics of Alaskans paying for the expansion in federal taxes and increased premiums if we reject the expansion, the creation of 4,000 new Alaskan jobs, billions of dollars flowing into our communities from the expansion and lower cost coverage for 40,000+ Alaskans. By rejecting the expansion, Parnell in fact, supports “Obamacare” by forcing uninsured Alaskans into the ACA exchanges.

Stop trying to pull the wool over our eyes, Governor. Alaskans are smarter and deserve better than this. I continue to have two words for you, Governor Parnell. ‘Debate me.’

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

Koniag Inc. selects Liz Perry as its new CEO

Alaska Native Corp. Koniag Inc., the regional Native corporation for the Kodiak area, has hired Liz Perry as its new CEO. Currently, Perry is the Pacific West’s regional vice president for SWCA Environmental Consultants. She isn’t Alaska Native, but she has a Ph.D. in anthropology, and has experience working with Native communities in rural Alaska and in Kodiak.

Perry joins an increasing number of Native Corp. CEOs who are female, including:

Michelle Anderson, Ahtna Corp.
Marie Greene, NANA Corp.
Sophie Minich, CIRI
Gail Schubert, Bering Straits Native Corp.

Glitches in Alaska’s DHSS computer system delay Medicaid payments

Gov. Sean Parnell has certainly had his complaints about ObamaCare, some of them—the disastrous rollout and the problem with the federal exchange website, to name a couple—are nearly universal. He has called it a “boondoggle,” and has used those issues, in part, to justify why he declined federal funds to expand the Medicaid program, the health care program partially funded by the federal government and administered by the state.

However, it appears that while Parnell was criticizing the program, the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services has been experiencing its own share of computer-related issues with a new system that processes Medicaid payments. In some cases, those glitches have resulted in months-long delays in Medicaid payments to doctors and other medical providers.

In a letter published in the Anchorage Daily News, a long-time Anchorage-based psychiatrist, Aron Wolf, took issue with Parnell for not accepting funds to expand Medicaid and for criticizing the problems with the federal exchange while the state is having very similar problems.

“Gov. Parnell should get his own act together and make payments for services rendered to these needy Alaskans,” he wrote.

DHSS spokeswoman Sarana Schell said that the department is updating its old payment processing system for the first time since 1987, and that with any technology project of this size, “there are bumps in the road.”

The department, Schell said, is working to fix the problems. “We’re not quite halfway through the glitches we’ve identified – about 730 down, 900 to go,” Schell said. “We are, of course, prioritizing as we go, addressing the problems that affect the most providers first.”

Schell said that DHSS processes roughly 100,000 claims a week, and expects to reimburse medical providers about $25 million a week. However, it’s currently only reimbursing about $20 million a week.

In other words, there are still about $5 million of claims each week that aren’t getting paid by DHSS.

Wolf, the psychiatrist who wrote the letter to the ADN, has a private practice. About 12 percent of his patients are Medicaid recipients. He also consults with nonprofits that are more reliant on Medicaid, all of which have had problems with billing.

“These are nonprofits with very limited budgets,” he said in an interview on Thursday. “This is causing real problems for some of them.”

DHSS is urging providers to call if they are having a problem, and assuring them that the state will make sure they are paid. It takes about two days from the time of reporting to receive a check. It also said that the department is holding regular webcasts to educate providers.

According to providers, the checks that DHSS are cutting are based on historic payments and general good faith. They say that the state is considering it an “advance.” Many providers, according to Wolf, don’t know that this is an option. Others don’t trust such a payment from the state.

Senate Rules Committee Chair Lesil McGuire, who is running for lieutenant governor, said that she has heard complaints from those who haven’t received payment for Medicaid services. She was at a meeting recently of medical professionals, many of whom were complaining about the system. One provider said that she cashed out her IRA in order to continue to stay in business rather than accept money that might be later audited and turned into an accounting nightmare.

McGuire said that the lack of communication between the DHSS and the community was frustrating. “One of the things that Alaskans hate most about government is the lack of communication,” she said. “Government should communicate with all businesses anyway, but it’s most fundamental when you’re talking about caring for the most needy, for someone’s son and daughter.”

