Alaska Newsreader

Pentagon to review report blaming JBER F-22 pilot for crash

In an unusual and perhaps unprecedented move, the inspector general for the U.S. Department of Defense will review an Air Force report that blames Capt. Jeffrey Haney for the fatal 2010 crash of his F-22 fighter north of Anchorage -- even though the jet has been beset by problems and complaints from pilots.

Completed imaging project lets Web browsers 'soar' over Alaska coast

An imaging project originally intended to help oil spill responders is now complete for Southeast Alaska and available online to anyone, from kayakers looking for a beach to camp on to scientists studying the environment. The ShoreZone project includes low-level aerial photos of thousands of miles of Southeast and Southcentral Alaska shoreline and lets users "soar" over the coast for a bird's-eye view, reports KFSK in Petersburg.

Video: NOAA puts Pribilof Islands documentary online

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has posted on YouTube its 2009 documentary on the Unangan people of the Pribilof Islands, "People of the Seal." The hourlong film was nominated for best documentary at the American Indian Film Festival. Produced by NOAA for the Pribilof Islands Environmental Restoration Project, it looks at the decline of the fur seal population but also "paints a rich portrait of tribal life on the islands," writes High Country News.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8

New encyclopedia of Tlingit language baffles Sitka elders

An amateur scholar of indigenous languages showed up in Sitka last month with her new encyclopedia of Tlingit and an accompanying audio CD of readings, but local Tlingits say her Tlingit doesn't resemble the language they grew up speaking. KCAW radio reports that Sally-Anne Lambert, a New Zealander who grew up in Samoa and developed an affinity for languages, admits she researched and published her encyclopedia without input from modern Tlingit speakers.

UAF student boycott kills popular intramural sport for semester

The most popular intramural sport at the University of Alaska Fairbanks -- and an important source of cash for the UAF Student Services department -- won't happen this semester following a boycott prompted by a big increase in the player fee, reports the campus Sun Star newspaper.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7

Convicted fishing guide blames flood erosion for stream mixup

A Mat-Su guide is facing a big fine and loss of his boat and guiding license after his second conviction in five years for violating fishing laws. Ray Blodgett was found guilty last week of letting clients use bait and multiple hooks in a salmon stream where they weren't allowed. Blodgett says he's innocent and "getting hosed" in the wake of flooding on Susitna River tributaries that changed the course of stream beds, reports The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman.

So-called 'psychics' try to claim Koenig reward

Anchorage police and the father of missing Anchorage barista Samantha Koenig are being flooded with phone calls from self-described psychics and others who want a piece of the cash reward being offered for tips to her whereabouts. ABC News reports that it's a common problem in such cases across the U.S.

Texas congressman lectures colleagues on caribou romance

Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas last week espoused a reason for keeping oil flowing through the trans-Alaska pipeline that got even Alaska Rep. Don Young giggling at its absurdity, reports The Washington Post. If we let the pipeline run dry, Gohmert theorized, caribou won't feel like mating.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6

Photographer revisits early days of 1988 Barrow whale rescue

Photographer and blogger Bill Hess of Wasilla, author of "Gift of the Whale: The Inupiat Bowhead Hunt - A Sacred Tradition," was among the first to see the stranded California gray whales off Point Barrow in 1988. With the release of "Big Miracle," the Hollywood film based on the attempt to rescue the whales, Hess is scanning his photographs from the event and uploading them in a series of posts on his blog. He opens his posts with photos from the bowhead whale hunt that was just ending when the grays were spotted, then follows with a post that includes some of the first photos taken of the trapped whales.

Unalaska police blotter: Snow rage erupts

Public Safety – A man who was peeved about the amount of snow pushed against his home by road crews vented his frustration by rolling large snow boulders into the roadway. An officer advised against this course of action and helped the perturbed citizen remove said boulders from the road.

