Anchorage Daily News

Super politics, Alaska style. Much of Alaska seemed to get wrapped up big-time in the presidential politics of Super Tuesday, and once you get past the victories of Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, the story getting the most attention was the turnout. Traffic jams, overflowing caucus sites, frigid temperatures and energy swelling in the camps of both major parties were the subjects of media accounts across Alaska.

One of KTUU Channel 2’s stories, in fact, said some voters trying to get to caucus sites never got there but were turned back by traffic, cold and disorganization. “I feel like I was disenfranchised,” one told the station.

ADN’s collection of stories dwelled heavily on the crowds and impressive numbers. “Wow, did we take advantage of an opportunity or what,” the lead online story notes, then goes on to quote both Democrats and Republicans guessing that turnout reached into the thousands on both sides in Anchorage.

An ADN discussion site was drawing comments dealing almost exclusively with the crowds and energy, which had its down side for several of those writing in. “That is the absolute most effort I’ve ever had to go through to cast my ballot, and I certainly hope they’re overly prepared next time because there were many people that gave up and went home,” wrote one person from the Valley.

In Fairbanks, turnout was notable all over, but it was most striking in the district that includes the University of Alaska Fairbanks, according to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner story. Romney backers attributed his win in the state to his support for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, while Obama’s support came from those “yearning for change,” according to the story.

A blogger, Subarctic Mama in Fairbanks and a fervent Obama fan, has posted some video clips from her district that capture much of the emotion and commotion of the night’s events, including the moment the fire marshal showed up and ordered people to move their cars. “Tonight, in spite of this nasty cold snap and the breaking news about the poor choices California Democrats seem to be making, I’m actually feeling a little hopeful,” she writes.

A Juneau Empire story said that “an overwhelming turnout” of the city’s Democrats stunned and thrilled that party’s members. They packed Centennial Hall and gave Obama three votes of every four cast, which just about mirrored the statewide results. The newspaper’s story on the Republican effort noted that the results there also fit with statewide results: Romney-Mike Huckabee-John McCain-Ron Paul. (Third and fourth place, though, are tight and could, in the end, change.) Republican organizers handed out many more ballots than they had expected to, according to the story.

The Associated Press story noted that Anchorage Democrats squashed the previous record for voter turnout in a caucus, which was 254 in 2004. The story also noted that while no candidate — except former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel, a Democratic longshot — set foot in Alaska, the hopefuls relied on grass-roots support in the state. (Gravel didn’t win any delegates in Tuesday’s voting.)

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Hayes jury goes to work. Criminal charges against former Fairbanks Mayor Jim Hayes are in the hands of a jury. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and APRN both have stories. Hayes faces a long string of charges, including theft, money laundering and fraud, just about all of them stemming from accusations he and his wife used money from federal grants for personal purchases and to pay for construction at his church.

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Tax break aims to lure movies to state. Alaska lawmakers are considering an incentive program designed to lure more movie producers into filming their movies about Alaska in Alaska, a Juneau Empire story says. Sen. Johnny Ellis, D-Anchorage, who proposed the measure, said Alaska is lagging behind other states that offer incentives to movie makers.

“When I learned Disney executives had decided that an Alaska-based script starring Sandra Bullock was going to be shot in Massachusetts instead of Alaska because our state doesn't have an incentive program, I was inspired to work with Gov. (Sarah) Palin and the Legislature to get on the film industry’s radar screen,” Ellis said in a statement.

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Citing Stevens, Stevens weighs in with high court. Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the Exxon Valdez case, urging the justices to uphold the $2.5 billion damage award Exxon Mobil Corp., The Wall Street Journal reports.

It’s unusual enough for a U.S. senator to write a brief, according to the story, but Stevens also cites his own 58-year-old law-review article in support of his position. “I don’t imagine the justices look at these amicus briefs that much,” Stevens told the newspaper. “A clerk might call one of the justices’ attention to the footnote but this wasn’t an act of flamboyance at all — it’s just that I was writing a brief and wanted the justice to know that I was fully aware of the issues that will be before them.”

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Tsunami warning test. A short note on New Scientist magazine web site says that a test last week of the Pacific tsunami warning system went off successfully, with the only problem being a few missing text messages. Messages were sent to Alaska and other Pacific locations in a test of the system, which is designed to spread warning of a earthquake-generated tsunami.

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Painful legacy. A Seattle Times story looks at the troubled history of tribal boarding schools in Alaska and other states. The story notes that the schools were often rife with abuse and neglect, and the consequences reach to the present.

“Increasingly, the damage from that early abuse, loneliness and lack of love is being seen as a major factor in ills that plague tribes today, passed from one generation to the next and manifesting in high rates of poverty, substance abuse, domestic violence, depression and suicide,” the story says.

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Student shuffle. Kodiak is struggling with swelling enrollment at every level of its schools, and a Kodiak Daily Mirror story says administrators are considering moving students around to help fix things. “We have a real crisis,” Superintendent Larry LeDoux said.

Realigning boundaries is bound to upset some people, LeDoux told the school board, but the district could end up with little choice. Administrators may first ask students and parents to change schools voluntarily.

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“Godfather of earmarks.” A lengthy essay written by Terry Haines of Kodiak and posted on the Alaska Report blog hammers Alaska Rep. Don Young for everything from insensitivity to his earmarking. The essay concludes with a point made with a poetic ring: “But his time spend (sic) as the Godfather of Earmarks will come back to haunt him hard. Like telltale hearts hidden under the floorboards, the earmarks he buried in the Transportation Bill will be his accusers. And their thump grows louder.”

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Delisted, then listed again. The federal government has returned Oregon’s coastal coho salmon to the endangered species list, a story in The Oregonian says. The relisting comes at the order of a U.S. District Court judge, who said taking coho off the list two years ago was unwarranted.

“More than a million coho once filled coastal rivers and streams, but the species has since declined to a small fraction of those historic levels,” the story says, then adds that the endangered designation could slow logging and other development along coastal rivers and streams where coho spawn.

Meanwhile, The Vancouver Sun in British Columbia is reporting that sockeye are returning to the Coquitlam River for the first time in nearly a century. Sockeye haven’t been able to spawn in Coquitlam Lake since a dam was built early in the 20th century to provide power and water to urban areas.

Last fall, two female sockeye made their way back into the river, and officials are hopeful more will come back this year in late summer or early fall.

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Lone wolf rekindles concerns. At least one more dog has been attacked in the Fairbanks area, and wolf sightings have been reported on Chena Ridge, a Fairbanks Daily News-Miner story says. Wildlife officials say the animal involved could be a member of the pack that killed and ate three dogs in the region late last year.

Another dog vanished off Becker Ridge Road, and the owner of that one believes it was killed by a wolf. According to the News-Miner story, the owner found “an abundance of wolf tracks” near his home after the dog’s disappearance.

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God inspired arson, accused man says. A KTUU Channel 2 story reports that Robert Montecelli, a 28-year-old Wasilla man, has admitted to authorities that he set his family’s home on fire, and he says he did it because “God told him to.” Montecelli, who told Alaska State Troopers he poured gas throughout the living room and set it afire, was due for a court appearance Tuesday but suffered an epileptic seizure before the hearing.

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