Letters to the Editor

Ortiz asks constituents to take budget survey

To the editor:

This week, the Legislature convenes for session. One of the main obligations of the Legislature is to pass a budget for the upcoming fiscal year. It is also one of our greatest challenges.

In order to create a budget that works for District 36, I need to hear from you. This time of year, I typically send out a survey asking for your opinion. This year, in lieu of a survey from my office, I am asking you to take Commonwealth North's budget survey. It is a tool that asks you to balance the budget based on our revenue projections. It is very comprehensive.

You can find the survey at http://www.AKBudget.com. Don't forget to include your ZIP code to ensure accurate results for District 36. I will receive the District 36 results from Commonwealth North later this winter, which will help me make budgetary decisions during session.

All responses I receive will be anonymous, but if you would like to personally communicate your response with me, the website allows you to print out a summary report of your response which can then be sent to my legislative office.

If you want to discuss the budget in more detail or have questions ahead of taking the survey, feel free to reach out to me. You can email me at Rep.Dan.Ortiz@AKLeg.gov or call my office at 907-465-3824.

Rep. Dan Ortiz

Crippen shares his accomplishments

To the Editor

Dzéiwsh Gunyaa. James A. Crippen, member of the Deisheetaan clan (Laayineidí Raven moiety) from the Kaḵáakʼw Hít Basket House (also known as Ḵakʼweidí), is humbled to share that he has graduated with his Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of British Columbia in December 2019, completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Simon Fraser University in 2020, and has been hired as an assistant professor of linguistics at McGill University (Montreal) starting January 2021.

He would like to thank his family in Wrangell (Ruth, James, Cinda and Vena Stough; Tammi and Greg Meissner; Katie Hagan Calhoun; and Solvay Gillen), as well as Sandy Churchill, Virginia Oliver, Lu Knapp, the Wrangell Cooperative Association, and everyone else who has supported his journey over the years in his pursuit of learning, researching and sharing the Tlingit language.

He shares these accomplishments in honor of his grandmother Oonyéik Margaret Bakke Sturtevant, mother Oonyéik Tláa Andra Jane Crippen, father James W. Crippen, and his other ancestors who continue to support his spirit now and in the future.