East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray
Alaska State Representative Andrew Gray offers a weekly broadcast aimed at his constituents in the UMED district of Anchorage. The goal is to share important news from the Capitol, but also to offer frank conversations with Alaskans of interest, including many who work in the legislature.
Episodes
28 episodes
Mobile Home Owner Town Hall: attorney Charles Ward, park owner David Andrew, AK Workforce Services Asst. Director Demetria Veasy
The Mobile Home Owner Town Hall EpisodeToday our show is about mobile home parks. As the state representative for house district 20, I have several mobile home parks in my district. Mobile home owners face unique challenges: they...
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Season 2
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Episode 10
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50:29
EAST ANCHORAGE BOOK CLUB: Chelsea Foster & Bailey Stuart: Alaska Marijuana 101
Chelsea Foster of Anchorage is a director on the board of the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association and a long-time cannabis advocate. She is COO for Birch Alaskan Naturals CBD, and a consultant for the Alaskan cannabis industry. She has...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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45:06
Foster Care in Alaska: Angel Gonzalez, Mateo Jaime, Kxlo Stone, Anna Redmon, Sarah Lewis, & Abbey Redmon
Facing Foster Care in Alaska (FFCA) is a non-profit group made up of folks with lived experience in the foster care system. As former foster youth themselves, these individuals can offer expertise to make Alaska's system better from the ...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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1:12:57
Keri Ladner: author on Jerry Falwell, the Moral Majority, and QAnon
Keri Ladner is the author of the 2024 book End Time Politics: From the Moral Majority to QAnon. She earned her doctorate in Divinity from the University of Edinburgh and much of her doctoral research focused on researching...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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54:50
Former House Rep Ivan Ivan (D-Akiak) on Yupiit language, subsistence, & Politics; Jena Crafton, Chair of Governor's Council on Disabilities & Special Education
Jena Crafton is the chair of the Governors Council on Disabilities and Special Education. She has been a vocal advocate for people with disabilities since she was young as Crafton has developmental disabilities herself. We discuss her ch...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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30:59
Ed Wesley & Shenee Williams: Shiloh Community Housing's planned Community Resource Center
Ed Wesley was born in Bolivar County, Mississippi, on January 9, 1951. He moved to Fort Greeley, Alaska, in 1973 after being drafted into the Army. His wife joined him shortly thereafter and the two raised all five of their children here...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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49:49
Paul Peterson: Harvard Professor on Alaska Charter Schools
Today's episode is about Alaska's Charter Schools which were recently ranked #1 in the country. The lead author of the study is Dr. Paul Peterson of Harvard University, and he is our guest today.Paul E. Peterson is the Henry Lee ...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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35:25
Alaska State Senator Shelley Hughes (R - Palmer): on Hoonah, parenting, & bipartisanship
AK State Senator Shelley Hughes of Palmer moved to Hoonah, Alaska, in the late 70s as a young adult to help establish a religious community with her parents. We talk about that experience, as well as her travels around Alaska with her hu...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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57:37
State Rep. CJ McCormick (D-Bethel) on youth, suicide, & strength
Representative C. J. McCormick of Bethel is 26 years old and the youngest member of the Alaska State House. Prior to serving in the legislature, he served on city council and as vice mayor of Bethel. Bethel is the 8th largest city in Ala...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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55:06
Former AK State Senator Lesil McGuire (R - South Anchorage): on partisanship, love, & leadership
Lesil McGuire is a lifelong Alaskan, former state senator, women’s and rural rights advocate, and mother. She lives in Anchorage and works as a consultant in the aerospace, technological innovation and Arctic policy sectors. We discuss w...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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1:07:06
School Board President Margo Bellamy: on integration, champions, and politics
Margo Bellamy was recently elected by her fellow board members to serve as president of the Anchorage School Board for the third time. Ms. Bellamy grew up in Coconut Grove – an all African American neighborhood in Miami, Florida. At the ...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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1:00:51
State Rep. Cliff Groh (D-Anchorage): on Polish heritage, Republican roots, & tracking legislative corruption
AK State House Representative Cliff Groh, II, was born and raised in Anchorage. Although he himself is a life-long Democrat, his father Cliff Groh, Sr., the son of illiterate Polish immigrants, was an important Republican figure in Alask...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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44:36
State Rep. Maxine Dibert (D- Fairbanks): on revitalization of the Koyukon Athabascan language, getting pink slipped as a first year teacher, & being married to a smoke jumper