Wolf doesn’t blame the Medicaid division for wanting to modernize the system. He also praised the Medicaid division and the people who work there. However, he thinks that it should have communicated better with the providers that there was a problem, particularly as the governor was criticizing the federal government for having similar kinds of issues with its website. He discovered there was an issue only after he hadn’t received four weeks of payments from the state.

The changes and the problems, he said, were “snuck under the rug.”

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

The race for governor is heating up

It looks like Gov. Sean Parnell’s reelection campaign is slowly waking up. Below is the fundraising email I got today, with direct pleas for money edited out. (My new rule, which I’m making up as I go.) Parnell has been having lots of fundraisers, but this is the first email I’ve seen from his campaign.

The subject of the email was, “Two Peas in the same pod.” The peas are Independent candidate Bill Walker and Democrat Byron Mallott, and the pod is ObamaCare. Parnell says that the support of ObamaCare sacrifices “the financial well-being and future of young Alaskans.”

As far as attacks go, it was relatively tame compared to what the Alaska Democrats sent out today. In advance of Parnell releasing his budget, the Dem’s press release was titled, “Parnell Presides Over Fiscal Disaster.”

Copied below, it attacks him for everything from running the state into deficit spending, taking a raise, and refusing to accept federal dollars for Medicaid expansion, among other things. (If it were my job to do so, I’d advise them to start separating the wheat from the chaff. Cutting office space for state workers might be a little hard for those in the private sector to get worked up about, particularly considering the generous state salaries and benefits package.)

Here’s Parnell’s release:

Only Sean Parnell has a consistent, proven record of making decisions for Alaskans first. Just this month, for example, a new law championed by the governor kept payroll taxes from automatically increasing on Alaskan employees and employers. As a result, Sean helped put $89 million back into the pockets of hard-working Alaskans, rather than into state government’s treasury.

Sean’s record speaks for itself: his commitment to creating economic opportunity for all Alaskans, strengthening our families and communities, improving educational and training opportunities, and wisely managing Alaska’s finances – all have made Alaska a better place to call home.

Sean’s opposition in the election have gone on the attack and begun making oversized promises. If nothing else, Bill Walker and Byron Mallott have already defined themselves as two peas in the same pod.

Both Walker and Mallott support Obamacare. Both have been silent as thousands of Alaskans received insurance cancellation notices, and are forced to pay higher health insurance premiums and higher deductibles. Walker and Mallott appear willing to sacrifice the financial well-being and future of young Alaskans who will have to pay the massive federal debt from Obamacare’s failed promises. Alaskans expect and deserve better leadership.

Help keep the governor in office who fought for Alaska Performance Scholarships for our young people; who leads the fight against domestic violence and sexual assault in our state; and who, at every turn, works to clear paths of opportunity for Alaskans.

Thank you,

Jerry Gallagher

Campaign Manager

Parnell 2014

Here’s the Democrats’ press release:

Tomorrow, Governor Parnell will release his budget for Fiscal Year 2015.  Parnell is likely to emphasize spending cuts rather than the massive deficit caused by his Oil Giveaway.  A careful review of his claims will be warranted.  When Governor Parnell presented his last budget (FY 2014), he claimed it would cut spending and produce $500 million in “surplus revenue.”  In fact, that budget has a $1 billion dollar deficit, which Parnell attempted to mask with a $374.1 million transfer from the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation.

Governor Parnell has presided over the most significant deterioration of state finances in Alaska history, turning a $5 billion surplus into a $1 billion deficit. Last week, the Department of Revenue revealed that the state will take in $2 billion less revenue in FY 2014 than previously anticipated, while oil production will decline.  At this rate, Parnell is poised to draw down all of Alaska’s savings—set aside during the ACES era–within approximately five years.  While administering this transition to deficits, Parnell has taken a $26,000 pay raise for himself and has approved of another pay raise this year.

“With his reckless fiscal policies, Parnell puts the Permanent Fund and the entire Alaska economy at risk,” said Mike Wenstrup, Chair of the Alaska Democratic Party.  “The only way to clean up Parnell’s fiscal mess is by repealing his Oil Giveaway and electing Byron Mallott.”

