Hundreds of people and their families were there. Candidates, and elected officials milled about – all there to show their support for the middle class. Alaska has the second-highest union density of any state (New York is first), so Alaskans understand the importance of organized labor and how it improves the quality of life for all of us.

It was hard to miss the giant tents. Contrary to what it looks like, there was no jousting at the event.

~Emcees Vince Beltrami, President of the Alaska AFL-CIO and our very own Shannyn Moore

There was a wide representation at the picnic.

Two of our favorite legislators in one frame – Rep. Les (is More) Gara in whose district the event was held, and The Best Bill in Juneau, Senator Bill Wielechowski. (Will-a-COW-Ski)

And here’s Wielechowski talking to keynote speaker Dave Cieslewicz (Chez-LEV-itch). It’s a good thing they’ll never run for office on the same ticket. Wielechowski/Cieslewicz 2012! I think that might be an uphill battle for the PR department, and a double-wide yard sign.

All the while, we enjoyed the upbeat music of Zydecoho.

The crowd was also appreciative that the humans brought Hazel (L) and Angus (R) to the park. This is a rare moment when they weren’t swamped by adoring fans.

Shannyn Moore, Dave Cieslewicz, and Vince Beltrami – a hattrick for labor!

And what would a picnic be without a raffle? And what would a raffle be without an enormous teddy bear? And what would an enormous teddy bear be without a beaming winner who thinks it’s the greatest thing ever?

Mayor Dave and Senator Mark Begich who has been an unwavering friend to labor. The desire to swap our current “Mayor Dan” for Madison’s former “Mayor Dave” is overwhelming. We can understand with a last name like Cieslewicz, how “Mayor Dave” sprang up. But unless our current mayor thinks “Sullivan” is too challenging for the average Anchorage resident, his self-imposed nickname makes no sense. Much like the rest of what he does.

The second speaker was Wisconsin State Senator Lena Taylor, who delivered a rousing speech, getting the crowd fired up to participate in the upcoming election.

Those on the East side would do well to work hard for Pete Petersen, who has not only been working hard for the middle class, but he’s been on the forefront of the gasoline price gouging issue. Unlike Republicans, he’s actually against it.

Rep. Lindsay Holmes. Nuff said.

All sorts of candidates were out, even some Republicans. Even ones that thing it all went to Hell in a handbasket when women were allowed to work outside the home. (I wish I was kidding) The firefighters peruse the literature with bemusement.

Then I got some accidental awesomeness at the UNITE HERE Local 878 booth. They have plenty of overt awesomeness, since they are the hotel workers who are currently undergoing all kinds of problems from a giant Texas corporation that thinks working Alaskans shouldn’t get their rights under the law. And they’ve been fighting back hard, with success. BUT, they also provided me with a wonderful series of shots that I didn’t even see until I got home. Way in the background of another quick burst of pictures, I discovered this lovely sequence of events, which I cropped and enlarged for your enjoyment.

The sighting

The idea

Contact

The kiss

The kiss returned.

Now that you’re defenses are all down and your feeling gooey and susceptible to suggestion, remember this. If you are a member of a union household, or if you are a member of the 99%, you would do well to see whom labor unions endorse in the upcoming election cycle.

There is no doubt that this election will be critical for the working class of Alaska. What has happened in Wisconsin could happen here. And with unlimited money about to be poured into the state by those who have it, and against those who won’t play ball with moneyed interests because they’re too busy playing ball with YOU, union endorsements can be your decoder for those who are on your team. So, pay attention and get ready to back your candidates with boots on the ground. Campaigns are right now taking names of volunteers who will do anything from phone banking, to dropping flyers at doors, to canvassing, to data entry, to pounding in yard signs.

Get engaged, Alaska. This is going to be a fight.

~State Senator Lesil McGuire

You know how some things that are technically legal still smell funny? Well, there’s something in the air right now.

