“Occupy The Tundra,” Post-Fame
A few months ago, Diane McEachern’s “Occupy the Tundra” photo went viral and received national coverage from the LA Times to Salon. A resident of Bethel, Alaska, McEachern was in Anchorage on a recent visit and sat down with The Mudflats at a downtown watering hole. What is your assessment of the Occupy movement since you and your sign went viral? It kind of put the vocabulary into the public domain. Politicians are now referring to the 1 percent and 99 percent. What is it you do in Bethel, Alaska? I’m a University of Alaska professor in rural human services…
All Hands On Deck! EPA Public Hearing TODAY at 5:00 PM
by Jeanne Devon and Linda Kellen Biegel Today is the day. The EPA findings tell us that Pebble Mine is an unacceptable risk to thousands of sustainable jobs, and the last great wild salmon fishery on earth. With the stroke of a pen, the EPA can assure that this special place remains safe from development, and intact for generations to come. One of the most, if not THE most important meetings there will ever be on mining in the Bristol Bay Watershed will be held today at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium on the UAA Campus. The EPA will be hearing…
In My Alaska Garden — Progress & Solutions
This week is a bit of a grumpy week for me. The temperature here keeps dipping below 45 degrees at night and we’ve seen it below 50 in the hoop house. Some of the plants are not happy, specifically the tomatoes and the basil. Here’s hoping the warmer forcast for this week is accurate, although today is not a great start. Since we talked a great deal about the hoop house last week, I figured we’d take a look at what is going on outside this week. (OK, I’ll admit it…it’s because we actually got some weeding done.) In the…
Bipartisanship is Not on the Map
By Shannyn Moore My friends, once again, Alaska is charting new waters. The GOP-heavy redistricting board, in its zeal to break up the bipartisan coalition in charge of the Alaska Senate, has made Joe Hazelwood look like a model seaman. Let’s see how the entire state “fetched up.” Alaska’s Supreme Court, listing like a dinghy in 20-foot seas, decided by a 3-2 vote that we can run this year’s election on an unconstitutional map of election districts. Why? No time to do a constitutional version. The board’s map still has one last hurdle to clear: the Department of Justice, which…
Goodbye Rats, Hello… Hawadax?
Hawadax Island. It doesn’t conjure up images of umbrella drinks, and moonlit strolls on the sand. It sounds more like one of those islands where they sent large groups of people with contagious and incurable diseases, but it’s actually quite lovely. “Hawadax” means “those two over there” in the Alaskan Unungan language, (referring to two knolls that dominate the island’s topography) which isn’t really that thrilling either – until you get the whole story. Because however unappealing Hawadax “Those Two Over There” Island may sound, it could have been a lot worse. In fact, it was a lot worse until…
In My Alaska Garden – Memorial Weekend Planting and Hoop House Lessons
I’ve been a very busy girl in the hoop house, though not as busy as I would like. Life has interefered but I plan on spending the rest of the evening and most of tomorrow getting things together. This is my Memorial Day tradition, as it is for most gardeners. I can take you on a little tour… First, we look left to the “herb garden,” as yet incomplete… Missing from the photo (on the far left) is the bin containing Sage and Dill. The Basil is the “Aromatic Trio” from Renee’s Garden…I believe this one is the “Red Rubin”…
Election Recertified, Muni Clerk Resigns
I know I’ve been silent regarding my participation one of the “Ten Qualified Voters” who triggered the Election (Hand) Recount of 15 precincts. I hope all of you understand that I was writing constantly “for the cause” and wasn’t able to write it on Mudflats. AKM has been doing a magnificent job. My commentary on this post will be short but you can read the letter that we (through Hal Gazaway) submitted to Chairman Hall and the Assembly before yesterday’s meeting. The letter regards our findings as we went through days of the hand count process. When you read it, you will find it unsurprising that the…
Militia Trial: Armed Guards & Being Followed
Witness Victoria Thompson enters the court room wearing a long bright red cable-knit cardigan sweater. She is the News director for KJNP radio/TV in North Pole and she says she lives “on the KJNP compound.” KJNP stands for ‘King Jesus North Pole.’ The radio station has a gospel music format. She seems unhappy to be here. She doesn’t turn her head to face the prosecutor, but looks sideways while facing straight ahead. She is 72 years old and has been “in the news business” since she was 15. The prosecutor asks her if her allergies are bothering her. She says…
In My Alaska Garden – We Finally Built My Hoop House!
I deeply apologize for not publishing a garden post the last two Sundays. The first one I was drowning in writing and activities for the Hand Recount and last Sunday I was in Fairbanks being a delegate to the Democratic Convention. Believe me, I preferred to be in the garden! This weekend is very exciting for me because I’ve been anticipating building a hoop house since the Botanical Garden Spring Conference in early March! Now, we finally did it! And when I say “we,” I mostly mean Josh! First, we started out with some great, detailed instructions for a 10′…
Parnell’s Contemptible Appointment
In a recess appointment, Governor Sean Parnell has named Dianne Blumer to be Alaska’s new Labor Commissioner. Always interested in Parnell appointments to such important jobs, I checked her facebook page. Ah…ironic on the day Facebook went public, Mrs. Blumer hasn’t figured out her privacy settings. See, her facebook is listed under “Dianne Kiesel-Blumer”. Kiesel, Kiesel, Kiesel…why does that name sound familiar? Oh, that’s right, the pre-married Dianne Kiesel was found in contempt by the Alaska State Senate for ignoring subpoenas during the Senate’s Troopergate Investigation. She wasn’t alone. Todd Palin and eight other state employees had the same finding….