WHO'S JOE MILLER?

Who is Joe Miller? Many people were asking this two years ago when Joe Miller was the Republican candidate for House District 8. Joe quit his job as a federal magistrate to run for public office because he wanted to make a difference. He lost his bid for the seat in a district dominated by a liberal agenda, but he is still active in making changes. Joe was recently elected District Chair of District 8 and even more recently selected as regional chair of the Alaska Republican Party.

Behind every man is a woman. In Joe Miller's case it's his wife, Kathleen Miller. This woman has so much energy, you could bottle up the excess and distribute it to the rest of the state. Joe and Kathleen have eight children and she still has time to help him in his private law practice in the old post office building downtown.

Joe is a graduate of West Point and of Yale Law School. He worked his way through law school by serving in the U.S. Army and earning a scholarship.

Here Joe has captured the ear of Representative John Coghill at a fundraiser for Hope Industries. Like Representative Coghill, Joe is smart, energetic, and a man of principle.

Picture Archive for Juneau

The pictures on this Blog are just a collection of photos taken of legislators in action in Juneau.


The first picture is of legislators gathering to pay respects to a fallen soldier. From left to right are Senator Gary Stevens, Senate Majority Leader; Senator Ralph Seekins, Chairman of Senate Judiciary Committee; and Senator Ben Stevens, President of the Alaska State Senate.

These legislators and former legislators had one thing in common. All of them were in Fairbanks congratulating Senator Donny Olson and his bride, Willow Seay, after the wedding ceremony. From left to right: Senator Hollis French, Senator Ralph Seekins, Senator Tom Wagoner, Representative Bill Stoltze, groom Senator Donny Olson, former Senator Pete Kelly, Representative John Coghill, former Senator Al Adams, and former Representative Bud Fate.

Who wouldn't pay to have the opportunity to have a shot at the governor. Governor Murkowski lined up with his wife, Nancy, at the Fairbanks Public Health Center last fall to get the first flu shots of the season in Alaska.

Representative Norman Rokeberg is at his desk in a conversation with a delegation from Japan discussing international trade and the energy demands of the world. Representative Rokeberg is the Rules Chairman of the House.

This picture was taken at a press availability during the 23rd Legislative session when Rep. Pete Kott was speaker. Rep. Norman Rokeberg was Rules Chairman and Rep. Coghill was Majority Leader. Representatives Rokeberg and Coghill retianed their positions in the 24th Legislative Session under Speaker John Harris.

THis is a view of the courtyard next to the Courthouse of the Alaska Supreme Court directly across the street from the Alaska State Capitol. This location, along with the steps of the Capitol, is the site of many rallies and protest marches.

Larry and Pam LaBolle anxiously await the wedding ceremony of Jim Pound and his bride Debbie in 2005. Larry is chief of staff for Rep Richard Foster and Pam is retired from her position as Exec Dir of the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce.

We know they are Democrats, but this is such a good picture of father and son looking at Denali Mountain on a fall morning from Talkeetna. Chancey and Eric Croft are a part of Alaska's history whether you agree with their politics or not.

Chancey is a former legislator who is well known for his legal work in the workers compensation field.

Eric has served in the Alaska State House for eight years and has filed a letter of intent to run for governor.

Last year Jim and Debbie Pound were married at the Juneau Yacht Club and the place was packed. Here Linda Hay, then legislative liaison for the governor, congratulates Debbie as Vanessa Tondini, then House Judiciary Committee aide, Representative Bill Thomas and Jim Pound share the moment.

Former Senator Robin Taylor performed the marriage ceremony for Jim and Debbie. Jim Pound was Chief of Staff for Senator Taylor and currently is Chief of Staff for Representative Jay Ramras.

We know people in high places!!!!!!!!

Here's Emily Joslin with none other than the President of the United States. Emily is the daughter of Steve and Debbie Joslin in Delta. Emily got the photo op while in Washington, D.C. with her mom, Debbie, when mom was National Committee Woman for Alaska on the Republican National Committee.

Another Week in Juneau March 24th

Downtown Juneau is tucked away neatly between the Gasteneau Channel and Mount Roberts. The size of the mountain dwarfs the capitol building, the courthouse, the federal building, the state office building, the Sealaska Corporate Building, the library, and the numerous hotels that share space with the numerous gift shops and a movie theater downtown.

If you come to Juneau be warned there is a lot of uphill and downhill walking. Rynnieva said the first time she ever wore the toes out of her socks is when she first cake to Juneau for session.

Juneau is surrounded by mountains and there are times you can hear the thunder as avalanches clear large areas of snow on the mountains.

Juneau landscape is breathtaking when weather permits, but the weather and the politics can be all wet, stormy, and windy.

Representative Mike Kelly visits with Julie Morris and Denise Hendrickson before session on March 24th. Representative Kelly has been a great addition to the Interior delegation. He is very committed to making learned decisions and is a true conservative. Representative Kelly supported HB 400 which makes it a crime for law enforcement officers to confiscate legal firearms in times of disasters as happened in New Orleans during the Hurrican Katrina disaster.