Alaska State House Representative Maxine Dibert was born to Koyukon Athabascan parents in Fairbanks and grew up dividing her time between the urban experience of downtown Fairbanks and the bush experience of her Athabaskan elders. After graduat...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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39:15
State Rep. Ashley Carrick (D - Fairbanks): on being the tallest kid, her parent's divorce, and her LGBTQ status
Representative Ashley Carrick (D- Fairbanks) spent her childhood in south Anchorage. She graduated from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks and began work as a substitute teacher. She ran for the Fairbanks School Board at the age of 24, and a...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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48:58
State Rep. Sara Hannan (D - Juneau): on a childhood in Earthquake Park, Russia, & the value of defined benefits
State Representative Sara Hannan spent her childhood in West Anchorage. She graduated from the University of Alaska and took a job teaching at Mount Edgecumbe High School in Sitka. When oil prices crashed, the school cut back, and she lo...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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51:12
State Rep. Justin Ruffridge (R - Soldotna): on education, religion, and avoiding hyper-partisanship
Republican Justin Ruffridge represents Soldotna in the Alaska State House and currently co-chairs the Freshmen Caucus with the host of this podcast. Justin moved to Kenai, Alaska, when he was 9 years old so that his parents could run a small Ch...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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36:02
State Rep. Jennie Armstrong (D-Anchorage): on New Orleans, pansexuality, and entrepreneurship
Democrat Jennie Armstrong is from just outside of New Orleans, Louisiana. Although she grew up working class, she did not allow her background to narrow her ambition and after her undergraduate degree at Louisiana State University she ea...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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48:43
State Senator Elvi Gray Jackson (D-Anchorage): on growing up Jehovah's Witness & the pathway to politics
Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson of Anchorage was born and raised in New Jersey. She came to Alaska 41 years ago as a young single mother. Through a series of what at first appeared to be unlucky events, she found herself leap-frogging her way up the ...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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31:12
State Rep. Rebecca Himschoot (I-Sitka): on Iowa, Germany, Kuwait, and Alaska as home
When she was 19, Representative Rebecca Himschoot dropped out of college in the Midwest and moved to Sitka. After she won a scholarship, she went back to school to earn her teaching credential. Decades later she was elected to the Sitka ...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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53:25
State Rep. Julie Coulombe (R - Anchorage): on family, Save Anchorage, and finding common ground
Alaska State Representative Julie Coulombe represents the hillside in Anchorage. Raised in a conservative Christian household in the suburbs of Chicago and later Atlanta, she met her husband her freshman year of college in Alabama....
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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35:42
State Rep. Stanley Wright (R - Anchorage): on the Navy, working for the governor, and becoming a conservative
State House Representative Stanley Wright of Anchorage is originally from South Carolina. He is a Navy Veteran and a Republican which, in both regards, makes him an outlier in his own family. After working in Governor Dunleavy’s administ...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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36:19
State Rep. Will Stapp (R - Fairbanks): on war and loss
Republican Will Stapp was born and raised in a suburb of Seattle; he decided at an early age that he wanted to serve in the military and joined the Army right after high school. He was first stationed at Fort Wainwright but deployed almo...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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45:37
Anchorage Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance & former acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson: the exit interviews
Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance grew up the oldest of seven children in Palmer, Alaska. After a career in telecommunications, she was elected to the Assembly to represent South Anchorage 6 years ago. She is eligible to run for a third te...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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57:23
State Senator Bill Wielechowski (D-Anchorage): on being a lawyer in New Jersey, Japan, and Anchorage, and on standing up to big oil
State Senator Bill Wielechowski moved to Anchorage 24 years ago because of his sense of adventure and love for the outdoors. After practicing law in New Jersey and later at a private practice in Anchorage, he eventually took a job ...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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53:05
State Rep. Genevieve Mina (D - Anchorage): on mental health and her Filipino heritage
Lifelong Alaskan Representative Genevieve Mina was elected to the Alaska state house of representatives for the first time in the election held this past November. At just 26 years of age, she is the second youngest person currently serv...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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31:32
