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Buh-bye, Ted.

...when Stevens won re-nomination to his Senate seat by a two to one margin.

In the hours following a verdict that found Sen. Ted Stevens guilty of seven corruption offenses, Republicans and

Autumn’s coming, at least way up north. The trees in this parking lot at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have turned a brilliant orange.

You can see a live shot of this view and some others

I’ve said numerous times that Ted Stevens would be re-elected to three or four additional terms even after he kicks the bucket. This will barely even make a blip on his chances in November.

When it

Last weekend I had two posts about life events in Alaska: bar owner Skinny Dick had passed away, and Gov. Palin’s newest son was born.

Well, last night Chris and I watched the “Mythbusters” episode

Congratulations to Alaska’s governor and her family on the inauguration of a new member:

Gov. Sarah Palin gave birth Friday to her fifth child, a boy, about a month before her due date.

Trig Paxson

The drive along Alaska’s George Parks Highway (Route 3, for those with maps) includes a sight that has provoked snickers for years: Skinny Dick’s Halfway Inn, a store, cafe and watering hole just

One of the things that always flabbergasted me about living in Alaska was the exorbitant per capita cost of state government.

The state Senate is getting ready to consider a $10 billion state

If I’m not mistaken, the primary election in Alaska, which occurs in August, normally happens after the presidential nominating conventions.

Alaska Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell upstaged his boss at the

A couple of weeks ago I wrote that Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) is highly popular with her constituents in the Land of the Midnight Sun.

One of the ways you can tell that, in this day and age, is

It’s like nowhere else in America on earth.

Jack Wright was 13 in 1969 when he worked all summer, earning $600 to buy his first snowmachine, a 1969 Polaris Mustang.

The sled cost $1,200.

“I went

The waiting to find out who won the Nenana Ice Classic is underway.

The Ice Classic is a Nenana tradition that, according to organizers, started in 1917 when a group of engineers placed bets on when

Here’s another possible McCain running mate who could potentially get my vote in November—but I’m not sure it would set too well with most Alaskans.

As John McCain inches closer to the 1,191

Again, I’m posting from blamy balmy* Coweta County, Georgia, not chilly Fairbanks—but for this post I thought I’d offer the current conditions up there as background for the content.

The caption

You’d think after 18,000 years in the U.S. Senate ol’ Uncle Ted would have solved all these problems by now.

High energy prices and a lack of jobs are choking the Alaska economy outside Anchorage

I’m not actually posting this in Fairbanks—just providing the current conditions at the time these pictures were taken at about a quarter past 8:00 a.m., Alaska Standard Time:

Since it’s (been) snowing here, today seems like a good time to take another look at the Fairbanks-area ice tower.

I don’t think we’d have much luck trying that here in Coweta County.

For those of us living here we sort of forget that there are two reindeer living right in the middle of town. When you think of it, how many towns in the country do you suppose have reindeer living

ANCHORAGE, Alaska—What do you call a bull moose tangled in Christmas lights and drunk on fermented crab apples, standing glassy-eyed and dizzy in the front yard of a downtown bar?

Buzzwinkle?

But

Fairbanks recently elected a new city mayor, in the wake of a debacle in which voters first all but junked the city’s property tax system while also rejecting a sales tax to take its place, then

A North Pole Man has been charged with 11 offenses after leading police on a high-speed chase Thursday afternoon.

Alaska State Troopers were notified about 6:45 p.m. that Kenneth Lerhman, 37, was

When we lived in Alaska, two of Chris’ co-workers lived in Fairview Manor, and when I worked delivering food orders for what was then Fairbanks’ only KFC restaurant, I often visited the complex.

A

...it must be getting almost time for another “icescraper.”

Looks that way.

A pack of wolves killed and ate a dog in a residential subdivision in North Pole early Wednesday morning.

The dog, a 15-year-old black Lab mix named Shilo, evidently ran into the wolves while it

I’ve been saying for years that I don’t think Ted Stevens will ever be voted out of his Senate seat, because Alaskans of both parties rely too heavily on his seniority to bring home the pork.

It’s

One week from today, most stores will have cleared out their Halloween candy and replaced it with Christmas candy. In many of those stores, Christmas merchandise is already on display. You may have

Pikers.

Sen. Ted Stevens raised slightly more than $463,000 in campaign donations between July and September.

The third-quarter contributions were more than Stevens raised in any quarter since

I previously posted on this 13 months ago.

A Fairbanks man was sentenced to more than 18 years in prison Monday for his role in the death of a world-renowned physicist.

