Anchorage Daily News

HAIL AND FAREWELL ... Everyone is treating rumors that Juneau Sen. Kim Elton has gotten a job with the Obama administration and will be moving to Washington as a true fact. Ear tends to believe he has been recruited to head the Alaska division of the Interior Department, but Kim is not confirming, so (gasp!) The Divine Appendage could be wrong.

Kim is pals with Obama guru Pete Rouse, so there's some actual juice in the mix.

Jockeying for Elton's Senate seat is under way. Sarah gets to make the appointment, but it has to be a Democrat. Beth Kerttula seems to be an odds on favorite.

WINNERS AND LOSERS ... Remember that Hackney & Hackney ad for Don Young against Sean Parnell in the U.S. House primary last year? The "Deal With the Devil" one? It just won a Reed Award from Politico Magazine for best Congressional radio ad in the U.S. Art & April's "Sean Who" ad was the runner-up, so Don swept the category, Art reports.

Google Reed Awards Politico Magazine to hear the winners. And check out the winner in the Local Candidate category. It features Bergen County Democrats using a Sarah imitator to trash the Republicans.

Speaking of the Hackneys, they were apparently among the circle of friends and advisers who went to Texas in the late 1990s, when W decided to run for president. Which is why they were among 300 people invited to a White House good-bye for Bush and Cheney, "where we got the run of the house, for the last time in maybe forever," says Art.

Hence the photo of April Hackney, reclining under the famous Jackie Kennedy painting.

NEW BROOMHILDA? ... Newsrooms in Anchorage were collectively stunned Monday as word spread that Steve MacDonald had been fired by the new manager of KTUU Channel 2. Competition in our business is traditionally bare-knuckle, but Steve is well-liked and broadly respected. He's not talking, but a note allegedly posted by him on his Facebook fan site said in part:

"Yo News Gang. ... I never thought things would end like this ... but they have. ... life is funny that way. I've been asked to leave Channel 2 News ... a place I've spent the past 12 years. It's all been so wonderful and it's all because of the wonderful people I've been able to work with ..."

The fan site was created Monday when word of his firing got out. By Friday more than 600 people had signed up.

Ear thinks we haven't heard the last of this.

NEW COUPLE ... But couple of what, one might ask. Gov. Palin and Fairbanks Rep. Jay Ramras, also a Republican, cluttered up press circuits last week with dueling press releases calling each other names over who was helping the beleaguered western Alaska villages by collecting and delivering food, and who was hopping on the bandwagon for undeserved credit. For what it's worth, the earwig vote came down on Jay's side.

FLYING FACTOID ... Mount Redoubt has a Facebook account. Check it out at www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1280503227

QUESTION ... How many people who solve quadratic equations over breakfast for fun called to tell Ear the math problem on the whiteboard in the BP ad in last Sunday's paper was incorrectly solved. Ear is told the answer should have been 1/2 greater than minus 5, not plus 5.

The Orifice's Omniscience does not include math so Ear has no idea who's right. In BP's defense, the person doing the problem in the ad is a kid. So maybe he got it wrong, not BP?

IN THE RACE ... Earwigs report Jody Smith, a former teacher and the wife of Shell Oil spokesman Curtis Smith, has applied for Chris Tuck's vacated seat on the Anchorage School Board. Chris had to resign when he got elected to the Legislature.

YEAH, SURE ... U.S. News & World Report ranks Anchorage residents third fittest in the nation. Ear really believes that, not. So a diet of pizza, Spam and Pilot Bread pays off?

Here's the claim: Ranked by percentage of residents who reported exercising regularly and the percent that get vigorous regular exercise, Anchorage is third in the country, behind Boulder, Colo., and Provo-Orem, Utah. According to a press release. More than 62 percent of Anchorage adults met or exceeded the goal for regular exercise.

Ahhh. The Omniscient Orifice gets it now: Anchorage residents are the most convincing liars abut how much they exercise.

The least fit cities are Chattanooga, Tenn., New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La.

FORMERLY KNOWN AS ... Out of the Closet, the SoNo (South of Nordstrom's) second-hand clothing store has learned a hard lesson about the price of fame. That's the store Sarah said she shopped at when people ragged on her about those expensive duds the RNC bought during the VP campaign. Anyhow, turns out a Lower 48 chain of thrift shops with the same name was unhappy and responded with cease and desist demands.

Change your name or get sued was the message.

The Outside chain has celebrity support and the backing of former NBA star Magic Johnson's foundation, earwigs say, which translates into lots of money to pay lawyers. So local shop owner Ellen Arvold is changing the name of her business in a Valentine's Day unveiling.

No, she won't say what the new name will be and a press release referred to the shop as "the store formerly known as Out of the Closet."

She's promising to have a consigned pair of red Naughty Monkey shoes from Shoe Fly in Juneau for sale, like the ones Sarah wore.

GET WELL ... Earwigs report restaurateur Jens Hansen had a heart valve replaced last week and is expected to be in the hospital for at least a week.

Compiled by Sheila Toomey. Find Ear online at adn.com/ear. Contact Sheila at stoomey@adn.com.

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