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Alaska Stalker - best and worst of Alaska’s social media landscape and political gossip

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Alaska Stalker, a lighthearted roundup of the best and worst of Alaska’s social media landscape and political gossip. Published in partnership with The Alaska Landmine.

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On the eve of Alaska Wild Salmon Day, CNN tweeted a scoop about the EPA reversing a preemptive veto made against the Pebble Project after the President met with the governor on Air Force One in June. The big news was almost eclipsed by this epic photo of President Trump and Gov. Dunleavy. We’re no expert, but the body language is pretty clear: Trump and Dunleavy seem to have a budding bromance.


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Even Cher weighed in. Clearly she doesn't 🎶belieeeeve in life after Pebble, after Pebble, after Pebble 🎶


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It’s wonderful to see U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski enjoying Southeast Alaska with her husband, Verne. While she can’t get enough of the Tongass, I can’t get enough of her shorts! Either Lisa is taking fashion tips from Rep. Zack Fields, or she borrowed these (“Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” style) from Gov. Mike Dunleavy.


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On Tuesday, Gov. Dunleavy read family favorite “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” to the kiddos at RurAL CAP. No word on if Mike followed up with the sequel: “If you Give the Democrats What they Want, they’re Going to Recall You Anyway.”


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It was a busy week filled with photo ops of local politicians reading to kids. Rep. Geran Tarr spent time at thread's annual Book Party in the Park reading Eric Carle's "The Very Busy Spider."


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And Sen. Bill Wielechowski read "The Tiny Seed" at the same event.


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We have to hand it to Bill, this is his 12th year reading to kids at this event. It just goes to show, you can't please everyone. Check out that "angry" emoji reaction to his Facebook status.


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Sen. Scott Kawasaki posted this truly bizarre video of a new way to move fish long distances quickly. It looks like the fish equivalent of Dustin Darden's zipline across Cook Inlet.


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I am loving Rep. John Lincoln’s official legislator berry-picking buckets. Berry clever. You could say it’s my jam! John, do you have any extras?


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Happy 75th birthday to “legenbeary” U.S. Forest Service icon Smokey Bear. Shout out to Rep. Sara Hannan for sharing this photo of her fantastic collection of Smokey Bear memorabilia. I’m pretty disappointed she only teased the “life-sized” Smokey that’s at her family cabin. Sara, the people deserve to see this!


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While I’m glad Rep. Zack Fields is buying Alaska Grown, I’m shocked and upset to see not one but two plastic bags in his basket. Unacceptable. While the Anchorage plastic bag ban doesn’t begin until Sept. 15, I expected Zack to be more committed to saving our planet. Or maybe he just left his reusable bags in his trunk like everyone else. If someone has any tips on actually remembering to bring their reusable bags inside the store, lettuce know!


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Nice to see Rep. Harriet Anagnostis Drummond being such a fine example to our youth when it comes to cyberbullying and treating others with respect. #BeBest, Harriet.


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I know she's not like those other Valley legislators, but is Rep. Colleen Sullivan-Leonard a secret lefty?


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It looks like Rep. Andy Josephson has found himself a true "Instagram Husband/Wife" AKA someone to who will go to the ends of the earth (or Caroline Point in Juneau) to make sure you get the perfectly staged photograph to accompany your witty caption. Does this make Andy an #akleg influencer?


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Did you see this exchange between Sen. Mike “Dozer” Shower and Rep. Geran Terr on Facebook? It’s a Dozer doozy. I’m pretty sure zero arguments have ever been won when you start out with, “I know more about this than you, so listen to me.” I believe there’s a term for that — starts with man, ends with splaining. Kudos to Geran for the cordial reply. But wait, there’s more!


Mike then posted this 14 paragraph essay, also on Geran's official Rep. Facebook page, explaining his views on Red Flag laws. I think the real red flag is that Mike doesn't understand the nuance of social media. Mike, step away from the keyboard!