Web of a Banded Garden Spider on an Asiatic Lily

There is no getting around it…Southcentral Alaska’s flora of both the edible and decorative variety is late this summer. My lilacs, though lovely this year, were about three weeks to a month later than usual. Many other folks made the same comment about the famous Anchorage downtown lilacs as well as the beautiful blooming apple and crabapple trees. Today, I received an interesting report. My friends went to their favorite Salmonberry-picking spot this weekend, the same time they do every year. (I cannot reveal the location upon threat of murder.) They were dismayed to discover that the plants are just starting to flower. This could be a little concerning for the bears if we end up getting an early snow/frost.

Wait…pretend I never said that…about the white stuff…(throwing salt over my shoulder)…

The same late growth has been true for our local Alaska farmers and gardeners. The cool weather slowed the development of many food crops. At last, today many of the veggies were in view at the South Anchorage Market:

What was also in view was a new booth that will enable folks to use debit, credit and Quest cards to purchase their local produce and other food products.

South Anchorage Farmer’s Market currency exchange booth

Over the last several years, there has been a push to not only get an increasing number of Farmer’s Markets established in Alaska, but also to find as many opportunities as possible for more Alaska families to access local foods.

That push has been helped in no small way by First Lady Michelle Obama’s focus on obesity-prevention and home agriculture programs. This influence is seen in the Northwest Arctic School District, which won recognition by offering a fruit and vegetable bar for their school lunches beginning in January 2012.

With these priorities has come grant money for states to encourage local food production and greater food access…like accepting Quest cards at farmer’s markets. Other programs like “Farm to School” are working towards getting healthy local products into as many Alaska school cafeterias as possible. These are important not just for the better health of Alaskans, but from an agricultural market standpoint as well.

Baby beans have a visitor

It’s also important to increase the food supply to Alaskans experiencing dwindling food security.

Due to salmon closures along the Kuskokwim River, some of the most impoverished Rural Alaskans are forced to depend on storebought food that is frequently out of their reach financially, with $10.00 for 2 liters of milk and $7.00 for a loaf of bread. Even more concerning, a drought across the US that is effecting approximately 88% of the corn crop. The Dept. of Agriculture predicts that should drive up food costs about 4 to 5% for average Americans next year.

Alaskans are never treated like “average Americans” — especially those Alaskans living in the rural areas. There is no reason to believe that Alaskans won’t be charged outrageous increases for food and other products while the explanation will remain “transportation costs.” (even in the midst of falling gas prices) Alaska is especially vulnerable to outside food shortages as we import 95% of our food.

Baby (still yellow) strawberries

It’s one reason why I’ve taken such an interest in all aspects of growing and eating locally.

This drought is a sobering reminder of just how vulnerable we are to events far away and completely out of our control. It’s also a reminder of why I was so excited to meet and hear Tim Meyers at the Spring Gardening Conference this year and learn about his hugely successful farm in Bethel. Thanks to his ground-breaking season-extending and storage techniques, he is providing the local community with fresh vegetables just about year=round.

Tim Meyers shows that he can grow enough for his community of Bethel (courtesy of KSKA)

The Meyers took it upon themselves to learn what was required to become a steady food source in Alaska. As we can see once again this month, sometimes that is the only way to get things accomplished. Mountain View;s determination to have a Community Garden stands as an example on how to get things done when the red tape brings it all to a standstill.

The Quest card acceptance is good news for Alaskan families. The fact that Bragaw has a new Community Garden is good news for 40 families who will be able to eat healthier. I hope that by building my own hoop house and writing about it, I encourage others to take control of their own food destiny.

TheMudflats.net and yours truly have been singled out for honor by the prestigious magazine The Atlantic this week.

Was it for our amazing investigative reporting?

For the awesome photo spreads we do?

In depth coverage of the proposed Pebble Mine?

Unfortunately, no.

It’s because I nearly got my head beat in at Occupy Wall Street.

I’ve written about 15,000 words, and taken about a terabyte of photos at OWS over the past year – witnessed the worst and best of America, broke news stories, got shots that no one else did – and yet this is what we get singled out for… OK, we’ll take it.

A newly released report compiled by the law clinics at NYU, Fordham, Harvard, and Stanford detailed over 130 specific incidents by the New York Police Department that “warrant investigation by authorities.”

The report finds that the “[NYPD] response has thus, in some individual cases and considered cumulatively, undermined basic assembly and expression freedoms. At times, it has itself also presented a threat to the safety of New Yorkers.”

