> No apologies from Stevens' GOP doubters (Politico)
> Don't take Stevens' name off the airport (Michael Barone, U.S. News & World Report)
> Why are we attacking Sen. Begich again? (Linda Kellen Biegel, Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis): "[Begich] never campaigned on Stevens' legal troubles, nor did he try to capitalize on them."
WHAT IS THE SOUND OF A VOLCANO ERUPTING? (Peninsula Clarion): A volcano's nearest neighbors often can't hear its explosions, but people hundreds of miles away sometimes can. "When Mount Spurr erupted in 1992, no one in Anchorage heard it, no one in Homer heard it and no one in Kenai heard it, but people climbing Denali did," says geophysicist John Power.
ANONYMOUS AND PERSECUTED? DOOGAN VS. MUDFLATS (Krestia DeGeorge, Anchorage Press): "I tend to agree with [state Rep. Mike] Doogan's philosophy that if you wish to speak your mind in the public sphere, you ought to put your name to it. ... And free speech includes the freedom to divulge someone's identity. On the other hand, I'm not sure what he thought doing so would accomplish." ALSO:
> Is the Mudflats/Alaskans for Truth relationship ethical? (Anchorage Press anonymous reader comments via Alaska Dispatch)
> Koans for Mike and Mudflats (David Cheezem, Think Alaska)
> Is it legal to out a blogger? (The Blog Herald)
IRON TODD PALIN (Men's Journal): "It's the day before Barack Obama's inauguration, and Todd Palin may well wish he were somewhere else - like, just for example, at the U.S. Naval Observatory in D.C., taking the keys to the vice-president's mansion from Dick Cheney - but you'd never guess that from seeing him out here on his Arctic Cat, a black plastic mask and goggles hiding that familiar mug and a ridiculous amount of horsepower under his ass."
NEW FLIGHT SIMULATOR COULD HELP REDEEM ALASKA'S AIR SAFETY RECORD (Juneau Empire): Flying is one of Alaska's most dangerous jobs. Hence a new Alaska-specific flight simulator, installed in 13 cities around the state by the Medallion Foundation in partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration. It melds elevation data with satellite pictures to create something that's pretty close to actually flying the state.
OTTER SICKENED BY VIRUS EUTHANIZED (Homer Tribune): An ill sea otter found on a Homer Spit beach Sunday was euthanized. An Alaska SeaLife Center scientist said the otter's reported behavior was consistent with other Kachemak Bay otters found to be suffering from a virus called valvular endocarditis. With photo
MEET THE LIMPETS: HOW TO KNOW WHEN YOU'VE BEEN IN THE WOODS TOO LONG (Capital City Weekly): "One particularly large, 2-inch-diameter limpet attached to an old, dead tree caught my eye one day on my usual walk up the beach from my cabin on the saltwater. I sensed it wanted to communicate so I said hello and eventually found out his name is Fred. OK - maybe I just named him Fred." With photo
GETTING TO KNOW MY BACKYARD MOUNTAIN (Sherry Simpson, Alaska Magazine): "My own backyard might as well have been Whosiewhatsitstan for all the time I'd spent exploring it. It's embarrassingly easy to allow what's familiar to fade into ordinariness, even when it's something [Chugach State Park] other people travel a long way to experience. Thus, the slightly cracked idea to hike the same trail every day."
Return to Alaska Newsreader through the day for new links.
---------------------
HIGHLIGHTS FROM RECENT NEWSREADERS:
Resurrecting history: Kenai church gets long-needed repairs (The Redoubt Reporter)
Getting rape conviction in Barrow was uphill battle (The Arctic Sounder)
Rep. Doogan outs anonymous blogger (Alaska Dispatch)
Point Hope hurts in aftermath of hunting charges (The Arctic Sounder)
In a volcano's plume, a storm rages (National Public Radio, Nature)
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.