Highlights of Gov. Parnell’s Fiscal Disaster:

Parnell rejected $2 billion for federally-funded expansion of Medicaid for 41,000 Alaskans, giving up billions of dollars in investment and 4,000 jobs.
The Republican legislature is spending $33 million on posh new offices for legislators in Anchorage, increasing monthly lease costs by 500%.
While Republicans expand their own offices, Parnell is squeezing state employees from offices into small cubicles.
The Republican legislature spent $74,000 on an enclosed smokers lounge in Juneau that is reserved for use by legislators only.
Governor Parnell supports a $6,000 raise for himself, even though he already received a $26,000 pay raise in 2011.
Since Governor Parnell last raised his own salary, 600 public school teachers and support staff have been laid off while Base Student Allocation education funding has been cut 7% (inflation-adjusted).

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

Murkowski votes to tip balance of power in U.S. Court of Appeals

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted on Monday to confirm Patricia Millett to join the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The final vote was 56-38. Murkowski and Susan Collins of Maine were the only two Republican senators to vote for Millett’s confirmation.

Millett was the first to win confirmation since the Senate weakened the filibuster rules, which now only require a simple majority, instead of a vote of 60 to end a filibuster.

Millett’s approval means that now, among the nine circuit judges, five of them are Democratic appointees. The D.C. Court of Appeals is considered one of the most important courts in the nation because it handles cases regarding federal regulations.

Following Millett’s vote, Murkowski voted against confirming Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) to serve as the next head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and federal home loan banks. Watt was confirmed by a vote of 57 to 41.

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

Anthony Weiner and Mead Treadwell make Rothenberg’s award list for 2013

Stuart Rothenberg, political fortune teller and Roll Call political blogger, has published his annual “end-of-the-year awards.” The award categories range from the worst political decision of the year, which had Anthony Weiner’s name, or whatever, all over it, to the five most vulnerable incumbents up in 2014. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., made the list. Surprisingly, Sen. Mark Begich didn’t.

Perhaps that’s because Rothenberg doesn’t think much of Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, one of Begich’s main challengers, whom he gave an award for the most “interesting” candidate interview. According to Rothenberg, the interview was, “Memorable because the candidate couldn’t get his chip off his shoulder. Never has a candidate spent so much time complaining about an earlier article about him.”

Rothenberg was referring to an interview he conducted with Treadwell, among other GOP Senate hopefuls, in October. It’s unclear what exactly Treadwell’s specific beef was, but here’s what he wrote about Treadwell then:

Of the four,Treadwell was the most difficult to figure out, possibly because he spent so much of his time complaining about an article that my colleague, Nathan Gonzales, had written for my newsletter. No matter what question we asked, Treadwell somehow brought it back to what he regarded as an oversight or mistake in the article. He was clearly peeved, and that made him less affable and likable.

Rothenberg has yet to write anything about Dan Sullivan, the other GOP Senate candidate. Perhaps that’s because, although it’s been two months since he announced, finding Sullivan’s website or his contact information on Google takes about as long as it takes for the Senate to pass a bill, pre-filibusterer reform.

Rothenberg did, however, include GOP Senate candidate Annette Bosworth from South Dakota in his list of most interesting interviews. He called Bosworth charismatic and compelling, with “quite” a personal story. “But did it all add up?” Rothenberg asked. “Plus, I rarely see candidates who have absolutely no clue how to put together a winning campaign,” he wrote about Bosworth.

When you Google “Annette Bosworth for Senate” her website is on the top of the page. Just saying.

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

The week in review

Things were put on hold there for awhile because of Thanksgiving, but Alaska’s political scene was on the move again this past week. Here are some highlights:

Senate candidate Dan Sullivan started the week off at a reportedly healthy event at the Martinson’s residence on the Hillside. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who isn’t even up for re-election until 2016, held an event to raise campaign bucks at the Bittner’s home closer to downtown. There was a luncheon to benefit the campaign coffers of Rep. Bill Stoltze and Sen. Kevin Meyer. And to round the week out, the Alaska Democratic Party held their annual Holiday Auction on Friday night.

A hatchet-job of an article appeared on a conservative website, implying that Dan Sullivan was responsible for the heinous double murder and rape of a Mountain View family.

Democratic candidate Byron Mallott spoke to the Bartlett Democratic Club, without notes I might add, at its luncheon on Thursday.