I think anyone here at The Mudflats, or the listeners of The Shannyn Moore Show could have told you that, without involving any lawyers… or Ivy League schools.

The Atlantic went through the report – all 195 pages of it – and found the 14 most egregious. Among the 14 that they cited was my run-in with the police (near trampling and beating) on St. Patricks Day, aka #M17.

Here’s the excerpt directly from the report:

A journalist reported that officers threw down and beat a photographer with batons, even after he had shown his press pass. The journalist reported that the photographer “yelled several times, ‘I’m PRESS! PRESS!’ yet was slammed on the head [with a baton] twice after he’d been thrown to the ground when the police shoved back the protesters.” In the same report, the photographer stated: “there was another push from the police — they saw me fall …. Just didn’t care …. Then came the batons. I couldn’t see if the people that were on top of me previously got hit at all but I certainly did, twice to the back and once on the head.”

You can read the original piece that details that night “Return of Occupy: Beaten, but Not Down” on the Mudflats at this link here.  (I’ll work on the photo issue…until then check out the flickr gallery of that nights photos here)

Also if you feel like losing all faith in the future of our Democracy you can read the full report “Suppressing Protest: Human Rights Violations in the U.S. Response to Occupy Wall Street” here.

Or read the brief from The Atlantic, and just lose a little bit of faith here.

Since most of my trip ended up being somewhat of a visual feast, I thought I’d share some of my pictures with you as I settle back in and catch up on the political front. So, the next few open threads will be from Seattle, our neighbor city to the south. I like to think if Alaska and San Francisco had a child, it would be something like Seattle.

Today’s post will be on the new museum devoted to the glass art of Dale Chihuly – The Seattle Center Garden and Glass Museum. It was absolutely breathtaking. I expected to like it, but I had no idea how spectacular it would be. The first piece was called Glass Forest.

I had fun with this one. I had my camera, of course, and thought it would be interesting to set a very slow shutter speed, and then trace the shape of one of the natural lines of the sculpture that was out of the field of the camera, but that I could see out of the corner of my eye. This is what came out.

And then this:

Next was glass inspired by Native American baskets.

A whole room was dedicated to art inspired by sea life.

This sculpture stood about 12 feet tall, I think. It was filled with all sorts of critters.

There were rays, and star fish, and even a nautilus – one of my favorites.

And another favorite, the octopus, was represented in a very different style.

And then (if I HAD to choose) my favorite exhibit – The Persian Ceiling. The vaults of the ceiling were filled with all manner of blown glass plates, bowls, spheres, and even 10 angels which the kids had a great time trying to find.

Even the light on the walls was a work of art.

No matter where you pointed the camera, it was like taking a picture of an amazing kaleidoscope, frozen in time.

It was literally awesome.

And I just kept clicking…

…and clicking.

You get the idea.

An angel!

By the time I left, my neck was sore and all ten angels had been found. There is so much more to show you, but I’ll be kind to your retinas, and continue the tour of the museum in the next open thread.

In case you missed it, something good actually passed in the Senate this week. I know, right? Grab a hand rail.

They voted 51 to 48 to end the Bush era tax cuts for those with incomes over $250,000 – otherwise known as the 2%.

And one of those we have to thank for it is none other than our own Senator Mark Begich, who voted in favor to end the policy.

How did our other senator vote, you might ask? If I reminded you that she’s a Republican would that be a good hint?  Lisa Murkowski voted lock-step with every other Republican and voted no. So, how come no filibuster? Why did the senate all of a sudden operate as it is supposed to, with a clear majority making the call, instead of requiring 60 votes to get something through? One of the reasons is because Republicans wanted to get Democrats “on the record.”

Ooooooo. Democrats want to end tax breaks for the wealthiest people in the nation. How daaaaare they?

While Republicans were so intent on getting Democrats on the record, they might have missed some recent polling that would suggest that those very same Democrats would do well to BE on the record about this issue. And now they are.

But, of course, it’s never ALL good news.

The measure is dead on arrival in the Republican-controlled House, where leaders are preparing to vote next week on their own plan to extend the George W. Bush-era tax cuts for households at every income level through 2013.

