A Cook Inlet sockeye salmon, the fish at the root of a battle that has sparked sexual harassment claims in Alaska/Craig Medred photo
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is now eyeing his next appointment to the Alaska Board of Fisheries with the dust stirred up around one of his last appointments still far from settled in the wake of a sexual harassment claim.
The Alaska Legislature on April 17 voted down the reappointment to the Board of retired Anchorage Superior Court Judge Karl Johnstone after Anchorage Rep. Ivy Spohnholz lobbed a #metoo bombshell into the proceedings.
Spohnholz said on the floor of a joint session of the House and Senate that “more than two” women who worked for the Board told her that Johnstone sexually harassed them. There was, and has been, no confirmation of those claims.
Johnstone was provided no hearing to defend himself against the accusation before his confirmation was blocked. It is widely believed the sexual harassment accusation was unleashed after Johnstone opponents concluded they didn’t have the votes to block the confirmation of a man who’d run into a firestorm of opposition from commercial fishermen accusing him of being biased in favor of sport fishermen.
Here’s what has happened since in the country’s biggest fishing state where major political battles have regularly erupted around fish:
- Former Commissioner of Fish and Game Cora Campbell, a woman who was regularly in attendance with Johnstone at BOF meetings, has added her name to the list of women saying they were not sexually harassed. And she said in an email to craigmedred.news that “no one reported concerns to me about Karl Johnstone and sexual harassment, and I never observed such behavior.” Campbell said that if she’d seen, heard or been told anything, she would have investigated and acted. Campbell is now the CEO of an Alaska fish processing company.
- Spohnholz in an interview with the Anchorage Daily News has revised downward to “two women” the alleged victims, but has not responded to a query asking why.
- Gov. Mike Dunleavy has offered an apology to Johnstone for the way the 78-year-old jurist was treated by the Legislature. Dunleavy thanked Johnstone for volunteering and wrote that he was “dismayed by the way our elected officials behaved during your confirmation.” In the letter, Dunleavy accused legislators of “character assassination” and “disenfranchisement (of) real victims of serious crimes.”
- No women have emerged to say they were harassed by Johnstone.
- Spohnholz has said on the House floor that she made a mistake in leveling the accusations against Johnstone and admitted that “due process” ideals were violated. But she added her feeling that she had to go public because the Legislature has no process for secret hearings to consider accusations against gubernatorial appointees.
- Spohnholz has continued to leave undefined the nature of the complaints against Johnstone. As of this time – in a situation where words matter – no one has a clue to what Johnstone is supposed to have said. Johnstone has said he never sexually harassed anyone, but the standards for verbal harassment – the sole charge of which Spohnholz publicly accused Johnstone – can vary widely from the most offensive sexual statements to something less. A legislator in Oregon is facing sexual harassment charges after being accused by two interns of regularly referring to them as “little girl,” “my baby lawyer” and “sexy,” as reported by The Daily Astorian.
- No one has reported hearing Johnstone using any such forms of demeaning language in talking to any state employees. Craigmedred.news has been able to contact four of the women who worked closely around Johnstone when he was on the BOF, including Campbell and the woman who was the supervisor of the BOF section. None have reported hearing anything they thought hinted at sexual harassment or of hearing of it from co-workers.
- Members of the House Republican minority have tried and failed to obtain a “Sense of the House” vote condemning Spohnholz’s decision to drop the #metoo bomb. House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, refused to allow discussion of the request and sent it off to committee. Republicans are said to be considering an effort to get the House to vote to censure Spohnholz, but they appear to lack the votes to do anything.
- The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has partially substantiated one Spohnholz statement. During a hearing of the House Resources Committee to consider appointees to the BOF, Spohnholz told Johnstone she didn’t quite understand why there was “so much objection to your appointment,” and admitted she didn’t know much about state fisheries. “I do some personal-use fishing, but fishing is not my background,” she added. A freedom of information request to Fish and Game confirmed Spohnholz is connected to the popular, personal-use dipnet fisheries on the Kenai Peninsula. The agency reported her husband, “Troy Bowler held Upper Cook Inlet Personal Use Permits in 2013 (with family size of 5), 2015 (with family size of 5), and 2017 (with family size of 4). A scanned image of Mr. Bowler’s 2013 permit lists an ‘Ivy’ as a family member. We do not have scanned images of the permits for 2015 and 2017 as harvest was reported online and we don’t retain household name data in that process.”