On the state government front, the Alaska Gas Development Corp. board met and Gov. Sean Parnell released the fall revenue forecast that showed a scary decline of oil production and less revenue than was previously thought. Parnell also said that he wasn’t, at this time, planning on introducing natural gas tax legislation, which basically delays Alaska getting a natural gas pipeline yet again. Independent candidate Bill Walker reacted viscerally, calling Parnell’s comments “maddening.”

Parnell also proposed spending around $3 billion to buy down some of the debt of the state’s retirement trust system – – something that was talked about back even when former Speaker John Harris was in the legislature. State Sen. Johnny Ellis has been pushing the plan for years.

The Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday voted on different ways to give Mayor Dan Sullivan his controversial indoor tennis courts. All of the votes failed. The drama continues on this court and we’ll see more volleys in the weeks ahead.

A bunch of Alaskans escaped the frigid Southcentral temperatures this past week. GCI was hosting a board meeting in Florida, while some legislators headed to the nation’s capitol for education meetings. A gaggle of oil types and legislators headed to Calgary for Energy Council, where they were greeted by temperatures pushing 40 below.

This past week was also saw the inaugural of Channel 11 News being on the air under GCI’s ownership. The fight will be over ratings and viewers. Will viewers dump Channel 2’s Maria Downey and Jackie Purcell for other, less familiar faces? The two are like Alaska’s sisters, after all. We’ll see how it works out, particularly if Channel 11 ever comes across a story that makes its owners — the most politically active homegrown phone company in the state – uncomfortable.

Sadly, the world mourned the death of Nelson Mandela while closer to home, friends and a loving family were saddened by the passing of former Fairbanks Rep. Niilo Koponen, who was a liberal and a friend of my father’s, who is decidedly not a liberal.

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

Error riddled article on Senate candidate Sullivan sensationalizes tragic murders

Thursday began as a very good day for U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan. Roll Call, an inside-the-beltway publication owned by Congressional Quarterly, wrote a story about his campaign, highlighting that he worked for Condoleezza Rice in the Bush administration, his time in Alaska as the state’s attorney general and as the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. It mentioned his service in the Marine Corps, and that he was deployed as a reservist to Afghanistan this summer.

“Sullivan’s résumé reads straight out of a Republican textbook,” Roll Call wrote.

Most importantly for Sullivan’s campaign, the article suggested that Sullivan might be out fundraising Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell and Joe Miller, his opponents in the Republican primary.

And then another story appeared about Sullivan. This one was in Brietbart.com, an online conservative news site that was founded by the late Andrew Breitbart, who had been a staunch tea party and Sarah Palin supporter. The site has not been known for always getting things right and does not shy from controversies. The headline on this piece read, “Dan Sullivan, Alaska U.S. Senate candidate, ran office that let child molester free.”

An alternative headline read: “Dan Sullivan AK US Senate child molester coddler.” (That alternative headline appears to have been written for search engine optimization purposes, or for getting as many hits as possible. Hit baiting, they call it in the business.)

The article indicates that as attorney general, Sullivan was responsible for the heinous 2013 double murder and rape of a 2-year-old and 92-year-old in Anchorage.

Mike Anderson, Dan Sullivan’s spokesperson, said that the Brietbart article “is riddled with inaccuracies and reads like a political hatchet job.”

Indeed, the author appears to be using the crime to score political points against Sullivan by exploiting the victims and playing loose with the facts.

Jerry Andrew Active is accused of committing the crimes 12 hours after he was released from jail, where he was serving time for a parole violation. An error in the state database system likely was the result in the light sentence he received for a 2009 rape, after which he was let go, sent back to jail, and let go again.

Sullivan was attorney general during the time that Active received his “soft” sentence as a result of a plea deal. However, the initial charge for the 2009 rape happened months before Sullivan took the job, and the problem with the database pre-dated his tenure. According to a report done on the case by the current attorney general, the database error took place on Jan. 30, 2009, when Sullivan was on duty with the U.S. Marine Corps.

Sullivan wasn’t appointed as Alaska’s AG by Sarah Pain until June, 2009, five months after Active was charged, and was the DNR commissioner when Active committed his crimes.

Additionally, it was the database maintained by the Alaska Department of Public Safety that made the error on Active’s record; not the one maintained by the Department of Law, as the article states.

