Only in Alaska!

[Ron Thorne]

Firefighters rescue abandoned wolf pups
Posted: May 28, 2014 - 9:00pm


Photo contributed by Brian Nichols

Firefighters rescued five wolf pups abandoned by mother during the Funny River Horse Trail wildfire.


Dehydrated and injured by porcupine quills — Hooper Bay, Huslia, Stebbens, Gannet and X-ray were named after the firefighters who rescued them and the area in which they were found. The fire crews heard the abandoned wolf pups making noise while working to secure the western flank of a massive wild fire on the Kenai Peninsula

While the names may not stick, the three males and two female pups may survive after being taken to the Alaska Zoo by Alaska Department of Fish and Game staff.

The two-week-old pups were rescued from a den near Kasilof, said firefighter Brian Nichols who was on one of crews that found the pups.

“We actually cut through part of the den with the dozer and just kept going. Nobody realized anything, that was three or four days ago,” he said. “Yesterday, a couple of guys were sitting there mopping up … and saw (one) come out.”

The pups were in bad shape by the time Fish and Game wildlife biologist Jeff Selinger and Deputy Refuge Manager Steve Miller got to see them.

“All of them were injured by a porcupine and dehydrated,” Miller said.

The pups were determined to have been abandoned because of their dehydration, Miller said.

Two medics who were with the firefighting crew pulled some of the quills out, but didn’t feel comfortable pulling all of them out.

“Some had been abscessed,” Miller said.

Several firefighters got to hold the pups as Fish and Game and Refuge staff fed them a glucose mixture to help hydrate the worn out pups.

“It’s just like a holding a dog,” Nichols said. “They were hungry and trying to suckle on anything. It was just like holding a puppy, they’re so young they don’t know any better.”

So, the puppies were taken to Anchorage where Alaska Zoo managers were able to pull the rest of the quills out.

At least one of the pups, the runt, is on antibiotics and is being fed more to help him fatten him up.

“He got a lot of quills,” said Shannon Jensen, curator at the Alaska Zoo.

The pups are being fed milk replacer and handled extensively by zoo staff who are bottle feeding.

“They seem to be OK with the situation, as long as we’re feeding them,” she said.

Jensen said she doesn’t think it will be hard to get them adopted out.

“There’s one that howls, it’s pretty cute. It’s adorable,” Jensen said.

Firefighters have spotted several other animals as they’ve been fighting to keep the 186,862 acre wildfire out of area communities, Miller said. These include a moose and calf, a brown bear with two cubs and a black bear with three cubs.

“We saw one baby moose when we were cutting the line,” Nichols said. “It was about a day-old baby moose. It followed one of the dozer bosses around for a while and then mama came back and was not amused.”

Reach Rashah McChesney at rashah.mcchesney@peninsulaclarion.com

[Ron Thorne]

This is great news!




Wildfire now 46 percent contained, not caused by campfire

Campfire restrictions remain in place

Posted: May 27, 2014 - 8:35pm | Updated: May 29, 2014 - 11:26am

By DAN BALMER and RASHAH McCHESNEY
Peninsula Clarion

Updated at 11:22 a.m. Thursday

The Funny River Horse Trail wildfire is up to 192,831 acres and 46 percent contained, according to the Alaska Interagency Incident Management Team.

Investigators have determined while the Funny River Horse Trail wildfire is human caused, it didn’t start from an abandoned campfire.


<<

[Ron Thorne]

Safety first: Homegrown condom company bets on community


BOB HALLINEN — Anchorage Daily News


By LAUREL ANDREWS

Two months ago, Lynda Musselman and Rebekah Franklin, co-founders of Alaska Condom Company, decided to roll the dice on their new business venture. They quit their jobs, invested in their idea and pushed forward to become what they say is the first company in the Last Frontier to sell Alaska-themed condoms and personal health products.

In late May, sitting in the one-car garage that doubles as their warehouse, the women were awaiting a shipment of nearly 85,000 Alaska-themed condoms. They laughed almost constantly while discussing the successes and challenges of being condom entrepreneurs in Alaska.

They envision the Alaska Condom Company as a way to make condoms fun and approachable -- a chance to decrease stigma around sex while featuring local artists and focusing on the Alaska community. They want to "bridge the gap," Musselman said, providing unique condoms at events or locations where perhaps you wouldn't have seen the product before. Accessibility and approachability go hand-in-hand with increasing condom use, Musselman said.

