Anchorage Daily News

Should we all start learning Russian? A segment of the APRN show "AK" over the weekend looks at some Russians' affection for the prospect of getting Alaska back. The idea is a favorite of one-time Russian presidential candidate Vladimir Zhirinovsky, whose desire for the return of Alaska to the Russian fold was discussed in this New York Times story of 1993, when Zhirinovsky surprised people with a respectable showing in elections that year.

Now Zhirinovsky is indicating he may run again in 2008. The APRN story notes that some Russians interpret the 1867 deal that sold Alaska to the United States as not a sale at all but a lease. Now this group not only wants the state back but wants to be compensated for the resources that have been taken out of the state.

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And more on that Russian connection ... A Juneau Empire feature story today tells of the connection that a group of Juneau elementary school students is forging with kids in the central Russian city of Saransk. The students at Auke Bay Elementary School are doing it through the art of letter writing.

"In the exchange, Juneau children with names like Calvin, Mason and Kody are getting to know something about children named Kira Tomesevenye, Grisha Imarov and Roman Romanaov," according to the story.

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Not all reindeer make the "dream team." A posting on The American Physiological Society's Web site reports that the reindeer that don't make the cut and get on the team that pulls Santa Claus around the world are interesting critters nevertheless. Dr. Perry Barboza of the University of Alaska Fairbanks studies reindeer and caribou and offers this line of thought, among others:

"Reindeer shed their thick antlers at the end of mating season in early December. The females also have antlers, but their thinner version stays with them throughout the winter. Does this mean that Rudolph and the team are all females? ‘It appears that way,' says Barboza, who also says that while Rudolph's nose has a very shiny glow, the noses of all other reindeer are furry, and usually white and gray, the colors of their snout."

He's got a substantial list of other reindeer facts in the posting.

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Tesche gets into Christmas spirit. "For this day is risen in the city of the great King George, a new champion and savior, he is Dan the Man," Anchorage Assemblyman Allan Tesche, tongue firmly in cheek, writes in his blog version of the rise of fellow Assemblymember and frequent rival Dan Sullivan, who has announced he will be a candidate for mayor.

"With him will come tax cuts for the wealthy, blue tickets for the foreigner and a paddle for the little children," Tesche croons. "And after the trumpet sounded again, a multitude of the heavenly hosts including the Angels Ted, Ben, Don, Lisa, Dan, Chris, Jennifer, Paul, Bill, Debbie and the others not yet indicted sang Dan's praises, saying Glory in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward the party's chosen few."

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Lack of sea ice threaten walrus. An Associated Press story continues the tale of woe for walruses, which are being hit hard by climate change. Scientists in the story warn that they can only do so much to protect the animals but are helpless to do much about melting Arctic ice, which is forcing the animals out of their normal habitat.

"Ultimately it's beyond my scope," Joel Garlich-Miller, a walrus expert for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage, says in the story. "I can't make ice cubes out there."

An AP story earlier this month reported that thousands of walruses died in stampedes on the Russian side of the Bering Strait after the disappearance of sea ice caused them to crowd onto the shoreline.

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Santa Paul a hit as Santa Claus. How does a Nome man - who says his name is Santa Paul - become the most popular Santa Claus in Brownsville, Texas? A KRIS TV report from Corpus Christi tells the story of the man who has achieved fame at Sunrise Mall in Brownsville and along the way tells how Santa Paul became addicted to his Santa Claus role.

"I'm already going through withdrawals," he told the station as Christmas Day nears and he'll give up his role in the mall. Even after Christmas, though, he will continue his Santa pursuits, though in a somewhat different way, according to the story. "After 48 consecutive days of work, Santa Paul will fly to Tucson, Ariz., to visit his girlfriend. Then the two will board a plane for Norway, where he will participate in the 2008 International Santa Claus Olympics. For a week, Santa Paul will compete against Santas from around the world in events that include a chimney climb, a gift bag toss and a sleigh push."

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Flood advisory on Kenai. Increased water levels and ice accumulation prompted a flood advisory over the weekend for a part of the Kenai River, according to a Peninsula Clarion story. Officials expected the advisory, which applied to the Big Eddy area, to remain in place for a few days.

Warmer weather has kept water levels static, according to the story, but "the water is almost on the verge of spilling over onto roads in the Big Eddy area and another cold snap could make things worse."

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Wolf sightings keep stacking up. A KTUU Channel 2 report quotes a local pilot who says he was flying east of Muldoon Road when he spotted a pack of wolves "feeding on what appeared to be a dog." The sighting comes on the heels of reports last week of a series of encounters in the Anchorage area between people with dogs and what appears to be an emboldened pack of wolves.

An ADN story over the weekend reported that U.S. Army officials have closed areas west and north of Artillery Road in Eagle River. A wolf pack surprised a group of joggers in the area last week and injured one of their dogs.

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Net hotspots to spread in Fairbanks. A Fairbanks Daily News-Miner story says that the city plans to expand free, low-speed wireless Internet in the city next summer. And the city will go after even wider coverage in the future, according to the story.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough will ask for proposals from providers in January. Some places already offer wireless access - the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus and a few businesses, for example. But the story notes that the prospect of large-scale expansion "is much trickier, and borough officials are still studying models that have worked or failed in other communities."

Anchorage made a run at free wireless Internet downtown last summer, but the deal fell apart over costs. Click here to read the ADN story on what happened.

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Do earthquakes send a magnetic signal? Maybe, according to a Contra Costa Times story from California. The story says scientists are debating whether signals recorded before quakes, including the 1964 quake in Prince William Sound, mean anything.

There is no agreement, but many scientists are urging more study as to whether the signals could be a predictor of earthquakes. "We can't count it out," Malcolm Johnston of the USGS says in the story. "The bottom line is that we just need to do this better."

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Cold remedy targeted. Haines officials are doing what they can to battle "an apparent outbreak of over-the-counter substance abuse among young people," according to a Chilkat Valley News story. The problem seems to center around an ingredient in cold medicines, such as Robitussin, called dextromethorphan or DXM, which can prove intoxicating when taken in high doses, the story says.

Store owners told the newspaper that they've noticed increased sales and theft of products with DXM. Abuse of the products has even gained its own name, the story says: Robo-ing.

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TV from the past. The New York Times, in a listing of new TV stuff that became on available on DVD this year, notes that all five seasons of "Northern Exposure" are contained in one collection. The quirky comedy/drama ran from 1990-95 and was set in a fictional Alaska town called Cicely. Alas, it was not filmed in Alaska, but in Washington.

The entire set of shows can be had for a cool $199.98.

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