In April, a jury found Byron

When we lived in the North Pole area east of Fairbanks, our heating-fuel supply contract was with this outfit.

A North Pole fuel oil company has stopped delivering to residential customers.

Badger

This time of year I really miss the webcam that used to be hosted at BLM’s Fairbanks office and administered by Scott Iverson, back before the Department of the Interior was ordered to shut down and

A recent decision by Ice Alaska to bring an ice carving event to North Pole has everyone involved excited. A lot of us are declaring it to be one of the greatest things to happen to North Pole in a

Even now, going on eight years since moving away, I remain something of a North Pole partisan. So I’m glad to read about this:

In the late 1980s, BeaverBrook Mall was the biggest mall in the

I would now rather be represented in the Senate by a Democrat, than see Ted Stevens returned for yet another interminable term as the Senate’s senior Republican.

Of the numerous black and white

By email from Chris:

As the scandals swirl in Alaska, Republicans might want to think of a plan B in case Ted Stevens has to go.

» Instapundit

Never happen. Ted Stevens is the Bipartisan Patron Demi-God of All Alaskans,

Alex Gimarc, author of Interesting Items, announces in his April 30 edition (I always receive them a few days late for some reason) that he has been elected to the Board of Directors of Chugach

“I told my son, ‘you can have the computer business, I have to do this one more time,’” he said. He was looking for an idea for a restaurant, maybe a coffee shop, when he was thumbing through a

Even as long ago as 1999, when Wifey-Ki-Yay and I moved away from Fairbanks, that city’s University Center Mall at Airport Way and University Avenue, was in decline—and there were chronically empty

Last year there were reports that a second Wal-Mart was planned for Fairbanks. At first I was skeptical, but I later discovered that preliminary plans were indeed underway. Of course, this year

In Fairbanks proper, there are a number of mini-adventures that still cross paths with the people who live there. Wild moose still wander through town. The Northern Lights still brighten the winter

Alaska swore in its first woman governor yesterday—and it was the first gubernatorial inauguration held outside the state’s capital city since, well, since statehood. And…

In a speech shortly after,

...to send this guy to the Alaska Pioneers’ Home for a nice, long retirement of daytime TV and tapioca pudding?

Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska announced Wednesday that he’ll be running for

Some background: in Alaska they don’t have counties, they have boroughs. And although boroughs have many similarities to what we call counties in the Lower 48, a lot of the functions we associate

Of the three states I’ve lived in, all three had gubernatorial elections yesterday. In two, incumbent Republicans were seeking re-election and won handily. In the third, the Republican incumbent was

Fairbanks, North Pole, and the borough that contains them had municipal elections yesterday. According to the Fairbanks North Star Borough election returns, the North Pole city mayoral race ended

Spending other people’s money, of course.

Democratic candidate for governor Tony Knowles on Monday called for expanding the state’s early education and children’s health care programs. “We know

I’d seen two previous News-Miner reports on this accident, but a browse of the archives this morning has failed to turn up those reports. The first tells of a horrendous accident on Chena Hot

In Fairbanks it is 37°F.

Here, it is forty degrees warmer. I thought it was kind of pleasant until I saw the Fairbanks temperature.

Nothing like a little self-torture on a Sunday morning.

An unusual collaboration between Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Internet bloggers on Wednesday led a senator to publicly acknowledge that he’d been blocking a vote on a government

Alaska Republicans appear to have chosen to return to their pre-2002 roots.

Sarah Palin of Wasilla dominated her primary election opponents Tuesday and unseated Gov. Frank Murkowski to win the

It’s dark in Fairbanks.

I wish I’d thought of it.

Here’s the FoxNews.com report that led me to that site:

What do you do if you’re the only cop in a teeny, remote village above the Arctic Circle on Alaska’s Barter Island

A wolf chasing a bicyclist was struck and killed by a trucker along the Dalton Highway at Mile 79 last week, but it wasn’t the same wolf that chased down and bit an Anchorage woman near the Arctic

The editors of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner seem to think Frank Murkowski doesn’t want to get re-elected or something.

There’s word going round that Gov. Frank Murkowski might do the unthinkable

...was wiser than the boy, at least: in her case there really was a wolf.

An Anchorage woman walking along the Dalton Highway was chased down and bitten twice by a wolf Friday morning in what

Yesterday I saw this at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner online, an op-ed by yet another of my Fairbanks friends, Charlie Dexter.

Wouldn’t it be grand if we never made customer service boo-boos?

