Peninsula Clarion
Friday, October 25, 2019
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As the ice melts, military ambitions in Alaska heat up By Michael Lockett Juneau Empire
The U.S. military has a long history in Alaska, ever since the Army took possession of the territory from Imperial Russia in 1867. But in those days, the Army used more to enforce regulations on Alaska Natives and less to protect them and improve their communities. So what’s changed in 150 years? “As an ethnic group, Alaska Natives and Native Americans served in the United States military at a higher percentage than any other ethnic group to be found across the United States of America,” said retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Randy “Church” Kee, executive director of Arctic Domain Awareness Center as part of a panel at the Alaska Federation of Natives annual conference last week. “The Alaska Native community and the uniformed services have extremely common values and extremely common interests.” Church and other leaders on the panel took time to recognize the huge contributions Alaska Natives have made to the United States military, though their service and support. Coming from a rough introduction, Alaska Natives have served in the military with distinction in many of the conflicts of the last century. “You’ve already heard the statistics about the veterans we have in Alaska,” said Brig. Gen. Torrence Saxe, the adjutant general for the Alaska National Guard. “Normal is 1 percent. Alaska is 10 percent, and it can be way higher in some villages.”
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statement denying her allegations, including the denial of meeting her at a hotel. Zervos had approached lawyers in 2011 and sent Fox News an August 2015 email about her allegation, according to the filing. “Trump Hit On Me,” read the email’s subject line. Sent two months into Trump’s presidential campaign, the message said he “invited me to a hotel room under the guise of working for him. He
Saxe also discussed plans to increase operations in rural Alaska, placing them in close proximity with the Native communities in their homes. “I think that the Guard is way too focused in Anchorage and Fairbanks,” Saxe said. “I want to put the Guard back in rural Alaska.” Saxe said that the exercises would be centered around areas with runways in the 5,000-7,000 foot range to support aviation operations from larger military aircraft. He also said that exercises into more rural parts would begin in 2020 with an exercise in Bethel, a reversal on recent policy to concentrate forces and exercises in more urban areas. “In the last 14 months, your alert forces have intercepted 12 Russian bombers, four Russian fighter aircraft and four reconnaissance aircraft from the Russian air force that have penetrated the Alaska Identification Zone,” said Lt. Gen Tom A. Bussiere, commanding general of 11th Air Force, based out of Joint Base Elemendorf-Richardson. Bussiere said the Air Force was reinforcing its mission here in Alaska, providing air defense from any hostile threats to North American airspace, including the largest concentration of 5th generation fighters — F-22s and F-35s — in the country. The Air Force is also augmenting Clear Air Force Station and Fort Greely with enhanced radars for antiaircraft and anti-missile operations for defending against any hostile targets coming over the pole or Alaska. Other units are more focused on things at ground level. The Army Corps of Engineers has
had a different agenda.” Requests for comment was sent Thursday to the news network and to Gloria Allred, an attorney whom Zervos said she contacted in 2011. Allred was Zervos’ lawyer when she went public in 2016 but no longer represents her. Trump’s lawyers have said his statements were opinions and he had a free-speech right to defend himself. Zervos is seeking a retraction, an apology and damages. In her lawsuit, Zervos said Trump also kissed her unexpectedly at his office in Trump Tower in December
Meeting From Page A1
Kenai/Soldotna and Palmer/Wasilla. At their Thursday work session, the board also rescinded the policy that rotated the Upper Cook Inlet Finfish meeting locations between Palmer/Wasilla, Kenai/Soldotna and Anchorage. “The board considers Kenai as an option, Anchorage as an option and Palmer as an option, even though it’s been decided on in Anchorage these past 20 years or what have you,” Board member Israel Payton said at Thursday’s work session. “That’s the wisdom of the board at the time that that’s the best place to hold the meeting. It may not be fair to stakeholders in the Mat Su. It may not be fair to stakeholders on the Kenai Peninsula, but it’s what the board decided at the time that was just for all stakeholders.” When asked about the cost to host in each of the three communities, Board of Fisheries Executive Director Glenn Haight said that “surprisingly,” travel costs between the three locations are similar, all ranging between $115,00 to $120,000. He said the venue in Kenai was offered for free and would result in a $30,000 savings. The decision to hold a new vote on Thursday came after an investigation by the state ombudsman found that the board violated the Open Meetings Act. Alaska State Ombudsman Kate Burkhart found in a final Aug. 29 report that the Board of Fisheries violated the act when they decided in January 2019 to relocate the finfish meeting
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released pending analysis of the blood sample.
