Trig Palin, Steelers fan

NOVEMBER 21, 2009 - 11:50 AM

From Erika Bolstad in Washington, Pennsylvania --

Sarah Palin says in her new memoir, "Going Rogue," that there are no coincidences. But how about this one?

I drove up to Washington, Pa., last night from Washington D.C. to do a story on Palin's book tour. (See tomorrow's paper.) The event was at a Sam's Club in one of those shopping centers dominated by big box retailers – a massive place that looks like hundreds of similar developments across America. After I'd interviewed a number of people outside the Sam's Club, I walked over to the Starbucks next door to write. (The sign above the drive-thru window: "Sarah, we have moose mugs!")

And right out in front of the coffee shop? Palin's mom, Sally Heath, Palin's aunt, Kate Johnson, and Palin's son, Trig. They didn’t attract as much attention as, say, Palin would have. But plenty of people whipped out camera phones to snag a picture of Trig tucked into his stroller, wearing a knit Pittsburgh Steeler's cap. (Washington, Pa., is just outside of Pittsburgh.)

Heath said that she and her sister are taking care of Trig while Palin is at book signings. The family has been trading off traveling with Palin, Heath said. She just swapped out with Todd and her granddaughters. "It's our week to be here," she said.

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Murkowski on health care bill: "disappointing"

NOVEMBER 19, 2009 - 1:30 PM

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. --

Don't expect Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski to cross party lines to vote for the health care bill released this week by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada.

Murkowski calls it "deeply disappointing and in many ways is even worse than the Senate Finance Committee-passed proposal."

"First and foremost, the American people have said, and both parties have agreed, that health care reform must reduce health care costs," she said. "But this bill doesn’t do that. In fact, it’s laden with budgetary gimmicks that would massively increase the size and reach of government and send federal spending into the stratosphere."

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Harry Noah out as the state's in-state gasline chief? (Updated with Parnell confirming the resignation)

NOVEMBER 18, 2009 - 3:59 PM

From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage –

Gov. Sean Parnell just sent out a press release confirming that Noah resigned.

The release offers no details on the reason. It says Noah will stay on until a replacement is named and then "pursue a private-sector venture in Oregon."

The release said Parnell "remains committed to pursuing an in-state gas line."

(Update -- Here's the resignation email that Noah sent Parnell's chief of staff, Mike Nizich, this afternoon. In it, Noah says he needs to leave the state for a family farming business.

“It has been an interesting experience working on this project, however the family farming and food processing business we own in Oregon has grown and I just do not have time for both efforts,” said the e-mail released by the governor’s office.)

Here's the original post:

Fairbanks Rep. Jay Ramras says the governor’s in-state natural gas pipeline czar, Harry Noah, has resigned under pressure from a state agency that doesn't support the project. But the governor’s office says Noah is still on the job.

“Harry called me and said he resigned. Then (Gov. Sean Parnell’s legislative director) Jerry Gallagher called me and confirmed it as well,” Ramras told me in an email.

Parnell spokeswoman Sharon Leighow, however, said the governor’s office has not received a resignation letter and so considers him still in the job.

Leighow also said the governor has not asked for Noah to resign. Noah himself hasn’t returned my calls or an email about it.

(UPDATE -- Anchorage Rep. Mike Hawker said he confirmed this afternoon with a "senior member" of Parnell's administration that Noah was out.

Hawker said he believes it was under duress from the department of natural resources, officials of which were quoted in a "knife in the back" editorial in the Daily News making "discrediting comments" about the in-state pipeline project.

Hawker said Parnell's previous statement of policy was that all pipeline options were on the table and Noah's work would be allowed to finish. "It seems to me that the department of natural resources is now telling the governor what to do and the governor is not telling the department of natural resources what the policy is.")

Ramras today sent a letter (read it here) to the co-chairs of the Legislature's resources committees, suggesting that Noah was pushed to resign by a state department of natural resources that doesn't support the in-state gas pipeline project. Department commissioner Tom Irwin didn't respond.

Ramras wrote that state officials are "potentially compromising the future of our state with their bullying tactics and zealous behavior."

Ramras is asking the legislative committees to hold hearings on the project.

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Did Palin distort her role in the Exxon Valdez lawsuit?

NOVEMBER 18, 2009 - 3:25 PM

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. --

The fact checking of former Sarah Palin's new memoir continues, and now, questions have been raised about her role in the lawsuit against Exxon Mobil. People involved in the legal wrangling tell Reuters that they believe the former Alaska governor distorted her importance in the outcome of the two-decade lawsuit against ExxonMobile for the company's role in the 1989 oil spill in Prince William Sound.