According to the Department of Law, “It is unreasonable to suggest that anyone could have predicted the crimes Mr. Active is presently charged with committing over the Memorial Day weekend in Anchorage this year.”

It’s unclear from whom or where the writer of the article, Charles Johnson, is getting his information. According to Sullivan’s press secretary, they played phone tag in late October or early November, but were never able to touch base.

The piece also appeared on Joe Miller’s website, the content of which is primarily culled from other conservative sources and websites. Miller’s campaign spokesperson did not return a call requesting comment.

Fred Brown, a spokesperson with Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell’s campaign responded to a request for comment via email. “This was a very tragic event,” he said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims families for this senseless and heinous act of violence. I sincerely hope that the policies in the Attorney General’s office that let this criminal out onto the streets have been reviewed and addressed to ensure that something like this never happens again.”

During Sullivan’s time as AG, there were about 47,287 criminal cases handled by the Department of Law. About 12,155 of these cases were felonies, according to the department. His campaign said that his number one priority was “protecting Alaskans, particularly the most vulnerable.”

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

BP forced to pay adult escort service for gusher

From the Wall Street Journal:

“BP has complained for months it has been forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses that filed damage claims after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster – even though they weren’t really affected. Now, the court-appointed lawyer supervising those payments has confirmed he approved a $173,000 payout to an ‘adult escort service’ that BP said was filed with unsigned and undated financial documents.”

BP’s fighting back with an ad campaign that reads, “The IRS wouldn’t accept this claim. But the Gulf Settlement Program did.” Maybe it’s just me, but whether or not the IRS would accept the claim seems beside the point.

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

Mallott shares his vision for Alaska

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Byron Mallott spoke to a friendly crowd of about 30 people on Thursday at the Democratic Bartlett Club in Anchorage. Without using notes, he spoke for about 40 minutes on subjects ranging from education to oil to declining state coffers. With every subject, he was able to weave in the central theme of his campaign: unifying all Alaskans.

Bringing Alaskans together has been Mallott’s theme since he announced he was running for governor in mid-October. He didn’t deliver a tub -thumper, but his stump speech has gotten better over time, and he always talks as if it’s coming from his heart.

Mallott is a young 70-year-old and brings a unique understanding and perspective to both government service and the private sector, as well as to the rural/urban divide that plagues Alaska. At 22 he was the mayor of Yakutat. He was commissioner of the Alaska Department of Community and Regional Affairs under Gov. Bill Egan. He served as mayor of Juneau before becoming the executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund. He was the CEO of Sealaska Corp, president of the Alaska Federation of Natives, and has served on the board of many corporations.

One of the biggest applause lines of his talk came when Mallott repeated what he had said before: that he would personally vote to repeal the oil tax bill, or SB 21, that was passed last legislative session and gives oil companies a tax break during times of high oil prices. The repeal is going to figure more prominently as those who support it get more organized, and those who oppose the appeal begin to fight back.

Mallott tempered his statement, however, by saying that his vote for the repeal will be a “nuanced” one. He said that regardless of whether or not the bill is repealed, the state needs to provide a stable climate in which to do business, and it needs to recognize the risks the oil companies take in Alaska.

He also warned the crowd not to demonize those who disagree.

“It will not serve us to continue a divisive debate,” he said. “We can all speak to issues and can come away with the sense that we are all in this together.”

Indeed, support to repeal the oil tax bill is turning into a Democratic litmus test, much like support to repeal ObamaCare has turned into a litmus test for Republicans.

But the bulk of Mallott’s speech was spent laying out a vision for an Alaska as a “place that cares,” as a place that encourages diversity and visionaries, as a place that reaches out to businesses to come to Alaska, and a place that has the most vibrant university system in the country.

If we don’t create such a place, he said, “the least among us loses, and we can’t have that in Alaska.”

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

Parnell’s plan to delay gas taxes also delays pipeline. Walker calls it all ‘maddening.’

To the surprise of some, and maybe the amusement of others, Gov. Sean Parnell announced on Tuesday that he’s not planning to introduce natural gas tax legislation to be considered in the upcoming legislative session. Currently, natural gas is taxed at roughly the same rate as is oil, but it’s only worth a fraction of what oil is.