Former state employee sues
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A former state attorney says she was fired improperly after Gov. Mike Dunleavy took office. The Anchorage Daily News reports former assistant public advocate Kelly Parker is the fourth former state employee to sue over
Michael Penn | Juneau Empire
Marine veteran Marvin Kadake (right), of the Keex’ Kwaan Dancers (People of Kake), shakes hands with Ed Kunz during the Grand Entrance for Celebration 2018 along Willoughby Avenue on June 6, 2018.
an active presence in Alaska, led by Col. Phillip Borders, the commander of the Alaska District for the ACOE. “One of the biggest things I love to talk about is that, in partnership in FY19, over 75 percent of small business contracts awarded by the Alaska district were awarded to Alaska Natives,” Borders said. The contracts had an estimated $180 million value, Borders said. The ACOE is also working actively with a number of communities on civil projects, such as flood and erosion control,
of 2007, before the alleged California encounter. Thursday’s court filing doesn’t include any calendar items related to that alleged encounter, but it does include emails from that autumn between Zervos and Trump’s secretary where they discuss a potential lunch date in New York. In a Dec. 3, 2007, email, Zervos tells the assistant she was in town and wanted to come by. There’s no reply email in the court filing. Thursday’s filing also has some redacted sections. Wang said they describe documents that corroborate
from the Kenai/Soldotna area to Anchorage. Burkhart said the board should hold another vote on the location of the 2020 meeting location, after providing notice. That vote took place Thursday. The ombudsman investigation found that while the board had provided notice of its January 2019 meeting, the notice did not include the board’s intent to revisit the issue of where the 2020 finfish meeting would be held. At the start of the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim finfish meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 15, Board of Fisheries Chair Reed Morisky announced the board would likely be considering the Upper Cook Inlet meeting location at the end of the meeting. On Friday, Jan. 18, the board reversed their March 2018 decision with a 4-3 vote, moving the 2020 meeting back to Anchorage. During a break in the Jan. 18 meeting, Morisky told stakeholders from Kenai the board would not take up the issue of the location of the 2020 meeting, and those stakeholders left the meeting based on Morisky’s advice, the ombudsman’s release said. “Yes, I did speak with the Kenai official and he expressed that if it looked like we weren’t going to take this up, he wanted to leave,” Morisky said on the record at the Jan. 18 meeting, according to the ombudsman’s investigation. “And the conversation we had at the time was that it looked like weren’t going to take this up at the meeting. So, I take full responsibility for that, there was no intent to mislead. He left and circumstances changed, and I apologize for that but we’re here now and we’re going to vote on this.” The Upper Cook Inlet Finfish meeting is set to take place Feb. 7-20, 2020, at the Egan Center in Anchorage.
firings. The governor’s office deferred questions regarding the lawsuit to the Alaska Department of Law, which declined to comment. The Dunleavy transition team after the November election issued 1,200 requests for resignation letters and asked employees if they wanted to work on “this agenda” of the new governor. Parker said at the time the resignation letter would have appeared to require a pledge of loyalty, which conflicted with her duties to defend clients against state prosecution. She was fired Dec. 3. Another attorney and two former doctors from the Alaska Psychiatric Institute also have sued. — Associated Press
navigation improvement, coastal erosion control, and the remote and subsistence harbor assistance program, said Borders. Coast Guard District 17, based in Juneau, is also expanding operations, including a recent joint exercise with the Navy and Marine Corps as they sought to integrate some of the Coast Guard’s hard-won experience operating in the high Arctic. “It’s about 2,500 Coasties spread around the state, and they’re here for you,” said Rear Adm. Matt Bell, commanding
Zervos’ allegations “with even more granularity” but that Trump’s lawyers are blocking public release of the materials. The filing asks a court to declare they aren’t confidential. A court order Friday set a
officer of USCG D17. “They work for you, they protect you, they serve you across the expanse of Alaska.” Bell said that the Coast Guard has carried out more than 500 missions and saved 220 lives in the last year. They’ve also assisted more than 500 people in trouble, and saved almost $25 million across Alaska in vessels and assets saved, Bell said. “Given this state, given its distance, given its length, there’s no way the Coast Guard does it alone,” Bell said. “Partnerships are key.”
Dec. 6 deadline for Trump to undergo a deposition, a legal term for sworn questioning conducted out of court. His lawyers have tried to get the case dismissed, or at least delayed until he’s out of office.
After narrowly losing an appellate ruling in March, Kasowitz said he planned to appeal to New York’s highest court. He hasn’t thus far but made a technical filing last week that could signal an appeal is coming soon.
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