Alaska Beat

AK Beat: 21 JBER troops treated for carbon monoxide exposure during training near Fairbanks

21 JBER troops treated for carbon monoxide exposure during training near Fairbanks: The U.S. Army Alaska said that 21 soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division were sickened by exposure to carbon monoxide during training near Eielson Air Force Base, 22 miles south of Fairbanks. Army spokesperson John Pennell said none of the injuries appear to be life-threatening. Pennell said seven victims had already been discharged from Bassett Army Hospital, on Fort Wainwright, and one soldier was taken to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital for further evaluation. Eight others are awaiting the results of lab tests. Pennell said he did not know the official cause of the carbon monoxide exposure but said the troops had parachuted into the area and had planned to spend several days there. "It (the carbon monoxide exposure) may have happened in an enclosed space, possibly a tent," Pennell said. Pennell said that after the troops were cared for, the Army would assign an investigative officer to find out how the soldiers were exposed to dangerous levels of carbon monoxide. All of the soldiers will be watched overnight at the Army Warrior Transition unit, on Fort Wainwright, before they are returned to their unit tomorrow, Pennell said.

Better communications tech means more rescue calls: Does the easy ability to call for help in the wild increase the number of calls for rescue? Well, Outside magazine says it has crunched the numbers and found the answer is ''yes.'' Not only are the number of legitimate calls up thanks to cell phones and satellite signaling devices, the magazine says, but so are the false alarms. It headlines an article on the subject this way: "Our Tech Is Making Us Cry Wolf.'' Alaska, sadly, appears to be far and away the per capita leader in satellite-spawned rescues. SPOT, the first personal locator beacon company on the scene, has been involved in 97 calls in the 49th state since 2007, according to the magazine. There were more signals sent from California, 250; Colorado, 169; and Utah, 105, but California is home to 50 times as many people as Alaska, Colorado 7 times as many, and Utah nearly 4 times as many. If Californians had been calling for rescue at the rate of Alaskans, they would spawned almost 5,000 rescues, or more than 700 per year, since 2007. Whoa! The other interesting factoid in the Outside story and the fancy graphic that goes with it is that it appears mountaineers -- often lambasted after Mount McKinley rescues -- get a bum rap when it comes to rescue calls and costs. They comprise only 2 percent of calls, the graphic indicates. Most calls for help -- 33 percent -- come from day hikers. But that shouldn't surprise anyone in Anchorage. Most search and rescue operations here originate in or around Flattop Mountain in plain sight of the Alaska's largest city.

"Alaska pollock" might soon drop the "Alaska": A request from Alaska pollock producers to drop the "Alaska" designation from the name may get some traction, according to a report from Undercurrent News. The trade group Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers has been pushing for the change for a year, and earlier this month formally filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration -- a petition that has garnered the support of several Congressional representatives. Currently the species of fish -- a staple of fast food restaurants and other industrial processed foods -- is labeled, per FDA regulations, by the name "Alaska pollock." "Studies show that consumers overwhelmingly assume this means that the pollock was from Alaska. But this is not always the case. Between roughly 30 and 45 percent of the pollock consumed in a given year is imported from Russia, and the companies that use this product -- on menus or as an ingredient -- legally call it "Alaska Pollock." The move coincides with a push to keep Russian seafood out of U.S. markets as Russia has halted imports of U.S. seafood in sanctions escalations over the conflict in Ukraine. Correction: An earlier version of this item incorrectly reported that Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers is involved with an effort to prevent Russian seafood imports. The group has not taken a position on the Russian import/export issue.

Beasts of the northern wild: Inspired by predictions that global warming my lead to more hybrid species in the Arctic -- one report suggested 34 possibilities -- Up Here, a magazine of the Canadian North, created an illustrated bestiary of fanciful northern animal mashups. Some -- like the grolar (or pizzly) bear -- already exist. Others, well, we'll let you see for yourself.

ADVERTISEMENT