July 31, 2021

American Samoa Senate draws a line and rejects cell phone bill as "incomplete"

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — In a unanimous 13-0 vote, the Senate yesterday rejected in third and final reading an Administration bill that restricts the use of wireless electronic devices including cell phones while operating a motor vehicle except for — among other things — emergency calls and if an earpiece is used.

Prior to the vote, Sen. Fai’ivae Iuli Godinet reiterated his previous concern, saying that the proposed law is “incomplete” and return the measure to the Administration for appropriate revision. Sen. Togiola T.A. Tulafono moved to reject the measure and the final vote was unanimous.

The main sticking point senators argue is the legislation gave no provisions of the penalties or fees that will be imposed by the court on violators. (See yesterday’s edition for details.)

Another Administration bill already rejected and sent back to the Governor’s Office for further review is legislation that sought to remove from local law the two off-island board members for the American Samoa Power Authority board of directors. (See Samoa News online July 27.)

Read more: https://www.samoanews.com/local-news/senate-draws-line-and-rejects-cell-phone-bill-incomplete

July 31, 2021

Alaska Legislature's next special session will begin Aug. 16

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has postponed the next special session of the Alaska Legislature by two weeks after lawmakers requested more time to prepare.

The session will begin Aug. 16 in Juneau, and its agenda includes a change to the Permanent Fund dividend payment formula, the state’s subsidy for rural electrical prices, measures to increase state revenue, and a proposed constitutional amendment that would tighten the state spending cap.

“A full 2021 dividend is still of paramount importance for many members of our caucus,” said Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake, and a member of the House’s Republican minority minority. “New constitutional amendments regarding spending or future taxes are incredibly important, but until we tackle how we’ll treat the dividend, going forward, I doubt we’ll make much progress.”

A group of eight legislators, including McCabe, has been meeting regularly in public and private to find agreement on potential options before the session begins. The committee has not yet advanced any proposals.

Read more: https://www.adn.com/politics/alaska-legislature/2021/07/29/alaska-legislative-leaders-ask-dunleavy-to-postpone-special-session-as-they-seek-agreement-on-future-of-permanent-fund-dividend/
(Anchorage Daily News)

July 31, 2021

Constitution bars Alaska attorney general from suing legislative agency, judge says

JUNEAU — A lawsuit by Alaska’s attorney general against the Legislative Affairs Agency is really an action by the governor against the Legislature that is barred by the Alaska Constitution, a state court judge ruled Thursday.

Superior Court Judge Herman Walker Jr. cited comments by Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Attorney General Treg Taylor in reaching his decision.

The state constitution allows a governor to take legal action “in the name of the State” to enforce compliance with laws but says that the authority “shall not be construed to authorize any action or proceeding against the legislature.”

Taylor sued the Legislative Affairs Agency on June 21, after the House failed to adopt effective date provisions for a state spending package. Dunleavy said the budget was “constitutionally impaired if the goal was for it to take effect on July 1.”

Read more: https://www.adn.com/politics/2021/07/29/judge-tosses-attorney-generals-lawsuit-against-legislative-agency-over-state-budget/
(Anchorage Daily News)

July 31, 2021

Judge says Alaska's new ranked-choice voting system is legal

Alaska’s new ranked-choice voting system and top-four open primary are legal and may be used in the 2022 statewide general election, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Gregory Miller ruled Thursday.

In his decision, Miller ruled against the Alaskan Independence Party, a Libertarian politician and a Republican attorney who sued to stop the state from implementing Ballot Measure 2, which voters approved last year. Alaskans for Better Elections, the group that backed the measure, joined the state in defense.

The decision was “a big victory for Alaska’s voters and a big step toward holding our first election under the new system Alaskans have chosen,” said attorney Scott Kendall, representing Alaskans for Better Elections.

Attorney Ken Jacobus represented the plaintiffs in the lawsuit and said he needs to talk with his fellow plaintiffs before deciding whether they will appeal.

Read more: https://www.adn.com/politics/2021/07/29/judge-says-alaskas-new-ranked-choice-voting-system-is-legal/
(Anchorage Daily News)

July 31, 2021

Only minimal damage reported after Alaska's largest earthquake in over a half century

A day after the largest earthquake in the United States in over 50 years struck off the coast of Alaska, damage reports were minimal and no big wave was recorded.

The earthquake struck off the coast of the sparsely-populated Alaska Peninsula at 10:15 p.m. Wednesday, and seismologists recorded the event at a magnitude of 8.2, which produced about a 7-inch wave Wednesday evening.

At King Cove, in the Aleutians, pantry shelves were left empty after more than a minute of shaking sent loose items to the floor. Shaking was felt throughout the Alaska Peninsula as well as in Anchorage and on the Kenai Peninsula.

https://twitter.com/AKearthquake/status/1420859977183289344

Tsunami warnings were called off under two hours later, after Unalaska to Homer, Kodiak and Seward moved to higher ground.

Read more: https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2021/07/29/a-day-after-alaskas-largest-earthquake-in-over-half-a-century-no-big-wave-minimal-damage/
(Anchorage Daily News)

July 30, 2021

York Statue Atop Mount Tabor Toppled and Partly Shattered

The York bust anonymously installed atop Mount Tabor was toppled and partly shattered early this morning.

Sometime during the night of July 27 or early morning of July 28, the bust was torn from its pedestal. Photos sent to WW this morning show the face’s nose torn off, and much of its forehead shattered. A historical plaque on the pedestal describing York’s role in the Lewis & Clark expedition was also torn apart, the photos show.

When a WW reporter visited the scene at 8 am, the bust had been removed and the site cleaned. A spokesman for Portland Parks & Recreation tells WW that city workers removed the damaged sculpture from the park.