"The condom is appealing, you want to pick it up," Franklin said. "It relates to you, it's Alaskan, it's something you can be proud of."

Franklin, a quick-witted 27-year-old from Chicago, moved to Alaska seven years ago. Like many Alaskans, she came up to visit a family member one summer and never left. She gave birth to her son roughly a year later, and Alaska became home. Alaska is "where I came into my own skin," Franklin said. "Alaska is love."

Musselman, 24, is more reserved than Franklin, but quickly opens up to reveal a keen, determined side. Musselman moved to Anchorage from Southeast Alaska in October. Soon after, Franklin took Musselman under her wing when they began working together as servers at the downtown restaurant Orso.

When the two women became friends, they were both "at the bottom of our ropes in our personal lives," stressed out about their jobs, and craving change, Franklin said.

During a coffee date one afternoon, Musselman mentioned an idea she had for a personal lubricant called "hump-ease." The product, with its Alaska twist -- the name references a nickname for pink salmon, or "humpies" -- was one that she hadn't seen anywhere else in the state.

"I latched onto (the idea), because I'm so intense that way," Franklin laughed.

Soon they were swapping ideas for condom themes and researching the market. They realized "we can really do this," Franklin said.

Alaska Condom Company was born soon after, in early 2014.



Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2014/06/08/3508264/s ... rylink=cpy

[Ron Thorne]

Alaska Aces win Kelly Cup with 4-0 victory over Cincinnati



Alaska Aces Nick Mazzolini celebrates after winning the Kelly Cup. TONY TRIBBLE — Cincinnati Enquirer


By DOYLE WOODY

June 9, 2014

CINCINNATI -- Their passion leaked out once the scoreboard clock overhead drained to all zeroes, when they rushed their goaltender and mobbed him, when the Kelly Cup was theirs for the lifting, when the beers were busted out, and definitely when they repaired to their dressing room here at U.S. Bank Arena to crank the music, scream their delight and savor the celebration with friends and family.

But until the final horn signaled game's end and the Alaska Aces were ECHL champions for the third time in franchise history, they proved as cold-bloodedly lethal as snipers.

The Aces claimed their 4-0 title-clinching victory over the Cincinnati Cyclones to win the Cup on Monday night with the efficient attention to detail of a bookkeeper and the clinical detachment of a medical examiner.

"Textbook,'' said defenseman Kane Lafranchise.

With the possibility of a decisive Game 7 looming Wednesday night back home in Anchorage, the Aces were intent on rendering that alternative moot. They won the Finals in six games, snuffing the Cyclones on Monday after putting them in critical condition with Saturday night's 4-2 victory.

"We didn't think,'' said center Tyler Mosienko. "We went out and played our game. That's when it's hardest, right? When so much is on the line?

"We managed to find a way to shut off the emotions and just play the game.''

Behind Gerald Coleman's 23-save shutout, a big-game performance from captain Nick Mazzolini and a power play that rose from the dead, the Aces became just the third team in the league's 26 seasons to win three titles. They joined the South Carolina Stingrays and Hampton Roads Admirals.

The Aces have collected their hat trick of titles in the last nine seasons -- they won in 2006 and 2011. Like the previous two titles, this one came on the road, and they are the only franchise to lift the Cup three times in another team's rink.

They are also the only franchise to win consecutive Brabham Cups as regular-season champions -- the Aces have won the last four Brabhams.

Their latest hoisting of hardware came under the direction of third-year coach Rob Murray, who joins former Aces bench bosses Brent Thompson (2011) and Davis Payne (2006) as architects of achievement.


Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2014/06/09/3509483/a ... rylink=cpy

[Coda]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A local tsunami warning was issued after an 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean west of Alaska's Aleutian Islands on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Tsunami Warning Center said.

The warning covered coastal areas of Alaska from Nikolski to Attu, the center said, adding the level of tsunami danger was being evaluated for other U.S. and Canadian Pacific coasts.

The quake struck about 14 miles (23 km) southeast of Little Sitkin Island, Alaska, at a depth of about 71 miles (114 km), USGS said.


***
I hope you're all safe. Yikes, this is huge. I see two different magnitudes from my apps....7.1 and 7.2 and two depths....did you get hit with two?

