Anchorage Daily News

THE HONEYMOON IS OVER ... So, will our Sarah change her claim of "transparency" to merely "translucence" given her refusal to say why she fired Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan?

"Opaque?"

Sly earwigs claim to be puzzled about why the gov won't just say why she did it. He serves at her pleasure, which means she can fire him because she doesn't like his haircut or how he eats chicken wings. Or just because she doesn't like him.

Refusing to offer a credible explanation has left an information vacuum that delighted Saraphobes have rushed to fill with all kinds of sordid tales and conspiracy theories. No matter how much is untrue, some of the mud is going to stick. It was a bonehead mistake by an administration that seemed charmed in the PR department up to now.

And who's standing in the wings, offering to hold Legislative hearings, happy to keep the pot boiling? Lyda Green, of course.

Why shouldn't she? Who could resist the softball Sarah and company have lobbed her way? Judiciary committee members from both houses are reportedly meeting this weekend to map strategy. Watch for flying subpoenas, one legislative earwig advised Friday.

Frankly, darlings, Ear doesn't care about any of this. Governors get to hire and fire as they please. What Ear really wants to know is, who persuaded her that Chuck Crapuchettes, who understandably changed his name to Chuck Kopp, was the man for the commissioner's job? Who does this governor take advice from? Apparently not her commissioners if the talk is true. Todd, of course. But who else?

SPEAKING OF ... Monegan and Sarah. Both are managing to soldier on despite the storm over the firing-hiring-firing at the Department of Public Safety.

Walt caught a 40-pound king in the Kenai River on Thursday and was, at least briefly, a happy man. Wife Terry was with him.

Meanwhile, an earwig reports Sarah's interview with People Magazine is scheduled for an early August issue. It's about Trig, and managing family life while governor.

She can also be seen in a new Jib Jab cartoon as one of the vice-presidential candidates on the McCain campaign bus.

STREET MEET ... Picture this: John Harris, R-Valdez, and speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives, was walking down the street in Juneau, headed for some ice cream at McDonald's, when a pleasant young man asked if he was registered to vote in Alaska. The young man wanted to talk about Mark Begich for U.S. Senate.

Poor baby.

Harris asked how long he'd been in Alaska. A month, said the young man.

Harris asked where he came from. New York, said the young man.

That did it. Harris unloaded on the poor kid, told him to go back to New York and tell Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to perform an impossible carnal act, and that the young man should stay out of Alaska politics.

(Schumer is the guy blamed for causing the run on IndyMac bank by publishing a letter about the bank being shaky).

SACK'S AND THE CITY ... The Hogg Brothers restaurant, icon of Midtown and artery hardener to the world, closed in June and is already being transformed by its new owners.

JoAnn Asher of Sacks Cafe and Laile Fairbairn of Snow City, plus a retinue of investors including Patrick Flynn, Ethan Berkowitz and Jeff Friedman, have bought the name, building and property.

Renovations have started under the direction of designer Catherine Call and her Blue Sky Studio, said Laile. Call did the snazzy City Diner.

Alas Spenardians, Velveeta is probably out, feta in. The new menu will be "rustic American," Laile said, featuring local and organic produce whenever possible.

What happened to all the Hogg Brothers' ceramic pigs, you ask? "It took us 10 work hours to wrap them," Laile said. The plan is to auction them off at a private opening party this fall.

No name for the new place yet.

ON THE MOVE ... Former Fairbanks News-Miner reporter Sam Bishop is returning to the paper next month as assistant managing editor, replacing Rod Boyce, who will become managing editor, replacing Kelly Bostian, who is leaving to become outdoor editor for the Tulsa World.

That's in Oklahoma.

GOOD CAUSE ... Remember John Chapman? He was a firearms expert who had to retire from APD after a load of lumber fell on him from a truck involved in an accident he was investigating on the Glenn.

Well, Chapman's son, Troy, now 24, was born with cystic fibrosis and needs a lung transplant. He's been accepted into a transplant program in Washington that requires him and a family member to move there for a year, a very expensive proposition, plus a lot of other expenses insurance doesn't cover.

To help out, APD is holding a yard, craft and bake sale on Aug. 2 at Hanshew Middle School from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can drop off donated stuff at APD any Mon.-Fri. from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., says department spokeswoman Anita Shell. Or follows Ear's plan and go have fun buying stuff.

Compiled by Sheila Toomey. Write to stoomey@adn.com or ear@adn.com.

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