How many fish the Bowler family caught is not subject to a FOI request, according to the state agency. The personal-use fishery has a seasonal limit of 25 salmon for the permit holder plus 10 for each additional family member. The Bowlers would have had a maximum limit of 55 to 65 salmon per year over the course of the three years they were legally permitted to participate in the fishery.
Many commercial fishermen believe these limits allow urban Alaskans way more fish than most of them need. They don’t like the fishery because it competes with them for salmon.
The personal-use fishery and sport fisheries in streams and rivers around the perimeter of Cook Inlet were at the heart of the dispute over the reappointment of Johnstone – a former Board chairman – to the BOF.
Johnstone favored shifting some of the Inlet’s salmon harvest from the commercial fishery to noncommercial fisheries that help feed those living in the state’s urban core and support the Kenai Peninsula’s booming tourism economy.
Because of that, the United Fishermen of Alaska, one of the state’s most powerful political lobbies, vowed to block his appointment. How to fairly allocate Cook Inlet salmon harvests between commercial and noncommercial users has for decades been the most difficult task the volunteer, regulatory BOF faces.
There is quite simply no perfectly fair answer to the allocation issue. The state has no written guidelines to aid Board members in making allocation decisions. And every special interest group involved in the regular Cook Inlet fish wars can make a valid claim on the fish.
The personal-use dipnet fishery offers easy access to the salmon resource for the approximately five of every seven Alaskans living in the Anchorage metro area or on the Peninsula. The fishery is similar to a federally mandated subsistence fishery which guarantees rural Alaskans priority access to fish.
Subsistence fisheries once existed in the Inlet but were eliminated by the BOF in order to get rid of the priority, which restrained state management options. Commercial fishermen feared a priority was destined to year-by-year erode their share of the catch. They have similar and continuing fears about the personal-use and sport fisheries.
They say it is not fair to reduce commercial catches in order to grow personal-use and sport fisheries. In testimony before the House Resources Committee, Johnstone said he understood that and felt for commercial fishermen, but he added that times change and people must adapt.
Economic studies have indicated that some of the Inlet’s salmon might have far more value as a state resource if caught in sport fisheries than if caught in commercial fisheries. Tourists will pay thousands of a dollars for the chance to catch a few salmon in the tributary streams of the Susitna River at the head of the Inlet. A few salmon caught and sold commercially are worth less than $100.
Under Johnstone’s tenure, the BOF spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get Susitna salmon past commercial nets in the Inlet in order to help boost tourism businesses and satisfy anglers in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The sprawling Borough just north of Anchorage is the state’s fastest growing area.
Johnstone’s efforts angered the powerful United Cook Inlet Drifters Association (UCIDA), which worked hard to help Independent gubernatorial candidate Bill Walker unseat incumbent Republican Gov. Sean Parnell in 2014.
When Walker took office, he promptly told Johnstone that the judge could forget about being reappointed to the Board, and Johnstone then resigned, saying he thought it best that whoever was going to be named to replace him have plenty of time to study up on the state’s complicated fishery issues.
Walker subsequently named Inlet commercial fisherman and former UCIDA executive director Roland Maw to fill Johnstone’s seat. The appointment did not last long. Maw resigned when it was discovered he was claiming to be a resident of Montana as well as of Alaska.
Maw is scheduled to go on trail in Juneau next month on charges of felony theft for claiming Alaska Personal Fund Dividends while also claiming to be a resident of Montana. Only Alaskans qualify for PFDs.
Despite Maw’s PFD problem, Walker stood by him. Maw was among the UCIDA members meeting with Walker in 2018 as the incumbent governor tried to come up with a plan for defusing Inlet fish wars. Walker was then running for re-election and facing considerable opposition from supporters of personal-use and sport fishing.
As governor, Walker appointed Spohnholz to the Legislature after Rep. Max Gruenberg died in 2016.
Spohnholz represents an East Anchorage House District that strongly supported Walker in the 2014 gubernatorial election. She handily won re-election last year after a campaign highlighting her success in boosting funding for education, public safety and health care.
