Anchorage Daily News

LEADING LADY ... And for once, it's not you-know-who. Billionaire Melinda Gates, the Mrs. to Bill, registered under her maiden name Melinda French for the grueling Equinox race in Fairbanks last weekend. She did the relay with her team, Susan's Seattle Soul Sisters, in honor of her friend Susan Butcher, who died two years ago of leukemia.

Earmites report no one really noticed her presence.

Check newsminer.com for the full story.

THE OTHER LEADING LADY ... Our Sarah has really hit the big time. The McCain-Palin ticket is advertising an Oct. 13 fundraiser in McLean, Va., where it will cost $25,000 to attend a "private dinner" with her. A reception is $1,500 a person and something called a "VIP Photo Opportunity" costs $10,000. Does this mean the thousands of photos Alaskans have of themselves with the governor are worth money? She has always been generous about posing here for free.

COULD BE ... Juneau earmites report the blinds have been drawn in the governor's conference room on the third floor of the Capitol since Sept. 5. Word is, Sarah has let Dick Cheney borrow it as an undisclosed location.

Meanwhile, tourists are still passing through the Capital City, but these days they all head up the hill to the Governor's "Mansion" to see if Sarah, Todd and the kids happen to be home. One exasperated local claims to have shouted to a milling group, "She's not there. She never is. Don't you read your newspaper?"

ON THE MOVE ... Longtime Anchorage Fire Department spokesman Tom Kempton quit last week and is moving to Bozeman, Mont. The groan from reporters could be heard around the city. Kempton was a great P.R. guy, on top of whatever was happening and always available. That last part is apparently what got him crosswise with his bosses. He ran up a lot of overtime and, according to a farewell letter to fans, was ordered to restrict his availability to regular hours. Can't do the job that way, Tom said. So adios.

Following his exit, AFD has announced that all fires, explosions, drownings, and cats in trees will be restricted to the hours of 9 to 5.

OK, maybe that last bit isn't true.

KISS AND MAKE UP ... A friend of Fairbanks Rep. Scott Kawasaki sent Ear a copy of a letter Scott wrote to failed Anchorage House candidate Chris Constant. Chris tried to take Les Gara's seat in the Democratic primary. The letter pats Chris on the back for promoting the democratic process, giving Alaskans a choice, etc. But it's time to let bygones be bygones and start working with the Democrats who won, is the real message. But Ear's favorite part was the hand-written postscript:

"You made Les lose the rest of his hair!"

HAD TO HAPPEN ... We all know about Sarah and Todd Palin's FE K9 license plate (Fe is the chemical symbol for iron, so "iron dog"). But what about other political plate declarations? Turns out someone named Paul Adelman has OBAMA. He got it fairly recently. An Anchorage couple has MCCAIN but it might not be a political statement. Their names are Karen and George McCain and they've had it for years.

Someone named Tom Roberson in Palmer has SARAH, although lots of people have SARAH with an added number or letter.

No one has BARACK.

FLYING FACTOID ... An earwig who still reads newspapers says the Exxon ad that ran in papers statewide last weekend was the first ad Exxon has run in Alaska since the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Can that possibly be true? That's almost 20 years ago.

ON THE TOWN ... Todd and Sarah Palin Look-Alike Contest, 9 p.m. Wednesday at Blues Central on Northern Lights, $3 or free for contestants. Looks like it's a weekly thing through October, with prizes and a grand prize on Oct. 29. Live music by Sarah and the Pitbulls and Trouble Calls.

SHE'S HOT ... The new president of Pakistan, Asif ali Zardari, hit on Sarah when she met him in New York as part of that speed-dating thing she did last week with world leaders. Here a verbatim from the L.A. and N.Y. Times.

ZARDARI: "You are even more gorgeous than you are on the (inaudible)."

PALIN: "You are so nice. Thank you."

ZARDARI: "Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you."

(A Zardari handler tells the two to shake hands again for the cameras.)

PALIN: "I'm supposed to pose again."

ZARDARI: "If he's insisting, I might hug."

At that point, the pool reporter was escorted from the room.

Compiled by Sheila Toomey. E-mail ear@adn.com. Find Ear online at adn.com/ear.

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