U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens pounded his fist on the table Friday at the Anchorage Hilton as he urged state lawmakers to act now on the proposed natural gas pipeline contract. “Forget your fights,” he

In an update to this post a couple of weeks ago, I linked to a letter in the News-Miner written by David M. Runfola of Fairbanks—who theorized that the beluga whale found dead and frozen in Alaska’s

Having former lite-gubnor Jack Coghill endorse John Binkley was bad enough.

The state of Alaska’s second governor, Walter J. Hickel, is backing Republican candidate Sarah Palin in the race to become

Jack Coghill is another one of those prominent Alaska folks I knew while living up yonder. I think he served as chairman of the Alaskan Independence Party for much of that time, so this is not a

Last month, Alaska’s Gov. Frank Murkowski delayed announcing his decision to seek re-election, allegedly out of a desire not to politicize negotiations for a natural gas pipeline from the North

Editors of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner wax peevish over a House bill to forbid the State of Alaska from using federal funds to build Ketchikan’s “Bridge to…” its own @#$!ing airport.

And, for the

Wal-Mart shoppers apprehended a suspected purse snatcher outside the store Tuesday morning after the man knocked a cup of coffee out of a woman’s hand, grabbed her pocketbook and ran toward The Home

In this post I said of Alaska’s Gov. Frank Murkowski,

...if Murkowski’s political dawdling is out of concern for the best interest of the state, and a desire to avoid having the negotiations become

It may seem as though I know everybody in the Fairbanks-North Pole area (I didn’t mention in the previous post that I knew both Kathleen “Mike” Dalton and Eileen VanWyhe while living up there).

I guess now that the natural-gas pipeline contract has been negotiated, the gubnor is finally free to announce his plans.

Gov. Frank Murkowski will announce this morning whether he will run for

Another letter-to-the-editor from an idiot.

Alaska’s legislators shouldn’t let Gov. Murkowski’s “gas deal” steal away the future from Alaska’s children. Alaskans deserve a 50 percent wellhead tax

And I’m glad they seem to have solved it. If their suspect is guilty, he needs to go away for as long as the law allows.

Although, since Alaska doesn’t have the death penalty, “as long as the law

Back in 1994, incumbent Gov. Wally Hickel—who won election four years earlier as the nominee of the Alaskan Independence Party but reverted to the GOP while serving—played it coy on the question of

In a true capitalist system, a true monopoly is only possible with government permission. And is it should, that permission comes with strings attached.

And so it is that we have a declared monopoly

...in a manner of speaking.

The siren has sounded in Nenana, signaling the winning time in Alaska’s annual spring guessing game. The clock stopped at 6:29 p.m. ADT on Tuesday, but since the Nenana

More bad publicity for my erstwhile hometown.

A former North Pole police officer is in jail on suspicion of brokering a bribe between another former officer and a female friend accused of drunken

...work on improving your aim.

A downtown shootout early Monday morning sent two men to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. One man remained in the hospital, while the other was jailed on attempted murder

McGehee’s First Law of Economics is, You don’t make more money by selling less product.

McGehee’s Second Law of Economics is, Anything that drives up the other guy’s cost of doing business, will

...although it certainly could have been worse.

It’s the home of Jolly Old St. Nicholas, candy cane striped light poles and year-round holiday mirth. But this week, the city of North Pole was

Here it is, past the Ides of April, and there’s still plenty of snow and ice on the ground up in Interior Alaska. And a phenomenon I first noticed after having lived up there for only a few years

...why I wouldn’t vote for Binkley even if he were running for speed bump:

The Department of Natural Resources has released its latest offer to settle a 27-year lease dispute with a Fairbanks

To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor Contact: Elliott Jacobson, 202-558-6394, 202-460-8340 (cell) News Advisory: WHO: Mike Gravel for President 2008 WHAT: Press Conference where former United

Property taxes have been getting awfully high. On this point, Charlie Rex and Jim Whitaker can agree. “It’s reaching the point that a family with a single wage-earner is beginning to feel a heavy

Democrats and the media (but I repeat myself) claim the Republican Party is in “disarray”—but I think these two news items are signs that the GOP is healthy and in a strong position going into 2006.

I’ve just discovered that Wikipedia has a page dedicated to highways in Alaska. No, that’s not why my opinion of Wikipedia has improved, though it doesn’t hurt. The reason is that under the

...are like addicts with crack.

