Sarah Palin quits
By Dan Fagan
Publisher
The Alaska Standard
Governor Sarah Palin announced today she is quitting and will hand over the governor's office to Lt. Governor Sean Parnell in a few weeks.
"People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing's more important to me than our beloved Alaska," Palin said.
"Serving her people is the greatest honor I could imagine."
She also said,
"Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional 'Lame Duck' status in this particular climate would just be another dose of 'politics as usual,' something I campaigned against and will always oppose. It is my duty to always protect our great state. With that in mind, my family and I determined that it is best to make a difference this summer, and I am willing to change things, so that this administration, with its positive agenda, its accomplishments, and its successful road to an incredible future, can continue without interruption and with great administrative and legislative success."
Sean Parnell will be sworn in on July 26th.
The Alaska Standard will have more analysis on the stunning announcement from Palin later in the day. Read more
Did Sarah Palin lie to McCain campaign staff?
By CBS News
The tension between Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and top McCain campaign aides in the closing days of last fall's presidential campaign is elucidated in a profile in the new issue of Vanity Fair. CBS News' Scott Conroy and special contributor Shushannah Walshe, who are writing a book about Palin, reveal just one example of how the mutual frustrations went even further than what has been disclosed so far.
Internal campaign e-mails exchanged three weeks before Election Day offer a rare look at just how frustrated then Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin had become with the manner in which top McCain campaign aides were handling her candidacy. The e-mails, obtained exclusively, also highlight the power struggle and thinly veiled acrimony that pervaded the relationship between Palin and the campaign's chief strategist, Steve Schmidt. Read more
$300 million for shareholders is Native corporation’s contribution
ALEX DeMARBAN
The Arctic Sounder
The Congressional Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, chaired by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.,
is investigating the participation of Alaska Native corporations in the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program.
Companies that are registered in the 8(a) program can win federal contracts without competing for them, but for many of the companies, the contracts can be no larger than $5.5 million for goods or $3.5 million for services. Read more
Context, respect are vital to fishery management
By Commissioner Denby Lloyd
Recently I had the privilege to visit several villages on the lower Yukon River. I went with John Moller of Gov. Sarah Palin's staff and employees from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to discuss this summer's Chinook salmon management and recent action by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to curb bycatch of Chinook by the pollock trawl fleets in the Bering Sea.
We knew we were repeating distressing news. As far as we can project, the commercial fishery for Chinook will not open in the Yukon River, yet again, this year. I also knew that many Alaskans feel that the North Pacific Council should have taken stronger action to control bycatch. What I wasn't prepared for, but should have been, was the graciousness and respect granted us by our hosts in Holy Cross, Anvik, Hooper Bay, Scammon Bay, Mountain Village and Emmonak. Read more
The Sarah Palin Chronicles Mask Deeper GOP Troubles
By Dan Balz and Perry Bacon Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writers
On the same day Republicans surrendered a symbolically significant seat in the Senate, the Sarah Palin wars erupted again inside the party. Leaks followed by trash-talking followed by recriminations.
The latest Palin flare-up began in Vanity Fair with a lengthy article by Todd S. Purdum examining the Alaska governor's past and her potential future. The controversy migrated instantly to the Web and the blogs -- it was, in fact, made for the viral communication that dominates today's politics -- and became even more intense, nasty and personal. Read more
Gov. Palin selects new spokesman
By Pat Forgey
Juneau Empire
The turnover continues in Gov. Sarah Palin's public relations staff, with her top spokesman, Bill McAllister, forced out after less than a year in the position.
Replacing McAllister is David Murrow, an author of Christian books who lives in Chugiak.
McAllister moves to a newly created position as communications director of the Department of Law.
Murrow said he was too busy to talk to the Empire on Friday, but earlier told the Alaska Budget Report Newsletter he began the job June 10 and is paid $103,716 annually. Read more
State spent nearly $300K fighting governor's ethics complaints; Most expensive investigation may have been driven by Palin herself
By Pat Forgey
Juneau Empire
Alaska has spent nearly $300,000 investigating ethics complaints against Gov. Sarah Palin, who calls the complaints "harassment" against her and expensive for the state to defend.
Palin has accused bloggers and political opponents of bringing "frivolous" ethics charges against her.
"How much will this blogger's asinine political grandstanding cost all of us in time and money?" Palin asked after the state Personnel Board dismissed another complaint last spring. Read more
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