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  Bishop's Replacement Won't Take Job.

By Terry Carr
Anchorage Daily News
March 11, 2008

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/newsreader/story/341626.html

Russian flights spark fears. Frequent flights by Russian bombers over Alaska and elsewhere have U.S. military commanders worried, according to a Denver Post story. While odds are low that the flights are a military threat to the U.S., "there's more of a risk of something accidental happening," the story quotes a top military official as saying.

In one incident in November, U.S. F-22s tracked two Russian Bear-H bombers lumbering over Alaska's Aleutian Islands. The Colorado-based North American Aerospace Defense and Northern commands this month began joint exercises with Russian counterparts in Colorado and Alaska to help prevent problems, the story says.

Iditarod sled dog musher Lance Mackey leaves the Unalakleet checkpoint Sunday evening March 9, 2008

Closing in on Front Street. Lance Mackey and Jeff King left Elim this morning precisely 30 minutes apart in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, with Mackey, for now, running in front. The two could be setting the stage for a dramatic final run to the finish line in Nome. (See ADN's package of stories, photographs and video here, and check up-to-the-minute standings here.) Meanwhile, here are a few stories and commentary from Alaska and Outside indicating how others are covering the race:

> APRN has a story about the family ties that link some mushers in this year's Iditarod.

> Meet Smudge, a lead/swing dog on the team of Jon Korta of Galena and profiled on the Iditarod's blog site. The 5-year-old Alaskan husky has DeeDee Jonrowe's kennel in its bloodlines. Korta and Smudge were running 42nd out of Kaltag as of this morning.

> An Associated Press story reports on the anticipation and preparations in Nome for the arrival of the Iditarod winner, who should cross the finish line on Front Street sometime late tonight or early Wednesday morning. Volunteers were busy hanging flags, sorting straw for the dogs and distributing bags of food.

> Musher Bruce Linton is on the trail "with purposes bigger than winning, bigger than just competing," an APRN story says. For one thing, Linton is proving that Type 1 diabetes can't stop someone from undertaking endeavors such as the Iditarod; for another, he is testing a continuous glucose monitoring device.

> Tundra Medicine Dreams blog from Bethel has posted what amounts to a primer on the Iditarod. The blog entry links to an extensive collection of photographs posted on Flickr of the race's ceremonial start in Anchorage and includes a brief, but vivid, description of Lance Mackey: "He has set a completely new standard in long-distance dog mushing. He is an incredible guy. Whip-thin. Focused. Driven. Seemingly tireless. A survivor of throat cancer that left him with no salivary glands, requiring him to drink water constantly to replace the saliva he cannot produce."

> A dog sled maker in New Hampshire is keeping up with this year's race as more than a casual spectator, according to a Union Leader story. Carl Brown of Whitefield builds a sled that is lighter, more flexible and more durable than traditional sleds, and three of them are running in the race. Lance Mackey's is one.

> The Mostly Dogs web site (a discussion forum "for those who consider animals to be part of the family") jumped on the Iditarod's second dog death, terming the race the "I-Hurt-Dog" and listing the race's sponsors. The site also links to a complete list of dogs that have died in the race.

Clark's law license at risk. Jim Clark, former Gov. Frank Murkowski's chief of staff, could lose his license to practice law as a result of his guilty plea last week to a federal conspiracy charge, a Juneau Empire story says. The Alaska Bar Association has begun the process that could lead to the disbarment, the story says.

Steve Van Goor, counsel to the bar association, told the paper he plans to submit material on Clark's conviction to the Alaska Supreme Court, which regulates the law profession in the state.

Fairbanks says yes to fluoride. The Fairbanks City Council has voted to keep supplementing fluoride levels in the city's drinking water, according to a Fairbanks Daily News-Miner story. The council made the decision despite a string of comments from residents who spoke in opposition to fluoride at a hearing before Monday night's vote.

"Nineteen people at Monday's meeting asked the city to end fluoridation," the story says, "while seven supported the program. Some critics noted the compound added to water in Fairbanks and other places originated as a byproduct of the fertilizer industry and pointed to studies that show long-term exposure to fluoride at four times the recommended level can cause defects in tooth enamel."

Bishop's replacement won't take job. A Kodiak Daily News story says that the man appointed to replace Alaska Bishop Nikolai Soraich will not take the job, further complicating the administrative picture of the Alaska Diocese. Though Bishop Nikolai has been ordered by church authorities to leave, he has refused to do so.

The bishop stands accused of intimidation, abuse, disrespect and forcing priests and their parishioners to adhere to outmoded 19th-century religious rituals. See ADN's latest story and links to earlier stories here.

About face. An APRN story reports on the changes ahead for the Alaska Army National Guard, which is being transformed "to become more relevant to today's military as well as to the state of Alaska." The central "readiness centers" of the Guard will be in Juneau, Bethel and Nome, according to the story. The Anchorage armory will remain Guard headquarters, and Fairbanks will have an aviation component.

"Those three readiness centers remain the key readiness centers for the Army National Guard," said Major Gen. Craig Campbell. "I am not pulling back from any of the three locations. I need to stress that because many people are saying, 'Oh, this is just a structure to bring everything into Anchorage and Fairbanks.' Absolutely it is not. I want to see more soldiers and more activity in rural Alaska."

Pothole patrol. "Potholes take the cake as a season-changing sign here," says a KTUU Channel 2 story that looks at city and state crews' efforts to keep up with the emerging craters as temperatures warm. "You can't predict where they are going to be and the holes are going to happen and people are going to hit them sometimes," municipal superintendent of street maintenance Dan Southard told the station.

The story caught up with an unfortunate driver who had a run-in with one notorious pothole. "I went into a pothole that I clearly did not see," said driver Margaret Bauer. "I bent my rim and flattened my back tire, and during that time there was probably four other people that drove by to tell me the story of the same pothole."

Convicted pastor bows out. A Fairbanks Daily News-Miner story says that a local television station has reported that former Fairbanks Mayor Jim Hayes, who was convicted on federal charges of theft and tax fraud, has stepped down as pastor of his church. Hayes's Lily of the Valley Church of God in Christ figured prominently in the charges against him, with some of the money stolen from social services grants going to build a new home for the church.

Indians gather to save the planet. Alaskans were among the North American Indians who gathered this week in the shadow of the ancient Mayan pyramids in Mexico to explore traditional solutions to environmental pollution, an Associated Press story says. The 200 leaders who attended the event came from 71 American Indian nations in Mexico, the United States and Canada.

"Our Mother Earth is being polluted at an alarming rate, and our elders say that she is dying," Raymond Sensmeier, a Tlingit leader from Yakutat, said. "The way the weather is around the world ... a cleansing is needed."

Movie stars. Salsa and beer made in Alaska have roles, if small ones, in the upcoming Sandra Bullock movie "The Proposal," an Alaska Journal of Commerce story says. Beer from Alaska Brewing Co. in Juneau and Alaska Heat salsa both show up in scenes, the story says.

The movie is one of many in recent years about Alaska that isn't being filmed in Alaska. Still, the makers of the products are pleased Alaska products will make an appearance. "We love having our product displayed in Alaska settings," said Marcy Larson of Alaska Brewing. "We much prefer it when we represent Alaska in Alaska, but barring that, we like that they are using Alaska products."

For sale but not on the Net. Anchorage's 4th Avenue Theatre apparently showed up for a time for sale on Craigslist, the Internet want-ad site, according to a KTUU Channel 2 story. But the bank handling the foreclosure of the theater knew nothing about it. A bank representative told the station it was an illegitimate listing.

The theater is due to go on the auction block later this month.

 
 

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