Reuters: "Palin's claims of victory for the plaintiffs and of playing a role in achieving that victory are highly distorted, said the chief attorney for the approximately 32,000 plaintiffs that sued Exxon over damages from the worst oil-tanker spill in U.S. waters. 'That is the most cockamamie bull****,' said Dave Oesting of Anchorage, lead plaintiff attorney in the private litigants' civil case against Exxon and its successor, Exxon Mobil Corp. 'She didn't have a damn thing to do with it, and she didn’t know what it was about.'"

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Odds and ends from Palinpalooza (Updated)

NOVEMBER 18, 2009 - 11:48 AM

From David Hulen in Anchorage --

Some items (news and opinion) that caught our eye over the past 24 hours or so:

1. 10 Reasons That Sarah Palin Could Win the Republican Nomination (FiveThirtyEight.com) Excerpt:

She's tough to campaign against. Why? Because any perceived or real slight against Palin is taken by her supporters as an example of sexism, elitism, or media bias; just wait until Huckabee or Romney makes their first impolitic comment about Palin in a debate or an interview and watch the sparks fly.

2. The Sarah Palin-media co-dependency (Politco.com) Excerpt:

For Palin’s book sales, all press is good press. And for the press, Palin is all good for the bottom line.

“I think it’s a great symbiosis,” said Tina Brown, editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast. “Everybody is using everybody.”

3. From the Alaska Dispatch: A reading of "Going Rogue" by SP nemesis Andrew Halcro:

Here's part 2.

4. Politifact.com fact-tests claims in Palin book, complete with ratings on the Truth-O-Meter. They range from "true" to "half-true" to "false."

5. Hundreds line up for Sarah Palin book signing in Grand Rapids (Detroit Free Press)

By 7 a.m., the line had swelled to more than 1,500 people as Barnes & Noble employees wrapped orange wristbands around Palin fans' wrists.

Pamela Lincoln, 50, of Canton borrowed her father's snowmobile pants and boots, set up a chair at midnight and figured she was the warmest person in line.

It's been a year of firsts for Lincoln. She attended her first tea party in Plymouth this summer and today was her first overnight foray for a signature.

"This is someone who is going to be iconic in the history of the United States. How could I not come?" she said. "We have to get politically active and take the country back."

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"Going Rogue"

NOVEMBER 17, 2009 - 11:20 AM

From Erika Bolstad in Washington and Sean Cockerham in Anchorage --

Sarah Palin's book is out this morning and available at booksellers throughout Anchorage and nationwide. Friends and foes are busy scrutinizing every word of the 413-page HarperCollins book, a compilation af anecdotes, political prescriptions and score settling.

We're going through the book and will be posting excerpts of it throughout the day on the blog.

Are you reading it? Join in. But keep it on-point and keep it civil.

Our Alaska Newsreader has a roundup of Palin-related news today.

Now to the book:

Page 18

Palin writes about how she and her sisters stayed out of trouble except when hanging out with their brother Chuck. "Like the time he and I snowmachined down an empty dirt road and got pulled over by one of the few state troopers in our part of Alaska. It was Christmas Day; we were out in the middle of nowhere, a couple of kids on a snowmachine up against a big dude with a gun and a badge. I couldn't help wondering about his priorities, if he really didn't have more important things to do, like catching a bad guy, or maybe helping a poor old lady haul in her firewood for the night. Looking back, maybe that was my first brush with the skewed priorities of government."

Page 18

Palin describes her diet: “I love meat. I eat pork chops, thick bacon burgers, and the seared fatty edges of a medium-well-done steak. But I especially love moose and caribou.”

Page 38

Palin describes her first kiss with Todd, her future husband, and her dismay when she learns he told teammates that she “didn’t even know how to kiss.” “My young, crushed spirit learned a lesson about guys that day: even the good ones can act like jerks.”

Page 41

Palin describes her championship basketball team. “Everything I ever needed to know, I learned on the basketball court. And to this day, my right ankle is a knobby and misshapen thing, a daily reminder of pushing through pain.”

Page 65

Palin gets in a dig at “community organizers,” the job President Barack Obama held early in his career. “But Valley residents, like other Alaskans, are not “master-planned-community" kind of people. We are extremely independent, no community organizers necessary.”

Page 70

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Parnell on Palin's book

NOVEMBER 16, 2009 - 5:10 PM

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. --

So has Gov. Sean Parnell read his predecessor's memoir? He doesn't have his hands on a copy of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's book yet, Parnell said Monday. The order is in, though, and the book's due out Tuesday.

"I promised to buy it, and I understand that my wife has ordered it from Amazon," Parnell said, "but I have not received it."

