Obama snubbed Parnell on last visit
In response to columnist Dermot Cole's instruction for our D.C. delegation on manners in advance of the president's visit, (ADN, July 29) I would like to correct the record about what occurred last time Barack Obama came to Anchorage; I offer this account as the former governor's speechwriter, and in the interest of having it on the record for the "first draft of history."
When Obama arrived at JBER in 2009, his staff dug their heels in and refused to let then-Gov. Sean Parnell greet the president and shake his hand, chief executive to chief executive. That honor was reserved for our then-junior Sen. Mark Begich, the Democrat who had beat Sen. Ted Stevens the year prior. To the victor went the spoils.
Back then, the Obama staff granted Republican Parnell a pass to attend the Obama speech at JBER; the seating chart put him in the fourth row of the bleachers, the political equivalent of throwing serious shade.
Parnell already had a prior commitment with the Associated General Contractors, and made the right decision to go and hear from people who were really interested in growing the Alaska economy.
— Suzanne Downing
Anchorage
Exhilarating vacation comes to standstill due to poor communication at crash site
My wife and I recently had the great joy to spend two weeks in your fantastic state, traveling to Anchorage, Denali, Fairbanks and the Kenai Peninsula. We left with memories that will last the rest of our lives. Unfortunately, one of the final memories will be witnessing the aftermath of the horrific accident July 31, on the Seward Highway near the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center that claimed the life of one person and injured many others. Our hearts and prayers go out to the accident victims.
But as tragic as this accident was for those involved, and it was tragic, the authorities involved truly exacerbated the impact for the thousands of people left stranded for 10 hours on the Seward and Sterling highways and the Whittier-Portage Glacier Access Road. Those people were trying to get to flights in Anchorage, return rental vehicles, or get to destinations on the Peninsula. There was little concrete information about the situation, unless you were close enough like us, to walk to the crash site. Moreover, hours after the crash itself, no one was making an attempt to open the road to even one lane of traffic, even after the victims had been attended to. Every time someone asked an officer how long it would take to get traffic moving, the response was the same: five hours. The response became a running joke among the strandees.
While we were in good shape to handle this ludicrous delay, others were not so fortunate: those travelers who were elderly, had health problems or other difficulties, to say nothing of families with young children. Imagine being stuck in traffic for 10 hours with no access to restrooms, food or water. We witnessed one woman walking from car to car asking for some milk for her baby. Another woman reportedly had to charter a helicopter to get to her wedding on time. A bright spot, however, was the local authorities who were helping out at the accident site, including a fine young police officer (last name Hager) from Whittier, and a young EMS responder from Whittier. They worked hard to keep order and supply information on our side of the crash site.
Tourism is vital to Alaska — even more so with the declining revenue from oil production. You would think that every public employee would try to ensure that all tourists have as pleasurable experience as possible so they either return or tell their family and friends to give Alaska a try. However, our experience, which was so exhilarating for nearly two weeks, was sorely degraded by the lack of consideration the authorities showed for those stranded by this accident — innocent people who just wanted to get to their destinations and salvage what remained of their precious vacations. We sincerely hope that the state administrators in charge of accident response on Alaskan highways closely review the response to the July 31 incident and make whatever changes are necessary to lessen the impact on stranded drivers in the future. Everyone on those Alaskan highways on July 31 deserved better.
— Doug Mell, Sue Kittelson
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Planned Parenthood is not so saintly
Zhenya Peterson in her letter of July 31 made a strong defense of Planned Parenthood. However, I couldn't help thinking that every day of her life refutes the idea of PP's "compassion." Had her mom had access to a Planned Parenthood, she would not have lived to write that letter. She would be medical waste, that is if she weren't parted out like a junked car. "I have a liver. I hear $25. $25. Who will give me $30? I have $30. Who will give me $35?"
PP's defenders tell us the tapes were edited. (The raw footage has been posted.) So? I don't know everything Bill Cosby did, either but I know enough. The bill to cut off PP's funding would have redirected that money to community health centers where women could get birth control. It failed this time. It will come up again. And if we have truly learned compassion, it will pass.
— Pam Siegfried
Anchorage
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