July 15: Dems target Young

Is it the end of Don Young? That's the bold question posted on the New Republic blog The Stump (defined as "obsessive coverage of the '08 race"). Eve Fairbanks minces no words. Writing about the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ad buy for the '08 House campaign, she says, "There is one buy that should excite you: $586,000 in reserved air time against Alaska GOPer Don Young."

She'll miss him, she writes, but "it'll be even more fun to watch Don and Ted pried, digit by desperately clinging digit, from the seats they truly believe are their God-given birthrights."

The Fix from the Washington Post covers the extensive DCCC ad campaign as well.

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A bear that ate a Prius. It's true, according to the Juneau Empire. Ann Boochever and her husband were inside their house when the horn on their 2006 Prius went off. Looking outside, they saw steamy windows and the car rocking back and forth.

They let the bear out the hatchback and looked with dismay at their totally trashed interior.

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Questions linger over Monegan's dismissal. KTVA reports that John Cyr, executive director of the Public Safety Employees Association says it is still scratching its collective head at the move, noting that Monegan had improved trooper morale.

"Law enforcement-wise, outside of urban Alaska, we are worse than some third-world countries. If that's acceptable to this governor and this Legislature, there is something desperately wrong. We have billions of dollars in excess funds and we can't provide for basic public safety."

Editorial writers at the Fairbanks Daily News Miner took serious exception to Palin's move.

Was the frank-speaking commissioner telling the governor things she didn't want to hear?

Alaska's public safety operation is under stress in places. The Alaska State Troopers need more people but have a hard time filling the vacancies they do have; competition for new recruits is strong among law enforcement agencies. The Village Public Safety Officer program faces major problems. Palin, according to reports, wants budget cuts in several departments, including the Department of Public Safety. Did the commissioner push back?

... The governor hasn't been straightforward. She needs to be, especially when it comes to the Department of Public Safety and the people entrusted to protect us.

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Fairbanks considers a "chronic inebriates" list. The Fairbanks Daily News Miner reports that the city's Alcohol Impact Committee is considering a "do not sell to" list that would be made up of inebriates known to have excessively taxed social services and hospitals.

Police Chief Dan Hoffman was supportive. "Coming up with a solution for this is going to be tricky. All I know is what we've been doing in the past isn't working."

But city attorney Herb Kuss offered the advice that the list could not be public and would have to allow for challenges.

"There would have to be some kind of due process," Kuss said.

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Reporter subpoenaed in Juneau drug trial. Did the accused confess to the reporter in a jailhouse interview?

The lines from a Juneau Empire story Monday by reporter Greg Skinner in question are:

"Careful with his words, Washington said he wasn't exactly ‘innocent' either." And, "It's not like I've never done anything wrong."

Doug Gardner, Juneau's district attorney, explained: "I think that when a newspaper chooses to print portions of things that certainly suggest that a witness has relevant information such as a confession, the state has no choice but to subpoena that witness."

Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg thinks Skinner needs to share more. For his part, Skinner said Monday night by telephone that his story implied no guilt. "Washington did not confess to me," he said.

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Alaska still has the highest gas prices in the nation. OK, so maybe we've adjusted to hearing we're No. 1 at the pump. CNNMoney.com puts us there again today, at $4.644 a gallon. But for a little perspective, the Fairbanks Daily News Miner notes the 50th reunion of Fairbanks High School this week. Students in 1958 enjoyed gasoline that cost 30 cents a gallon.

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The governor can dance. That's the word from the National Governors Association meeting, as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer. The 55 governors did some serious business, but chatter over vice-presidential contenders was part of the prattle. Pennsylvania's governor, Democrat Ed Rendell, teased Alaska's governor about her behavior at a party for attendees Sunday night.

"Gov. Palin was the first governor to dance and the only governor to do the Electric Slide, thereby scratching herself from the McCain" ticket, he joked.

Meanwhile, over at MSNBC.com, our governor dismissed such talk, saying: "I can't say that I'm on the short list. They, the officials in the campaign, haven't told me I'm on any short list. ... I really doubt that such a thing would happen. Gotta keep this in perspective: I'm a hockey mom from Alaska. Do you really think that it is even in the realm of possibility?"

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Tacoma detention center holding Alaskans accused of mistreatment. A immigrant advocacy group accuses the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma of excessive strip searches, overcrowding and lack of due process, according to the Associated Press.

The facility was built in 2004 and expanded twice, now holding up to 1,000 detainees mainly from Alaska, Oregon and Washington. The accusations came out of interviews with 46 detainees in 2006 and 2007.

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Volcano remains on red alert. For firsthand accounts by those rescued from a spewing Okmok volcano on Umnak Island in the eastern Aleutians, check out APRN's and the Dutch Harbor Fisherman's stories. KTUU reported the Alaska Volcano Observatory's latest report Monday that the volcano remains on red alert. "A strong explosive eruption is under way. ... The volcano is currently at aviation code Red and alert level Warning. Airborne ash and gas continues to drift with the wind and pose a hazard to aviation in the area."

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Obama supporters hope of turning red state to blue. With campaign headquarters now open in Anchorage and offices soon to open in Mat-Su, Fairbanks and Juneau, Obama's Alaska spokesman promises some presidential campaign intensity in a state that rarely sees it.

KTUU quotes Jeff Giertz: "We will have a major presence in Alaska from now until November. The campaign is treating Alaska like a swing state, which is a treatment I don't think Alaska has received a lot of before."

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Wasilla council won't censure employees. The Frontiersman and the ADN MatSu View blog offer details on the Monday evening meeting at which a move to discipline two current and one former employee for their behavior related to Meritage Development and plans for a retail shopping center failed 3-1.

"I agree the behavior was unacceptable," said council member Stephanie Massie. "I just don't think this is how we should handle it."

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Aviation school breaks ground in Bethel. The Delta Discovery noted the recent groundbreaking event for a $2.9 million, 9,000-square-foot Aviation Mechanics Training Institute that will school aviation and power-plan licensed mechanics. The school is expected to be complete by fall.

"The Aviation Mechanics Training Institute will produce local aviation and power plant licensed mechanics," said Myron Naneng Sr., AVCP president. "Organizations from around the Yukon-Kuskokwim region support and understand the need for locally trained aviation mechanics in a region where aviation is the main mode of transportation and where no roads connect villages to one another."

Western Alaska has the lowest per capita income and the highest unemployment in the state.

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Other headlines of interest to Alaskans:

> Investigators still look for answer in Sushi Spot fire (KTUU)

> Former Bethel councilman finishes Long Walk II to DC (Tundra Drums)

> Eagle River's North Slope Restaurant and Saloon in foreclosure (Alaska Star)

> Disc golf course opened Monday at Kincaid Park (KTUU)

> Remembering the Tanana Raft Classic (Dermot Cole, Fairbanks Daily News Miner)

> McCall Glacier 150-meter ice core stored at Fairbanks ice museum

(Science Centric)

> Jeff Lowenfels' Plant a Row (Christian Science Monitor)

> Bill Barr and the Nader effect in Alaska (BBC)

> Limerick-born U.S. soldier dies under bridge in Anchorage (Limerick Leader)

> Climber's body goes home to Jakarta (Antara News)

> Wally Hickel's third Backbone ad (Alaska Politics blog)

> Land swap worries Pelican residents (Juneau Empire)