U.S. Senator Ted Stevens addressed a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature on May 23rd. Here he is answering questions at a press conference held after the address. Stevens told the legislature he was wary of giving advice. He said 'When tempted, I remember the story about a school paper written by a young girl on the life of Socrates: "Socrates," she wrote, "was the Greek philosopher who went around giving people advice. They poisoned him."'

Majestic evening sky in Mendenhall Valley.

Jeannie Ostnes reads about Avian Influenza and what could be the impact in Alaska. Jeannie is a legislative aide for Senator Gene Therriault and is a longggg-time Fairbanksan. She handles most of the constituent work for Senator Therriault. She is still recovering from a serious car accident in November but is walking without crutches now.

2006 Alaska Republican State Convention

2006 ALASKA REPUBLICAN PARTY STATE CONVENTION

The 2006 Alaska Republican Party State Convention kicks off on April 6th at the Westmark in Fairbanks with pre-convention activities, including an opening reception at 6:30 p.m. where Governor Murkowski will be the keynote speaker.

A full draft agenda is available at:

http://www.alaskarepublicans.com/pdf/2006-draft-agenda.pdf

Rhonda Boyles, Vice-Chair of the Alaska Republican Party will officially welcome all the delegates and alternates to the convention and the convention will officially beign Friday morning. Credentials will be closed at 10 a.m. sharp, so make sure you have registered and turned in your credentials by 10 a.m. Friday monring. There will be early registration and credentials beginning 1:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon at the Westmark.

The Convention Banquet will be held Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at Westmark. The keynote speaker will be Michael Zak, executive director of the Lincoln-Reagan Freedom Foundation and author of bestseller, "Back to Basics for the Republican Party".

Michael Zak lives in Washington, D.C., but is a native of Chicago. He is a graduate of Georgetown University of Foreign Service and the American Graduate School of International Management. Michael Zak has been a financial analyst in Chicago and New York, was a Foreign Service Officer, and policy analyst for the House Republican Policy Committee (Rep. Christopher Cox, Chairman), before joining the Lincoln-Reagan Freedom Foundation.

Friday morning at 7:30 a.m. delegates will have breakfast with the candidates for Lt. Governor, Troy Maulden and Sean Parnell. Delegates will have the opportunity to meet the candidates and ask them questions about their positions on issues and their resons for running.

Troy Maulden

Sean Parnell

John Binkley

Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. delegates will have breakfast with candidates for governor. This is one opportunity to talk to these candidates one on one and really get answers to questions you have of them.

Sarah Palin

For more information contact your district chairman, (District 11 is Todd Larkin @ 378-TODD), Rhonda Boyles @ 457-4555, or Bonnie WIlliams @ 455-6652.

Juneau Scenery

This is picture of the Gastineau Channel taken from Sandy Beach at low tide as the skies begin to darken last Sunday in Douglas.

The sky is Juneau can change very quickly. One minute you can see across the channel, the next minute you can't. The view of Juneau across the channel can disappear as you literally watch a grey curtain move in. The picture above was taken an hour before the picture on the top. Notice how clear the sky was and then the clouds began moving in as the day closed.


Mendenhall Hall Glacier as seen from across the Channel and the northern end of Douglas Highway.

Evening skies as seen driving to the airport in Mendenhall Valley. Speaking of a drive to the airport. Ruby Riddle spent a week in Juneau the first part of March and she said it was the most wonderful week she can recall. She sat in on many of the committee meetings about petroleum production taxes, spent time with friends from Fairbanks and North Pole, and charmed everyone. One lobbyist asked her to adopt him.

Landmark Church Destroyed by Early Morning Fire

Juneau streets were blocked most of Sunday to contain an early morning fire believed to have started in a Juneau residence and spread to the historic Holy Trinity Episcopal Church just three blocks from the Capitol.

The report was received by the fire department at 4:40 a.m. and fire fighters were still containing the fire at 2:00 p.m.

Their first responce was to put the fire out but the intensity of the blaze changed to defensive tactics to save the homes and buildings within blocks of the fire.





Del Moss, treasurer for District 11, awoke at 6:00 a.m. to what appeared to be an explosion. He was across the channel from the fire but the blaze was visible from several miles away.

Power was out in a wide area for quite some time although the cause is not known.








One reason could be that a panel from the aluminum roof of the church blasted off the roof and landed straddled to the power line.










By 930 a.m. debris from the defensive actions to save surrounding buildings was at the intersection within feet of the Baranof Hotel.

A staffer for Senator Seekins wondered why his vehicle had debris on and around it this morning, unaware of the fire.

This is a picture of Holy Trinity in 1960.

The blessing of this disaster is that Holy Trinity received a grant in 2005 to restore six near-life-sized paintings of Jesus painted in the 1906 circa and the paintings are scheduled to be returned next week.