3:25 p.m.
Dunleavy’s administration announced this afternoon that the governor has set two more dates for community conversations. These will take place at 2 p.m. Friday at The Church at North Pole in North Pole and at 11:30 a.m. next Monday at an Anchorage Chamber of Commerce forum.
The North Pole event is open to the public. The second event, at the Dena’ina Civic & Convention Center in Anchorage, is through the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce and information on attending that can be found here.
— Alex McCarthy
3:15 p.m.
A group of labor leaders delivered a cease-and-desist letter to Gov. Mike Dunleavy today, asking the administration to stop plans to outsource public services — specifically the management of the Alaska Psychiatric Institute — without a full bidding process. The administration contracted with Wellpath, a private company, to run API. Many have criticized the administration for not having a competitive bid process prior to awarding the contract to Wellpath.
“The state has violated our collective bargaining rights, and we will fight to preserve those rights,” Jake Metcalfe, Executive Director of the Alaska State Employees Association (ASEA) stated. “The lack of transparency throughout this process has been unprecedented.”
Read more of what they had to say below.
— Alex McCarthy
12:10 p.m.
Juneau’s legislators are going to hold another town hall meeting next Saturday, April 27, at Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School. That’ll run from 10:30 a.m to noon, and donuts and coffee will be available.
Members of the Juneau delegation said they still want to hear from constituents who can’t make it to the meeting in person. All three are available by phone or email: Kiehl is at 465-4947 or Sen.Jesse.Kiehl@akleg.gov; Hannan is at 465-4766 or Rep.Sara.Hannan@akleg.gov; Story is at 465-3744 or Rep.Andi.Story@akleg.gov.
— Alex McCarthy
12:03 p.m.
After a long, wild night last night, members of the Alaska Legislature are cranking it way down today. Low energy at the Capitol today, and many legislators are leaving this afternoon to head home for Easter weekend. Some of the flights have been delayed because of the windy, cloudy Juneau weather today, but many of them will still be able to get out today.
— Alex McCarthy