But Democratic lawmakers said the Senate’s 51-48 vote is a political breakthrough that strengthens their election-year argument that Republicans are holding tax cuts for the middle class hostage in order to maintain breaks worth $160,000 a year to the average millionaire.

“If House Republicans insist on blocking our middle-class tax cuts, that is a debate we are willing to have. That is a debate we welcome,” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a speech on the Senate floor. For more than a decade, Republicans “have conflated tax cuts for the middle class and tax cuts for the very wealthy. This bill breaks that vice.”

Baby steps.

We’re all usually anxious to chime in and tell our elected representatives how we want them to vote, and then scold them when they don’t do it, but we don’t often say thank you. So, if you’re feeling grateful for a victory, however small (and who isn’t these days?) you might want to give the senator’s office a jingle and just say thanks.

Mark Begich – 202-224-3004

Contact numbers for all senators HERE.

Imagine my surprise when I clicked on the Daily News headline “Young blasted for endorsing Democrat in Senate race.” Then my eye fell on the word “Hawaii.” At first, my mind went to Hawaiian Democratic Senator Daniel Inouye. He was a great friend of the late Senator Ted Stevens, who called Stevens “brother” and even came to Anchorage for his funeral and delivered a very moving eulogy. “Why would they blast Don Young for endorsing Inouye?” I thought to myself. And while the page was loading, I wondered, “…and why is he endorsing Inouye when he’s not up for re-election until 2016?”

So, imagine my surprise when his endorsement turned out to be for Democratic candidate Mazie Hirono. You can’t imagine my surprise, because it is unimaginable. I’d seen her speak recently at the Netroots convention in Providence, Rhode Island. I attended a luncheon panel where she appeared with Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren of Massachussetts, and House candidate Darcy Burner of Washington.

Hirono, Burner, and Warren on stage at Netroots 2012 in Providence

When she was only 8 years old, she and her mother fled an abusive father, and sailed to America in steerage, from Japan. She spoke about how grateful she was for her mother’s courage, and the risk she took in starting a new life. Neither knew a word of English, and when her mother got a job, she worried that if she ever got sick and couldn’t work, there would be no more money, and she would be alone in a strange new land.

“I know what it’s like for struggling families, and I know aabout strong women,” she said.

“I believe the Senate could stand more diversity and I bring quadruple diversity – I am a woman, I would be the first Asian woman ever, I am an immigrant, I am a Buddhist. People say, ‘yes, but are you gay?’ and I say, ‘Nobody’s perfect.’” The audience erupted in laughter.

Hirono is definitely not the more conservative of the Dems running in the primary. She’ll be up against Blue Dog Democrat Ed Case.

If she wins, she’ll be running in the general against former governor, Republican Linda Lingle. She is the one who seconded Sarah Palin’s nomination to the Republican VP slot, and is apparently none too pleased with Young’s endorsement of her potential rival for the Senate seat, and is actually using it against Hirono.

“It should be troubling to the people of Hawaii that Mazie Hirono’s first attempt to convey any example of bipartisanship is a video advertisement with one of the House of Representatives’ most controversial members, who even Mazie’s fellow Democrats have criticized on a range of ethics and spending issues,” the statement said.

Young was under investigation by the FBI starting in at least 2006 for connections to corrupt oil field contractor Bill Allen and the way federal money was steered to a Florida interchange sought by a Young campaign contributor. The FBI closed the case in 2010 with a memo saying ‘there was ultimately not evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to ultimately convict Congressman Young.

That’s a double “ultimately” in his explanation of innocence, in case you missed it. So, you know it has to be ultimately true.

Young issued a statement after getting blasted by Lingle.

“Having worked together on several issues important to both Alaska and Hawaii, Congressman Young and Congresswoman Hirono have developed a close personal friendship and working relationship. … At the end of the day, Rep. Young surveyed the candidates running in Rep. Hirono’s primary and decided to endorse her because he believes she will be best for Alaska,” the Young statement said.

As many of you have noticed, we’ve been experiencing some … how shall I put this… unforeseen opportunities to practice patience and tolerance here at Mudflats Central. Most people refer to that as “having technical difficulties.”

