NOVEMBER 22, 2009 - 7:37 PM
KTVA reports that the Aniak Dragon Slayers recently battled a fire in the village community hall -- a vital meeting place for the town.
Click here to watch the video.
Pete Brown, former Aniak fire chief and founder of the Dragon Slayers, died in October -- three days after the community held a goodbye bash in his honor. I'm looking at the photos people sent from the event. It was held in the school, right, not in the community center where this fire occurred? If you're from Aniak, let me know.
NOVEMBER 22, 2009 - 5:36 PM
Summary
My first visit to Anchorage Grace Church in April was ill-timed due to our ongoing volcanic events. (click here to read previous visit review) In that review, I expressed concerns about the lack of greeting, lengthy service, and certain aspects of the music. Recently invited to revisit by a member, I tried again last Sunday, November 15. Incredibly, nothing had changed! I received no welcome, and was not even handed a bulletin. Once again there was a substitute pastor, prompting last weeks post on why churches do not announce on their websites who's preaching. The musical program was highly programmed and lengthy. I was basically disregarded during my entire visit, an antithesis of what Christians are to be. The substitute pastor spent the first 15-20 minutes of his 55 minute discourse explaining and justifying the how's, why's and where's of his preaching on the 3 verses he'd chosen from Hebrews, the focus of his remarks. A test read of Hebrews revealed that the entire book could have been read to the congregation in 35-40 minutes. I was not encouraged by this visit. Surely the intervening seven months under new leadership would have provoked some noticeable changes.
NOVEMBER 22, 2009 - 5:35 PM
Love it or hate it, winter is here in Alaska!
winter fun
These next few months can be a rough time for some and have no affect on others, it all depends. If you are a summer person and don't care much for the dark, cold winter months, staying on track and maintaining motivation can be difficult. Here are a few tips to help you out until break-up arrives:
GET OUTSIDE!
One of the best and perhaps most obvious ways of enjoying winter is to get outside and spend some time doing winter-ish activities. Sledding with the kids, snowboarding, skiing, ice skating and making snow angels are all things that burn calories. Plus, getting some fresh air and enjoying nature will help you beat the winter blues.
NOVEMBER 22, 2009 - 5:20 PM
November Garden Calendar
View Garden Gallery
Submit Your Garden Photos!
The NEW Low-Maintenance Garden: How to Have a Beautiful, Productive Garden and the Time to Enjoy It, by Valerie Easton with photos by Jacqueline M. Koch.When Valerie Easton's husband of 30 years threw down the shovel and quit as her yard boy to have more time to do the things HE liked to do, Valerie realized just how weary she was of tending her quarter-acre yarden. Soon after her youngest graduated, Valerie and husband downsized to a smaller home and a MUCH smaller yard.
NOVEMBER 22, 2009 - 5:18 PM
The climate change crisis is intimately connected to all our other troubles. All those things we could be doing to mitigate Global Climate Breakdown are things we should already be doing to mitigate social, military, political, economic and energy woes.
A corporatist oligarchy has deployed it’s extensive economic resources, political influence and media control to spread confusion and disinformation regarding the predatory role of industry and finance in our lives.
WHO IS DOING WHAT TO WHOM? -
Polluting SUVs, high-energy light bulbs, extra-long showers and all the other facets of our individual lifestyles consume only about 25 percent of energy---corporations eat up the other 75 percent.
NOVEMBER 22, 2009 - 4:57 PM
St. Norbert is unbeaten (8-0-1) and ranked No. 1 in the nation among Division III men's teams, and a big reason is senior center Shane Wheeler of Eagle River, the club's leading scorer.
Wheeler has racked 9-8--17 totals in nine games -- he leads the Green Knights, national champions his sophomore season, in goals, assists and points.
He helped spearhead a weekend sweep at No. 6 ranked Wisconsin-River Falls with 1-2--3 totals in Friday's 4-2 win and two goals in Saturday's 8-3 blowout. Wheeler assisted on the game winner Friday and sealed things with an empty netter, then furnished his first college short-handed goal and a power-play goal Saturday. The power-play goal marked his 100th career point -- he owns 35-65--100 totals in 93 career games.
NOVEMBER 22, 2009 - 3:41 PM
The recent finger-pointing of who knew what, and when, over the union contracts and the city’s financial solvency, goes much deeper than mere numbers. The flaws in the Municipal Attorney’s report and the incomplete financial report waved before the media should cause us to question the qualifications and motives of those who are managing our city.