Girdwood couple gives detailed account of escaping cruise liner

Nate and Cary Lukes of Girdwood tell the Turnagain Times the full story of their family's escape from the doomed Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia. The response of the crew was anything but coordinated, the Lukeses say. Passengers were told repeatedly to stay in their rooms, that the ship was experiencing only an electrical problem, even as they could feel it listing. Many announcements were in Italian, which they could not understand. Later, on the deck with their four daughters, the Lukeses watched in amazement as crew members lowered lifeboats and then escaped in them without taking passengers.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3

Unalaska medical clinic bans 'Deadliest Catch' filming

Apparently no health care provider working at the Unalaska clinic wants to be a "rock star" on the "Deadliest Catch" reality TV series. So the Iliuliuk Family and Health Services board of directors has voted unaminously not to grant access to the show's video crews when patients are being treated in the clinic, reports the newly revived Dutch Harbor Fisherman newspaper.

Village revisits pre-plumbing days after pipes freeze

Water and sewer systems froze in the Northwest Alaska village of Selawik in late January -- villagers blame a muskrat, system design problems and the unusually cold winter. The systems still aren't totally fixed, and that means a new generation of Selawik residents is learning the joys of honey buckets and water hauling, reports Alaska Dispatch.

Hot and very cold: The science of sled dog racing

Denali National Park backcountry ranger and musher Kristin Knight Pace writes for UAF's Frontier Scientists blog about some of the challenges Mother Nature tosses at racing mushers and their dogs. For Chatanika musher Jodi Bailey, experience builds the ability to better prepare for wildly varying conditions on the trail.

Feds spend $1.8 million defending Stevens prosecutors

The federal government spent about $1.8 million on private lawyers for the prosecutors accused of misconduct in the botched prosecution of former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens. A Justice Department spokesperson told USA Today that it's customary for the government to help employees defending themselves against charges arising from their work duties.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2

No time for hesitation when caribou reported close to town

How close is "close"? When caribou were reported close to Bethel, there was no hesitation: grab the hunting gear, start the sno-gos and get out there. But for the inexperienced, preparing for the hunt during a midwinter cold snap isn't that simple, writes Debbie Michael in Bethel's Delta Discovery.

Wrangell wins orchard; search on for suitable fruit trees

The Southeast Alaska community of Wrangell has a climate warmer than that of most other Alaska communities, but it's not that warm. So one has to wonder what the fishing town has really gained by winning an orchard in the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation's "Communities Take Root" contest. KSTK gets the answer from contest organizer Rico Montenegro.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1

Homer takes stock amid unusually cold, snowy winter

Like other Southcentral cities, Homer is getting a breather from the cold and snowy days of December and January. The Homer Tribune used the opportunity to take stock of "the good, the bad and the ugly" of the winter so far.

Lower 48 asks: Where's winter? Answer: In Alaska and Europe

UAF student follows Wainwright soldiers to Afghanistan

JR Ancheta, a budding photojournalist studying at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, followed the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division of Fort Wainwright in their preparations for deployment to Afghanistan. Right after finals in December, he joined the brigade in Afghanistan for a short time. Now back in Fairbanks, he reported on his experience with words and photos in the campus Sun Star newspaper.

Fire department warns of carbon monoxide danger in homes

A very cold, very snowy winter is creating prime conditions for carbon monoxide buildup in northern homes, say Anchorage fire officials. Five people died last week in a Whitehorse, Yukon, home that didn't have a CO detector. And ice blocking a furnace exhaust vent sent carbon monoxide back into an Anchorage condominium last week. Fortunately, nobody was home when it happened, reports KTUU.

New 'Game Change' trailer has more of Moore as Palin

A new trailer for the upcoming HBO film "Game Change," based on the book about the 2008 presidential campaign, features a lot more of Julianne Moore playing the Sarah Palin role. She's a ringer for Palin, says Yahoo! TV's critic. Judging from the trailer, the movie won't give a flattering portrayal of Palin, says ABC News. The film is set to debut in early March.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 31

Thermometer dies at Haul Road camp as it nears US record low

We'll just never know, it seems. A thermometer at a state road maintenance camp along the Dalton Highway was approaching the U.S. low temperature record of minus 80 on Saturday when it croaked. The amateur-operated thermometer at the Jim River camp, about 140 miles south of Deadhorse, was reading minus 79 when the battery apparently gave out.

Don Young gets all nostalgic about earmarks

Alaska Rep. Don Young caused "nervous tittering" among his Republican colleagues at a press conference in Washington today when he lamented the lack of earmarks in a transportation/energy/jobs bill, reports The New York Times.

