Celebrations & Safety Celebrations & Safety March 13, 2020 Dear Friends and Neighbors, Did you get out in this unseasonable sunshine? Go ahead. Call it 'social distancing' if you need an excuse. I'll cover for you. Speaking with Sen. Revak on the floor. Clearly, I was very excited about that handout. Safety Steps I know COVID-19 is on everyone’s mind. It’s scary, and we need to keep taking care of each other. The legislature just announced restricted access to the Capitol: only legislators, staff, and the press can come inside for a while. The governor is temporarily closing schools and limiting visitors to some state facilities. To be clear – there aren’t any known cases of community transmission in Alaska. Many of these measures are more cautious than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends for our situation. It's one of those "prepare, don't panic" scenarios. Speaking of preparation, we fast-tracked a bill allowing up to $9 million in federal funds and $4 million in state dollars to respond to coronavirus. We’ve got excellent health experts in our state and local governments leading the way. And we have fantastic community organizations like the Salvation Army, who’ve made clear they'll keep their doors open to help everyone in need. There's also been some extra training and staff at Alaska 211, so you can dial those three digits if you need answers. Why prepare? COVID-19 will come to Southeast Alaska eventually. We need to take extra precautions to make sure we don’t get our elders sick or pass it to people with compromised lungs or immune systems. So be conscientious, clean surfaces regularly, and wash your hands! (If you want a fund reminder of how long is long enough washing your hands, check this out.) There will be more challenges coming. Local businesses are feeling the pinch already, and assuming this lasts into the tour season, jobs will suffer. If you can swing it, have dinner out and plan to see some sights this spring. Our neighbors are going to need a hand. And look on the bright side: It used to be no matter how long the line for the bathroom, there was always a sink free to wash my hands. Now it doesn't matter how few guys are in the restroom, there's always a line for the sink. That's progress! Vehicle Vote The Senate State Affairs Committee moved my abandoned vehicles bill out of committee yesterday. Under current law if someone dumps a car in the middle of your private property, you have to send the car owner notice to remove the vehicle and give them 30 days to come get the car. If they don't, you can take title and remove it. But before you start, you have to wait six months! That means a total of at least seven months with someone else’s junker on your land. My bill makes the initial wait period 45 days, without changing the 30-day notice to the owner of the car. JPD Deputy Chief Dave Campbell took some extra time to make legislators smarter about how this works in the real world. Property owners from Anchorage to Southeast weighed in, too. The next step is the Senate floor. I'm working to get it scheduled for a vote. Speaking at a town hall with Reps. Hannan and Story. We heard from public health experts (and practiced good social distancing by setting all the chairs six feet apart). There were great questions about the budget and emergency preparedness.You can watch the video on my Facebook page. Centennial Celebration On a happier note, we’re celebrating the 100th anniversary of Women’s suffrage this month. It took far too long to get there, and I’m glad we’re taking time to honor the tremendous work it took to get women an equal right to vote. While we mark that great step forward, let's also pause and acknowledge the 19th Amendment was not the end of our nation’s fight for full suffrage. Native Americans didn't have U.S. citizenship until 1924 and were not guaranteed the right to vote in every state until 1962. African Americans' voting rights were actively suppressed under Jim Crow laws. The slow march toward equality takes far too long. Speaking of which, while the legislature isn't at 50/50 yet, the current count of 22 is a record number of women legislators in Alaska. That includes the other two fantastic members who represent our piece of Southeast: Reps. Hannan and Story! All my best, Did someone forward you this newsletter? Did you fall into it through the series of tubes? Want more? SUBSCRIBE Events around District Q Please note there will probably be some cancellations, so check with the organizers of each event. Juneau Sealaska Land Trust 25th Anniversary Pop-up Dinner Try some iconic Alaskan eats for a good cause! The Fiddlehead is providing the food on March 28. Here’s more info. Juneau 5th Annual Summer Activity Expo Not sure what your kids will do this summer? Don’t fret -- the expo is here on March 28! See the details. Juneau Medical Fundraiser Dinner for Aurora Lehr Join Tlingit and Haida and the community in helping Aurora and her family on March 21. See more information. Haines Produce Safety Grower Training Want to learn more about growing produce? DEC is hosting an event on March 22! See the details. Haines Adventure into the Archives Dive in with archivist Sara Delengova at the Haines Sheldon Museum on March 24. More here! Haines Growing from Seed to Seed Join the Haines Seed Swap workshop on April 1, hosted by the Haines public library and Foundroot. Here’s more information. Skagway St. Partrick’s Day Old Car Parade Join in the fun and maybe bring your old car out on March 17. Here are details. Skagway Spring Festival Might be your cabin fever reliever – you don’t want to miss this event on April 17! See more here. Gustavus Alaska Health Fair The Alaska Health Fair will be coming to town on April 25. Check out more info! Is there an event in our district I should know about? Please call or email! Visit Me! Alaska State Capitol Room 419 Juneau, AK 99801 800 550 4947 907 465 4947 Email Me! ‌ ‌ ‌ Contact My Staff: Edric Carrillo 907 465 6419 [email protected] Cathy Schlingheyde 907 465 6827 [email protected] Senator Jesse Kiehl | Alaska State Capitol, Rm. 419, 4th Avenue & Main Street, Juneau, AK 99801 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | About Constant Contact Sent by [email protected]