Although the bad news has been problems accessing the forums, outages on the blog, long loading times, broken RSS feeds, missing images, and link challenges, the good news is that we have a shiny new server now, and that most of the big stuff is behind us! (insert loud and sustained cheering noises here) All that is left now is some minor tweaking, which should be resolved in the next day or so.

Thanks for your understanding through our transition. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and hopefully it’s not a train.

A trip to the world-famous Brooks Camp from the Lower 48 will set you back thousands. Even from Alaska, you’ve got to be lucky enough to win the bear lottery, and it still isn’t cheap. It’s almost 300 miles from Anchorage, and no roads lead there. Try to get there before 2014 at this point. You’ll be lucky if you do.

Almost anyone who likes bears will recognize the area. If you’ve seen a picture of a grizzly standing in the river grabbing a salmon in mid-air as it tries to leap up the falls, it was almost certainly taken at Brooks Camp.

And there are a few folks out there who have more than a healthy fear of our giant, adorable, furry killing machines. 2,200 of them live in Katmai National Park, and about a hundred of them frequent Brooks Camp where the cameras are set up.

But now they, and you, can enjoy all the live excitement of hungry bears, with none of the bear spray, or soiled undergarments.

As of today, four live solar and wind-powered web cams will let you watch our famous Alaska brown bears (grizzlies) as they lounge around the river, frolic, and catch those amazing and nutritious salmon to pad their ample frames so they survive the bitter cold winter. The big males usually go for the calorie and fat-rich eggs, and brains. They’re pretty much zombies for salmon, letting the rest of the carcass float downstream to waiting females and cubs. OK, so they’re more like zombie socialists.

Later in the season after the salmon spawn and die, it’s like a giant rotting Golden Corral of fish. Bears can take what they want at will without having to have perfected a technique. The whole system has worked for thousands of years.

“‘I think it’s an unparalleled opportunity for people to get that front row seat of the lives of the bears at Brooks Camp,’ said Roy Wood, chief of interpretation for Katmai National Park and Preserve.
The project is a partnership with explore.org, which set up four high-definition cameras in Katmai, spokesman Jason Damata told The Associated Press. Three of them are at existing viewing stands where bear fans come to watch the animals.

“‘It takes a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money, and the webcams will make it accessible to anyone with access to a computer, a smartphone, a tablet device,’ Wood said.

So, why have these webcams? There’s no advertising, and seemingly no way anyone is profiting from them.

“The mission is simple. We simply want people to fall in love with the world again,”

said Charles Annenberg, creator of explore.org and vice president of the Annenberg Foundation. That right there pretty much made me fall in love with Charles Annenberg. Just saying.

You can pop some corn, and snuggle in for the best bear viewing on the planet by clicking HERE. Note that I had trouble at first, but there’s a button to the right of the viewing box that lets you watch in in a pop up window. That worked for me, and I had fun watching three grizzlies in the river – one sitting in the bubbling jacuzzi area, going with the flow; one splashing around; and one in a calm spot just staring straight down into the water, waiting for lunch to come along.

Be patient if there are technical glitches, as the cameras are very new, but do bookmark the site and come back later if you have trouble. You’ll be glad you did.

In last week’s installment of the Municipality of Anchorage’s continuing 2012 Election debacle, new Municipal Clerk Barbara Jones made a disturbing find while attempting to (quite literally) clean up the old Municipal Clerk’s mess…141 unaccounted-for ballots.

This has led the trusty Election Commission to meet this coming Thursday and review the ballots they missed the first two times around.

While all of that has been going on, members of our Recount Observation Team have continued to research and slowly pursue the auditing process the Municipality has refused to provide.

…and it’s been free of charge…

The latest bombshell was discovered by dogged number-cruncher Jeanne Friedman. She (like the rest of us) was disgusted that the Muni’s multiple reports on the blank ballots distributed to each precinct did not add up. Descrepancies occurred in the vast majority of precincts and sometimes to the tune of hundreds of ballots in a single precinct.

Her Comparison of Election Reports shows these descrepancies and by themselves they are disturbing. However, what she discovered by accident was downright infuriating.

The Municipality “played favorites” on how they distributed blank ballots to each precinct.

