Anchorage Daily News

KING OF FISH STICKS (Seattle Weekly): Chuck Bundrant propelled Trident Seafoods to the top of the food chain by recognizing the unexploited potential of groundfish in the waters of Alaska. But his good fortune has not come from the magic of the free market alone. Over the years, Bundrant cultivated some strong allies in Congress - most especially, Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young.

COURIC REVISITS PALIN INTERVIEW ("Late Show With David Letterman"): Wednesday night, NBC's Katie Couric discussed her now-infamous interview with Gov. Sarah Palin, wondering whether Palin wouldn't or couldn't answer the question about what she reads to stay informed. "I'm not sure whether she was afraid to offend certain people ... she would offend conservatives by saying she read The New York Times," Couric says. "Nobody's really asked her ‘Why didn't you answer that question.' She claims that I said ‘What do you read up there in Alaska?' as if people in Alaska don't read or don't have access to reading materials. But I never said that."

See that segment of the original Couric-Palin interview here.

SITKA FILMMAKER SEARCHES FOR ‘RIGHT' FOODS (Capital City Weekly): What is the ethical way to eat in Alaska? How can you break away from the industrial food system? Is it better to shoot a deer than to buy tofu that has been shipped thousands of miles? Can a former vegetarian even shoot a deer? Sitka filmmaker Ellen Frankenstein is fascinated by these questions, and she hopes viewers of her film "Eating Alaska" will be too.

Also:

"Eating Alaska" trailer

On location for "Eating Alaska" ("AK" public radio show)

When watching "Eating Alaska," don't let food get in the way (The Associated Press)

REGENERATING A MAMMOTH? (The New York Times): Scientists who have decoded mammoth DNA are talking for the first time about the old idea of resurrecting extinct species as if this staple of science fiction is a realistic possibility, saying that a living mammoth could perhaps be regenerated for as little as $10 million. Mammoth populations dived to near extinction toward the end of the last ice age, some 10,000 years ago, though some are believed to have survived on northern islands until about 1700 B.C.

Also:

What killed the woolly mammoth? (Science Daily)

Scientists decode mammoth DNA (NPR's "All Things Considered"): includes audio and images.

STEVENS LEAVES SENATE TO STANDING OVATION (Washington Post, with video): Ted Stevens - the longest-serving Republican senator in history - bid farewell to the Senate on Thursday, saying the future is still bright.

‘DIGNIFIED OLD GENTLEMAN' (Wonkette): "Stevens invented Alaska so he could run it," D.C. gossip blogger Wonkette wrote as she caustically live-blogged the Stevens farewell speech today. But she concludes, "For eight wonderful minutes, Ted Stevens looked like a dignified old gentleman instead of a histrionic fraud, and wasn't that nice? Even Robert Byrd or whoever that is behind Harry Reid's shoulder cried."

STEVENS FALL POINTS TO POLITICAL SHIFT (The Associated Press): With Republican Gov. Sarah Palin and 51-year-old Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Sen.-elect Mark Begich, 46, represents the face of a shifting political landscape in the nation's northernmost state, and arguably its most misunderstood.

Also:

Stevens' influence will linger in Interior Alaska (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

Longtime Senate spending leaders departing (The Associated Press)

Birthdays of longest-serving senators mark a difficult month (The Washington Post)

CROATIAN VILLAGE CELEBRATES BEGICH VICTORY (The Associated Press): Mark Begich's victory in the U.S. Senate race in Alaska is being celebrated in a Croatian village where his grandfather once lived.

WARM REGARDS, SARAH (New York Times): An Alaska tourism campaign that started in August but was suspended because of Gov. Palin's VP candidacy has ramped up again after the election. Letters bearing Palin's picture cannot help but elevate her already high political profile. (With photo.)

JUNEAU HIRES AVALANCHE FORECASTER (Juneau Empire): One of America's most avalanche-prone cities has hired a full-time avalanche forecaster.

HIGH SCHOOL HAS ANGLE ON ‘FREAK' DANCING (Juneau Empire): On display in the office at Juneau-Douglas High School are two handmade protractors about 3 feet wide with markings at 45-degree angles. The protractors are to serve as a reminder of a new rule for girls at high school dances in Juneau: "Past 45 and no jive."

DUCKS LIMITED: HUNTERS PITCH KENAI BUFFER REDUCTION (Peninsula Clarion): Some Kenai duck hunters are feeling squeezed to get a shot off this season. Waterfowlers on the Kenai River flats are feeling cramped by a half-mile no-hunting buffer set up to avoid the dangers of discharging firearms near structures and development.

HOUND FROM HAINES GIVES JUNEAU TEEN A HELPING PAW (Capital City Weekly): Chris Brenner, 19, has pervasive developmental disorder, an autism spectrum disorder. He has dreamed of having a dog for years, but it was only in the last year that his mother learned of service dogs specially trained to help individuals with autism. Little did they know, the perfect dog for Chris was already being trained just 90 miles north, in Haines.

FROM THE UNALASKA POLICE BLOTTER (Unalaska Advertiser): "Nov. 9, 11:40 a.m. - Theft: Caller reported his truck, with several thousand dollars' worth of tools, had been stolen sometime in the last four months. The complainant did not know the license plate number, and had not registered the truck after purchasing it. An officer discovered that slightly fewer than 100 vehicles matching his truck's description are registered in the Unalaska area. The officer later learned that the real owner of the vehicle had lent it to another person."

Return to Alaska Newsreader through the day for new links.

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM RECENT NEWSREADERS:

Fossils lend clues to Alaska's Eurasian roots (National Geographic)

Valley teen has big questions after election (Valley Frontiersman)

Palin's pipeline at risk as economy slows (Wall Street Journal)

Turkeys that survived fireworks fright ready for holiday ax (Valley Frontiersman)

Hunger increases in Alaska (The Associated Press)

Talkeetna cabin on endangered list (KTNA audio)

Scientists recalculate height of mountains (Ned Rozell, UAF Geophysical Institute)

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