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Palin's Newsweek cover (Updated with Palin calling it sexist)

NOVEMBER 16, 2009 - 3:32 PM

From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage --

The issue of Newsweek that hit newstands today has Sarah Palin on the cover -- posing in a photo originally shot for a Runner's World magazine story.

Wonder where Newsweek is coming from on Palin? Not too hard to tell.

"How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sarah? She's Bad News for The GOP -- And For Everybody Else, Too."

(UPDATE -- Palin has posted a criticism of the Newsweek cover on her Facebook page:

"The choice of photo for the cover of this week's Newsweek is unfortunate. When it comes to Sarah Palin, this "news" magazine has relished focusing on the irrelevant rather than the relevant. The Runner's World magazine one-page profile for which this photo was taken was all about health and fitness - a subject to which I am devoted and which is critically important to this nation. The out-of-context Newsweek approach is sexist, and oh-so-expected by now. If anyone can learn anything from it: it shows why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, gender, or color of skin. The media will do anything to draw attention - even if out of context.")

Sarah Palin in Newsweek

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Palin's interview with Oprah

NOVEMBER 16, 2009 - 12:16 PM

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. –

Oprah Winfrey’s show is on right now in Washington D.C., and here are some highlights from Oprah’s interview with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. I'll be updating as the show continues:

On whether Oprah, who backed Barack Obama in the 2008 election, "snubbed" Palin by not having her on her show: "It didn’t register -- no offense to you, but it wasn’t the center of my universe."

On how her daughter, Bristol, reacted when the news broke she was pregnant: "She had seen it on the news, and she was quite devastated, and perfectly honestly, she was quite embarrassed. She called me in tears and was saying, "Oh, Mom, now not just Wasilla do they know what's going on in my life, but now the whole world knows, Mom. And should this be news? Should it be a top news story?" And I said, "No, it should not." And I would hope that my children would be kind of excluded from the controversy and any of the tabloidization of what's going to go on at campaign, but I knew right off the bat then with that episode that the kids were going to be a part of it, good, bad, or ugly. It was going to be quite taxing on them."

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Pearce steps down as federal coordinator of gasline

NOVEMBER 16, 2009 - 9:14 AM

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. –

The Republican who heads up the federal agency overseeing the construction of Alaska's proposed natural gas pipeline is stepping down.

Drue Pearce, a former Alaska Senate president, was asked by President Barack Obama to step down from the small agency, known as the Office of the Federal Coordinator. Here’s a statement from her:

"It has been an honor to stand up a new federal agency and to serve as the first Federal Coordinator. I am a passionate supporter of the agency’s mission to bring Alaska natural gas to North American markets. I leave an effective and efficient agency with a highly skilled team of professionals actively pursuing our mission. It has been a profound privilege to lead this innovative team," Pearce said

Pearce served from 2001 to 2006 as the senior adviser to the Secretary of the Interior for Alaska Affairs until she was appointed as federal coordinator. There has been an ongoing dispute over whether Pearce, a political appointee, could continue in the job under the Obama Administration.

As the only Democrat in the Alaska Congressional delegation, it'll be up to Sen. Mark Begich to recommend a replacement.

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President Obama's visit to Alaska

NOVEMBER 12, 2009 - 12:12 PM

From Kyle Hopkins in Anchorage --

Click here to read a White House transcript of President Obama's speech today at Elmendorf.

---

From Kyle Hopkins in Anchorage --

“I asked the president who he’s got in the NCAA tournament this year, because I know he’s a huge basketball fan. He says it’s too early to tell,” said Staff Sergeant Michael Gray, a Texas Longhorns fan. “We shall see.”

I noticed Gray standing in the swarm of people filing out of the hangar after the president’s speech. He was watching a video he shot on his iPhone – a close-up of Obama making his way through the crowd greeting airmen and soldiers. (Check back for speech excerpts soon.)

Joelle Davis, a 25-year-old Texan whose husband is an Elmendorf airman, stood nearby. She skipped a history test at UAA to be here she said. Spent the morning hours waiting for the president’s speech studying her human anatomy and physiology textbook.

“Even if McCain was standing up there, I would be just as stoked because he’s the president of the United States. You are seeing the leader of your country and he cares enough to come here and talk to you,” she said.

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Richard Foster's son chosen to replace him

NOVEMBER 10, 2009 - 3:54 PM

NOME, Alaska (AP) — Neal Foster has been appointed to a state House seat to replace his late father, Rep. Richard Foster, who died last month.

Gov. Sean Parnell made the announcement in Nome on Tuesday.

Neal Foster, a Democrat, will serve District 39, an area which stretches from Hooper Bay to Nome.

