Hump Day News

And Then There Were Two Dept: Yesterday's general election eliminated two of the four mayoral candidates, pitting the two leaders - a moderate Democrat and an old-fashioned pro-life, pro-liberty Conservative - in a run-off election on May 5.

Winter Ain't Done With Us Yet Dept: The National Weather Service calls for a few inches of fresh snow in Anchorage and the Molluskan and Susitna valleys Wednesday morning, which could create hazardous road conditions in Southcentral Alaska. So what else is new ...

The T Word Dept: A couple of State legislators have proposed an "education tax" (a de facto income tax) to help meet the $4 billion-with-a-b budget shortfall. Just three problems: a) it's highly inequitable, taxing lower-income earners at a rate 10 times higher than those making a lot more, b) State law prohibits earmarking tax revenues for any specific purpose, and c) the $140 million or so that it would bring in is far, far too little to help with the actual shortfall.

Unalaska Envy Dept: ANCHORAGE - A 19-year-old Anvik man was found passed out Tuesday at the Anchorage airport with a stolen artifact from an Alaska State Trooper museum, troopers say.
Troopers noticed an airport employee attempting to wake up an unconscious man "who was passed out on the floor in the middle of the terminal," troopers wrote. The man, later identified as Clayton Ticknor, was "unresponsive and smelled heavily of alcoholic beverages." As troopers tried to wake Ticknor, they saw he was wearing an Alaska Fire Marshal badge on his belt, authorities wrote in a dispatch posted online. Troopers seized the badge and investigated.  Authorities say Ticknor had visited the 'Fraternal Order of Alaska State Troopers Law Enforcement Museum,' April 4, located on Fifth Avenue in Anchorage, and had stolen the badge from a mannequin. "The badge is an artifact badge and is valued at over $1000," troopers wrote. Ticknor was arrested for second degree theft and has been remanded to Anchorage Jail with bail set at $500.