Fishery management, a regularly contentious issue in many areas of the state, did not come up during the campaign.
Sexual harassment and fish. What a dish!
America, America God shed his grace on thee and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea. My America was given Devine assistance and peace because it was good.
My America was different, it believed its neighbors were innocence regardless as to what they were accused of. It waited to hear the evidence before deciding guilt and it didn’t care how enticing the rumors were. So where did all the brotherhood and good go? Where did my America go?
They say judges need to exercise restraint but mere mortals don’t need to. My America use to have spectacularly high self-expectations for its neighbors, it took “due process” to lower those expectations.
But that’s all changed, now My America quivers under those spacious skies while thousands of internet rumors swirl up in tornado’s of mob verdicts, before any evidence can even be collected. Now American lives and careers are destroyed by a single Facebook or Twitter whisper.
My America cringed when hearing of Hitlers’ Nazis dis-loyalty courts where the same Nazis was judge, jury and executioner. Today instant mob verdicts are the same judge, jury and executioner tactics of Hitlers’ courts. Hitler didn’t care about “the presumption of innocence” he just wanted his personal standards to be everyone’s standards.
With “trial by rumor” rapidly becoming America’s latest fad, how can any guilty or innocent person expect a fair trial? Rumors can flash around the planet as fast as you can peck them out on your keypad. How long will it take “harassment mob verdicts” to begin tainting all verdicts? With all the rumors flying around how could anyone be guaranteed a fair trial by a jury who has not heard the mob rumors?
Harassment issues are important and maybe they are all true but deleting due process to address them “throws the baby out with the bath water”. Hitler did it and he didn’t care. Do you care what you’re doing to the world around you? What if one day you’re accused of harassment? I’m willing to bet you’re going to really appreciate me giving you the due process benefit of doubt, right? So why not give your neighbors the same?
Craig,
I was referencing mass shootings in the US (4 or more people killed), that are done primarily by white males, with guns. Look up mass shootings on Wikipedia.
Las Vegas, Sandy Hook & Marjory Stoneman Douglas to name a few.
Good, to “name a few” James, because that is all there is. Now go look-up the fraud to come up with the Left’s phony “mass” shooting statistics. The fact that you overlook the daily “mass” killings in places like Baltimore, Chicago, Seattle, LA, New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, to name a few, and focus on the Democrat talking points that the “white man” is the real threat to civilization shows you are a racist James. But, have no fear James, your party has a long history of racial injustices. I love watching racists label other people racists or say “I am not a racist” while saying racist things. Sheesh!!! Glad I have FACTS on my side James and welcome your silly labels.
Glad you have it all figured out Bryan. Still waiting on your buddy Burt, to chime in! Keep slinging the hash around, it always lands somewhere. At least you are not another Alex Jones (info wars), who famously stated Sandy Hook was a conspiracy theory.
“Looking at this list of mass shootings in the United States, one notices the following:
98 percent of the shootings were done by male shooters…
the vast majority had mental health problems…
The racial breakdown looks roughly equivalent to that in the population as a whole.”
“Nonetheless, that’s 34% of U.S. mass shooters who are military veterans, as compared with 14.76% in the general population for the same gender and age. In other words, veterans are over twice as likely to be mass shooters, and probably more likely than that.”
Does anyone think PTSD is to blame?
https://worldbeyondwar.org/u-s-mass-shooters-disproportionately-veterans/
You are on right track . Mental health issues. They need to become a priority to find correct treatment without drugs .
Keep your eyes on the prize people. Don’t fight the crazies and the bots….they love to roll in the stink.
Our number one goal right now is to stop borrowing to fund the annual State budget.
We cannot borrow to pay Dividends! That is so f-ing ridiculous!
Good point Chris ! Do you see a path out of the budget mess ?
Meanwhile, in the nether world the NRA is kneecapping itself. Is it possible that we will be rid of that cretin, Wayne? Can it be that I might just possibly rejoin since 1998? Will they come to their senses and realize that demographics are gonna crush them lest they wake up?
Why not just go completely off topic to something vastly more interesting than this?
