Serious streak of rain: On Thursday, it rained in Anchorage for a 10th consecutive day (up to 11 on Friday), and some Southeast Alaska readers noted what a wimpy achievement that is. Coincidentally, Friday is anniversary of the start of longest streak of days with measurable precipitation in U.S. history. On Sept. 19, 1920, it rained in Ketchikan. It continued to rain or snow every day until Dec. 16 – a span of 88 days, the longest for any airport monitoring station in the country. However, if trace values of precipitation are added to measureable amounts, the state record goes to Adak in the Aleutian Islands, at 203 days. Ketchikan, of course, isn't the only wet spot in Southeast. Here are other select stations with decent streaks of their own: Little Port Walter (69 days), Elfin Cove (55), Annex Creek (55), Yakutat (53), Juneau (49), Glacier Bay (46).
'Craigslist killer,' former Alaskan, sentenced in Pennsylvania: Miranda Barbour, a former Alaskan charged with murder in a Pennsylvania case that made national headlines, was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Thursday, along with her husband, Elytte Barbour, according to the Sunbury, Pennsylvania-based Daily Item. The pair pleaded guilty in August to the stabbing death of 42-year-old Troy LaFerrara, whom they contacted through a Craigslist companionship ad, a fact that contributed to the Barbour's being dubbed a "Craigslist killer." Once arrested, Barbour claimed to have committed at least 22 murders, and said most of them took place in Alaska. Alaska State Troopers said at the time that after looking into those claims they found no evidence of such killings.
Atlantic cod stocks, struggling in North America, stay strong in Europe: While Atlantic cod stocks off eastern Canada and New England have been overfished to the point of collapse, managers in Norway and Russia have kept Barents Sea stocks healthy and the cod-fishing industry there thriving, reports an analysis in Environment 360, a publication of Yale University. Norwegian-Russian cooperation on Barents Sea fishery management dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, explains the author, John Waldman, a professor of biology at Queens College in New York. The countries cooperate on setting total allowable catches, and there are some strict rules aimed at avoiding habitat destruction, Waldman explains. Norway, for example, counts all bycatch in its ecosystem analysis and requires every incidentally caught fish to be used as food, he says. In contrast, Canada's cod management "has proved an extraordinary example for the world on resource depletion," the analysis says. Waldman's article does not address U.S. management of Pacific cod, which is considered to be highly successful. About two-thirds of the world's Pacific cod supply is harvested in waters off Alaska, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Arctic copepod study underway: Scientists aboard the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Amundsen are sailing the Chukchi Sea to study copepods, the tiny crustaceans that underpin the food web in northern waters, according to a report in the Toronto Globe and Mail. Copepods, plentiful in Arctic waters, are like "little cows of the ocean," according to the chief scientist aboard the Amundsen, Louis Fortier of Laval University. Research is focusing on the impacts of a warming climate in the region and changes to the amount of sunlight penetrating waters where ice cover is diminished, according to the report. One particular species of copepod, Calanus hyperboreus, has been fattening up by feasting on algae blooming beneath sea ice and on phytoplankton, the Globe and Mail reports. Stanford University researchers have also been studying the Chukchi, examining phytoplankton blooms and the effects of sunlight penetrating thinner sea-ice layers.
Late-night swim lands Juneau woman in Anchorage hospital: An unidentified woman was medevaced to Anchorage after swimming in the frigid waters off Juneau's steamship dock, according to the Juneau Police Department. At 2:22 a.m. on Friday, police got a report that someone jumped into the water from the steamship dock and hadn't come out. Officers responded and spotted woman a swimming about 20 to 30 yards away from the dock, police said. "Officers attempted to communicate with the female, but she wouldn't comply with their request to get out of the water, nor would she communicate with them," police said. Emergency personnel as well as the U.S. Coast Guard were called on for assistance, but after about 15 minutes, police said they stopped seeing any movement. The Coast Guard arrived and pulled the woman from the water. She was brought to the dock, and the emergency personnel detected a faint pulse, police said. She was taken to Bartlett Regional Hospital for an evaluation. Police identified her a "35-year-old Juneau resident." "The female stated she had been consuming alcohol that evening and decided to go swimming afterwards," police said. She was later flown to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage.
Minnesota man found dead near Cordova: Alaska Wildlife Troopers found the body of a missing Minnesota man Sept. 16 near Cordova. Scott Bell, 32, was reported missing the evening before. Bell was last seen using a kayak near Controller Bay, 57 miles southeast of Cordova. The U.S. Coast Guard initiated the search, which was conducted in coordination with troopers and "another local air asset," according to a trooper dispatch. Troopers said Bell's body was found on a sandbar at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Bell's body has been sent to Anchorage for an autopsy, and his next-of-kin have been notified of his death, according to troopers.
Mat-Su absentee voting changes: Voters who want to file absentee ballots in the upcoming Matanuska-Susitna Borough elections will see some changes this year. Instead of voting at city halls in Palmer and Wasilla, absentee voters in those communities will need to vote at the Mat-Su Borough offices if they're in Palmer or the state Division of Elections offices on East Bogard Road in Wasilla, according to the Mat-Su Borough clerk's office. The borough saw few absentee voters at city halls, borough clerk Lonnie McKechnie said. Voters in Houston can still file absentee ballots at city hall there, as can people who usually vote absentee at libraries in Trapper Creek and Talkeetna. Absentee voting starts Monday, Sept. 22 and ends on Election Day, Oct. 7, though borough hall will be the only absentee site open that day. Voters can request absentee ballots by mail through Sept. 30. More information is available from the clerk's office at (907) 861-8683.
Grizzly bear kills hunter in NWT attack: A hunter in Canada's Northwest Territories was killed in an attack by a grizzly bear Wednesday evening, according to the CBC. The fatal attack occurred southwest of Norman Wells, in an area near the territory's border with the Yukon Territory. Weather hindered immediate attempts to reach the site, but a Wildlife Incident Response Team is now searching for the bear, the territory's Department of Environment and Natural Resources told CBC. The news comes on the heels of confirmation from authorities that a U.S. Forest Service contractor, killed last week in Wyoming's Bridger-Teton National Forest, was the victim of a bear attack, reports National Geographic.
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