When the Assembly asked for a legal opinion on the labor contracts that were passed in 2008, why didn’t they ask their staff attorney? Instead, they first hired a law firm, Walker and Levesque—who were not experienced ’employment’ attorneys—to render legal advice. Their opinion was included in the infamous 60-page Wheeler Report, issued by the Municipal attorney, Dennis Wheeler.
NOVEMBER 22, 2009 - 1:54 PM
More often than not, when people find out I'm a personal trainer I'm asked if I'm like Jillian from the TV show "The Biggest Loser". They are usually referring to her red faced screaming and belittling of the people she's helping on the show. The answer is no. I and many other fitness professionals do not scream, yell or belittle our clients. Creating a trusting interpersonal relationship is difficult if you are always yelling in someone's face. The show is just that, a show. It's for entertainment purposes and the actions of the trainers, and results of their clients are not typical.
What most people don't realize is that these contestants train for hours everyday under close watch of doctors and trainers, all while eating a very strictly monitored diet to facilitate their weight loss. This is not something that's going to happen in the real world, no matter how strict your diet and discipline. Most people have the common distractions of family, work, friends, etc. and simply don't have the ability to prioritize fitness the same way to achieve the results these people do. Face it, losing 10 LBS. every week is not realistic for most people.
NOVEMBER 22, 2009 - 11:11 AM
A man on parole for hitting someone with a defective snowmachine was arrested Friday on Chena Hot Springs Road for driving with a suspended license, troopers say.
Jack Cannan Boyle hit 42-year-old Richard Crow in Christmas Eve, 2005, when Crow was lying on a slippery road in Circle with drugs and alcohol in his system, The Associated Press reported at the time. Boyle was going as fast as 50 miles per hour at the time on a snowmachine that had no brakes, dim lights and other defects.
On Friday, troopers say Boyle, now 31, was driving with a suspended license on Mile 9 of Chena Hot Springs Road, near Fairbanks. They say he also violated parole by consuming alcohol. He was taken to jail in Fairbanks.
NOVEMBER 22, 2009 - 12:18 AM
By MIKE DUNHAM
The Sisters Futrelle: Ivory Bodnar, Reagan James and Karina Becker.
When a play is described as a whacky Christmas spoof, the modern public may suspect something irreverent. But “Christmas Belles,” running at UAA’s Mainstage Theatre, has fun with holiday traditions without excoriating them in the name of social commentary or mere snark.
It also has a real play set within the seasonal backdrop, with a real message of reconciliation and giving people a second chance.
But mostly it’s a triple romantic comedy with a lot of laughs.
NOVEMBER 21, 2009 - 9:37 PM
The recent discussion of civility on these cyberpages disappointed me. Neither blogger defined civility but appeared to claim the guys who agree with them are civil while those who disagree are uncivil. Neither opposes civil discourse. So, if civility itself is not controversial, then what are we arguing about?
To me, civility begins with acting in a rational and consistent way. When I make my points, I use several devices to back up my arguments: I give examples of what I mean, I sometimes clarify my points with metaphors, I cite people with expertise on the matter at hand, I sometimes cite pertinent facts, I sometimes draw what I considerable logical conclusions from those facts, and I sometimes ask questions.
NOVEMBER 21, 2009 - 8:54 PM
Although the Continental Congress had issued a Thanksgiving Day Proclomation in 1777, George Washington was the first President (surprise) to issue such a Proclomation. This Proclomation in 1789 called for America's first National Thanksgiving. According to the Congressional Record for September 25 of that year, the first act after the Framers completed the framing of the Bill of Rights was that:
"Mr. [Elias] Boudinot said he could not think of letting the session pass without offering an opportunity to all the citizens of the United States of joining with one voice in returning to Almighty God their sincere thanks for the many blessings He had poured down upon them. With this view, therefore, he would move the following resolution:
NOVEMBER 21, 2009 - 7:27 PM
In medical school I was taught that a screening test should have 3 characteristics. It should have a high sensitivity and specificity. It should be inexpensive. It should be low risk.
It gets considerably more complicated in the real world. The standard that has been most often applied has been cost per year of life saved. That theoretically takes all of the desired characteristics into account.
When the thought leaders in a field sit down to make recommendations they have to weed through immense amounts of data. It can come from studies of varying validity and biases.
NOVEMBER 21, 2009 - 6:45 PM
If you notice comments to any blog post are missing, please don't think I take down comments because I don't agree with you. Usually, when a blog post shows a certain number of comments, but there are none available to view when you look, it means that a commercial spammer or poster of a vulgar comment has had their comments blocked. If this type of poster has been blocked previously and attempts to post another comment, they will be automatically be blocked. Sorry, but it's the name of the game. It's out of my control. I think the ADN controls on spam are appropriate and do not interfere with true reader sentiment.