What was Charles Heston’s famous NRA quote? “I will give you my gun when you pry (or take) it from my cold, dead hands”. I loved him in Ben Hur and the original Planet of the Apes, though I did not appreciate his involvement in the NRA.
The NRA is another national bully, that cares nothing about the countless dead bodies, killed by predominantly white males, who use AR-15s to kill indiscriminately. The most recent in Poway, CA, 19 yo white make sicko, kills one and injures four. Majority of mass shootings inside US are perpetrated by white male sociopaths. Talk about sick, and we let them purchase automation weapons? What am I missing here?
And the NRA defends this crap, I joined once, never again.
James: I don’t know about NRA. that’s a matter for the opinion of each on their own.
the factual parts of this post are another matter. they are flat out wrong. the killing is NOT predominately by white males. the weapon used is NOT an AR-15 or any other type of semi-automatic rifles.
http://freakoutery.com/2019/03/2017-firearm-statistics-graphs/
there were about four times as many people killed with knives in 2017 (the last year for which full FBI data is available) as were killed by ALL rifles. semi-autos are some small subset of rifles. the FBI doesn’t track the number.
I know, James is a hoot with his brainwashed – “white male, AR” Democrat partyline crap. Guess ole James has never been to an inner city. Any inner city. James, told you before, try Fox. Anything but CNN or MSDNC James. Ha
Mykland, you’ll enjoy this:
https://www.salon.com/2019/04/27/is-trump-bailing-out-the-nra-or-is-it-the-other-way-around/
A little fact check here, Medred. The man said MASS SHOOTINGS which is:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/476456/mass-shootings-in-the-us-by-shooter-s-race/
What you WANT to hear and what is said are two different things, no? We can quibble about the firearm but you must admit that recently it’s been of a military derivative.
Monk define “mass” shooting. Also, your white man stats are skewed. Just like the phony Dems school “shootings” stats. Utter BS.
Watch the “white man’s” will to survive now Monk amd James. You haven’t seen anything yet. Ha Ha
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/beto-orourke-we-only-have-10-years-let-on-earth-if-we-dont-address-climate-change
Mykland and monk . Are you advocating for gun control? If so what kind? Do you understand the balance of cause effect? Tell me what will occur when you take away firearms from the public? Will it stop deaths ? Proove it . Will it stop crime ? Proove it . Which demographic do you take guns away from ? White males ? That seems to be your suggestion? Have you noticed people just find alternative methods of death ? Do you know what causes these murders ? Do you realize you immediately give criminals the upper hand ? More innocents might be killed in this scenario. Proove they won’t . Have you looked at world wide stats ? Tougher gun laws do not correlate with less murder . Proove I’m wrong . Interesting side note – Switzerland check it out . Every family has a gun . Guess what low crime and low gun murders . Interesting high – number of white males . Start thinking harder . Skewed stats , propaganda. Look broader to understand the problem. What’s causing these deaths? Fill us in . Solve the real problems. How do we do that ? Fill us in . Don’t attack the symptoms. Be smarter. Perspective . So Americans heart disease 30,000 deaths . Mass shootings a couple hundred? Will taking guns from law abiding citizens stop mass shootings or killings? Proove it . It won’t . Look to China and others . You want to rob Americans of their self protection to change the balance of what weapons are used and give bad guys the edge – brilliant! Proove how your method works. Then put your life up as the first to test it . Those who deserve sequirity over freedom deserve neither .
Desire sequirity ( not deserve)
Now throw this little hand grenade into the mix:
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/29/house-gun-violence-study-1292456
Something the NRA has fought tooth and toenails against. Don’t let science enter here!
But it is all lies from the Politico Monk as usual.
So how do stop this abuse cycle? . Adding to it with another form of abuse ( false witness- reputation destruction- hearsay) does not fix the problem. It adds to the tear in our cultures fabric. Sure if you want to destroy America then accept non facts and make unprovable accusations. Demand a cultural change . Thankfully if facts to back the accusations were presented,most Americans would condemn the nominee. To this point nothing has been presented by the accusers that’s defined as factual . They have not even identified themselves. If they even exist. Therin lies the problem.
Here we are 2019.
Alaska is faced with an epidemic of sexual harassment and abuse throughout the state.