20.53.07 GMT and 19.19.13 GMT. 5 km deep and 93 km

[Ron Thorne]

We're fine, Coda. Thanks for your concern. This 7.9 quake (a BIG one) occurred in the distant Aleutian Islands. The tsunami warning was a regional one which didn't materialize. It was a deep earthquake near Little Sitkin Island, about 1000 miles from Anchorage. If it hadn't been so deep (over 70 miles), it would have likely been a very different outcome. In the very lower left, westernmost portion of the map are the Aleutian Islands where Little Sitkin is located.

[Ron Thorne]

53rd annual World Eskimo-Indian Olympics





Autumn Ridley wins first place in the women's Alaska High Kick finals Thursday,
July 17, 2014 at the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics at the Carlson Center in
Fairbanks. Ridley kicked 82 inches, and holds the women's world record at 83 inches.
Ash Adams for Alaska Dispatch News



Linc Qimiq, right, competes with Jeff Satterfield for the gold medal in the men's Ear Pull event Friday, July 18, 2014 at the
World Eskimo-Indian Olympics at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks. Qimiq took first place, and Satterfield second.
Ash Adams for Alaska Dispatch News

[Cem]

Great stuff… ear pull creepy!

[Ron Thorne]

Alaska's vegetables grown in the Matanuska Valley north of Anchorage are renowned for their size and beauty. Here's a photo of this year's winner in the cabbage category.

By the way, the cabbage pictured below is not this year's winner! There are several more photos on the website linked below. Enjoy!





'Marmaduke' wins Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off at Alaska State Fair




Daisy and Andy Christiansen sit with their entry in the junior competition. The Alaska State Fair Giant Cabbage Weigh-off attracted 22 entries
on Friday, August 29, 2014. Steve Hubacek won the competition with a 117.95-pound cabbage.
Mark Lester / ADN


Mike Dunham | August 29, 2014

PALMER -- “Marmaduke” claimed the title of king of the cabbages Friday night at the 19th annual Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off at the Alaska State Fair. At nearly 118 pounds, it wasn’t enough to unseat the world record of 138.25 pounds set in 2012, but the washing-machine-size vegetable grown by Steve Hubacek of Wasilla topped this year’s closest competitor by 4 pounds.

The expectations of the crowd in the bleachers at the Farm Exhibits Building were high. Hubacek and Scott Robb of Palmer, the grower of the world-record cabbage known as the “Palmer Pachyderm,” had each brought in plants weighing more than 111 pounds when the fair opened. These were for display, not for the Weigh-Off, so many presumed that the growers thought they had bigger offerings for the contest.

But as the cabbages came off the trucks and into the ring, it was evident there’d be no world records this year. Robb said he thought his contest entry, “Gorgeous George,” outweighed the 111-pounder, but he couldn’t be sure. “I hope I didn’t bring in my biggest one last week,” he said.

When the scales were read, “Marmaduke” earned Hubacek the top prize of $2,000 with a weight of 117.95 pounds. “Gorgeous George” came in second at 113.7 pounds. Third place went to Brian Shunski, whose entry weighed 75.8 pounds.

Shunski, of Salcha, was at a serious disadvantage since the plants can lose up to 4 pounds per hour after being harvested, and he had to drive about seven hours after pulling his plant to get it to the fair.

The event was notable for drawing more media attention than the recent senatorial debates. The ring was filled with photographers and television cameras, including crews from the Food Channel, BBC and a Japanese network. They interviewed the growers and the audience, took pictures of cabbages with names like “Cinderella,” “Hopeful” and “Root Maggot Hotel.”

A group of Colony High School students provided live Internet streaming to a potential worldwide audience, and green-clad Cabbage Fairy ladies tossed “baby cabbage” -- actually Brussels sprouts -- to the crowd. Boy Scout Troop 367, “The Green Mountain Boys,” provided the muscle to wrangle the vegetables on and off the new tripod scale.

Spectators applauded and cheered but apparently weren’t enthusiastic enough for at least one of the visiting cameramen. He waved his hands trying to get people in the stands to act more excited for the video.

“This is some kind of record with regard to international coverage,” said Talis Colberg, director of Matanuska-Susitna College and one of the 22 competitors.

Colberg’s pretty entry, dubbed “The Champion,” was clearly not a contender for first place. It weighed in at 25.75 pounds and won a prize of $25. “I do pretty well on a pound-for-pound basis,” Colberg said.