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It looks like the state of Oregon is trying to go full Alaska. First, a recall petition has been launched against Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. And now they are trying to pilfer Alaska college students via sponsored Facebook ads. Loose!


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If meeting “Rocky the donkey” is anything like meeting “Star the reindeer” then Alaska Young Democrats President Genevieve Mina is living her best life. Great pic, Genevieve.


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President of the Alaska AFL-CIO Vince Beltrami had his very own covfefe moment. I’m guessing he meant to post a variant of “tall man bad.”


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Former Democrat and candidate for Senate Forrest McDonald got trolled hard on Facebook by his own mother. I guess it runs in the family. 🤣


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If you thought Forrest had mommy issues, wait til you see what happened to KWHL's Bob Lester. His mom unfriended him on Facebook! Poor guy.


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APD got in hot water over a recent “What not to do Wednesday” Facebook post, which seemed to mock someone with mental-health issues. After dozens of negative comments calling APD out, they took down the post claiming it was a “draft version.” 🧐 Sure.


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🤔 I wonder if APD helped the Alaska State Fair come up with their theme this year? Pretty sure you’re not allowed to use the term “crazy” as a throwaway adjective in 2019. This could get interesting ...


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Also, what is up with this year’s logo? It’s the stuff of nightmares. As one high-level Alaska PR professional told me, “I have no idea who produced the new Alaska State Fair theme logo for this year but it’s terrible. I predict they will have lots of branded T-shirts left over after the fair.”


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While the weather in Southcentral continues to break heat records, politicos are finding fun and new ways to work on their fitness. Parole Board chair and former candidate for lieutenant governor Edie Grunwald, is apparently an avid Kangoo Club Alaska “power jumper.” Who knew? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, please click here.


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Anchorage Assemblyman Christopher Constant is logging an impressive amount of miles on his bike. He even braved the Hillside bears during a couple solo rides this week. Chris, I hope you find a biking buddy ASAP!


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Meanwhile, the editor of my favorite Anchorage alt weekly, Matt Hickman, is spending his time on this little project. He’s 44 years old. 😳


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Best birthday wishes this week to Sen. John Coghill and Reps. Grier Hopkins, Mark Neumann and Lance Pruitt. 🎂🎈🎉

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Spotted at Sea-Tac: Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz headed back to Anchorage. According to our tipster, Ethan waited to board last and was seated in Premium.

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Spotted at Steamdot: The one, the only Amanda Coyne. Can I just say, she is looking GOOD. 💅💁‍♀️

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Spotted driving in Juneau and Douglas: Host of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” Guy Fieri.

One tipster wrote to us, “Guy Fieri was a jerk. A couple of my neighbors walked over to him and he revved his engine and drove off. He made like 6 passes and each one shook my house.”

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Spotted at the Silver Fox Inn, north of Wasilla. Between the all caps and the poor spelling, maybe they are channeling Cher.

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Spotted at Congressman Don Young’s “Taste of Alaska” fundraiser: Congressman Young and his wife, Anne (just back from safari in South Africa), Gov. Dunleavy, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Julie Fate Sullivan, and more politicos than we can list including legislators, Republicans, moderates, and even some Democrats.

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Spotted at Alaska House candidate Liz Snyder’s fundraiser the same night: Over 100 people that couldn’t get their checkbooks out fast enough.

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Overheard at Congressman Young's fundraiser: "I need to go on the Dunleavy Diet. It doesn't look very healthy, but it seems to be effective."

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The Alaska Stalker was born and raised in Alaska, and lives in South Anchorage with her husband, daughter and son. Send tips to akstalker@alaskalandmine.com.

The views expressed here are the writer’s and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.

Allison Hovanec

Allison Hovanec writes the weekly Alaska Stalker feature for Alaska Landmine and the Daily News. She was born and raised in Alaska, and lives in South Anchorage with her husband, daughter, and son.

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