Our new tax assessments just arrived. I’ll bet that if your bill is like mine, your home assessment skyrocketed yet another year. Do you feel richer for the

During those years up north I was something of a North Pole partisan anyway, so the idea expressed in this letter to the editor (second on the page) appeals to me—though established local merchants

One of the things we decided we liked about the Fairbanks area when we lived there was, it wasn’t as windy as, say, Delta Junction or Healy.

Wind gusts of almost 40 mph were recorded Tuesday morning

A few weeks ago I heard an official with the Georgia section of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) talk about the impact on amateur radio as a hobby, of something called BPL—broadband over power

Not yet though—they’re still alive.

Their behavior seemed suspicious, Smith said, but he declined to elaborate. As soon as Smith turned his back on one of them, he was struck with what felt like a

I wish this letter writer had named names. Then again, maybe he did but the newspaper edited it out.

I had a teacher tell my class, in a cheap attempt to scare my fellow students and I, that

...to visit Fairbanks again.

Say good-bye to the blue and orange at the Fairbanks International Airport. That part of the terminal was built in 1952. It’s inefficiently designed, poorly insulated

Strictly speaking GeMatt’s Place isn’t actually on the reciprocal blogroll, but GeMatt runs four separate blogs and while only one is technically on the ‘roll, the others are named and linked in the

...I wouldn’t have made that mistake.

I thought the Wal-Mart already open in Fairbanks was a Supercenter, with a grocery section. I was wrong. But apparently not for long.

Mother Nature just fired up another one of her SUVs (sport-utility volcanoes).

Mount Augustine Volcano erupted early Wednesday, sending an ash plume an estimated 30,000 feet into the Alaska sky. A

Except, turns out the stupidity isn’t limited to the laws themselves.

Whitekeys and the editors of the Alaska Almanac first opted to joke about Fairbanks laws regarding moose in the 1997 edition.

In case anyone ever wonders why notices that I sometimes refer to Alaska as The Lost Frontier, I offer the following as Exhibit A.

Fairbanks needs and deserves an indoor turf arena.

If your first

Fairbanks, Alaska, is a politically polarized community. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner splits the difference as much as it can, but at heart its editors are basically of the “country-club”

Group Opposes Second Wal-Mart Matt Emmons @ Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

A group of Fairbanks residents is making an organized stand against plans to build a second Wal-Mart. They call themselves the

Shea: State Attorney General Violated Ethics Law on Irwin Memo R.A. Dillon, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Former U.S. Attorney Wev Shea claims that Alaska Attorney General David Marquez violated the

[Originally posted last Tuesday]

Intriguing developments in the negotiations between the State of Alaska and oil industry representatives. Where is the state’s natural resources commissioner? Is he

You might be wondering why an article about a lawsuit in Wyoming qualifies here for the Alaska category. Read on.

Fremont Lawsuit Grows Out of Nationwide Effort Ben Neary, AP

CHEYENNE—A federal

North Pole Wendy’s Restaurant Closes Its Doors Jan Thacker @ fairbanks Daily News-Miner

The rumors started flying just a day before the grill was officially turned off, the lights turned out and the

About six weeks ago, I wrote:

I’d be astonished if Wal-Mart were even thinking about building a second store in Fairbanks, let alone one at that particular location.

Well…

Wal-Mart Plans New Store

Katrina Evacuees Coming to Fairbanks Amanda Bohman, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Four evacuees of Hurricane Katrina have landed in Fairbanks, with more to come, according to the local chapter of the

Purty picture below the fold.

A lot of the news from last week and over the weekend focused on the behavior of some of the people stranded in New Orleans by the flooding as they waited to be evacuated. It’s left me thinking

Winter Chill Hits Town Amanda Bohman, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

A trace snow fell at Fairbanks International Airport late Wednesday ended the driest August on record, according to the National

Today’s Last Monday’s Fairbanks Daily News-Miner online has a human-interest profile on one of the local busybodies (I don’t mean it pejoratively—necessarily) who has a knack for knowing what’s

The Bugs Are Back With a Biting Vengeance Doug O’Harra, Anchorage Daily News

They buzz and bite and swarm. They drive people indoors, torment gardeners, stampede the tourists. It’s the Incredible

Fungui Destroy Mosquitoes Roxanne Khamsi, Nature.com

A mouldy house could help combat malaria by killing off the mosquitoes that carry the disease. Researchers have found that an oil-based fungal

The fact is, there are some people out there whose sole purpose in life really does seem to be to give the rest of the gun-owning American public a bad name.

