Dave Waldron
Protecting Palmer Farmland in Perpetuity
Today we’re exploring farmland in Palmer. The Alaska Farmland Trust was formed about eight years ago in an effort to preserve agricultural land across the state.
Their work is creating conservation easements on Alaska farms, which will provide benefits to the land owner, but more importantly will guarantee the land won’t ever be developed.
Read more.
Planning Your Halloween Party Mix
Today we’re making a playlist. Halloween is around the corner, and many people already have their jack-o-lanterns, candy and spider webs ready.
But, how many of us have our music planned? For some advice on building the ultimate Halloween soundtrack, I consulted an Anchorage music expert - DJ Spencer Lee.
Searching for the Moon Over Alaska
Today we’re searching for the moon. Saturday was International Observe the Moon Night, and a group of staff at the Anchorage Loussac Library celebrated it for their third consecutive year.
Linda Klein is the youth services librarian at the Loussac, and is running tonight’s event. Right now, she's using a butter knife to scrape off different amounts of frosting on several cookies, displaying each phase of the moon.
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The Year-round Alaska Gardener
Today we’re starting a garden. Most people would probably assume that gardening season begins in early spring. But for garden blogger Jamie Woodside, the season never ends.
Woodside is already planning her 2014 garden, even though her current one is still producing vegetables.
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Hands-on Discovery in Portage Valley
Today we’re going to school outside. Douglas Causey is a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and most days he’s teaching in a classroom like every other teacher.
But, the one he’s teaching today couldn’t be more different. This classroom is in Portage Valley. And the homework? Catching fish.
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Making A Batch of Cranberry Hooch
Today we’re making hooch. Town Square 49 contributor Connie Walker recently posted a recipe for her cranberry hooch on our website. She originally discovered the recipe in the late 60s after she had curled up on her couch with a copy of the Sunday paper.
Walker lives in Oregon today and says she hasn't made the hooch in decades, so I decided to track down an Anchorage cranberry expert to see if the recipe still held up almost 50 years later.
Welcoming the Fall with Local Food
Today we’re welcoming the fall season with food. The leaves are dropping, there's a chill in the air and Alaska's edible bounty is changing. Local food blogger Heidi Drygas knows just how to embrace that change, and she's starting at the Sears Mall farmers market.
Drygas writes the food blog Chena Girl Cooks, and her newest recipe entry is going to capture all that is fall.
How Many Shrews Can a Rainbow Trout Eat?
Today, we meet a rainbow trout with an unbelievable appetite. Mark Lisac is a fish biologist at the Togiak Refuge, and just a few weeks ago he and group of his colleagues were catching rainbow trout for a tracking project.
“I can’t say for certain that I’ve ever seen a well preserved shrew in a stomach analysis,” Lisac says. Let alone 19 of them.
Read more.
Honoring Young Heroes at the State Fair
On a recent beautiful day at the fair, Alaska Communications and the Boys and Girls Club honored the winners of this year's Summer of Heroes program - which acknowledges youth that have gone above and beyond to help their communities.
Each "Hero," as they are referred to, is given a $1500 scholarship. Two of the award recipients this year are brothers.
AK: Surfing Turnagain Arm
It’s one of the few sports that most Alaskans haven’t tried in the state. Our water is freezing, our beaches are rocky and there aren’t many places to catch good waves. But none of that kept Anchorage resident Robert Stormo from attempting a daring surfing adventure along Turnagain Arm.
Surfing the Bore Tide
Today we’re going surfing. Surfing is one of the few sports that most Alaskans haven’t tried.
Our water is freezing, our beaches are rocky and there aren’t many places to catch good waves.
None of that kept Robert Stormo from doing it.
An Alaskan Midwife in Haiti
Today we meet a midwife that is going to Haiti, and the film crew following her.
Jennifer Hoadley has been a labor and delivery nurse for six years. Not long ago, she was communicating by text with one of her nursing colleagues, who at the time was working in Haiti.
When she realized how bad the conditions were, she decided it was time to head to Haiti herself.
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Postcards from the Klondike Gold Rush Trail
Corrie Francis Parks is an artist based out of Montana. Last year, she applied for the artist residency program offered by the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park.
The program contracts artists to hike the famous 33 mile Chilkoot Trail, and create an interactive artistic work with their fellow travelers. Francis Parks chose postcards as her medium.
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Getting the Kids Outside Year-round
Today we’re playing outside.
This play group calls themselves “Skedaddle,” and their purpose is to get the children outdoors together at least once a week. Even in the wind, rain and subzero temperatures.
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Calling All Heroes
Today we’re making heroes. Heather Cavanaugh oversees the Summer of Heroes program, a partnership with ACS and the Boys and Girls Club. The program nominates and awards Alaskan youths for their outstanding community service.
Winners of the award will receive a $1500 scholarship, as well as invitations to special events and recognition ceremonies.
Read more.
Plants Vs. Zombies
Today we’re talking zombies and gardens. Shannon Kuhn is co-founder of the group Anchorage Food Mosaic, a collection of writers, food enthusiasts, and gardeners. One of the Mosaic’s goals is to encourage people to grow their own food.
Kuhn thinks she’s discovered a way to get more young people thinking about farming: Gardening is a mandatory skill for the zombie apocalypse.
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Eating Well Aboard a Seward Sailboat
Today we’re eating well on the ocean. About three years ago Jack and Barbra Donachy decided to move to Alaska from California in pursuit of a subsistence lifestyle.
Today they are teachers in Point Hope, and spend their summers on a boat in Seward. They named it Bandon.
A “Big Day” Birding in Seward
It’s 5:40am, on Saturday. Way early than I usually wake up. I’m going to try and slip out of here without waking the wife and the dog. Let’s go do some birding.
Our guide today is Zac Clark. He’s doing what birders call a “Big Day.”
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(Teen) Underground Filmmakers
Today we take a look inside Teen Underground, a place for teenagers meet at the Loussac library to work on creative projects.
The first kids I meet are Alexis and Patricia. They’re best friends, and they inform me that when they first came to Teen Underground they just knew they were going to hate it.
The Growing Up Anchorage Website
Today we’re growing up in Anchorage. Many people who move to Alaska end up never leaving, but what about the people who grow up here and then move away? Jana Nelson came to Anchorage in 1948, when she was just six years old.
Now, Nelson has created a website dedicated to the Anchorage she remembered.
Read more.