The 37-year-old Foster is the owner of Foster Properties in Nome, and is a current member of the Nome City Council.

He must be confirmed by a simple majority of House Democrats.
The Alaska Democratic Party sent three names to Parnell as possible replacements for Richard Foster. The other two were Ralph "Weaver" Ivanoff of Unalakleet, a commercial fisherman and a tribal administrator, and Sam Towarak of Unalakleet, an educator in northwest Alaska.

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Co-authors end book deal with Palin's "Hatchet Man"

NOVEMBER 10, 2009 - 1:06 PM

From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage –

Frank Bailey’s co-authors for “Renegade: Sarah Palin's Hatchet Man,” are pulling out.

Word came in a brief emailed statement today from Joy Morgan and her daughter, Christiana Grace, Southern California public relations pros who were writing the book with Bailey.

Bailey was Palin’s close aide, director of boards and commissions, and a figure in the “Troopergate” investigation last year.

“Releve Marketing and PR of San Diego, CA has made the decision today to no longer represent or co-author Frank Bailey's upcoming book Renegade: Sarah Palin's Hatchet Man.”

It was a pretty abrupt announcement, since just yesterday Morgan and Grace sent out a press release to promote the book, saying that “although Palin has worked hard on attaining a polished public image, behind the scenes things were often a very different story. Bailey, one of Palin's closest inner circle, tells that story.”

Grace wouldn’t say why she and her mother are dropping out, but said it’s nothing personal.

“Frank Bailey and I have been close friends since college and we remain close friends,” she said.

Grace declined to provide any contact information to reach Bailey regarding the book.

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North Pole Republicans pick possible Coghill replacements

NOVEMBER 7, 2009 - 8:05 PM

From Kyle Hopkins in Anchorage --

North Pole Republicans today selected a list of three candidates to replace Rep. John Coghill, who has moved to the state Senate.

State party chairman Randy Ruedrich says the candidates are:

-- Doug Isaacson, the newly re-elected mayor of North Pole.

-- Tammie Wilson, who is trailing in a runoff election for the Fairbanks North Star Borough mayor. (If she wins, the Republicans will have to pull her from the list, Ruedrich says.)

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Palin, Huckabee and yesterday's elections

NOVEMBER 4, 2009 - 1:22 PM

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. --

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's role in several East Coast elections got a lot of attention in recent weeks, especially when she threw her support behind a third-party conservative candidate over the Republican in the NY-23 congressional seat. (The Democrat, Bill Owens, won the race.)

Here's what Palin had to say (on Facebook, of course) about the defeat of the candidate she backed, Doug Hoffman: "The race for New York’s 23rd District is not over, just postponed until 2010. The issues of this election have always centered on the economy – on the need for fiscal restraint, smaller government, and policies that encourage jobs. In 2010, these issues will be even more crucial to the electorate. I commend Doug Hoffman and all the other underdog candidates who have the courage to put themselves out there and run against the odds."

Another "underdog candidate," Mike Huckabee, had a few words, too, about the NY-23 seat. Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP presidential nomination last year, spoke with reporters this morning in Washington at a breakfast roundtable hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

Huckabee (who did not support anyone in the NY race) had these thoughts: "If people believe that the way to sort of get the attention of Washington is through third party candidacies, I hope they will rethink that because typically what a third-party candidacy does is ensure the election of the one you liked the least in the first place. I just hope that that will become more and more clear to the political participants because whether we like it or not we have a two-party system."

And as for potential 2012 rival Palin and her decision to endorse Hoffman, Huckabee wouldn't bite: "It's her right, there were a number of Republicans who did. It apparently didn’t seem to have a big impact on the ultimate outcome."

As for who he sees as a GOP frontrunner three years out from the next presidential election: "I don’t think there really is one and any of the polls right now are meaningless...It's like speculating who's going to be the best actor next year when we don’t even know what the movies are."

Huckabee said he himself hasn't yet focused on whether he’ll run in 2012. He's got a gig on FOX and (like Palin) a new book out, the feel-good "A Simple Christmas," which he insisted this morning has "no ulterior motive" behind it in terms of positioning him for a future run.

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Sarah Palin's book tour

NOVEMBER 3, 2009 - 5:51 PM

From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage --

Sarah Palin posted this afternoon on her Facebook page that she hopes her upcoming book tour will include interviews with Barbara Walters and several conservative talk show hosts as well as "local Alaska personalities Bob & Mark and Eddie Burke."

Here's her full post:

I am very, very excited about the upcoming road trip for my book. It will be an honor to meet as many of you as possible!

