Dear Friends and Neighbors,
This has been a year like few others we have ever seen. A raging pandemic has swept across our state and it's led to a collapse of international oil prices, devastation to our economy, the specter of unemployment, the loss of housing, and even the loss of our ability to meet and see our friends and families. It's been a difficult time.
This year, we also voted in greater numbers than ever before – here in Alaska and across the country. Despite the scrupulous and hard work of our election officials across the country, some, even at the highest levels, have challenged the integrity of our elections and our very political system with meritless and baseless accusations. But just as we are surviving the pandemic, we have survived these attacks on our system of government as court after court, all the way up to the United States Supreme Court, has rejected these challenges.
On the pandemic front, vaccinations have begun to arrive, and Alaska is well-situated to have a significant segment of our population vaccinated by the beginning of April. That's good news for all of us, and especially our most vulnerable and our first responders and frontline workers.
Throughout the pandemic and our response to it, I have been struck by all of the unsung heroes in our ranks. It’s not just the nurses and the doctors or the first responders and those dutiful election workers and volunteers; it’s not just our teachers and childcare workers or our grocery clerks; it’s not just the owners and workers at our restaurants and other providers or the taxi and Lyft drivers; it's not just our retail clerks or the many others keeping our streets plowed, our government functioning, our economy from stopping, it's all of them. Together, they have kept our state working and, as we end this year, they are my heroes. I hope that they are your heroes as well. Find a way in this holiday season to safely thank those you care about for all they have done for all of us.
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Senator Tom Begich
Senate District J
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Honoring our Local Heroes |
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The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) is encouraging all community members to light a candle, flashlight, headlamp, lantern, or even just a room in your home. Together, on the darkest day of the year, we will honor and celebrate those who have helped us through 2020 and this pandemic.
To independently participate in this event, light your torch Sunday, December 20 at 5 p.m.
DHSS encourages all to celebrate in a risk-free and comfortable place, "together, but safely apart, let’s bring back the light!"
We're celebrating COVID-19 vaccines soon arriving in Alaska. We're honoring our frontline workers, teachers, and local businesses who have allowed us to adaptively receive medical attention, grocery shop for our families, and educate our children. We'll remember those who have not survived their battle against COVID-19.
We encourage you to do what feels right for this ceremony: Sit in thoughtful silence, or laugh, sing and dance. The main event is to get out (safely and socially distanced) and turn on a light.
If you can, share your photos and videos from the night on social media captioned, #WithYouAlaska.
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A Musher's Hope to End Suicide |
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Too many lives have been lost to suicide. Fueled by his passion for mushing and a heart left shattered from his first cousin's suicide, Iditarod veteran Gunnar Johnson is mushing for a purpose this March. Johnson will carry the names of hundreds lost to suicide from Anchorage to Nome in his sled, and he's inviting the community to submit those names.
Gunnar Iditarod Hope 2021 is a project juxtaposing the challenges of racing the Iditarod with the challenges of losing a loved one to suicide. Johnson is seeking to create more widespread awareness about suicide and how to prevent it, while memorializing individuals already lost to this tragedy.
At the conclusion of the race, Johnson will burn the names he carried at a tranquil ceremony, and spread the ashes on the Bering Sea ice where they will be dispersed with the spring thaw.
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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Senator John Coghill, a conservative Republican, is someone I’ve admired for a long time. After many years of services, he was not reelected this year and I’ll miss him. I admire his honest and openness and his gentlemanliness (respectful ways) made him easy to like. One year I heard him tell a group of middle school North Pole constituents about his transformation. He said, “When I ran for office the first time I was angry at what was happening in Juneau. I promised I’d set the other legislators straight. I would never never compromise and I told that to every constituent I met and every group I addressed. And that’s how I started in the legislature. After a while I couldn’t help learning things and soon I was listening more and asking questions.” He told those young people that listening was the most important thing a legislator could do.
We all want the same things: food on the table, a roof over our heads, to be respected, to purse our work and interests, and for our families and friends to prosper. The devil is in the details. How do we define family: immediate, extended, includes neighbors, community, the state, the nation, the world? How do we define the obstacles: the government, others competing against us, organizations with conflicting goals to our interested? Every once in a while those obstacles can melt away like lemon drops with careful listening and asking the right questions.
It is a pleasure working for Senator Begich, especially so while he’s been in a leadership position. He’s able to build consensus by listening to what is really wanted and understanding which obstacles are illusionary or can be bypassed with effort. The Senator’s willingness to listen and, with clear vision, has broken barriers and built unlikely bridges.
Senator Coghill told me he was shocked about how it was working with Senator Begich. He had preconceived notions before working with him. But you shouldn’t have any. You should know you have a Senator in Tom Begich who will listen to you and will know how to give voice to your concerns and he has friends on both sides of the aisle who are willing to listen.
Stay safe,
Kayla
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(907) 465-3704 (Juneau / session)
(907) 269-0169 (Anchorage / interim)
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