A QUESTION . . . So, enough already. Is he going to run for the U.S. Senate or not?
Rumors continue to swirl that establishment Republicans are offering The Other Dan Sullivan beaucoup bucks in contributions if he'll run in the 2014 Republican primary against Joe Miller and Mead Treadwell.
You forgot who The Other Dan Sullivan is? Yes, that's one of the problems. He's our Commissioner of Natural Resources -- the guy Outside Republicans sent here to rein in Sarah when she was governor. He was the attorney general for a while. He married an Alaskan, the daughter of Mary Jane Fate.
It's obvious why sane party regulars would want someone to oppose Miller, but what's their heartburn with Lite Gov. Treadwell? He seems pretty standard-issue, certified GOP. However, the absence of Mead's name on the list of Republican heavyweights sponsoring U.S. House Speaker John Boehner's fundraiser last week really fueled the gossip flames.
Word is Mead has hired a pol from one of the fly-over states to run his campaign: one Adam Jones, allegedly the "celebrity coordinator" for the Romney presidential bid and, briefly, chief of staff to Nevada Lite Gov. Brian Krolicki.
But this might just be a rumor. Mead's been in Alaska a long time and presumably knows the dangers of having an Outsider running a campaign in our "nuanced" environment -- meaning Alaskans don't like it if you don't know how to pronounce Kenai, placer and Valdez.
ELSEWHERE ON THE TICKET . . . Earwigs report Jim Lottsfeldt will run a super-PAC supporting Mark Begich. It's called First Alaska PAC.
Is Randy Ruaro taking leave from his governor's office job to help run the "NO" campaign on the oil tax referendum?
HE'S WHERE? . . . Locator Lobe may have found former right-wing radio mouth Dan Fagan, who vanished from Anchorage months ago.
Then again, maybe not.
If one believes a YouTube presentation, he will be on the air in Austin, Texas, later this summer with a "Dan Fagan Show" that's very different from the one he offered us. Here's a quote: "We need to stop being full of judgment and persecuting people ..."
Truly, Ear is not making this up. You could have checked it out yourself, but it looks like the video's been pulled. If this was real, it explains why Dan had to leave Alaska. Our talk-radio nutosphere is unlikely to accept such a conversion -- from flaying liberal boogeymen to preaching love-is-all.
That said, a Fagan friend reports he's really in New Orleans and will be on the radio there soon.
Stay tuned.
ON THE MOVE . . . Curtis Smith, the familiar voice of Shell Oil in Alaska, has been promoted to Washington, D.C., where he will become the voice of Shell for all of America.
Curtis told Ear he's jazzed about the new job but not sure about how a kid from Soldotna is going to settle into commuter life along the Beltway. He claims someone told him butterflies pass cars at rush hour there.
Curtis and wife Jody will be gone next month. An even more familiar name will take his Alaska job: former KTUU-TV babe Megan Baldino.
OUT AND ABOUT . . . Spotted on the red carpet at the London premier of "The Frozen Ground," actor, retired Coast Guard officer and KTUU weatherman Robert Forgit.
The movie about serial rapist/killer Robert Hansen, which was shot in Anchorage, opened Wednesday abroad. Word on the Internet is that it will open in the U.S. on Aug. 23.
REALLY OUT AND ABOUT . . . Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz and Juneau Bishop Edward Burns should already be in Brazil hobnobbing with Pope Francis at the big World Youth Day Festival in Rio, along with about 50 people from Alaska, mostly high school kids. According to the Catholic Anchor newspaper, the group spent last week immersed in "packing, praying and Portuguese."
CLOSE . . . But no cigar. The Alaska Libertarian Party is having its summer picnic from 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the Mountain View Lions Park. They're all excited about Ron Paul starting a TV channel devoted to their ideology.
Anyhow, the notice invites everyone to "Come wet your appetite with free food."
Compiled by Sheila Toomey Message Sheila at ear@adn.com or 257-4341.
Sheila Toomey