- Sarah Palin

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John Harris may get out of the race for governor

NOVEMBER 3, 2009 - 4:37 PM

From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage –

John Harris told me today he might drop out of the governor’s race.

“I just want to see what the governor does, I think that’s fair. If the governor does fine I probably won’t run. There’s no reason to go after somebody if they’re doing a good job,” said Harris, a Republican state representative from Valdez.

Harris filed his letter of intent to run with the Alaska Public Offices Commission in July, just days after Sarah Palin announced her resignation. He said at the time he didn’t think anyone could have beat Palin in the Republican primary had she sought re-election.

He said today that Sean Parnell, who took over from Palin, is now in a strong position in his bid to be elected next year.

“The governor is going to have to make some mistakes in my opinion, probably, for anybody to beat him, at least on the Republican side,” Harris said.

“I’m not wishing anybody to make mistakes, but if he does we’ll look at taking him on.”

Harris has not filed with the division of elections to be a formal candidate for governor. He said that if he does file, it won't be until after the next legislative session ends in April. Harris said that allows him to keep his position as the chair of Legislative Council, which handles legislative business in between sessions, and gives him time to watch Parnell.

Harris does have a campaign web site at http://www.harrisforgov.com/

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Knowles in D.C., talking energy

NOVEMBER 2, 2009 - 3:57 PM

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. –

Former Gov. Tony Knowles was one of nearly a dozen Alaskans in Washington D.C. today to talk alternative energy at an Interior Department conference.

Knowles, a Democrat who was Alaska governor from 1994 to 2002, was invited to the event in his capacity as the head of the Tulsa, Okla.-based National Energy Policy Institute. The institute is working with the Washington D.C.-based think tank Resources for the Future to develop a ranking system for various energy alternatives. When they’re finished with their work next year, Knowles said they hope to have a standard for assessing the cost-effectiveness for various types of energy – as well as their potential for reducing imported oil and greenhouse gas emissions.

Monday's discussion focused on the Interior Department’s role "in the changes necessary in getting a clean energy economy," Knowles said.

Other Alaskans at the event included Chris Rose of the Renewable Energy Alaska Project and Meera Kohler, president of Alaska Village Electric Cooperative. The clean energy forum, in the Executive Office Building next to the White House, attracted people from 39 states and was broadcast on C-SPAN2.

"Alaska was well represented," Knowles said, joking, "We must have been given representation on a square-foot basis."

And as for the rumor about an appointment in the Obama Administration's Commerce Department? Nope, Knowles said Monday afternoon, no truth to that.

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House Ethics Committee and Young

OCTOBER 30, 2009 - 9:43 AM

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. --

All of Washington is abuzz today over a report in the Washington Post about a memo accidentally leaked by the House Ethics Committee. The July memo details how the committee's investigators "have been scrutinizing the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling," according to the Post. (The memo itself was mistakenly posted on a publicly accessible computer network, the Post reports.)

Now, this short article from the Post, concerning Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, and the infamous Coconut Road earmark:

"The House ethics committee sought information from Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) regarding a $10 million earmark in his district that connects Coconut Road near Fort Myers to Interstate 75.

"We've been told that we may be a witness to an investigation of others, but we are, of course, not the subject of any investigation," the statement said.

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Parnell talks to reporters three months into office

OCTOBER 29, 2009 - 5:35 PM

From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage –

Gov. Sean Parnell met with the press today in a wide ranging discussion in his downtown Anchorage office. Here are some excerpts.

On Sarah Palin:

I think I have a calmer existence here than Gov. Palin experienced. Being able to speak with two, four, six, eight, ten, 13 of you instead of having a crush of national reporters. It’s easier in that sense for me to actually get to the issues before the state... She doesn’t call and offer advice. We have communicated a number of times on just personal issues, just greetings. We became personally acquainted with each other and just inquire about our families and the like.

On whether the state might pursue its own prosecution in the corruption scandal:

You know, I've left that in the attorney general's hands, that if he believes that violations of state law occurred than I expect that he will follow up. I have not had that conversation with him since (Bill Allen's sentencing) yesterday.

On oil taxes:

No oil company has made a proposal to me to change the oil taxes…with the companies having taken roughly $20 billion in profits in the last three years under the existing tax structure, they haven’t come forward with a proposal for change. And frankly my pitch has been stability of a tax regime is more important to job creation and investment by these companies over the long term.

On changing the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act:

I’m working within the AGIA framework. I’m committed to the AGIA framework. In the end, if something different is required to get a gasline, I’m open to listening. Until some companies together as a project are willing to say, here’s what’s needed and here’s why it’s justified, I’m not going to sit here and pit Alaskans against ourselves.

On Native dissatisfaction with state subsistence management:

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