Forest Service Speeds Up Tongass Second Growth Plan
The U.S. Forest Service says it’s speeding up Tongass National Forest’s transition from an old-growth management plan to a second growth plan.
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Scrap Company Makes Plans For Aleutian Clean-Up
Over the past year, a Virginia-based company has been helping Unalaska get rid of millions of pounds of scrap metal. They’re finally nearing the finish line, and now, they’re looking to expand to nearby islands.
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Hmong Student Heads to College, Credits Cut Counselor
An East High School graduate is on her way to college at University of Alaska Anchorage. That transition is noteworthy because the student is a refugee, has two kids and barely spoke English when she started High School. Pang Thao attributes her success to a specialized counselor who recently lost her job because of school district budget cuts.
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Renowned Tlingit Carvings To Be Publicly Displayed
A Tlingit clan has decided that a collection of renowned carvings will be publicly displayed in the village. The decision will hopefully put to rest a generations-old struggle within the clan of whether the carvings should be kept in the village or sold and preserved in museums.
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Catholic Church Rings In ‘Fortnight For Freedom’
If you’re in Juneau, Fairbanks or Anchorage tomorrow, you may hear the bells of the Catholic Church ringing at noon. Catholics in Alaska have been observing a two week period leading up to July 4, called the Fortnight for Freedom.
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Digital Preservation In National Historical Park
While the totem pole is one of the most recognizable forms of outdoor art in Alaska, it’s also one of the least permanent. At Sitka National Historical Park, many of the original totems have been re-carved, which, until recently, has been the only way to preserve this art form.
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Igushik River Sockeye Fishery Reopens After ‘Lone Star’ Sinking
The sinking of the tender "Lone Star" in the mouth of the Igushik River could not have happened at a worse time to close a fishery due to a fuel spill. It was right at the peak of the Sockeye Salmon run. The fishery was closed and then opened again.
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Recovery Efforts Continue For Old Plane Crash Near Knik Glacier
Slow progress is being made in analyzing an old plane crash site emerging each summer now in the Knik Glacier area. The C-124 Globemaster went down there in 1952 with 52 aboard, and the debris was spotted in June of last year.
Sunchokes in Alaska
For those of you who don't know, a Sunchoke, or Jerusalem Artichoke, is a perennial related to the sunflower with a tuberous root that is very edible and quite tasty.
I have been hearing about Sunchokes and their cold temperature hardiness for many years now, and they seem like a great perennial vegetable for Alaska, yet I've never seen them planted in the gardens around here.
Read more. Stuart Creek Fire East of Eielson Triples in Size
Stuart Creek Fire burning on military land east of Eielson Air Force Base has tripled in size over the last three days.
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Gabrielle Giffords Visits Alaska On ‘Rights and Responsibilities’ Tour
Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, spent Tuesday in Anchorage, the second stop on their seven-state “Rights and Responsibilities ” Tour. The two are trying to gather support for their push to require expanded background checks for gun buyers, but Alaska’s Congressional delegation is not on board.
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Efforts To Boom Off Sunken Tender ‘Lone Star’ Are Unsuccessful
Efforts to boom off the overturned fishing tender near the mouth of the Igushik River proved unsuccessful Monday night. The next plan of attack is to use divers to plug the vents on the vessel’s fuel tanks.
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Gara Considers Run For Governor
State Rep. Les Gara hasn’t ruled out a possible run for governor next year. The Anchorage Democrat says two important conditions exist for him in deciding whether to run. One is that he would have to talk it over with his wife. The other has to do with any other Democrats in the race.
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Smaller Gold Operations Gain Interest Around Yakutat
An Oklahoma company’s plan to mine gold from a large area around Yakutat is dead and buried. But there’s still interest in smaller operations near the northern Southeast community.
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Unusually High Percentage Of Climbers Summiting Denali
An unusually high percentage of climbers are topping out on North America’s highest peak this summer. In a normal year only about half the climbers attempting Denali reach the peak, but right now the summit rate is 73 percent. It’s the highest success rate recorded on the mountain since 1977. Park officials attribute the streak to relatively good weather during the busiest part of the climbing season.
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Aviator Visits Unalaska On Around-The-World Trip
Over the weekend, 21-year-old Jack Wiegand became the youngest person to ever fly solo around the world. Before making it back to California though, he stopped in Unalaska, where KUCB’s Stephanie Joyce caught up with him.
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Recovery Process Continues On ‘Sandbar Mitchell’
A Michigan based team in Fairbanks is recovering and restoring what’s left of an historic aircraft known as “Sandbar Mitchell.” Before starting their work, the group placed a plaque at the site of the plane crash that occurred on a Tanana River sandbar near Fairbanks 44 years ago. It remembers the Mitchell B-25 bomber that went down while in service as a fire fighting air tanker on June 27th 1969.
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Details Released On Rescue From ‘Into The Wild’ Bus
The events leading up to Christopher McCandless’ death were compiled in the book Into the Wild, which was later made into a motion picture. Since the release of the book and movie, many have trekked down the 20 miles of the Stampede Trail to visit the former Fairbanks city bus where McCandless died.
Lawmakers Visit Alaska
Alaska is hosting some Washington visitors this week. Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano visited Coast Guard facilities, and House Speaker John Boehner is touring some Western Alaska communities with Representative Don Young and will appear at a Republican fundraiser on Tuesday. Also in town is former Representative Gabby Giffords, campaigning for expanded background checks for gun sales.
Art Comes as a Refuge for June’s End of School Puzzles
The Brooklyn Museum of Art is a short subway ride from Midtown and although it competes with Manhattan’s museum trifecta: Metropolitan, Guggenheim, and MoMA, lately it’s been packing a mean punch.
John Singer Sargent could paint anything, as noted in his seafaring compositions where canvas sails soften wooden boats which lap up reflections from the water.
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