Town Square 49
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Perseverance Theatre Kicks off Inaugural Anchorage Season
Juneau-based Perseverance Theatre is kicking off its inaugural Anchorage season with “The Blue Bear,” Feb. 10-18 at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts. It will be the Anchorage premiere of the play, which is adapted from an award-winning book by Juneau author Lynn Schooler.
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Photo Gallery: Kuspuk Making
Lucy Brown, Agnes Baptiste, and Rosa Luhrs talk to 7th grade Yup'ik students about making kuspuks.
More photos. 2012 Iditarod Twitter #tweetchat
The Bureau of Land Management is hosting a Twitter #tweetchat to discuss the 2012 Iditarod National Historic Trail and its centennial. Musher Dan Seavey and BLM Iditarod National Historic Trail Coordinator Kevin Keeler @BLMAlaska will host the #tweetchat on Friday, Feb. 10, 2012, from 9 – 11 am AKST.
Read more.
Anchorage Recruiting Election Workers
Across the nation, there is a shortage of election workers, Anchorage is no exception.
Each year, the Municipality of Anchorage recruits to fill nearly 600 positions to work at precincts on Election Day.
Learn more.
Alaska Storytelling: Arctic Entries, Meet Mudrooms
In the category of Alaskan storytelling events, Anchorage has Arctic Entries.
In Juneau, they're just as sophisticated - just a little muddier. Mudrooms is a community-powered monthly event in Juneau, Alaska where real people tell real stories, live.
Click for more. 
Juneau Indie Filmmakers Host Screening in Anchorage
Alaska Robotics, a Juneau based collective of filmmakers, released their second collection of short films in November and are kicking off an informal state tour with a screening at the Alaska Experience Theatre in Anchorage.
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Perseverance Theatre Seeks Actor Housing for Anchorage Production
Perseverance Theatre, is bringing The Blue Bear up to share with Anchorage audiences this winter. Right now, they are looking for housing for artists and staff during their stay for the production. They will have people in Anchorage from the 31st of January through 19th of February.
Learn more. 
Alaska Report Features Alaska Sealife Center
Senator Mark Begich hosts the January 2012 edition of the Alaska Report, a show highlighting people, issues and programs impacting Alaska.
In this episode, Sen. Begich interviews the CEO of the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, Dr. Tara Jones.
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Conference of Young Alaskans
Photo Gallery: Alaska Railroad Engine 557
If you live in Anchorage, you've likely seen the old Alaska Railroad steam engine in the park strip. Recently, a similar coal-powered steam engine was returned to the Alaska Railroad.
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Corky the Sea Otter Goes Home
Corky, a juvenile male Northern sea otter, was rescued by trained U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff near mile 5 of the Kenai Spur
Highway on November 29th.
Click for larger view.
Talkeetna Build A Plane Project
The Northern Susitna Institute, a collaborative nonprofit educational organization, provides students of all ages the opportunity to learn, share ideas and develop real life skills through creating, supporting, facilitating and implementing a variety of experience-based academic programs, workshops, conferences, and community partnerships.
Talkeetna Build a Plane program is one of their offerings.
Click for larger view.
Photo Gallery: Washing an Eagle
Handy Alaskan hint #1097: next time you go to give your eagle a bath, have a couple of stress balls handy. They make great talon defusers.
The Bird Treatment and Learning Center is a nonprofit dedicated to rehabilitating sick, injured or orphaned wild birds and providing avian education programs to the public.
Click for more bird bath photos. 
NY Marines Support Alaska Toys for Tots
Marines from Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York, have been supporting Toys for Tots in Alaska since 1995. A C-130 and full flight crew provide transportation to Delta Company, Anti-Terrorism Battalion, 4th Marine Division, located at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
Click for video. 
Sitka Writer John Straley Honored by National Poetry Foundation
Novelist John Straley has been named to one of the most prestigious lists in the country – for poets.
The National Poetry Foundation has included the Sitka author’s poem “Every Single Day” in the anthology of pieces used by students in Poetry Out Loud, a national recitation competition.
Straley’s work rubs shoulders on the list with literary icons like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ezra Pound, and Robert Browning.
Read more. 
Photo Gallery: The Kroschel Wildlife Center
The Kroschel Wildlife Refuge is located at Mile 1.8 Mosquito Lake Road, Haines, AK 99827. The center houses 15 species of Alaskan Wildlife, including grizzly bear, wolf, moose, lynx, fox, reindeer, porcupine, snowy owl and wolverine. This gallery is focused on their grizzly bear, Kitty.
Click for the gallery. 
Photo Gallery: Conference of Young Alaskans Delgates
The mission of the Conference of Young Alaskans is to connect young Alaskans to a rich history, a vibrant present and a thriving future. The conference will draw delegates from across the state to consider the challenges facing Alaska and her people. Together, delegates will develop an overall vision statement, goals and proposed courses of action in five issue areas.
Meet the delegates. 
Ray Mala’s 105th Birthday
Senator Lisa Murkowski took the occasion of the 105th anniversary of Ray Mala’s birth to share the memories and the meaning of the nation’s first Native film star. An Alaska Native and the first non-white actor to receive top billing in Hollywood entertainment, Mala was born on December 27th, 1906 in Candle, Alaska.
Over the course of his career, Mala worked with cinema legends like Alfred Hitchcock and Cecil B. DeMille.
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Photo Gallery: The Native Art Center at UAF
Here is a great selection of images of student art from Fall 2011 semester, courtesy of the Native Art Center at UAF's facebook.
More photos. 
What’s Your Story?
The Alaska Teen Media Institute put together this video for townsquare49.org featuring video of Alaskans telling their stories all over the place.
Check it out. You might see yourself, or someone you know. After all, it is Alaska... you never know who you'll run into.
Click for larger view.