Parnell says he’s not doing so because the companies that have the lease rights to the natural gas, and who would build the line that would carry the gas from the North Slope to tidewater, haven’t met all of the benchmarks he set out for them in his 2013 state of the state address.

Apparently, Parnell’s refusal to introduce gas taxes signals some sort of punishment. What kind of punishment, however, is unclear. What is clear is that the world is awash in natural gas, and other projects — potentially more profitable projects — await the companies.

Another thing that’s clear: Parnell’s announcement signals another delay in the decades-long dream of getting a large diameter natural gas pipeline.

Bill Walker, who is running as an independent candidate for governor, had a visceral reaction to Parnell’s statement. He said that Parnell is just playing into the hands of the producers. “It’s perfect for them,” Walker said. He has been an advocate for an LNG project for more than a quarter of a century, and has long advocated that the state get tough on the companies by either building the line itself or negotiating with the companies that are willing to do it.

“Parnell is trying to get tough. He’s trying to be a negotiator. But they’re just laughing at us,” Walker said. “They’re just on the floor rolling.” He said that the producers want the delay so that they can work on other projects and wait out Alaska as oil production declines, as the state’s coffers shrink, and as the state becomes increasingly desperate and increasingly willing to negotiate.

Walker ran for governor in 2010. He came in second place in the Republican primary, winning more than 33 percent of the vote on a campaign primarily advocating the construction of a gas pipeline project.

Since the 1970s, Alaska has tried to entice, and at various times demand, that the lease holders of the vast reserves of natural gas on the North Slope build a pipeline to get the gas to market.

The market for natural gas is a fickle one, however, say nothing of Alaska’s political climate. And throughout the years, every time it looked like it might actually begin to materialize, the market either crashes, or the political winds change, or a governor tries to flex his or her muscles and punish the companies, which happen to be the among the largest, most powerful, private companies in the world.

“It’s maddening,” Walker said, expressing a sentiment shared by many who have followed the long, illusive gas line story.

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

UAA kind of sort of responds to Keithley’s charges of retribution

Last evening, I posted an article about Brad Keithley’s allegations against the UAA athletics program and UAA Chancellor Tom Case. Keithley claims that he is in the process of being barred from any association with UAA athletics. He says that it’s because he’s been critical of the athletic program, that he expressed concerns to Case about the hiring of a UAA women’s basketball coach who had a reputation in other schools and who resigned shortly after he was hired amid allegations of “professional misconduct.” He also wrote to the university about a student athlete who felt uncomfortable working with the basketball coach.

He also indicates that he might be being punished for a trip by the women’s basketball team that he paid for and which appears to be against NCAA rules.

The allegations are serious. I sent an email to the university about them. The questions and the response are below:

Why is the university considering barring Keithley from further association with its athletic program? Keithley says that it’s because he’s been critical of the program and has raised concerns with the treatment of a female student athlete. Is this true?
What action was taken when Keithley came to Chancellor Case expressing concern about a female student athlete’s concerns about working with women’s basketball coach Nate Altenhofen?
What, if any, action has the NCAA taken against the university regarding the 2011 trip Keithley paid for involving the UAA women’s basketball team?
The NCAA has indicated that the trip was against rules. Whose responsibility is it for ensuring that the university would follow such rules in this case?
In 2012, women’s basketball coach Nate Altenhofen resigned following accusations of “professional misconduct.” According to news accounts, he was being investigated for such allegations. What is the latest in that investigation? If complete, can you release the results? If not, can you tell me when it will be complete and what the public will know about the investigation? When he resigned, was he given any kind of severance package?
Does the university have an overall quote on Keithley’s accusations?

Here’s how the UAA chancellor’s office responded to the above questions:

UAA has been working with the NCAA since July 2012 on an investigation that looked into the women’s basketball program and the conduct of former head coach Tim Moser. It was not focused on UAA athletics generally, nor was it focused on Altenhofen. NCAA bylaws prohibit UAA from commenting further on an ongoing NCAA investigation.

Former coach Altenhofen resigned in the midst of an investigation into professional misconduct in August 2012. In accordance with Board of Regents policy, UAA will not comment further on personnel matters.

