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Articles by Lance Roberts
McCarthyism in Alaska
There have been some interesting developments in the broken Alaskan House minority caucus. This is supposed to be the caucus of the conservatives, but there are only a few holding the line. These developments have culminated in an Alaska Republican party resolution that has set the stage to purge actual conservatives (those who do something, not just those who speak conservatively) from the party. Here is what happened. The House was debating next year’s budget on the floor.
Gov. Newsom passes bill package aimed at supporting businesses
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a package of bills intended to support businesses Oct. 8, prompting temperate reactions from small business owners in Berkeley. Senate Bill 314, or SB 314, authored by Senator Scott Wiener, allows for the continuation of outdoor dining with alcohol post-pandemic, and SB 389 similarly allows for the continued sale of carry-out alcoholic beverages. Assembly Bill 61, or AB 61, increases flexibility allowing restaurants to expand outdoor dining.
A return to small government
To the editor: Isn’t it amazing how the federal government seems completely committed to increasing inflation by spending trillions we don’t have, taking money right out of your savings account? And our state Legislature seems to think that your Permanent Fund dividend money should be wasted by them instead of letting you have it? This is the perfect time to do something helpful about it at the local level.
Ranked choice voting is the shiny new thing
It’s always a little humorous when someone gets excited about something new and jumps the gun wanting everyone to be an early adopter. This last year, Alaska barely voted in Ballot Measure 2, which among other things implemented ranked choice voting (RCV) for state elections (including state congressional races). RCV is where you rank all or some of the candidates in order of preference.
Who benefits from Alaska’s binding caucuses?
We’ve had many interesting legislative sessions in Alaska this last decade, but these last two years have really highlighted a unique situation we’re in. When I say unique, I mean that no other state has a binding caucus in its legislature, and, in fact, some have laws against the concept. So what is a binding caucus? A caucus is just a group of legislators who agree on one or more issues who want to work together to help advance those issues. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that.
How should the Borough Assembly respond?
Do you think the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly should take into account the economic crisis caused by the response to the virus and the next few years of recovery? Or should it just keep increasing the budget? So far, what assembly members have done is use a windfall of $7 million from a legal settlement to prop up the largest budget ever so that, with some work, they could keep the mill rate the same or less this year.
Some talk, but won’t hold the line
We’ve reached the end of the Legislative session and have learned the same hard lesson we learn every year. There are many politicians who talk good about what they’ll do, but when push comes to shove they won’t do what’s right. Let’s go over what happened recently in Juneau. Alaska is in the middle of the virus scare; businesses are being shut down and many people are out of work.
Some talk, but won’t hold the line
We’ve reached the end of the Legislative session and have learned the same hard lesson we learn every year. There are many politicians who talk good about what they’ll do, but when push comes to shove they won’t do what’s right. Let’s go over what happened recently in Juneau. Alaska is in the middle of the virus scare; businesses are being shut down and many people are out of work.
Standing against abortion
To the editor: In our area, we’ve just concluded Fairbanks Stands & Prays for 40 Days, mirrored off of the worldwide movement 40 Days for Life. It’s an event with a three-part strategy of prayer, vigil and fasting. On a worldwide level, there have been over 100 abortion mills shutdown, almost 200 workers have quit abortion clinics and over 16,000 lives have been saved because of this strategy.
A conservative choice
The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Community Perspective Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words.
Save our internet
To the editor: In Alaska, access to the internet is becoming more widespread, and the speed of the internet is getting faster. However, all of this great progress will be for nothing if bureaucrats in Congress get involved. Now more than ever, Alaskans need affordable high-speed internet access. Unlike most states, Alaska has many residents living in remote areas where the internet can be a much-needed lifeline to the outside.
Don’t blame Dunleavy. This isn’t the first fiscal crisis
Just when you think you’ve seen the worst year of government in Alaska, you find out you were wrong. The past four years were awful. We had a fiscal crisis but nothing was being done about it. There were attempts to raise revenue, but even if they had succeeded, it wouldn’t have come close to solving the problem. Examine the attached graph, the most important one for the year, and you’ll see what every legislator knows. If you use the PFD to fund government, you lose it in two years.
