Alaska Ear

So why did Ear, who is really bored with Palin Peeping as a national pastime, read the whole thing? Must be that part of the brain that slows down to watch traffic accidents.

You can slow down your brain at www.mercedejohnston.com.

OUT AND ABOUT ... The Café del Mundo on Benson isn't just for latte-slurping liberals anymore. Wednesday morning it looked more like a mini Republican convention. At the same time, at different tables, sat former House Speaker Gail Phillips, Dan Saddler, a candidate for Nancy Dahlstrom's House seat, and former legislator/gov candidate Andrew Halcro with current lite gov candidate Jay Ramras.

Then Hollis French, Democratic candidate for governor, walked in and the universe righted itself.

AND YOUR POINT? ... Did you see that complaint brought against Wev Shea by the Alaska Bar Association? They want to suspend his license to practice law for 25 months and make him see a shrink. They say he switched sides on one of his clients but seem most upset by the tone of Wev's legal representation. The complaint calls it "demeaning, offensive, insulting, intemperate, frivolous and outrageous." Really, darlings, this is what comes of poor Wev spending too much time in politics. One can lose track of civilized niceties.

Wev disputes the allegations of course and seems ready for a fight. Bring it on.

A QUESTION ... Nobody's coughing up a name, yet, but who was the New England Patriots player -- Super Bowl ring and all -- who moved his vehicle over in the lane last week to accommodate a downtown People Mover and crunched into one of those red trolleys?

ANOTHER QUESTION ... Are those two guys who reportedly showed up at the 2008 Republican convention, flashing walkie-talkies and calling themselves Joe Miller's "bodyguards," back on the job now that he's running for the Senate? People were amused back then, when Miller, a Fairbanks lawyer, mounted a half-baked challenge to GOP boss Randy Ruedrich for the party chairmanship. They seem less amused now.

TV NEWS ... Earwigs say the owners of Channels 4 and 13 have hired a new general manager to run the recently combined KTBY/KIMO operations, someone from Savannah, Ga. The old KTBY manager who was supposed to take over reportedly left and the owner of KTBY has been in town running the stations.

KUDOS ... To writer Charles Wohlforth, whose new book, "The Fate of Nature," got him invited to be a featured guest Friday on NPR's "Science Friday." The discussion was about whether we can really do anything to stop disasters like the Exxon Valdez and the BP Gulf explosion.

CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER ... Our Esteemed Delegation to Congress issued one of its bragging press releases Friday. The first sentence seemed clear: "The Alaska Congressional Delegation is pleased to announce the following grants and contracts awarded to communities in the State of Alaska."

And what Alaska communities were they referring to? The list included $8.8 million to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. -- of Oak Brook, Ill. The job? Repairing dunes and beach -- in Ocean City, Md. So what's the Alaska connection? Someone from the office of Rep. Don Young, Congressman for All Alaskans Who Voted for Him (and apparently voters in Illinois and Maryland), said the dredge company had an Anchorage address in papers from the Pentagon. However, the B Street address traces back not to a dredge company, but to a financial services office of TDX, the St. Paul village corporation.

Aha, thought Cynical Ear. Another of those 8(a) deals? (The ANCSA 8(a) provision has to do with Native corporations and "partners" getting big-money sole-source government contracts).

Or maybe not.

VOTE NOW ... A local firefighter needs your help today. Capt. Zach Westin of AFD Station 5 is competing to have his recipe -- "The Burnin' Burger" -- chosen for presentation on the Regis Philbin show. It's a firehouse cook-off competition, but to get nominated as a contestant, Westin has to collect more votes than four other burger-cooking firefighters from around the country.

Voting started Friday and ends today at 7:59 p.m. Alaska time. You can vote at www. LiveRegisandKelly.com.

ON THE TRAIL AGAIN ... With a $250 donation to The Children's Lunchbox, you can be one of 30 people invited to bike along the Coastal Trail on July 10 with Tony and Susan Knowles, from Fifth and L to Point Woronzof, then pig out on barbecue. The fund-raiser is sponsored by the Copper Whale Inn and Lifetime Adventures and is the first of three planned events. See http://thechildrenslunchbox.org.

BUMPER SNICKER . . . Spotted Outside, but suitable for Alaska:

"I child-proofed my house, but they still get in."

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Compiled by Sheila Toomey Find Ear online at www.adn.com/ear Message Sheila at 257-4341 or ear@adn.com