SB91, Anchorage Assembly, Public Anger Over Crime

I went to the Assembly public hearing Saturday October 8, 2017 to allow the public to give their opinions on Senate Bill 91 which was intended to curb the rise in prison population by cutting back many of the penalties for low level crime and by increasing rehabilitation for those convicted.  

Dick Traini

This is a state law and hearings were set in Juneau, but Anchorage Assembly chair Dick Traini felt most people wouldn’t testify in Juneau and had a special session in Anchorage which was videotaped     
The pictures are most of the people who testified when I was there.  I just wanted people to get a sense of the number of folks and a sense of what they looked like.  But I must say that a number of folks surprised me and reminded me not to judge people by appearances.    Everyone was civil, most were pretty rational and they focused on the facts of their experience with crime and the police response.










I missed the first 20 minutes or so, but what I heard was a lot of . . . anger was there, but mostly it was frustration.

Frustration that the reduced penalties of SB91 for many crimes under $1000 had been put in place, but not the rehabilitation.  So criminals know that nothing can happen to them, that police won’t bother for low level crimes.  Two different people told stories of people regularly taking power tools from big box stores and just walking out and employees are told not to do anything.  They have to just watch them get in their cars and go.  The speakers said this went to barter for drugs and/or other items.  One big box store employee said it happens daily and losses have been in the $800,000 per year range.

Lots of people complained about home break-ins and stolen cars where police didn’t come for hours.  Where they are told on the phone, “There’s nothing we can do.”

There was concern that sex workers wouldn’t report crimes because they, not the criminals would be arrested.

There was also testimony  from people who had served time or the children had and the importance of good rehabilitation to their lives.

Amy Demboski got credit from some for recognizing these problems early on.  And she said she wasn’t for abolishing SB 91, but for fixing it.

One man said there were three things that needed to be done:
1.  Rebuild Neighborhood watch
2.  Put God back into schools
3.  Bring back the death penalty

Most people were rational, had facts, and recognized this was a complex problem .  A few just wanted the repeal of SB 91, but most wanted it fixed - most notably that people convicted of crimes get rehabilitation, job training, and hope and help to find employment when they got out, so they aren't forced back to crime and drugs or alcohol.

There were maybe 100-150 people who were in the chambers during the 4 hour session.  Not that many, but they were all very passionate.  The Assembly listened carefully, sometimes asked questions.

During a break, I asked if there were any police in the room to hear the anger toward the police for not showing up for hours and for saying, “Our hands are tied, there’s nothing we can do” about people who committed crimes.  Later, Assembly Member Chris Constant said there had been a representative of the police department there for a while.

This past Tuesday, the Assembly passed a resolution that didn't call for a repeal of SB91, but did call for fixing it.  From KTUU:

"All members but Amy Demboski voted for changes only, specifically an increase in funding for alcohol and drug treatment, probation, police, corrections officers, and prosecutors.
“I’m afraid if we say repeal this it will not be revisited. I think these were very courageous legislators who did this and I don’t know that we have that now. After seeing this beat up no one is going to touch it again.
We’ll be back to a system that has simply failed and wasn’t working,” said Assembly Member John Weddleton.
The resolution also recommends restoring probation limits for some misdemeanor offenses, time that was cut down to less than a year under SB91. When it came to recommending a full repeal all members but Demboski felt it was better to fix what exists today."

"Closed, But Still Awesome" - Snapshots Of San Francisco

We walked my grandson to his pre-school this morning along with a foldable shopping cart full of toys and other young child related items and put them into this bin of things being collected for kids who had to flee from the Santa Rosa and other Northern California fires.




And as someone who has a soft spot for good, clever graffiti, I had to take a picture of this sign inside a bus.

Lombardi Sports closed after 66 years in business.  This 2014  SFGate article discusses legacy businesses, like Lombardi Sports, that are giving way to more lucrative uses of the properties, like high rise condos.  But a 2016 SF Chronicle article says  Lombardi will become a Whole Foods store, not  high rise condos.

This hydrant begged my camera to take its picture.  I've no more to say about it.



