Alaska Politics Blog : Memorial Day news roundup

Alaska Politics Blog

This is the place to talk about Alaska politics, state, local, national. Public life in the Last Frontier has rarely been more interesting -- a full slate of federal and state elections, the influence of former Gov. Sarah Palin, the usual hardball Alaska politics. Come here for news, tidbits and information, and join the discussion. We encourage lively debate, but please keep it civil and stay on point. Don't use profanity, make crude comments or attack other posters. Posts that violate the Terms of Use will be deleted. Repeat offenders will lose their ability to post comments.

Contributors

Sean Cockerham

Sean Cockerham writes about Alaska state politics. He's worked for the ADN in Anchorage and Juneau, covered the legislature for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, and covered Washington state politics for the Tacoma News Tribune. E-mail Sean at scockerham@adn.com

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins covers rural affairs, general assignments and politics for the ADN. He covered the 2006 campaign for governor, has blogged extensively about Alaska politics, covered Anchorage city government and was a reporter based in the Mat-Su. He grew up in Southeast Alaska and previously wrote for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Press. E-mail Kyle at khopkins@adn.com and also find him on our rural Alaska blog, The Village.

David Hulen

David Hulen, the ADN's state and local news editor, is responsible for political coverage. He has been an editor and reporter at the ADN for more than 20 years. E-mail David at dhulen@adn.com

Features

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Alaska political corruption

When the FBI raided state legislature offices in Aug. 2006, it publicly launched an investigation that ultimately reached the highest levels of Alaska politics, and continues to this day.

Memorial Day news roundup

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Anchorage Daily News

Posted: May 25, 2009 - 8:43 am

From David Hulen in Anchorage --

It's Memorial Day. Please remember those who serve and sacrifice. A list of Anchorage and Mat-Su Memorial Day events here. Profiles of Alaska soldiers lost in Iraq and Afghanistan here.

Odds and ends from the long weekend:

> The New York Times this morning profiles Fox News Channel host Greta Van Susteren. The piece spends a fair amount of space exploring the relationship between Van Susteran and her husband and Gov. Palin. Excerpt:

Ms. Van Susteren has interviewed Ms. Palin three times, the first time during the candidate’s vice presidential campaign last fall. The weekend after the election, Ms. Van Susteren and her husband, John Coale, met the Palins at their home in Alaska for a widely promoted interview. Viewers also saw her on a snowmobiling ride with Ms. Palin’s husband.

While there, Mr. Coale, a prominent trial lawyer who helped lead the tobacco litigation of the 1990s, talked to Ms. Palin about her legal bills and advised her to start a political action committee. “I started the PAC for her over the next month or two, and helped start a legal defense fund for her. That’s about it,” Mr. Coale said last week. “I never advised her on any politics or anything like that.”

Mr. Coale’s assistance to Ms. Palin, first reported by The Washington Post in March, prompted questions about the couple’s combination of journalistic and political work...

In an interview, Ms. Van Susteren defended her husband’s work, calling him “almost a quintessential citizen” who had encouraged politicians to “reach across the aisle.” She said she had had only one private conversation with Ms. Palin. “I don’t have a relationship with her,” she said. “It’s not like people think it is.”

> Palin to sign tax credit bill in North Pole after Memorial Day ceremony (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

> How Auburn reeled in one of biggest fish in U.S. politics - Sarah Palin (Syracuse, N.Y., Post-Standard)

> Alaska congressional delegation praises guns in parks amendment (News-Miner)

> Levi Johnston hits the airwaves with talking points (New York Times, Friday)