50-below video: Fairbanks ice fog, inside and out

Fairbanks photographer Eric Muehling gives us a look at Fairbanks on Sunday with the temperature at about 50 below. The video combines the view from above the fog with a view from a dashboard cam while he was driving inside the fog. Check the Daily News-Miner for more details. Then read how the extreme Interior cold is taxing the resources of the Fairbanks Rescue Mission.

Haines family flees home as land beneath it slumps

Haines Borough officials and geologists are trying to decide what to do about a sudden slope shift covering about 4 acres that has left town roads heaved and cracked and is threatening to send a family home sliding downhill. The Moore family's home is cracked and tilting, reports the Chilkat Valley News.

Unalaska police blotter: Rudeness can get you grounded

Here are further highlights from the police log of the Unalaska Department of Public Safety. Read more from the log via the Dutch Harbor Telegraph. For background on the UDPS police blotter, see Dutch Harbor: The police blotter heard 'round the world (Los Angeles Times, Feb. 5, 2009)

Battling over Newt: A tea party tempest on Palin's Facebook page

Sarah Palin is telling Florida voters to choose Newt Gingrich over Mitt Romney in this week's primary. But she's not really endorsing Gingrich. "Annoy a liberal. Vote Newt. Keep this vetting process going, keep the debate going," she said Sunday on Fox News. She has also posted a lengthy Facebook attack on the GOP establishment's treatment of Gingrich. But besides the possibility that liberals would see a Gingrich candidacy as assuring President Obama's re-election, Palin's support for Gingrich is dividing her Facebook fans, writes Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.

Commentary: Elimination of Electoral College won't help Alaska

Some Alaska lawmakers think eliminating the U.S. Electoral College will have the effect of bringing more attention to Alaska from presidential candidates. Wrong, writes Tara Ross for the National Review Online.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27

Kotzebue waits, hopes for ice road to Noorvik

Cabin fever is setting in along the Northwest Alaska coast, and one way to get some relief is to drive along an ice road in the comfort of a truck or SUV. But the first step in building the traditional ice road from Kotzebue to Noorvik, on the Kobuk River delta, is checking the ice for thickness. Students from Kotzebue High School got the job this season, reports The Arctic Sounder.

Seized pirate fishing ship might be sold cheap

The Bangun Perkasa, the formerly rat-infested heap of a fishing vessel seized by the U.S. Coast Guard off Japan last year and brought to Dutch Harbor, might go on sale cheap if the owners don't step forward to claim it, NOAA tells the Dutch Harbor Telegraph.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26

A call for a mushers' retirement home

Julia Bayly, a recreational musher of a certain age and a photographer for the Bangor Daily News in Maine, has been dreaming of a retirement home for mushers and a few of their favorite dogs.

Alaska lawmakers' Central Park ploy amuses a few New Yorkers

New York's Central Park is a lot like Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? The comparison is probably lost on New Yorkers, despite an attempt by Alaska state Rep. Kyle Johansen, a Ketchikan Republican, to explain to The New York Times his satirical legislative proposal making such a claim. Fed up with Congress' failure to open the ANWR coastal plain to drilling, Johansen and several fellow Alaska legislators are supporting a resolution calling on Congress to declare Central Park a wilderness area subject to congressional approval for "further improvement or development."

Wishful mapping: A half-baked Alaska

Big Think examines the vagaries of 18th-century mapmaking, focusing on a popular 1772 French map purporting to represent new discoveries in northwest North America -- particularly the "great probability of a North-West Passage." But right in the center of the map is a wildly fanciful hint of what would become Alaska.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25

Worst-case scenario? What if a cruise ship founders in Alaska's Arctic

It's not a prime destination yet, but the Arctic is attracting more interest from cruise companies. And even though Alaska officials claim a Costa Concordia-type disaster is unlikely here, they are referring only to the state's popular Inland Passage routes. As Popular Mechanic points out, a cruise grounding in newly ice-free but still ice-cold waters off Arctic Alaska would likely be a huge rescue challenge.

Pizza days are a big deal in Yukon River village

There's no pizza delivery in Galena; the Yukon River village isn't on the Alaska road system, and its fast-food joint specializes in burgers. So it's no surprise that teenagers are coming up with a solution: Students at the Galena Interior Learning Academy, a boarding school, run a pizza restaurant a couple times a month, reports the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. They make the pizzas, and they also learn the business of selling pizzas.