I was taken by Cheese Plus' closed sign.  A delivery guy came with a dolly full of stuff, but the front door was locked.  It was not quite 10am, but a guy inside opened it and let the man in.

I told him I liked the sign.  He introduced himself as Joe and showed me the other side of the sign:  "Come In, We're AWESOME."


Here's Joe, below.  There's a little outdoor cafe on the side and he pointed out that the coffee was all from Equator Coffee, a coffee company that pays its farmers above market wages and, bingo, the name had a meaning beyond a ring around the center of the globe.



But I'm always a bit skeptical of business folks making claims to being super fair to their third world suppliers, so I looked up Equator Coffee.  The website is long on abstract philosophy and short on specifics of how they actually carry out their ideas.  That doesn't mean they aren't a great, conscientious company.  There just isn't much hard information there. For example, from Equator's website:

"Equator’s philosophy on coffee is built from a question: how do we create value from our perch in the coffee supply chain, standing at the intersection between local and distant coffee communities? It is this question that continues to frame our narrative as we strive to grow a business that values the stakeholders in both communities with respect for the people, the process, and the product. Equator believes that quality underlies economic and environmental sustainability, and this is the pillar of our approach. We support environmentally sound certifications, as well as practices that produce the highest quality coffee while securing a dignified life for those who produce it.  

It is no surprise that the relationships we have nurtured through the years remain at the heart of our coffee program. Brooke and Helen routinely pay quality incentives to farmers, support farming community initiatives, and provide micro-loan credits—all to ensure Equator has a consistent supply of quality coffee. Only with those practices in place can Equator’s dedicated and experienced team here in Marin transform the farmers’ efforts into a quality cup of coffee so that you can enjoy the results of all their hard work."  [emphasis added]

 I was vaguely aware of games where people become part of the performance, but only just barely.  But I wanted to find out more about this one, particularly the claim of Best Escape Room Nationwide.    I found Escape Room Tips' website which had a page titled "8 Best Escape Rooms in San Francisco:"

Real Escape Room, or this one on Polk St, Escape From the Jail, wasn't listed.

For those of you still scratching your heads out there, Room Escape Artist explains what these are all about.  Here's their  beginning:

"What’s a Room Escape?
18 june 2015 by david spira, posted in player tips
You get locked in a room with a bunch of people. The room is a puzzle that you solve by resolving the smaller puzzles that are contained within it.
These things go by a lot of names (room escapes, escape games, exit games, locked room games, adventure rooms). Whatever you call them, they’re all referencing the same general concept.
Wait… Locked in?
Yeah… Usually you are locked in the room, and your goal is to find the key to get back out.
Some states or municipalities have laws that prevent the company from physically locking you in, games in those locations have to get a bit creative."

The other day I discussed anger in the US and how we have an economic system that puts most people under unreasonable amounts of stress.  But we blame the person who has the stress, instead of questioning what it is about our system that causes the stress.  So I was ready to see this poster in that context.

Again, in a country where so many people are affected by stress, why is Sam to blame here for his heart's problems?  Rather it's the system that puts so many under great pressure.  And even if heart and cholesterol medications prevent lots of heart attacks, that takes away (thankfully) one of the worst consequences of that pressure, but not the cause.











Art takes all forms here in San Francisco.

And finally, my son pointed out this self-driving car.  I wouldn't have known, especially since there was someone in the driver's seat.  It does have interesting protrusions on the roof.

Why I Live Here - Bridgman/Packer Win Bessie Award

Bessie?  Who"s that, you might ask?  Here's what the New York Times says about the Bessies:

"New York Dance and Performance Awards — affectionately known as the Bessies, the dance world’s equivalent of the Tonys and Oscars." (emphasis added)

Here's the award for Outstanding Production from the Bessies website:

"OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION:
Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer Bridgman|Packer Dance for Voyeur at the Sheen Center
For groundbreaking use of video in live performance, creating a space where virtual and actual movement merged. For inhabiting Edward Hopper’s imagery and taking the audience on an inventive journey of private spaces and ever-shifting viewpoints."

And what does this have to do with living in Anchorage?

