YUKON RIVER FLOODING LEAVES VILLAGES IN NEED OF DOG FOOD (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner): "There has been a real call for dog food," Tanana Fire Chief Mark Haglin said. "Tanana has at least six dog racing teams, and each dog kennel averages from 40 to 60 dogs." One Tanana musher, Pat Moore, lost his fish camp and, with it, his dog food supply. ... In other places, such as Stevens Village, raging water wiped out dog yards as it washed into the community. Canines are tied to trees with bowls of water, waiting for new doghouses as residents begin the slow process of rebuilding homes. Includes photo
PHOTOS: DOG CHASES RAPTOR, ENDS UP A LOSER (Keeping It Real at 66 Degrees North): A lone raptor - perhaps a juvenile bald eagle - got a lot of attention in Kotzebue on Tuesday. Among the curious was a dog that headed out onto shore ice to "visit" the bird - and ended up cold and wet after a dunk in the bay.
SUSAN BUTCHER'S COUSIN WINS FILM FESTIVAL WITH "SLED": Molly Cherington and her filmmaking partnership, The Film Dailies, have won first place in the Spirit of the Outdoors Film Festival in Boulder, Colo. In a press release, Cherington said she created the film, "Sled," in memory of her cousin Susan Butcher, the famed Alaska mushing champ who died in 2006. "Sled" is about Krista Halsnes, a Colorado teen mushing champion. The festival site includes a trailer for the film.
PHOTOS: PETERSBURG'S LITTLE NORWAY FESTIVAL (Capital City Weekly): The festival is held annually the third weekend in May; May 17 is Norwegian independence day. Petersburg was settled largely by Scandinavians a century ago, thus the Southeast town's nickname "Little Norway." KFSK radio in Petersburg has an audio report on the festivities.
AT HOME WITH BRISTOL: NO NANNY (People): Bristol Palin - wearing her high school graduation gown and holding infant son Tripp -- is People mag's cover girl this week. The topic of the accompanying article is the travails of teen motherhood.
Her mom may be governor, but there is no nanny in the Palin house. Bristol gets up - usually twice during the night - to feed Tripp, who sleeps in a hand-me-down crib in her bedroom, and she says she has tapped out at least one school paper with her son crying in the background. She breast-fed her baby for a month, pumping milk before class and rushing straight home to feed him. And she worked two part-time jobs to help pay for the diapers and formula her parents otherwise supply.
"If girls realized the consequences of sex, nobody would be having sex," says Bristol, sitting at her parents' lakeside patio table. "Trust me. Nobody."
> Palin family media strategy can be hard to figure (Ben Smith, Politico)
DOG DAYS IN UNALASKA: FROM THE POLICE BLOTTER (Unalaska Advertiser): May 13: Loose dog. Owner warned. May 13: Another loose dog. This owner also warned. May 13: And finally, a third loose dog. This owner, after eight such offenses in the last six months, was cited for Dog at Large, Rabies Vaccination Required and Failure to Register. May 14: Animal Control Officer observed a dog running loose in the roadway. The owner was quick to tie the dog up before the ACO returned, and said the dog had escaped when he was trying to put him on his tie-out. May 15: Complainant reported a black German shepherd was once again loose and chasing vehicles near Lower Haystack. Action pending. May 16: Mother reported her daughter had been bit by a loose dog; although she had a description of the dog she did not know to whom it belonged or where it had gone. Officers were unable to locate any dogs, loose or otherwise, matching the given description.
FISH OUT OF WATER: TODD PALIN IN MANHATTAN (The New Yorker): A couple of Fridays ago, when the weather was warm and office workers all over the city were streaming up the avenues at lunchtime, a group of Alaskans gathered at Alaska House for a buffet lunch celebrating a program called Alaska Benefisheries. ... Gov. Sarah Palin was supposed to be the guest of honor, but she had been called home to deal with a flood in the Yukon River valley, and so her husband, Todd, was the biggest fish in the room. ...
He said that he was looking forward to the start of salmon season, next month, but he cautioned that his day job is not as exciting as it looks on the TV show "The Deadliest Catch": "Anytime you tell someone you're a commercial fisherman, they automatically think you're one of those tough guys on the deck out there."
DRAWING BATTLE LINES: PALIN BACKS STEELE, BASHES OBAMA (Politico): Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin praised Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele as "bold and courageous" late Tuesday while knocking President Barack Obama as "predictable as Alaska's winter snow."
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM RECENT NEWSREADERS:
As glaciers melt near Juneau, land rises (The New York Times)
Villages stripped of cash to fight erosion (Tundra Drums)
Eagle attack on crane disrupts shorebird fest breakfast (Homer Tribune)
Daredevil crippled in Anchorage stunt still dreams of extremes (Innisfil Journal)
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.