A Trooper was caught last year sending sexual messages to a 16 year old girl and then busted trying to “meet up” with her in a hotel.
Our Lt Gov Mallott…
“abruptly resigned after it was discovered he made inappropriate overtures to a woman.”
(Wiki)
A legislator was forced to resign last year after it came out he was slapping his partner in the side of the head so hard she thought she broke her eardrum?
He claims they were into “S&M”?
So now we have evidence from the Anchorage Jail records that a former Legislator visited a Heroin addict/ Stripper a few days before she died incarcerated and her mother claims he was “giving her money” in the past…possibly to support her habit?
Let’s not forget he was more than twice her age.
Yet, when an anonymous claim comes forward of “inappropriate comments” by a former chairman of the board no one wants to believe shit….
Instead they will work for days to discredit everyone involved and blaim it on “due process” or the Democrats…
And look, most vehement comments here are made by “anonymous” handles?
Go figure the hypocrite speaks loudest in defiance of the abuse cycle in AK.
Thank you Steve, for saying, what needed to be said.
And Opinion, tell me you real name and address, and I will give you proof.
My contact info;
James L Mykland
PO Box 1241
Cordova, AK
99574
Thank you James ! I appreciate that . I hope to meet you someday . Until then please present your facts on Craig medred site or just mail them to him if you are uncomfortable having them in public with your name attached. Commercial fishermen are a tough group and you could be safer from ostracism this way . I’m sure he could be discreet if requested. You could get the facts presented quickly that way . We would all like to be better informed. As it stands now there are no facts to back up accusations. Only hearsay. Except the fact a man may have been falsely accused without the chance to defend himself. That’s a fact .
Thank you James ! I would love to see the proof . Please present it on this site or mail to Craig medred for him and you to discuss the posting terms . Until then it’s all hearsay. The only facts that have been presented are that a man has been possibly falsely accused without a chance to defend himself. Perhaps you can shed light on your statements by presenting truth and fact that drives you to help smear a man and large groups of fish users . Until then you are partaking in hearsay. I know that’s not your modus opperandi so please present your proof .
Hey Kevin, are you suggesting that the governor should choose another nominee to further sway the BOF balance towards the Sport Fishers 5 – 2?? Your as bias as Johnstone!
Wally everyone is biased in one form or another. did you ever consider comm fishermen get way more than their percentage of fish ? Sharing very little of the profit from a public reSource ? That might make the majority biased against them . Thus the board should be 4-1 in favor of personal use . Or perhaps 5-0 in favor . As there are over 500,000 people in Alaska and very few are commercial fisherman. A handful compared to a bucket . Part of the problem is comm fish doesn’t share well . They and the state also hasn’t done a great job of fisheries management. They crashed the upper susitna runs , they crashed the Yukon , frankly their management sucks . This puts extra pressure on the productive drainages that are left. It’s time for comm fish to pull its head out of butt and share equally with other people who like fish . Work together for sustainable management.
Hello Mr. Opinion,
I don’t have a problem sharing the resource. I don’t suppose my fellow fishermen have a problem sharing the resource also. The problem is; it’s a very limited resource in the Cook Inlet! Perhaps yourself, visitors, out of state tourists, would care to visit Dillingham, Port Mollier, PWS, Southeast, etc. etc. I’m sure those fishermen would love to share the resource also. The towns and villages would love to have the tourism, sportsmen, PU fishermen etc. You’ve ruined my town and villages on the Kenai, Why don’t you take your money and go somewhere else? Spread the Wealth!
Wally proove it . How did “we ruin your kenai town or village” do you eat or participate in a money economy? Let’s see any form of proof how your town or village was ruined ? If you even live on the kenai ? Proof please. If you are a true kenai long time resident you can answer – who lived on Fritz creek . What years were you allowed to harvest unlimited clams , who was don Johnson ? Profession? What did Lisa murkowski have to give back ? What lake does kasilof river drain ? Who maintains the winter trails in caribou hills ? What can you collect on the beach by homer ?who founded the tustemena 200? Who was bob Favretto ? Profession? What the heck is your definition of ruined? Fill us in . Also give us some important kenai history when things were good . You got it right Cook Inlet has limited resources therefore it falls under state constitutional and federal laws and precident . Precident for game management sides with subsistence. So commercial interests loose . Best to work together now while you have the chance .