Many of the entries were grown by youngsters. Anna Van Diest, a home-schooled eighth-grader, named her 32-pound entry “Scott Robb.”

“As long as I can remember I’ve been growing cabbages,” she said. “He’s always come over and offered me encouragement. And he’s the guy who grows the giant cabbages.”

[Ron Thorne]

Here's a followup to yesterday's post.

I'm sure you will stop whatever you're doing and watch this video which captures the 2014 Giant Cabbage Weigh-off at the Alaska State Fair.

[Ron Thorne]

This is a fascinating story I just read from this morning's paper. What a man was John A. Miscovich!









John Miscovich with his first Intelligiant, built in 1946, on a mining claim.
Miscovich family photo

Dermot Cole | August 30, 2014

FAIRBANKS -- At 5 feet 8 inches, John A. Miscovich was an unlikely giant in the Alaska placer mining industry.

He invented a water cannon known as the “Intelligiant,” which influenced the development of hydraulic gold mining, as well as firefighting and about 150 other applications, from riot control to tank cleaning and excavation.

Miscovich, who died Aug. 22 at 96 in Orange, Calif., is on track to be a future member of the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame in Fairbanks, joining his father, pioneer Alaska miner Peter Miscovich.

John Miscovich was born in 1918 in Flat, a settlement about 280 miles northwest of Anchorage that earned its greatest glory as a gold rush boom town and later as the flat place where Wiley Post crash-landed -- and survived -- in 1933 on a solo flight around the world. Miscovich grew up watching miners wash away tons of dirt with heavy nozzles known as “giants,” machinery that had changed little since the 1870s.

An operator had to hold the handle attached to the nozzle to keep it steady, fighting the law of motion that dictates for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. Let go for an instant and there will be enormous pushback.

“The high water pressure in the old giant would make it take off like a bucking bronco if the handle was ever let go,” Miscovich once wrote, applying Sir Isaac Newton's third law of motion to placer mining.

“As a young boy mining in Flat, I would stand at the handle for 10 hours a day in the rain and cold, holding on for dear life and fighting mosquitoes, thinking there had to be a better way,” he said.

Enter the “Misco-giant,” which he later called the “Intelligiant,” a name that signified an intelligent giant, as in “it was so smart” that it could be controlled automatically, he said.

“I designed it for miners, but it was firefighters who wanted it the most,” he once told an interviewer.

Before he could put his ideas into action, however, he found himself in the Aleutians, serving in the Army during World War II. After his discharge he sought a loan in Seattle to build his invention.

The idea was simple but revolutionary, incorporating a curved pipe and two ball-bearing swivel joints. The design neutralized the back pressure that could transform an unattended machine pumping thousands of gallons of water a minute into a gyrating beast. The technique developed by Miscovich helped keep the nozzle reaction to a minimum.

A mining industry publication ran an article on his invention, the first of many patents he earned, and mining companies began to pay attention.

Student of the ‘University of Flat’

Although a Seattle banker refused to loan him $5,000 to help with development, telling him “you need a psychiatrist and not a banker,” Miscovich cashed in an insurance policy and traveled to Florida to visit a mining executive, towing his Intelligiant on a trailer.

While the machine cost several times as much as the old models, which Miscovich called “cast-iron clunk,” the value of the innovation triumphed over the financial pressure.

Queried about his background over the years, Miscovich, who had dropped out of high school in Fairbanks, often said he attended the “University of Flat.”

He leased his patents and later sold some of them to companies that continued the innovation process, including the Stang Hydronics Corp. in California.

“Breaking into the fire application was very difficult because all the manufacturers of fire equipment made their products out of brass, and the equipment was very heavy. I had switched over to stainless steel, which was a much lighter material and could withstand higher pressures,” he said.

“The Intelligiant’s unique two-bearing design could withstand much higher working pressure and helped develop a new era in fire equipment,” he said.

Instead of 500 to 1,000 gallons a minute, the new device pumped up to 15,000 gallons a minute and found its way onto fireboats in New York City and San Francisco, as well as textbooks on firefighting equipment.

For 30 years he traveled the world as a consultant, sharing his expertise on applications for the Intelligiant. He said one of the greatest honors was a stamp printed in England that featured a fire ship shooting water from Intelligiants as an example of engineering achievements.

