Dunleavy attacks House plan to increase education funding

The State of the State speech Tuesday included a sermon about school choice from Gov. Mike Dunleavy, along with his flawed interpretation of the Harvard charter school study.

The only choice that Dunleavy needs to make is to support public schools in Alaska.

The Alaska Constitution spells out the mandate, which is to “establish and maintain a system of public schools open to all children of the state.”

What the Dunleavy speech didn’t include was any mention of the message he sent earlier Tuesday to some Alaskans by email urging them to testify Wednesday against a House bill to increase education funding. He should have come clean with all Alaskans about this.

“Speak out against HB 69 and demand accountability in education funding,” he said in his email, not in his speech.

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Dermot Cole Comments
$50 million gas line question goes unanswered

The Alaska Legislature has yet to be given a good reason to hand over the $50 million that Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants for the Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority for a gas pipeline study.

The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation can’t find a private company willing to pay $50 million for the final design and engineering work on a proposed gas pipeline unless there is a pledge to get that money back from the state.

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Alaska state House takes stand against Trump effort to erase Denali's name

I had expected that those Republican legislators who are afraid to counter anything emitted by Donald Trump would be intimidated into voting against House Joint Resolution 4 in Juneau today.

The measure in the Alaska Legislature calling for the retention of Denali’s traditional name should have been approved unanimously, but 10 Trumpists voted against it.

The House Rules Committee held a hearing on the matter Monday, creating a revised measure that was approved 28-10, with Rep. Kevin McCabe calling for reconsideration. Passage of this resolution won’t stop Trump, but it’s a good idea to get this on the record.

The arrogant way in which the Trump edict came about, issued with no attempt to consider the opinions of Alaskans, will help ensure that the mountain remains Denali, not McKinley, to Alaskans.

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Dunleavy's recycled education 'reform' plan fails

In his State of the State Speech Tuesday night, Gov. Mike Dunleavy will recycle the empty education slogans that constitute his alleged education reform plan, which met with statewide opposition last year and will do so again.

Dunleavy will use his speech to mention the Harvard study on charter schools that he has been promoting for the past year, misrepresenting the contents. He has repeatedly failed to acknowledge the flaws and weaknesses in that study, which have been exposed by a diligent Fairbanks high school math teacher.

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Icebreaker owner gave Don Young an envelope with $60,000 in checks in 2011

In late 2010 or early 2011, Gary Chouest, head of the family business, talked to Young on the phone, offering to raise funds for Young’s legal bills from his various family-owned companies, according to a House ethics investigation.

In January 2011, at a fundraiser in Texas, Gary handed an envelope to Young that contained a dozen $5,000 checks. The checks were from 12 family companies, all of them at 16201 East Main St. in Galliano, LA.

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Sullivan, Begich try to defend Trump's blanket pardon of J6 criminals with whataboutism

It was an impulsive decision by President Trump to pardon all of the January 6 criminals, including violent offenders, according to reporting by Axios.

"Trump just said: 'Fuck it: Release 'em all,’ an adviser familiar with the discussions,” told the news site.

This contradicted the promise that Vice President Vance made eight days earlier on Fox News: "If you committed violence that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned."

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