Mr. (no name) Opinion.
I knew Grant and Shirley Fritz personally, – and I don’t take sh.t from people like you ! Answer the question or shut the F..k -up!
“Sure Wally” so grant and Shirley are from kasilof . Not Fritz creek homer Alaska . You answered none of the questions because you are not fully immersed in kenai history. We know you fish in kasilof area but the questions remain . Are you a long time kenai resident- proove it and what’s your definition of a ruined town – by the tourists and personal use users ? You are definitely a rabid commercial fisherman who is easily triggered. How about I simplify this for you and ignore the fact you don’t know kenais history. Two questions is all you need to answer- (what defines a ruined town ? )(How will your supposed neighbors support themselves without dollars provided by tourism, use fees , second home taxes ect ?) If you are actually a long time kenai full time resident you would know that tourism/ visitors are the economic engine in kenai . Ruined my town my arse , how about some facts -“sure Wally” proove how “your town” will survive and what it’s future would be like without those dollars . How will all the residents feed their children? Answer the question. One question.
From the first sentence in this piece, “Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is now eyeing his next appointment to the Alaska Board of Fisheries”. As I read the comments I get it, there is lot’s of fun stuff to talk about but please folks let’s not get deflected off the reason that you get to talk about all of the fun stuff here and now. Karl Johnstone, an individual who is extremely well qualified to be seated on the Alaska Board of Fisheries was denied that opportunity because the state’s most powerful commercial fishing organization opposed his confirmation. They were afraid that his confirmation would jeopardize there allocation of salmon in the Upper Cook Inlet. So my hope is that Governor Dunleavy makes it abundantly clear how he feels about salmon allocation policy for Upper Cook Inlet and this whole confirmation mess by appointing another qualified individual to the Fish Board who shares Johnstone’s point of view.
Actually Kevin,
I disagree with your train of thought here. The big bad old UFA was able to bring all of their power to oppose the confirmation of a BOF appointee? Who are you kidding? LOL!
You are giving way too much achievement and power by UFA to affect change on the State legislature. Yes, they have a part time lobbyist, though is mostly ineffective in Juneau.
The representative that took the phone call, from the accusers, admitted she did not know much about our comm fish industry. She and her family have taken part in the Kenai PU/dip net fishery, along with the other 10,000 AK residents. She did what she did, not for comm fish, but for the women who came forward. And we do not need to know their names. Look at what happened to Anita Hill and most recently Christine Ford, raked over the coals and not believed. Rape is the most underreported crime today in the US. Thousands of rape kits go untested, due to law enforcement not taking it as serious as it should be. We have a long way to go before real equality is achieved in our country.
My last note:
Have you ever noticed what goes on during these dip net openers along the Kenai? Fish guts, fish carcasses, beer cans, dirty diapers, all types of garbage left behind to be picked up by our local & state authorities. A big garbage truck comes down and they load it all up. It has become a huge party, with copious amounts of alcohol, weed and whites consumed on the fishing grounds. People canning salmon right in the parking lots, activities that go on all night long.
Welcome to the personal fisheries in AK. Chitna has a little less people, though same story: fish waste, beer cans & condoms all left behind for someone else to dispose of. Wow! What a life in AK!
Christine Ford and Anita Hill were/are liars. Both fabricated by tue Democrat Party. They both should have been/be sued to their very last nickle. How about Julie Swetnik? Should she have been believed as well? Haha!
Bryan,
Oh, and who is going to sue them?
I actually do not think anyone, that follows and posts on this blog, believe you have any sense of credibility, except for your pal Burt. You guys blame the commie pinko Dems for everything. Get a grip! Your racist and bigoted opinion, is not appropriate in this day and age.