-snip-

The bust, made of urethane painted bronze, depicts the only Black member of the Corps of Discovery. In February, a sculptor who hasn’t revealed their identity installed the bust on the pedestal that once held a statue of Harvey Scott, an 1870s editor-in-chief of The Oregonian who opposed women’s suffrage. Protesters toppled the Scott statue last year.

Read more: https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2021/07/28/york-statue-atop-mount-tabor-toppled-and-partly-shattered/
(Williamette Week)

York was William Clark's slave and an integral member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. More information about York can be found at https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/york/#.YQP6CdfPzIU .

July 30, 2021

Man who laundered millions in Mexican cartel proceeds from small SE Portland store gets 11 years in

Man who laundered millions in Mexican cartel proceeds from small SE Portland store gets 11 years in prison


Operating out of a nondescript store off Southeast Portland’s busy Powell Boulevard, Jesus González Vazquez and another brother laundered millions of dollars in drug proceeds for Mexican drug cartel bosses between 2015 and 2019.

On Wednesday, González Vazquez, 37, was sent to prison for 11 years for his crimes in what prosecutors describe as one of the largest takedowns of a drug trafficking operation in Oregon history.

“If I were before the court and this was a mafia case ... I would say that this defendant before you was a made man,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Cardani told a judge.

“He was one that was the blood brother of the organization who was willing to do anything to help the objectives of the organization,” Cardani said.

Read more: https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2021/07/man-who-laundered-millions-in-drug-proceeds-from-small-se-portland-store-to-mexico-gets-11-years-in-prison.html

July 30, 2021

The Flathead's First Renaissance Faire

In 2019 when Florida-based Olissio Zoppe brought his equestrian acrobatics show, Cirque Ma’Ceo, to the Majestic Valley Arena in Kalispell, the audience feedback was so positive that the venue’s organizers asked him if he could return with a Renaissance Faire.

Even though Zoppe had never organized a Renaissance Fair, he was thrilled there was interest and jumped at the opportunity.

“I’ve always wanted to and I come from the entertainment world where I grew up doing Renaissance fairs,” Zoppe said. “The entertainment business is heavy in my blood and it’s a passion of mine.”

New this year, Zoppe put together the first Montana Renaissance Faire at the arena, filled with knights in epic battle, chariot racing, jousting and turkey legs in the fictional town of Terviso, which debuted on July 24-25 and will run again July 31-Aug. 1.

Read more: https://flatheadbeacon.com/2021/07/29/the-flatheads-first-renaissance-faire/

July 30, 2021

Montana hemp growers awarded $65 million for 'deceptive' deal

Hemp, a crop that largely flew under the radar in Montana when it was planted under a pilot program three years ago, is now central to one of the largest civil awards in the state’s history. A jury in Wolf Point last month awarded 25 eastern Montana farmers $65 million in compensatory and punitive damages, finding that a handful of Canadian and American businessmen had committed negligence, fraud and deceit in failing to fulfill contracts, leaving the crops unpaid for and languishing in fields. The award brings into focus the volatility associated with the emerging market for CBD, a compound in the cannabis plant that’s created a global market worth between $1 and $2 billion annually.

In 2018, hemp production in Montana was booming. As federal regulations around growing hemp loosened, dozens of Montana farmers saw an opportunity to diversify their operations with a crop that farmers in Canadian provinces to the north had grown successfully for decades. Montana farmers planted 22,000 acres of hemp in 2018, more than any other state at that time. But most of it was never used.

The vast majority of those acres were grown for a company called USA Biofuels, which entered into contracts with more than two dozen farms in northeastern Montana for 20,000 acres of hemp. Per those contracts, the farmers would be provided seed and paid $100 per acre at the time of planting. Come harvest, they would be paid another $400 per acre of hemp grown on dryland, and $600 per irrigated acre. The farmers liked the certainty presented by this arrangement. It would make them less beholden to the wild swings of the commodities market for crops like wheat, which was doing so poorly at the time it was hardly worth selling.

Early on, there were indications USA Biofuels wouldn’t keep up its end of the deal. The company was late delivering the seed and issuing the initial payment. The farmers were repeatedly told the promised $100 per planted acre was coming soon. Then, six week later than expected, they received their initial payment — but not from USA Biofuels. Vitality Natural Health, LLC, a Canadian company, issued the payment instead. Montana farmers wouldn’t see another check from either company.

Read more: https://montanafreepress.org/2021/07/26/montana-hemp-farmers-awarded-65-million-judgment/

July 30, 2021

Former Gov. Schweitzer endorses Monica Tranel for Congress

Former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer is endorsing Monica Tranel in the Democratic primary for the state’s newly created congressional district, the Tranel campaign announced Monday.

Schweitzer, who served from 2005 to 2013, ushered in a 16-year period of Democratic governance in the state after interrupting a streak of three Republican governors. He was followed by Gov. Steve Bullock, another Democrat, after being termed out.

“I have watched people who have run for office for a number of years now, and I have recognized what it takes to be successful and what happens to those who don’t have those attributes,” Schweitzer told the Daily Montanan. “In addition to that, I’ve watched people who have run for office and won, and appeared they’d be perfect for Montana, and then they get elected, in particular when they go to Washington, and you don’t recognize them after four or six years. Monica knows who she is and what she is.”

Schweitzer said that means that Tranel — a former Olympic rower — is a tough competitor, someone who will take on powerful interests and won’t quit in fighting for the state.

Read more: https://dailymontanan.com/2021/07/26/former-gov-schweitzer-endorses-monica-tranel-for-congress/