🌱 Homelessness Director Resigned + Anchorage Assembly Fight

Happy Friday, people of Anchorage! Here's everything you need to know about what's happening today in Anchorage.

First, today's weather:

Mostly cloudy. High: 36 Low: 31.

Here are the top stories today in Anchorage:

1. John Morris, Anchorage's homelessness director has resigned. Morris was part of a six-member group of administration representatives and Assembly members working on a plan to transition out of the Sullivan Arena, the city’s main homeless shelter. He was a proponent of building a large temporary shelter in East Anchorage that couldn’t win Assembly approval in part because of unclear costs and concerns about earthquakes and snow load. (Alaska Public Media News)
2. A fight over required health precautions in the Anchorage Assembly chamber caused the meeting to end early on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the Assembly announced a COVID-19 mitigation plan that was approved eight to three, which requires people to wear masks in the Assembly chambers at the Loussac Library and limits the number of people allowed in the chamber to 125. Assembly chair Suzanne LaFrance alleged during the meeting that Municipal Manager Amy Demboski had ordered security guards not to enforce the masking and capacity rules. (Alaska Public Media News)
3. An Anchorage man who opposed the mask mandate and frequented contentious Assembly meetings has died at the age of 68 from COVID-19. William Topel was a longtime testifier at the Anchorage Assembly meetings and was deeply involved in a recent string of contentious meetings on a proposed mask mandate. He attended the meetings unmasked until he was hospitalized with COVID-19. (KTOO)

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You're all caught up for today. See you all tomorrow morning for another update! If you're feeling these newsletters, consider inviting some of your friends and neighbors to follow along. You can send them this link to subscribe.

— Miranda Fraraccio

About me: Miranda Fraraccio is a born and raised Rhode Islander. She works as a freelance copywriter for content creation agency Lightning Media Partners and as an assistant producer for a live-lit storytelling show in Chicago. She holds a degree in Writing & Rhetoric and Communication Studies from The University of Rhode Island. In her free time, you can find her traveling, hiking, or photographing her neighborhood as a street photographer.