“It is gratifying to see this product grow from a muck-moving machine on a small creek in Alaska to worldwide use for the better of humanity and the protection of life and property,” he wrote.

Throughout his life he kept going back to mine for gold at Flat, the ghost town where his father, an immigrant from Croatia, had started mining more than 100 years ago.

Peter and Stana Bagoy Miscovich had seven children. John was the third. In 2012, John made his last trip to Flat, a place populated mainly with empty buildings and memories.

Miscovich is survived by Mary, his wife of 57 years, sons Peter and John Jr., daughters Maria Obradovic and Sandra Stelmas, and grandchildren John, Sasha and Addison.



Contact Dermot Cole at dermot@alaskadispatch.com or on Twitter

[ValerieB]

well, I did watch it and found it interesting. truthfully though, I would prefer that they had some kind of cook-off with a portion of the cabbages!! I LOVE cabbage!

of course, I've steamed them mostly but also sautéed them as well. love them with at least some of the following: soy sauce, garlic, anchovies, sesame seeds, etc.

[Ron Thorne]

[BeBop]

I've got great memories of Palmer, including a red haired guy with a red haired dog who ran the B&B where I stayed during a job up there. And monster vegetables. And midnight hikes between the days of my day job.

[Ron Thorne]

Glad to hear of such fond memories of Palmer, BeBop. It's a cool, sleepy little town, but is awakening a bit.

Patti & I are off to the wilderness with her 94 year-old father, to visit our son in his log cabin on-the-lake. It's an ongoing project, a labor of love, and we haven't seen it in person in a year, so we're stoked. It's a 130 mile drive, then a short boat ride to Darren's cabin, which many of you have seen in photos over the past few years. I will have more photos to share in a couple of days.

[ValerieB]

Ron, I would be thrilled to accept the invitation to judge the cabbages as long as the plane ticket and hotel accommodations are also included!

[Ron Thorne]

[Ron Thorne]

[Ron Thorne]

We just talked with our two grandchildren in Anchorage, and they're fine but were shaken, literally and figuratively by this one, a strong, 6.2 shaker. I just read that a local news source said that the initial quake lasted 60 seconds.

There was some structural damage in Anchorage but we don't know the details yet. Our home is likely fine since it withstood the 1964 9.2 quake, but we'll get confirmation from our daughter. Darren is worried about his cabin which is near the epicenter.






Earthquake shakes Southcentral Alaska

Alaska Dispatch News
September 25, 2014



Attorney John Wendlandt's downtown Anchorage office was left a mess after a Magnitude 6.1 quake hit
Southcentral Alaska Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014. Courtesy Bill Falsey

The Alaska Earthquake Information Center reports that an earthquake that shook Southcentral and Interior Alaska for several seconds Thursday at 9:51 a.m. had a preliminary magnitude of 6.24, not 6.1 as originally reported.

The National Weather Service said the temblor was located 60 miles southwest of Talkeetna at a depth of 98 kilometers; according to the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, a tsunami is not expected.

Seismologist Natalia Ruppert at the Alaska Earthquake Information Center said the quake was caused by the Pacific plate diving under the North American plate; its depth, she said, will have minimized its impact.

"This was quite deep, so I wouldn’t expect any serious damage," Ruppert said. "Deep earthquakes normally don’t produce as many aftershocks as shallow earthquakes, so there will be some aftershocks, but I don’t expect there to be too many."

Ruppert said the quake was felt in Fairbanks, where her office is located, and as far south as Kodiak, Valdez and Seward.

[bluenoter]

[Ron Thorne]

Nothing has ever compared with the March 27, 1964 earthquake we experienced, but we try not to let down our guard or take any of them lightly.

Darren will try to reach a neighbor by phone tonight for an update, if possible.

[BeBop]

You (Ron) were the first person I thought of when I heard the news. I grew up in earthquake country and I know a 6.2 can have consequences. Glad to hear that all is reasonably well. I haven't been through anything over San Francisco area's Loma Prieta (7.2?), which I rode out on a train under the Bay.

[rlfun]

Best wishes all around, Ron. I'm pretty sure Darren's cabin is built like a tank. I'd bet all is well. Here's hoping!!

[Ron Thorne]

Thanks for the concern, my friends. I'll update as more is revealed.

[bluenoter]