Click here for the Web site of engineering firm URS, one of the groups showing an interest in working on the Knik Arm bridge.

The corporation says it works on quite the grab bag of projects. It provides flight training for the Air Force, designed a school in Michigan, worked on the Navy’s new Virginia Class submarine and designed a more than $100 million bridge over the Houston Ship Channel in Texas.

-- Kyle

On the way to tonight’s Assembly meeting, a Ken Stout ad came on the radio, saying the East Anchorage incumbent is leading the charge to lower housing density.

Since it's part of the campaign, it’s probably a good time to note that one of the items on tonight’s agenda is a resolution, proposed by Stout, that says the city should try and encourage single-family housing whenever possible and appears to challenge the city comprehensive plan.

As I write this (5:50 p.m.) the resolution was just postponed and sent to a committee, and the Assembly members are off to eat dinner.

Still, the issue of housing density and how Anchorage should grow could be a theme in Stout’s race with former city planner Sheila Selkregg.

UPDATE:

Today was the deadline for private groups that would fund, build and operate the Knik Arm bridge to make a pitch to KABATA.

Here are the two groups that responded, according to KABATA spokeswoman Mary Ann Pease.

· URS Corp., which bills itself on its Web site as one of the largest engineering design firms in the world and a leading federal government contractor.

· A group calling itself the KAC Constructors Consortium.

Pease didn’t have details about the proposals and said KABATA is just starting to review the paperwork provided by both groups.

Chairman Dan Sullivan expects the Assembly will vote to add the Knik Arm bridge to the city’s long-range transportation plan tonight.

Gov. Palin’s gas pipeline legislation AGIA will be heard for the first time today in the House Oil and Gas Committee.

Lawmakers say they are eager to get to the nitty gritty of the bill, especially some of the inducements the governor has proposed.

House Democrat Reggie Joule from Kotzebue just returned from last week’s Energy Council meeting in Washington where he said he got a good sense of how closely pipeline regulator FERC is keeping tabs on Alaska’s efforts to bring its natural gas reserves to market.

The federal agency is getting applicants from other places around the world wanting to bring natural gas to U.S. shores, Joule said. Because of that, the pressure is really on lawmakers in Juneau to get a good bill passed as soon as possible, he added.

This year marks at least the fifth bid for public office by South Anchorage Assembly candidate Gary Hovanec, who has run unsuccessfully for the state Senate and three times for the House.

But while he has three opponents in his current race for Janice Shamberg’s seat, it’s unlikely any will run as unorthodox a campaign as Hovanec’s foe in the 1988 Republican primary: Gary Pearson.

Pearson wanted to legalize drugs and put a $5 bounty on his opponents' illegally posted campaign signs, saying he might use the signs to build a public outhouse. He campaigned by horseback because he’d lost his drivers license after a conviction for driving while intoxicated.

“There are no student-accessible blind hallways in the plan where students can hide out.”

-- Anchorage schools Superintendent Carol Comeau, telling a Chamber of Commerce group about the new Clark Middle School designs today.

Makes you wonder what else architects and designers have learned about thwarting sneaky kids in the decades since the middle school was built.

Comeau and Mayor Begich spent the luncheon talking about bond propositions on the April 3 ballot. No surprises.

Eighteen-inch yellow floral arrangements, left over from Gov. Sara Palin's weekend gala, towered on each table at the Egan Center.

Here’s a quick rundown on how the fund-raising race is going among Assembly candidates.

Coffey and Gray-Jackson kept pace with each other. Some of the big breadwinners were Selkregg, Claman, Bailey and Johnston.

The numbers are based on the latest campaign finance reports, which show how much money candidates collected last month (Feb. 2 through March 3).

-- Kyle

MIDTOWN
(Seat F)

Elvi Gray-Jackson
Last month: $15,000
To date: $46,000

Dan Coffey
Last month: $13,400
To date: $78,000

Jason Dowell
Exempt: Doesn’t plan to raise or spend more than $5,000

House Majority Leader Ralph Samuels, in Washington, D.C., Friday for a meeting of the Energy Council, took exception to criticism by Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson over the Alaska natural gas pipeline project.

Reacting to Tillerson’s suggestion that the political climate in Alaska might be to unstable to go forward with the pipeline project, the Anchorage Republican told Alaska reporters that “the rhetoric needs to cool off…”

“It’s detrimental to the project, and it’s detrimental to the state,” Samuels said.

-- Kevin Diaz
(the Daily News' new Washington, D.C. reporter)

Not sure what to make of Palin's budget?

Here's a take from the writers of the Alaska Budget Report, reprinted from the March 8 edition, with permission.

-- Kyle

(ALASKA BUDGET REPORT TEXT BEGINS)
Palin amendments: phony cuts, real cuts

Gov. Sarah Palin’s amended budget plan shaves increases in the FY 08 operating budget by $150 million, but achieves the target in large part by switching fund sources, substituting current-year surpluses for FY 08 spending, and hypothesizing an ambitious saving in retirement costs.

Palin’s December budget plan included a $150 million unallocated general fund reduction in operating appropriations. Her capital spending plan included an unallocated excess of $133 million. The governor’s March 1 revised budget plan specifies where $124 million of the GF operating reductions will be made, and shifts $27 million from the capital budget GF allotment to - viola! - meet the overall target GF reduction. Her claim of success relies on:

I just received this e-mail -- see below -- about the Governor's Prayer Breakast.