Campers’ Potshots Shoot Holes in

ExpressionEngine comes with an image gallery module for people who want to display photographs on our websites. As you may know, I’ve already got some photo gallery pages that I’ve done in plain

Nobody ever seems to complain about the impact of a Barnes & Noble on the locally-owned bookstores.

Gulliver’s Books Consolidates Inventory at College Road Location Mary Beth Smetzer, Fairbanks

Realignment Plan Stuns North Pole Margaret Friedenauer, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE—Like most members of the U.S. military, Gen. Marke Gibson was more than a little interested

Billy Creek Fire Reawakens Tim Mowry, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Firefighters didn’t put an end to last summer’s record wildfire season in Alaska and winter couldn’t do the job, either. The Billy

House: Local Area Consent Required for Annexation Daniel Rice, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

JUNEAU—The House of Representatives voted Monday to prevent an area from becoming part of a borough without

...between the spiritual heir of St. Peter, and a honkytonk bar outside of Fairbanks, Alaska?

Alaskans Cherish Memories of Pope’s Visits Mary Beth Smetzer, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

The wave of

Don Young International Airport Nixed Diana Campbell, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly quashed Hank Bartos’ idea to honor Alaska’s lone congressman by renaming

Alaska is considering replacing its aging Capitol. A letter in this morning’s Fairbanks Daily News-Miner includes the URL for the Alaska Capitol Design Competition. The letter writer has some harsh

Actually, 82 years after the Alaska Railroad was completed, the task of finally connecting it to the rest of the North American rail system is still in the talking stages.

Canada Not Interested in

Alaska Ice Tower Falls Tim Mowry, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Fairbanks’ largest ice sculpture came tumbling down late Sunday night with a ground-shaking crash that was heard but not seen. The Fox

I thought I wanted ANWR opened to drilling. Now…?

Stevens Mulls Retirement if ANWR Fails Sam Bishop, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

WASHINGTON—Sen. Ted Stevens said the gridlock over oil drilling in the

Alaska’s DMV is no longer issuing those “pretty” centennial license plates (top row, far right at link) commemorating the 1898 Klondike gold rush, and drivers getting new plates “will have to settle

Former Councilman Dies at 73 Daniel Rice, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Former Fairbanks city councilman and local educator Bob Boko, whose conducting skills were legendary in community circles, has

When Chris and I moved to Fairbanks in 1994, the Fred Meyer store on College Road was a variety store with no grocery section. In many ways it was like a small version of a Kmart or Wal-Mart before

For a guy who doesn’t like winter, John Reeves sure has a funny way of showing it.

How else do you explain the nearly 150-foot-tall, prehistoric-looking tower of ice that Reeves has grown—and

One of the first touristy things Chris and I did when we moved to Alaska in 1994 was take a day trip down to Denali National Park on the Alaska Railroad. Since our arrangements were through Holland

Pet Buffalo Still Roaming the Trails Tim Mowry, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

A Fairbanks farming couple is still searching for a pet buffalo that escaped from its pen on Sunday night after a moose

Yep—I’m homesick.

While perusing my referral stats, I stumbled upon the comment thread here. There’s a comment by Kurt Preston asking:

Ah, this picture brings back many fond memories from when I was stationed at

Richardson Stretch Designated Scenic Byway Tom Moran, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

The Richardson Highway just officially got a little more scenic.

The state of Alaska has approved a request to

Bogus Bear Tracks Give Scare to Some Creamer’s Field Trail Users Tim Mowry

Someone is laying down bogus bear tracks on the trails at Creamer’s Field and it’s putting a scare into some folks who have

A Senator’s Warning Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

When U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens spoke with the Daily News-Miner’s Washington Bureau recently about his term as chairman of the Senate Appropriations

Avalanche, High Winds Close Interior Highways Mary Beth Smetzer, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Father Christmas took a back seat to Mother Nature on Thursday as a powerful winter storm fouled holiday

Report: More Gas Line Incentives Necessary Sam Bishop, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

WASHINGTON—A national panel of energy experts says in a new report that Alaska’s natural gas line may need more

See also related post here.

Mayor Calls Meeting on Animal Shelter Diana Campbell, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Borough Mayor Jim Whitaker has called a special public meeting with the Fairbanks North

Borough Investigating Animal Shelter Manager Amanda Bohman, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

The manager of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Animal Shelter is on administrative leave pending an

From Rain to Snow to Downright Cold Tim Mowry, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Dig out the extension cords and union suit.

