DONCHA HATE CROWDS . . . Things are getting pretty hairy in the mayor's race with its cast of thousands and election day quickly approaching. Dan Sullivan is flush and seems relaxed over there on the right. And the no-names are doing their usual weirdness.
But among the serious contenders who are Not Sullivan, fear is percolating over the possibility they're going to split the non-Republican vote, producing a run-off contender who can't beat Dan.
Earwigs report that before he went to Washington, Mark Begich tried to broker a deal for some of the Not-Sullivan contenders to drop their own candidacy and rally around Eric Croft, who seems to be the party establishment choice. Democratic Party leaders and at least one notable Dem politician tried again more recently. Or so Ear is told. But the polls apparently show no runaway group leader, which means no sure losers, so no one wants to drop out.
NEVERMIND . . . Ear was going to write something about the jockeying for Kim Elton's vacated Senate seat but the dance is so Byzantine Ear can't even fake it.
It has to be a Democrat from Juneau. The governor appoints and the Senate Dems confirm. Or not.
Usually the party suggests several names to the governor but the Juneau Dems sent her only Rep. Beth Kerttula, who publicly criticized Palin during the recent VP race. Inquiring earwigs want to know why the Juneau Dems did such a foolish thing. Did they not understand it might really irk Sarah? Does anyone think an irked Sarah is a good thing?
There seems little agreement under the grapevine about who is likely to end up in the seat. People who offer odds bet she appoints a Native, making it really tough for Democrats to vote no.
However, there seems near universal agreement on one thing -- that if Beth wants it, she's going to have to win it at the polls.
MEDIA MIX . . . Ins and outs. KTUU-Channel 2 says Megan Baldino is coming back, transferring from a sister station in Indiana where she's been working to become an anchor here. Again.
The press release doesn't say why, but it'll be great to have her back. And, hey, it's Indiana. What more reason does she need?
• According to earwigs and tweets, Duncan Moon and John Proffitt both no longer work at KAKM/KSKA. Someone who might actually know what's going on said they were let go after losing "good faith debates" on the future strategy of the stations. The two jobs will reportedly be combined into one called vice president for news and public media and a search will begin soon to fill it.
• As for talk show host Nellie Moore, she's just not there anymore. Her old e-mail address doesn't work so Ear hasn't been able to ask why she resigned.
TRUTH IS SO LIMITING . . . The official story about how Sen. Lisa Murkowski broke her leg is not nearly as Alaskan as one might wish. Skiing. Blah. That could happen anywhere.
To punch up the image, her writer sister has been collecting better lines for Lisa to offer when folks back in D.C. ask her:
"I was doing fine fighting off the polar bear, until the second one showed up. ... I was 350 miles up the Iditarod Trail when the moose jumped my team. ... I leaned too far out of the helicopter trying to get a good shot at the wolf."
Or, a personal favorite: "I tried to walk to Russia from my house."
ON THE MOVE . . . The domino effects on the Department of Law from Talis Colberg's resignation may be nearing an end. As of April 1, his special assistant Monica Jenicek is going to OSPA. Anchorage chief assistant district attorney John Novak is headed to a job at DOL criminal division to work on public safety issues. Sharon Marshall will take his job as DA Adrienne Bachman's deputy. We can only hope this doesn't mean the end of her nailing bad guys in the courtroom.
Jay Fayette is headed from OSPA to be Bachman's gangs guy -- a new position funded by the Legislature. John Skidmore will take Marshall's post as head of the violent crimes unit.
Meanwhile, the DA office is really cooking these day; Bachman's people took 11 murder cases to trial last year -- surely a record. They did a total of 108 felony trials, up from 56 the year before.
A QUESTION . . . Just how many different organizations are polling about Sarah's popularity? Earwigs keep getting called. This week, a Juneau 'wig got a robot call from "Americans in Contact," who wanted to know: "Do you agree we must re-elect Governor Sarah Palin?"
What's this "we" stuff. Is it likely these callers can vote in an Alaska election? Even if they're not a robot?
Ear suspects the most important question in this particular series was: Have you supported a political campaign, nonprofit organization or church? Meaning, are you the type we can ask for money?
FAREWELL . . . Joe Sonneman, a Juneau institution, died last Sunday of Lou Gerhig's disease. Joe, a lawyer and photographer, ran for office a couple of times a decade, more or less, starting back in the '70s -- for offices from Juneau mayor to U.S. Senator. Ear knew him back in the day and he will be missed.
GOOGLE ALERT . . . The story of Nome resident Kim Galleher's efforts to convince Microsoft service agents that Nome exists and actually can receive mail are too long to reproduce here. It's a classic story about a couple of Alaskans trying to deal with dense Outsiders who insisted they couldn't mail anything to a post office box, even in a town that only has post office boxes. The story was written by Benjamin J. Romano for the Seattle Times. Posted online on March 12.
Talk about your LOL. It's definitely worth Googling. Search Kim Galleher Nome Microsoft.
FASTEN SEAT BELTS . . . Kudos to Mark Harris, winner of the 2008 air traffic controller award for the Alaska Region. Mark talked down a pilot whose cockpit filled up with smoke in the air. You can listen to the actual tower-pilot radio exchange in the upper-right corner of this column (related audio content).
CINEMATIC . . . Movies seem to be a theme this week. The folks at SprocketHeads are all excited about Evergreen Films opening a new Anchorage studio. A step toward building a film industry here, says Carolyn Robinson. "Anchorage will finally have a studio in which we can shoot feature films, high-end commercials and TV series!" she enthused to Ear.
There's an invitation-only reception at the new studio next Friday. Sarah's been invited.
• On another front, Wally Hickel's Institute of the North is releasing a film next Wednesday called "You Own Alaska." It was directed by Marla Williams ("The Aleut Story") and "inspired and funded" by John Hendrickson, the former Hickel aide now married to socialite Mary Lou Whitney. The premiere is at the Museum on March 25, 7 p.m.
WISDOM OF THE VALLEY . . . From a devoted Mad-Zoo earwig, in defense of the real-world education Valley kids get. Here are five lessons Valley children learn on their own:
1. No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.
2. When your Mum is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
3. If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.
4. Never ask your 3-year-old brother to hold a tomato.
5. You can't trust dogs to watch your food.
Compiled by Sheila Toomey. Find Ear online at adn.com/ear. Contact Sheila at stoomey@adn.com.