Well, 2023 is about to come to an end. I wish everyone a very Happy New Year! I hope everyone has a good time tonight ringing in the New Year. I would like to thank all our readers and everyone who has supported the Landmine! It means a lot to all of us. The legislative session is just over two weeks away from beginning. I am heading down for the sixth session in a row to cover the what is sure to be more looseness in Juneau. It was a pretty slow week and I am headed to a New Year’s party soon, so the last Sunday Minefield of 2023 will be a bit short. I also spent the last several days working on an article about Conoco’s loose behavior trying to prevent Santos from developing Pikka. You can read that here.

Here’s to a big 2024 for all of us!

A friendly message and reminder to all our readers. The Landmine is made possible by myself and a team of awesome Alaskans. I am heading back to Juneau in January for my sixth session in a row reporting on the Legislature. 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 donation system that makes it super easy. We would really appreciate it. And thanks to everyone who has been supportive!

Top 10 Landmine Articles in 2023

The Landmine has continued to grow since our founding in October 2017. Thanks to our readers, we had nearly 1 million page views on the website in 2023. From exposing how the new owners of the Driftwood Hotel in Juneau managed to turn it into a nightmare, to an inside look into Anchorage’s largest homeless camp, to the proposed Knik Arm Bridge, here are the top ten Landmine articles of 2023:

1. New owners of the Driftwood in Juneau have transformed a charming hotel into a nightmare
2. Governor Dunleavy and Alaska Legislature send letter to Vladimir Putin requesting expanded European invasion (From the Landfill – Humor, Satire, and Parody)
3. Seeking to block Fish Creek Trail Connection, members of prominent Anchorage family apply to lease public railroad land
4. Former Bering Straits employee who was sexually harassed files two lawsuits against Bering Straits
5. We found the “I Eat Ass” truck guy and went for a ride along
6. It’s time to finally build the Knik Arm bridge
7. Halting Holtan Hills
8. Drugs, violence, and prostitution: A glimpse inside Anchorage’s largest homeless camp
9. Anchorage mayoral candidate Chris Tuck posts video of him plowing Mayor Dave Bronson’s street
10. Gene Peltola, husband of Rep. Mary Peltola, is trying to get a piece of Alaska’s emerging carbon market

Other Happenings 

Democrat Carolyn Hall filed a letter of intent this week to run for the West Anchorage House seat. The seat is currently held by Representative Jennie Armstrong (D – Anchorage), who is not seeking re-election. Hall worked on the Walker/Drygas campaign last year and prior to that served as then-Mayor Ethan Berkowitz’s communications director. Originally from Boston, she moved to Alaska in 2008. She worked as a photojournalist for KTUU and KTVA. She even has a World Series ring she got when she worked for the Boston Red Sox when they won in 2004. She later married Scott Jensen, who full disclosure, is a good friend of mine and part owner of the Landmine. I’ve known Carolyn since 2019. She’s incredibly smart and hard working. She and her husband Scott run a successful production company and she has her own consulting company. She is also active in the community. And she’s never been shy to tell me how she really feels! Here is a link to her campaign launch video.

It’s really too bad the state lost Brian Fecther. Our loss is Washington’s gain.

Representative Mary Peltola (D – Alaska) made an appearance on Meet the Press NOW this week. It starts at 34:00, right after the host called her “Mary Peloga”. She talks about the recent decision from the Biden administration to ban Russian fish that gets to the U.S. via other countries, the approval of the Willow project, whether President Joe Biden is too old to run, and her upcoming election.

This Week’s Loose Unit 

It’s New Year’s Eve so I will give the politicians a break this week. But there was a real Loose Unit whose loose actions caused them to lose their job. This week’s Loose Unit is the psycho Northern Waste drive who was chasing a moose with a garbage truck while honking the truck’s horn. Check out the video here. It’s pretty fucking loose. Some people commented the driver actually hit the moose! Northern Waste has been in serious damage control since the video surfaced. They say the Loose Unit no longer works for them.

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.