What do you think?

(E-MAIL BEGINS)
Kyle, I'm reading an announcement in today's Calendar Datebook wherein the "Governor's Prayer Breakfast" is publicized for tomorrow, Saturday, at the Captain Cook Hotel. I know this has been an ongoing event for the past several years and have always felt that this event should not serve to promote the close ties between this religious organization and the government (Governor). I believe the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Everson v Board of Education clearly precludes any government participation in such an event. Justice Black wrote; "Neither a state nor the Federal Government can, openly or secretly , participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups and vice versa".

Remember the state senators who were disappointed about having to foot their own bill to the annual Energy Council conference in Washington, D.C.?

Well, a talk show radio host heard their story and offered to help them out to the tune of $500 each. Mike Porcaro of station KENI-AM in Anchorage had some of the boys from the Senate minority – Sens. Gene Therriault, Tom Wagoner and Fred Dyson – on a show last week and pledged to help them fund their transportation costs to the oil and gas fest. Sure enough, the radio host confirmed earlier this week to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner that he had signed off and sent each of them a check.

Here’s a list of companies and groups that spent the most on lobbying in 2006, according to an un-audited report from the Alaska Public Offices Commission.

Each total includes the amount spent on lobbyist salaries & expenses, plus money spent on advertising, receptions, parties, etc.

Some names that didn't make the list were:
Philip Morris USA Inc: $115,001
Miller Brewing Co.: $15,000 (why?)
Drug manufacturer Eli Lilly & Co., which the state sued last year: $120,227

Top spenders:

1. BP Exploration (Alaska)
$5,904,332

2. Conoco Phillips Alaska Inc.
$3,371,030

3. Exxon Mobil Corp.

"A good and decent family man, Tom is honest and did nothing wrong to merit the attack he is receiving from our government."

-- from a February letter by creators of the Tom Anderson Defense Fund, who hope to raise money to help the indicted former legislator pay legal fees.

Any thoughts on Lisa Demer's story today?

Anyone get the letter? You can e-mail Lisa at ldemer@adn.com

Lobbying state politicians was a $16.1 million industry last year, according to an unaudited report from the Alaska Public Offices Commission.

(That's up about $2.7 million from last year. Both numbers only represent lobbyist salaries, not expenses or the millions companies spend on things like commercials and receptions.)

Top 15 highest-paid lobbyists:

1. Kent Dawson
$889,176

2. Ashley Reed
$715,814

3. Sam Kito Jr.
$701,002

4. Robert Evans
$629,015

5. Jerry Mackie
$598,200

6. Lawrence Markley
$574,500

7. David Parish
$499,786

8. Jerry Reinwand
$469,250

If you saw today's story or yesterday's blog items about the high number of police calls to the Mush Inn Motel and wanted to know what other locations are high on the list, click here for a report provided by the city.

I’ve got a one-on-one with Gov. Palin tomorrow (Wednesday). I don’t have a specific topic list so far, and I only have about 30 minutes. I’ll hit her up on the usual – gas lines, ethics and education. But if you were in my shoes, what would you ask?
-- Sabra Ayres

A new blog is pitching Gov. Sarah Palin as a potential running mate for presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.

Click here.

It says, in part:

"... please take the time to familiarize yourself with Governor Palin and thoughtfully consider her as a potential Vice-Presidential nominee - I think that you will be impressed.
Sincerely,
ElephantMan
Disclaimer: Niether this blog nor its proprietor are personally connected to Gov. Palin in any way."

Who is this ElephantMan? Who knows.

This photo is of the front desk computer at the Mush Inn Motel, which is being sued by the city.

An employee and owners at the motel say they try to weed out problem customers and do blacklist people who cause trouble.

To underscore the point, they showed me computer files of several customers who can't rent there again. One hadn't paid his or her rent. Another took the keys and remote control.

Another, Rodney Averill, rented the room where a man was shot and killed last month. He has been arrested and charged with the shooting.

The Municipality of Anchorage has sued a local motel, saying the business is a magnet for criminal activity.

Under Alaska’s nuisance laws, the city is looking to force the Mush Inn Motel to “clean up their property” according to an announcement from Mayor Mark Begich’s office. The city says the volume of police calls to the business for drugs, prostitution and other crimes prompted the lawsuit.

“Business owners need to know we will not tolerate this type of establishment. We are wasting valuable police time responding over and over again to the same place,” Begich said.

A group trying to keep Anchorage’s strict new anti-smoking rules on the books has raised more than $90,000 for their cause - with about a third of the money coming from local hospitals.

A group looking to convince people to vote in favor of employment benefits for same-sex partners has raised nearly $60,000
.
Assembly hopeful Bob "Joker" Lupo's T-shirt at today's candidats forum.

Both coalitions have opponents who are trying to raise money too, so expect some issues ads among the campaign commercials this month.

Meanwhile about 60 people showed for today’s candidates forum at the Anchorage of Chamber of Commerce. Candidate Bob “Joker” Lupo said he’s been told he can’t put “Joker” on the ballot - would that have helped or hurt his vote total? -- while everyone was asked for their take on the Knik Arm bridge.