FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson) 

New RFP Sought For Managing PAC
27 Mar 2024 14:48

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]

Seiners Get Second Day with 2 Areas to Fish
27 Mar 2024 14:46

By Sentinel Staff
    The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]

Braves Take Second in Last Minute Upset
27 Mar 2024 12:41

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]

Tuesday City League Volleyball
27 Mar 2024 12:39

By Sentinel Staff
    The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]

Kodiak Alutiiq Museum Getting New Attention
27 Mar 2024 12:37

By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
    A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]

House Hearing on Inmate Deaths Halted
27 Mar 2024 12:35

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in  [ ... ]

Nominee to Bering Sea Council: Not a Trawler
27 Mar 2024 12:34

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Police Blotter
27 Mar 2024 12:26

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Community Happenings
27 Mar 2024 12:25

Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]

Reassessments Raise Tax Bills for Sitkans
26 Mar 2024 15:22

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]

Two Areas Opened in Herring Fishery Today
26 Mar 2024 15:21

By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]

Lady Wolves Rally to Take Fourth at State
26 Mar 2024 15:16

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]

Edgecumbe Girls Close Out Season Up North
26 Mar 2024 14:58

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
    Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]

City League Monday
26 Mar 2024 14:55

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]

House Votes to Broaden Rules For Review Panel Memb...
26 Mar 2024 14:52

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday  [ ... ]

Alaskan Grilled in D.C. Over Climate Science
26 Mar 2024 14:51

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Gus Schumacher, the Anchorage Olympic cross-country skier, a [ ... ]

Faster Internet Speeds In Rural Schools OK'd
26 Mar 2024 13:53

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska’s rural schools are on track to access faster interne [ ... ]

Native Words Gathered In Environment Studies
26 Mar 2024 13:52

By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
    In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska,  [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Police Blotter
26 Mar 2024 13:49

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 25
At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Community Happenings
26 Mar 2024 13:48

Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
American Legion Post 13 will host a luncheon 1-3 p.m.  [ ... ]

Sac Roe Herring Fishery Opens in Hayward
25 Mar 2024 15:30

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The 2024 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery got under [ ... ]

Projects on the Table For Cruise Tax Funds
25 Mar 2024 15:28

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Assembly will start the annual process of determi [ ... ]

Braves Take Second at State after Close Loss
25 Mar 2024 15:23

By Sentinel Staff
    Competing in the 3A state championship title basketball game Saturday, the M [ ... ]

City League Games Continue
25 Mar 2024 15:11

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing through the afternoon Sunday, City League volleyball teams faced off [ ... ]

Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Plan to Defend Ethics Cases Gets Pushback

By BECKY BOHRER
Associated Press
    JUNEAU (AP) — Proposed regulations would allow the state Department of Law to represent Alaska’s governor or lieutenant governor against ethics complaints, something a former attorney general says would be an inappropriate use of state resources.
    The department has proposed rules that would allow it to defend the governor or lieutenant governor against ethics complaints if the attorney general determines the representation is in the public interest. The department could defend the attorney general against an ethics complaint if the governor determines doing so is in the public interest, under the proposal. Information received by the department in defense of such complaints would be considered confidential.
    Attorneys general in Alaska are appointed by the governor and subject to legislative confirmation. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s attorney general is Kevin Clarkson.
    The department is taking comments on the proposed rules through Nov. 4, after which it will decide how or whether to move forward.
    Department of Law spokeswoman Cori Mills said she did not know of a specific impetus for the proposed changes but said the issue came up through a review process. She said by email that the proposal would “enable the department to carry on one of its primary functions _ that of acting as legal counsel for the Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General in their official capacities.”
    It’s not clear if any ethics complaints have been filed. Such information would be considered confidential, she said.
    Jahna Lindemuth, an attorney general under Dunleavy’s predecessor, Gov. Bill Walker, said the proposal is inappropriate and should not be adopted.
    “The role of the attorney general is to represent the state of Alaska, and the governor is not the client except to the extent he is the representative of the state,” she said. “So, when the attorney general, in his sole discretion, is defending ethics complaints against the governor or the lieutenant governor, they are his client directly and it’s not the state of Alaska who is the client at that point. And so, it confuses the basic role of the attorney general.”
    Lindemuth is one of the legal advisers for a campaign aimed at recalling Dunleavy.
    State Sen. Bill Wielechowski, an Anchorage Democrat, questioned the need for new rules.
    “I think it’s sort of common sense, if you’re a governor and you’re acting in your state capacity, then you should be entitled to be represented by the attorney general,” he said. But getting into personal, political or ethics issues, “I think there’s a pretty clear line that you shouldn’t be using state resources to defend yourself.”
    Mills said the governor, lieutenant governor or attorney general currently have to personally pay for any legal counsel to represent them before the state personnel board, which handles complaints against those offices. Mills said the state official can get reimbursed by the state if exonerated.
    Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, in emails during her final months in office, expressed outrage over ethics complaints she felt frivolously targeted her. Palin unsuccessfully ran as the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee and later, in July 2009, stepped down as governor in the midst of her term.
   

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....

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