According to Title 28, Anchorage’s Election Code, the City must have the number of ballots on hand equal to 70% of all registered voters. However, as we learned from former Muni Clerk Office employees Jacqueline Duke and Barbara Gruenstein, they don’t take all 70% out to the precincts. They take “enough” for the election and then keep the rest at City Hall.

As Jeanne Friedman discovered while researching her report, “enough” is quite subjective.

If you look at the report and compare it to the 2009 election turnout, (the last mayoral election), it’s clear that the Clerk’s Office did refer to that election when calculating ballot distrubution for many precincts. However, the margins were frequently so razor-thin it was ridiculous. For example, Precinct 335 (St. Innocent Cathedral), Precinct 340 (Mtn. View Elementary) and Precinct 345 (Mtn. View Boys & Girls Club) were all given less than 16% of their voter registration. While the numbers were based on past voting, it was an extremely thin margin considering the contentious nature of this election and all three of those precincts ran out of ballots. The story is the same with most of the precincts that ran out…ballots were provided sometimes within as low as one or two percent of the 2009 election turnout and they weren’t enough.

That’s what makes the exceptions so notable.

For example, Precinct 525 (Shiloh Baptist Church, best known for Pastor Patterson Sr. and Jr’s outspoken anti-gay stance) received about double the percentage of ballots compared to their 2009 turnout in stark contrast to most of the other precincts:

525 Shiloh Baptist Church — 2009 Turnout: 17.34% — Ballots Rec’d 2012: 34.8%

However, there were some precincts that were clear favorites of the Municipality. I’ve listed them below (including their 2009 voter turnout). One was in the Government Hill Area:

530 Anch Sq Round Dance Ctr. — 2009 Turnout: 35.54% — Ballots Rec’d 2012: 63.2%

However, the vast majority are far-South, in the affluent areas of Anchorage:

845 Abbott Loop Comm. Church — 2009 Turnout: 37.14% — Ballots Rec’d 2012: 71.7/74.9%*
850 New Grace Christian Church — 2009 Turnout: 42.46% – Ballots Rec’d 2012: 70.2%
930 Amazing Grace Luthern Church — 2009 Turnout: 40.02% — Ballots Rec’d 2012: 75.9%
935 O’Malley Elementary School — 2009 Turnout: 40.00% — Ballots Rec’d 2012: 80.8%
940 Bear Valley Elemen School — 2009 Turnout: 36.93% – Ballots Rec’d 2012: 96.1%
955 Seventh Day Adventist Church — 2009 Turnout: 39.63% — Ballots Rec’d 2012: 63.7%
965 Goldenview Middle School — 2009 Turnout: 34.09% – Ballots Rec’d 2012: 52.5/61.4%*
980 Valley Bible Chalet — 2009 Turnout: 37.55% — Ballots Rec’d 2012: 101.6%
985 Chapel By the Sea — 2009 Turnout: 40.27% — Ballots Rec’d 2012: 73.8/75.8%*
990 Fire Station No. 14 — 2009 Turnout: 51.30% – Ballots Rec’d 2012: 69.6%

*(The dual totals reflect conflicting numbers from two reports. Either number supports the point being made here.)

The fact that some precincts were guaranteed not to run out of ballots while others went into election day in serious danger of doing so gives us evidence we haven’t had until now: disenfranchisement with possible intent.

How serious is this? Take a look at the precincts that were given a cushion of ballots compared to those who were not. Could a case be made for Alaska Native disenfranchisement?

Hello…Justice Department…

The Assembly is meeting tonight and they all have a copy of this report. Please let them know why you are fed up and demand that they act!

Email the entire Assembly at: wwmas@muni.org

(Note: Starting this Thursday at 10:00 am, the Anchorage Election Commission will convene to review the “141 potentially uncounted ballots” at City Hall, 632 W 6th Ave, Rm #155. A canvass of the ballots will be held Thursday, August 2, 2012 starting at 6:00 pm at the same location.)

The public is invited to both events so please attend and demand answers from the Election Commission.

*********UPDATE******** As requested, here is the Municipality of Anchorage list of precinct maps. Specifically, here is the map of South Anchorage precincts where most of the “special precincts” can be found.