A winter that so far has been custom-made for Fairbanksans is expected to take a

Recount Madness rolls on. In Ohio, in Alaska…

Group Seeks Senate Recount Sam Bishop, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

A group of Fairbanks residents is trying to raise enough money to pay for a statewide

We interrupt this balmy west Georgia weekend to show you the weather in Fairbanks.

Now turn down that damned furnace, you wuss.

North Pole Ups Sales Tax 1 Percent

Amanda Bohman, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

NORTH POLE—The city raised its sales tax by a penny earlier this week to solve a budget shortfall, according to Mayor

Bush Looking Anew for Alaska Oil Drilling H. Josef Hebert, AP

Republican gains in the Senate could give President Bush (news - web sites) his best chance yet to achieve his No. 1 energy priority —

Nepotism Back in Campaign Ads Sam Bishop, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

When the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee aired a TV ad in August mocking Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s appointment, former Gov.

FEC Charge Takes on Voice Editorials AP

A Democrat filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over editorials published in the state’s largest newspaper supporting Republican Sen. Lisa

According to my referral logs, this post about the dangling bull moose is one of the more popular items I’ve blogged in a while.

For those following the link from The Motley Fool, click the link in

Wired Moose Tim Mowry, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s a bull moose hanging by its antlers from an electrical power line in the middle of the Alaska wilderness.

In one

Four windows have been broken in a pair of incidents this week at the Interior Republican campaign headquarters on the Old Steese Highway. One window was broken overnight Sunday and the other three

...than mine, can be found here. You can really get a good sense of what Fairbanks is like from these snaps.

On the one Sunday of our trip to Fairbanks, Chris and I visited our old church—New Hope Methodist-Presbyterian Church on Bradway Road in “greater” North Pole—for old times’ sake, and to remind

Wandering Alpaca Was Shot, Officials Say Amanda Bohman, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

The abandoned alpaca that died on the Chena Dome Trail 60 miles east of Fairbanks last weekend was shot, said

Me. I had better things to do than watch Kerry’s pompous pontifications.

Let the Democrats and Big Media (but I repeat myself) argue about who won the debate. If they want it, they can have it.

As

The hotel’s Internet connection has been misbehaving today, and I’m not sure the present “up” state will last very long. So it’s entirely possible there won’t be anything more here until Saturday

We’ve been here all this time and haven’t been taking many pictures in town. Chris took a lot of pics on a drive out up the Steese Highway but those were scenery shots mostly. Maybe in the few days

Yesterday Fairbanks got buried under a heavy snow shower that was still going on as Chris and I returned from having dinner in North Pole. As we were driving up the Richardson Highway toward

The alpaca (reported here as a llama) running loose in the Chena River State Recreation Area some 50 miles east of here, has been found dead.

12:40 p.m. AKDT

UPDATE, October 3: The plot curdles.

Windows XP Service Pack 2 broke the laptop this afternoon, and by the time I got it removed the hotel’s Internet connection was down.

Maybe I’ll blog tomorrow. Or maybe I’ll play in the snow (did I

I’ve found that I can get a very good wireless signal in the room, but only if I hold the laptop close to the door. So I’m using the ironing board as a desk.

I’m also fighting a cold. Chris thinks

When we lived up here, Bill Burrows was a known partisan. He had Fairbanks’ most wanted ad agency but there was one radio station he preferred not to place ads on. One of that station’s talk hosts

Just spent most of today driving around seeing what’s new and what isn’t. Saw that the guy who bought our old house did a lot of the stuff with it we wished we could do. The front step is now a big

1. You don’t have to row.

2. If things get desperate, the poor saps in economy class get eaten first.

3. Three words: Complimentary lap dances!

8:54 p.m. AKDT Sept. 22, 2004

We’re going to the airport at an ungodly hour tomorrow, so we can arrive in Fairbanks at what would be dinnertime if we weren’t acclimatized to Eastern Daylight Time. Alaska time is four hours

High Court Removes Metcalfe from November Ballot AP

The Alaska Supreme Court reversed a lower court order and stripped Republican Moderate Party candidate Ray Metcalfe’s name from the Nov. 2 general

One week from today, Wife-a-SFERICS and I will be heading up to Fairbanks for a visit. Salcha is some 25 miles or so south of Fairbanks.

September Snowfall Leaves Salcha Residents in the Dark Diana

Llama on the Loose (last item on page) AP

Hikers in the Chena River State Recreation Area east of Fairbanks have been bumping into a loose llama and authorities are trying to figure out where it