NOVEMBER 21, 2009 - 5:45 PM
Montreal Canadiens center Scott Gomez of Anchorage, enduring a poor start to the season, now is out with a "lower-body injury'' and is listed as day-to-day.
Gomez is on pace for his worst statistical season in the NHL, and that is jeopardizing his chances of making the U.S. Olympic Team for the second time. In 22 games, he owns just 2-9--11 totals and is struggling in the face-off circle (48.4 percent). On the other hand, he is +2, and, remember, the Canadiens aren't very good.
NOVEMBER 21, 2009 - 11:50 AM
From Erika Bolstad in Washington, Pennsylvania --
Sarah Palin says in her new memoir, "Going Rogue," that there are no coincidences. But how about this one?
I drove up to Washington, Pa., last night from Washington D.C. to do a story on Palin's book tour. (See tomorrow's paper.) The event was at a Sam's Club in one of those shopping centers dominated by big box retailers – a massive place that looks like hundreds of similar developments across America. After I'd interviewed a number of people outside the Sam's Club, I walked over to the Starbucks next door to write. (The sign above the drive-thru window: "Sarah, we have moose mugs!")
And right out in front of the coffee shop? Palin's mom, Sally Heath, Palin's aunt, Kate Johnson, and Palin's son, Trig. They didn’t attract as much attention as, say, Palin would have. But plenty of people whipped out camera phones to snag a picture of Trig tucked into his stroller, wearing a knit Pittsburgh Steeler's cap. (Washington, Pa., is just outside of Pittsburgh.)
Heath said that she and her sister are taking care of Trig while Palin is at book signings. The family has been trading off traveling with Palin, Heath said. She just swapped out with Todd and her granddaughters. "It's our week to be here," she said.
NOVEMBER 21, 2009 - 8:16 AM
The Thanksgiving feast at the Clarkson house has become a wonderful Alaskan experience. Being so geographically separated from family in the lower 48, we always have lots of friends over for the meal and most of all the fellowship. For the last 4 or 5 years the Leman clan have been regulars at our house for Thanksgiving. Then we try to find folks in our church who for whatever reason don't have other family or friends here with whom to share the holiday, or who just need a place to celebrate.
I am the chef (self-taught amatuer that I am) and I have a fabulous time cooking for everyone. Eating the meal is great, but I find cooking it to be even better. I wanted to share some of the recipes that I have developed and that friends have raved about over the years. These have now become a tradition in our home.
NOVEMBER 21, 2009 - 12:11 AM
By MIKE DUNHAM
Bearfoot: present incarnation, 2009
Cavernous Wendy Williamson Auditorium filled to capacity on Friday night for a band that originally formed in Alaska and has since made a name in the wider musical world.
The handful of youngsters who came together at music camp and formed Bearfoot Bluegrass in 1999, won the national Telluride Band Competition in Colorado in 2001. This year, with their fourth album, they reached No. 1 on Billboard Magazine’s Bluegrass chart.
Now known simply as Bearfoot, the band has played innumerable times in Anchorage. But this show was different. For one thing, it marked the only time this year the band will play here, part of a home-state tour that winds up in Fairbanks today. They’ll have a break until January, when they start a series of concerts that will take them from Missoula, Montana to Glasgow, Scotland. Success is taking them, inevitably, away from Alaska.
NOVEMBER 20, 2009 - 11:12 PM
Whoa, that was some gruesome Friday night for Anchorage's two hockey teams.
First, the Alaska Aces absorbed a 6-2 beatdown on the road against the Bakersfield Condors, who riddled them for four power-play goals and a shortie. Yikes!
Then, UAA, on its home ice at Sullivan Arena no less, took an 8-2 kidney punch from Minnesota State-Mankato. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Mankato senior Jerad Stewart, who seemed like a good kid when I talked to him, dropped four goals and a helper on UAA. Kid had 16 career goals in 115 games before punking the Seawolves, so go ahead and pencil him in for the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week. Ouch!
NOVEMBER 20, 2009 - 6:59 PM
U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 3rd Class Charly Hengen.
Here's the Coast Guard report:
KODIAK - A logger suffering from a possible back injury and a broken leg was medevaced by the crew of an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from the village of Ouzinkie on Spruce Island north of Kodiak Island to the Coast Guard base today.
Scott Zimmerman, 25, sustained injuries during a logging operation when the tree he was cutting down reportedly fell on him near the Ouzinkie airport.
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