We need budget cuts
We need budget cuts To the editor: With the special session going on there have been bills introduced to pay a full PFD and then halve it for the future. This is incredibly shortsighted and shows little economic sense. It’s wrong and unnecessary to change the formula to decrease the PFD. The money is covered every year by a portion of the realized earnings from the Alaska Permanent Fund, leaving an equivalent amount for government to spend.
Subdivision madness
To the editor: I’ll say the most important part first: If you’re going to subdivide your land, you better get it done by the end of the year. The assembly Thursday night passed an ordinance of the mayor that will kill the ability of most people to subdivide starting Jan. 1, 2020. In 2012, we passed an ordinance to allow an exemption to building roads platted for a new subdivision because people lacked the ability to subdivide their own land.
Inefficiencies in the university system
FAIRBANKS — The last letter to the editor I wrote was on the general principle of the governor coming forth with the budget that he had promised the people of Alaska. In this article, I want to make some specific talking points on the budget itself.
Mayor was right to veto
March 2 To the editor: I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Jim Matherly, the mayor of the city of Fairbanks, for vetoing Ordinance 6093. This was said to be the biggest issue the city had ever faced, based on public testimony, though most of the proponents who testified were from out of city or out of state or from large progressive groups like the ACLU and Planned Parenthood.
Governor kept his word
Feb. 16 To the editor: When people ask me what being a conservative means, my first response is always that “people are more important than government.” The last four years we had a state administration that didn’t think that way. Instead of using a glide-slope approach to decreasing the huge state budget, the largest per-capita in the U.S., it refused to make the hard decisions and kept trying to squeeze blood out of Alaskans with a litany of taxes.
Ordinance 6093: The costs of special rights
There is a very vocal minority who thinks that Ordinance 6093 the Fairbanks City Council is considering is a great thing. Well, it sounds nice on the surface, but the facts don’t back that up. Ordinance 6093 is a law that will give special privileges to a number of groups, some of which are based on personal choice like LGBTQ. As one testifier pointed out to the City Council, when you give some group particular rights, then you decrease general rights for everyone else.
A thanks to borough employees, constituents
The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words.
Best to implement ESPs
The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words.
Farce of local control, vote ‘Yes’ on 4
The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words.
‘Ethics’ in the Alaska Legislature
The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words.
Pot vote aftermath
The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words.
With marijuana, look at the intent of the borough’s process
The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words.
Where is the local protection from pot businesses?
The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words.
Rep. Eastman is right
The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words.
Tyranny of the majority
News-Miner letter to the editor:To the editor: There were some amazing comments at the last assembly meeting from some of the other assembly members who couldn’t believe that I used metaphors of violence in comparison to “appearance” zoning regulations and other governmental enforcement. I couldn’t believe that they didn’t understand how government works and operates.Every government that has ever been, is and ever will be, wields the sword.
Support Aaron Lojewski
Anyone else ticked off that the governor stole half your dividend instead of cutting the budget? I know my parents on Social Security really needed the money to fill their fuel tank this winter. It gets even worse when you realize that the Legislature attempted to “restructure” (cut) the dividend, and were only held off by one vote in the House Finance Committee (thanks, Rep. Tammie Wilson!).Rep. Adam Wool has publicly stated that he also thinks we need to “restructure” (cut) the dividend.
Bad call on wolves
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner letter to the editor:To the editor: A few weeks ago, the Borough Assembly made a bad decision. A resolution was passed asking the governor to break the law and close the Stampede Road area (including private land) next to Denali Park to hunting or trapping of wolves, bears and wolverines.
Unexpected results from marijuana legalization
News-Miner Community Perspective:There was quite a myth going around in 2014 that Ballot Proposition No. 2 was only to legalize marijuana. In fact, as many people are finding out with more than 50 zoning permits issued, it mostly was for commercialization. This has led to many establishments being proposed and approved in residential neighborhoods.
Deep Borehole Field Test
Here in South Dakota, there has been much discussion about the proposed Deep Borehole Field Test (DBFT) project. As a Professor and Department Head of Mining Engineering and Management at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SD Mines), I'd like to tell you why I think we should do it.The research discussion started in South Dakota six years ago.
