Burning man

The Anarchy in the AK blog has photos of Ted Stevens campaign signs burning at a bonfire in Girdwood, where Stevens lives.

Also living in Girdwood: Liberals who will burn your lawn signs!



See anarchyintheak.com for more.

BREAKING NEWS FROM THE FRONT LINES!!!

An inside source says that Anchorage Mayor and candidate for U.S. Senate Mark Begich just outbid Olympic Bronze Medalist and Girdwoodian Rosey Fletcher for a sculpture of a salmon. It is unclear what type of salmon, but we're guessing it's a king.

The price? $3,500.

Is that enough to buy Begich a seat in the U.S. Senate? It just might be.

Here's the full report, via text message, from our inside source at the Wild Salmon on Parade auction at the Sheraton Hotel:

Excellent. Mark Begich looks
like a giant Humboldt squid
with a bad haircut. Dropped
3500 on a fish against Rosey
Fletcher and won. She left
soon after lookin' less than
thrilled to have lost to a squid

This is by far the best description of Mark Begich that I've read so far. (And, we're told, the crowd at the auction were very bad tippers: Bartenders for this event made less than half the tips they did from the Coronation event last weekend, where a gay and lesbian friendly organization dressed up in drag and gave out thousands of dollars in scholarships and aid and actual cash money in the form of tips to the waitstaff. Apparently it's OK to drop thousands on a tacky salmon sculpture, and then not tip your waitress or bartender.)

Either way, Mark Begich is now a Humboldt squid as far as we're concerned.

Anybody who disagrees can send along their own descriptions of Begich -- or a description U.S. Senator and candidate for U.S. Senate and federal indictee Ted Stevens -- in 200 characters or less, and we'll post them here at Los Anchorage.

The best entry will win a free T-shirt. Not a Los Anchorage T-shirt, but some kind of worn out, second-hand Value Village shirt to be decided at a later date.

(Void where prohibited. Must be 18 or older to play. See rules and regulations for details.)

Palin jet sale: smart idea?

In her speech to the Republican National Convention, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin touted selling the state-owned Westwind II jet that former Gov. Frank Murkowski bought during the previous administration.

"I put it on eBay," Palin said in her speech.

Murkowski, much to the chagrin of the Alaska Legislature, which had previously denied his requests, used $2.7 million on a state line of credit to buy the jet; the Palin administration sold it for $2.1 million to Valdez businessman Larry Reynolds. (The jet wasn't sold on eBay; it was sold directly to Reynolds.)

Anyway you cut it, that's a loss of $600,000 to the state, which might still be paying interest on the jet. And Palin never used it, saying she didn't want to set foot on it.

You can call it being a responsible conservative reformer, shaking up the arrogant regime, or you can see it as making a purely political move to follow through with an irresponsible campaign promise.

But those are the numbers: The state lost at least $600,000.

Here's a brief story I did for the Anchorage Press on whether it was a smart idea. Keep in mind, this is shortly after the Palin administration made the first arrangements to sell the jet, which included listing it on eBay. At the time, it wasn't doing to well in its online auction, but, as the New York Times reported, some serious bids did come through eventually.

Another post from the vault. (Grove, Casey "Jet sale: smart idea?" Anchorage Press, December 20, 2006.)



Governor Palin appears to be following through with one of her campaign promises: She's selling the infamous jet that her predecessor, Frank Murkowski, bought against the wishes of the state legislature. But with about $2.5 million still owed on the jet - which has a listed value of about $2 million - the state might lose money in the sale.

Murkowski purchased the 1984 Westwind II jet, which has seating for nine and a cream-colored leather interior, a little more than a year ago using the state's line of credit. Murkowski used the jet for travel, and the Department of Public Safety used it to ferry prisoners to the Lower 48 and to respond to state emergencies. Critics said the jet was too costly too operate, that Murkowski was using it for personal or campaign-related business, and that it required too long a runway to reach many places in Alaska. Palin promised to get rid of it in her successful bid for governor.

“[To sell] a plane that doesn't reach all Alaskans, and a plane that costs as much as it does to run, it's both wise financially and as a campaign promise,” said Meghan Stapleton, Palin's press secretary. The jet costs thousands of dollars per flight hour, Stapleton said. “One thing we want to ensure is that Alaskans not lose any more money on this,” she said.

According to Aircraft Bluebook Price Digest, Alaska's 1984 Westwind II is worth $2,050,000. The state still owes about $2.5 million for the Israeli-made jet, said Dan Spencer, director of administrative services for the Department of Public Safety.

“Obviously, we want to recover as much of the money we sunk into it as we can,” Spencer said. “We'll just have to see what the market will bear.”

There's some money set aside to help cover the difference between the jet's sale value and the amount still owed on it, he said. Still, Spencer said, the state would have to come up with more money somewhere to make up the rest of the difference.

“The governor gets to make the decision whether it's a good idea,” Spencer said. “I'm not going to second-guess her decision.”

The jet could draw more at auction than its listed retail value, Stapleton said, because of the notoriety surrounding its purchase and sale. A search at Google News turns up about 200 news stories about the jet's sale published in newspapers all over the world, including a recent piece in The New York Times.

The jet was put up for auction on eBay December 18, and as of press time the plane had attracted 19 bids, with a high bid of $1,100,401. The state's required minimum bid - which they're keeping secret, Spencer said - had not been met.

The state has been successful using eBay to sell other aircraft, Spencer said, but if bidders fail to meet the minimum bid, they'll either turn to an aircraft broker or sell it themselves.

- Casey Grove