Under the headline "Turkey of a photo op," a Chicago Tribune blogger sums up, "How any politician's staff would allow their boss to do an 'availability' against a backdrop of turkeys shuddering as their necks are snapped is really about as mind-boggling as it gets."
Late addition: A Palin spokesman tells "Entertainment Tonight": "The [Alaska] governor did not know it was going on behind her." Palin's spokesperson tells "ET" the bird butchering wasn't going on when the shot was set up, and a cameraman "ignored" the governor's staff's request to remove the graphic sight once cameras were rolling. "We're unhappy about it, and the station is not happy either," Palin's rep tells "ET," adding, "this was an attempt to lighten up and do something noncontroversial."
Read a straight story on the event by The Valley Frontiersman. See still photos of the scene on the blog Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis.
More of today's headlines:
Sarah Palin in ‘The Silence of the Turkeys' (AOL News)
Sarah Palin turkey milkshake recipe revealed (Daily Squib, U.K.)
More painful to watch than those Couric interviews (L.A. Times)
Turkey slaughter won't faze sexy Sarah (Perez Hilton)
Media shocked to discover how farming works (RedState.com)
SEE ALSO: Turkeys that survived fireworks fright ready for holiday ax (Valley Frontiersman)
SHE'S GOT NERVE: HOW SARAH PALIN CHANGED MY LIFE (Huffington Post): "As I watched clips of Gov. Palin -- winking, pointing, and smiling from the podium -- it struck me how unabashed she is, how absolutely fearless. She flubbed sentences -- entire interviews, even - and still the woman remained unfazed. I have to admit I watched these clips over and over, searching for what I might learn, hoping to see into the source of such chutzpah."
WHY NATIVES WON IT FOR BEGICH (Alaska Report): "Alaska Natives' decision to back Mark Begich for Senate gave him his narrow victory," writes local Ralph Nader campaign organizer Steve Conn. "These were votes handed to Begich in exchange for his commitment to deal with a crisis of equal magnitude to the Great Influenza Epidemic, ‘The Great Sickness,' of 1900 that wiped entire villages off of the map."
BEGICH VICTORY CELEBRATION (Own the Sidewalk): Blogger Maia Nolan has comments and lo-rez video from the Begich campaign party Thursday night.
BEAR CUB FOUND UNDER PORCH HEADED FOR TEXAS (The Valdez Star): A lone black bear cub rescued from under a front porch has found a new home in Texas. Nicknamed "Miracle," the young cub flew as cargo to Anchorage for a temporary stay at the Alaska Zoo before heading to the International Exotic Animal Sanctuary in Boyd, Texas. (with photo)
MOOSE ANTLER RULES LOOSENED FOR SOUTHEAST HUNTERS (KRBD): Hunters in the Petersburg, Wrangell and Kake area may have a better chance at finding a legal moose next year. The state board of game has liberalized strict antler configuration rules.
VIGIL RAISES AWARENESS OF HOMELESS YOUTHS IN FAIRBANKS (Fairbanks News-Miner): Five hundred teenagers in Fairbanks will be homeless at some point this year. But the problem of homeless youths is mainly an invisible one, since there is no way to know who is suffering unless they request help or receive services.
PALMER SEARCHES FOR FIRST NEW FIRE CHIEF IN NEARLY 40 YEARS (Valley Frontiersman): A fixture in the Palmer Fire Department will bid farewell to the station by the end of the year. Fire Chief Dan Contini, who has a station named for him, is resigning effective Dec. 31.
MORE FROM THE UNALASKA POLICE BEAT (Unalaska Advertiser): "Nov. 11, 4:11 a.m. -- Drunk Disturbance: Officers responded to a disturbance between two men in a rooming house. No crime had occurred, and the two men agreed to go to their respective rooms for the night. Nov. 11, 4:46 a.m. -- Domestic Disturbance: Officers returned to the rooming house, where one of the subjects contacted earlier had attacked the other soon after police left. Jason Stever, 32, of Seattle, was arrested on one count of Assault IV-Domestic Violence."
Return to Alaska Newsreader through the day for new links.
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM RECENT NEWSREADERS:
Chuck Bundrant: King of fish sticks (Seattle Weekly)
"Eating Alaska": Sitka filmmaker searches for "right" foods (Capital City Weekly, trailer)
Regenerating a mammoth for $10 million (The New York Times)
Couric revisits Palin interview ("Late Show With David Letterman")
Fossils lend clues to Alaska's Eurasian roots (National Geographic)
Valley teen has big questions after election (Valley Frontiersman)
Palin's pipeline at risk as economy slows (Wall Street Journal)
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.