The Weekend Off – News You Missed
Alaska Christian Science Monitor – Using seawater for heating? Alaska aquarium takes the plunge. In another sign of the global shift from fossil fuels toward innovative clean energy solutions, an Alaska aquarium has switched to a heating system that runs on seawater. ADN.com – How one woman is helping ‘climate refugees’ face realities of relocation When Anchorage immigration attorney Robin Bronen decided to pursue an advanced degree in climate change at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2007, she was most interested in what climate had done to her beloved Alaska landscape. AP – Man dumps non-toxic green dye into Alaska creek…
Republicans-know-best Strategy Failing Alaska
A few months ago, I explained why the Republican majorities running the Alaska House and Senate would be wise to accept a Democratic offer to put aside party politics and work together as one big caucus of the whole to address our fiscal crisis. The last time we had a bipartisan Senate, it managed to come up with a fair oil tax structure, and put $16 billion in the bank. And thank God they did, because we’re living off that savings right now. But no, Republicans rejected bipartisanship and decided to go it alone. After their successful partisan gerrymandering of…
Fevered Coverage of Trump in Hartford, CT
I just left the road for a bit. I almost made it the whole season. Driving into Hartford, Connecticut at one in the morning is like driving into any number of North East cities. Not much is happening, but somehow, thanks to continual construction, there is traffic. My fever, which has slammed me since the morning is in full force – I’m not sure this is what should be called safe driving. If I make it through the next day’s rally, I’m calling it quits for at least a week. Being locked in a steel cage with dozens of other…
Bird of the Week – Red-tailed Hawk
The Red-tailed Hawk is the most common hawk in Alaska. This another polymorphic hawk, presenting a bewildering variety of colorations. In fact, the dark morph, “Harlan’s Hawk,” was at one point thought to be a different species. In Alaska, look for the dark head and the dark “belly band” and you’ve probably got a Red-tailed. In flight, it’s a little easier. Red-tailed Hawks breed throughout interior and southcentral Alaska. Alaska and Canada birds migrate to the southwest U.S., to Mexico and Central America and even to northern South America. Elsewhere in the U.S. they are present year-round. Camera geek stuff:…
Open Thread: Game of Thrones, Arctic Style
The Ocean Conservancy just dropped this stunning parody video to promote their new report on the effect drilling on the Arctic. It’s worth a watch and the report is of course, worth a read. I’ve been down with a mindblowing flu the last week, so I apologize for the lack of updates on the site – anything I would have written probably wouldn’t have made much sense anyway. So what have I missed Mudpuppies!?! What news have I missed in this 5 day feverish haze that I’ve been in…?
Mary Epperson Made Homer What It Is
Originally Printed in the Anchorage Daily News Alaska has lost one of our best — I would venture to say our very best — this week. Mary Epperson passed away in Homer, surrounded by her family. She was 93. In 1954, Mary, her husband Jack and two children moved to Alaska. At her insistence they brought a piano with them. Their family settled on the Kenai Peninsula, and Mary set about making the community of Homer what it is today. This is no exaggeration, she literally made our little hamlet by the sea what it is. She was the city…
Bird of the Week – Rough-legged Hawk
Rough-legged Hawks are rare in most of Alaska; they breed on the North Slope along the bluffs along the north-flowing rivers. But they move through eastern Alaska in the spring to get there. The big agricultural fields have a lot of small rodents, which gives the hawks a chance to fuel up before heading further north. This bird is snacking on a Red Squirrel. The hawk takes its name from its heavily feathered legs; most hawks have bare, unfeathered legs. Presumably, it’s an adaptation to the bird’s seasonal arctic habitat. The Rough-legged Hawk is polymorphic, meaning it comes in a…
Lee Camp Arrested At Democracy Spring
Lee Camp, host of RT’s Redacted Tonight and resident Palast Investigative Fund humorist was arrested Tuesday afternoon at the Democracy Spring protests in Washington DC. He was one of hundreds who have been arrested in the actions, which are now on day three of ten days of protests. Democracy Sping is a coalition of like-minded groups working together for voting rights, getting money out of politics and protecting the environment. Listen to Lee’s interview with RT’s Eunan O’Neill on his arrest. “There’s a lot of people that are standing up and willing to get arrested to call attention to how money has…
The Weekend Off – News You Missed
Alaska ADN.com – She died in an Anchorage jail while detoxing from heroin. Her family wants answers. Kellsie Green died in January, six days after she entered the Anchorage jail — 24 years old, weighing only about 80 pounds and about to embark on the brutal process of detoxing from a 4-gram-a-day heroin habit. KTVA.com – Analysis: 28 water systems in Alaska exceed EPA lead limit The only school in one of Alaska’s most eroded communities is among 28 public and private entities in the state whose water systems recently exceeded federal lead limits during the last three years. AK Public Radio…
John Kasich Town Hall, In Photos
This was my first time photographing Governor John Kasich. When I was in New Hampshire, he was not a priority as he was continually polling at the bottom of a massive list of candidates. His event in Syracuse, New York was moved at least once to accommodate the crowds which according to reports were above 2500. For comparison, Bill Clinton’s event in Scranton had maybe 3-400 and Hillary’s in Syracuse had by my guess a 1000. Not sure what that says, the area around Syracuse is pretty conservative and likely will not go for Hillary or Bernie in the national election….