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

A political legend with ties to Alaska passes

Joe Napolitan, credited with coining the term “political consultant,” died on Monday. Napolitan worked on over 100 campaigns and served on the campaign staffs of John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. He has worked on every continent and has been a personal consultant to nine foreign heads of state. He was the founder and first president of the American Association of Political Consultants and co-founder of the International Association of Political Consultants.

Closer to home, Napolitan played an instrumental role in two statewide Alaska races. He served as the chief strategist and consultant to Mike Gravel, who won a big upset in the 1968 Democratic primary against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Ernest Gruening, the popular former governor of the Alaska Territory and considered one of the fathers of statehood. A 30 minute biopic, the likes of which hadn’t been seen before in Alaska entitled “Man for Alaska,” did the trick. Gravel went on to beat Republican banker Elmer Rasmuson in the general by eight percentage points.

Later in 1982, Napolitan advised Bill Sheffield’s successful gubernatorial campaign.

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

Allegations of cover-up and retribution involving UAA athletics

New allegations have surfaced about UAA’s athletic department which include accusations that the UAA chancellor’s office turned a blind eye to improper treatment of at least one female athlete. Brad Keithley, a lawyer and a possible candidate for governor, is making these allegations on his website. He is also charging that UAA is involved in retribution against him for, among other things, speaking about these issues. Keithley says he is in the process of being permanently barred from further association with its athletic programs

These are serious allegations, and I’ll try to get a response from the university on Tuesday.

Until recently, Keithley was a major donor and was highly involved in UAA’s athletic department.

In his blog, Keithley details how he had a meeting with UAA Chancellor Tom Case about the 2012 hiring of women’s basketball coach Nate Altenhofen and about his concerns with Altenhofen’s sketchy reputation, the lack of adequate community involvement in the hiring, and background checks. Three months later, Altenhofen resigned amid allegations of “professional misconduct.”

Keithley writes that he contacted Case again about a female student athlete who was uncomfortable with Altenhofen, and wanted to transfer, but was denied that transfer by UAA. Keithley, who was then working for a firm that had represented the university, was asked by the university to withdraw the letter because of potential conflicts of interest. The student never got her transfer and enrolled in i~~s now at~~ a community college, according to Keithley.

Most recently, Keithley says he is in the process of being permanently barred from further association with its athletic program for what he says is retribution for criticism of the program and for paying for the UAA women’s basketball team to travel from the University of Virginia to Washington D.C., where he hosted a tour of the Capitol followed by dinner for the team and coaches with the Alaska congressional delegation.

This is against NCAA rules, something that Keithley didn’t know at the time. Neither, apparently, did the university, which touted the trip and Keithley’s involvement with it on its website. He was given a special award following the trip for supporting UAA’s athletic department.

He was recently interviewed by the NCAA about the trip, which so far has not recommended sanctions against Keithley. However, Keithley says that he was not interviewed by UAA about the trip.

When he heard about being barred from the athletic program, Keithley sent an email that was distributed to the president of the University of Alaska, the chair of the Board of Regents and the UAA chancellor, questioning the university’s process and proposed actions, he writes. He has yet to get a response.

Keithley’s allegations fall on the heels of the firing of UAA Athletic Director Steve Cobb after an incident involving a coach slashing a hockey player with a stick began to make headlines and Gov. Sean Parnell expressed serious concerns about the public’s perceptions of the UAA athletic department.

Keithley writes:

To paraphrase an NCAA standard, UAA has become an institution out of control. There appears to be no accountability remaining in the system for bad decisions or for arbitrary and biased procedures. Put another way, when UAA screws up the first reaction appears not to be, how did that happen and how do we fix it, but instead, how do we silence or undermine those who call us out on it so that we don’t have to worry about that again.

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

Supreme Court to hear if corporations also have religious rights

Dahlia Lithwick on the Supreme Court’s decision to hear if companies must offer contraceptive coverage to employees:

“Citizens United taught us that corporations count as people when it comes to campaign speech. Does this weird concept of personhood extend to their religious rights? The 10th Circuit said yes. The 3rd Circuit said no. More questions: Does the birth-control coverage benefit substantially burden a company’s exercise of its religious rights, if it has them? Is the contraception mandate nevertheless justified by compelling government interests because it is a vitally important element of affording women equality in health care?”