Well, back in 2008, Bridgman Packer were in Anchorage in a very small venue doing the kind of amazing dance performance that won them the award the other night.  It's a mix of dancing with their own shadows and with video of themselves dancing live.  When I first saw them in 2008 here, I was breathless afterward.  What I saw was so amazing.  I worried that maybe I was just a hick from Anchorage who was excited over something New Yorkers take for granted.

But as time went by, I realized, that they were the real thing and my reaction was justified.  They have gotten a number of awards before, but here it is nine years after people in Anchorage first got to see them close up and personal (you could talk to them and the other artists with them after the performance), New York gives them dance's highest honor.

Here's a post I did about their 2011 performance in Anchorage.

I'm going to add some video here, but with a BIG warning.  You might be able to video other dance performances, but you can't really capture Bridgman Packer on video because live, they already dance with video of themselves dancing.  Though this clip comes close.  Remember, there are just the two of them.  It's hard to tell who is the live performer and who is just the image.  And it's NOT a gimmick, it's integral to the messages they are conveying about reality and illusion and truth.


Bridgman|Packer Dance Excerpts from Bridgman|Packer Dance on Vimeo.

I believe Out North was involved with their first performance here, along with The Alaska Dance Theater.  I know for sure Out North was involved with their second trip here.

Signs Of Fires From San Francisco

We left LA by car yesterday for a chance to see all three grandkids and their parents in San Francisco.  This had been planned well before fires broke out.  It was great to have a road trip with a stopover on the way.  (I'll share some pictures later.)

While we'd seen signs of smoke, it wasn't until  we hit San Jose today the sky was very smoky and it was down pretty low.  Here are a couple of pictures of the smoke-screened sun in San Francisco.

Here's the SF City Hall Dome below the sun.

The sun a little later.

I'll leave the rest of the media to tell you what's going on and how climate change's effects are involved.  This is as close as I've gotten to this tragedy.  Off to see some grandkids now.

Often Foreigners See Us More Clearly Than We See Ourselves

Sometimes I think that many, if not most, Americans think of people living outside of the US as not as smart, not living as good a life, just somehow less than Americans.   But I suspect that non-American see us much more clearly and objectively than we see them or ourselves.

Most educated folks outside the US tend to speak and read and understand English at a level that few Americans (other than immigrants) can match with other languages.  They can read understand our newspapers and listen to and understand our television news.   How is it that someone who only speaks American English thinks he's smarter and knows better than people in other countries who speak their own language plus ours, and sometimes a few more?

They know way more about us than most of us know about them.

For example,  this Dutch TV host seems to see our gun problem much more clearly than many Americans.  How many Americans even know who heads the government of Holland, or even what his or her title is?






OK, to be fair to Americans, because we have been the West's most powerful nation and have great influence on the rest of the world,  we are the country that others are most interested in knowing about.  Or at least have had the most reason to keep track of what we do.  And because English is the lingua franca of most of the world, it's much easier for English speakers to travel the world using English.  The people of Holland cannot expect too many people, when they travel outside of Holland, to speak or understand Dutch.  So they have a greater incentive to learn at least enough English to get by with.

While that explains why it's easier for us to just get by with English, it doesn't change the fact that that means the rest of the world knows a lot more about us than we know about them.  And that gives them a leg up on us that we should be more humble about than we are.

Intro To Anchorage Cannabis Market 2: Alaska Fireweed

A few days ago I posted part 1 of what might turn out to be a series of posts on cannabis shops in Anchorage.  That first post will probably be the most detailed, since it was the first and I won't have to repeat all the explanations of what different terms mean and how things are done.  At the second shop I visited, also downtown, a few blocks from the first one on 4th Avenue in the most touristy part of town, my stay was shorter, since a lot of my more generic questions had already been answered.




So, here's Alaska Fireweed.

It used to be a skate and ski board shop.  If you read the Anchorage Press, Will Ingram, who writes the weekly column on weed, is, according to his LinkedIn page, the general manager of Alaska Fireweed.  That column will tell you far more than I ever can about cannabis in Alaska.