Advancing ice puts Bering Sea snow crab season on hold

The same extensive sea ice that slowed the journey of a Russian fuel tanker and Coast Guard icebreaker to Nome has Bering Sea crab fishermen rushing to pull pots from the water and waiting for better conditions, reports KUCB in Unalaska.

Alaska Air to stop issuing prayer cards to passengers

It's bring-your-own-prayer time on Alaska Airlines. The carrier has announced that on Feb. 1 it will stop handing out prayer cards with meals. If you don't fly first-class, you might not know that the cards are still given to passengers up front. (Insert joke here about first-class passengers being more valuable to the airline.)

TUESDAY, JANUARY 24

Bedbugs return to UAA student housing

Bedbugs have been discovered in at least two housing complexes at the University of Alaska Anchorage this month, reports the campus newspaper The Northern Light.

Cordovans look out for one another as snow keeps falling

The Cordova Times has pulled together some stories of neighbors helping neighbors in the wake of seemingly endless storms that buried the Prince William Sound community in more than 15 feet of snow so far this season.

In absence of sea ice, polar bears learn to eat duck eggs

Polar bears in Arctic Canada appear to be compensating for disappearing sea ice -- from which they hunt seals -- by swarming onto near-shore islands and raiding eider duck nests, reports CBC News.

Unalaska police blotter: Oh, brother - another 'drunken debacle'

Here are further highlights from the police log of the Unalaska Department of Public Safety. Read more from the log via the Dutch Harbor Telegraph. For background on the UDPS police blotter, see Dutch Harbor: The police blotter heard 'round the world (Los Angeles Times, Feb. 5, 2009)

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20

Alaska Railroad still dreams of commuter service from Valley

If there's ever going to be regular commuter rail service between the Matanuska Valley and Anchorage, trains are going to have to cover the distance in less time. Key to that is making tight curves straighter, but the expense of doing that is huge, Alaska Railroad officials tell the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman.

Gas line brings huge savings to Anchor Point while Homer waits

The arrival of a natural gas pipeline in Anchor Point on the Kenai Peninsula last year has brought huge energy savings to businesses that converted from propane, reports the Homer Tribune. One property owner is advising Homer residents to calculate their own potential savings, then use the numbers to pressure Enstar and lawmakers to extend the gas line south.

Arctic seal flops onto homeowner's dock in Seattle

A male ribbon seal in seemingly excellent health recently climbed onto the private dock of a Seattle homeowner, becoming the first member of its species ever sighted in Washington state. Ribbon seals normally live in the far North Pacific and Arctic between Russia and Alaska, reports Our Amazing Planet.

Video: 'Tarp surfing' catches on in Gwich'in village

Residents of the Northwest Territories village of Aklavik in Canada are learning to make the most of blizzards, reports the CBC.

Alaska salmon industry drops sustainability certification program

Eight major Alaska salmon processors have informed the Marine Stewardship Council they won't participate in the group's next recertification period for sustainability, reports The Seattle Times. The processors are questioning whether the certification adds any value to their product.

UPDATED: Troopers drop charge in 'meat for heat' case

Troopers have dismissed a charge against a Fairbanks man accused of trading moose meat for firewood after the Game Board moved to drop the word "barter" from the law prohibiting game meat sales.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18

Tanker mission to Nome: Economic or humanitarian motives first?

Most of the international media coverage of the voyage to Nome of the Russian fuel tanker and Coast Guard icebreaker cast it as a humanitarian effort intended to keep fuel-short residents from shivering in the cold. But non-emergency economic motives of the mission may have been more compelling to the city of Nome and the state of Alaska, says Alaska Dispatch.

Unalaska police blotter: Drivers cope with the weather

Here are further highlights from the police log of the Unalaska Department of Public Safety. Read more from the log via the Dutch Harbor Telegraph. For background on the UDPS police blotter, see Dutch Harbor: The police blotter heard 'round the world (Los Angeles Times, Feb. 5, 2009)

Video: Palin sort of endorses Gingrich in S.C. primary

Wednesday afternoon update: Gingrich told CNN today he'd consider appointing Palin to a "major role" in his administration if he's elected president.