I hope everyone had a good Christmas! This is the last Sunday Minefield of 2025. Which means the legislative session gets underway in just over three weeks. Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous New Year! It was a slow week in politics due to Christmas. Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska) announced the replacements for the two vacant Mat-Su House seats. They now need to be confirmed by a majority of House Republicans. The Governor’s Office and Department of Revenue continue to stonewall a records request the Landmine sent on October 1 concerning Crooked Adam Crum’s shady dealings. And an investigation by the Landmine revealed just how much damage vagrants and homeless are causing around the Midtown Walmart. 

A friendly message and reminder to all our readers. The Landmine is made possible by myself and a team of awesome Alaskans. I have been covering the legislative session in Juneau for the last seven years and will be heading back for my eighth session in January. If you enjoy the content we provide, please consider making a one time or recurring monthly donation. You can click here to donate. We have a system that makes it super easy. We would really appreciate it. And thanks to everyone who has been supportive. 

Week in Review

Governor Dunleavy appointed Republicans Garret Nelson and Steve St. Clair to fill the vacant Mat-Su House seats after now-Senators George Rauscher (R – Sutton) and Cathy Tilton (R – Wasilla) were appointed to fill the two vacant Senate seats. St. Clair is a former legislative staffer who, along with his wife, used to be my neighbors at the Driftwood Hotel, which was a great place to stay until Tlingit & Haida bought it and decided it was a smart move to treat the long-term guests like garbage. I don’t know Nelson. Dunleavy’s press release said he’s lived with his family in Sutton for nine years and is chair of the Sutton Community Council.

Nelson and St. Clair will need to be confirmed by a majority of House Republicans. There are 17 in the Republican minority and two in the House majority, so ten votes are needed to get confirmed. That won’t be a problem for them. House Republicans say they will meet this week to consider the appointments, though I’ve confirmed that some members of the minority learned about this from the below Landmine tweet. Which means the drama within the House minority continues.

It’s been nearly three months since I sent in a records request to the Governor’s Office and Department of Revenue concerning former Revenue Commissioner Crooked Adam Crum’s loose investment of Constitutional Budget Reserve (CBR) funds with a private equity firm. I paid when I was asked to pay. But they have continued to stonewall me and are now hiding behind a crazy six-figure contract they signed with a D.C. law firm. The Alaska Public Records Act needs to be updated to include consequences for government officials when they blatantly disregard the law.   

This Landmine story I published two days ago, “APD records show thousands of police calls made from Midtown Walmart over two-year span,” has gotten a ton of traction. It’s baffling to me that the larger media outlets in the state don’t do basic investigative journalism and cover stories like this. Instead, many choose to just regurgitate press releases and take what the government says as gospel. 

This Week’s Loose Unit 

It’s been a rather slow week in Alaska politics, but there is still a good designee this week. This week’s Loose Unit is Facebook or Meta or whatever they hell they go by. Back in July, Facebook informed me that the Landmine Facebook page qualified for monetization, and they invited me to join their monetization program. Seeing it as a way to earn some extra money, I signed up.

Things went great for a few months. But I was unable to finish setting up my account because it would not let me change to my business name from my personal name. So I could not put in my business EIN. This meant I could not even collect any of the money the page had earned.

In early October, the monetization stopped working. I sent messages to them through their business portal but no one ever got back to me. If you know how these tech companies work, there is never anyone to call or email. Very loose. 

So in mid-October, I contacted their Alaska lobbyist, Sonia Henrick, to see if she could help. I explained the problem and sent her a follow-up email. She told me she would be glad to help. 

But more than two months later the issue remains. I have followed up several times with her to no avail. You would think a company with a market cap of $1.6 trillion and a stock price of $663 (it was $90 in November 2022) could help someone that they invited to participate in their monetization program. They can sure afford to pay Henrick $60,000 a year! But they can’t help me out. Classic Loose Unit behavior. 

If you have a nomination for this week’s Loose Unit, or if you have any political news, stories or gossip (or any old pics of politicians or public officials) please email me at jeff@alaskalandmine.com.