My Voice: Deep Borehole Field Test key to research
Here in South Dakota, there has been much discussion about the proposed Deep Borehole Field Test project. As a professor and department head of Mining Engineering and Management at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, I’d like to tell you why I think we should do it. The research discussion started in S.D. six years ago. At that time, Yucca Mountain had been defunded by the Department of Energy as a site for storing America’s nuclear waste, and there was a great deal of debate about it.
Fairbanks borough pursues a policy of taking
FAIRBANKS — The borough is set to enact a new policy that will change the way it governs forever. Decades ago, the borough pursued a junkyard owner in court and eventually won after spending many thousands of dollars. The owner still didn’t remove his junk or fence it in.
My Turn: Long term sustainable budgeting
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly just passed a resolution asking the Legislature to implement a sustainable budget. I voted against it since it specifically asked for taxes, and those aren’t helpful or necessary for the present situation. During the testimony it was shown that there were a lot of misconceptions about our state budget situation, so I wanted to clarify some of the details. First, the state will be entering an economic downturn, or recession.
Long-term sustainable budgeting
FAIRBANKS—The Borough Assembly just passed a resolution asking the Legislature to implement a sustainable budget. I voted against it since it specifically asked for taxes, and those aren’t helpful or necessary for the present situation. During the testimony, it was shown that there were a lot of misconceptions about our state budget situation, so I wanted to clarify some of the details.First, the state will be entering an economic downturn, or recession.
Maintaining conservative principles - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Letters To Editor
The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words.
Vote your conscience - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Letters To Editor
The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words.
New navigation, alpha 2 released
Last month, we introduced a number of changes to the navigation for selected users: We received a bunch of feedback—thanks! That was amazing! After reviewing it, merging it with the internal impressions and some in-depth UX investigation by our design meister, Kurtis, we've developed a new version and we are ready for your wonderful feedback and testing. Will you help? We have a number of willing candidates from the previous iteration, but we'll step it up a tad this time.
Can we do something about the "graduated" label?
I think we should consider doing away with the label entirely. The whole concept of waiting for "graduation" to get the features you need is too restrictive… no matter what you call it. Instead, we should be looking at unbundling all the features that communities can really use when they have sufficient support to use them effectively. What does this hierarchy really mean anyway? We have this growing middle class of "non-graduated" sites that doing fine in their own right.
Badge suggestion for multi-site Mortarboard
A badge that would be awarded for gaining >= 200 reputation in a single day on multiple (2) sites across the network. I think there are many people that are specialists in their field, but very few are generalists across sites on this network. This may be limited to certain users* or events**.
What are some alternatives to using dice in Settlers of Catan?
We tried a variant where the amount of resources are produced according to the probability of the dice roll that would produce this resource. Say you've got an "8" and "3" on ore and a "12" on wood. Each players turn, after the dice roll (for bandit, barbarians and C&K) resources are produced in this way: to roll an "8" with two dice the probability is: 5/36, for a "3" it's 2/36 and for a "12" it is 1/36. So in each players turn you would receive 5 + 2 ore and 1 wood marker.
Can a berserk unit advance in Advanced Squad Leader?
My memory is that Bezerk units must move including into an enemy hex the maximum movement points during movement phase towards nearest enemy in hexes. Then they get triple fire in Advanced fire phase if they survive Defensive fire. If the advance during advance phase was removed, then that would make there movement bonus not really a bonus. And sometimes a penalty.
9-player Advanced Civilization rules
While I don't know any, you can easily figure it out and try if that works. I find it odd it allows 7 and 8 players to play with either 4 or 5 panels without varying the amount of token to use. I read it "you must use it, but we have to provide rules to allow you to play even if you don't have it". Assumed that, there are two ways to amend it. the more conservative approach is to just assume they meant the western extra panel to be used and keep the tokens as they were.
Pre-drawing cards or tiles
You've pretty much summed up nicely in your question, but I thought I'd answer anyway. We've played three different ways with different groups of people. Usually we play the original rules - that is tiles must be drawn at the start of a turn. This works well with smaller groups of players who don't insist on studying all the options. With a large group of friends we have played that players are allowed to pre-draw and discuss. This leads to faster play and advice based on tiles that are seen early.
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