The primary is just over two weeks away. Early and absentee voting starts tomorrow. I am writing this week’s column from Kodiak! I came up for a few days to visit Representative Louise Stutes (R – Kodiak) and her husband Stormy. The weather was amazing the first few days, but today was rainy and gloomy. 

The big news was Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska) vetoed the five bills the House passed after the constitutional deadline of midnight on day 121. Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance’s administration abated the large homeless encampment on Fairbanks St. near Home Depot, though most of them will just go somewhere else. Representative Mary Peltola (D – Alaska) is at it again.  And a few politicos are on the move. 

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 six years. We are again providing in-depth coverage for both the primary and general elections. 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.

Hanging With Legislators

I was lucky enough to spend some time this week with two legislators on their turf. First, I met up with Senator Robb Myers (R – North Pole) in Fairbanks and accompanied him on a drive in his big rig up the haul road to Prudhoe Bay. It was a trip I have never done before and was quite the experience. I will be posting an article soon about the whole trip. But my big takeaway is the state needs to do a lot more to improve and maintain this key road that is crucial to our economy. Here is a video showing many elements of the trip as well as some play-by-play from Senator Myers. 

On Friday (8/2/2024) I flew down to Kodiak to visit Representative Stutes and her husband Stormy. It’s my first time visiting Kodiak and the first few days were amazing. 

On Friday night we went to the American Legion for steak night. My pull tab drought finally ended! 

Stormy, who spent 38 years as a boat captain on a legit Deadliest Catch style boat, told me we were going fishing Saturday morning. When he told me we were waking up at 4 am I thought he was joking. He was not. I went to bed at 11 pm hoping to get five hours sleep. But Stormy came in my room at 3:15 am and told me it was time to get up. I thought I was dreaming. 

We headed out to Saltery Cove at 3:45 am. Stormy’s neighbor Jack and their buddy Randy were also going. Jack has a side-by-side he and Randy were riding in. Stormy and I were rolling in his Willy’s Jeep. It was a 30-mintue ride to the entrance of the 17-mile Saltery Cove “Road.” To give you an idea of how rocky and bumpy that road is, it took up two hours to get to the end. It makes the haul road look like the Autobahn.

It was dark and bumpy as hell and I was super tired. But when the sun finally came up the views were incredible. We got to the fishing spot around 6:30 am. Jack and Randy were behind us, and even after unloading the side-by-side from the trailer, we got there at the same time. Those side-by-sides can really move on that road. 

I’ll be honest. I am not big into fishing and have not gone in a long time. So I had a lot to learn. Stormy, Jack, and Randy really know their shit. We got started early and there were not many people fishing. That changed as it got later. For a little while it was just us four and a few others. But by late morning there were more than a few dozen people fishing. 

The limit has been increased to 10 fish per day. And the sockeyes were running! There is a lodge nearby, the Saltery Cove Lodge, that charges $5,200/week per person! Those folks get to fly in though and don’t have to use the road. But the road is a fun adventure and way cheaper. 

I was struggling for a bit trying to use my fly rod, but I eventually got the hang of it. There were so many fish running it wasn’t super hard to get a bite. We took a lunch break and Jack, who is a marine surveyor, hooked me up with a nice cigar. 

We were all done by the early afternoon. I had such an awesome time out there. A big thanks to Stromy for taking me out there and to Jack and Randy for being so cool and friendly. Here is me with some of the fish I caught. 

Stormy let me drive his jeep on the way back. Here is a picture of his Jeep and Jack’s side-by-side. I was sad we did not see any bears, which I was told are normally out there. I did see a doe and a few fawns on the road. 

Here is a short video of me driving back. Parts of the road are extremely rocky and require four-wheel drive. If you ever get a chance to go out there, I highly recommend it!

Other Happenings 

A major shout out to Kristen Faulkner for taking the gold medal in Paris in the women’s road race. Kristen is from Homer. Her dad is John Faulkner, owner of the Land’s End and Must Read Alaska! She’s also the cousin of Jacob Hersh, who writes for the Landmine! 

Governor Dunleavy vetoed the five bills the House passed after the constitutional deadline of midnight on day 121. I wrote this story about it not long after it happened, “Alaska House passes five bills past constitutional deadline.” I had stated multiple times that I was going to sue if the bills were either signed into law or if Dunleavy let them go into law. I believe in the Alaska Constitution and believe it needs to be followed. Good on Governor Dunleavy for making the right call. If the bills are that important to the Legislature, all they need to do is call a one day special session so the House can properly vote to concur with the Senate’s changes to the bills. 

Jeff Schmitz abruptly resigned as the director of the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles this week. No explanation has been given. I learned about it from a tip, which I was able to confirm. The Department of Administration needs to explain what happened. 

Junior Aumavae is no longer Anchorage’s chief equity officer. I got a tip a few weeks back that he had been let go, but he denied it. The whole thing was weird because my sources are solid. Mayor LaFrance chose Kim Waller to take his place.

Representative Mary Peltola touted her National Rifle Association endorsement this week. A conservative legislator was overheard saying, “I love how Peltola treats Democrats like hostages.” That’s about right. 

This one is strange. I get Jim Lottsfeldt is trying to promote the fringe Republican to get to the top-four, but I think it’s a giant waste of money. 

This Week’s Loose Unit

This week’s designee hails from Fairbanks. This week’s Loose Unit is Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly member Brett Rotermund. Rotermund decided to go full Loose Unit after the Assembly itself got pretty loose.

You can check out this KTVF article to get the whole story. But basically the Assembly voted 6-2 to censure Assembly member Barbara Haney and fine her $1, yes $1, for writing an op-ed and forgetting to put a disclaimer that she was not speaking for the Assembly. The whole thing was really dumb and was really about some of the liberal members not liking Haney. 

Anyhoo, Rotermund, who was one of the two no votes, was really pissed about what went down. So he decided he was done and tendered his resignation. That’s fairly loose by itself. But Rotermund decided to go fully loose and say “just kidding” a few days later. From the KTVF article:

On Saturday, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported that Rotermund said he would not reconsider his resignation.

“I am absolutely done with the Assembly and everything to do with it,” the News-Miner quoted Rotermund as saying.

But on Monday, Rotermund switched gears, deciding not to call it quits.

That’s about as loose as it gets! 

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.