James , what were you thinking with that smear of personal fish users ? Proove what you say . Let’s see the pictures of parties ,drugs , alcohol,condoms , diapers . Proove it- were not talking one or two rogue group s – you were smearing a large section of people- or are you just passing on hearsay?? Since when were commercial fishers so bright and shiny ? Where do you and your friends dump their poop buckets dirty paper ??? Where do they piss? Hmm perhaps in the ocean . If you are a long time commercial Fisher I’m sure you are familiar with the term – largest trash can in the world. Proove how clean and shiny you are . I’ve done plenty (many many years )of commercial and personal use . What I see with personal use is a massive influx of cash to support local and statewide buisness and support sales tax that pays to clean portipotties and service dumpsters . Even license and permits are not free , Normal responsible human behavior. I also see lots of families and children partaking learning the ropes and building sand castles on the beach . Sure I see fish carcasses left by people who don’t know enough to keep sand out of their fish but most people bring those fish home and dispose carefully. Those fish carcasses on beach are completely biodegradable natural and don’t compare to canneries disposal systems. Or Kenai dumping sewage into their river . Why did you feel the need to make stuff up or pass on smears ? Is it not important that Alaskan families have quality fish / nutrition for them to feed themselves? As to your defense of ufa – that may or may not be warranted . If they had any influence on smearing an innocent man it’s indefensible. He is innocent until proven guilty under our national laws . Hearsay doesn’t account for anything. Even your stated religion tells you that . Christ was pretty specific on pointing that out . So I’m not sure why you would stand up for hearsay gossip unless you have facts the rest of us don’t know. So share and prove it’s not hearsay. We are waiting.
I am sorry James. The “you’re a racist” line is like stale bread – just old and meaningless. So, you believe Hill, Ford, Swetnik, Brawley, and the numerous other staged “sexual assaults” are real? Let me help you – FAKE NEWS!!!
“Defamation is a false statement someone makes about you, which they publish as a statement of fact, and which harms your personal and/or professional reputation or causes you other damages, including financial loss and emotional distress.” $$$$$$
Well James, you are perfectly welcome to disagree with my train of thought, but then you know that. Sponholtz was appointed to the house seat she holds by Governor Walker after the death of Max Gruenberg. We all know just how Governor Walker viewed Karl Johnstone and the personal use and sport fishery in Upper Cook Inlet. Beer cans and condoms aside it is likely there is a pretty straight line from Sponholtz’s claims that leads back to Walker’s support from and for UFA, his dislike of Johnstone and the real possibility of the Board of Fish having the necessary four votes that it will take for giving personal use and sport fishermen a better shot at salmon in Upper Cook Inlet. I would bet you a microbrew of you choice that Craig follows that string to its end.
Canada is looking better and better as time goes along….
Kevin,
I supported the nomination of Johnstone to BOF, in a post on this blog, and I received numerous complaints from comm fishers I know, because of my stance. This blog, your comments and other posts on this matter, have given UFA, way more credit and power, than they actually have.
The Upper CI management scenario, recently updated and made public has already started the change you and others have been waiting for. More escapement will be allowed into the upper basins of CI, and will happen, due to shorter duration and less comm fish openers in CI.
Get your dip nets ready, the Kenai River will be loaded with sockeyes this summer.
Kevin,
If Craig wants to follow this story, until the public gets weary, that is his choice. Johnstone is done, gone and over! Move on, next up! If the majority of voters, do not agree with what the house rep did, then she will be voted out. You can disagree with what the house rep did, though your opinion does not actually work matter in the long run, unless you are able to affect real political change. Good luck with that!
Palin tried that and it did not work. She now she has ultra conservative professionals running both her and Bristol’s FB pages. What a comedy! I even voted for her, and then she had the Katie Couric interview, and she could not even name one news magazine she had read.
Just like POTUS, he reads no briefings, surrounds himself with like minded narcissistic egomaniacs and calls it good! Our participatory democracy is no longer working! Thanks goodness I am about to retire, since I am very tired of the same old BS from our elected politicians. Sullivan plays the game. At least Lisa has the guts to call out the BS on the Fed level, and believe me it is full of lobbyists all trying to get money.
The Repubs talked a good game, though our budget deficit keeps getting higher and we keep selling out future to foreign nations.
On the State level, Senate votes to disperse $3K for PFD. That works, spend it all until nothing is left, afterwards cry to the Feds to get bailed out.
Alaska has become a socialist state economy!
As the saying goes, are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist party?
Ironically, McCarthy provided a little more due process than Spohnholz but in the end being blacklisted is being blacklisted.
