JUDD TAKES AERIAL WOLF HUNTING DEBATE TO 'LARRY KING' (Women on the Web): Ashley Judd, who harshly criticized Gov. Palin over state-sponsored aerial wolf hunting in a video for Defenders of Wildlife, will appear tonight on CNN's "Larry King Live." "This is a humble request for energetic and prayerful support. ... At first I said no to all (interview) requests, and boy, have they been rolling in. I wanted to put principles before personalities..." ALSO:
> Judd right. Palin wrong. Hasselbeck clueless (Shannyn Moore, Huffington Post): "On 'The View,' the not-so-clever Elisabeth Hasselbeck followed typical Republican strategy: Make stuff up, and then change the subject to something completely unrelated ... like abortion!"
> Judd: Clown in wolf guardian's clothing (MichelleMalkin.com): "Alaskans rely on caribou and moose for food. Not all Americans care to live on environmentally correct starlet diets of tofu salad and Pinkberry yogurt."
> White fang: Judd-Palin battle gets nasty (Geoffrey Dunn, Huffington Post)
> Why does Palin support shooting wolves? (Scientific American): The state lumps bears and wolves together as "effective and efficient predators of caribou, moose, deer and other wildlife," but it fails to explain why only wolves are targeted.
WORKSHOP AIMS TO BOOST NATIVE LANGUAGES (Juneau Empire): The Sealaska Heritage Institute is looking to reinvent the wheel of how the indigenous languages of Southeast Alaska are taught. Its new education director has created a developmental language process he says will help educators instill the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian languages into the long-term memories of students. ALSO:
> Ups and downs in Native language news (Alaska Real blog)
JUNEAU'S SMOKING BAN HAS UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES (Juneau Empire): A Juneau assemblyman says it's time to address the unruly cliques of smokers in the streets at all hours, cigarette litter and other downtown nuisances stoked by a city smoking ban enacted last year.
GETTING WATER IN VILLAGE ALASKA (The Mudflats blog): The author of "Shopping Day in Nunam Iqua" got so many questions about village life that she has followed up with a letter about getting and using water in the village.
HEALTH CARE LOBBY IS ALASKA'S 2ND LARGEST (Neil Davis, Alaska Dispatch): The total annual expenditure for health care in Alaska is right at $5 billion, and that is why we have 42 health care lobbyists in Juneau seeking to influence where that money goes. ALSO:
> ConocoPhillips will not register lobbyists this year (The Associated Press)
VENEZUELAN FUEL HANDOUT PROMISES RELIEF FOR NANWALEK (Homer Tribune): A new nickname is making the rounds in Nanwalek these days: "Uncle Hugo" is locals' name for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The village is in line to get 100 gallons of free heating oil per household this month from Venezuela's government-owned oil company, Citgo.
‘FOUR BIG WHITE GUYS' - OR ‘ALASKA'S MOUNT RUSHMORE' (Anchorage Press): Juneau artist Daniel DeRoux's big handpainted mural on the new parking garage in downtown Anchorage is attracting plenty of attention. It's a celebration of statehood, and even though it's huge, the closer you get to it, the more you s
THE MEANING OF SARAH PALIN (Commentary Magazine): "By Election Day, Palin had been transformed into one of the most divisive figures in recent American history. There was almost no middle ground between those who had come to adore her and those who believed she represented just about every dark and dangerous element of contemporary American politics. ... The overheated response to Palin's presence on the national stage, from both friend and foe, was oddly disconnected from Palin's actual actions, statements and record." ALSO:
> Conservatism isn't dead, it's just resting (David Frum, National Post)
BARROW WHALE HUNT SATURDAY ON NG TV (National Geographic): "Whale Hunters" follows a crew of Inupiaq whalers as they engage in the annual spring bowhead hunt on thinning sea ice and risk all to capture and kill an animal they revere. With video clip and photos
UAF PROFESSOR AN ‘EMERGING EXPLORER' (National Geographic): Katey Walter's research in Alaska and Russia explores a dangerous, self-perpetuating cycle: Thawing permafrost caused by global warming releases methane, which contributes to global warming.
BETHEL SEARCH-AND-RESCUERS GET THEIR OWN TRACKING DOG (Alaska Newspapers Inc.): A purebred bloodhound pup with prisoner-tracking genes is headed to Bethel to join the local search-and-rescue group
SCUBA DIVER CHOOSES SOUND FOR 2,000th DUNK (Turnagain Times): Lisa Vandergriff of Anchorage recently completed her 2,000th dive, 1,654 of which have been in the frigid waters of Alaska.
Return to Alaska Newsreader through the day for new links.
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM RECENT NEWSREADERS:
Alaska: Pedophile's paradise (The Stranger)
Never mind earmuffs - Kotzebue needs earplugs (Keeping It Real at 66 Degrees North Latitude)
A blogger gets to know his moose (The Mudflats)
A big year for informants on PFD cheaters (Anchorage Press)
Palin's Esquire magazine interview (Esquire)
Peninsula moose hit by car had bizarre hooves (Redoubt Reporter)
Scientists call for Arctic "ice park" (Canada.com)
In Seattle, dining on salmon helps Alaska villagers (Seattle Times)
Dog eat dog: Palin patron's checkered past (Huffington Post)
Coffee huts are king in Fairbanks (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
Tropical turtle fossil discovered in High Arctic (Wired Science)
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