NEVER MIND ... Thanks to all you earwigs who forwarded a copy of Andrew Halcro's screed about Lesil's ... ahem ... issues, before it disappeared from his blog. There was a lot of "OMG, look what he said," but Ear isn't sure why. There wasn't any new news, mostly a recap of old incidents that had already been reported.
Ear is a longtime Halcro fan and figured the best way to stop wondering why he wrote it, and why it disappeared, was just to call and ask.
What a concept, right?
It was written in frustration and anger, he said. And he regretted it. It broke his own rule about getting personally nasty, so "I yanked it," he said.
Really d'Ears, we've all been there. That sick feeling after you push the "send" button.
On a happier note, Andrew is almost finished with his tell-all book about the back rooms of the Alaska Legislature from 2000 to 2010. And weren't those the best years, darlings. Started with Bill Allen, ended with Sarah Palin. Fun, fun, fun.
No firm title yet but Andrew said he's leaning toward "Suits Me: Pot, Palin and Populism."
You gotta love it.
MOVIN' ON ... Looks like the Love Caucus has morphed into Youth Court. Earwigs who look for love in all the wrong places claim Kyle and Charisse are kaput and she's dating Johnny T, the sports guy on ABC/FOX.
Ear wants to be snarky about the 20 years or so age difference -- assuming it's true -- but let's be honest. Would be we be sniping if the genders were reversed -- older man, younger woman?
(Thinking, thinking).
Yeah, we would.
LET IT BE OVER ... Ear is so bored, darlings. With the primary upon us, our elected and wannabe elected officials are carefully behaving themselves in public. It's all very annoying. But at least the folks in the Mad-Zoo Valley know how to have fun.
Sen. Linda Menard, who's hoping to hold on to her Valley Senate seat, and Mike Dunleavy, the guy trying to snatch the seat away, both volunteered for the dunk tank, a Rotary fundraiser at the Houston Founders Day Celebration last week. Earwigs who may not be totally bipartisan report one of the first people to pay for the privilege of dumping Menard in cold water was Dunleavy. And he allegedly did it with one throw.
It was all in fun and for charity, although the crowd wasn't that charitable. They wanted everyone dunked. Ear is told both candidates ended up all wet.
ON THE MOVE ... There are lots of media people moving hither and yon these days but the really big news is that Julie Hasquet, Queen of Alaska for Sen. Mark Begich, is leaving politics for a job at BP. Her title will be director of government and public affairs. (Doesn't BP have enough problems without making affairs public? Sorry, Ear digresses.)
No, Hasquet is not taking Steve Rinehart's old job (Earwigs report he retired.) Dawn Patience is the new Steve. Julie is taking Dawn's old job, starting in mid-September.
Hasquet, a former TV babe, has worked for Begich for nine years, starting back when he was mayor. She'll be missed by Begich.
MORE MOVEMENT ... Friends report Channel 2 weekend anchor Christine Kim is leaving Alaska for a job as a reporter at the NBC affiliate in Las Vegas.
Mitch Sego, of the popular "Weather Whys" segment on Channel 2, is going to work for the National Weather Service as a forecaster. Hey, this means he probably actually knew what he was talking about with all those high and lows and fronts and stuff.
Bernadette Wilson's morn- ing talk show on Channels 4/13 has been canceled. No plans announced yet, for her or the time slot, although there are rumors.
Alexis Fernandez, reporter and weekend anchor on Channel 11 and a born Alaskan, is reportedly leaving us for a TV gig in Tucson, Ariz.
AND YET ANOTHER ... M.J. Thim, formerly of Channel 11, more recently the PR guy for Stone Soup Group, is leaving Alaska for Florida. Ear suggested this is an over-reaction to our crummy summer, but M.J. said his partner will be taking over a family business in Tallahassee.
Earwigs want to know if M.J. will be driving across America in the truck with the FBI AK license plate that has proved so amusing here.
Yes, he will. He's looking forward to going through Customs, he said. And yes, he has a strange sense of humor.
Ear suggested he might want to avoid bad neighborhoods in big cities, Montana militia country, corners where drugs are sold -- well, you get the idea.
OUTSIDERS ... Imagine the surprise of people watching the Nunaka Valley girls on ESPN last weekend in Washington state, kicking butt in the 2012 Little League Junior Softball World Series, when a graphic appeared on screen announcing the population of Anchorage as 38,821.
Misplace a zero, guys?
Of course, Alaska viewers might have been distracted by news that our girls were from a place called NUNN-a-ka Valley.
DO SEND A FONDU ... to Josh Saul, former Alaska Dispatch reporter, and fiancé Tess Millard. The former Anchorage couple is getting married next month in NYC. (They got engaged last month during an eight-day kayak trip on Prince William Sound.)
Josh is the son of Janis Fleischman and Jerry Lewanski, who own the fab Fire Island Bakery downtown. Tess was a manager there for more than a year before the couple took off for Europe then settled in Manhattan, where she's a designer and he's a reporter for the New York Post, the tabloid of OMG headlines.
These days Josh is writing stories like, "Deal dooms fiend to life in jail," and "Why I shot my parole officer."
Some people have all the fun.
Jerry's doing the wedding cake, of course.
ANOTHER BOOK REPORT ... Former Alaska Attorney General John Havelock's book, "Let's Get it Right: Why we need a Constitutional Convention," is due out any day now. Barnes & Noble will have it.
John hopes we'll forgive a glitch in one of the footnotes, where it says Alaska has never had a woman attorney general.
We have. Bet you don't remember who.
Earwigs forgive you, John.
OURS ... Who's that hot guy in the new Ralph Lauren creations? Yes, Patrick Sullivan, still modeling for Lauren in the fall catalog. "Twill Mohawk Windbreaker $265," etc. He's Mayor Dan's nephew, George's grandson, Harvey's son.
Compiled by Sheila Toomey. Message Sheila: ear@adn.com
By SHEILA TOOMEY