On walking in to this store, there's a separation from the rest of the store, but it doesn't have a separate lobby.  It's more like walking into someplace where you have to give your ticket (or in this case show your id) before you get fully in.

This is Jason at the door.  Note I've merged two different pictures here and in doing that I had to cut out the divider that keeps you from wandering into the store on the left before getting id'd.

Jason handed me over to salesperson Mark who was happy to answer my questions.  Unlike Great Northern Cannabis, where they said they grow all their own cannabis in South Anchorage, Alaska Fireweed gets theirs from a variety of growers.  Mark mentioned there were places  on the Kenai Peninsula and the Matsu valley particularly.

When I asked my Big Mac question (a not very successful attempt to find out what was the most popular product) he people come in and buy a couple of grams, they buy pre-rolls, and edibles. It's like a liquor store now, and people stop by on the way home from work and buy cannabis they way they buy a bottle of wine.   And they're hoping that before long there will be room in the back where people can consume on the premises.

I asked whether this was a good job and he enthusiastically said it was.  Wages?  He said $12-15/hour.  But he also sells real estate.  This is just one job and it's lots of fun.  You meet all kinds of people.

Here your product comes in a plastic packet like this one.  Everything is labeled, there's more information, I think, on the back about testing.

He said most customers were smoking before it was legal and I asked why, since they knew how to buy it already, would they come to a shop where it costs more.

Several reasons, he said.

First, it's tested.  You know exactly what you're getting and how much.  That's a big deal.
Second, you have a lot more choices of products.  For example, he showed me an E*Blunt.

This is like an e-cigarette, but it has . . .  I realized as I was writing this that I didn't ask enough questions.  I could see that it had a USB port and I was puzzled.  That's to charge the battery he said.  You can see the little vial of cannabis oil.  I think it has a specific name, but I didn't write it down.  So I googled E*Blunt.  It turns out this is an Alaskan invention.  From the E*Blunt website:

"E * Blunt was developed in Alaska where the weather and elements don’t always allow for ease of smoking. Whether it was snow machining up the farthest peaks, skiing down an untouched mountain, fly fishing out of the back of the a boat or teeing off on the back nine, keeping a joint lit or even just dry was a constant battle. So with a lot of patience from my wife and many sleepless nights I set out to make a great tasting, discreet and easy way to smoke. With the help of some great people and a lot of good effort we are proud to present E * Blunt flavored vapes. The easy to use, great tasting, healthier way to consume. Enjoy responsibly in extreme places everywhere."

And about this particular product:

"E * Blunt Slims are rechargeable with a USB attachment, comes with a stylus tip and can be used with any exchangeable cartridges."

It comes in a lot of different flavors.  And it's not cheap.  Mark was selling it for $90.  Ah, I said, but it has a cartridge, so you can just buy that next time.  Well, it turns out, it's the oil that gets the price up.  A new cartridge is $80.  Mark said the lawyers buy these

Below are various items that were in the glass case.  I didn't ask questions.  That leaves lots of questions for the next couple of shops I visit.  And I haven't really looked at the edibles either.  

It might take a while to finish this series.  It's starting to be our travel season.  In the summer our granddaughter came to visit us.  And now it's our turn to visit her and her cousins.  So we'll be in and out of Alaska.  But I'll get this done eventually.

Termination Dust Showed Up Finally

October 7 is kind of late for the first termination dust. Last year I got a picture on Sept. 23. Someone did say there had been some dustings that quickly disappeared, but nothing I ever saw when the clouds cleared up.  The sky was perfectly clear when we got up yesterday, but by 1pm it was hazy clouds and by night it was raining again.

Meanwhile, back in town kids are still enjoying fall at the Cuddy Park playground.

I was at the Assembly special public hearing on SB91 yesterday and went past the playground on the long way home.  People were really angry about crime in Anchorage and the lack of apparent police responsiveness.  I've got lots of pictures and notes.   I'll do a post on that soon, but cleaning up the house for our housesitter as we prepare for a quick trip to see grandchildren.  If I get done early, I'll post later today.  Don't hold your breath though.