Craig, How many Women that worked with Judge Johnstone at the BOF haven’t replied to your requests for comment ? I can’t remember if its more than two or did Miss More Than get cold feet just before this #metoo debacle went down? Keep up the good work. Thanks
Steve is just trying to obfuscate the matter at hand, he knows he is wrong, Ivy knows she is wrong. All he has left is to throw shit against the wall and see if it sticks.
A dead heroin addict is sad, but has nothing to do with due process.
Steve Stine is simply following the playbook of distracting from the actual problem. He is playing his part, good job Steve you are a loyal soldier. Ivy Spohnholz violates due process, an admits it…Steve Stine says she didn’t and talks about a dead heroin addict, all while blaming anybody but those who are responsible. Have the chemtrails gotten to you Steve, or was it HAARP?
Steve, even Ivy disagrees with your take on due process. You are wrong, move on.
Steve Stine , you should be ashamed of yourself. What in the world would motivate you to make such such unsubstantiated accusations. You sound like Rep Sponholz. Do you have the slightest clue of what is right and wrong. Stoltze served his people well and left only because of an illness. Why do you want to drag him through the muck? It really is disgusting and it you had a conscience you would stop!
Well AF…
I do not think ADN would print the comments I quoted if they were “unsubstantiated accusations” like you claim.
I believe the jail has logs and cameras recording all visitors so this “visit” was well documented.
Remember:
“Stoltze resigned suddenly from the Senate in mid-April 2016, a few weeks after the Green wrongful-death suit was filed. Stoltze cited health problems — he has diabetes — as the reason for his resignation.”
The ADN story also states Stoltze was listed as a witness by both the prosecution and defense in the wrongful death case yet he was not issued a subpoena to testify.
I found it weird that ADN took down ALL comments and ability to comment within an hour of release?
Steve,
You don’t think a newspaper would print unsubstantiated accusations? Have you ever read any newspaper ever from anywhere at any point in time??? Seriously man.
Get used to it boys (is that sexist). This is how the blue slime rolls.
“No women have emerged to say they were harassed by Johnstone.
Spohnholz has said on the House floor that she made a mistake in leveling the accusations against Johnstone and admitted that “due process” ideals were violated. No one has reported hearing Johnstone using any such forms of demeaning language in talking to any state employees.”
Hey Bryan,
Since everything is blue and red in your head…
How do you feel about Bill Stoltze visiting a Heroin addict/ stripper in the jail before she was found dead a few days later?
How do you suppose a mid 50’s politician meets an exotic dancer in her early 20’s?
“Kellsie at some point also somehow crossed paths with Bill Stoltze, at the time one of the most powerful politicians in the Alaska Legislature as a state senator and former House Finance Committee co-chair.
The Greens believe Stoltze gave their daughter money, which she later used to buy drugs. Kellsie told her mother she thought Stoltze was stalking her when he showed up outside a Palmer courtroom after one of her court hearings. He didn’t come over to talk to them, Kathi Green said. She never met him.”
Seems like another “Creep” in politics to me.
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2019/04/26/their-daughter-died-while-withdrawing-from-heroin-in-an-anchorage-jail-they-just-won-a-wrongful-death-claim-against-state/
Yep, Ends Justifies the Means for these Commie Pinko types.
Steve, are you comparing the poor actions of 2 consenting adults to the “#metoo” fabricating, lying, political lynching, slandering, and criminal accusation movement on both the state and national levels?
Bryan,
My point is maybe, just maybe politicians do not always tell us the truth.
It seems weird Stoltze resigns from the Legislature a few weeks after the wrongful death suit comes out…then resigns again from a Dunleavy post a few months before the settlement and court documents become public?
Maybe he knew it would come out that he visited Green in jail?
I would have felt a lot better about his visit to her if he would have just bailed her out, but he did not want to be on record posting bail.
“Green several times asked Stoltze to pay her $2,200 bail. He deferred, saying a plumbing problem needed immediate attention. Then he made it clear he didn’t want to be associated with the payment.”
“Well, I hate having my, you know, my name there on CourtView and everything on that stuff, you know what I mean?” he tells her, referring to the public court online database. “You’re listed as a poster there when you secure the bond.”
(ADN)